January 27, 2026 • 28 mins
Super Bowl LX is set and The Favorites is back as Action Network NFL experts Stuckey, Kendra Middleton and Brandon Kravitz begin diving into the final matchup of the season. In this one, they look at the New England Patriots under a microscope. New England looks to win their 7th Super Bowl in franchise history, this time against the Seattle Seahawks. It's a rematch more than 10 years in the making. To get into the nitty gritty of the team, The Favorites welcomes Alex Barth to the show. Barth covers the Pats on Boston's airwaves and online at 98.5 The Sports Hub. Find him on twitter @RealAlexBarth. Stay locked in with The Favorites for a deep dive on the Seattle Seahawks later in the week!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Favorites, presented by Draft Kings. The crown
is yours. We are an Action Network podcast. I'm Brandon Kravitz,
back at it with my super friends, the first Lady
of the pod, Kendra Middleton, and the Prime Minister of
Degenerate Nations Stucky. On today's episode, we've got a special
guest joining us to chat about the AFC side of
(00:30):
the Super Bowl equation. And then Thursday we're gonna chat
Seattle Seahawks. How's everybody feeling this week? Kendre, you pretty
locked in on Uh? Have you've taken any calls from
the the dudes out in Worcestershire wherever?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
The health Worcester worsterer?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Sorry, I was thinking about what I seasoned my stakes
with my bed.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Did you it's okay? I said the same thing. The
Massachusetts town names are beyond it, saying did you see
the video of the guy screaming at the plow driver
that I posted? Is that why you're asking me this?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I mean I just figured that, yeah, he gets crazy
this time of year, but what exactly transpired?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
There's a video of a guy in a Boston suburb
that I posted today and said, this is definitely a
ninety eight five the Sports Hub caller and he's cussing
out the plow driver because he's like, my car is
broken down, you can drive around me. What the fuck
is wrong with you? Like with the heaviest Boston accent ever,
and it is just the epitome of this town all
(01:35):
the time, just but it's heightened in a snowstorm and
it is so good. But the callers this week it's
you can talk about tidle town, but unless you're really
in the thick of it here, people do not understand
how it is championship or bust every single year here
or like the absolute sky is falling. A team has
(01:55):
to win a championship here every single year, or people
think that they're oppressed.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, and they've been getting a lot of them. I
mean between the Red Sox the Celtics in seven years.
I don't know how the Bruins have been doing lately,
but they feel like a team that's usually in the
mix is It is definitely a fanatical part of the
country that you're in right now. It's also going through
a snowstorm. I feel like this time of year, like
(02:20):
things have really opened up for me in a big
way time wise, all of a sudden, It's like when
the sky is dark and gray and then all of
a sudden it clears up. I love being in the
thick of the NFL and the NBA, my two sports.
But now it feels like I have time again. I
feel like a healthier individual. Stucky. I know that you're
getting deep into the college basketball world and you're also
(02:43):
being a dad, and you're a dad, so but it
has has anything in your schedule cleared up now that
we're down to one game and we have nothing but
the stupid Pro Bowl this weekend.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Not really, I mean I still have to catch I'm
so on college basketball. I mean, I had pneumonia and
then I had a kid. My wife is doing some
health issues with the pregnancy before then, so I was
staying in order to stay on top of football. It
took all of my all the time that I had,
and I was trying to squeeze in college basketball. So
I'm it's so much harder to keep up with. So
I'm still trying to catch up on college basketball. This
(03:20):
week is spent a lot of time on props. I mean,
there's a little more nap time. I'll probably be able
to catch a couple more naps this week with no football.
But I'm just kind of in I'm in one mode
from it's all I know how to do. One mode
from you know, August until early April, and it's just
(03:43):
not sleep, always be looking, always be looking into something,
and we're watching games but pretty much all hours and
not sleeping. And then once after April, then I'm a
completely different person. So uh yeah, now that I have
to there's a couple of hours a day I gotta fill.
(04:03):
I have to fill with you know, feeding, feeding my
kid and hanging out with him.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
A little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You're initiated, you got pooped on, Yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Maybe a little tiny bit. But now this is still
this is still the grind from me until early April.
But I love it. But yeah, I do It's I
do miss multiple football games like I'm I'm gonna get
The one thing that I always struggle with in the
Super Bowl is we're going to talk about this game
(04:32):
for two weeks and you can start to like overthink everything.
With props and everything, you can convince yourself on so
many different things. So I usually just like to target
a couple of players that I really like from a
matchup perspective and go all in there and then take
a couple of fun long shots. That's usually how I
approach it because player props are on my specialty. But
(04:55):
one of the reasons I do love the Super Bowl
is because I do get the sweat player props. I
don't really bet player props outside of like a couple
of times a year in the NFL playoffs, College Football
National Championship and then the Super Bowl, so that they're
not I'm not used to sweating.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Then it's like collecting candy on Halloween. You know, if
that's the only time of year you eat Halloween, then
you'd run around with your pillow case or your big
bucket or whatever and go grab.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah. I mean I've been Super Bowl twenty years, so
I'm did like sweating, like a like the excitement of
watching your guy go out on a route and just
worry about that and is he going to get a
catch or throw it to him? Just being that that
guy who roots for that for a game is always fun.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So yeah, I used to be the person that would bet,
like which which would the first catch be from an
even number or an odd number? And now that I
take sports betting far more seriously, and line shopping and
all the research that we put into this modeling and
things like that. I can't bring myself to bet those anymore.
(05:57):
But I do miss I will this that this UFL.
I think that maybe we're thinking about how much we
miss football we might want to consider betting. The UFL also.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Put its Olympics in soccer season. We have Winter Olympics,
then we have March on it, and then we missed.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
The handicapping of football. I'm just saying there's a spring
league that we can look at. We've got a lot
of content to fill throughout the spring. On this podcast,
real quick, before we get to alex Pro Bowl Week,
pretty talk about Sanders. Maybe on this Kendrick, please tell me,
because I have not seen this anywhere, please tell me
(06:38):
that Trevor Lawrence declined this and wasn't actually overlooked, because
that's the story being spit out on social media right now,
and I have a hard time believing that the NFL
is this stupid.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I have done so much in the weeds research about
this and cannot find anywhere on the Internet that he
was asked and declined. So I know that he was
an alternate, but there has been no confirmation of if
he declined or was asked or anything. So my tinfoil
(07:11):
hat is on. That's all I have to say without
getting myself in trouble.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I mean, they just cannot be that obsessed with the
idea of gaining social media impressions that they would invite
Schador over.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I think they are near MVP candidate stuck. You make
it makes sense?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Please wait, I wanted to say before we get to stuck.
