Patriots Unfiltered 9/30: Analysis and Observations from Week 4 Win against the Panthers

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Some of the content of Patriots Unfiltered may not be
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Speaker 2 (00:09):
The World's a veget podcasts.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Welcome to Patriots Unfiltered.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
How about an extensive Carolina Panthers and jewelry sport? All
of their main receivers and their top tight ends are all.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Are they scared? If they're scared, they might just be
It might just be injured.

Speaker 4 (00:32):
Right, I think it was week bore Right.

Speaker 5 (00:34):
It's disrespectful.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
The comment.

Speaker 5 (00:37):
But the comment, brother, it's disrespectful. You know.

Speaker 6 (00:41):
When I come to let State later on the Beat
and Bold, you.

Speaker 5 (00:44):
And I going to have a talk. Oh, I look
forward to that barrel lapse.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
That'll be if you can get a reservation for Burns.
It's one of the best steakhouses in the country.

Speaker 7 (00:53):
Well cover that.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
I don't even know if it's salary thirteen.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
That's a that's a good that's good for you. That's
a that's a huge blow out. Need it.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
That's like a seven to nothing soccer score for you.
I was right on the thirty burger last time. I'm
going to be right on the forty steak this time.
It's not a burger It's a steak forty one ten Patriots.
This is Patriots Unfiltered, presented by Toyota's official website for
deals buy a Toyota dot Com.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Folks.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
For the second time this season, I am guaranteeing a
Patriots win. And not only am I guaranteeing a win,
I'm guaranteeing a blowout forty one ten Patriots.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
I was right on the thirty burger last time.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
I'm going to be right on the forty steak manifest
this time.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
It's not a burger, it's a steak.

Speaker 5 (01:53):
Okay, you're right, you're right.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Welcome to Patriots Unfiltered.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
It is Tuesday here at a Less Stadium, and we're
all a buzz because we're coming off a big win,
one of the best wins we've had just in terms
of fun in a long time, much needed home win
here at Jillette Stadium.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
What was the score again, forty two to thirteen.

Speaker 5 (02:17):
Something like that, very very close to what you pointed
at this something like.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
That, something like that.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
And I think there's a lot of good stuff coming
out of it, a lot of stuff we need to
work on, understandably, but everything is coming up roses right now.
And we're getting ready for the Bills. But we're going
to talk about that win. We're going to talk about
what they need to work on. What were the good
things that came out of that game, notably Drake May

(02:43):
just continuing his progression I think, in my opinion, dominanding,
dominant and sending.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
I mean, the league's taking notice.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I mean they've suddenly realized that we might have taken
the best quarterback out of the bunch a couple of
year years ago.

Speaker 5 (03:01):
So, Paul, you're not telling me things that I haven't
said in the past.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
He's not going to go trying to get him to go,
but we'll get him going.

Speaker 5 (03:11):
You pick one thing, we'll get there later.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
All right.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Uh, it's Duce, it's Evan, it's Paul, it's me, it's Matt.
Now it's in the boat and uh, this is Patriots Unfiltered.
Uh So where do we start, I mean, Drake?

Speaker 1 (03:27):
To start with Drake, Well, that's the biggest thing.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
I Look, we don't expect to go to the super
Bowl this season, but we're trying to.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Take a well maybe we're not there yet.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
Wow, I'm not even saying that that's of positivity.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
But this was the biggest thing for this season.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
You need a quarterback in this league to compete and
to feel like this kid is.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Starting to push the ball down the field.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
They're starting to make explosives, x'es, chunkies, whatever you want
to call them. Look, you watch some of the other
game around the league every week, there are the good
teams put up points consistently, and if you can't score
and you're not gonna win consistently. And that's the trajectory
that they're headed now. Look it's four games and not
exactly a murderer's row, but you want to be the

(04:09):
best of the bad teams.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
This year, and so far they are not.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
So far, I would just say last week they showed
that they can be better than a bad team.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
It's got to continue. You can look forward down the line.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
They're four more games against teams that haven't won a
game yet, not penciling in any wins. But it's extremely
encouraging when your quarterback is making it drives.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
You know, you started off last year with that great
win against Cincinnati, but we all said gold that was
that's hard to sustain the way they won that game.
I think what we saw on Sunday is sustainable. I'm
not saying forty points every I'm talking about the style
of play with the offense.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
I think that's sustainable.

Speaker 7 (04:43):
Yeah, I mean they've been doing it for three weeks
in a row.

Speaker 5 (04:46):
Really yeah.

Speaker 7 (04:46):
I mean, I know they turned the ball over like
crazy against Pittsburgh, but they still moved the ball in
the same fashion that they did against Miami and against Carolina.
I mean, look, you can put the caveats out there
that they haven't played faced really a murders around of defenses.
All four of these defenses so far are bottom half
of the league and most of the metrics. But do

(05:08):
you make them look like bottom half of the league defenses?
And that's what Drake May has done. He's made three
teams in a row now, he has really moved the
ball through the year at will against all three teams.
He's third in the league right now and pass epa
third in the league. Like that's incredible for a guy
four games into his second season that frankly is not

(05:29):
really surrounded by the best supporting cast just yet. Like,
I don't think it's like the Patriots have, you know,
all these weapons that he's throwing to this marriage between
Drake May and Josh McDaniels is off to an unbelievable start.
And it started slow in week one where he had
some concerns there. But the last three weeks there's the

(05:50):
things that they are doing. I didn't even know McDaniels
had in his bag, frankly, and now they're pulling all
these different things out to amplify Drake May's skill set.
I mean, it's been it's been fun to watch, like
it's their offensive tape from this game particularly is just
as clean as I've seen in probably three or four years.

Speaker 5 (06:09):
It's awesome.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
And you mentioned weapons something one of your guys said
that I agree with. If Tony the emergence of Diggs
was one of the huge things coming out of that game.

Speaker 5 (06:20):
I would agree because if you can have we've been
talking about how much a number one receiver could help
Drake May in his development, and what Evan just said
is absolutely right in terms of the cast as a whole.
But if you have one guy who can be a
threat no matter what the other team's going to do, right,

(06:40):
and I think we've seen Diggs throughout his career be
that guy. Doesn't matter if you try to take him
out of the game. He can still make an impact
on the game right now. I'm not telling you one
game says that that's what he's going to be the
rest of the season. But that's a great sign to see.
I think three of his six catches were you know,
twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Five eight, not just the little underneath stuff.

Speaker 5 (06:59):
You get the all downfield a little bit. I absolutely
loved the fourth down play, the back shoulder down the sideline.
You're seeing him make some plays. I think you're seeing
some trust between the quarterback and the receiver. They're getting
on the same page. Those those kinds of plays require
trust in reps, in sort of rapport, and that play,

(07:25):
to me was was one of the best things that
I again.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
What the number of targets that he's thrown to dig
so far, but he's only not caught two of them.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, out of all the targets.

Speaker 5 (07:34):
It might be three, but I mean, yeah.

Speaker 7 (07:37):
Highest completion rate in the NFL right now amongst wide receivers. Yeah,
so he's catching everything that's being thrown his way. But
the biggest thing is what Paul said this week. His
average air yards in the air goes up to thirteen
per catch last week. First three weeks it was only
around six. So they targeted him down the field more.

Speaker 5 (07:54):
That's all.

Speaker 7 (07:55):
It was like they just because the same amount of targets,
the same amount of targets, its bigger chunks routes from
the same spots, just targeting him down the field more
and opening up the passing game. And I think the
biggest thing too with Diggs is they had Mike Jackson,
the cornerback for the Panthers, was on him, and yeah,
that was not an even fight. And so if they

(08:16):
have to start dictating matchups with Diggs, where they go
into the game and they say, we need to put
our number one corner on Stefan Diggs, because if we
put our scrub corner on Stefan Diggs, it's gonna be
six for one hundred and one. We're gonna be in trouble.
Then that has the whole pecking order thing that we
always talk about, like the coverage dictating receiver. So this

(08:37):
week against Buffalo, does Christian Benford travel with Stefan Diggs. Well,
if he does, now, Keishaan Boudi has matchups, Matt Collins
has matchups. Pop Douglas if he gets back in there,
as matchups. So it just puts everybody back into the
pecking order, if you will, because you can't just put
your backup, second string corner against Diggs. He's gonna torch

(08:58):
that guy.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
That's where I kept going back to and Fred, it's
your thing. It's very easy to defend in the past.
And I don't know what level Digs is going to
be Evan's right, but now you've pushed the ball down
the field a little bit, you're starting to see him
emerge secondary targets. Who's going to start to emerge and
make those big catches. We didn't really see it last week.
It was kind of all Digs. You know, you got
Hunter Henry, but we'd love to see Booty or Williams

(09:19):
or Hollins maybe increase their contributions a little bit.

Speaker 5 (09:22):
Yeah, And the reason why I really liked the whole
development with Diggs is again going back to what Evan's
talking about with Josh McDaniels helping Drake May and we
have seen it like, you know, the first scoring drive,
you know it was seven to six after the punt return,
the first play is you know, your leak Hooper out
for a total scheme play, right, you're catching them off guard.

(09:43):
You get like twenty four yards to get the drive started.
And we've seen a lot of those plays and I'm
not saying, oh, geez, Paul, why are you upset about those?
Those are great, But at some point you use all
of those, the other team knows that you're doing those,
and they're going to start to take them away, you know,
some some of those little wrinkles here and there. If
Diggs can be what he was, but you're not taking

(10:05):
that back shoal to play away, You're not. He's better
than the guy who's covering him a lot of times. Yeah,
and Drake May, I think, is getting to the point
where he's going to be too good to take that away.
And I'm much more excited about that development than anything else.
I love the schemes. I love, you know, scheming guys
open the way Sean McVay and Evan's boy Kyle Shanahan do.

(10:29):
I love those. But at some point you have to
just be able to line up and they know what's
coming and you need to be able to execute it.
And there was some signs that they could execute some
offense conventionally, not just you know, wow, they really caught
him on that one. Like Evan said, Diggs was just
better than the guy who was covering him.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Yeah, I found myself there in the game sometimes like
reverting back to my mindset of the last couple of
seasons where it would be like a third and seven
or third and long and you're like, hey, that's going
to be a grind trying to pick this up, and
they're starting to make those plays.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
That is the one thing about this game. They really
didn't have any of those then. I think one third
and long in the whole game, you're feeling, Okay, you
sound a little horse.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
You're going to explain it to you got a young
match toys r us again or not.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
Toys r us?

Speaker 2 (11:16):
Oh really road rage, Perilla really a little bit road
rage a little bit.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Oh boy, oh boy, we're gonna have to hear that.
Maybe second half of the show.

Speaker 5 (11:26):
That's for another time. Okay, it was. It was actually
kind of a funny story. But yeah, I'm not not
sick at all. I just kind of I'm a little horse.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay, all right.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
The other story going into the game that we got
an answer coming out of the game was Ramandre Stevenson,
what will be his role. He ended up with the
most reps for any running back in the game right
off the bat. And you know, we'll see what happens
that that story is not ended, but at least for
that game, he rewarded Mike Rabel for his confident in him,

(12:00):
in his trust.

Speaker 5 (12:01):
Yeah, a little bit.

