Kraft did the only thing he could do after the Jerod Mayo firing. He took blame for the "situation" and set out to fix his fallen franchise.

Here we are — one year, one overmatched one-and-done Belichick successor, and you’re right back where you started from last January.

When Robert Kraft hired Jerod Mayo a year ago, he felt he’d identified the right person to follow Bill Belichick.