Hold the Mayo? Evaluating Patriots coaching.

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Its a thing as evidenced by folks posting in multiple threads with critiques of strategy, decision making etc.

I am of the mind that Mayo deserves a bit of runway to figure things out and this roster is pretty barren of talent so its tough to determine if some issues are coaching or capability. Others have seen enough to say he isn't the next great Pats HC.

Lets have at it here, all in one spot. What say you?

 

[PC Drunken Friar]

His mismanagement of the clock in week 2 was atrocious and cost them the game. I will give him a lot of slack, though.

 

[Eck'sSneakyCheese]

Having to overcome an already questionable oline being decimated by injuries isn't helping anything. Having the defense lose Barmore, Bentley and now Dugger is almost as equally diminishing that side of the ball. Did I like not going for it on 4th and 3 in the 1st quarter? No. Did I understand the trepidation? Oh yeah. Not looking to give the Niners great field position on their first drive when ST and defense has been the better parts of the team. Pin them deep, look to get a turnover, convert 3rd downs. Yeah its conservative but hes playing the hand hes been dealt. Was I all in on having Slye try a 63 yard FG? Nope. That worked out pretty well though. Given the roster as it currently stands and the decision to play Jacoby over Maye which may or may not fall on Mayo and the coaches its just not fair to assess at this point. The team is playing hard. The offense has had good gameplans but the execution is miserable. WRs are open. The defense has been pretty good considering the personnel losses. I'd love for someone to go back through last years game threads and look at how many times Bill was questioned for being conservative. I'd say we're on par. I haven't seen anything egregious that would make me think or say hes in over his head. It's still the honeymoon phase for me.

 

[RG33]

The fact that he has this team playing hard, the D stepping up and ST much better than last year already, is proof enough for me that he knows what he is doing broadly. I’ll give him a lot more slack around clock management and the other nuances until he has a season or 2 under his belt.

 

[lars10]

At this point it's really hard to tell where bad coaching begins and lack of talent/injuries ends.

The first week raised expectations a smidge, but was just a factor of Cincy being a train wreck.

They weren't going to win anything this year...what do they do with their cap space and draft next year? And can they get any injury luck at all?

edit: with that said the play calling has been absolutely vanilla - the OL isn't helping, but the QB and some of the play calls are glacially slow, especially with what we've been used to over the Brady years. From observation Brissett is not seeing open receivers/tapping the ball/holding onto it far too long..while at other times having zero time. The play calling has also been extremely easy to predict outside of two or three surprise plays.

 

[Eric Fernsten's Disco Mustache]

Dunno that I have a ton to add that hasn't been said, except maybe this piece:

When you take a job of new, and larger, and different responsibilities you gotta do them for a little while before you get clear about which of them you're better and worse at. As well as which of the important ones you'll do without outside prodding vs. which ones you know you only reliably do if someone/thing comes along and prods you.

Getting enough experience to have clarity about the right answers to those questions is a huge help in building a staff. Everyone who is worth their salt in leadership tries to bring in people who are better than them at a bunch of important stuff. Along with people who will prod them when they and the group need to be prodded.

Mayo may have some sense of what his answers are to all of this from his assistant coaching days. But he's probably going to learn a bunch more this year.

(For example: is clock management where Mayo excels? is it where AVP excels? If the answer is 'neither' than Mayo has gotta get clear on that and find someone who excels at it).

Now if Mayo has poor judgment, or is dishonest with himself about himself, or is controlling and intolerant of other people being better than him at stuff... well... this is going to go worse than it might on a bunch of levels. Regardless of his coaching chops

But even in the scenario where he's strong at all those things he's still going to need time to get clearer about what the ideal staff around him looks like, and then to go build that team.

In a Hollywood movie would be a ragtag group of misfits who are just thrown together at random. In real life, not so much. And only some of that future group may be the people he's got now.

 

[Bertha]

Part of the complaints stem from him being too honest in press conferences. We appreciate an open book, while simultaneously cringing that he said some of those things out loud. He clearly misplayed the messaging of Brissett vs maye, as one example.

 

[Jinhocho]

Part of the complaints stem from him being too honest in press conferences. We appreciate an open book, while simultaneously cringing that he said some of those things out loud. He clearly misplayed the messaging of Brissett vs maye, as one example.