People don't understand right now that attention is currency and
that's what Shador provides.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
The Pro Bowl said.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I mean it's a probo who cares? I mean the
Pro Bowl is such a joke now. I mean I
remember loving watching the Pro Bowl growing up. I can't
remember last time I even turned it on, and it's like, it's.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Like, nobody's going to Bowl. We get nobody is. I
would rather watch. I legitimately would rather watch the Puppy
Bowl than watch the because the Puppy the games itself
for a joke. The invite isn't. The invite should at
least be taken seriously.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
They need to bring back those games that they used
to do with like Brett Farv and it's like how
far can you throw it? And there's some of the
fans that are on like ESPN Classic those throwbacks, you
know what I'm talking about. They would have like the
mini games.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Like pump pass and kick or am I thinking of
kick and keg?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, it would be like who could throw it the
furthest and then you would have like a wide receiver
drill that. Those were cool. But and then now UFL no,
I football. As much as I miss football, bet football
now college football specifically is a it's like almost year
round for me prepping, like with the transfer portal, it's
so much work. So like I do miss it, but
(08:49):
I'm okay. Football is not spring for me. Like I'm
okay not betting on on football in the spring. So
UFL no thanks.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It does feel very synthetic to better football. It was
just the suggestion many people.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
We'll see, ye I'm sure there's probably edges there, I.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Would think, so not a lot of not a lot
of modeling I would think going on for the UFL.
So perhaps we'll check back in in April see where
we're at on that we're about to dive into our
pats preview. But first a word from our very own
Kendrick Middleton.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
The Favorites podcast is teamed up with DraftKings sports Book,
where new customers can bet five dollars and get three
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The next great touchdown is coming and you can bet
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(09:41):
hundred back.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
In bonus bets.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
If your bet wins, the crown is yours.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl for the
twelfth time in franchise history. Here to help us take
a closer look at the New England side of things,
Alex Barth from ninety eight five The Sports Hub in Boston,
the station that birth Kendra Middleton for Alex covers all
things Boston sports over at ninety eight five of the
sports Hub dot com. You can throw them a follow
as well at Real Alex Barth. Alex, thanks for doing this.
(10:10):
You are breaking ground for us. The first interview that
we've had as a trio and you can give us
the inside scoop on Kendrim Middleton. So I imagine that's a
unique experience working with her day to day. Can you
tell us something we don't know about Kendra?
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Yeah, I don't know. I was gonna say, I I
don't know that there's an inside scoop on Kendrim Middleton.
I think Kendra Middleton gives you the inside scoop on
Kendri Middleton. She's pretty and it's one of my favorite
things about Kendra. She is very upfront and honest and
she tells a lot like it is. So I'm not
sure how much I have that she hasn't already put
out there.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Well, yeah, there's not a lot held close to the
vest there, so you might be onto something as far
as that goes.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
I joked about this on this Sunday Recap show that
I just feel I just feel so much relief for
Patriots fans out there. They had to wait so long
to get back to the Super Bowl. Well, what has
it been like in all serious this know, like covering
a team that was as dynastic as they were for
so long and then temporarily for a very brief period
(11:11):
of time, we're totally boring and irrelevant, and now to
be back into the Super Bowl with a different grouping.
I don't know that we've experienced this much in sports.
So from your perspective, what has that been like the
ebbs and flows of a dynasty, irrelevance and now into this.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Yeah, it's been wild. And my first year covering the
team was twenty eighteen, so I like to joke I
got one in just under the wire and I got
to experience covering. It was the tail end, but like
Bellichick and Brady winning a Super Bowl and then they
it looked like it was going to keep going right away.
They make the playoffs in twenty twenty one with Mac
Jones that ended up being fools gold and they really
(11:50):
bought him out. It was interesting because I'm somebody who
is a college football fan. Being in New England. That's
not the easiest sell to the market unless it's about
the draft for a bad team. So I got to
kind of trojan horse some college football talk in for
two years doing draft talk. But it's it really was.
You know, people always sit. You hear people say, oh,
(12:11):
Boston sports fans don't know how good they have it,
and I do think towards the end of the Brady
Belichicker it became more of an expectation than maybe it
should have been. Not saying that those guys weren't great,
weren't expected to win, but the energy during this run
is different than it was even the last couple Super
Bowl runs in New England. I think people really gained
a true respect for how difficult it is to get
(12:32):
to this point, what it takes to get to this point,
and having it taken away for seven long years, I
know people are really going to feel for us. Has
shaped a perspective and really why people are so bought
in to this team.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Alex, I'm just going to address the elephant in the
room now. We got a shoulder injury that we're keeping
an eye on. We of course look at things through
the scope of the point spread. We all sort of
squinted our eyes at the four and a half like,
is this right? Is it doesn't feel like the Patriots
should be installed as four and a half point underdogs.
But if there's a legitimate injury to the shoulder of
(13:09):
Drake May and it's the throwing shoulder I believe, then
then the line does make sense, So you tell us
how seriously should we be taking this injury?
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Well, the look aheadline was what three and a half? Right?
I think I saw you so moved by a point.
Part of the reason I'm running around again. I appreciate
you guys being flexible. Mike Vrabel's gonna talk here at
eleven thirty, so maybe we'll get more information.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Then.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
The fact he stiff armed a linebacker off of him
on the final run with that right arm makes me
think it can't be too bad, but will It wasn't
bad enough that anybody really notice during the game, clearly,
so we'll see. I do think it's late in the year.
Everybody's kind of banged up, right. Sam Darnold's been going
through that oblique injury for a few weeks now. He
was limited in practice. I think the last two playoff
(13:52):
games going into those so if he is banged up,
just based on what they've said early, my guess would
be it's week twenty one and everybody's kind of banged
up and it falls in that category. But it'll be
interesting to see what Frable says today.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Barthie, I got to know now that the regular seasons
ended the Patriots are going.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
To the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
What was the key do you personally think to this
team's success, because going into the season, the win total
kind of bounced around from seven and a half to
nine or so, not a lot of expectations on the team,
not a lot of big names on the roster. How
much of it was just liking one another or was
it something else entirely?
Speaker 4 (14:28):
The chemistry is definitely a big part of it, and
people will downplay that. Maybe once you get rolling, it's
less of a factor. But they overturned over fifty percent
of the worker that's insane. At the NFL level, usually
a big offseason nets you about a forty percent turnover.
