Patriots quarterback Mac Jones will be under pressure to get the ball in the end zone on Thursday night and beyond if the Patriots are to make the playoffs. (AP photo)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Can one play change a season?

Yes. But did Marcus Jones’ punt return for a touchdown Sunday do that for the Patriots?

“I think any good team has to learn how to win games like this,” Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “A lot of things don’t go your way during the course of a game but you just have to have enough resolve to play together in the moments that you need it.

“I’m hopeful that this gives us a little bit of confidence, not that we didn’t have it … It’s so hard to say what this will mean in the grand scheme of things. The good thing, we’ll have the answer to that question when it’s all said and done.”

We think we have the answer already, and it’s no – not so long as the Patriots continue to labor with an offense that is clearly offensive.

Granted, the New York Jets have a dominant defense, and were able to create a lot of problems up front for New England. It’s one of the reasons the Patriots threw eight times to their running backs (six to Rhamondre Stevenson) and five times to their tight ends (four to Jonnu Smith).

Unless you have a Travis Kelce or bring back the good ol’ days of Rob Gronkowski, those are short, simple passes in any offense. And quick.

And right now, they have to be. It’s pretty clear that New England simply can’t open up its offense for a variety of reasons. They can’t buy quarterback Mac Jones enough time to throw even intermediate passes. And with the expected loss of David Andrews, who suffered a thigh injury in Sunday’s game, it won’t improve.

This offense has enough talent to succeed. They threw often to Stevenson, but let him run and batter defenses from scrimmage. Damien Harris they should get in space and use in the James White role, with carries here and there. Stevenson and White are both superb, but doesn’t it look like Harris is more of a breakaway threat? Stevenson can also be that late in games when defenses have had enough.

But the Patriots clearly need to get their offense in gear, everyone who has followed the team since training camp knows that. But how? Is it really as simple as what the fans want, a change at quarterback? No.

“Obviously, we need to do, just need to do things better,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We’ll look at it in detail and talk about it moving forward.”

Belichick did say that the wind made the Patriots more cautious on offense, which explains the short game.

“You just had to be careful with some of the play selections and where we’re trying to throw the ball,” he said.

They won’t have that issue on Thanksgiving night, indoors at the site of a game they’d probably rather forget, their Super Bowl loss to the Eagles back in February of 2018. For the Vikings, it’s the site of a game they’d like to forget, too – their stunning 40-3 debacle Sunday at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.

So Thursday night pits two teams against each other whose offenses failed to score a touchdown this past Sunday. The Patriots have a dynamic defense, but keeping Kirk Cousins off the scoreboard for a second straight week won’t be easy.

The Vikings, of course, are hoping that game doesn’t set the tone for their season.

But sooner or later, Mac Jones is going to have to set a tone for his, or at least change the one he’s been setting so far. That’s certainly not breaking news or any deep analysis.

“You can’t chase plays, can’t make up plays in your head,” Jones said Sunday. “You’ve just got to operate the offene how it’s supposed to be operated.”

Which is, well, score points.

Are we too quick to make judgements on Jones? Perhaps. After all, he did lead the Patriots to 10 wins a year ago.

“I think you have to guard yourself from having an overreaction from game to game,” Slater said. “…We’re not going to overreact, we’re going to keep trusting the process.

“I think you look at a number of quarterbacks in this league that are very good players now that maybe weren’t in their second year, or their first three years. … We rush to judge in this league, how quickly we write off players because they don’t meet the outside’s expectations. It’s a shame the league is like that.”

The Patriots were able to take advantage of a very poorly coached team on Sunday. That won’t always be the case. So don’t be fooled by one play, even though the players see Marcus Jones’ return as, well, a return on their investment.

“That play, this game, ultimately speaks to the character of all of our guys, everybody in this organization,” Harris said.

But not what lies ahead. Game changer, but not a season changer – yet.

AFC

1.Kansas City (8-2). 2 Tennessee (7-3) 3. Buffalo (7-3) 4.Baltimore (7-3) 5. Miami (6-3).

NFC

1.Philadelphia (9-1). 2.San Francisco (6-4). 3. Dallas (7-3). 4. Minnesota (8-2). 5. Seattle (6-4).