Speaker 7 (12:03):
They did change his role, Like he didn't get the
goal line carries in this game, true, so that that
piece of it got moved to Gibson and Travon Henderson
who both scored on the goal line, So he fumbled
on the goal line. And I think that they took
that away from him in this game. So I wouldn't
say that it wasn't completely unchanged. You know, he definitely
played the most and he had the most touches. But

(12:25):
I think that is a big development just in terms
of where they see the risks of him in terms
of his ball security really popping up, which is like
in those tight spaces down by the goal line. So
that that whole room though, you know, the whole running
back room, and I was talking to Deuce about this
earlier off the air. They need more out of that
running back room. They are dead last in the league

(12:46):
right now. In rush EPA. They're the worst rushing offense
in the NFL. They need to run the ball more,
and that's including Drake may running right like he's running
very successfully, and they still don't run the ball well.
So they to run the ball better, especially this week
against Buffalo, Like you don't want to get into a
drop back pass game against the Bills in that defense.

(13:07):
So that that's like the one out of all the
good things that they've done on offense, I think that's
the one the area that needs to improve well to.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
Go on what your point about, It needs to be
the running backs to not necessarily the blocking.

Speaker 7 (13:21):
Yeah, well, I mean, like all the metrics support that
the blocking has been decent, And so I went back
and watched all the carries on Sunday because sometimes I
think that it's a little bit, uh, you know, bottled up,
But really they're running a lot of outside zone and
duo and in those schemes like that, the read is
on the running back to make the second level of
the defense wrong. So when the linebacker goes and fills

(13:44):
a gap, he's supposed to cut off that linebacker into
the open space on the field. So it's a lot
more of the running back at the controls than an
old Josh McDaniel's offenses. You know, when they run those
gap schemes, they're really just following the full back right,
Like the full back is going to lead through the
hole up to the second level and you're just going
to run right behind the full back. Now they're in

(14:05):
a little bit more of like a scan or vision
situation with the running backs, and right now they're twenty
seventh in the league and yards after contact per rush
that they're not really avoiding tackles, they're not avoiding crowds,
they're not seeing the cutback lanes as consistently as you'd
like to see. So I'm not putting it all on
the running backs. I think some of the blocking could

(14:25):
definitely improve, but I think they need more just in general,
out of that phase because they're not going to be
able to beat a team like Buffalo being one dimensional
if you can't run the football.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
It would help if they don't fall behind right away.

Speaker 5 (14:39):
Well, the start is important, but I would also say
the two best offensive games they had were Miami and
this one, and they were able to only throw the
ball twenty times. Right, So, whether it's tremendous production in
the ground game, and I certainly wouldn't quibble with your
assessment of the production. They did all better than four

(15:01):
yards to carry this particular week. Yes, I think they
ran it well enough. I don't think it was great.
I'm not. It's not, you know, necessarily.

Speaker 7 (15:10):
Well, I would also like take the jet sweeps out right,
Like the jet sweeps to me are not conventional runs.
So like they and Henderson, but Givin, but Gibson and
Stevenson on getting jet sweeps, Well, Gibson got one on
Sunday and got twenty and then that's set up their
best run on the next play.

Speaker 5 (15:29):
So that was their whole run.

Speaker 7 (15:30):
Game was those two plays.

Speaker 5 (15:33):
Sometimes it's just it's not that it's the everything sucks wrong.
It's not the end of the world.

Speaker 7 (15:41):
I just look at when they get into games like
a team against the Bills, where the Bills have a
great pass defense, and you do not want to get
into a track meet with Josh Allen, like you do
not want to try to outscore Josh Allen. So if
you can win this game on Sunday, you got to
shorten the game and you gotta possess the football.

Speaker 5 (15:59):
Both teams really want to kind of play the same
way Buffalo the last year plus. Now Josh Allen's like
twenty five throws and they keep it low.

Speaker 8 (16:10):
Now.

Speaker 5 (16:10):
The difference with Josh Allen is they're going to bake
in I don't know a half dozen at least designed
runs for him, and that's a big part of their offense.
But James Cook is really kind of the engine. Now,
I mean you can get to know. Do you want
to continue with Carolina? I mean it was such a bue. Yeah,
you want to wait for tomorrow? Ready to turn the page.

Speaker 4 (16:28):
No.

Speaker 7 (16:28):
The only reason why I brought it up is because
like they I mean I would say not the Thursday,
like they should beat teams like Carolina, like.

Speaker 5 (16:34):
This is not this is not where the bar.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
I know you say that, but teams just up up
until last week, teams there same we should beat the Patriots.

Speaker 5 (16:43):
So I totally agree, and if I want to stay consistent.
The reason why I am as optimistic today, well I
should say more optimistic today about the rest of the
season than I was before the game is because of
the way they won the game. That mattered to me
and we all would have said they have to win
this game right going into the game, doesn't matter. They

(17:04):
have to win the game, got to win a home game,
got to beat teams like Carolina at home. I haven't
just said it. You can't lose this game. I agree,
But if they wanted seventeen thirteen and we're like plus
three in the turnover margin, I don't think I'd feel
very good about it. I now look at that game,
and I look ahead and I see New Orleans, Tennessee

(17:26):
and Cleveland coming in that close proximity coming out. I
now look at those three games and say, as long
as the Patriots don't do anything to beat themselves, they
should be able to win all three of those games.
I didn't say that going in. Yeah, but now when
I see when the Patriots play well, there's a gap

(17:46):
between the bottom teams and the league in them.

Speaker 7 (17:49):
Which is what you want to do. You wanted to
see that separation, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (17:52):
And I saw it. And my whole caveat all off
season was really Drake May. Drake May makes that second
year leap and starts playing at a higher level, in
a different level, then there's different expectations and it's only
one month. I get it. I'm not trying to like
get lost and say, I see, I told you so.

(18:14):
But Drake May has ascended to a different level than
we saw last year. The last three games have been
much better.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
The other thing coming out of this game that was
a story obviously going in was turnovers, and there weren't any.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yep. Yeah, so that's a huge thing.

Speaker 3 (18:28):
Yeah, I think Rabel said yesterday, I just you know,
to get through a game without any turnovers?

Speaker 1 (18:34):
What does that feel like?

Speaker 3 (18:35):
I'm sure the message coming out of two weeks ago
was hey, what does it look like when we don't
turn the ball over?

Speaker 1 (18:40):
And now you have some valad and you see what
it looks like.

Speaker 7 (18:42):
Yeah, I mean the first third down throw was tipped
up in the air and got a little iffy there,
but I thought, you know, that was it. Drake Lake
threw it kind of like he thought Booty was sort
of going to settle in that spot, and Booty kept
running the inkuite. I don't know who was necessarily wrong there,
but it just didn't look right.

Speaker 5 (19:01):
But even that was not what.

Speaker 7 (19:04):
We saw last week, where you know, they're throwing the
ball right to the other team type turnovers, and like
I said, there's all of it the cleanliness of the execution,
you know, the pass protection, the spacing, the decision making
by the quarterback, the levels that they have to their
route concepts. Like it looks on tape like a functional

(19:26):
NFL offense and that just makes me so happy. Like
I've been waiting years for this. I've been waiting for this.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
I was thinking of you of it.

Speaker 3 (19:35):
And that's like you get educated watching bad football and
understanding things like spacing. Like remember over the last couple
of years, how that was like a big talking point
at various times where like they're right on top of
each other. This offense isn't coordinated, you know, with Tom
Brady run and things for twenty years, it's never even
crossed your mind of like, well they're not in the
right spacing, Like, of course they are, but you have
to experience the bad to now understand, you know, some

(19:57):
of the nuance to what's improving and what's getting better.

Speaker 7 (20:00):
Yeah, the throw to Hunter Henry that he had down
in the red zone, that third downplay a little I
don't know how he's Texas route, yeah, man, he like
that route only works if mac Collins takes the linebacker
on the under and so or is that. I think
that was actually awesome Hooper. And then they came back
to almost an identical play on mac Collins's touchdown later on,

(20:22):
and they jumped hunter Henry thinking they were going to
throw it the Hunter again and they ended up throwing
the under that time to Matt Collins. And it's like
those little elements of like levels and spacing and just
concepts that look the same but aren't exactly the same,
Like that's what good offenses do.

Speaker 5 (20:38):
That's what that's how good offense.

Speaker 2 (20:41):
And then the throw itself, even though it was a
short throw, it was a difficult throwing the other way.

Speaker 5 (20:47):
You guys are talking about two different plays. Oh are
you talking about the one in the red zone like
by that he got stopped in the one I'm.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
Talking about the one where he's rolling.

Speaker 5 (20:56):
I thought you were talking about two different talking about
different plays. Oh yeah, I mean that one.

Speaker 7 (21:01):
You know, those types of things in terms of like
the Henry's touchdown, Like I just I would love to
sit down with McDaniels and be like, where did where
did this come from? Because you can't run that with
Tom Brady. And that's not a knock on Brady. It's
just not his game, Like he's just not mobile enough
to get out of the pocket and make that kind
of throw. So this is all different type of stuff

(21:25):
that Josh is now installing with Drake may like that he.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
Did learn something last year in his little college tour.

Speaker 5 (21:30):
Maybe. I mean, I don't want to college offenses working
in the NFL sunk it.

Speaker 7 (21:37):
I don't want to like speculate on where it came from.
But you know they're they're moving the pocket both in
the gun and from under center on the keepers, like
they're doing things that they just didn't do with Brady
and mac Jones, Like this just didn't exist and Cam
really couldn't do it because he didn't have He didn't
wasn't the thrower that you know he needed to be.
So you have all these different elements. You know, they're

(21:58):
running like they ran counter bash in this game, which
is you're gonna drop a counter bas Lamar Jackson's special
counter Bass that's right out of the Baltimore Ravens, like
you know, a playbook, Like that's not they were not
running counter bash in twenty eighteen with Tom Brady, Like
that's not, that's not that element of of the offense.

Speaker 5 (22:18):
They have some counters and some bashes, but they didn't
run any counter bash.

Speaker 7 (22:22):
Okay, counter bash quickly because you're all making fun of
me because I'm excited for once about the office.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
It was a twitter was a cacophony of counter bash yesterday.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
It was just it was like, Taylor is a counter bag.

Speaker 7 (22:34):
Yeah, so counter bashes is a design quarterback read right,
So they have Drake May reading the defensive end. If
the defensive end crashes, then he's going to keep the
football and run it himself. And the defensive end stays outside,
then he's going to hand the ball off.

Speaker 9 (22:50):
Right.

Speaker 7 (22:50):
In this case, they actually inverted it not to get
too complicated.

Speaker 5 (22:53):
So it's the other way.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
So it's an option.

Speaker 5 (22:55):
It's an option play.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Oh, but you have the left guard and the left
tackle pulling right, and then you're well, that's the counter action.

Speaker 7 (23:01):
That's the counter that's the counteraction. And now the coolest
part about the one the Patriots ran, which they're definitely
gonna come back to, is they actually snuck Hunter Henry
out on a route behind the pollers and so he
was wide open like for like a sixty yard touchdown.
If Drake May had kept the ball but he got
the give read, so he gave it to Travon Henderson.

(23:23):
But like that, that type of offense is just not
anything I've ever seen Josh McDaniels run before. So that's
all new to this iteration of the Josh McDaniels offense.
And it's really cool to see how he's adapted to
a different skill set at quarterback. And now you see
the efficiency is just off the charts with Drake may.