This was more than half. So to get all those
(14:49):
new faces bought in, get them familiar with what they
were doing schematically as quickly as possible is massive. That's
not supposed to happen at the level that it happened
as Qui as it happened in New England. I think
that's a big part of it. And then just their
play in the trenches and it wasn't always perfect, but
it was so much better than last year, and it
(15:09):
gave Drake May more time to operate. I think it
created more opportunities for a secondary that has a ton
of talent. That was a big part of the turnaround
as well.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
So with Drake's injury, should I be looking more at
him to throw a turn or throw an interception or
Sam Donald to throw an interception. Drake's minus one thirty
Donald minus one forty.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Yeah, I mean Sam Donald was pretty turnover prone during
the year. Drake has been a little more turnover prone
in the playoffs. Now it's been more fumbles than interceptions.
So I don't know if there's just a turnover number
relative to an interception number. But I don't think this
is the game. Somebody asked me yesterday, do the Patriots
need to play perfect game to win? And it's the
(15:53):
Super Bowl, So I'm not going to say no. But
I don't think either of these teams just stylistically, are
the kind of team that they're just going to come
out and play mistake free football and grind their way
to a win. I think there is going to be
a good element of back and forth and kind of
teams chasing each other's mistakes in this game.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
So both so.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Both yeah, okay again with May with May it's more
of the fumbles than the inter if if if he
has a turnover in this game. Again, I don't know
if there's a number on that or just a number
you can bet for turnover. But I'm more worried about
the fumbles than the interceptions.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
And we know that that Sam Donald sees some ghosts
when he sees that Patriots logo across from him.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah, And which it's so exciting is is Zach Horror
has in these playoffs been fantastic And he put Herbert
and a blender, He puts you j Stroud in a blender.
There really wasn't an opportunity to put Jared's did him
in a blender? Just with with how limited the Broncos
offense was, but he has not been afraid to spin
a dial and get creative. It's much more than we
saw on the regular season. I would expect for him
(16:56):
to have something similar for Sam Donald as well.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Alextenso joining us and speaking of the defense, we want
to focus on that side of the ball. Real quick
two part question. The first, we you know much has
been made of the schedule, but in reality, we just
don't have that many data points of this new England
defense against you know, really good, healthy offenses. So you
know one of them, you know the Bills, right that
(17:21):
Bills game when they came back one thirty five to
thirty one. The Bills did that basically by I think
they completed one pass to an outside receiver. So when
I look at this new England defense from the outside,
when healthy, the run day is legit, like no one
can run on them. The front seven is going to
stop the run. Their corner group legit where I think
I would attack. And I'm curious to get your thoughts
(17:42):
on this is just is it the middle of the field?
Is it the linebackers and coverage is at the young safeties?
Like where are you most worried about this Patriots defense
going up against you know, a full strength offense.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
So, first of all, good job differentiating the schedule, and
they played a lot of tough defenses. But this is
really where the easy schedule comes in. You're absolutely right.
You look at the quarterbacks they faced, the offenses they faced,
it's it's among the worst. You know, they face some
of the worst offenses in the league pretty regularly. You
mentioned that Bills game. Now they were without Roberts Plane
and he has been it's night and day when he's
(18:17):
on the field and when he's not. So when he's
not on the field, teams attacked the linebackers and it worked.
They've struggled to cover tight ends this year. They did
in the regular season. They've been better in the playoffs,
but they haven't really faced an elite tight end so
far in this playoffs. They got I'm blanking on his
name in Houston is a good player, but C. J.
(18:37):
Stroud kind of took all their pass catchers out of
the game with how he was playing in that one. So, yeah,
it's throwing to tight end, it's throwing the running backs,
it's trying to isolate the linebackers in coverage. But having
Roberts plain back his big help. He went down during
the AFC Championship. He was back on the sideline of uniform.
He came back in, but he's been dealing with the
nagging injury. So he's a player maybe to watch in
that regard. But if there is a sawt spot of
(18:59):
the defense, it is probably the middle. But it's a
lot less soft than you might think based on the
end of the season, because again, they were playing with
that Roberts plaint and then.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
My follow up is, yeah, and you're we're all kind
of guessing at this, but the Patriots have really upped
their blitz rate, like five percent each of the past
four weeks. Easier to do against you know, the Chargers
offensive line. Strout on that offensive line and then you
know stid them. Do you think they keep that increase
blitz rate? And then also if this was Belichick and
(19:29):
his defenses, you know, obviously Vrabel very familiar with Belchick, right,
he would he wants to take away your strength, So
like this would be we're taking away jass N at
all costs and other people can beat them. So like,
what do you think about the blitz rate and that approach,
and what do you think the Patriots might do schematically?
Speaker 4 (19:47):
So I love how aggressive they've been. This is what
I wanted them to be all year, and they really
didn't do it until the playoffs. Oddly enough, the only
game they came close to it was the first Bills
game in Buffalo that they won on Sunday Night Football.
Zach Corr said last week that it's a game plan thing,
it's a matchup thing, and just because the rates are
going up doesn't mean that's a permanent change. It's week
to week. Darnold has been the better quarterbacks against the blitz.
(20:11):
He's he's been solid against the blitz. And like you mentioned,
against this offensive line, you gotta pressure him. You have
to pressure him. Can you get pressure with four? It's
something they struggled to do all season. They were kind
of surprisingly able to do a little bit against Denver
against that offensive line, So that was encouraging and maybe
that that that means a little less blitz. But if
it's truly a matchup thing, I think you blitz less early.
(20:33):
You see if you can get pressure with four, and
then if you can't, and this is what they did
against Justin Herbert because Herbert had been good against the
blitz this year, then you turn it up and then
you crank it up if you can't get pressure with
those four. But that was, like you mentioned, with the
much worse offensive line, the JSN thing. I don't know
that there's a single better player versus player matchup in
this Super Bowl than Christian Gonzalez for Jackson Smith and Jinba,
(20:55):
I would think Gonzale shadows him. He doesn't. Gonzalz doesn't
really go on the slot. Jambe hasn't lined up a
ton in the traditional slot this year. Maybe that's an
adjustment that the Seahawks make to try to hide him
from Gonzalez and then do the Patriots move him inside.
That's gonna be a fascinating matchup, and to me, it's
gonna be Gonzalez with maybe help to try to take
JSN away and I self to worry about Cooper Cup.
(21:16):
They've obviously got a really good run game two Robbie Ootz,
super underrated pickup, and he's been excellent for them as
the fallback leading the way. It was a two headed monster.
I know now it's just Kenneth Walker, but it is
going to be really interesting to see That matchup is
going to go a long way and dictating this game
because if Gonzales, who has a history of playing at
his best against the best corners in the league, when
(21:37):
he gets beat like he gets beat last week by
Marvin Mamms, he got beat by the Bengals fourth or
fifth receiver in that game in Cincinnati. But I remember
his second year and he only played four games as
a rookie, he had this gauntlet to start the year
where it was like Jamar Chase, Tyreek Hill, DK Metcalf.
