Patriots Take Another Huge Step Back in 40-7 Blowout to Chargers

Six days after going toe-to-toe with the Bills, the Patriots suffered their second blowout loss in three weeks in a 40-7 beatdown to the Chargers.

The few fans who braved the elements in Foxboro were rewarded with the team’s worst performance this season. It wasn’t head coach Jerod Mayo’s first double-digit defeat, but it was the first that never felt within reach.

“This is what I told the players, there’s really nothing good to take out of that game today,” the head coach said to open his postgame presser. “Just the lack of execution. Look, that’s a good football team, and they’re a well-coached football team. We just didn’t play well enough in any phase of the game. No complementary football, and that’s what you get.”

Losing Christian Gonzalez (concussion) in the second quarter was a tough blow, as was Drake Maye missing a series due to a suspected concussion. The team also had an odd schedule due to Christmas and a Saturday game. Still, neither hurdle justifies this afternoon’s embarrassing effort.

LA possessed the ball for a whopping 40:34 minutes and didn’t commit a turnover. New England only turned the ball over once but did so in brutal fashion.

“We’ve practiced the play for a long time,” Maye explained postgame. “I felt like we were executing it well. They happened to bring the nickel off the edge … right by Pop [Douglas], and that’s unfortunate… I’ve got to give him a better ball to catch. That falls back on me. I think Pop readjusted his [path] a little bit, because of the blitzer off the edge … but we just have to give him a chance. Can’t turn the ball over.”

The botch was the offense’s biggest lowlight, but it only compounded poor offensive line play and overall execution.

The Patriots had four three-and-outs and a pair of four-play series that ended on downs. This sharply contrasted the Chargers’ four 10-plus-play scoring drives, two of which came in the 2nd half before Justin Herbert was pulled. LA also went 10-17 on third down and 2-2 on fourth down, while New England went just 2-10 on third downs and 0-3 on fourth downs.

“We seem to be a team that — we get no momentum early, we don’t know how to fight back,” Jonathan Jones said after the game. 

Veteran defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale was even more blunt while speaking to The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan.

“I feel like towards the end of the 4th quarter, some of the guys just give up, and some guys play to the end of the whistle,” Ekuale said. “To speak for myself, I’ve seen a lot of stuff out there. It feels like a lot of guys start giving up when things get hard.”

Mayo’s job security has been a hot topic for weeks, but reports indicated he was safe, barring “some sort of calamity” to end the season. But players become more vocally frustrated, a red flag for any locker room, but Mayo’s contributions are hard to pinpoint while his errors are glaring, both on and off the field. 

Before kickoff, the head coach told 98.5 that Antonio Gibson would start in place of Rhamondre Stevenson, who lost his third fumble in Buffalo. Not only did Stevenson start the game and retain his lead-back role, but Gibson told ABC’s Nick Coit he was never even told he’d be starting.

Making matters even worse, according to color announcer Ross Tucker, Mayo told NFL Network’s broadcasting team that Gibson would get the nod “because they wanted to send a message about accountability and about how important ball security is.” Mayo declined to elaborate on the mixed messaging, calling the move “a coach’s decision.”

If you want to play devil’s advocate for Mayo, you could point to Dan Campbell’s 3-10-1 campaign during his first season in Detroit. The Lions won three of their final seven but were blown out 51-29 in their penultimate game. So clearly, losing as a rookie head coach with a bad roster isn’t a fireable offense on its own.

That said, Mayo vowed to have the team playing its best ball late and for improvements to be made post-bye week. As impressive as New England looked against the Bills, that game was sandwiched between arguably their worst efforts this season, and the team still lacks an identity on both sides of the ball. Mayo also continues to make comments that reflect poorly on his behind-the-scenes communication and the organization as a whole.

Firing a head coach after one year, especially one hand-picked by ownership, might be asking too much. But if Mayo does return in 2025, the coaching staff, especially on defense, needs a significant overhaul. Mayo must also do some soul-searching and prove he’s worthy of the faith given to him by Robert Kraft. That will start with finishing strong in next week’s rematch against Buffalo.