(23:45):
So the only cause for like a little concern that
I have is Paul's thing is like, once teams start
to figure out what they're doing, sure do they have
bcd F.

Speaker 5 (23:56):
The stuff that on my show is they're putting up
Diggs's numbers because I think that that stuff that you
can rely on you can just beat you. That's you
can replicate that because he has the talent. And then
once you have that guy, it's like what Mike and
Evan was saying, you know, that makes Booty or Hollands
or these other guys more effective players. Yeah, you know,
and hopefully you continue to build on those. The tight

(24:18):
ends have both been really good for you. So it's
not a great cast of skill position guys. But if
the quarterback is playing at a high level. It's good enough. Sure,
I mean, Mahomes would kill for the level that they have.
You know what Mahomes dealt with the first month of
the season.

Speaker 7 (24:36):
And the pass protection, Like, the pass protection has been
to keep.

Speaker 5 (24:40):
It to twenty attempts and you don't have to rely
on Will Campbell holding the edge forty five times like
you did in week one. Like it's a huge difference.
It's a huge difference.

Speaker 7 (24:50):
And they've been doing some stuff to help the tackles,
you know, with chips and different things like that. So
you just see what a well coordinated offense looks like.
And it's just it's just a breath fresh air.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
So it's a lot to talk about coming out of
the game. We're very excited.

Speaker 5 (25:06):
Do you want to do this now? Do you want
to do it now? Deuce?

Speaker 1 (25:08):
Do you want to might PSA?

Speaker 5 (25:10):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (25:11):
You have a PSA yeah, yes, So I'm going to
set it.

Speaker 5 (25:14):
I'm going to.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Read off.

Speaker 5 (25:17):
So there's been a lot of talk about Stefan Diggs
and some sort of change in his usage. Okay, Diggs
has been in the slot a lot this season. In
the first three weeks, he was in the slot a lot. Okay,
in this particular game, Mike's gonna have some numbers for
you that tell you something was different. I will now

(25:40):
let Mike have the floor.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
Okay, thank you, Paul, I appreciate it. Hello everyone, patriots
of filtered listeners. I want to make sure you were
informed because there's a narrative out there right now that
moving Stefan Digs into the slot this week was the
magic sauce that suddenly allowed him to be successful. So
I went through and UH just charted some of the
numbers spread through the first four weeks. Uh the first
week and I'm gonna be wide and slot seventy percent wide,

(26:03):
twenty six percent slot. Second week forty percent wide, fifty
three percent slott little bump that week. Last week against
Pittsburgh six WI twenty eight percent wide, seventy one percent
in the slot. So last week he played the most
slot snaps he's played, and then it became an air
of last week like they need to move Digs more
into the slot to have more success. Of course, he

(26:23):
only had one catch for eleven yards. Last week against
the Panthers, was nine snaps wide, seven in the slot,
and his big plays all came out wide. So for
the season it's been fifty two percent out wide, forty
five percent in the slot. He's not a slot receiver.
He's playing both inside and outside, and that is why

(26:43):
Stefan Diggs is so effective. His rise in snaps now
this was he played sixty three percent of the snaps
this week, which is his.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
Highest total yet. So, as we've said, it's.

Speaker 3 (26:52):
Been the increase in usage that I think has helped
him as he come back from an ACL I just
like these narratives that come out about there are numbers
that back it up.

Speaker 1 (27:01):
He hasn't been more on the slot. And if you
were just to say, oh, he should only play in
the slot, I.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Think you'd be saying you're gonna reduce his usage because
you only want him out there when there's.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
Three receivers, so you're gonna limit him, move him around.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
That's what makes him great. I don't get this digs
in the slot thing, and it made me do it
made me do Paul research.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
I like write stuff. I'm like, I'm writing stuff down,
but I got to come in. I gotta come with numbers.
I hope they not dolls are watching and listening learning.

Speaker 3 (27:24):
So one of those things like somebody and then they
just repeats it without and I'm like, it's an underlie,
it's a disservice.

Speaker 7 (27:31):
Like you said, the big plays down the field, we're
all having him run routes on the outside for the
most part, like either the back shoulder faide, like we
can all see.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
It just bugs me, like that's that one in particular,
Like you guys know, I sort of push back against
you know, the film review and it's not my thing, okay,
but you don't have to be Evan to see a
back shoulder fade on fourth down right down the sideline
and then say, you see you get him in the
slot and there's no way that play could have been
from the slot.

Speaker 2 (28:01):
Right, and plus we know that we're reserving that slot
position for Chisholm when he's read.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
It.

Speaker 5 (28:07):
Just really it just really bugs me. I mean, Diggs
has always been a guy who's been versatile. He can
be on the outside, he can be you know, in
the slot. He can you know, if you want to say,
you know a Z or a different kind of slot,
you know, the f like Evan explained last week, the
differences in those two things. He's a good player and
he has versatility to his game. Matt Collins at his

(28:28):
size can do some of those things too. He's been
an ex receiver a lot, but he's also has the
ability to sort of line up as a tight end
kind of and the inside the block and his.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
Professional receivers they can run broccoli, they can run carrot,
they can they can.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Do it all.

Speaker 3 (28:49):
But it kind of goes back to Julian Edelman and
that you know, oh, he's a slot like Wes Welker
and Edelman, I think takes exception.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
Have you've talked to him about it. You know, he's that.

Speaker 3 (28:57):
Zero receiver who they can move around and play off
the line of scrimmage and he can motion inside and
you know that's where Stefan Diggs is going to be
most useful. So you know, trying to just limit him
into like, oh, the slot is where it's all going
to happen, I think that takes away from what Digs
can go.

Speaker 5 (29:11):
And I'm not even getting into that argument whether or
not you think he can be effective there or that.
I'm talking about the people who came out of the
game Sunday and somehow thought that he made all those
plays from the slot, right, Like you just didn't watch.

Speaker 7 (29:24):
I think the third and fifteen route was from the slot,
but the other two were definitely on the outside. And
like I said earlier, it's about how far down the
field they started targeting him in this game. That was
the difference to me, was the difference the air yards
doubled from the first three weeks.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
They just see anything over five catches. Oh, how to
come from the slot, because that's where the volume come.

Speaker 5 (29:43):
But that's what Like, I know that the Pittsburgh game
he had like one would you say one catch in
that game? What did you have the first game? You
have five catches for like thirty yards. Like the difference
is it's the same amount of catches, but it's but
three times the amount of yards.

Speaker 3 (29:57):
Right, Yeah, I mean he had eighty nine yards from
out wide and twelve yards from the slot according to
Next Gen staffs.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
Yeah, I looked up.

Speaker 7 (30:03):
Like Mike Jackson is not a good player. The corner
that was covering him. But if Diggs's like pre acl
juices back and the vertical ability is back, Like it
was cool to watch and run routes like that. Again,
like I we didn't even really see that in so
much in training camp because I don't think that his
knee was was there yet, and so to see him

(30:24):
like actually separate from man coverage deeper down the field
and okay, like we can he still got that in
the tank. That's a really positive development. Like that's probably
one of the biggest things that came out of this game.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
I mean, should we just.

Speaker 3 (30:38):
Be saying too, like he's coming off an ACL and
the fact that he's even on the field this month
is kind of a positive to me when I assume
that maybe he was going to be limited. I mean,
Wes Welker twenty ten came back still a down year
for him production wise, so you know, just to simplify
it and say moving to the slot, it's like, no,
this guy's going to start to get healthier. I know
the comments we probably could talk about where he said

(30:59):
he was a five of ten comfortability in Josh's offense.

Speaker 1 (31:02):
I don't know how exactly to take that. Rabel was
asked about.

Speaker 5 (31:05):
It yesterday but didn't seem to care for that.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
I think we're we're growing out. We have to get
it more.

Speaker 3 (31:09):
I just wonder if it sounded more to me like
dig saying like I'm at a five of ten of
how effective I think I can be in this offense,
not like I only understand half the offense right now, you.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
Know, like like he's he's just scratching the surface.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
And I do think that there's some validity to that
where you're coming off in a cl you're in a
new offense.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
You know, he had some experience with the verbiage with Stable,
but still I.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Just I think you're you're seeing an upward swing that's
a lot about a lot more than just moving.

Speaker 1 (31:37):
Him into some all right good stuff.

Speaker 2 (31:38):
Eight five five past five hundred is the Hotline podcast
at Patriots dot Com is the email address. We saw
our first look at rivalries uniforms last night with the
Miami Dolphins, and that was a tough game.

Speaker 5 (31:53):
For them, and the Cardinals were those.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
Oh that's right, Yeah, they lost Hill. A lot of
a lot of tough injuries this a week. I know
Paul thinks I root for injuries, but I'm driving home
Sunday night and I listened to the serious It's kind
of like an audio red zone that they do. I
do the same thing, and you know it's like I
was just like, oh, that's tough neighbors out, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
Hearing all that stuff. It's not it's bad for the
Chargers offensive line.

Speaker 7 (32:21):
Like how like when they get to the Giants story
they can't watch Belie Neighbors. Yeah, like I'm going to
be bored out of my mind.

Speaker 5 (32:27):
But that's also part of you know, like, man, you
talk about two bad teams last night, you know, the
way the Jets and the Dolphins. So you kind of
looked at that and you're like, well there's still division teams,
like you know, maybe you split them, but now you've
got to get greedy and you look at those two
teams and how bad they looked last night.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Yeah, yeah, Well the divisions are as if we want it.

Speaker 5 (32:46):
I'm talking about the Dolphins, in the in the Jets.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
Well there's there's there's like I feel like there's two
kinds of games left.

Speaker 3 (32:51):
Maybe this is oversimplifying it, but there's games where you
really feel like they should win or you know, if
you don't beat yourself, you could win or should win.
And then there's the barometer how how good can you be?
Like this weekend, what can you do? Go in against Buffalo?
Nobody's gonna be all that upset if you drop one
up in Buffalo to the Bills. They're a great team,
but there's no pressure where thereas like this week against Carolina,

(33:15):
I feel pressure going in, Like, man, if they dropped
this one, like after that first drive when they went
right down the field on him, It's like, is this
this is it? This is what We're gonna be in
dogfights with these crappy teams. But you know, I look
forward to those measuring stick games. I think Baltimore will
be one down the road a little bit Campa Bay.
But there's not a lot. There's quite a few teams
that have only won zero or one game.

Speaker 5 (33:36):
And one of the ones that everybody thought heading in
is no longer that Cincinnati.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (33:40):
You know, you see what's happened to them without Borrow
and they weren't competitive.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
Last be the best of the bad this year.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
All right, here, let's hear what you have to say.
We'll start with Sean and Vancouver. What's up, Sean?

Speaker 10 (33:56):
Hey, everyone, such a great week. It's so different in
the NFL because the league really requires that you work
together as a team, and we know the quarterback is
the most important position, but you can't really become a
franchise quarterback on your own It takes a lot of development,

(34:17):
It takes a lot of teamwork together and being there together.
I mean, if you look at the league, there's what
maybe five or six franchise quarterbacks right now that are established,
but less than twenty percent and over the history. I mean,
look at a guy like Jim Plunkett, took him what
they took the eighth year leap to become a franchise
quarterback team super Bowl, Yeah, with a new team with

(34:40):
the with the Raiders is thirteen. And you look at
players like Sam Darnold's and Baker Mayfield, they had to
move on for different teams and maybe they'll become franchise
quarterbacks now we still don't know, but they're doing well.
Look at twenty twenty one and there was five quarterbacks
taken in the first round. People are excited about that.
Maybe none of them become franchise quarterbacks. So that's why

(35:02):
it's so exciting about Drake may We don't know if
he will, but it looks like it could work. It
looks like we finally have the things that are coming together.
Like last year when he would make a big play
for a first down and then it was taken back
from a penalty like holding penalty the third and fifteen net.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
Forget it.