(21:58):
They were like five or six weeks where he was
playing top ten receivers every single week and he was
locking the guy down every single week. So he's kind
of got a little bit of that thing where he's
at his best when the lights are brightest. He's a
primetime player. But Jsen might be the best receiver in
the league right now. Like he's just he's on another level.
So can Gonzales rise to that occasion or his JSN
(22:19):
really going to prove that he is unguardable because if
Gonzales can lock him down or freeze the Patriots up
to do a lot more and play at ten on
ten and get more creative on defense and that kind
of thing.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Last one for me, I know, Kravitas one more, but
Drake may is rushing total sitting at thirty seven and
a half yards, Obviously he can take off based off
of your gut reaction, Does this feel too high?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Too low?
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Just right? He averaged twenty six almost twenty six and
a half in the regular season and forty seven rush
yards per game in the postseason against really tough defenses.
With this shoulder injury should this get extra attention.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
I would even say without the shoulder injury, the Seahawks
allowed you know, we're top five and rushing yards per
carry allowed to opposing quarterbacks, something that they've struggled with
this year. And you know, thirty seven and a half we've
seen him in the playoffs. He's good for like a
twenty twenty five yard run per game. The shoulder might
add to that more. So I think that's about right.
(23:12):
The one thing is, I have a buddy who keeps
getting burned on kneel downs on quarterback rushing totals all playoffs,
and he keeps texting me like, why is this the
world shouldn't count against rushing yards whatever? So I always
caution people with that when it comes to rushing yards.
But no, I do think this is a game. Even
take the shoulder injury out of it, it makes sense
for Drake May to be a little more aggressive running
the football.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Quick question. A lot of people won't talk about this days. Well,
I guess everyone's gonna eventually talk about everything. Yeah, but
Seahawks elite special teams. People don't talk enough about their
special teams. I mean, if you go back to the game,
first game, against the Rams pund return flip that game.
They get the one seed because of it. Last week
you have the Rams, you know, botch a punt, But
the Seahawks all year, their special teams have been great.
(23:53):
You have Patriots have one of the best pund returners
in the league. You have Brendan Schooler is always good
for a player too. But barring tor Roff game last week,
how much confidence do you have in the Patriots special
teams as a whole.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
As a whole in confident? Like you mentioned, they've got
very good players. I think Jeremy Springer is an excellent
special teams coordinator. They've done a good job. They had
some issues in kick return coverage earlier in the year.
They've been better about that. Or they're just sending the
ball into the end zone and trusting their defense. You know,
maybe against a guy like Rashid Sihat, that's what you do.
A rough game for Barringer in Denver, no doubt, and
(24:25):
you worry about that. That's supposed to be a great
place to punt and he was struggling before the snow
came in. So in a game that could turn into
a field position battle, you worry about that, but outside
of him, they're in good shape. Seattle's special teams are excellent.
They still probably have a bit of an edge there,
But I don't think the Patriots. The Patriots special teams
are much better than the Rams, for instance. I don't
think that's an area where they're gonna get caught lacking.
(24:47):
But you know, between Shiheed and all that, they do
have to be on their a game. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
We'll trap with a quick chat about the tailbacks for
the Patriots. When in the world happened to Trevion Henderson.
I was a fantasy stud for me all year, nine
hundred and eleven yards, nine touchdowns during the regular season,
a huge drop off in the playoffs, and now the
backfield has gone all the way back to where it
was at the beginning of the season, with Ramandre Stevenson
(25:13):
taking the full load. Is Henderson in the doghouse? And
should we be looking the way perhaps at his unders
or Ramondre Stevenson overs? How do you view this?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
It's look Josh McDaniels has always been hell for fantasy
or betting people when it comes to running backs because
he mixes and matches and goes off game plans. Henderson
was dealing with the shoulder injury last week. He was
a full participate in practice, but he was on the
injury report all three days. So maybe it could be
that I do feel like his field vision two. I
thought the second half of the season he was seeing
(25:43):
the field much better and that was the big difference.
That's kind of waned a little bit here in the playoffs,
and Ramondre Stevenson, meanwhile, is playing the best football of
his career. So part of me wonders if they're just
riding with the hot hand or if you know, two
weeks Trevan Henderson can get healthy, in which it's all
the big plays with him. Even when he's at his best,
He's not a guy that's gonna consistently give you four
(26:06):
or five yard carries. It's one or two, you know,
twenty plus yard carries a game, and that's kind of it.
And then the rest of the game he looks like
the guy he's looked like. He just hasn't been able
to break off that big run against the Seattle front.
That's gonna be hard to do, So maybe that makes
it more of a Stevenson game to control the ball,
control the clock, stay ahead of his schedule, get the chunks.
But Henderson is one of their best big play threats
(26:28):
on offense, and I don't think they're ever going to
go away from him entirely because just the threat he
brings of that one play can change the game. Because
he has that ability, you can't take him off the
field entirely. Is part of it.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
They just trust Stevenson so much more in pass protection,
is that.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
So yeah, that's a big part of it too. Henderson,
that's one spot he's actually been better. And he had
a huge pass block in the in the wild card
game or the division one of them, he came up
with a huge block. But yeah, Stevenson is a tremendous,
tremendous passblocker for running back and is the offensive line
struggled and they've gone again some of these elite pass rushes.
I think that's definitely been part of wing it. But
(27:05):
Josh McDaniels also isn't afraid to have his running backs
be a tell of what they're calling the last Super
Bowl run they had. I think they ran the ball
seventy eighty percent of the time with Sony Michelle on
the field, something like that, and James White had a
wide Split two. Now they're not as talented as they
were back then. They can't get away with that strong vitelle,
but it's not something Josh McDaniels is afraid of.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Yeah, Seattle doesn't blitz a ton either, so you might
might be able to get away with him on the
field more and get them gott in space in the
passing game.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Love the yeah I call that too. Love the callback
to Sony Michelle too. Haven't thought about that name in a.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Minute, Alex, how long it's been had you cover all.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Go and follow all of his coverage ninety eight five
of the sports hub dot Com. Throw them the follow
as well for us at Real Alex Barth, Alex, thanks
so much for the time and the insights on the
new England Patriots enjoy the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
Thanks guys, you too anytime.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Thanks by and that'll do it for today's episode special thing.
Thanks to Alex Barth for joining us our producers David Paine,
Gifford Gould. Of course, the two stars of the show,
Stucky and Kendri Middleton. The Favorites, will return on Thursday
right here on the Action Network YouTube page. When we
preview the Seattle Seahawks the favorites. On the Favorites, We'll
(28:17):
see you next time here on the pod presented by DraftKings.
