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The New England Patriots suffered their 10th loss of the season in Week 13 at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, sending them into their long-awaited bye week on a sour note. While not much was expected of the team this season, fans are paying close attention to first-year head coach Jerod Mayo, who has looked like, well, a first-year head coach for much of the 2024 campaign.
After the Pats and Bill Belichick “amicably” parted ways after the horrific 2023 campaign, Robert Kraft quickly tabbed Mayo as the team's new head coach. While shinier external candidates, such as former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, existed on the market, Mayo had familiarity with the Patriots as a player, and as a coach who helped turn their defense into such a lethal unit over the past few seasons.
These sorts of struggles were to be expected for a rookie head coach who was taking over a very bad roster that was beginning a rebuild, and despite New England actually showing more promise than expected, Mayo has found himself on the hot seat after just 13 games in charge. And while his struggles in some areas are concerning, don't get your hopes up that the team will fire him, because it simply is not going to happen.
Jerod Mayo needs time to get the Patriots on the right track
The primary reason why the Pats and Belichick went their separate ways after the 2023 campaign was because of the state of the team's roster. While Belichick remained an incredible football mind, his ability to evaluate talent had gone sideways. His final few drafts while in charge of New England yielded virtually nothing, which is why the 2023 squad only managed to win a grand total of four games.
A rebuild was necessary for this team, not just when it came to their roster, but also with their coaching staff. Belichick had run the team into the ground, and while it's tough to see the greatest coach in NFL history leave the Patriots in the way that he did, it's what had to happen. It was time to usher in a new era, with Mayo being billed as the guy to lead the team into that new era.
Unfortunately, the hand Mayo got dealt was horrible. Not only is he replacing a legend in Belichick, but the roster he has is almost entirely devoid of talent. New England's front office spent their offseason trying to provide Mayo a base from which he can build off of, but it's clear that this team has a lot of ground to cover before they are a playoff contender once again.
For now, that's resulted in an ugly brand of football being played on a weekly basis. There's no beating around the bush when discussing this team. Their offense is woefully incompetent, as you can make a case that both their pass-catching corps and offensive line are the worst in the league. Defensively, they have taken a massive step back with Belichick no longer being the architect of their game plans on that side of the ball.
Things looked bad regarding this roster entering the year, but they have been dealt some truly brutal luck with injuries as well. Veterans in center David Andrews and linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley both were lost for the year to season-ending injuries within the first month of the season, and star defensive tackle Christian Barmore has only recently suited up for the team after dealing with blood clots back in training camp.
Arguably the only thing that's gone right for Mayo has been his development of rookie quarterback Drake Maye under center. While it was a very risky move to insert Maye into this horrific offense, the third overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft has helped elevate the unit as a whole. Again, it's not leading to wins, but it's tough to not be encouraged with what Maye has shown through his first eight starts.
Simply put, Mayo is not a miracle worker, and while New England has lost several games they very easily could have won this season, there's no need to bash the rookie head coach for his inability to do so. This team was never going to win a Super Bowl this year, so labeling Mayo as a failure because this team has won only three games is simply wrong.
Rebuilds take time, which cannot be stressed enough in a New England sports culture where winning comes before everything. Mayo needs time to figure things out, and that's something Kraft understood when he handed him the keys to the operation. Firing him because he didn't win enough games in a season where the Patriots had one of the worst rosters in the league is not going to happen.
However, serious improvements must be made over the offseason. The offensive line needs to be almost completely overhauled, and Maye needs a true number one receiver to throw the ball to. Getting healthy on both sides of the ball will help too, but the top level talent on this team is missing. Considering five of this team's losses have come by six points or fewer, there's a reason to believe that's the difference between having three wins and having a record around the .500 mark currently.
New England will be armed with a high draft pick and ample cap space this upcoming offseason, and after they largely built the base for this roster last offseason, this time around, they will focus on adding to that base. Mayo must improve tactically as a head coach, but a lot of that has to do with the talent he has at his disposal. Over time, that talent will come to town, and how he fares when that happens will determine how long his tenure in charge of the team ends up lasting.
