Patriots coach Jerod Mayo explains his late-game decisions in loss to Colts
Mayo elected not to burn his timeouts on Indianapolis' final drive, but got the ball back with only 12 seconds left as a result.
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As the Indianapolis Colts drove down the field late in the game, burning the clock as they cut through the Patriots defense, rookie head coach Jerod Mayo was faced with a major decision.
New England could have started burning timeouts defensively to preserve more time on the clock for its offense, or kept the timeouts on hand to get more chances to stop the clock on its final drive.
Mayo opted for the latter, but wound up in the least desirable outcome. The Patriots did have a pair of timeouts to work with on their final drive, but only 12 seconds of game clock.
After the game, Mayo addressed the decision to not spend his timeouts on the Colts’ drive.
“Absolutely, there was a thought,” Mayo told reporters. “We have also won a Super Bowl here doing it the other way. Keeping our timeouts is what I thought was best for our team.”
The extra timeouts did some good for New England’s offense, allowing quarterback Drake Maye to complete two passes over the middle to get to midfield with one second remaining. Then came another major decision late: Hail Mary, or NFL record-long field goal?
Mayo went with option No. 2, a 68-yard attempt for Patriots kicker Joey Slye. Slye has shown off his power before, having nailed a 62-yard field goal earlier this season. He also connected from 62 yards in warmups Sunday.
However, beating out the longest kick in NFL history (which barely bounced over the crossbar and in from 66 yards) would have been a tall task. Slye gave it his best effort and was accurate, but came up a few yards short on the miracle attempt.
“That was 100 percent me,” Mayo said of the decision to attempt the kick. “Look, Slye was hitting it well in pregame, and I felt that was the best thing to do to help our team win the football game. Not sure what the numbers are on Hail Marys versus the field goal there, but that’s what I felt was right.”
ESPN stats showed that Slye’s 68-yard attempt was the longest attempted field goal since 2021, when the Cardinals sent out Matt Prater for a kick of the same distance to end the first half.
Mayo also had the chance to put Indianapolis in a bad spot after a third and 10 pass that appeared to hit the ground before being caught by the Colts’ Will Mallory. Mayo didn’t challenge the play, which would have put Indianapolis in a fourth and 10 on their side of the field.
“We were waiting to see the replay,” Mayo said. “Never really got a clear shot of it, so I didn’t challenge it.”
Mayo was successful on a challenge earlier in the game, but has only challenged two plays all season long.
Ultimately, none of Mayo’s decisions went the Patriots’ way, and New England fell to 3-10, falling just short in its most winnable game remaining on the schedule.
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