The Wheels are officially off in Foxboro
The wheels have officially fallen off in Foxboro. The latest embarrassment for the Patriots seems to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for even the most forgiving of reporters in Boston.
Bill Speros - Boston Herald
Gillette Stadium wasn’t overrun by the Visigoths. Nor did it fall to an invading army. And it wasn’t conquered by rebel forces.
The House of Kraft turned out to be a House of Cards once Tom Brady and Bill Belichick weren’t around to kick anymore.
It followed a path paved by the likes of Kodak, Xerox, the Soviet Union, Bradlees and the Spanish Empire from invincibility to historic footnote.A quarter-century of dominance and intimidation ended in silence.
It succumbed to the Biblical parlay of time, hubris, vanity, and greed.The official time of death came during the Patriots’ loss to Arizona on Sunday.Robert Kraft’s decision to name a neophyte as Belichick’s replacement triggered its own self-destruct mechanism. A non-lethal poison pill.
Especially a rookie head coach whose inability to handle the minimal tasks required of an NFL head coach becomes more glaring each week.
A depressing and scathing review of the Kraft’s mismanagement post Brady. Non of it all that debatable and this season is certainly a nail in this coffin.
Chad Graff - Athletic
But 14 games into a painful season for the Patriots, the hard truth is that Mayo isn’t learning nearly fast enough. His team makes the same mistakes week in and week out. He does, too, forced this week to spend another Monday cleaning up his remarks after another bad loss Sunday.
Teams often take on the personality of their coach, and the Patriots have become repeat offenders of the same weekly mistakes with an undisciplined brand of football. Mayo said he wanted to give his young players more time. Then second-year safety Marte Mapu was a healthy scratch, second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk played 39 percent of the snaps and fellow rookie Javon Baker didn’t play any. Mayo harps on his players being disciplined, only to routinely watch his players take costly penalties (the Pats are the 11th-most-penalized team in the NFL). He emphasizes third downs, only to watch his team consistently struggle there (the Pats are tied for 29th in the league with a third-down conversion rate of 34.3 percent).
We know Gonzalez is really talented. We also know the Pats hit on Maye, who offers a ton of promise if he’s given a better supporting cast.
But we also know that Eliot Wolf’s roster is among the worst in the league and that the Patriots have gotten worse at pretty much every position besides quarterback in the last year. And we know that Mayo’s preparation and coaching aren’t giving his team enough of a boost, even while recognizing the disadvantage he faces when every opposing team has better players.
None of that is going to change with three games left. So buckle up. There will probably be more of this before the offseason blessedly arrives.
“I kind of sound like a broken record standing up here being disappointed after a performance like that,” Mayo said.
Mayo’s post game performances have really hurt him this year. The on field shit shows could almost be forgiven with his inexperience and the terrible roster. But, then he steps in it so often after these losses that he has deteriorated any good will or confidence a coach in his position would have. As a “CEO” head coach with basically zero experience he was supposed to minimally come in and improve the culture. Improve it from Belichick big bad old meany atmosphere into a positive uplifting player friendly environment. Well, that only goes so far when you’re getting your doors blown off and throwing your OC under the bus while disingenuously taking “ownership” for decisions and play that ultimately is his fault. God damnit, he sucks. Just shut up already.
Ben Volin - Boston Globe
The best path forward is for the Krafts to act like fans, which means that every decision should be geared toward getting the most out of Maye, their golden asset.
The Patriots already wasted Maye’s rookie year with inexperienced coaches and little talent. The next two to three years need to be about maximizing Maye’s cheap rookie contract window.
That means the Krafts need to open up their wallets and make first-class hires for their first-class franchise…
Bringing back Mayo, Van Pelt, and the current staff, and hoping they take a massive leap forward in their second year, is too idealistic. Most likely, it’s just wasting another season of Maye’s contract.
Maye’s presence allows for an upgrade. Last year, the Patriots practically had to beg coaches to come be their offensive coordinator. Now coaches are jumping at the chance to coach Maye, who looks like a legit franchise quarterback…
the path forward is becoming clear. Making piece-by-piece changes to the coaching staff isn’t going to work. The Krafts need to move on from everyone, starting with Mayo.
Ultimately, Mr. Volin lays out the most distinct path forward. But, certainly the toughest. As he points out it’s no small thing to fire a 1st year head coach. Especially one you are so personally invested in. However, if they wanted to spin it, Mayo was basically and interim coach because Belichick forced his way out of town a year or two earlier than expected. Most of the front office and defensive staff all stuck around. AVP came in as Head Coach offense and Ben Mcadoo was hired for something, we’re not sure what. But, there are familiar faces all over the joint. A clean slate this year could be an actual clean slate. From the front office down to the Assistant RB coach. Get that stank the fuck up outta here.
