It was certainly an interesting Sunday in Foxborough…
On the field, the Patriots (a bunch of backups) re-found their groove to end a bitter season on a high note. A budding young quarterback in Joe Milton III got to strut his stuff and prove to New England (or perhaps others) that he belonged on a 53-man roster. And a sure-fire No. 1 pick slipped away with an ill-timed victory…
Oh, and off the field? The entire course of an organization changed in the blink of an eye once again…
Patriots fired HC Jerod Mayo, league sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/rZUOOoKmVC
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 5, 2025
The Jerod Mayo is over, seemingly before it even began. It will live on only in infamy, and the names “Jerod Mayo” are “Rod Rust” will forever be synonymous. Rust’s lone season in New England was, of course, worse. But Mayo’s was a more spectacular debacle, coming in the social media age and all…
It’s a shame, really.
Ultimately, whoever succeeded the greatest coach — not only in New England history, but in all of football history — was almost certainly doomed to fail. In that way, consider Jerod Mayo your sacrificial lamb, Pats fans…
The timing of the move was surprising to me, albeit the right one. Given Robert Kraft’s long-winded affinity for Mayo, I thought he would at least give him the respect of letting him go at the same time as everybody else on “Black Monday” — if he even fired him at all.
It may not feel like it, but there is something to feel good about here. Not the professional demise of Mayo, a good man thrust into an impossible situation when he clearly wasn’t ready to take the reins yet.
Yes, it was an especially devastating loss given the implications. You can probably kiss any hopes of Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter in silver and blue goodbye now. But really, that’s not on Mayo. Drake Maye barely played, many other starters rested, and players who seldom get the chance to play were presented with what could be the only NFL football game they’ll ever get to play. Players play, and players play to win. It’s an unfortunate outcome, sure, but of all the blame that fairly lies in Mayo’s lap, that’s among the least…
Yet we can take solace in the fact that at least the powers that be decided enough was enough and it was time to pull the plug. At the end of the day, this outcome is almost certainly best for Maye and the future of the franchise. The dark days are still upon us and will likely linger for some time more.
But hey, it’s a step in the right direction — and the Pats did win a football game, after all.
Kraft does right
In announcing his quick trigger in moving on from Mayo, Kraft offered a much-needed mea culpa to New England fans.
To that, I say… kudos, Robert.
Statement from Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft: https://t.co/2YgHtzzBHK pic.twitter.com/GMXGgd768x
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 5, 2025
Kraft fancies himself a fan above all else. He’s earned that right, but as the owner of your favorite team, you’re still subject to criticism when things don’t go right. And there’s plenty that hasn’t gone right for his team…
“We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years. I apologize for that,” Kraft’s statement read in part. “I have given much thought and consideration as to what actions I can take to expedite our return to championship contention and determined this move was the best option at this time.”
He knows it, and instead of letting his pride get in the way, Kraft did the right thing and made a change to a situation that obviously wasn’t working and had a long way to go to even turn a corner.
Kraft listened to you, Patriots fans. That’s more than Cowboys fans can say about Jerry Jones. That’s more than Jets fans can say about Woody Johnson. That’s more than Red Sox fans can say about John Henry… but don’t get me started.
Of course, stopping the bleeding does not equate to healing the wound. It’s the first step, but there’s much work yet to be done. Now, Kraft and Co. have the opportunity to do what they neglected to do this time last year: conduct a thorough and thoughtful search.
Maybe it ends as many of us are hoping with Mike Vrabel’s return. Perhaps it leads to the installation of another up-and-comer like Ben Johnson or a deserving candidate like Brian Flores. Either way, if the Pats take the process seriously this time around, it will almost certainly bear a lot more fruit…
Sox slumber
Twas the week after New Year’s, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring… not even a Chief Baseball Officer.
Is that an overreaction? Yeah, kind of. But it’s hard not to feel like the Red Sox’s offseason has gone ice cold following the signing of Walker Buehler.
I’ll give Craig Breslow credit: so far, he’s done his job on the pitching front. Adding two All-Star caliber starters and a former All-Star closer to the back end of your bullpen isn’t something to sneeze at. Make no mistake, Boston has made substantive changes to its roster in its biggest area of need.
But in the immortal words of Kobe Bryant, the job’s not finished.
