Three weeks ago, the Patriots coaches and players delivered in all three phases to knock off the Jets thanks to Jacoby Brissett's heroics.
One of the themes in that victory was the Patriots ... well, I'll just let Davon Godchaux have the final word:
"Really, we stopped all the cute shit and we got back to the basics," the big run stuffer said.
What did we want to see next?
Now it's time to build on that, and start to stack — not even success, just competency — week after week. And then Mayo and Co. may have found something: a program that is actually building and not regressing.
What happened the next time out?
The Patriots reverted back to their previous ways, and did the dumbest "shit" of the season when they threw the offensive line into further turmoil and allowed Jeffrey Simmons to nearly ruin the game by himself - if it wasn't for Drake Maye's miracle on the final play. Defensively, the Patriots went back to blowing gaps and edges, and got run over again.
And we were back in the same spot with these coaches.
And it felt like it was going to get worse this week when the coaches toyed with moving Mike Onwenu to left guard heading into Sunday's games with the Bears.
Don't know how it happened, but the Patriots wisely changed course on that. I'm hopeful they looked at the Bears, after their 29-9 loss to the Cardinals, like I did: an offense in disarray (six sacks) and teetering on a mutiny, and with a run defense that was 30th in DVOA and had just allowed 213 yards to Arizona — and almost none of it was from Kyler Murray.
The Patriots should have been thinking, 'Hey, we've got this game in our bag. Let the Bears continue to implode on offense, and continue to pound the run.' It was basically the same plan against the Jets.
The Patriots did that in all three phases. DeMarcus Covington cooked up the Longhorn package for Branden Schooler to spy Caleb Williams, Alex Van Pelt stayed simple on offense and relied on the running game as a foundation, and Jeremy Springer's unit won their matchup against the Bears. It certainly wasn't anything fancy since the Patriots only put up 19 points and three drives over 50 yards, but it was absolutely effective and accomplished the No. 1 job of a coaching staff: figure out how you need to play the game that week in all three phases to win the game.
Mission accomplished.
"I thought the coordinators did an excellent job the entire week, not only reiterating the message that I said in the squad meeting rooms but also just putting together a good game plan and knowing how we have to win football games," Mayo said. "That's controlling the line of scrimmage, and we kind of talked about that.”
So the Patriots have now done that twice in the last three weeks, against the Jets and Bears. It has to be pointed out that the Patriots coaches won their matchups against one team with an interim coach (Jets), and another with a head coach and offensive coordinator close to losing their jobs. Both opponents were in the midst of a freefall. The Jets lost 31-6 to the Cardinals on Sunday to drop to 3-7 and have lost six of their last seven. The Bears have lost three straight, been outscored 48-12 the last two games, and haven't scored a touchdown in 22 possessions.
So what we can definitively say at this point: the Patriots' coaches aren't as bad as the worst coaching staffs in the league who are likely on their way out.
Now, like I said after the Jets win ... can they stack competency (not even success) two weeks in a row? And if they did that against Sean McVay and the Rams — who have won three straight and face the Dolphins on Monday night (rest advantage for the Patriots), that would be a big feather in their cap and a tangible sign of progress in the second half of the season.
They just need to avoid whatever they did against the Titans. The coaches seemed to be feeling themselves after the win over the Jets, thought they had things figured out and tried to expand things a bit.
I'm begging you guys, don't do it. Continue to keep it simple. Focus on the plans on both sides of the ball that allow you to hold your own along the lines. Don't put too much on Drake Maye's plate — as tempting as that is — because putting a focus on the running game (had a season-high success rate of 50.4%) opened some things up in the passing game that you're not going to get with this scheme and talent level. Certainly don't mess with the offensive line. It might not be a beaut, but this old jalopy can get some things done if you keep running the same unit out there. Keep telling Maye that it's not a sin to punt or throw the ball away (he was under pressure another 41% against the Bears) — just try to avoid negative plays (his sack percentage of 3.8% was his lowest of the season) and stay on schedule with the downs. Make sure you stop the run, and let your really good cover players handle the receivers to free some other things up.
The Patriots even executed and got points before halftime. I mean, knock me over with a feather. They're cooking with gas now! (I do think taking possession at the 40 with only 35 seconds left, having two timeouts, and the Bears having none — Eberflus is the gift that keeps on giving — led to unnatural aggression from Mayo in that circumstance ... it would have been a different situation with 1:30 remaining.)
The formula has been there all season for the Patriots, but for some reason they feel the need to overcomplicate things. Mayo should continue to take lessons from the Jets and Bears games because that's the path to competency, if not victories.
Sunday was good stuff from the Patriots. Now, do it again. Please.