ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In losing Sunday’s battle with the Buffalo Bills, perhaps the best team in football, Jerod Mayo won the war.

Best I can tell, he’s staying put. For 2025, and maybe beyond.

To his angry fan base and incredulous pockets of the New England Patriots’ media corps, remember Mayo’s future doesn’t hinge on winning this season.

It’s not about what you want, or what I think.

It’s about the Krafts, who hand-picked Mayo to succeed Bill Belichick four and a half years before he actually did, believing in him, and finding reasons to maintain that belief.

In the eyes of someone who wants to believe, Sunday supplied enough reason.

The Patriots led at halftime, then lost by three as 14-point underdogs. They became the first team since mid-October to hold the Bills under 30 points. Drake Maye outplayed the next MVP of the league for most of the game and took another step toward his destiny as a franchise quarterback,

If that sounds like a low bar, that’s because it is.

Such is life in Year 1 of a rebuild, a multi-year process ownership has committed to seeing through to the end with their organizational pillars now in place: Mayo, Maye and de facto GM Eliot Wolf. As frustrating as this 3-12 campaign has been, there are always nuggets of optimism amid the rubble of a losing season; particularly if you want to find them.

The Krafts do, and so does Maye, who loves his head coach, by the way; calling questions about Mayo’s job security “BS.”

“We’ve got his back,” Maye said post-game.

Maye’s voice matters. Certainly more than any number of fans or media members.

Ever since media-fueled speculation that Mayo could get canned at the end of his first season began rising, the caveat has always been the same: if, a Gillette Stadium-sized “if,” the Patriots bomb atomically down the stretch, ownership could pull the plug on Mayo.

NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport became the latest to join that chorus Sunday with this pregame report: “The Krafts want to keep Jerod Mayo,” he said. “They believe he is the leader for the organization for the future, and they knew it would be a multi-year process to get this thing right. Now if things go off the rails, if they really start to struggle and he loses the locker room the last couple games of the season, we’ve seen this thing turn.

“But as of now, the Patriots believe Jerod Mayo is their leader for the future.”

Well, Mayo hasn’t lost the locker room. That’s a fact.

To a man, both in public and from those I’ve spoken to in private, Patriots players believe in their head coach. Mayo might be a players’ coach, yes, in the best and worst senses. But the Patriots were a few plays away Sunday from pulling off their largest upset since Super Bowl XXXVI.

“I think we’re building something good,” Maye said.

The Patriots also played their best half of football this season against their toughest opponent yet. Another fact.

Now, to the frustrated, I am with you.

To the shocked, I understand.

But to the trigger-happy, lay down your arms.

Mayo, by all accounts, is returning in 2025. Alex Van Pelt, however, is another story.

In the same vein that the Krafts could have viewed Sunday’s performance as a reason to save Mayo — despite his pathetic punt at midfield, down 10 with just eight and a half minutes left — they could have convinced themselves their offensive coordinator is the real problem.

After all, team president Jonathan Kraft was visibly exasperated over Van Pelt’s play-calling during the Pats’ loss at Arizona a week earlier. Four days later, Van Pelt told reporters he had yet to hear from his boss. Well, that time may be coming.

Trailing by three in the fourth quarter Sunday, Van Pelt called a pass that resulted in an unnecessary lateral and game-winning touchdown for Buffalo. His offense later operated like it was taking a Sunday drive with the game on the line, using up 3:16 of the final 4:19 en route to its final touchdown. Van Pelt, finally, weaponized Maye’s legs in critical situations, something that arguably should have been done weeks ago.

Not to mention, Van Pelt’s top running back can’t stop fumbling, and the offensive line remains a hot mess. Call him Alex Van Fall Guy.

Because Van Pelt’s offense, for the first time in a while, under-performed relative to Mayo’s defense. On merit, he deserves to stay; a case that’s harder to make for defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington.

But it’s not about merit this season.

It’s not about what you want.

It’s not about what I think.

It’s about the Krafts; what they see, what they want, what they believe.

Even in defeat.

____

©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.