Saturday was yet another crazy day in this New England Patriots season that is unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

The Patriots went from having coal in their stocking, to a Christmas miracle, to coal in their stocking once again.

A roller coaster of a sleigh ride to nowhere.

As Patriots safety Adrian Phillips said in the locker room, “We blew it.”

Yeah, they did. Only the second fumble of Rhamondre Stevenson’s career in the final two minute kept the Patriots from their miracle. Instead it was 22-18 coal, but those who justifiably left at halftime with the Cincinnati Bengals up 22-0 missed another interesting chapter of the Post-Brady era.

Maybe the Patriots have a quarterback after all, as Mac Jones was finally allowed to throw more than 15 yards after being outgained 284-34 by Bengals counterpart Joe Burrow in the first half. The only group that moved with as much precision as the Bengals’ offense was the Nashua Police Department Honor Guard, that marched the colors out for award-winning tenor Fran Rogers’ rendition of the National Anthem.

Kendrick Bourne stuck his head out of a seemingly season-long doghouse and ran freely, his first career 100-yard reception game (six catches,100 yards, a TD.

So, it begs the question, where was this all season? Why was Bourne a factor today and not earlier?

“No particular reason,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

It was just a wild swing. At halftime, the Patriots looked silly once again, and you can bet owner Robert Kraft couldn’t have been happy. CBS Sports head Sean McManus was in the house, and if he was checking his list of teams for big national games next year twice, the Patriots were certainly crossed off. It was ugly. Burrow was slicing and dicing the New England defense apart, and it probably should have been 31-0 had he not made his first of two lazy throws for picks on the day and his kicker, Evan McPherson, not missed two PATs.

Fans were calling for backup QB Bailey Zappe again. Boos reigned supreme. One national reporter in the media dining area was musing about Kraft not firing, but trading his coach in the off-season. The Gillette stands looked to be about a quarter to a third empty. Any belief in the Patriots? Bah humbug.

But suddenly, the good ol’ days came back. Adjustments made. Perhaps one of the better versions of Mac Jones we’ve seen came alive. The other Jones, Marcus, scored on a pick six, giving him TDs in all three phases of the game this season, simply remarkable. And we saw the bizarre when Scotty Washington – a tight end elevated from the practice squad – tip to Jakobi Meyers for a TD. You know, Brady Era type stuff.

But you know, it’s just not meant to be for this Patriots team. They’re just not good enough, and, hard to say with Belichick being in charge, coached that well enough.

“It’s tough to come back and fight that hard and not have the results the way you want them to go,” Phillips said. “Everybody’s trying to do the right thing, everybody wants to make the big play play and help the team win. For that not to happen, and for it to end the way it does, it’s tough. You know what was on the line with a win or a loss. It’s just a tough one.”

Of course, what is on the line are the playoffs, and right now, well, we wouldn’t count on it at 7-8.

Phillips said the Patriots comeback was “just weathering the storm. … In the second half we did a good job of just getting turnovers and pressuring them.”

Turnovers used to always be a panacea for the Patriots, their way of turning the game in their favor as the opposition would collapse. Butthis is a different time, and in the end, we got the same result as in many games this season. Glass of eggnog half empty or half full? Quarterback Jones ended up with a passer rating of 105.6, up from 71.9.

“It’s resiliency,” Meyers said. “That’s not the first time it’s happened. Shout out to Mac. He’s a tough guy mentally and physically. I’ll roll with him any day.”

“We don’t quit,” Mac Jones said. “Fight hard. End of the day, we’ve got to score more points.”

“Things to work with,” Belichick said, “but in the end, just not enough.”

Not a merry Christmas Eve, but it could’ve been worse.

(Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.)