Wild how one minute he says Maye has been better than Brissett or its competition and Maye has come on strong in camp and then seems surprised people keep asking him about it. Simply saying, "Brissett is our QB. Right now he gives us the best chance to win. We are constantly evaluating every position on the roster, but we appreciate Jacoby's veteran presence and leadership while also being excited at Drake development from week to week" would probably be fine.

I think for a great communicator his catering to our awful media is well...awful and counterproductive lol. Is it a dealbreaker hell no. That being said, I hope he cleans it up.

I think he is hard to evaluate on other things because he is such a blank slate as a coach. Has there ever been a guy who had never been a head coach at any level or never called plays as a coordinator and with as thin a coaching resume as Mayo hired in the NFL?

 

[SMU_Sox]

It’s a green front office, green head coach, and a lot of coordinators and coaches new to their responsibilities. They lost 3 of their better defenders: Judon traded, Barmore and Bentley to injury. They have a patchwork offensive line that was bad to begin with. The offense is almost completely devoid of talent. They can’t run block or pass block and they aren’t getting open at the rates you want. Their QB is a lower tier starter who is really a great backup and bridge type. This is going to be messy for a bit. Hopefully things start to get better by the end of the year and into next year. Until then we need to wait.

 

[j-man]

the only bad thing about mayo is the kraft decided 5 years ago he was the guy and that is not his fauit i fear kraft will only give him 2 years when he needs at least 3 u can make a case NE has the least amount of talent in the NFL that needs 2-3 years to fix

after 4 games he looks like Vance Joseph 2.0 that had such a bad first 2 years that elway did not give him a 3rd and its sit us back and now he is a top 10 DC

 

[luckiestman]

It has not been good.

The guy is weird… “Young Thundercat”? Give me a fucking break.

That said, this roster is so bad, it’s not really fair to judge him. People were clowning Campbell too.

NFL is cruel though. I thought Todd Bowles got a raw deal with bad players and glad he caught on again. I thought Herm sucked with good players and he got to retread.

 

[SMU_Sox]

The guy is weird… “Young Thundercat”? Give me a fucking break.

That said, this roster is so bad, it’s not really fair to judge him. People were clowning Campbell too.

NFL is cruel though. I thought Todd Bowles got a raw deal with bad players and glad he caught on again. I thought Herm sucked with good players and he got to retread.

100% agree with Bowles deserving another shot. So happy for him. Herm helped give us N'Keal Harry so... two middle fingers up//thumbs-down from us and from you?

Retreads outperform first-time hires.

People clowned on Quinn and KK too. Now, granted, they have faced a joke slate of defenses but Washington is 3-1 and Daniels looks great (under hardly any press). Quinn was a 2nd choice and people were talking about when Washington would dump him for Ben Johnson or someone offensive minded. Now, yes, it is early and this could change fast but it is just a reminder that we don't know diddly (or Diddy as it turns out).

 

[Reverend]

It’s a green front office, green head coach, and a lot of coordinators and coaches new to their responsibilities. They lost 3 of their better defenders: Judon traded, Barmore and Bentley to injury. They have a patchwork offensive line that was bad to begin with. The offense is almost completely devoid of talent. They can’t run block or pass block and they aren’t getting open at the rates you want. Their QB is a lower tier starter who is really a great backup and bridge type. This is going to be messy for a bit. Hopefully things start to get better by the end of the year and into next year. Until then we need to wait.

The Aristocrats!!

 

[8slim]

Being a head coach is incredibly difficult job. Certainly the most difficult coaching job in sports.

There was no way that Mayo wasn’t going to experience an utterly massive learning curve. Couple that with a roster that is generally awful and the guy faces lonnng odds that he’ll be successful here.

This season was doomed to be terrible before it started. I’m trying not to spend much time picking apart Mayo’s performance. Hopefully he’s learning and will be better next year.

 

[lexrageorge]

This rebuild was always going to be a 3-5 year effort. The roster talent on offense is not that much better than the 1992 team that went 2-14. Mayo is only 4 games in, with the last 2 being around an 11 in terms of degree of difficulty. Jets were not going to spoil Aaron Rodgers return in front of the home fans, and the short week ensured that. And the far more talented 49'ers were dealing with their own "must win" situation at home.