The Sox lineup remains sorely in need of a right-handed slugger, something Breslow has struck out on to this point. Sure, that player could wind up being Alex Bregman, but the radio silence is beginning to feel like a bit much.
The longer this goes with Bregman unsigned, the worse it bodes for the Red Sox in my book…
As well we know, the options post-Bregman to make a real splash are narrowing. There’s Pete Alonso and Anthony Santander. Would anyone else at this point qualify as a major “splash” save for a trade? Not in my book…
Here’s hoping this is just a natural lull in the offseason — as Alex Cora recently reminded us, it took them until nearly spring training to reel in J.D. Martinez. Let’s hope that’s the case with Bregman, too.
If and when the Sox add that righty bat, they’re in line for a favorable offseason grade from this assessor. However, if they come up short, I won’t be as inclined to give them a high mark…
Everybody, relax (or don’t)
It appears the demise of the defending world champion Celtics has been greatly exaggerated..
Yes, the Celtics fell short with a woeful fourth-quarter collapse (they scored a paltry 12 points) with a chance to make a statement against a budding Thunder team on Sunday. And yes, that loss was Boston’s fourth in its last eight games to hand the C’s their 10th loss (by comparison, they didn’t lose their 10th game last season until Jan. 19).
But guess what? It’s *checks calendar* only January 6th. That “playoffs" thing? It doesn’t start for four more months…
Also sandwiched in between Sunday’s loss and that stretch of three losses in four games from Dec. 23-29 was three straight pretty decent wins: a franchise-record (for Toronto) whooping of the Raptors and two solid winds against Western Conference contenders in the Timberwolves and Rockets on the road.
I say to you, again: it’s the regular season. Part of the curse of being a perennial championship contender is that the time between the start of the schedule and the beginning of the postseason doesn’t matter all that much.
Sure, you have to play well enough to get there and put yourselves in a good enough position to make some noise. A quick check of the standings finds the Celtics in second place in the East.
They’re fine. Everything’s fine. Barring major injuries or a double-digit losing streak, you can file the Celtics’ season squarely in the “check back in May” category. Despite Adam Silver’s brainchild of the NBA Cup, these in between months are pretty meaningless.
It’s all about Banner 19, which means it’s all about the spring and early summer.
Now, as for the Bruins’ demise? You can go ahead and give that a little bit more concern…
Another uninspired defensive performance on Sunday night led to a 5-4 overtime victory for the Islanders, sealing Boston’s fourth straight defeat. That’s a season-high fourth straight loss for those counting at home… time to fire the coach again?
A bright spot was the re-emergence of David Pastrnak, who logged his second straight two-goal game in as many days after also netting a pair in Saturday’s 6-4 loss at Toronto. Getting Pasta going again is beyond crucial for this B’s team to have a chance.
And yet, a peek at the NHL standings will show you that just like the Celtics, the Bruins are also still in the playoff picture. Boston is third with a three-point lead over Tampa Bay for the third and final Atlantic Division playoff spot.
Unlike the Celtics, though, these Bruins just don’t have the talent to coast to the playoffs. Their goaltending has been their No. 1 flaw, and the defensive chemistry that the team insisted would be there in the early weeks of the season just isn’t taking shape.
The temperature of the rooms after Sunday’s game provided a good juxtaposition of the difference in urgency. In one room, New York’s Anders Lee told me and other assembled reporters that he “thought it was a full team effort. It has to be in this building, it has to be against a team like Boston. The boys brought it, gutted one out.”
A few feet down the hall in the Bruins’ room, goalie Joonas Korpisalo effectively shrugged his shoulders to us when asked if he was surprised by the intensity brought by the Islanders, who themselves came in riding a three-game skid.”
“I don’t have the crystal ball how the game’s going to go beforehand,” he quipped.
Perhaps anticipating a little more fight would have done you some good, Joonas. Korpisalo admitted it wasn’t his best game — which was quite clear from the outset after the easy touch-and-go goal he gave up to Bo Horvat shorthanded just 21 seconds after Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first period.
It’s not Korpi’s fault alone, although he hasn’t helped the cause much of late — let alone Jeremy Swayman. But it remains clear that the B’s are stuck in mediocre mode and the fire they briefly played with upon Joe Sacco’s interim promotion just isn’t there anymore…