Some of the Boston media may see things in a more realistic light. Like who is the most likely scape goat. After Mayo so subtly threw him under the bus after the Arizona loss it doesn’t take much to believe Alex Van Pelt will be the sacrificial lamb here. Don’t get me wrong. He’s earned it.
Andrew Callahan - Boston Herald
Out of 32 teams, the Patriots offense and defense both rank 30th by the opponent-and-situation-adjusted metric, DVOA; meaning they are a bottom-3 team on both sides of the ball.
EPA doesn’t paint a much prettier picture. The defense still ranks 30th, while the offense jumps to 25th, or the eighth-worst ranking in the league. Over the course of the season, the defense has regressed hard, while the offense received a notable boost from Maye, but still can’t escape the bottom 10, dragged down by the NFL’s worst pass-protecting offensive line and a bad receiving corps.
Based on those numbers we should be back talking about shipping everyone out of town. This is the NFL though and offense rules. We can’t be the 3rd worst offense in the league with a good QB and keep your job.
Chris Gasper - Boston Globe
there was no misunderstanding the disapproval cresting from the owner’s box to the head coach’s dais to the players’ locker room in Arizona directed at offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
Their words represented Van Pelt’s Waterloo. There’s no coming back from that degree of public second-guessing. There’s no coming back, period. Admittedly, Van Pelt is handcuffed by what he has to work with, but he’s not the right fit for the head coach/offense role that’s going to make or break the Jerod Mayo regime.
The fastest way to rehab a failing coaching regime is changing coordinators.
Why are the Steelers averaging more points per game (24) than the Chiefs after finishing bottom five in the NFL last season? Did Mike Tomlin become an adopted Shanahan in one offseason? Nope, he hired former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith as his OC.
Mayo needs a proven offensive mind, preferably with head coaching experience, as his co-pilot to prevent his coaching career from crashing. Think Brian Daboll or Mike McCarthy if they’re ousted by the Giants and Cowboys, respectively.
With Van Pelt, there was no continuity to his play-calling, no visible identity, no plan … and, ultimately, no future.
A second season of AVP is DOA.
When Gasper is bashing you, it’s all but over bud. This feels like an article coming from a place of knowledge. AVP is on the chopping block and the flood gates are open. Its open season on OC’s in Foxboro.
Greg Bedard - Boston Sports Journal
In reviewing the film, I was struck by two bigger factors:
- The failure to prepare the offense for what they might see from the Cardinals;
- His plan in this game was way too complicated for a challenged group playing on the road.
We all know about the talent issues along the Patriots' offensive line. They basically have backup-level talent at every position outside of Mike Onwenu, who is starting to play like his old self. That happens in the NFL, just about every week. You don't just throw your hands up and toss in the towel, saying you can't block this week. It's on the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach to determine what exactly the linemen at hand can execute. If that means you can't run everything you want to run, then so be it.
We know the Patriots are not good on offense, but they aren't that bad, especially on the offensive line, and haven't been that bad this season, all things considered
It's just the offensive coordinator hung them out to dry by using blocking schemes that were way too aggressive on the road and against a more complicated opponent than he anticipated.
re-signings regressing is a bad coaching sign.
Mike Onwenu.
Anfernee Jennings.
Joshua Uche.
Kendrick Bourne.
Hunter Henry.
Kyle Dugger.
Jabrill Peppers.
Christian Barmore.
Rhamondre Stevenson.
Jahlani Tavai.Can you make the argument that any of them, besides maybe Henry, has not regressed this season?
Those guys were brought back to be the backbone of this team, the hold-the-fort guys while the young players and additions got up to speed.
And none of them were really that great against the Cardinals. It's Week 15. What are we doing?
Any team that has ever made a turn around after a season like this has shown signs of improvement in the last few weeks of the season. They knock off a team as a spoiler or several key young players are identified as a core. Hell, an identity or core philosophies start to get cemented. None of that is happening outside of Maye and Gonzales look to be very good players. Clearly those two aren’t enough especially when they are held back by poor game plans, bad play calls, and worse leadership from the coaching ranks. The Kraft’s have avoid the elegant solution this time and side with reason here and make the tough call. There are good bonafide options for head coaching candidates this year. Foxboro is a desirably destination with the draft status, QB, and cap space. Everyone seems to see that clearly. Lets hope they do too.