Speaker 10 (35:20):
They can't, they can't convert it. This year he has
that that twenty two yard reception that was a beautiful
reception by Diggs and you know we have we have
that now, so it's like, this is possible. But the
question I have is on that penalty that took it
back Henderson, like he was known in college as being
great at past protection. But I'm wondering if the speed

(35:43):
of the NFL is what his issue is, because it
looked like on that play the defender got to him
before he was ready it and they felt that.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
It definitely it's the speed of the game. That's why
he's getting those holding calls. That's what happens when you
know you're you over extend because you beat you hold.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
And Mike talked a little bit about that yesterday. He
was asked in the press conference and you know the
way he explained it, and I don't have the quote
in front of you, but talking about recognizing when he
needs to eliminate some of the space, like he's kind
of sitting back and waiting and then adjusting as opposed
to cutting down on that area between the one that

(36:26):
oncoming rushier and you know, sort of taking the fight
to him. So I think it's it's one of those deals.
Like I think maybe we underestimated just how difficult that
skill is, because he did come out by all accounts
with your right you know, a great reputation is a
pass protector, but it's it's a different animal, and I.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
Do think he did it in a little bit.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
And I do think the mental part of it is
it can't be under sold, like you're not exactly sure
which guy you're getting all the time. You're seeing much
more sophisticated did rush schemes than you did in college.
So I think a lot of that, yeah, you know,
is growing pains.

Speaker 7 (37:05):
That to me is the biggest thing.

Speaker 5 (37:07):
You know.

Speaker 7 (37:07):
They run a dual read system where the running back
is going to read off of two different guys and
take the nearest threat to the quarterback. So on the hold,
he's got an interior blitzer and he's got a guy
off the edge. When the interior blitzer drops into coverage,
he's got to get outside and block the guy that's
coming off the edge. And I think that that's why
he kind of was sort of sitting back almost like

(37:28):
in a pass set like he was a left tackle
to try to catch the guy was because he didn't
start with his eyes outside. He started with his eyes inside.
So it's just being able to adjust a little bit quicker,
see it a little bit faster because it goes so
quick in the NFL compared to college where the college game,
like to Paul's point, you're probably not seeing all these
different scheme pressures and guys dropping and guys blitzing from

(37:51):
different angles and things like that. So it's a it's
a much harder thing to do. But the other thing
that that Sean brought up that I was thinking about,
because now you know I'm on this high, you have Mahomes,
Alan Burrow, Jackson, There's that's a tier of its own,
that is the s tier of quarterbacks in the NFL.
You're not no one's arguing that how many quarterbacks do

(38:12):
you name that if you were starting a team today
that you would take over Drake May after that top
tier quarterbacks, because I don't think it's really that many.

Speaker 5 (38:20):
Herbert maybe Herbert I agree, he would be one, But
starting a team today that I wouldn't have too many.
I wouldn't especially after the start he's had, because you know,
the guys that I would say that are probably still
better than him now or you know, like my boy Stafford.
But I certainly wouldn't take him today over Drake May
if I had my choice of those two, right, you know,

(38:43):
Jaden Daniels, you know you six one a half dozen.
I said last year when Daniels was lighting it up
that I would still take May, and I stand by that.
I think he's more of a conventional quarterback. I don't know,
I don't know how many you would get to.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
Yeah, I just want to make one point off Evans.

Speaker 3 (39:02):
Thing about Trevion is just you know, first of all,
which I think I said before, is that sometimes past
protection alone will keep a young running back off the
field for an entire first year. And second of all,
whenever asked about Ramandre Brabil always brings up he's our
most trusted past protector. So it's just such an important part.
And that's and that's a big reason why you can't
just bench him. And you know you need that skill

(39:23):
even if you're not putting the ball in his hands.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
Dan's in California. What's up, Dan? What's up guy? Dan?

Speaker 9 (39:32):
So I know Evan already like nerded out or over
the offense so.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
He can do more's.

Speaker 11 (39:38):
I'm sure he happy, But do you feel like this
Josh McDaniel's offense is different from the past just because
like you're seeing so much more motion jet sweep, you know, to.

Speaker 9 (39:50):
Gibb and Henderson. I also was wanted to ask what
do you think the impact of Thomas Brown, the passing coordinator,
has had on this offense? And my second question is
is the you know the world doesn't really expect us
to go into Buffalo on Sunday, And I like what
what you said about you know, we're not really nobody's
expecting us to win. But if we do manage to

(40:12):
pull off an upset and Drake may delivers another strong performance,
would it be fair to put him in the MVP conversation?
And I don't think squ.

Speaker 3 (40:21):
Yeah, thanks, I mean based on I mean, well, how
does it look? First of all, Drake goes in there
and throws four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
Again, like you know that week five, you got to
be at the you know, vying for the division. This
goes for any team. You have to be vying for
your division, for any of your players, to be considered
for MVP, the team has to have success for the
player to have value. In my opinion, especially that Yeah.

Speaker 5 (40:50):
I would largely agree with you. It's just it's it
would be the fifth week of the season, right, it's
way too ready to talk about m vps. Drake May
has played an exceptionally high level through the first month.
You know, I'm happy with.

Speaker 3 (41:01):
That, but I'd say watching some of Buffalo as we
get ready for Buffalo, like watch Josh Allen, Like there
is a difference right there still to me of the
kind of player he is, and Drake's played great, But
when you talk about MVP and you see all the
different things that Josh Allen does, getting his whole team involved,
carrying the ball when he has to, you know, I
think Drake could get there. But even initially in this
part of the season, I still see Josh Allen is

(41:23):
a little bit.

Speaker 5 (41:24):
So does you know, we'll play it out. So let's
say the game unfolds and he outduels Josh Allen Sunday night.
So now it's a Fred's point. Go ten weeks ahead,
and now you know the Bills and the Patriots are
tied to top the AFC East at I don't know,

(41:44):
eleven and four. Yeah, now it's a conversation. But at
you know, week five, at three and two. No, he's
not an MVP candidate, But like Jayden Daniels, worked himself
into MVP consideration as a rookie lab year because the
team went twelve and five, right, and then you know,

(42:05):
he ended up being largely responsible for so many of
those wins. So he rightly inserted himself alongside Lamar Jackson
and Josh Allen. He didn't win it, he was behind
those two. Yeah, but if we're sitting here in December
and we're talking about the Patriots, there.

Speaker 1 (42:23):
Was tangible evidence of his value.

Speaker 5 (42:25):
Yeah, we're talking about the Patriots vying for you know,
a division title and being in a playoff team. Yes,
Drake May is probably going to get consideration.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
The other thing the caller mentioned was Dan in California,
Thomas Brown, passing coordinator, passing game coordinator. Like, I don't
know all the dynamics of how all this comes together,
but Vrabel was very quick to let everyone know during
his press conference on Monday about you know, how they

(42:56):
do it on first down, how they get together for
third down? They get together for Red Zone. You know,
I'm sure Thomas Brown is part of that.

Speaker 7 (43:04):
Yeah, yeah, So I think the biggest just if you
just look at it schematically, and this is speculation, like
I don't I don't know, but all the bootlegs and
stuff like that come right out of the Shanahan McVeigh playbook,
and Thomas Brown cut his teeth with Sean McVay in
the Rams in Los Angeles, So one would think that

(43:27):
they knew probably all along that they wanted to put
those things in. But having somebody from the inside that
knows it on the level like Thomas Brown, I'm sure
is influential in terms of how they're scheming it and
how they're dressing it up and that sort of thing.
So I don't know who had the grand idea of

(43:47):
putting in bootlegs. I'm sure they looked at Drake May
and that was probably a pretty.

Speaker 1 (43:51):
Easy because pretty easy, right.

Speaker 5 (43:53):
So then the next.

Speaker 7 (43:54):
Step is is like, how are we going to schematically
design our keepers? And that's where I think Thomas Brown
might be able to help out a lot because of
his experience in that offense.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
You know that, It's another thing I feel good about
for you Edis. I remember we were talking about hiring
coaches and stuff, and you were like, no, you got
to hire an offensive coach because you get a coordinator
who's the hot shot and he does well and he's
gonna leave. And I'm like, Josh is here for a
little while, Like, you know, there's a lot to cook
with with him, and I'm not really worried about him
jumping ships. So seen some people talk about this could
be the start of a long, beautiful relationship with these

(44:27):
two guys.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
Jayson Tampa. What's up, Jay?

Speaker 5 (44:31):
That's nice? Hey, what's up guy, Petrol Optimist.

Speaker 6 (44:37):
So a lot of people have been calling into the
show the last couple of weeks asking about what there
is to do in Tampa for the Patriots first Bucks game. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
I am the.

Speaker 6 (44:47):
President of the Tampa and New England Patriots fan clubs.
I feel like I have some experience.

Speaker 1 (44:51):
I think I met you right, Jays.

Speaker 5 (44:53):
Thank you for your service, Yeah president.

Speaker 6 (44:56):
Thank you?

Speaker 12 (44:58):
Yes?

Speaker 6 (44:58):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 13 (44:59):
Thanks.

Speaker 6 (45:01):
So I just want to let everybody out there in
the PU world know we actually just got done working
with you guys with your fan engagement team. So shout
out to Jeff, Jen and Tommy. We are going to
be hosting the Patriots Fan road Rally down here in Tampa.
So that will be Saturday, November eighth, from seven to

(45:21):
nine pm at a location called Sunset Rodeo, which is
in the Soho District of Tampa. So we'll have Patriots
alumni there, we'll have the cheerleaders there, we'll have the
mascot there. Starge will be there. So yeah, so it's
gonna be a whole big event.

Speaker 5 (45:38):
Like you should be there.

Speaker 14 (45:40):
Yeah, So I'll just.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
Maybe after burns, I'll come by.

Speaker 7 (45:46):
I can't afford it.

Speaker 6 (45:48):
You know, you weren't invited last year in the Nashville.
I want to make sure. Yeah, I want to make
sure everybody is out there listening that you are invited.
It's a free event. And then Sunday night after the game,
we actually have a band coming down, Dalton and the
Sheriffs from Boston. Same venue as Sunset Rodeo. We're doing
a postgame concert there as well. So wow, if anybody

(46:11):
has yeah, if anybody has any questions about what they
do in Tampa, they can find us Tampa Patriots Faint Club.
Just google us. All their socials will come out. They
can message us and We're glad to get recommendations.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
That's awesome, Jay.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
Thanks Jay, thanks for the wiki for your associated Thanks Jay, Yeah,
I can't wait.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
It's always great to hear when fans are doing that
on the road.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
I missed that stuff. I missed going to those things.
I always remember the why I went to in Seattle
that you guys were.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
I saw you, there's Fred, but it's I don't know.

Speaker 3 (46:37):
I well, they didn't they not have enough bartenders.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
They left so much money on the table that night
because they couldn't get to people like people were just.

