After his team's terrible loss to the Jaguars on Sunday - their sixth straight overall - Jerod Mayo went to the podium and started with this:
"What I would say is, look, we're a soft football team across the board."
My reaction?
What took him so long?
What I will also say: I am sick of writing basically the same thing every week. Absolutely sick and tired of it. And we're only seven games into this season! I would love to wax poetic about a great adjustment or a perfectly executed play that led to victory. I would love to praise the coaching staff and the players for overcoming their situation and being more than the sum of its parts, because that's the soul of football, the greatest team sport ever created.
But they just give me no openings to do it, just like the former coach the previous two seasons.
The Patriots are where they are right now, the worst team in the NFL (OK, maybe not ... it's probably the Panthers after today) after taking a 10-0 lead on a Jaguars team ready to quit on their coach and then getting completely dominated in the final three quarters for a 32-16 loss, because Mayo failed to see the obvious weeks ago.
After his team lost at home 15-10 to a Dolphins team that couldn't do anything right and had Tyler Huntley at quarterback, Mayo went to the podium and said this:
"I think there's no question we're tough."
The following day, after viewing the film, Mayo said, "I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win the football game." That led to Mayo benching Jacoby Brissett for Drake Maye.
Fast forward three weeks later and now his team is soft?
"We talk about what makes a tough football team that's being able to run the ball, that's being able to stop the run, and that's being able to cover kicks. And we did none of those today," Mayo said Sunday in London.
Three weeks later, the defense and special teams are now good enough?
No. The simple fact of the matter is the signs were there for everyone to see after the Dolphins game. Now, I expect most fans to gloss over the details of the game, focus on the 15 points allowed. I totally understand that. But it's the job of the coaches, especially the head coach — probably their No. 1 job — to look beyond the scoreboard, the stats and the obvious, and be honest about their team.
That's how you stay ahead of the curve. That's how you prevent speedbumps from becoming potholes that derail a season.
Right now, at 1-6, the Patriots are on the side of 93 with their hazards on because their front right tire flew off.
That's because Mayo just whistled past the graveyard, failed to identify why his team came up short against Miami (and got blown out by the Jets and 49ers) and just pinned it all the quarterback and thought that would fix everything.
Two games later, how's that looking?
The problems with the Patriots were hiding there in plain sight, if anyone was bothering to look, as I laid out after the loss to the Dolphins:
Sunday's loss was 100 percent the fault of the coaching staff and Mayo.
"I thought we played well enough defensively and on special teams to win the football game," Mayo told reporters this week.
Seriously? What game was he watching?
His defense allowed Miami running backs (they lost De'Von Achane early by the way) to rush 35 times for 184 yards (5.3 average), including seven straight times to take the lead with their only touchdown. Just the previous week, the Dolphins couldn't leak drop rushing against the Titans with 22 carries for 66 yards. The Dolphins and Huntley scored on all three second-half possessions against this vaunted defense.
....
The special teams were good? Brenden Schooler had a great punt block, but Joey Slye missed a 33-yard field goal, Bryce Baringer had three touchbacks that affected field position, and a shanked net punt of 31 yards that gave Miami the ball at the New England 44 with 55 seconds before halftime. Luckily for the Patriots, in a theme the entire day New England couldn't take advantage of, the Dolphins vomited on themselves with a groundball snap on the field goal. They had a penalty for 12 men on the field that extended a Miami drive and kept the defense on the field.
And Mayo thinks that's good? They were "good enough"?
On the radio, I called out Mayo's comment about the Patriots being tough
If Mayo was honest about his team, about what was fundamentally plaguing the Patriots, maybe they play tougher against the Texans. They certainly take a 10-0 lead and run with it against the Jaguars.
Mayo should have been worried about his run defense. He should have been worried about his special teams, which started strong but were starting to leak a little oil.
He should have made it a priority to get both problems fixed. Instead, it looks like Mayo took the scenic tour of the film, decided a few more points on offense would cover up everything and lead to wins.
The Patriots have scored 37 points in the past two games ... have allowed 73 points ... and lost two games by an average of 18 points.
They changed the quarterback, who appeared to play well enough to win on Sunday, and nothing has fundamentally changed.
That's because Mayo failed at his No. 1 job: being honest and critical about his team.
Now what?
It seems, finally, Mayo has realized the obvious - and the players didn't contradict him, so I don't think you have to worry about a mutiny. But that's still a possibility. Mayo just insulted his players. There's nothing worse for a football player than being called soft. I can't point to any soft players on this team, maybe Ja'Lynn Polk with his mental struggles. There is not a lack of effort. I'm sure the players feel like they played soft, but pretty soon - perhaps on a long plane ride home - the players are going to talk about why they have played soft against the Charmin Jaguars, and wonder why each loss seems to be worse than the last.
And then they're going to look at the coaches, starting with Mayo say: "We may not be perfect, but if you guys did your job better, maybe we wouldn't be 1-6."
And then the problems really start. But I do think that is a ways off. I think.
The first step in solving a problem is first admitting you have one. Mayo seems to have realized that now with a hard slap to the face that was this loss where the Patriots were helpless for the final three quarters, and Mayo didn't help things by going for two points too early.
Now, like every week, he needs to fix it.
Maybe that involves him taking over playcalling duties of the defense. Mayo being a CEO head coach doesn't seem to be adding anything with his weekly game management gaffes. Maybe the brilliant defensive mind he possessed as a player can take the defense from 29th in DVOA (they finished 9th last year) to the middle of the pack.
Maybe that involves telling Alex Van Pelt when you have a QB dealing like Drake Maye was on Sunday, to press the issue and don't curl up in a ball. Maybe come up with a trick play to turn the tide. Maybe that involves Ben McAdoo.
Maybe that involves telling the punter to stop showing off his leg and start worrying about pinning back the opponent so the Patriots can use field position to their advantage.
Whatever he chooses, it has to start by being critical and honest about his team.
It's weeks late, but maybe that finally happened Sunday.
Because I'm sick of seeing and writing the same thing every week.