The Crown is yours respect.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
The Puppy Bull Action Network reminds you please gamble responsibly.
If you or someone you care about has a gambling problem,
help is available twenty four to seven at one eight
hundred Gambler
Welcome to the Favorites, presented by Draft Kings. The crown
is yours. We are an Action Network podcast. I'm Brandon Kravitz,
back at it with my super friends, the first Lady
of the pod, Kendra Middleton, and the Prime Minister of
Degenerate Nations Stucky. On today's episode, we've got a special
guest joining us to chat about the AFC side of
(00:30):
the Super Bowl equation. And then Thursday we're gonna chat
Seattle Seahawks. How's everybody feeling this week? Kendre, you pretty
locked in on Uh? Have you've taken any calls from
the the dudes out in Worcestershire wherever?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
The health Worcester worsterer?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Sorry, I was thinking about what I seasoned my stakes
with my bed.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Did you it's okay? I said the same thing. The
Massachusetts town names are beyond it, saying did you see
the video of the guy screaming at the plow driver
that I posted? Is that why you're asking me this?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
I mean I just figured that, yeah, he gets crazy
this time of year, but what exactly transpired?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
There's a video of a guy in a Boston suburb
that I posted today and said, this is definitely a
ninety eight five the Sports Hub caller and he's cussing
out the plow driver because he's like, my car is
broken down, you can drive around me. What the fuck
is wrong with you? Like with the heaviest Boston accent ever,
and it is just the epitome of this town all
(01:35):
the time, just but it's heightened in a snowstorm and
it is so good. But the callers this week it's
you can talk about tidle town, but unless you're really
in the thick of it here, people do not understand
how it is championship or bust every single year here
or like the absolute sky is falling. A team has
(01:55):
to win a championship here every single year, or people
think that they're oppressed.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Yeah, and they've been getting a lot of them. I
mean between the Red Sox the Celtics in seven years.
I don't know how the Bruins have been doing lately,
but they feel like a team that's usually in the
mix is It is definitely a fanatical part of the
country that you're in right now. It's also going through
a snowstorm. I feel like this time of year, like
(02:20):
things have really opened up for me in a big
way time wise, all of a sudden, It's like when
the sky is dark and gray and then all of
a sudden it clears up. I love being in the
thick of the NFL and the NBA, my two sports.
But now it feels like I have time again. I
feel like a healthier individual. Stucky. I know that you're
getting deep into the college basketball world and you're also
(02:43):
being a dad, and you're a dad, so but it
has has anything in your schedule cleared up now that
we're down to one game and we have nothing but
the stupid Pro Bowl this weekend.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Not really, I mean I still have to catch I'm
so on college basketball. I mean, I had pneumonia and
then I had a kid. My wife is doing some
health issues with the pregnancy before then, so I was
staying in order to stay on top of football. It
took all of my all the time that I had,
and I was trying to squeeze in college basketball. So
I'm it's so much harder to keep up with. So
I'm still trying to catch up on college basketball. This
(03:20):
week is spent a lot of time on props. I mean,
there's a little more nap time. I'll probably be able
to catch a couple more naps this week with no football.
But I'm just kind of in I'm in one mode
from it's all I know how to do. One mode
from you know, August until early April, and it's just
(03:43):
not sleep, always be looking, always be looking into something,
and we're watching games but pretty much all hours and
not sleeping. And then once after April, then I'm a
completely different person. So uh yeah, now that I have
to there's a couple of hours a day I gotta fill.
(04:03):
I have to fill with you know, feeding, feeding my
kid and hanging out with him.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
A little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
You're initiated, you got pooped on, Yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Maybe a little tiny bit. But now this is still
this is still the grind from me until early April.
But I love it. But yeah, I do It's I
do miss multiple football games like I'm I'm gonna get
The one thing that I always struggle with in the
Super Bowl is we're going to talk about this game
(04:32):
for two weeks and you can start to like overthink everything.
With props and everything, you can convince yourself on so
many different things. So I usually just like to target
a couple of players that I really like from a
matchup perspective and go all in there and then take
a couple of fun long shots. That's usually how I
approach it because player props are on my specialty. But
(04:55):
one of the reasons I do love the Super Bowl
is because I do get the sweat player props. I
don't really bet player props outside of like a couple
of times a year in the NFL playoffs, College Football
National Championship and then the Super Bowl, so that they're
not I'm not used to sweating.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Then it's like collecting candy on Halloween. You know, if
that's the only time of year you eat Halloween, then
you'd run around with your pillow case or your big
bucket or whatever and go grab.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah. I mean I've been Super Bowl twenty years, so
I'm did like sweating, like a like the excitement of
watching your guy go out on a route and just
worry about that and is he going to get a
catch or throw it to him? Just being that that
guy who roots for that for a game is always fun.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So yeah, I used to be the person that would bet,
like which which would the first catch be from an
even number or an odd number? And now that I
take sports betting far more seriously, and line shopping and
all the research that we put into this modeling and
things like that. I can't bring myself to bet those anymore.
(05:57):
But I do miss I will this that this UFL.
I think that maybe we're thinking about how much we
miss football we might want to consider betting. The UFL also.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Put its Olympics in soccer season. We have Winter Olympics,
then we have March on it, and then we missed.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
The handicapping of football. I'm just saying there's a spring
league that we can look at. We've got a lot
of content to fill throughout the spring. On this podcast,
real quick, before we get to alex Pro Bowl Week,
pretty talk about Sanders. Maybe on this Kendrick, please tell me,
because I have not seen this anywhere, please tell me
(06:38):
that Trevor Lawrence declined this and wasn't actually overlooked, because
that's the story being spit out on social media right now,
and I have a hard time believing that the NFL
is this stupid.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
I have done so much in the weeds research about
this and cannot find anywhere on the Internet that he
was asked and declined. So I know that he was
an alternate, but there has been no confirmation of if
he declined or was asked or anything. So my tinfoil
(07:11):
hat is on. That's all I have to say without
getting myself in trouble.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I mean, they just cannot be that obsessed with the
idea of gaining social media impressions that they would invite
Schador over.
Speaker 4 (07:25):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I think they are near MVP candidate stuck. You make
it makes sense?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Please wait, I wanted to say before we get to stuck.