Bill Belichick made some in-game coaching decisions that many of us here found baffling last season. That's what a bad roster does. Let's see how the coaching staff does as the season progresses.

 

[SMU_Sox]

The Aristocrats!!

I was talking about how much I loved George Carlin's standup once and someone asked me if I had seen the Aristocrats. I said yes, why? Then they asked me a follow-up question about it that confused me. You see, I didn't know what the Aristocrats was. I thought they were asking me if I saw the 1970 animated classic The Aristocats. But yeah if one were to do some standup on the 2024 Pats season your joke might work... sadly.

 

[luckiestman]

I was talking about how much I loved George Carlin's standup once and someone asked me if I had seen the Aristocrats. I said yes, why? Then they asked me a follow-up question about it that confused me. You see, I didn't know what the Aristocrats was. I thought they were asking me if I saw the 1970 animated classic The Aristocats. But yeah if one were to do some standup on the 2024 Pats season your joke might work... sadly.

Watch Gilbert and Sarah Silverman parts and you’ll be good to go

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

For the people grinding on AVP in the goat thread; both Miami and Seattle have aped the slot receiver lateral that the Pats ran yesterday.

 

[Justthetippett]

For the people grinding on AVP in the goat thread; both Miami and Seattle have aped the slot receiver lateral that the Pats ran yesterday.

Yeah but did they mix in a block in the back? That really pulls the play together.

Joking aside, easy uncontested downfield laterals could feature a lot more, particularly on the plus side of the field.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

No opinion yet.

Except for the stupid ass hard counts. It's been 4 games and I've already seen it half a dozen times.

We get it. You have a better chance of gaining yards from a penalty than an offensive play.

But cut it out.

 

[Hoya81]

This rebuild was always going to be a 3-5 year effort. The roster talent on offense is not that much better than the 1992 team that went 2-14. Mayo is only 4 games in, with the last 2 being around an 11 in terms of degree of difficulty. Jets were not going to spoil Aaron Rodgers return in front of the home fans, and the short week ensured that. And the far more talented 49'ers were dealing with their own "must win" situation at home.

Bill Belichick made some in-game coaching decisions that many of us here found baffling last season. That's what a bad roster does. Let's see how the coaching staff does as the season progresses.

I disagree on the ‘92 team, which had some established skill players on offense, Bruce Armstrong at LT, and a number of rookies and 2nd year players who were big contributors to the Parcells era teams (Coates, Sam Gash, Kevin Turner). They could have been average-ish if the QB position hadn’t been such a black hole. 4 different QBs started games; Hugh Millen, Tom Hodson and Jeff Carlson went 0-12, while Zolak managed to go 2-2.

 

[streeter88]

They've been pretty good at avoiding penalties - best in the league at 4 per game, and 172 yards penalised is top 6. Note only 5 total pre-snap penalties as well (source: Team Penalties Rankings 2024 - nflpenalties.com)

As well, despite Rham's rash of fumbles, the Patriots sit at +/- 0 after 4 games (Rham recovering his own fumbles, but also fewer INTs).
(Turnover Differential 2024 footballdb.com)

And someone has already mentioned special teams play - that has been very good so far. Loved the 63 yarder!

 

[Eddie Jurak]

Mayo and the whole staff are obviously at the bottom of what is hopefully (but there are no guarantees) a steep learning curve. Between personnel and new staff it has looked rough.

If there is one single thing that bothers me it is what seems like Mayo's constant stream of verbal diarrhea, especially when he discusses the QBs.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

For the people grinding on AVP in the goat thread; both Miami and Seattle have aped the slot receiver lateral that the Pats ran yesterday.

Detroit did it against Arizona before New England did it

 

[loshjott]

We've really entered the looking glass when Pats fans are criticizing how their HC conducts press conferences.

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

Detroit did it against Arizona before New England did it

Not quite the same thing. Miami and Seattle ran the exact same play as the Pats which was more of a throwback than a hook and ladder.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

Mayo and the whole staff are obviously at the bottom of what is hopefully (but there are no guarantees) a steep learning curve. Between personnel and new staff it has looked rough.

