The Patriots made no attempt to kill Sunday afternoon and were ultimately sent out to pasture.

New England's chances of winning the Week 9 game at Tennessee appeared slim when Drake Maye and Co. were in desperation mode late in the fourth quarter. The visitors needed a touchdown to draw level with the Titans – a tall order for a team that had only 10 points when the game clock showed double zeros.

But Maye pulled off a magical feat, holding back just long enough to find Rhamondre Stevenson on a floater prayer from five yards out. However, that was where the joy ended for New England as Jerod Mayo took the conservative approach and sent the game into overtime. Tennessee won the coin toss, kicked a field goal after 13 plays and secured the victory on a Maye interception three plays into New England's OT possession.

Certainly, with hindsight, it is easy to say that Mayo made the wrong decision at the end of the regulation. But even in the moment, there were so many factors that suggested a two-point attempt would be the better choice.

First of all, the Patriots had the Titans' defense on the ropes after an 11-play drive that culminated in the wild Maye-Stevenson connection. If he had gone for two, Tennessee's D would have been forced to stay on the field and attempt to make a short-yard stop after being rocked by the rookie QB's stunning score. When New England pushed deep into the red zone again late in the third, the Titans didn't offer much resistance as they tried to keep Stevenson out of the end zone.

By sending the game into extra time, Mayo made a much bigger impact on their chances. Had the Patriots won the toss, Maye would have had to put the offense in scoring position on a day when New England struggled mightily to get the football moving. The Patriots' running game outside of Maye was nonexistent Sunday and the offensive line struggled to protect the 22-year-old from wire to wire. Picking the best red zone play from 2 yards out to win the game seems like a far better option, right?

One could also have predicted that New England would be unable to keep Tennessee off the scoreboard in the extra frame. Mayo called the Patriots' run defense in Nashville “leaky” and the visitors never generated a consistent pass rush to Mason Rudolph. The Titans broke up the Pats in OT, and honestly, Maye and Co. were lucky to even get their hands on the football.

All of this can be summed up in one question: What did New England have to lose? If it had gone for two and scored, it would have won two straight for the first time since 2022, but remained irrelevant in postseason contention. And if it had gone two and failed, it would have improved its position in the 2025 draft.

All in all, Sunday's botch was just another in a series of questionable decisions from Mayo.