People don't understand right now that attention is currency and
that's what Shador provides.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
The Pro Bowl said.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I mean it's a probo who cares? I mean the
Pro Bowl is such a joke now. I mean I
remember loving watching the Pro Bowl growing up. I can't
remember last time I even turned it on, and it's like, it's.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Like, nobody's going to Bowl. We get nobody is. I
would rather watch. I legitimately would rather watch the Puppy
Bowl than watch the because the Puppy the games itself
for a joke. The invite isn't. The invite should at
least be taken seriously.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
They need to bring back those games that they used
to do with like Brett Farv and it's like how
far can you throw it? And there's some of the
fans that are on like ESPN Classic those throwbacks, you
know what I'm talking about. They would have like the
mini games.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Like pump pass and kick or am I thinking of
kick and keg?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, it would be like who could throw it the
furthest and then you would have like a wide receiver
drill that. Those were cool. But and then now UFL no,
I football. As much as I miss football, bet football
now college football specifically is a it's like almost year
round for me prepping, like with the transfer portal, it's
so much work. So like I do miss it, but
(08:49):
I'm okay. Football is not spring for me. Like I'm
okay not betting on on football in the spring. So
UFL no thanks.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
It does feel very synthetic to better football. It was
just the suggestion many people.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
We'll see, ye I'm sure there's probably edges there, I.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Would think, so not a lot of not a lot
of modeling I would think going on for the UFL.
So perhaps we'll check back in in April see where
we're at on that we're about to dive into our
pats preview. But first a word from our very own
Kendrick Middleton.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
The Favorites podcast is teamed up with DraftKings sports Book,
where new customers can bet five dollars and get three
hundred dollars back in bonus bets. If your bet wins.
The next great touchdown is coming and you can bet
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(09:41):
hundred back.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
In bonus bets.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
If your bet wins, the crown is yours.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl for the
twelfth time in franchise history. Here to help us take
a closer look at the New England side of things,
Alex Barth from ninety eight five The Sports Hub in Boston,
the station that birth Kendra Middleton for Alex covers all
things Boston sports over at ninety eight five of the
sports Hub dot com. You can throw them a follow
as well at Real Alex Barth. Alex, thanks for doing this.
(10:10):
You are breaking ground for us. The first interview that
we've had as a trio and you can give us
the inside scoop on Kendrim Middleton. So I imagine that's a
unique experience working with her day to day. Can you
tell us something we don't know about Kendra?
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Yeah, I don't know. I was gonna say, I I
don't know that there's an inside scoop on Kendrim Middleton.
I think Kendra Middleton gives you the inside scoop on
Kendri Middleton. She's pretty and it's one of my favorite
things about Kendra. She is very upfront and honest and
she tells a lot like it is. So I'm not
sure how much I have that she hasn't already put
out there.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Well, yeah, there's not a lot held close to the
vest there, so you might be onto something as far
as that goes.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
I joked about this on this Sunday Recap show that
I just feel I just feel so much relief for
Patriots fans out there. They had to wait so long
to get back to the Super Bowl. Well, what has
it been like in all serious this know, like covering
a team that was as dynastic as they were for
so long and then temporarily for a very brief period
(11:11):
of time, we're totally boring and irrelevant, and now to
be back into the Super Bowl with a different grouping.
I don't know that we've experienced this much in sports.
So from your perspective, what has that been like the
ebbs and flows of a dynasty, irrelevance and now into this.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Yeah, it's been wild. And my first year covering the
team was twenty eighteen, so I like to joke I
got one in just under the wire and I got
to experience covering. It was the tail end, but like
Bellichick and Brady winning a Super Bowl and then they
it looked like it was going to keep going right away.
They make the playoffs in twenty twenty one with Mac
Jones that ended up being fools gold and they really
(11:50):
bought him out. It was interesting because I'm somebody who
is a college football fan. Being in New England. That's
not the easiest sell to the market unless it's about
the draft for a bad team. So I got to
kind of trojan horse some college football talk in for
two years doing draft talk. But it's it really was.
You know, people always sit. You hear people say, oh,
(12:11):
Boston sports fans don't know how good they have it,
and I do think towards the end of the Brady
Belichicker it became more of an expectation than maybe it
should have been. Not saying that those guys weren't great,
weren't expected to win, but the energy during this run
is different than it was even the last couple Super
Bowl runs in New England. I think people really gained
a true respect for how difficult it is to get
(12:32):
to this point, what it takes to get to this point,
and having it taken away for seven long years, I
know people are really going to feel for us. Has
shaped a perspective and really why people are so bought
in to this team.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Alex, I'm just going to address the elephant in the
room now. We got a shoulder injury that we're keeping
an eye on. We of course look at things through
the scope of the point spread. We all sort of
squinted our eyes at the four and a half like,
is this right? Is it doesn't feel like the Patriots
should be installed as four and a half point underdogs.
But if there's a legitimate injury to the shoulder of
(13:09):
Drake May and it's the throwing shoulder I believe, then
then the line does make sense, So you tell us
how seriously should we be taking this injury?
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Well, the look aheadline was what three and a half? Right?
I think I saw you so moved by a point.
Part of the reason I'm running around again. I appreciate
you guys being flexible. Mike Vrabel's gonna talk here at
eleven thirty, so maybe we'll get more information.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Then.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
The fact he stiff armed a linebacker off of him
on the final run with that right arm makes me
think it can't be too bad, but will It wasn't
bad enough that anybody really notice during the game, clearly,
so we'll see. I do think it's late in the year.
Everybody's kind of banged up, right. Sam Darnold's been going
through that oblique injury for a few weeks now. He
was limited in practice. I think the last two playoff
(13:52):
games going into those so if he is banged up,
just based on what they've said early, my guess would
be it's week twenty one and everybody's kind of banged
up and it falls in that category. But it'll be
interesting to see what Frable says today.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Barthie, I got to know now that the regular seasons
ended the Patriots are going.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
To the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
What was the key do you personally think to this
team's success, because going into the season, the win total
kind of bounced around from seven and a half to
nine or so, not a lot of expectations on the team,
not a lot of big names on the roster. How
much of it was just liking one another or was
it something else entirely?
Speaker 4 (14:28):
The chemistry is definitely a big part of it, and
people will downplay that. Maybe once you get rolling, it's
less of a factor. But they overturned over fifty percent
of the worker that's insane. At the NFL level, usually
a big offseason nets you about a forty percent turnover.
This was more than half. So to get all those
(14:49):
new faces bought in, get them familiar with what they
were doing schematically as quickly as possible is massive. That's
not supposed to happen at the level that it happened
as Qui as it happened in New England. I think
that's a big part of it. And then just their
play in the trenches and it wasn't always perfect, but
it was so much better than last year, and it
(15:09):
gave Drake May more time to operate. I think it
created more opportunities for a secondary that has a ton
of talent. That was a big part of the turnaround
as well.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
So with Drake's injury, should I be looking more at
him to throw a turn or throw an interception or
Sam Donald to throw an interception. Drake's minus one thirty
Donald minus one forty.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Yeah, I mean Sam Donald was pretty turnover prone during
the year. Drake has been a little more turnover prone
in the playoffs. Now it's been more fumbles than interceptions.