Speaker 5 (46:47):
Like brow, please take my money.

Speaker 2 (46:49):
I didn't want to drink, and they didn't have enough
bartenders and service people.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
I just I equated to like going to church.

Speaker 3 (46:55):
It's like, you know, at a random place and you
just walk in and it's like my people here, they are,
you know, and you'll instantly have this connection with everybody.
It's one of the things I love most about being
a Patriots blogger. We all have our different angles of
how we approach things, and that's where I came from,
and I love.

Speaker 4 (47:12):
It.

Speaker 7 (47:13):
A couple of times I had to work most of
the time so I couldn't but when they play on
Thursday nights. I didn't have to work Thursday nights, so
I did go to Sunny's Best, Like.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
I moved out there.

Speaker 3 (47:24):
You're a little homesick, and then you just walk in
and there's just all Patriot fans and it's a lot
of fun. Don't sit there. This guy, he sits there.
I think I said before. There was a guy who
always would have like the late first down call, so
it was like another Patriots first down, and the whole
Patriots bar would go first down.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
And then there was one guy. His thing was.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
Furst down like he'd do it a little later than
everyone else, So don't step on it. But you know,
it's like halftime free raffles, and I I just love.

Speaker 7 (47:49):
Patriots Texans. The Jacoby Brissette Thursday night game.

Speaker 5 (47:54):
I watched that one, and.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
Those things don't happen without people like Jay Yeah, who
you know, in his free time, Barry and Yeah, volunteers
to organize all that stuff, make phone calls, send out emails.
It's good stuff. And there's people all over the world
Patriots fans that do that, and it's not easy to
do speed it's easy to do when.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
They're in the Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (48:16):
The sc championship every year, like the people that are
still dedicated.

Speaker 1 (48:19):
Through the downtimes. You know, a lot of shout outs
to those people.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
And remember, if you want to find out if there's
a club near you, you can go to Patriots dot
com into the fan Zone section the fan club Registry.
You just type in a zip code or a city
and any clubs in the vicinity will pop up and
you'll have the contact information that you can get in
touch with. Or if you want to start your own
fan club, you can also register a fan club right

(48:45):
there on Patriots dot com. So good stuff. One more
call then we'll take a break. I'm hungry Brian's and Lowell.
What's up, Brian?

Speaker 8 (48:55):
Hey, what's up?

Speaker 1 (48:56):
Hey?

Speaker 8 (48:58):
I love calling you guys every week.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
We love having you call.

Speaker 8 (49:01):
Okay, it's pretty good at buccan zalas his next debut,
his nice return to Sunday.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
Yes, it was good to see him. Yep.

Speaker 15 (49:13):
I was so high about so.

Speaker 8 (49:14):
I was so ecstatic when I watched the game, like, oh,
it's like finally that speech we needed three weeks ago.

Speaker 15 (49:21):
We would be undefeated.

Speaker 8 (49:22):
If he was playing three weeks ago, you know what
I mean, Pittsburgh.

Speaker 1 (49:25):
But he played.

Speaker 8 (49:27):
He played the whole game, So that's good sign. Play
a whole game. Well, no issue, So it's good to go.
Now now we're on the buffalo. We are on the bills,
so I think we get all the momentum, so which
is a good thing.

Speaker 15 (49:40):
So go to buffalo. That's gonna be I one.

Speaker 5 (49:43):
We all know that, sure do.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
All right, Well, thanks Brian, appreciate the call. All right,
he uses his one call for us. All right, that's
gonna so let's take a break. So let's take a break.
We'll come back. We got a lot of emails. I'm
just looking at some of the subject lines. Maybe some
interesting things that people are sending in. So we'll get

(50:05):
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Speaker 1 (51:51):
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Speaker 5 (51:59):
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Speaker 4 (52:01):
Your scambling problem called twenty one plus age in eligibility
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Speaker 14 (52:07):
Car, How are you good?

Speaker 7 (52:13):
I was just wondering what you thought of Christian Gonzalez.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
And his re entry.

Speaker 14 (52:19):
I thought it was good. I thought it was okay
for him to you know, good for good to be
out there. And I think it can always be better,
and I think he knows that. And but for for
just you know, the first game back some good stuff,
and he'll continue to work and he'll continue to you know,
have a game plan each and every week. And excited

(52:42):
that he was able to put a full work in
there and have confidence and playing and conditioning and all
those things that are positive.

Speaker 12 (52:50):
Working with Josh Daniels and farm say so with the
job he did last week and yesterday.

Speaker 14 (52:56):
Well it's not only John. I mean I I you know,
I enjoy working with Josh Ien were joy working with
the entire offensive staff. It's it's good coaches on that side.
There's a lot of collaboration, and I like kind of
where we are from an efficiency standpoint, just trying to
you know, to work ahead and be detailed and you know,

(53:17):
making sure that you know, everybody is doing their roles
and assignments. And yeah, we worked a run game and
then kind of Josh and Thomas and Todd and Ashton
will work some of the passing game, and you know
when it goes to third down, and then we all
get together on red zone. And those things certainly paid

(53:39):
off last week. So you being able to marry some plays,
and when you can convert and you can strength some
drives together or some plays together, then things look alike.
And then that all compliments. We've talked about that before.
And when you just live in a three and out
world and you're not extending drives, it's hard to marry

(54:00):
those plays. Touchdown throw punter Henriett after, how much does
Drake's ability to throw on the move and throw from
some different opagels for you in that stad well to
be able to extend plays, move the pocket and get
you know, move the launch point. He is critical and
you know those plays as have helped us, and he's

(54:20):
he's done a good job with him.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
Like giving Remandre to carry on the first play in
the game, and I think he had the most snaps
among the run master.

Speaker 5 (54:27):
Was that intentional about you guys, No.

Speaker 14 (54:30):
Not intentional other than that he's, you know, our first
second down back. He's the best protector and you know,
it was good to see him being able to to
break one there. And if we finish one more guy
probably scores. So you know, again we're going to keep
practicing ball security with every single player. And there's a

(54:52):
lot of really good examples of guys protecting the guy
with the ball, which I believe and I know is
critical to our six. And you know, I think it
was just good for us to play good, clean game overall.

Speaker 12 (55:05):
After the game, you've given acknowledgement to pop about this
for for his block specifically on the other Henry touchdown stuff,
as plucks with them to the last couple weeks up
blocking wandering if you could speak to the importance of
blocking that that position and hell can maybe be an differentiator.

Speaker 14 (55:19):
Well, when you don't block safeties in the National Football League,
they make the tackle and not only do they make
the tackle, they usually inflict some sign of you know,
blow delivery. You know they're not going in there uh lightly.
And so again that's the idea that it's not that
we need receivers that that are out there with neck

(55:40):
rolls on, and you know, they have to be multifaceted
and be able to execute the things that we need
them to do in the past game. But also when
when there's opportunities to go find people to block, they
have to do that as well. And I think when
the more that we can show them that it leads
to extra yards and it leads the X plays and

(56:01):
it leads the touchdowns, that the more that they're believing
in it and buying into it. And I think that
there's great examples, especially yesterday on the tape of us
doing that.

Speaker 17 (56:12):
Williams said, this really felt like that the Panthers were
trying to keep the defensive line out of the game.

Speaker 14 (56:17):
Jersey saw the same thing. I mean, the ball came
out quick, and you know that, you know, I thought that,
you know, our ability to you know, affect the quarterback
from a standpoint of inaccuracy and efficiency was good, and
you know, we could start talking about not giving the

(56:38):
rush lanes, which I thought was a key, especially on
third down his ability previously to extend those things. So
you know, I think there's there's ways the factor and
guys you know did at times factor, but you know
we didn't. We didn't allow you know, Bryce the easy
yards out of the pocket that we had seen previously.

(56:58):
So I think that was a positive.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
What do you see from Christian Barmore?

Speaker 13 (57:03):
And how is this plan that you've had for him
leading up the games where it seems like we one
day he's not practicing. How is how's that leading to
whatever you're skiing?

Speaker 14 (57:14):
Well, I mean he's he's doing a lot of work
and he's getting a lot of practice time in and
you know, I mean there may be a day where
he's limited throughout the week, but you know, I see
a disruptive player. We just know he wants to be
able to to finish some of those plays. He's drawed
some holding penalties. I think there was another one that

(57:36):
probably wasn't called and you know, hit the quarterback and
you know he got close. And so again, keep working
and I know, you know, trying to keep him from
getting frustrated about you know, what what goes down on
the stat sheet, But causing penalties and and being able
to still be disruptive will help us. And then then

(57:59):
that's also lead to him, you know, finishing some of
those plays and getting some of those tackles for loss
or sacks that he that he wants that all defensive
lineman on Mike.

Speaker 17 (58:08):
As good as everything was yesterday, it was the second
straight game we kind of a slow start in the
first quarter with its penalties and things on both sides football.
How concerned are you about those slow starts.

Speaker 15 (58:18):
And can you put your finger.

Speaker 5 (58:20):
On maybe what's going on there?

Speaker 14 (58:23):
No, I mean, we want to start fast, and if
we don't, I mean there's a lot of game left.
So there's games where we started fast and you know
gave up some you know, some yards after that or
whatever it may be. You know, just being ready to go.
It just sounds so you know, again adjusting quickly to
what they're doing offensively, I mean what they're doing to us,

(58:45):
you know when we're on a defense, you know, moving
parts and just settling down, probably just settling down on
their script and saying, hey, these are these are new
formations that they hadn't previlegedly shown or these are new motions.
They let's settle down and then make a stop. And
some of that, you know, it is our own doing.

Speaker 15 (59:04):
Uh.

Speaker 14 (59:04):
Some of it was you know, some new scheme plays
and then you know, I mean I'm trying to think
here the special teams. You know, I thought we we
did okay, we had you know, a hold forty yards
from the ball. We covered the exactly what we talked
about with the dirty kick and being able to you know,

(59:24):
put those guys in a position to field it had
a good return, you know, just unfortunately that that they
called the penalty that they did offensively had a shot
at the first third down, you know, didn't go that way,
didn't hit it, timing everything else. So you know, whether

(59:46):
we start faster, we don't, We're still going to have
to be really good for the rest of the you know,
three and a half quarters or whatever it ends up being.
And uh, you know, we'll keep working towards that and
keep making that a priority. But I did like the
fact that we answered and like we talked about, just
takes one play and it happened to be Marcus's yesterday,

(01:00:07):
and everything kind of took off from there.

Speaker 5 (01:00:11):
And now great moments in history.

Speaker 17 (01:00:17):
I believe they were not in pads, right, l Yeah, pads,
which you always ask every Wednesday, and then finally the
answer changed and you weren't here.

Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
So do you think they will not be in pads
all week? Or will they be in pads today?

Speaker 7 (01:00:31):
I think they were in in in pads, but not
like full pads yesterday. I think it was light pads,
but I have to double check on That's even better
because I know, I like, now I'm doubting myself a
little bit.

Speaker 3 (01:00:46):
Yeah, we noticed too in the locker room, Mac had
on one of the scuba hats, so it seemed like
he's trying to.

Speaker 7 (01:00:51):
Yeah, a lot of the players, that's true. See, like,
if you were here, you would have asked these questions
and we would have told the listeners about these things.
I like, you feel attacked and what the mood was
supposed to do?

