Bill Simmons declares 2024 Patriots as ‘worst-coached team’ in over 30 years

"They play all the hits every week — dumb penalties, drops, special teams mistakes, incredibly poor play calling."

Jerod Mayo's coaching drew the ire of Bill Simmons on Sunday evening. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)

October 21, 2024

2 minutes to read

Bill Simmons has just about had it with the 2024 Patriots.

After New England dropped its sixth-straight game on Sunday via a 32-16 loss to the Jaguars, the longtime Boston sports scribe and founder of “The Ringer” took the Patriots to task on social media. Most of his vitriol was directed toward Jerod Mayo and the team’s coaching staff.

“This is the worst-coached Pats team since Rod Rust. They play all the hits every week — dumb penalties, drops, special teams mistakes, incredibly poor play calling,” Simmons posted on X Sunday. “Each week is worse than the last. You get what you pay for.”

For Patriots fans unaware of Rod Rust, New England went 1-15 during his lone season coaching New England in 1990. It still stands as the worst record in franchise history, although the 2024 Patriots might be in the running for the record books as well.

New England is 1-6 so far this season, with Sunday’s loss to a 1-5 Jaguars team standing as one of the Patriots’ more winnable games left on the docket.

Mayo labeled the Patriots as a “soft” team following Sunday’s loss, but he backtracked on those comments Monday during his weekly radio appearance on WEEI.

When asked on Sunday about struggling rookie wideout Ja’Lynn Polk, Mayo stressed that New England “needs more” from the 2024 second-round pick moving forward. That comment also drew the ire of Simmons online.

“Hey Mayo, we need more from you actually,” Simmons wrote. “Why is your D worse every week? Did Polk jump offside on a PAT to set up a 2 point? Did Polk give up a punt TD? Did Polk call all those (expletive) run plays? You’re only good at throwing shade at everyone else — including the previous coach.”

This is far from the first time that Simmons has taken the Patriots to task this year amid a season of change in Foxborough.

The writing was on the wall during the offseason that the 2024 campaign was going to be painful for the Patriots. Not only did the Patriots fail to significantly upgrade their offensive line, the team also whiffed on several top free-agent targets like Calvin Ridley.

“I’m trying to figure out what the Patriots are doing. Right now, they have the most money to spend of any team in the league, but free agency’s basically over,” Simmons bemoaned on YouTube in March, adding: “They’re the cheapest team in the last 10 years for spending. And I guess my question is, is this just going to be the Patriots until Bob Kraft dies? Just super cheap.”

New England does have optimism for the future based on the encouraging play of Drake Maye over the last two weeks.

But much to Simmons and other Patriots fans’ chagrin, New England might still be a few years away from reasserting itself as a contender in the NFL landscape.