So I don't know if there's just a turnover number
relative to an interception number. But I don't think this
is the game. Somebody asked me yesterday, do the Patriots
need to play perfect game to win? And it's the
(15:53):
Super Bowl, So I'm not going to say no. But
I don't think either of these teams just stylistically, are
the kind of team that they're just going to come
out and play mistake free football and grind their way
to a win. I think there is going to be
a good element of back and forth and kind of
teams chasing each other's mistakes in this game.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
So both so.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Both yeah, okay again with May with May it's more
of the fumbles than the inter if if if he
has a turnover in this game. Again, I don't know
if there's a number on that or just a number
you can bet for turnover. But I'm more worried about
the fumbles than the interceptions.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
And we know that that Sam Donald sees some ghosts
when he sees that Patriots logo across from him.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yeah, And which it's so exciting is is Zach Horror
has in these playoffs been fantastic And he put Herbert
and a blender, He puts you j Stroud in a blender.
There really wasn't an opportunity to put Jared's did him
in a blender? Just with with how limited the Broncos
offense was, but he has not been afraid to spin
a dial and get creative. It's much more than we
saw on the regular season. I would expect for him
(16:56):
to have something similar for Sam Donald as well.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Alextenso joining us and speaking of the defense, we want
to focus on that side of the ball. Real quick
two part question. The first, we you know much has
been made of the schedule, but in reality, we just
don't have that many data points of this new England
defense against you know, really good, healthy offenses. So you
know one of them, you know the Bills, right that
(17:21):
Bills game when they came back one thirty five to
thirty one. The Bills did that basically by I think
they completed one pass to an outside receiver. So when
I look at this new England defense from the outside,
when healthy, the run day is legit, like no one
can run on them. The front seven is going to
stop the run. Their corner group legit where I think
I would attack. And I'm curious to get your thoughts
(17:42):
on this is just is it the middle of the field?
Is it the linebackers and coverage is at the young safeties?
Like where are you most worried about this Patriots defense
going up against you know, a full strength offense.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
So, first of all, good job differentiating the schedule, and
they played a lot of tough defenses. But this is
really where the easy schedule comes in. You're absolutely right.
You look at the quarterbacks they faced, the offenses they faced,
it's it's among the worst. You know, they face some
of the worst offenses in the league pretty regularly. You
mentioned that Bills game. Now they were without Roberts Plane
and he has been it's night and day when he's
(18:17):
on the field and when he's not. So when he's
not on the field, teams attacked the linebackers and it worked.
They've struggled to cover tight ends this year. They did
in the regular season. They've been better in the playoffs,
but they haven't really faced an elite tight end so
far in this playoffs. They got I'm blanking on his
name in Houston is a good player, but C. J.
(18:37):
Stroud kind of took all their pass catchers out of
the game with how he was playing in that one. So, yeah,
it's throwing to tight end, it's throwing the running backs,
it's trying to isolate the linebackers in coverage. But having
Roberts plain back his big help. He went down during
the AFC Championship. He was back on the sideline of uniform.
He came back in, but he's been dealing with the
nagging injury. So he's a player maybe to watch in
that regard. But if there is a sawt spot of
(18:59):
the defense, it is probably the middle. But it's a
lot less soft than you might think based on the
end of the season, because again, they were playing with
that Roberts plaint and then.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
My follow up is, yeah, and you're we're all kind
of guessing at this, but the Patriots have really upped
their blitz rate, like five percent each of the past
four weeks. Easier to do against you know, the Chargers
offensive line. Strout on that offensive line and then you
know stid them. Do you think they keep that increase
blitz rate? And then also if this was Belichick and
(19:29):
his defenses, you know, obviously Vrabel very familiar with Belchick, right,
he would he wants to take away your strength, So
like this would be we're taking away jass N at
all costs and other people can beat them. So like,
what do you think about the blitz rate and that approach,
and what do you think the Patriots might do schematically?
Speaker 4 (19:47):
So I love how aggressive they've been. This is what
I wanted them to be all year, and they really
didn't do it until the playoffs. Oddly enough, the only
game they came close to it was the first Bills
game in Buffalo that they won on Sunday Night Football.
Zach Corr said last week that it's a game plan thing,
it's a matchup thing, and just because the rates are
going up doesn't mean that's a permanent change. It's week
to week. Darnold has been the better quarterbacks against the blitz.
(20:11):
He's he's been solid against the blitz. And like you mentioned,
against this offensive line, you gotta pressure him. You have
to pressure him. Can you get pressure with four? It's
something they struggled to do all season. They were kind
of surprisingly able to do a little bit against Denver
against that offensive line, So that was encouraging and maybe
that that that means a little less blitz. But if
it's truly a matchup thing, I think you blitz less early.
(20:33):
You see if you can get pressure with four, and
then if you can't, and this is what they did
against Justin Herbert because Herbert had been good against the
blitz this year, then you turn it up and then
you crank it up if you can't get pressure with
those four. But that was, like you mentioned, with the
much worse offensive line, the JSN thing. I don't know
that there's a single better player versus player matchup in
this Super Bowl than Christian Gonzalez for Jackson Smith and Jinba,
(20:55):
I would think Gonzale shadows him. He doesn't. Gonzalz doesn't
really go on the slot. Jambe hasn't lined up a
ton in the traditional slot this year. Maybe that's an
adjustment that the Seahawks make to try to hide him
from Gonzalez and then do the Patriots move him inside.
That's gonna be a fascinating matchup, and to me, it's
gonna be Gonzalez with maybe help to try to take
JSN away and I self to worry about Cooper Cup.
(21:16):
They've obviously got a really good run game two Robbie Ootz,
super underrated pickup, and he's been excellent for them as
the fallback leading the way. It was a two headed monster.
I know now it's just Kenneth Walker, but it is
going to be really interesting to see That matchup is
going to go a long way and dictating this game
because if Gonzales, who has a history of playing at
his best against the best corners in the league, when
(21:37):
he gets beat like he gets beat last week by
Marvin Mamms, he got beat by the Bengals fourth or
fifth receiver in that game in Cincinnati. But I remember
his second year and he only played four games as
a rookie, he had this gauntlet to start the year
where it was like Jamar Chase, Tyreek Hill, DK Metcalf.
(21:58):
They were like five or six weeks where he was
playing top ten receivers every single week and he was
locking the guy down every single week. So he's kind
of got a little bit of that thing where he's
at his best when the lights are brightest. He's a
primetime player. But Jsen might be the best receiver in
the league right now. Like he's just he's on another level.