If there is one single thing that bothers me it is what seems like Mayo's constant stream of verbal diarrhea, especially when he discusses the QBs.

this is clearly just who he is. From the cringey jokes at the introductory press conference to the “burn cash” stuff early on in the off-season. He has a very off the cuff style which some fans seem to really like since it’s the exact opposite of BB’s dour never give any info style

 

[TomRicardo]

I don't get how Scott Peters is failing so badly. The line simply can't identify different defenses and react. It isn't really a lack of physical skill more so leaving gaps wide open. Are the lineman on the roster incapable of understanding the basics of blocking?

 

[lexrageorge]

I don't get how Scott Peters is failing so badly. The line simply can't identify different defenses and react. It isn't really a lack of physical skill more so leaving gaps wide open. Are the lineman on the roster incapable of understanding the basics of blocking?

Talent matters, and the talent just is not there. Part of the talent of an OL is to read and react, and plenty of physically skilled OL never get out of training camp because they cannot read and react to NFL defenders.

 

[Eric Fernsten's Disco Mustache]

If there is one single thing that bothers me it is what seems like Mayo's constant stream of verbal diarrhea, especially when he discusses the QBs.

this is clearly just who he is... He has a very off the cuff style which some fans seem to really like since it’s the exact opposite of BB’s dour never give any info style

So I'm in the camp that doesn't have a strong point of view on Mayo's approach to the press one way or another. In part because I can't tell if it impacts winning in any way.

Lots of people who comment about sports for a living-- and whose business model involves attracting attention to themselves-- can take the stance that the most significant thing about what's happening with a team is some sentence or two from a press conference. In part because we on the outside aren't part of what happens in the team meetings, and practices, and the locker room. So what is visible gets hyped.

But the team is around Mayo all the time. Most of these guys have known him for years. My guess is they don't need to parse his sentences in press conferences to try and figure out what he thinks or where they stand. My guess is, if anything, he's even less filtered when he's around just the players and his coaches. And if the dynamic between the HC and the team is in a good place, I'm not sure whether it should matter to the rest of us who in the outside world likes his style and who doesn't.

Leave aside wild speculation and guessing at what's going on in other peoples' heads for a second. Honest question: Do we have any evidence or reason to believe that Mayo running his mouth makes the team less competitive in some way?

 

[Eric Fernsten's Disco Mustache]

I don't get how Scott Peters is failing so badly

Talent matters, and the talent just is not there.

This is maybe for the OLine thread, but those media stories from preseason about "Hey, I'm teaching them jiu-jitsiu!" have really not aged well. Like, f*ck jiu-jitsiu. How about you teach them to recognize, communicate, and pick up the blitz?

This may be unfair, if the media narrative doesn't reflect what's actually happening in team meetings and practices.

But in general, the time to come across as unconventional is after you've been really successful, not before. Joe Mazzulla is now praised for being and doing things different because the Celtics brought home a championship. Twelve months ago people wanted to fire him for the same stuff. You win, your weirdness is celebrated. You lose, you're just a loser who maybe should be more conventional.

 

[Cellar-Door]

I don't get how Scott Peters is failing so badly. The line simply can't identify different defenses and react. It isn't really a lack of physical skill more so leaving gaps wide open. Are the lineman on the roster incapable of understanding the basics of blocking?

A lot of O-line play in communication and knowing what the guy next to you will do. Having the right calls pre-snap from the C is also huge. Sometimes it's just total screwups, but it seems like a lot of the time it's bad communication, where a guy doesn't communicate he's letting a guy go, or that he's there to help. I'm not sure how much of that is coaching yet, especially with all the makeshift groups and guys moving around.

 

[jk333]

I’m going to evaluate Mayo next season. For me, the team isn’t good enough to judge a new coach on.

I view Carolina as a similar situation; the players are so bad that the coaching is hard for me to judge. Certainly the Cincinnati (and Seattle) game was a good performance that gives at least some hope for Mayo.

 

[Cellar-Door]

I’m going to evaluate Mayo next season. For me, the team isn’t good enough to judge a new coach on.

I view Carolina as a similar situation; the players are so bad that the coaching is hard for me to judge. Certainly the Cincinnati (and Seattle) game was a good performance that gives at least some hope for Mayo.

