The New England Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins in crushing fashion in Week 12, 34-15, behind Tua Tagovailoa’s solid game. After returning from a Week 8 concussion, Tagovailoa has had a little resurgence, this time finishing 29-40 for 317 yards with four touchdowns. Moreover, the Dolphins quarterback has had the NFL’s highest passer rating since his return. On the other hand, Patriots fans have called for head coach Jerod Mayo to fall on his sword as the team has fallen to a 3-9 record, playoff contention now a pipe dream at this point.
After the game, the coach answered for his team’s lack of defense.
“Hard pill to swallow. We showed some fight at the end which is encouraging. But in this game every single play counts,” Mayo said, via Matt Geagan of CBS News.
However, fight might not be enough now for New England fans furious at the loss, as they continue to deal with the losing of a rebuilding season, particularly after the highs of the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era.
Week 12: Dolphins def. Patriots
Despite their Week 12 loss to the Dolphins, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye remained confident in his team.
“I hate losing more than I really like to win. Losing sucks. What I told some of the guys inside, just remember this feeling. Remember this feeling of really getting our butts whooped. I think it’s only up from here. We got a bright future and bright players in there that are going to make some players for the Patriots,” Maye said.
However, the fans don’t quite share their quarterback’s optimism.
First, the user @PatrickPass35 said, “The sooner they fire Jerod Mayo the better off they’ll be,” while @j0n_12 added, “Other than ‘you can’t fire him after one year’ what other reason is there to bring mayo back? What is he good at?”
Then, @alanm33 even brought in Patriots CEO Robert Kraft to the discussion. This year, the Pro Football Hall of Fame snubbed Kraft of a spot again.
“If Kraft is serious about winning he fires Mayo and does whatever it takes to hire [Detroit Lions offensive coordinator] Ben Johnson. Right now the Patriots are one of the worst coached teams in the league,” he said.
Moreover, even NFL reporter Dov Kleiman got in on the action, posting a video of Mayo’s press conference where he talked about his team’s lapses.
Will they won’t they?
On the other hand, another fan dissented from calling for Mayo’s job.
“Yall saying we gotta fire Mayo must be forgetting that this team was 2-10 after 12 games last year,” the user @PatriotsNV said. “Like yall just gotta accept that this roster is BAD and it’s not realistic to fill all the holes in one offseason.”
If the Patriots decide to part ways with Jerod Mayo, they might do it in the offseason, amid the clamor from fans. A new coach entering a new season would help the team figure out a new system more easily.
