🤮 A putrid Pats performance

Good Morning, Boston.

On this day in 2002 … The Red Sox made arguably the most important hire in their team’s history: tabbing 28-year-old Theo Epstein as their general manager. What he lacked in age he more than made up for in ingenuity — architecting two World Series champions with the Sox before helping the Cubs end their 108-year-old title drought in 2016. Call him “The Curse-Breaker.”

WHAT’S ON TAP TODAY:

JB drops science — and 3s

Frederick Flips meets Speed

Hall of Fame stiff-arms Robert Kraft

LET’S GET INTO IT…

LEADING OFF

Time for Plan B?

Jerod Mayo’s Patriots just hit a new low. Sunday’s 34-15 loss to the Dolphins was a “burn the tape” performance for Mayo’s crew. The Pats didn’t do anything well: block, tackle, run the ball, play with discipline. Anything. We knew they’d be bad — maybe even this bad — but it’s still hard to watch. So it’s not surprising that fans are calling this one of the worst-coached teams in Pats history. Could it lead to some consequences? 

Mayo’s in some bad company. As former Pats coach Bill Parcells used to say: “You are what your record says you are.” At 3-9, there are only so many silver linings Patriots fans can point to. Some even claim Mayo’s as bad as Rod Rust, who was fired after one 1-15 campaign with the Pats in 1990. While that’s not entirely fair, being better than Rust is a low bar to clear.

But there’s hope it can get better. You know who else had a rough first season as a Patriots head coach? Bill Belichick, who went 5-11 in 2000 with a veteran roster that had just gone 8-8 the season before. It was a stronger foundation than the 4-13 squad he handed down to Mayo by all accounts. That’s not to say Mayo will replicate Belichick’s career success after that first year, but that doesn’t mean he can’t or won’t improve. 

Mayo’s probably not going anywhere this year. Despite the speculation about rookie head coach’s job status, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini has reported Mayo’s job is safe for 2025 — for now, anyway. Drake Maye’s development into a potential star and Christian Gonzalez’s emergence as a top-flight cornerback stand out as positives for the coaching staff. Also, it’s hard to believe Robert Kraft would torpedo his long-awaited vision for Mayo after one (expected) poor season.

But he’ll be under heavy pressure in 2025. Not unlike his young QB, Mayo says he expects himself to take a big leap as a coach from Year 1 to Year 2. If the Patriots spend the major free-agent dollars they’re expected to and bolster their offense in the draft, the 2025 team should be much better than this. That means Mayo will need to graduate from coaching to “not lose” to coaching “to win.” If next year’s squad remains as undisciplined and passive as this one, Mayo won’t make it to 2026.

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick hits & headlines

🧪 Jaylen Brown, meet Bill Nye the Science Guy. The Celtics star got his wish to meet the longtime science education personality after Boston’s NBA Cup win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. Maybe Bill can break down the physics behind Brown’s 3-point barrage in Sunday’s 107-105 win over the Timberwolves.

🦅 BC earns bowl game bid with thumping of UNC. No heart-stopping finish needed this time. The Eagles wiped the floor with the Tar Heels 41-21 on Saturday and ensured they’d be bowl-eligible for the fifth time in six years. Maybe our extremely excitable BC superfans are right to be bullish on this team’s future.

❌ Robert Kraft shut out of the Hall of Fame. The Patriots owner was passed over by the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s contributor’s committee for the 13th straight year, according to ESPN. Keeping Kraft out while letting in bumbling, annoying Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — who has three fewer rings than Kraft, by the way — is … a choice.

🏒 Bruins win first two games without Jim Montgomery. Interim coach Joe Sacco’s “keep it simple” and “create chaos” messages have spurred Boston to a pair of one-goal wins. Meanwhile, don’t feel too bad for Montgomery: he got hired as the new coach of the St. Louis Blues yesterday morning. Call it a win-win.

🏅 Frederick Richard takes influencer to flipping school. The Stoughton-born Olympic medalist gave iShowSpeed and his 33 million YouTube followers some gymnastics lessons a few weeks after Speed dueled Noah Lyles in a short sprint. That sound you just heard is thousands of young men front-flipping onto some mattresses at the same time.

POLL

🤔 Do you think Robert Kraft deserves to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Big Papi’s Pitch

GAME … SET … MEME

No chill

🤨 The Patriots’ social team tried out the “Chill Guy” meme, but ... it hit about as hard as the Pats defense did against the Dolphins. Showed more effort, though.

🗞 That’s a wrap. I’m tuning in for the smug comments Bill Belichick makes about this latest Patriots loss on his 452 media obligations this week.

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