I think it's hard to judge coordinators with bad talent more than HCs. Oh there is some stuff like penalties, bad plays etc that you can't parse (and that was difficult with Bill the last 2 years), but some stuff isn't really. Challenge decisions, 4th down decisions, FG decisions, timeout usage those are all straightforward. We can also judge on things like public comments, and discipline related things.

So if people want to rag on Mayo for the defense collapsing... it's a concern but hard to parse. If they want to point out his repeated timeout issues... fair game. If they want to judge penalties... tough to parse. If they want to object to him saying ball security is the #1 priority, then not benching a guy who fumbles every game... fair game to me.

 

[Ed Hillel]

I’ll wait on the offense, but the defense, which is supposed to be his specialty, is markedly worse. The in-game decision-making and media handling has all been very bad, as well. I’m not super optimistic. Initial thought is there’s nothing about Mayo that stands out to the extent this is someone who needs a guarantee 5 years out to be head coach.

 

[Garshaparra]

I’ll wait on the offense, but the defense, which is supposed to be his specialty, is markedly worse. The in-game decision-making and media handling has all been very bad, as well. I’m not super optimistic. Initial thought is there’s nothing about Mayo that stands out to the extent this is someone who needs a guarantee 5 years out to be head coach.

The defense is missing its top lineman, top LB and top edge rusher compared to the heyday of last year. Replacement depth isn't really there, though 99 has surely picked up. That is something that we were very used to with BB - dude could squeeze a fun defense out of a buncha UDFAs, rugby dudes and former wrestlers. It was the offense and draft pick strategy that were highly questionable. Those don't turn on a single draft or season, but we'll see how far they can push this year.

I think a fair reminder would be how lousy it feels to be a fan of a team going 5-12, optimistically. There's analysis and flashes of brilliance and PUP returns and practice squad binkies and hope springing eternal, but getting owned most weeks still sucks.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

The defense is missing its top lineman, top LB and top edge rusher compared to the heyday of last year. Replacement depth isn't really there, though 99 has surely picked up. That is something that we were very used to with BB - dude could squeeze a fun defense out of a buncha UDFAs, rugby dudes and former wrestlers. It was the offense and draft pick strategy that were highly questionable. Those don't turn on a single draft or season, but we'll see how far they can push this year.

I think a fair reminder would be how lousy it feels to be a fan of a team going 5-12, optimistically. There's analysis and flashes of brilliance and PUP returns and practice squad binkies and hope springing eternal, but getting owned most weeks still sucks.

Judon barely played last year and they’re +Gonzalez

Barmore being the only interior DL worth a damn and having no backup LB was an obvious issue going into the season. Why Wolf didn’t attempt to do more to add depth in the front 7 is a mystery.

That said, their run D is mostly fine so I don’t think Bentley is much of a loss. They can’t get to the QB predictably and they can’t cover particularly well other than Gonzalez. Neither of the safeties have ever been good in coverage, Jonathan Jones is useful but clearly declining and the depth at CB and S is trash heap guys.

We’re used to seeing BB squeeze good stuff out of no names and castoffs. It remains to be seen if Mayo/Covington can as well. But if your defense can’t withstand the loss of a good (not Aaron Donald) DT and a solid but unspectacular off ball LB, you have bigger problems than a couple injuries.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

I don't get how Scott Peters is failing so badly. The line simply can't identify different defenses and react. It isn't really a lack of physical skill more so leaving gaps wide open. Are the lineman on the roster incapable of understanding the basics of blocking?

Well Wolf handed him a bunch of garbage and told him to make an OL out of it but what reason is there to think Scott Peters is any good as a coach in the first place? He has literally no track record in this position.

He might just be a terrible OL coach with bad talent.

 

[SMU_Sox]

You're on a street FA LT and a bunch of shitty castoffs, you took an offensive tackle who most folks saw as a late day 3 pick, you took an offensive guard who most folks saw as a late day 3 pick, your center is aging, your RT is fat, slow footed, and actually a RG, and Sow has had mental issues every single year of his play (same for Robinson in college). Offensive line coaches aren't wizards. Shit in, shit out. You can't hardly invest in the OL and expect results. Either spend top dollar or high picks or both. Patience is needed here. These guys have hardly even repped with each other.