Speaker 5 (01:01:02):
No, he did. He asked all the requisite questions. We
were upset that you weren't here to hear the answer. Yeah,
I know we would have gotten to this point. A
lot did a good job.

Speaker 7 (01:01:10):
A lot of the players are wearing like sweatshirts or
layers underneath their their their practice outfits because the heat
they want to they wanna be hot, be hot because
of Miami.

Speaker 1 (01:01:23):
Gotcha.

Speaker 5 (01:01:24):
Huh, that's it.

Speaker 7 (01:01:26):
That's your recap of yesterday's I wonder.

Speaker 2 (01:01:28):
If that translates because when you were in Miami, the
heat comes from the sun right outside rather than coming internally.

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
That's that's a different type of hot. Yea, I think
still hot, though.

Speaker 5 (01:01:38):
Where did the heat come from?

Speaker 1 (01:01:39):
Another places? That's another great moment from.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
All right back here on Patriot's Unfiltered eight five five
pasts five hundred is the hotline podcast at patriots dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:01:54):
Is the way to email us.

Speaker 5 (01:01:57):
No more full pads at practice, No more full had practice.
Freddy was very upset we had this.

Speaker 7 (01:02:05):
Rabel was asked about this a couple of weeks ago,
and I don't think it was last thing two weeks ago,
and he actually said that he doesn't see the difference
between shells in full pads because they're not going to
be cutting, as he's put it, in practice, so they're
not going to be hitting each other's legs in practice,
so they about upper body pads of the shoulder pads

(01:02:29):
to him, is the same as being in full pads.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
If you're not going to tackle. I guess it doesn't matter.

Speaker 5 (01:02:34):
Yes, that was.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
I'm not happy with that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
I think there should be we need some tackling going
on in practice because we're having we're we're low in
the stats and tackling.

Speaker 7 (01:02:46):
So you want them to tackle to the ground.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
And yes, and I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Not saying like goal line, we're talking about it after
the game. Like the cone drill where you're one on one,
I want to bring the guy to the ground.

Speaker 5 (01:02:58):
Okay, it's around Oklahoma drills. I hear what you're saying.

Speaker 7 (01:03:02):
I don't think I highly do any of the thirty
two teams do that.

Speaker 1 (01:03:07):
This timing maybe I don't agree with it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:09):
Yeah, that's fair.

Speaker 1 (01:03:10):
Yeah, because we're not tackling.

Speaker 7 (01:03:12):
Well, it is an interesting and this is not really
the point right now, but if you're not going to
play anybody in preseason and you're not going to tackle
to the ground in training camp at all, like the
patriotsdn't tackle to the ground a single day in training camp,
and then the starters barely played in the preseason. So
stands the reason the first month of the season you
can't tackle.

Speaker 1 (01:03:31):
Well, but not but that goes for every team, right.

Speaker 7 (01:03:35):
Well, some teams might treat it differently. Some teams might tackle.

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
To the ground in practice or play in the preseason.

Speaker 7 (01:03:39):
Or play in the preseason.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
I just think interesting. You have to practice what you
play right, and tackling is a big part of one
of the most important parts. I know, I get it.
I don't get it.

Speaker 3 (01:03:49):
It's one of the casualties of the new rules reducing,
you know, for player safety, and that's I think something
that's suffered.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
I know, more players hopefully healthy and avoiding.

Speaker 3 (01:04:00):
More concussions and that kind of stuff, like line depth,
it's been a little better.

Speaker 7 (01:04:07):
I think what we did, you know, not to make excuses,
but Miami's skill group is is just really good.

Speaker 5 (01:04:15):
Like that's really hard.

Speaker 7 (01:04:17):
Like a Chan's breaking tackles last night, just the same
way he was breaking tackles against the Patriots a couple
of weeks ago. He's just a really good player. But
it's been an issue.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
Let's go to the emails.

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
Curtis and Saint Louis writes in what a game beautiful
job is always on the postgame show. I agree with
everything you said. We all know Carolina isn't a very
good team this year, or at least thus far, but
to win in that fashion, putting that I.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
Don't know what he's talking about.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
Anyway, If I'm vable in stretch and Wolf, I'm getting
on the phone and I'm making offers to teams to
try to require a big play wide receiver. I know,
I know, why would teams trade their guys? The Patriots
are still building and afar from contending. I don't care.
I want Drake to be that guy and that difference maker.
So rather sooner rather than later, helped build him and

(01:05:06):
develop him. I'm calling Philly. I know, why would they
trade Brown? They're four and zero Cincinnati. I'm okay, But
so his point is he wants to get a big
time receiver or you know, a semblance of a w
R one right away.

Speaker 7 (01:05:23):
We might have a semblance of one.

Speaker 5 (01:05:25):
I don't dis miss Cincinnati.

Speaker 3 (01:05:27):
Which one? Yeah, I mean, like, this is what you
have to do. You have to be aggressive. I'm on
board with this. I don't know if it would happen,
but this is where you have to find Like when
opportunity strikes and the team's having an off season, which
the Eagles aren't, but you know, and somebody becomes available,
this is the time to strike.

Speaker 5 (01:05:45):
I don't think a J. Brown is becoming available now.
I could be proven wrong on that, but this maybe
a week or two away for Cincinnati saying he's last year.
You know it was a one year deal, right, I
mean he's going to be a free and again, I
don't think what you can. Don't think it's out of
the roma possibility that they say, you know, we had

(01:06:06):
a lot of aspirations this year. It didn't work out. Unfortunately,
the quarterback went down. We'll get something for him and
move on.

Speaker 3 (01:06:12):
Then, with Digs in the slot perfectly. I'd like to
joke about the soft but he would pit well. I
mean you could see the need for the player, just
a good player.

Speaker 5 (01:06:19):
I don't know if you guys watched any of that
plays down the sideline, he's.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
Just like, yeah, I mean, Ted's just a Ted reminding him.

Speaker 5 (01:06:28):
But that's the big He had a big one taken
away too for like one of those garbage alignment penalties
that had nothing to do with it, had nothing to
do with the play. Yeah, I would take I would
take T Higgins and I think there's a chance that
Cincinnati would be willing to deal them. Okay, I would
take him.

Speaker 7 (01:06:44):
I'm not saying I wouldn't, but there is something nice
about how every week so far it's been somebody different
that has stepped up for the Patriots, like week one's Booty,
Week two is Remandre, week three as Hunter Henry, week
four Stefon Diggs, and they have really good balance right now. Now,
that doesn't mean that a number one ride receiver can't help.
I'm not saying that, but I just know that there's

(01:07:05):
certain quarterbacks when you talk to those guys, when they
feel forced to get a certain player of the football
and so then they start to kind of get pressure
from inside, pressure from outside. Like in Philadelphia right now,
you have to imagine that we got to get AJ
Brown going, We got to get AJ Brown going, but
they got to get AJ Brown going, right, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:07:25):
They targeted him nine times. Yeah, and they only only
had two connections. So clearly Jalen Hurst is fling it
to AJ Brown, and you know, they got a lot
of static. I mean, we don't turn this into a
Philly segment, but they got a lot of static because
there was just no creativity to what they were doing.
I mean against the Rams the week before. I evidently

(01:07:46):
AJ Brown was a big part of that second half comeback.

Speaker 3 (01:07:49):
Yeah, I mean I love AJ Brown. I mean he's
one of my favorite players in league. I would love
to bring him here. But does it give you any
pause of him kind of being a pain in the
ass when they're four and oh no, and it's you
know it would do it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:58):
Posting on social media.

Speaker 5 (01:07:59):
I think this, it's the age old thing. You did
this with Diggs, Deuce like you know me.

Speaker 3 (01:08:04):
I know you don't know, but I love az Brown
like I love Brown in a way that even more.

Speaker 7 (01:08:09):
Now Diggs is here and you've embraced him.

Speaker 1 (01:08:11):
I am very much to see his thing.

Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
It's another reason to root against the Bengals, and I
like that Austin and Oklahoma rights. And I'm currently unable
to guarantee a win against Buffalo, but I will guarantee
that if the Patriots beat the Bill's Sunday, the window
is officially closed and the Patriots are back in their
rightful place at the top of the division and will
host a home playoff game this year. So it's all

(01:08:37):
hinging on a win against Buffalo in Week five and
Week five okay, to.

Speaker 5 (01:08:43):
Get within a game of first place.

Speaker 3 (01:08:46):
Like it No, but I mean it might be asking
a lot for a win, but I think there are
quite a few different outcomes that you could come out
of this game feeling positive about, you know, the trajectory
to the team. And you know, we really haven't talked
at all about the defensive side of the ball, and
to me, that's my biggest concern this week going against
that offense with some of the concerns we've seen with
this defense covering tight ends, handling running backs who can catch.

(01:09:08):
You know, I think this is right now kind of
a tough matchup for the Patriots, and I'd say going
forward into the offseason next year, there needs to be
probably if it continues to look like it has with
these specific facets of the Patriots defense, it's it's going
to be something they have to figure out because you've
got to get through Buffalo and you have to have
a way to deal with those guys Kincaid, Knox, James Cook.

Speaker 1 (01:09:28):
I think right now you've got some players to handle
some wide receivers.

Speaker 5 (01:09:31):
But do you think defensively they potentially are set up
a little bit better to deal with that offense. You know,
I'm a big part of it's going to be their
run defense, which as we've talked about. I think has
been pretty good. You know, for the most part, I
don't think it was as good at this game as
it was the first three. But I think it's been

(01:09:51):
pretty good. But you have guys you don't have to
sort of sell out to get pressure. They've gotten some
pressure with far More and and Landry. I don't know,
they might be they might be able to flood some
coverage zones in this game. I don't think that the
Bills receiving corps is they're a lot like the Patriots.

(01:10:14):
They have, you know, a bunch of guys that can
make catches, but they don't have anybody that's really great.

Speaker 3 (01:10:18):
No, and that's I mean, as good as Josh Allen is.
Like I almost find myself being more concerned with James
Cook and just how the Patriots playing. You know, I
think they play eighty percent nickel now, so they're playing light.
Maybe it's a Kyle Duggar kon of game. Maybe you
put him into the mix a little bit more trying
to deal with with Cook, but he's a big problem.

Speaker 1 (01:10:35):
First down, they're.

Speaker 3 (01:10:35):
Going to hand the ball off to him under center,
and he's going to make plays. I mean he's you know,
a top two or three back right now by most metrics,
So you know, it's weird to say, oh, I'm not
worried about Josh Allen.

Speaker 1 (01:10:46):
I mean, he's a huge problem.

Speaker 3 (01:10:47):
But I just don't know what this Patriots run defense
truly is, especially when they say we have to stop
the run.

Speaker 5 (01:10:53):
Yeah, they you know, and I don't know if they can.

Speaker 3 (01:10:55):
Sell out to stop it, because then it's Josh Allen nightmare.
So stopping the run not a nickel and figuring out
you know, maybe it is a little more Tonga or
something like that, But that, to me is where the
game plan kind of has to start.

Speaker 1 (01:11:07):
First down, figuring out how you can contain Cook.

