Uh-oh.

If you were watching yesterday’s New England Patriots-Arizona Cardinals 30-17 debacle on CBS, well, you saw the cameras zoom in on Patriot owner Robert Kraft and son Jonathan, basically his right hand man.

It wasn’t a good look if you’re on the Patriots coaching staff.

The Krafts didn’t seem happy right after a Patriots play on offense didn’t go their way, and reading lips it didn’t look good for either head coach Jerod Mayo or offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.

Remember when you’d see Bill Belichick writing down notes on the sidelines? Well, you saw Jonathan Kraft, who according to some wasn’t said to be completely on board with Mayo’s ascension to Belichick’s throne, doing the same thing. He had pen in hand.

It certainly seems like Van Pelt’s days may be numbered. When Rhamondre Stevenson was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 inside the 5 in the second half, the point was made to Mayo in his post game press conference that rookie QB Drake Maye might have also been an option to run the ball.

“You said it,” Mayo said. “I didn’t.”

Bet you Jonathan Kraft will. Mayo backtracked when asked again about the call and partly said what he should have said the first time.

“It’s always my decision,” he said. “The quarterback obviously has a good pair of legs and does a good job running the ball. We just chose not to do it there.”

What Mayo should have said was that his running back, Stevenson, is very capable but that the push wasn’t enough by everyone on offense. He’s learning these things the hard way.

The point of all this? Once again, the Patriots, the media, and the management are missing the key point. New England gave up 30 points. The Cardinals ran all over them at times to the tune of 163 yards. They gave up the big play. The final may have said 30-17, but it simply wasn’t that close.

“The big run was the big run,” Mayo said, referring to Arizona’s James Conner’s 53-yard first quarter jaunt that was just about half of 110 yard total that set up the game’s first TD. “We had people there to make the play. I don’t know if you guys saw it that way, we had guys there to make the tackle. We just didn’t come up with it and this is why I continue to go back to this game is about fundamentals with tackling being the major one there.”

Yes, as long-since retired Londonderry football coach Tom Sawyer would always say, “It’s all about blocking and tackling.” You’ve read that here before.

It’s a very good possibility that both coordinators – defensive head DeMarcus Covington has not had a good year – won’t be around next year. There’s definitely some kind of infighting going on, another sideshow that takes away from what the real issue is: The Patriots just aren’t very good. But defensively, they are limiting what should be a good offense. “Again, just not good enough,” Mayo said.

“Yeah, it wears on you for sure,” Maye said. “I think it’s just frustrating. A long flight back and you can’t do anything else but just think about the game.”

Today or tomorrow, you can bet ownership will be talking about it with their head coach, as Mayo said they always do. It looks like Jonathan Kraft was already doing his prep work.

North Carolina doesn’t seem like such a bad place to be right now, does it?

Tom King may be reached at X @Telegraph_TomK, or via email at tking@nashuatelegraph.com