LONDON — The Jacksonville Jaguars discovered the tip zone for the general week Sunday, this landing making sure the fresh Unused England Patriots loss would lead to blowout model, like such a lot of others. Some 35 yards away, schoolmaster Jerod Mayo got rid of his headset and seemed round Wembley Stadium, at not anything and at the whole thing, left in disbelief via his workforce’s play games.
Mayo took this activity driving a tide of optimism with a franchise that badly wanted exchange upcoming just about a quarter-century beneath Invoice Belichick. Now, seven video games into his tenure, the Patriots are surroundings information for futility now not viewable in many years. They misplaced their 6th instantly recreation Sunday, an old school, 32-16 butt-kicking delivered via a Jaguars workforce that gave the impression at the verge of quitting on its schoolmaster. The Pats hadn’t misplaced that many in a row since 1993.
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Jaguars beat Patriots 32-16 in London as Unused England falters: Takeaways
At the sideline, Mayo seemed like a person bereft of solutions. He will have to had been fuming — a difficult, run-stopping former heart linebacker now training a workforce both unenthusiastic or not able to oppose the run.
A couple of mins after, upcoming the merciful ultimate whistle, Mayo arrived to stand the media with a plan. He known as his Patriots probably the most worst issues soccer avid gamers may also be known as.
“We’re a soft football team across the board,” he mentioned as a part of an unprompted opening observation.
Jerod Mayo obviously pissed off: “We’re a soft football team across the board.” pic.twitter.com/e07iO7eCMa
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) October 20, 2024
Mayo has introduced with him enough quantity of exits from his predecessor and previous professor, however this information convention felt impressive. Belichick would frequently say that video games within the NFL had been misplaced via coaches and received via avid gamers. But Mayo felt the Patriots are in such dire, determined straits that the most productive direction used to be to name his workforce cushy seven video games right into a rebuilding season.
Perhaps it’ll paintings. Perhaps the Patriots will determine the right way to oppose the run, and perhaps calling avid gamers out will encourage them to paintings tougher. Perhaps it’ll support them claw their option to, say, a 5-12 file.
Or perhaps temperatures will proceed to get up for a workforce that knew it wasn’t playoff-ready however anticipated to be a minimum of competent, a workforce this is now left to select up the items amid a temporarily unraveling season.
Throughout that very same information convention, Mayo mentioned the workforce wanted extra from second-round pick out Ja’Lynn Polk, who’s off to a gradual rookie season and coping with a ways too many drops. The 22-year-old receiver had 0 catches on 3 objectives and left the sport past due with a head trauma. Twenty mins after, Polk posted “…” on Instagram with a bliss signal.
Ja’Lynn Polk on Instagram: pic.twitter.com/qqL8iX57wh
— Chris Mason (@ByChrisMason) October 20, 2024
Within the storage room, defensive avid gamers had been unwilling to split unwell their problems towards the run. The Jaguars outrushed the Patriots 171 yards to 38 and four.4 yards in line with elevate to two.5.
“We’ve just got to be better,” mentioned linebacker Jahlani Tavai, whose struggles had been a obese a part of the defect.
The Patriots knew they weren’t taking to be admirable in Mayo’s first 12 months, however they had been assured they might do two issues neatly: run the ball and oppose the run. The extra they might determine, they assumed.
Rather, the Patriots are getting uncovered in exactly the ones two grounds, and it’s retirement them damaged and with out an id. It’s evil when rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s 18 dashing yards fit the overall of Rhamondre Stevenson, the participant you simply passed a profitable guarantee extension to be the workforce’s bell-cow operating again.
In the meantime, the Unused England run protection used to be completely mauled Sunday. The Jaguars seemed around the sequence of scrimmage and noticed a workforce they might bully. At one level, they ran the ball 18 instantly instances and on 23 of 24 performs. And there used to be not anything the Patriots may just do to oppose it. That’s how Jacksonville create a demoralizing 11-minute, 24-second pressure — person who ended, sarcastically, with the Pats preventing them on downs on the 6-yard sequence — that used to be the NFL’s longest ownership in over two years.
That’s almost certainly the extra troubling section. The offense had low expectancies and Maye is appearing plenty go to do business in a little of optimism in the event you take a look at the obese image. However the protection used to be meant to be in excellent fingers, even upcoming Belichick’s escape, due to Mayo.
No matter first-time coordinator DeMarcus Covington is attempting hasn’t labored. So is it week for the top schoolmaster to really enter the that aspect of the ball and change into the defensive play games caller?
“From where I was standing, even when we’re in the right call, (the players) are not doing their jobs,” Mayo mentioned, making it sunlit the place he places the blame.
LIVE: Patriots Postgame Press Meetings:
— Unused England Patriots (@Patriots) October 20, 2024
That’s an enchanting technique for a schoolmaster who temporarily earned a name as a avid gamers’ schoolmaster even though he has driven again on that identify.
At the one hand, perhaps it’s the suitable go for Mayo to place his base unwell and display that it’s now not taking to be all popsicles and pats at the again for his avid gamers. At the alternative, to worry the purpose once more, we’re seven video games into Mayo’s tenure. That’s awfully early to be calling his workforce cushy.
That’s why the drive goes to ramp up on Mayo and his coaches. We all know the roster they’re running with isn’t admirable. There’s free — but deserved — grievance for de facto normal supervisor Eliot Wolf and the entrance workplace for mainly re-signing everybody from a four-win workforce and considering they’d accomplished plenty to unravel the offensive sequence. Nonetheless, the workforce assists in keeping making dumb errors and appears out of solutions as quickly because the opponent makes an adjustment.
The Patriots had a excellent plan out of the gate Sunday and jumped out to a 10-0 govern. They next allowed 25 consecutive issues with out a sunlit plan for turning issues round. Later the primary quarter, Alex Van Pelt’s offense felt stagnant. Covington’s protection can’t oppose the run or sprint the passer.
That leaves the Patriots with out an id and glued on the base of the league. They’re now not simply dropping — they’re additionally getting blown out. They’re now not simply suffering to oppose the run — they’re staring at the Jaguars (the Jaguars!) split information for offensive potency.
Handiest seven video games into the tenure in their brandnew schoolmaster, the Patriots really feel like they’re at a crossroads since the man operating the display simply known as the entire workforce cushy.
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(Picture: Richard Heathcote / Getty Photographs)
