Patriots fire Jerod Mayo for winning a football game: Best memes and tweets

The New England Patriots defeated the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, which made way for the obvious move – firing their head coach. Jerod Mayo coached for his life while defeating the Bills backups, but in doing so he eliminated any chance of the Patriots securing the No. 1 overall pick, and thus ultimate leverage in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Now, it's unlikely the Patriots fired Mayo for winning in Week 18. I know that, just as the pundits and insiders surely understand it. However, I'm not sure a victory helped matters. Perhaps Mayo knew Sunday was his last game as Patriots head coach, so he went down swinging. I lean towards the obvious explanation, which is that New England had no intention of bringing Mayo back regardless of the result. Mike Vrabel is available, folks.

Who will replace Jerod Mayo as New England Patriots head coach?

Mike Vrabel is a Patriots legend and former teammate of future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Tom Brady. He has unlimited references in the New England area. Vrabel also has a successful coaching tenure to point to during his time with the Tennessee Titans. Had Vrabel wanted to coach his alma mater at Ohio State, Ryan Day would be on the hot seat right about...now. Instead, Day is in the College Football Playoff semifinals and seemingly safe from any sweeping coaching changes.

Mayo was Bill Belichick's hand-picked replacement, but the Patriots struggled mightily in late-game situations, and failed to gain steam in his first season in charge. It's rare that a franchise as stable as New England would admit its mistake so quickly, but when a coach like Vrabel is available, you have to move quickly.

Patriots fire Jerod Mayo after losing No. 1 overall pick: Best memes and tweets

Again, Mayo was unlikely to keep his job as of Sunday morning, when ESPN's Adam Schefter mentioned as much during his segment on live television. It doesn't help that Vrabel, in search of a head-coaching gig himself, has been linked to the rival New York Jets. If the Patriots truly believe in Vrabel, waiting a year on Mayo doesn't make much sense.

There were plenty of reasons to fire Mayo, but why wait until after the season? If the Patriots were so sold on his job status that they were willing to let him go mere minutes after their Week 18 win went final, then perhaps they should've given an interim coach a chance against Buffalo. Failing to do so likely cost them the top pick in this year's draft and all the leverage.