The Patriots are only consistent in one facet this season: finding new ways to lose.

Coming off a last-minute, heartbreaking loss to the Colts and entering their bye, the Patriots have shown improvement on offense but seem to only be getting worse on defense.

Patriots fans have a lot of questions about coaching for this week’s mailbag. Let’s try to answer them.

Related Articles

Patriots film review: Drake Maye makes a critical leap and more Colts loss takeaways

Patriots feel positively about non-Drake Maye rookie after loss to Colts

Why does Jerod Mayo keep talking in hypotheticals following Patriots losses?

What Jerod Mayo regrets saying after Patriots’ loss to Colts

Callahan: Patriots defense missed Bill Belichick more than ever in Colts loss

@engessados_
At this point, do you think the defense is a bigger issue than OL?

Yes, no question.

At least the offensive line has an excuse for struggling. The front office didn’t do enough to address the unit, five of the nine players on the roster were either claimed off waivers or signed off of a practice squad, and one is a rookie. That leaves Vederian Lowe, who was acquired for a sixth-round pick last year, Mike Onwenu, the best player in the unit, and Sidy Sow, a 2023 fourth-round pick who has started just one game this season.

It’s no wonder that the group ranks among the worst in the NFL, but at least they’ve shown some improvement at times this season. They blocked well in the running game on Sunday, and they allowed their second-lowest pressure rate of the season. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. They were also flagged five times for holding and allowed four sacks, but they’re pretty much playing to expectation given the overall talent.

The defense actually has talent, and they played well last year with a similar set of players. Nine of the 11-leading snap-getters from last season were on the field Sunday: Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers, Jahlani Tavai, Christian Barmore, Jonathan Jones, Davon Godchaux, Anfernee Jennings, Deatrich Wise Jr. and Keion White. The only two who were missing were Ja’Whaun Bentley, who’s on injured reserve, and Myles Bryant, who’s on the Texans. And that group didn’t include Christian Gonzalez and Marcus Jones, both of whom missed most of last season and are back healthy this year.

So, how did the defense get so much worse this season? You have to blame it on coaching, whether that’s Jerod Mayo replacing Bill Belichick at head coach or DeMarcus Covington replacing Steve Belichick as the defensive play-caller.

And it’s not as if the Belichicks are coming back. So, the concern with the defense is now how it gets better. It would make sense for Mayo to take on a bigger role, since he shared coordinator duties with Steve Belichick last season, whether Covington is back or not next season.

@cstandrew23
In your opinion, what does this offseason look like?

Load up to build around Drake Maye and prove that Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf should keep their jobs in 2026 and beyond.

The Patriots have a ton of salary cap space. They need to use it to prove they can be competitive.

@patrickridner
Do you think AVP has shown enough to warrant another season as OC?

I believe so, yes.

I know there are complaints about Alex Van Pelt’s play-calling, but he’s helping to develop Maye, and the offense is at least showing improvement.

@nexusothecrisis
What specifically have Wolf and Mayo done to earn a second year in their roles?

Eliot Wolf drafted someone who appears to be a franchise quarterback, and let’s not pretend like that was an obvious decision, because there were competitive offers to trade down, but he didn’t take them.

And the Patriots were pretty clearly saving salary cap space for this offseason, when they would have a chance to truly built up a competitive team. I think it’s unfair to fully judge Wolf based on one offseason.

As for Mayo, the Krafts knew he was inexperienced when they hired him. Clearly, ownership believes in Mayo, so the hope is that he’ll continue to grow into the role.

@bendoody
1. Do you think it’s a safe assumption that Mayo will be back next year? 2. If so, what kind of bar do you think he’ll need to clear next year in order to be back in 2026?

Yes, I do think it’s a safe assumption that Mayo will be back in 2025.

I think the Patriots will need to show mensurable improvement in 2025 for him to be guaranteed to return in 2026. There’s a lot at stake to be competitive while Maye is still on a rookie contract.

@Faydster
Who would you like to see the Patriots draft in April?

The best player. I know that’s a cop-out, but the Patriots can’t be worried about drafting for need. No team in the NFL has more needs than the Patriots.

@tmita63.bsky.social‬
Should the Patriots fire Mayo and promote Van Pelt to HC thus keeping continuity for Maye while also allowing the team to hire a better D coordinator?

Let’s not get crazy.

@larrygr.bsky.social‬
Will Strange play again? Any reason to think Polk will contribute anytime soon?

The Patriots said last week that Cole Strange is expected to play at some point this season. It’s unclear if he’ll start, however. Layden Robinson started at left guard on Sunday, and the Patriots don’t seem to be in a hurry to remove Ben Brown as the starting center.

And it’s crazy how unproductive Ja’Lynn Polk has been this season, because Maye is pretty good at spreading the ball around to anyone who’s not Polk or Javon Baker.

At this point, no, there’s not really a reason to think that Polk will contribute anytime soon. Maybe he’ll pop off unexpectedly, but there’s no reason to anticipate it. That’s a goal next week when the Patriost are back at Gillette Stadium: asking Mayo and Van Pelt why Polk isn’t getting targeted and why he’s not catching balls when they are coming his way.