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They overrated their defense, displaying hubris about dressing up certain positions via scheme and winning with middle-class talent, Belichick habits that proved tough to kick.
The team re-signed or extended 12 players from last year's team, seven on defense, the unit that was supposed to serve as its backbone. Rewarding that many players from a losing team is unusual. This proves why.
The mistake of relying too much on what's already in place at Patriot Place won't be repeated. It's one of the many harsh lessons that neophytes Mayo and Eliot Wolf, executive vice president of player personnel, have learned in their challenging on-the-job training.
Sorry, disgruntled Patriots fans, it's unlikely that the Mayo-Wolf ticket will be dropkicked from Fort Foxborough. Confidence in the overall plan remains, along with the understanding that this was never billed as a one-year turnaround.
Plus, they've ticked off the most crucial item on the return-to-glory to-do list, nurturing quarterback Drake Maye, The Human Vessel of Hope. The Patriots feel they have The Guy.
Regarding the players the Patriots brought back or granted extensions, the thinking was the team under Belichick had been stingy with second contracts for ostensible core players, partially because of Belichick's parsimony, partially a result of poor drafting. That fueled deals for defensive lineman Christian Barmore, who missed the first 10 games because of blood clots; safety Kyle Dugger; running back Rhamondre Stevenson; and offensive lineman Mike Onwenu.
Playing catch-up with these contracts relative to the rest of the NFL was intended to be part of a needed culture change after Belichick's reign, which the team is tip-toeing around even as he spews caustic criticism of the new regime.
But winning will always be the most effective culture-changer.
A criticism of Belichick at the end of his historic and illustrious tenure as Patriots potentate was that voices besides his were tuned out.
This new regime, perhaps, overcompensated aiming to be more collaborative. The result was some personnel moves that cut from the personnel judgments of Wolf and others in football operations in an aim to help with the transition.
Breaking free from the gravitational pull of Belichick's thinking proved harder than expected. Mayo had only ever worked for Belichick. Wolf cut his teeth in Green Bay and Cleveland before joining the Patriots front office five years ago as a scouting consultant, then ascending to director of scouting in 2022.
A scheme-it-up mentality caught up to the Patriots.
That's most visible on a defense that has regressed, ranking 20th in yards allowed, 20th in points allowed per game (22.5), and 23rd in red zone touchdown percentage allowed. Last year, the defense was top 10 in yards, red-zone defense, and 11th in points allowed (19.3).
The Patriots are overly reliant on the blitz, boasting the fourth-highest blitz rate in the NFL (34.5 percent), yet ranking 27th in pressure rate (30.3 percent), according to NFL Next Gen Stats. This was the calculated risk of trading the team's best pass rusher, Matthew Judon, to the Falcons for a third-round pick instead of granting him a contract extension.
But the team believes its biggest need is upfront on the other side of the ball. An offensive line plan based on a concatenation of best-case scenarios has yielded calamitous results.
Wolf said back in training camp that he believed the team had "the pieces in place to be able to compete." That proved to be about as accurate as "Dewey Defeats Truman."
The Patriots rank second in pressure percentage allowed (41.4 percent). The line draws more flags than an Olympic Opening Ceremony.
The Patriots didn't employ the same offensive line in consecutive weeks until Week 11. It's bad when you cut a player who has started 11 games for you, Michael Jordan.
Wolf pledged at the Scouting Combine in February to "weaponize" the offense. The team took some big swings last offseason at wide receiver (Calvin Ridley, and a potential trade for Brandon Aiyuk) but whiffed because New England is no longer a desirable NFL neighborhood. The Patriots rank last in the league in total offense and second to last in points per game.
A true No. 1 receiver remains a significant need. It's something another 4-13 team that drafted a blockbuster quarterback, the Commanders, had in place in Terry McLaurin, aiding its immediate turnaround. Wolf will have to connect on that this offseason with a target such as Bengals wideout Tee Higgins. The Patriots are projected to have the most cap space in the league.
Mayo has said, "You want to win right now, but at the same time, I think it would be a disservice to go to the end of the season and not know exactly what we have."
But the Patriots face that exact unsettling possibility entering their final four games. The young players drafted at wide receiver (Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker) and along the offensive line (tackle Caedan Wallace and guard Layden Robinson) haven't taken root.
Most disappointing is Polk, envisioned as a plug-and-play receiver. He has registered just 12 catches for 87 yards, sidetracked in part by the Patriots trying to integrate him into all three wide receiver spots -- split end, flanker, and slot -- in training camp.
Making it worse, the Patriots traded out of the 34th pick to take Polk at No. 37. With that original pick the Chargers selected Ladd McConkey, who leads all rookie wide receivers in receiving yards (815).
Shades of N'Keal Harry's selection.
Patriots progress is in short supply and patience from the Foxborough Faithful is out of stock.