Speaker 7 (01:11:09):
Yeah he's cook right now? Is like he's he's really good.
I mean, the fact that they can get under center
and just run the ball at you now in Buffalo
is why their offense is the most efficient in the league. Like,
Allen's great, he's the MVP, but their ability to just
you know, do paulicing conventional, turn it around and hand

(01:11:29):
the ball off to the running back like that has
really balanced out their offense. So now it's not as
volatile as it was. A couple of years ago, or
it's you know, Haymakers back and forth with Alan, but
he would make some mistakes and you would, you know,
be able to win some rounds on him. I just
wonder with their receivers and with this whole offense, a
lot of teams are just playing a lot of soft

(01:11:51):
zone coverage and allowing Alan to check the ball down,
and they are just eating after the catch like Shakir
and these guys are just piling up yards after the
catch because everybody's backing off and is afraid of Josh Allen.
And if I was the Patriots, I do think about
we have Gonzo, we have Carlton Davis, because anybody actually

(01:12:12):
challenged these Buffalo receivers and gotten in their faces at
the line of scrimmage and try to throw the timing
off and try to get Alan to hold the football,
and you know, all these dinking dunk screens and things
like that. It's just killing teams. It's they're killing teams
like that. So I just wonder, if you're the Patriots,
if maybe you kind of take the fight to them

(01:12:34):
a little bit.

Speaker 5 (01:12:34):
I like it on Sunday night.

Speaker 7 (01:12:36):
Yeah, it sounds great in theory to just make them
march and make them go on these long drives and
do it hopefully stop them in the red zone. But
then Kleo Shakur breaks two tackles and it's a forty
five yard touchdown.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
And win the toss. Do you defer take the ball?

Speaker 5 (01:12:52):
I would defer, but I like deferring.

Speaker 1 (01:12:54):
I do that my flag football coaching as well, because
we've done both this year.

Speaker 3 (01:12:58):
Right yeah, yeah, yeah, that was and that was very
able to stay and wanted a fast start. I just
think that the defense has kind of been flipped on
its head for me, because you know, under Bill all
those years, you always felt like, well, they got big guys,
they should be able to generally stop the run, but
they never it was sometimes struggle for pass rush juice.
And now I feel like, let's get to third and eight.
I feel pretty good when they're in third and eight.

(01:13:18):
It's like first and ten, second and five, like those
are the downs that terrify me now instead of you know,
now I feel pretty good about their pass rush. They're
going to get after the quarterback.

Speaker 5 (01:13:28):
That's the first and second down.

Speaker 7 (01:13:29):
Whorry would buffalo like if you back off and you
just let them take profits all day long on first
and second down. You're never going to be in third
and long.

Speaker 1 (01:13:36):
That's why I just go get them right like that.
Do you have nothing to lose in this game?

Speaker 5 (01:13:39):
Play aggressive play man?

Speaker 7 (01:13:40):
Trust your guys on the outside to play Manta man
like Kean Coleman Shakir Like they're good players, but they're not.
This is they don't have a digs out there that's
going to kill you in Manta man coverage.

Speaker 1 (01:13:50):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 7 (01:13:51):
I just I would like to see them do that.
But I'm glad you brought up the defense because we
haven't really talked about the defense much. And Christian Barmore
and Milton Williams are a problem.

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
Like those two.

Speaker 7 (01:14:03):
Earning those paychecks, Like I know they're expensive, but they
are Millon Williams has been worth every penny, like he
is a game wrecord, Like.

Speaker 5 (01:14:11):
That's good to see. Those are two guys that.

Speaker 7 (01:14:13):
Teams are going to start the game plan for if
they haven't already.

Speaker 2 (01:14:15):
Max in Atlanta writes in I want to make sure
I don't get let recency bias impact my question. So
now that we know for a fact, he says that
Drake May is the best quarterback in the NFL, do
we trade away our first round pick for an impact player.

Speaker 1 (01:14:31):
This goes back to our T Higgins.

Speaker 3 (01:14:33):
I'm much more in that realm right now than I've
ever been in the past.

Speaker 7 (01:14:37):
Yeah, depends on who it is.

Speaker 1 (01:14:40):
It depends on who it is. But I'm much more
interesting now.

Speaker 5 (01:14:42):
I don't think that you need to give up necessarily
a first round pick to get T Higgins.

Speaker 1 (01:14:47):
No, because you're gonna have to give him a contract.

Speaker 5 (01:14:49):
Spiring contracts, you know. But yes, I'd be interested in
acquiring an impact, high impact player, especially on offense.

Speaker 1 (01:14:58):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:14:58):
And he says, I typically on support trading away a
first round pick. But since we're going to be picking
thirty second overall, so.

Speaker 3 (01:15:05):
But I mean, like he's joking, But I mean, but
even if you're in the mid first round, it's it's not, oh,
we're potentially cheering around trading away the fourth overall pick,
you know. So, I it depends on the player. But
I think that's the point you're getting to. There are
definite needs, depends on the you know, I think they
definitely could. You are going to need a pass rusher
long term, a defensive end who can play every down,

(01:15:26):
you know, kind of like Landry does eventually. I think
the safety position, the linebacker position, those will all be
but that that wide receiver ones out there and you
have a chance if you.

Speaker 5 (01:15:34):
Want that, if that particular position is what you're interested in.
You know, Tyreek Hill going down last night hurts that,
you know, not necessarily because the Patriots would have been
interested in Tyreek Hill, but he could have been a
guy that's available, and that's one less team that's looking
for that. Yeah, you know, like let's say he went somewhere, Well,
that opens up your possibility of getting one of the

(01:15:54):
other ones that might be available.

Speaker 1 (01:15:55):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:15:57):
And we're a little bit of a victim of the
moment right now. But like you would think that there
would be some excitement to come here for a player like,
you know, a T.

Speaker 1 (01:16:03):
Higgins. It doesn't feel like right I'm going to New England.
It's been a waste land.

Speaker 3 (01:16:07):
Like there's some positive vibes here right now. We'll see
how long they last and they vibration.

Speaker 5 (01:16:11):
I agree with that.

Speaker 7 (01:16:13):
Come on, you gotta watch Drake May and be like,
you know, if you give T Higgins, they have Patriots tapency.
All these ex routes that Kishan Boudi is running, We're
gonna put you there and then we're gonna have digs
on the other side. Like Higgins, you're all of a
sudden like okay, And if.

Speaker 5 (01:16:28):
You're Higgins and you're saying like they don't they don't
want to keep me, or they can't keep me with
Borrow and Chase they can't afford because I mean, if
I were Higgins, I would just rather stay where I am. Yeah, yeah,
and wait for Borrow to come back next year and
try again. But if they don't want them, and it
certainly seems like they said maybe they don't want him
as not the right term, they can't they can't figure

(01:16:51):
out a way to do it because they're so cheap.

Speaker 3 (01:16:53):
Yeah, I mean, and then another way it looks to me,
another selling point is this pretty much this whole offense
is coming back next year. I mean, everybody's under contract.
I know things can change, but you know, it's like
the Austin Hoopers. There's a couple of guys on one
year deals, but otherwise all the receivers, Drake.

Speaker 1 (01:17:07):
The running backs, the line.

Speaker 3 (01:17:09):
I mean, it's it's all coming back next year. So
just continuity, that's a positive thing.

Speaker 1 (01:17:15):
Ted in Las Vegas.

Speaker 2 (01:17:16):
According to Tankathon, the two lowest strengths of schedule as
of today are the Patriots at three sixty eight in
Buffalo at three eighty two. No other team is under
a four hundred. We need to see both May and
Allen step up against good teams.

Speaker 1 (01:17:31):
He's the only kidding.

Speaker 7 (01:17:33):
Well, both teams play the NFC South this year.

Speaker 5 (01:17:36):
That terrible schedules in the ANFC for them.

Speaker 7 (01:17:41):
The division games against the Jets and the Dolphins are not.

Speaker 5 (01:17:44):
I would just say Buffalo did be Baltimore. He's kidding, No, No,
I know he is. I know he is.

Speaker 2 (01:17:49):
Yeah, Baltimore the tough place, but they've had a tough schedule.

Speaker 5 (01:17:54):
But that's why the record for Buffalo is so bad
is because Baltimore is uncharacteristically one in three r not
all one in three's are the same.

Speaker 2 (01:18:02):
True, right, Chris and Santa Fe New Mexico. It's a
how do I participate in kurseh words?

Speaker 1 (01:18:08):
The chat? It's always says.

Speaker 2 (01:18:10):
Waiting for approval from moderator, and my post never show. Well,
here's the thing to you, Chris and everybody else. I
get hundreds and hundreds of comments coming through. I'm watching
the game I look down and if something catches my eye,
I post it. So there's a better than good chance
I don't even see your comment, but keep trying.

Speaker 1 (01:18:32):
That's all I can say. You got like a like
a velvet rope to get into your chat. It's it's
just timing. So it's all about timing. It's all about timing.

Speaker 5 (01:18:41):
So as it should be. Digital Gold Club member.

Speaker 1 (01:18:46):
Uh Ford and Savannah.

Speaker 2 (01:18:48):
While you were talking about digs in the slot today,
I had a revelation. You now have a Patriot's brand
name for soaping the slots, digs in the slot. Keep
your forever Foxborough fresh with digs in the slot. M
that was okay, there you go.

Speaker 1 (01:19:04):
We tried so op on the outside a crusade. I
just I love it.

Speaker 3 (01:19:10):
It's weird the things that crawl out my keyster and
Buddy and it's just like where again this is one
person says something and then everyone just starts repeating it,
and I'm like seeing it all over the internet.

Speaker 1 (01:19:20):
That the slot, that's what.

Speaker 3 (01:19:21):
And then we're watching you know, the Paul shows and
then digs in the slot and like scotch.

Speaker 5 (01:19:25):
Olexiting right there, like tell him so you.

Speaker 2 (01:19:27):
Know, Nick and Arizona. Nick and Arizona says, please correct
Paul on T.

Speaker 1 (01:19:33):
Higgins. He's not on an expiring contract.

Speaker 2 (01:19:36):
He signed a four year, one hundred and fifty million
dollar contract in March.

Speaker 7 (01:19:39):
Yeah, oh, my bad, he signed an extension. I didn't
correct because I wasn't one hundred percent sure. I thought
maybe you knew something I didn't know.

Speaker 5 (01:19:46):
I thought he signed a one year extension. He signed
up maybe never mind, No, never mind.

Speaker 7 (01:19:52):
That, but it's it's technically like a two year deal. Hey,
there's an out.

Speaker 1 (01:19:56):
However, right, Andrew in La says he saw it bad.

Speaker 5 (01:19:59):
No, but I gave really bad information.

Speaker 2 (01:20:02):
Andrew and La says he saw that Higgins can be
traded with little to no cap hit.

Speaker 1 (01:20:07):
Oh on the Bengals cap.

Speaker 5 (01:20:08):
Forget the Caps crap. But they clearly did something that
I didn't think they did. They invested in them.

Speaker 7 (01:20:14):
Yeah, well kind of.

Speaker 5 (01:20:16):
They gave it.

Speaker 7 (01:20:17):
He took one of the most team friendly start.

Speaker 5 (01:20:19):
I just thought that they gave him a one year
thing and said let's run it all back one more time.
I didn't realize he signed a four year deal, even
if it's only a two year deal. My guess is
he wants to stay there.

Speaker 2 (01:20:31):
Yes, James Pettig grew the most interesting Patriots fan in
the world. Rights in question for Paul, do we score
sixty with Chisholm starting at least?

Speaker 5 (01:20:41):
Imagine how many punt return touchdowns he would have had
we have great play strength.

