COMMENTARY
The 2024 Patriots season came to a merciful end on Sunday afternoon at a chilly Gillette Stadium.
The promise showcased by rookie QB Drake Maye, his ascension as a budding star, and Christian Gonzalez’s lockdown defense were silver linings in an otherwise disastrous campaign for a once-proud NFL franchise.
New England closed out its latest campaign with a 4-13 record — with the Patriots making the call to fire Jerod Mayo just an hour after his players left the field for the final time this season.
It was the ugliest season of football in recent memory for Patriots fans — with a regressing defense, poor coaching, brutal crunch-time management, off-the-field drama, and an ugly offseason compounding 18 weeks of misery in Foxborough.