FOXBOROUGH - After all that bluster about the Patriots making progress because they didn't get run out of the building in Buffalo before Christmas, the sons of Jerod Mayo reverted to piss-poor form during Saturday's standalone game against the playoff-bound Chargers. The game finished 40-7, and it wasn't that close.
A thoughtful evaluation shows that this team has, in fact, made no progress at all, unable to build on — or even compete — against a team that isn't exceptionally talented. But the Chargers are well coached, compete as if their jobs depend on it, and curb-stomped the Pats back into oblivion, although I'm not sure they had gotten out of there to begin with.
As the fog slowly settled onto the Gillette Stadium turf and this emasculation drew nearer to its conclusion, there were more empty seats than bodies to fill them. Hell, it was 60/40 at kickoff. Needless to say, it didn't get better as the beatdown commenced.
One of the few things that has brought you back week after week has been the play of Drake Maye - Hope in human form. But even the gifted 22-year-old couldn't elevate this offense (181 yards), this team, this organization on a day when damn near the rest of the league was watching. If that doesn't raise the temperature on the front office and coaching staff, what will?
On top of that, Maye got dinged and had to leave the game for a series. It wasn't a quarterback-designed run (I'm against them until this team has a chance to win some meaningful games, i.e., hopefully, next year). Still, it also illustrated Maye's struggles defending himself in the open field. After scrambling, he tucked the ball and ran. The rookie tried to spin near the sideline, and while he avoided the initial defender, he had his back partially turned to the next. Cornerback Cam Hart came in with a shoulder and got a piece of the quarterback's head. It wasn't a dirty play, but it was concerning.
To add insult to injury, Maye had already been ruled out of bounds, short of the sticks. The training staff immediately brought Maye to the blue medical tent and then to the locker room. His eventual return drew cheers, but they were fleeting.
"I think I probably should have just thrown it away," said Maye. "Play the next series. It was third down, so I was trying to get a first, and I guess I stepped out of bounds before, but definitely, the first quarter of the game, third down, my mentality was go get it, but at the same time, you gotta know the situation."
The coaching staff — and Jacoby Brissett — have been fighting that fight with Maye. But it's hard to curb that competitiveness, and that competitiveness paid off on the team's lone touchdown. Maye recognized he had a free play, flinging the ball up there and letting DeMario Douglas do the rest.
"Just give those guys a chance," said Maye of his mentality in the moment. "Pop made a great play."
Of course, it was hard for the Pats offense and Maye to show the world what they were about while sitting on the sidelines. Between missing a series because of in-game concussion protocol and the fact that the Pats' defense couldn't get off the field to save their lives in that first half (Go ahead, keep telling me it's the players and not the coaching on that side of the ball, Jerod), we barely saw Maye.
The Chargers controlled the ball for over 23 minutes and ran 44 plays to the Pats 15, outgaining them 249 to 91. So why did it look like this when Maye and company put together a good stretch against a real team in Buffalo?
"Two different teams, I feel like that showed up with us between this week and last week," said Maye. "Two playoff teams we faced, and we see what we could do against a playoff team last week, and it wasn't there this week. I think (I'll) look back, self-evaluate, and look at myself in the mirror. I definitely left some plays out there... am I doing whatever we need to do to be on the same page and play good football?
By the fourth quarter, Maye had taken so many shots that his accuracy, a decided plus this season, faded. He missed an open Kendrick Bourne in front of the Pats' bench by a country mile, and instead of going for it on fourth down, as they had done twice on the previous drive, Mayo surrendered, sending out the punt team. The crowd didn't enjoy it, and we got our first taste of "Fire Mayo" chants from the closed-end zone side of the stadium.
Despite the lopsided score, Maye remained in the game until late - "I wanna be out there," he told us, pointing to his offensive line remaining in the game and "fighting their butts off." But you could see the weight on Maye's shoulders both at the podium and before getting there, sitting off to the side while teammate Jonathan Jones spoke. The University of North Carolina may not be an elite football program, but it was (is) a winning program, and Maye hasn't done much of that in Foxborough so far. A week ago, he gave a passionate defense of this coaching staff. He was asked about them again tonight.
"I think the biggest thing was you don't see those guys quitting," Maye said. "I think the score may not tell that today, but I feel like the guys are still wanting to win. We're still leaving it out there every week, and I think that was kind of my message to the team. Man, just give it all you got."
With only one more game to play in this lost season, there is nothing that the players - or coaches - on this team can do that should change your opinion of what they are and what they're about (unless they quit). That leaves the larger and more important question in the hands of ownership: run it back with this head coach, or pull the emergency exit lever and start anew knowing, at the very least, you have a quarterback to build around?