It’s SNF time! New England Patriots vs Houston Texans. On CJ Stroud‘s first drive, his pass to Tank Dell was intercepted. However, things took a different turn immediately as safety Marte Mapu was called for pass interference against Dalton Schultz. The game-extending penalty resulted in a touchdown. Jerod Mayo shouldn’t have accepted that. However, he did.

Mike Reiss reported the situation on X, “In this commercial break, Jerod Mayo calls over referee Ronald Torbert for a conversation. Might be about the illegal shift penalty on Texans and whether to accept/decline the penalty.” It broke the bridge of patience for fans. And their anger came flowing out.

One fan replied to Reiss, “I hope so! Seemed dumb to accept that penalty!” But why is there such an outrage?

In the week 5 game against the Miami Dolphins, the Patriots lost 105 yards to 12 penalties. Their situation was so bad that the NFL intervened and fined one of their players. Defensive end Keion White made 2 personal fouls on the first Phins drive after halftime. For his horse-collar tackle and passer fouls, the NFL fined him $20,000.

Jerod Mayo appeared on The Greg Hill Show after the week 5 game where he took responsibility. While talking about the penalties, he said, “It initially starts with me. And we just have to be better. I will say, going back to some of those penalties that happened in the game, I mean, some of them were questionable.” We understand where those words are coming from. The coach knows that penalties are breaking the rhythm.

Though he must have worked on his defense, things haven’t changed on the field. We might expect a change in strategy, now that fans are trolling him.

Fans angered at Jerod Mayo’s penalty acceptance

Most fans were dumbfounded to see Mayo readily accept the penalty without much thought, asking “Why would they accept that.” The questions didn’t just end there, though.

One fan was surprised why the outcome was a penalty when it should have been a 4th down, “Yeah, what the heck. If that was incomplete, it’s 4th down!!!!.” Cruising on the same thought process, another fan had the same question. Why did the HC went on to accept the ‘insane‘ penalty? “They called it incomplete. Accepting the penalty is insanity.”

Well, Mayo’s take clearly sparked questions about his strategising capabilities. This fan chose to express the same thing: “Mayo has no idea what he is doing.” It’s clear as day that the defense is faltering, and Jerod Mayo has to tweak something immediately.

The Texans didn’t waste time taking advantage of the Pats’ poor defense. At the end of the 1st quarter, they were already ahead with 14-0. In the 2nd quarter, the Pats stepped up their game and scored a touchdown, ending the halftime at 7-14. However, they conceded 6 penalties in halftime. That’s why fans are not happy with Jerod Mayo’s tactics!

Patriots conceded many penalties in the last game against the Dolphins as well. At this point, the HC has to be on his toes if he wants to avoid another defeat. Otherwise, who knows, he might find himself in a Robert Saleh situation with fans disappointed and the team not performing up to par.