“We also won a Super Bowl here by doing it the other way around,” Mayo said. “Making our timeouts was, in my opinion, the best thing for the team.”

The Super Bowl Mayo mentioned occurred nearly a decade ago when then-Patriots coach Bill Belichick used his two remaining timeouts as Seattle lost the field in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The Seahawks advanced the ball 79 yards to the 1 before cornerback Malcolm Butler made the game-winning interception.

The decision paid off for Belichick.

On Sunday? Not so much for Mayo, who is still trying to find his feet and establish a culture in his first year as head coach.

In 13 games, Mayo’s decision-making came under repeated criticism.

The Patriots made a mistake in clock management in situations at the end of the half. They were conservative on fourth down. They have resisted some seemingly obvious demands and withstood some more questionable ones. They don’t seem to have an overarching identity, Mayo says everything is judged on a case by case basis.

Failure to take time off during a long, critical trip may be excusable on a case-by-case basis. But Mayo’s list of headache-inducing decisions keeps growing.

On the Patriots’ final possession, one of desperation as they only had 12 seconds left, Mayo decided to send kicker Joey Slye out for a 68-yard field goal rather than leave the offense on the field for a possible Hail Mary.

“I’m not sure what the numbers are on a Hail Mary versus the field goal there,” Mayo said. “But that’s exactly what I felt was right.”

Mayo mentioned the fact that Slye kicked the ball well during warmups before the game, hitting it 62 yards from one direction and 61 yards from the other. But Slye has never made a 68-yard field goal. Nobody in NFL history has done that.

The longest kick in Slye’s career (and Patriots history) was 63 yards in Week 4 of that season. The longest kick Slye has taken during practice this year was 63 or 64 yards in end-of-game and end-of-half simulations. A 68-yard attempt is, although not by much, out of his range. Slye noted that Sunday’s cool temperatures weren’t favorable either.

A Hail Mary, as opposed to a 68-yard field goal, has happened at least several times. Although both outcomes have a low probability, there is precedent for a Hail Mary from the 50-yard line. Just this season, Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard connected for a 52-yard touchdown at the end of the first half in Week 6 for the Jets. And the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels landed his pass right into the arms of Noah Brown in the end zone in Week 8.

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye certainly has the arm strength to make such a play possible.

When asked if he wanted a shot, Maye gave it to Mayo.

“I think it’s the coaching,” Maye said. “I’m here to support what coach Mayo and the special teams guys think and what Joey thinks. Whether it’s that or the Ave Maria, both.”

It seems like Mayo makes at least one controversial decision every week.

However, Sunday’s game shouldn’t even have been due to Mayo’s management at the end of the game.

The Patriots recorded a season-high 422 total yards. They converted 55 percent of their third downs. They only stung once. They significantly outscored the Colts, both on the ground and in the air. They won the possession battle by almost 10 minutes.

“I shouldn’t have to kick a 68-yarder to win,” Slye said. “We should have had the game in the bag by now. I take responsibility for that. I just have to keep going.”

By virtually all statistics, the Patriots should have won on Sunday.

Because of a series of problems – inefficiencies in the red zone, seven costly penalties, a missed 25-yard field goal, the three-point attempt to set up the ineffective defense – they lost. And Mayo’s questionable decisions continue to add up.

As long as the Patriots continue to lose, the subtlety of his decisions will continue to be so.

“Look, this is the NFL,” Mayo said. “We say it every week. One game here, one game there.”

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Nicole Yang can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @nicolecyang.