The New England Patriots lost in Week 15. This in itself is not news. The Patriots lose most of the time in a 3-11 season destined to end near the top of the 2025 NFL Draft order.
The issue with Sunday’s 30-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals wasn’t that it happened but how it happened. New England’s toothless offense sputtered early en route to a 23-3 fourth quarter deficit. The Patriots didn’t convert a single third down. They gained just 166 yards in the first three quarters. Drake Maye, the rookie quarterback whose big arm and ability to run has given the franchise hope for the future, was mostly contained before garbage time.
Part of the frustration stemmed from a conservative game plan that ran the ball or defaulted to short throws on first down, setting up third-and-long situations to come. Despite his big arm, Maye only threw six passes that traveled more than eight yards downfield. It even seemed to waft up from the field and into the Patriots’ executive suite, where team owner Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan appeared critical of the play calling below.
Someone lip read this. Sure looks like Jonathan Kraft is frustrated by what’s happening down on the field. Shaking his head. Also, it appears he’s scrolling down some notes? pic.twitter.com/V0a9ZTsMNt
— John Zannis (@John_Zannis) December 15, 2024
Ultimately, New England’s comeback hopes were shattered in a sequence where head coach Jerod Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt turned third-and-short inside the Arizona five-yard line into predictable back-to-back handoffs the Cardinals below average run defense were able to stuff for a turnover on downs.
When asked whether he’d considered using Maye, who clocks in at 6-foot-4 for a quarterback sneak or a potential rollout from a mobile threat averaging 9.5 yards per scramble, Mayo deflected blame for arguably not playing to his strengths.
Mayo was asked about not running Drake Maye on 3rd-1 and 4th-1, the reporter said we’ve all seen that Maye can run
Jerod Mayo’s response: “You said it. I didn’t.”
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) December 16, 2024
When asked to clarify, Mayo told reporters “It’s always my decision. I would say the quarterback obviously has a good pair of legs. We just chose not to do it.”
While Van Pelt isn’t above criticism for the league’s 31st-ranked scoring offense, he’s also being graded on a curve. Maye has found ways to shine despite the league’s worst pass blocking. He’s delivered proof of concept as a franchise quarterback for a team whose most targeted players are Hunter Henry, Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte. Handing off to different 230-ish pound running backs in a short yardage situation after they’d combined for 63 yards their previous four carries wasn’t exciting, but it was logical.
A sound bet failed to pay off and Mayo’s frustrations seemed to build until a minor venting at Sunday’s postgame press conference. That’s understandable. He’s a first year head coach who sprouted from Bill Belichick’s coaching tree. Like most of his cohort, he’s struggling with the adjustment and learning on the fly.
Mayo’s comments will spark some morning sports radio takes and confirm what we already know. 2024 is a lost year, a separation that’s found the post-Belichick harvest to be mostly chaff. 2025 will be the reset — the year New England spends and drafts big and tries to take advantage of Maye’s (and Christian Gonzalez’s) inexpensive rookie contracts.
That’ll be the year Mayo’s offhand remarks following a blowout win could actually lead to repercussions. For now, they’re just a frustrated young coach showing a human side after decades of robotic leadership in New England.
Mayo’s comments Sunday didn’t make a ton of sense and initially shifted the blame from the man who ultimately shoulders all of it. They can either be a sign of things to come or a learning experience for a franchise that badly needs the latter.
