The Playoffs are set and it is officially black Monday in the NFL, we’ll see what dominoes fall. The Patriots decided to get the “fun” started a little early yesterday with moving on from their head man Jerod Mayo. We’ll dive into the problem in New England, and what’s next, or who’s next. All of that, and a few dashes of the playoffs, PGA Tour golf, and the Hershey Bears and their stuffed animals…

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Today’s Trivia🧠

(answer at the bottom of the Stump)

On This Day…

🥊 On this day in 1681, the first recorded boxing match in the history of the world, and you won’t guess who it is between.

Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, organized the match between his butler and his butcher. I don’t know the full story, but I’m gonna guess it was one of two things: Either they hated each other, OR this is just a classic case of a rich guy being bored. Oh, by the way, the butcher won.

Today’s Stump Story…

🤨 Jerod Mayo Was Set Up

What if I told you the head coach who was given the least amount of talent in the NFL was fired after just one year in control? You’d think that sounds a little suspicious. I’m here to tell you Jerod Mayo was set up.

A year removed from the Bill Belichick era the Patriots are looking for another head coach. Following yesterday’s 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills, the Patriots fired Belichick’s replacement, Jerod Mayo. The Patriots went 4-13 under Mayo in his first year, obviously not very impressive, but that was expected. Even ownership and the front office had publicly said that season was going to be a struggle.

The Patriots knew it was going to be bad, so why get rid of Mayo for simply doing what everyone in the NFL expected was going to happen? I mean, the roster was atrocious, they were missing NFL-caliber talent at multiple positions, especially offensive line and wide receiver, and they were fielding a rookie QB for more than half the season. Even the greatest coach of all time wouldn’t win with that roster. In fact, he didn’t. The greatest coach of all time, Bill Belichick, WAS FIRED for not winning with that roster. So how come Mayo didn’t get more time?

I’ll tell you why. This was a setup. Mayo was never the guy the Patriots wanted. The guy they REALLY wanted was taking a year off from coaching. He spent the year roaming the sideline for the Browns as a consultant, keeping his name out of the mouth of big media. Mayo was the second choice, and the second they got the hint that the first choice was ready to jump back into the spotlight of running a team, they did what they had to to put themselves in a position to get him. His name? Mike Vrabel.

This is the slam dunk, surefire, no doubt in my mind target for the Patriots. He interviewed last year with the Pats but decided to take a step back. The Patriots love to keep things in-house, so they went with Mayo while Vrabel was away. Vrabel was arguably Mr. Patriot during his time as a player, spending 8 years there and playing at a high level under coach Belichick. With Vrabel back on the market, Mayo never stood a chance.

Mayo took the brunt of the Patriots rebuild. A poor roster, a front office cutting spending, a rookie QB, a star-less defense, and a team with no identity. That’s what they gave Mayo. And he gets booted for the guy they wanted all along. Brutal.

Sure, Vrabel isn’t GUARANTEED to be the guy in New England, but he will be. “He interviewed with the Jets…”, you may say. Sure, to put pressure on the Patriots. Oh, and it worked. New England responded to that news by firing their coach. I feel bad for Mayo, he was given nothing, and they took everything. I hope he lands on his feet, it’s a cold world out there.

Quick Hitters

🏈 The Playoff Picture is Set: Here are the First Round matchups after yesterday’s NFL action:

• AFC: Denver @ Buffalo, Pittsburgh @ Baltimore, LA Chargers @ Houston

• NFC: Green Bay @ Philadelphia, Washington @ Tampa Bay, Minnesota @ LA Rams

• Top 10 Draft Picks Finalized: Tennessee (1), Cleveland (2), NY Giants (3), Patriots (4), Jaguars (5), Raiders (6), NY Jets (7), Panthers (8), Saints (9), Bears (10)

⛳️ The Sentry: In an absolute SHOOTOUT, Hideki Matsuyama wins the first PGA tournament of the 2025 year with a crazy score of -35 at The Sentry in Maui, Hawai’i. This is the lowest score to par in a 72-hole tournament in PGA Tour history. Matsuyama outlasted Collin Morikawa, who started the day just one off the lead but finished 3-back at -32. It was a really strong showing for Matsuyama who managed to shoot all 4 rounds at 8-under or better. Just absolutely class play from the most successful Asian golfer in the history of the sport.

🐻 The Hershey Bears (minor league hockey team) took part in their annual “Teddy Bear Toss” last night, a night where fans throw teddy bears and stuffed animals onto the ice in celebration of their first goal of the game. This is the 24th year they’ve done it, while the plushies are collected off of the ice and distributed to more than 35 local charities. The team blew their previous record out of the water, collecting over 102,000 plushies! Insanity. Since the Bear Toss’s inception in 2001, 556,450 bears have been collected and donated.

Other News:

• 🤕 Paige Bueckers injures knee, 'should be fine’

• 🤝 Branch brothers transfer from USC to UGA

• 🐛 Warriors’ Kuminga out at least 3 weeks

Top Performers:

• 🏈 Bryce Young (CAR): Accounted for 5 total TDs in OT win

• 🏈 Bo Nix (DEN): 321 passing yards, 47 rushing yards, 4 TD, playoffs secured

• 🏈 Bijan Robinson (ATL): 170 rushing yards, 2 TDs

• 🏈 Drake London (ATL): 187 receiving yards, 2 TDs

Stump Favorites

🧊 Bryce Young hits the Steph Curry

💪 Alex Anzalone is tougher than all of us, maybe even more so than nails

🫣 BRUTAL Tyreek Hill quote about his future in Miami

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏈 FCS Championship Game: North Dakota State vs. Montana State (7:30 PM on ESPN)

🏀 NBA: Suns @ 76ers (7:00 PM on NBATV), Magic @ Knicks (7:30 PM), Mavs @ Grizzlies (8:00 PM), Heat @ Kings (10:00 PM on NBATV), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: Nada, Zero, Zilch, full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: TCU @ Houston (9:00 PM on ESPN2), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Capitals @ Sabres (7:00 PM on NHLN), Panthers @ Avs (9:00 PM), full schedule

⚽️ Soccer: EPL: Wolves vs Nottingham Forest (3:00 PM on USA) ; Italian Super Cup Final: Inter vs AC Milan (2:00 PM), full schedule

Trivia Answer:

If you selected E, let’s talk.

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