So can Gonzales rise to that occasion or his JSN
(22:19):
really going to prove that he is unguardable because if
Gonzales can lock him down or freeze the Patriots up
to do a lot more and play at ten on
ten and get more creative on defense and that kind
of thing.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Last one for me, I know, Kravitas one more, but
Drake may is rushing total sitting at thirty seven and
a half yards, Obviously he can take off based off
of your gut reaction, Does this feel too high?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Too low?
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Just right? He averaged twenty six almost twenty six and
a half in the regular season and forty seven rush
yards per game in the postseason against really tough defenses.
With this shoulder injury should this get extra attention.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
I would even say without the shoulder injury, the Seahawks
allowed you know, we're top five and rushing yards per
carry allowed to opposing quarterbacks, something that they've struggled with
this year. And you know, thirty seven and a half we've
seen him in the playoffs. He's good for like a
twenty twenty five yard run per game. The shoulder might
add to that more. So I think that's about right.
(23:12):
The one thing is, I have a buddy who keeps
getting burned on kneel downs on quarterback rushing totals all playoffs,
and he keeps texting me like, why is this the
world shouldn't count against rushing yards whatever? So I always
caution people with that when it comes to rushing yards.
But no, I do think this is a game. Even
take the shoulder injury out of it, it makes sense
for Drake May to be a little more aggressive running
the football.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Quick question. A lot of people won't talk about this days. Well,
I guess everyone's gonna eventually talk about everything. Yeah, but
Seahawks elite special teams. People don't talk enough about their
special teams. I mean, if you go back to the game,
first game, against the Rams pund return flip that game.
They get the one seed because of it. Last week
you have the Rams, you know, botch a punt, But
the Seahawks all year, their special teams have been great.
(23:53):
You have Patriots have one of the best pund returners
in the league. You have Brendan Schooler is always good
for a player too. But barring tor Roff game last week,
how much confidence do you have in the Patriots special
teams as a whole.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
As a whole in confident? Like you mentioned, they've got
very good players. I think Jeremy Springer is an excellent
special teams coordinator. They've done a good job. They had
some issues in kick return coverage earlier in the year.
They've been better about that. Or they're just sending the
ball into the end zone and trusting their defense. You know,
maybe against a guy like Rashid Sihat, that's what you do.
A rough game for Barringer in Denver, no doubt, and
(24:25):
you worry about that. That's supposed to be a great
place to punt and he was struggling before the snow
came in. So in a game that could turn into
a field position battle, you worry about that, but outside
of him, they're in good shape. Seattle's special teams are excellent.
They still probably have a bit of an edge there,
But I don't think the Patriots. The Patriots special teams
are much better than the Rams, for instance. I don't
think that's an area where they're gonna get caught lacking.
(24:47):
But you know, between Shiheed and all that, they do
have to be on their a game. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
We'll trap with a quick chat about the tailbacks for
the Patriots. When in the world happened to Trevion Henderson.
I was a fantasy stud for me all year, nine
hundred and eleven yards, nine touchdowns during the regular season,
a huge drop off in the playoffs, and now the
backfield has gone all the way back to where it
was at the beginning of the season, with Ramandre Stevenson
(25:13):
taking the full load. Is Henderson in the doghouse? And
should we be looking the way perhaps at his unders
or Ramondre Stevenson overs? How do you view this?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
It's look Josh McDaniels has always been hell for fantasy
or betting people when it comes to running backs because
he mixes and matches and goes off game plans. Henderson
was dealing with the shoulder injury last week. He was
a full participate in practice, but he was on the
injury report all three days. So maybe it could be
that I do feel like his field vision two. I
thought the second half of the season he was seeing
(25:43):
the field much better and that was the big difference.
That's kind of waned a little bit here in the playoffs,
and Ramondre Stevenson, meanwhile, is playing the best football of
his career. So part of me wonders if they're just
riding with the hot hand or if you know, two
weeks Trevan Henderson can get healthy, in which it's all
the big plays with him. Even when he's at his best,
He's not a guy that's gonna consistently give you four
(26:06):
or five yard carries. It's one or two, you know,
twenty plus yard carries a game, and that's kind of it.
And then the rest of the game he looks like
the guy he's looked like. He just hasn't been able
to break off that big run against the Seattle front.
That's gonna be hard to do, So maybe that makes
it more of a Stevenson game to control the ball,
control the clock, stay ahead of his schedule, get the chunks.
But Henderson is one of their best big play threats
(26:28):
on offense, and I don't think they're ever going to
go away from him entirely because just the threat he
brings of that one play can change the game. Because
he has that ability, you can't take him off the
field entirely. Is part of it.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
They just trust Stevenson so much more in pass protection,
is that.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
So yeah, that's a big part of it too. Henderson,
that's one spot he's actually been better. And he had
a huge pass block in the in the wild card
game or the division one of them, he came up
with a huge block. But yeah, Stevenson is a tremendous,
tremendous passblocker for running back and is the offensive line
struggled and they've gone again some of these elite pass rushes.
I think that's definitely been part of wing it. But
(27:05):
Josh McDaniels also isn't afraid to have his running backs
be a tell of what they're calling the last Super
Bowl run they had. I think they ran the ball
seventy eighty percent of the time with Sony Michelle on
the field, something like that, and James White had a
wide Split two. Now they're not as talented as they
were back then. They can't get away with that strong vitelle,
but it's not something Josh McDaniels is afraid of.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Yeah, Seattle doesn't blitz a ton either, so you might
might be able to get away with him on the
field more and get them gott in space in the
passing game.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Love the yeah I call that too. Love the callback
to Sony Michelle too. Haven't thought about that name in a.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Minute, Alex, how long it's been had you cover all.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
Go and follow all of his coverage ninety eight five
of the sports hub dot Com. Throw them the follow
as well for us at Real Alex Barth, Alex, thanks
so much for the time and the insights on the
new England Patriots enjoy the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
Thanks guys, you too anytime.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Thanks by and that'll do it for today's episode special thing.
Thanks to Alex Barth for joining us our producers David Paine,
Gifford Gould. Of course, the two stars of the show,
Stucky and Kendri Middleton. The Favorites, will return on Thursday
right here on the Action Network YouTube page. When we
preview the Seattle Seahawks the favorites. On the Favorites, We'll
(28:17):
see you next time here on the pod presented by DraftKings.
The Crown is yours respect.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
The Puppy Bull Action Network reminds you please gamble responsibly.
If you or someone you care about has a gambling problem,
help is available twenty four to seven at one eight
hundred Gambler
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