FOXBOROUGH — This is a sentence I never thought I would write, but here we are:
Chargers owner Dean Spanos looks like a genius compared to his Patriots counterpart, Robert Kraft.
That much is certain, after the Chargers — a California dome team playing at 10 a.m. local time — came into cold and wet Gillette Stadium and completely dominated New England 40-7 on Saturday at a half-filled Gillette Stadium, where you heard some 'Fire Mayo' chants by the end and the home team was booed off the field.
Both teams were at a similar point after last season in that they were looking for a new head coach and general manager. The Chargers finally rid themselves of Brandon Staley, who was supposed to be a defensive mastermind but his defense kept getting worse and was wasting a talented young quarterback (sound familiar?). Kraft fired Bill Belichick, who dominated the New England and NFL landscape for decades and made Kraft rich and look brilliant.
The Chargers conducted an exhaustive search to fill both spots. The list of head coach candidates:
Raheem Morris (hired as Falcons HC)
Ben Johnson
Aaron Glenn
Dan Quinn (hired as Commanders HC)
Mike Vrabel
David Shaw
Brian Callahan (hired as Titans HC)
Leslie Frazier
Mike MacDonald (hired as Seahawks HC)
Steve Wilks
Todd Monken
Patrick Graham
Giff Smith
Kellen Moore
Jim Harbaugh
They ended up hiring Harbaugh but reportedly Vrabel would have gotten the job if Harbaugh had taken another job.
Dawn Aponte
Jeff King
Ed Dodds
Jeff Ireland
Terrance Gray
Ian Cunningham
Joe Hortiz
Brandon Brown
Jojo Wooden
The Chargers also narrowed the field and had second rounds of interviews for both spots.
For general manager, they hired Hortiz, the longtime executive for the Ravens, where he worked for years with John Harbaugh.
For his coaching staff, Harbaugh - with his years and various stops in pro and college football - hired trusted confidants who shared in his vision.
Meanwhile, in Foxborough, the Krafts followed through on their plan for Jerod Mayo to succeed Belichick, even if it was years early and he clearly lacked the relevant experience to bring immediate change to a franchise.
For general manager, they promoted Eliot Wolf internally without conducting a real search - and months after free agency and the draft had already been conducted.
Chargers 40, Patriots 7
One team has already improved its win total by five games and is going to the playoffs for the first time in three years, and second time in seven seasons.
The other team is on its way to losing one more game than a year ago and posting their worst record and point differential (-135 at this point) since 1992 when Dick MacPherson was roaming the sidelines. Right now, the Patriots have one less win and are a -5 point differential compared to last season's 4-13 squad.
One has the look of a serious football program. The other looks decidedly unserious.
If you think Saturday's result or the divergent paths taken by these two organizations are solely about talent, quite frankly and with all due respect, you have no idea what you're looking at.
One organization had a plan and executed it, starting with hiring a proven winner in Harbaugh. The other just hired from within — from a 4-13 team – with people from within spitting distance and are hoping those people eventually grow into being worthy of their jobs.
A plan, and concepts of a plan.
We can talk about Mayo and Wolf all we want — and there's plenty of valid arguments to be made, for sure — but if you don't start with the decisions made by Robert and Jonathan Kraft in how they restocked the franchise, you're whistling by the graveyard.
Was it purely a cost-effective solution to the problem? Was it just about being right? Those are the questions that come when your team looks like it is backsliding instead of improving as the season comes to a close.
By the way, if I have to hear one more time about Dan Campbell's first season in Detroit as a comparison to what Mayo is doing, I'm going to lose it.
Campbell was an assistant for 11 years, and even had a stint as an interim head coach before taking over the Lions. His team won three of their final six games — during which he demoted his playcaller and took the reigns in his area of expertise. They had an identity. You could see a path.
Mayo was a positional assistant for five years and never even called a defense. His team has now lost six straight games for the second time this season. His defense was regressed all season, and it doesn't appear he is stepping in to stem the tide. There is no arrow pointing up, there's not one aspect of this football team that you can look at and say Mayo's made a positive impact. You'd figure defense would be in his wheelhouse ... the Chargers became the third team to score their season-high in points against New England. With his background in media, Mayo would be able to put a good face on the organization ... despite telling the SportsHub that Antonio Gibson would start the game, Rhamondre Stevenson did. What about the culture? Keion White, one of the good young talents on the defense, basically told reporters he was miserable this week, and stood by those comments to reporters on Saturday. Some players were questioning a lot after this game.
"The Chargers probably wanted it more," Demario Douglas said. "I feel like my two years I’ve been losing, and I feel like it’s time to make a change. ... I’m just tired of losing for real.”
"I feel like towards the end of the fourth quarter, some of the guys just give up, and some guys play to the end of the whistle," said Daniel Ekuale.
Said White: "If changes aren't made, then what are we doing? Again, NFL is a production-based business, so if we're not doing anything to change our production, which is loss, what are we doing?"
How's the culture going?
What did Mayo say to the players after this game?
"There’s really nothing good to take out of that game today," he said. "Just the lack of execution. Look, that’s a good football team, and they’re a well-coached football team. We just didn’t play well enough in any phase of the game. No complementary football, and that’s what you get.
"It’s very disappointing, and it comes back to consistency. That’s what it is, consistency."
Even Mayo said it ... one team was well-coached and consistent, although they are one and the same to me.
The other one was not and inconsistent.
Let's also point out that Wolf was probably hiding somewhere as Ladd McConkey — the rookie receiver Wolf passed on in favor of Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker — could not be covered the Patriots to the tune of 8 catches, 94 yards and 2 TDs, and he nearly added another wide-open score but Justin Herbert just missed him in the end zone.
It was a total no-contest from the get-go in every single way — the Patriots were outclassed by the freaking Chargers — and it all starts with the Krafts.
They have to seriously look at all their options this offseason, something they have been doing for many weeks. How does supporting Mayo actually work? Are you going to be able to attract a better offensive coordinator, if the coach enters 2025 on the hotseat? And then you're inviting the possibility that Drake Maye could have his third offensive coordinator in his first three seasons. Who are you hiring for defensive coordinator that can use a scheme Mayo has some input on, when all he knows is the current scheme as a coach and player?
Is there a guarantee any of that looks better next season?
Until they admit their mistakes, and make a decision to seriously invest in their football team in all areas — coaches, front office and players — this seems pointless, and the team feels rudderless.
And it's hard to see it getting better anytime soon.