 

[Cellar-Door]

You're on a street FA LT and a bunch of shitty castoffs, you took an offensive tackle who most folks saw as a late day 3 pick, you took an offensive guard who most folks saw as a late day 3 pick, your center is aging, your RT is fat, slow footed, and actually a RG, and Sow has had mental issues every single year of his play (same for Robinson in college). Offensive line coaches aren't wizards. Shit in, shit out. You can't hardly invest in the OL and expect results. Either spend top dollar or high picks or both. Patience is needed here. These guys have hardly even repped with each other.

I also feel like you can't expect miracles day 1, it takes time to develop a mostly young line, time to get them comfortable playing as a unit etc. I look at TEN, they have spent back to back premium 1st rounders on O-line, they just hired Callahan, generally considered the best O-line coach in the league,..... they're one of the worst units in the league still.

 

[SMU_Sox]

I also feel like you can't expect miracles day 1, it takes time to develop a mostly young line, time to get them comfortable playing as a unit etc. I look at TEN, they have spent back to back premium 1st rounders on O-line, they just hired Callahan, generally considered the best O-line coach in the league,..... they're one of the worst units in the league still.

Fantastic point. By the way have you seen how mediocre Skoronski has been? Dude has been averaging half a sack, a hit, 2 hurries and 1 penalty a game at LG.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Lead headline on ESPN is about the Pats "mulling a RB change," thanks to coach's comments on the radio about his considering benching Rham (after he put him back in after benching?).

He is so bad at this.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Lead headline on ESPN is about the Pats "mulling a RB change," thanks to coach's comments on the radio about his considering benching Rham (after he put him back in after benching?).

He is so bad at this.

I thought it was actually not bad.
He was asked if Gibson might start given Rham's fumbling and he said "it's possible" and noted that he can't stress that ball security is job security and not follow through.

If anything I think him moving Gibson into the starting role and Rham as the 2nd back for a week to make a point would be good coaching.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Why do it now, though, and not during the last game after Rhamondre fumbled?

 

[JJ17]

Why do it now, though, and not during the last game after Rhamondre fumbled?

They are slightly different runners, so maybe it just gives them a chance to game plan better to Gibson's strengths? I also wonder how much is gamesmanship in trying to make it vague to opponents who will get the bulk of the carries because it would likely impact how you game plan. As long as nothing he says in the media is a surprise to people in the building or distracting them, I'm just writing this year off as Mayo learning what his preferred relationship with the media is. If his missteps are impacting the clubhouse, that's a bigger problem.

 

[j-man]

weirdy i think this is your best shot to win in miami as well

 

[j-man]

u can still win 5 or 6 more games Miami 2X @ Tenn @ chi @ zona Rams Jax in louion Indy

 

[SMU_Sox]

Yeah, J-man, we can. We have 9 winnable games on the schedule if we play like we did in weeks 1-2 and not 3-4. When you play as badly as we did the last 2 weeks it seems impossibly bleak but teams fluctuate. I don’t think they are as bad as they have been and when Maye comes in there is a chance they are better. At least with Maye you can run quick game and have out of structure ability. Things could also be worse with Maye too but given how bad the JB passing game is there isn’t that much more negative you can go.

 

[NextBigThing8184]

I thought it was actually not bad.
He was asked if Gibson might start given Rham's fumbling and he said "it's possible" and noted that he can't stress that ball security is job security and not follow through.

If anything I think him moving Gibson into the starting role and Rham as the 2nd back for a week to make a point would be good coaching.

Would be pretty funny benching Stevenson for a guy who had one of the highest fumble rates among active RB coming into this season.

Also amusing to me is watching people be mad Mayo isn’t benching Stevenson for fumbles when we heard a lot of complaints when BB benched guys for making similar sloppy errors (and BB seemed to differentiate between good defensive plays forcing the ball out and sloppy ball handling which required benching/demoting)

 

[tims4wins]

Would be pretty funny benching Stevenson for a guy who had one of the highest fumble rates among active RB coming into this season.

Also amusing to me is watching people be mad Mayo isn’t benching Stevenson for fumbles when we heard a lot of complaints when BB benched guys for making similar sloppy errors (and BB seemed to differentiate between good defensive plays forcing the ball out and sloppy ball handling which required benching/demoting)

Ehh. There were times BB would seemingly bury a rookie after a single fumble. Rham has fumbled in 4 straight games.