Speaker 7 (01:20:46):
I have a question for Paul. How many points did
the Patriots offense score on Sunday?

Speaker 1 (01:20:53):
Right?

Speaker 2 (01:20:53):
I mean he would he would subtract fourteen.

Speaker 5 (01:20:56):
I think yeah. But here's here's the thing, and Mike
can be my witness to this. There are times when
special teams points or points that you wouldn't have gotten.
I don't think that game was one of them. I
think the Patriots offense, after the first drive of the
game for the next I don't know, four or five possessions,

(01:21:19):
just drove the ball downfield at will. So had let's
say the second punt return didn't happen, my guess is
they would have driven sixty one years just.

Speaker 1 (01:21:29):
A normal return.

Speaker 5 (01:21:33):
So, yes, they only really scored twenty eight, but I
would say in this case it's closer to forty two
because of how well the offense played.

Speaker 2 (01:21:42):
That's very magnanimously. We've come a long way. You've come
a long way.

Speaker 5 (01:21:50):
I don't really think it's that hard even think. I
think you watch a game and you analyze what you see, right.
Evan said something earlier in the show when we were
talking about running game and I had made the comment
that all three running backs averaged more than four yards
to carry, and Evan had a very logical yeah, but

(01:22:10):
that was on the other side saying a lot of
it was kind of window dressing. You get an end
around to this guy, a fake end around to that guy,
which sprung this guy for that one. I'm like, yeah,
you're kind of right. He didn't just line it up,
and he's.

Speaker 1 (01:22:26):
Come a long way. No, no, like even to.

Speaker 5 (01:22:30):
Give him those points come a long way.

Speaker 3 (01:22:32):
I think Paul, I give him credit because he always
embraces the rare times when he is corrected or you know,
someone comes up with a good argument back at him,
and I think he is always like, that's a good highlights.

Speaker 1 (01:22:47):
We go, we just went viral. Do you know what?

Speaker 5 (01:22:50):
Like you had the whole thing about this digs thing
that crawled up your keyster. You know what really crawls
up my keyster is when someone is clearly wrong, and
no matter what you do to tell that person he's wrong.
You know, in factual they won't ever just wont it
bothers me? If you talk, if you talk for a

(01:23:12):
living and you're analyzing sports or whatever you're doing, you
know you're gonna say stupid stuff. You're going to say
things that are wrong. You're gonna make predictions that don't
end up happening. You can pretend that you were right,
but then I think people see through that.

Speaker 3 (01:23:28):
So I think it's happened once or twice in my
six years here that Paul's like, actually do So that's
a good argument.

Speaker 5 (01:23:33):
You're right, I'm very I'm a very opinionated guy, so
sometimes I'm gonna they're gonna be way off.

Speaker 3 (01:23:40):
Well, sometimes he's a subjective too, and then you'll, you know,
you'll cling to your beliefs that nuanced or everything.

Speaker 5 (01:23:46):
Let's go back to this game. We'll go back to
the Panthers game. I think you could make an argument
that the other team gets the ball first, they go
right down the field, Patriots went three and out, Panthers
get the ball again. They start to go right down
on the field again and inexplicably run a draw from
the Patriots side of the field. On third and long.
I think they were trying to set up a situation

(01:24:07):
where they could go for it on fullurth down into
the Patriots credit. They stopped the draw for a little
to no gain. Horrifically bad call. Right then they punt
and the guy returns at eighty seven.

Speaker 1 (01:24:18):
Yards right right, big swing, big swing.

Speaker 5 (01:24:21):
If you change one play, okay, instead of running a draw,
they throw it past the tech McMillan for a first
down or no, no, no play, they throw it past the
tech McMillan for a first down. Could you make an
argument that that that game doesn't end forty two to thirteen?
Oh yeah, I would like there's a lot of nuance
that goes on to things. Now you can only go

(01:24:43):
by what actually happened, And what actually happened is Marcus
Jones changed the game. The game got flipped on its
head right there, and they took that. Then the next
drive was probably the most effective Patriots drive I've seen
in about four or five years. The first time down
drive they made it fourteen six was one of the
best looking Patriots drives that I've seen in a long time.

(01:25:05):
Like chunk play, chunk play, chunk play touchdown, like when
was when have we seen that?

Speaker 1 (01:25:12):
Right?

Speaker 5 (01:25:13):
You know? And now what happened back and what happened
at fourteen to six?

Speaker 1 (01:25:16):
Mike, Oh jeez, you gonna put me on the spot.

Speaker 5 (01:25:18):
With this capitulation, right, just saying piece of where out?

Speaker 1 (01:25:25):
No, they were there, and I think there were a
couple third down.

Speaker 5 (01:25:28):
I think when it was actually when they missed the
field goal. I think it was fourteen six when they
missed the field goal, not today, Like, yeah, I don't
think it's gonna happen. You should go to the game
check back broke the h two things.

Speaker 7 (01:25:40):
One they did drive into Patriots territory on six of their.

Speaker 5 (01:25:43):
Several times six of the Brice.

Speaker 7 (01:25:45):
Young's nine possessions. And just watching the game back, on defense,
I didn't think that it was like in this dominant
defensive effort like the scoreboard necessarily suggested, and some of
the plays that the Panthers made, you just worry that
like better offenses, like I don't know, Buffalo are going
to be able to hit some of those same notes

(01:26:05):
and it's going to look a lot different. But on
you know, the plus side of things, the Patriots won
like all of the important third downs in this game.

Speaker 5 (01:26:15):
I said, like I said to you guys, like I
feel like the Panthers have had the ball at the
Patriots forty this entire game. Yeah, and they had thirteen
points to show.

Speaker 1 (01:26:23):
For it, knocking on the door.

Speaker 5 (01:26:24):
But all the time when there was like the Patriots
won all the important downs.

Speaker 7 (01:26:28):
Yeah, when there was like a high leverage third down, yeah,
the Patriots won all of them. And you know, really
their their pass rush won all of them. But yeah,
it was that was good to see. But there was
there was some leakiness on the defense, like it was
not That's why I was thirteen game on defense.

Speaker 1 (01:26:46):
I still don't know what it is.

Speaker 5 (01:26:47):
It's been an hour and a half of you know,
we're talking about you know, playoff team and changing the
narrative and all that stuff, and I'm on board with
it all. Believe me. I am. I think that you
showed that you separated yourself from those teams. And I
know it was only one game, but I think they did.
But you, to Evan's point, you have a situation where

(01:27:09):
a bad offense, and Carolina is a bad offense in
a thirty to nothering win the previous week, they played
bad offense.

Speaker 7 (01:27:16):
Like one hundred and twenty pouns?

Speaker 5 (01:27:17):
Right, what happens if you get in a situation where
Buffalo is playing this week and you're playing a similar
kind of defense, and instead of getting to the forty,
they get into your end zone every time. Now, instead
of being able to throw the ball seventeen times and
having Drake May look like a star, and having the
offensive line look like they're giving all this protection, by

(01:27:37):
the way, against the team that it had one sack
all year, how does it look when Greg Russeau and
Joey Bosa, you know, and aj Epinessa are coming after
you with the two school leads.

Speaker 1 (01:27:50):
Totally, so totally, that's the flip.

Speaker 5 (01:27:52):
Side of this whole thing. Now, hopefully we won't find
that out. Hopefully the Patriots go into this Buffalo game
and they run the ball effectively against the team and
I don't think stops the run very well, and you're
able to get a lead and dictate the way the
game is played and make Josh Allen, you know, have
to have the pressure of keeping up.

Speaker 1 (01:28:10):
That's what I was just saying.

Speaker 3 (01:28:11):
I just I don't feel like I really know who
this defense truly is yet, and they need to see
how they stack up against the really good teams, and
what does it look like when you know, you really
have to stop the run or you really have to
you know, get off the field and some of these
long drives the teams are putting together on them and
this will be a proving ground this week for them
to see what what they really have, uh, because it's

(01:28:32):
you know, like you said, they haven't really faced a
lot of dynamic teams, and even then it's been circumstantial
the way they've kind of pulled out the winners.

Speaker 5 (01:28:39):
To play three bad offenses and the one good offense
they played is kind of in disarray in Miami.

Speaker 7 (01:28:46):
Yeah, but they like not having Gonzo just from like,
how are they going to game plan teams perspective, like
they didn't have.

Speaker 1 (01:28:55):
That's the wildcard. That's like the one wildcard of it
all right.

Speaker 5 (01:28:58):
I mean it looks like when the best player and
the team is back on the field.

Speaker 7 (01:29:03):
The results I just more mean, like, you know, they
haven't been traveling with receivers.

Speaker 1 (01:29:08):
Yeah, less options.

Speaker 5 (01:29:09):
So like one of.

Speaker 7 (01:29:10):
The things that ver Abel pointed out after the game
was that the Panthers kept moving tet inside and they
were kind of hiding where they were going to line
up tet down to down, and they were moving him
around a lot, and so he actually got matched up
on Jalen Hawkins a few times. Oh yeah, which is
not a matchup that you want if you're the Patriots.
No offense to Jalen Hawkins. But now that they have
Gonzo back at full strength, like this Gonzo now travel

(01:29:33):
inside with the Ted McMillan, Like, I don't know how
this coaching staff is going with this game.

Speaker 5 (01:29:39):
I just don't know.

Speaker 7 (01:29:40):
Who on who like Shakir, because like Shaki is a
slot receiver.

Speaker 5 (01:29:43):
Wondering if you just take a guy like ke On Coleman,
who I think you kind of agree with me on
key On Coleman. He's okay, but I don't think he's
anything special. I don't think he's a great road runner. Yeah,
I think you could eliminate him with with probably either
one of them.

Speaker 1 (01:29:56):
I think I would go Man on Man and I
would Key on Cook.

Speaker 2 (01:30:00):
I would try to like put an extra guy, Like
you know you have spies for quarterbacks, I'd have a
spy for the running back, Like wherever he goes, you go,
in addition to whatever coverage is out there. So effectively,
you're double teaming him everywhere on the field.

Speaker 7 (01:30:15):
See, I think Shakira is in the passing game. Shaquira
is the engine of that offense. He's so if the
problem with him is that they use him in motion
so much. So like if you're gonna play man to
man against him and they bring him in motion, like
now you're chasing, Like now you have to run with
the motion in man to man and that's hard to do. So,
Like that's why a lot of teams just play sides

(01:30:38):
against Buffalo and just catch the receivers when they come
out of the formation in the motion. So like Shakira's
it's hard because Shakira is not like a traditional receiver
where like he's just gonna be here all the time
and Gonzo can just stand over him, like he's gonna
move around, he's gonna be in motion, he's gonna be
in the backfields. Like so there's different things that they.

Speaker 5 (01:30:57):
Do with it.

Speaker 2 (01:30:58):
Here's an early prediction game so far this season for
Kyle Duggar.

Speaker 1 (01:31:03):
Well with the Hawkins injury, it's it.

Speaker 3 (01:31:05):
I mean, he might say I might.

Speaker 5 (01:31:08):
Have to play back, and I think he I think
he could. I agree with Mike. The other part of
what you guys are talking about with Shakir that would
worry me is if so let's say Carlton Davis takes
Keyon Coleman out of the game and then they decide
to maybe double Shakir to make sure that he doesn't
get this kind of yards after the catch. Because I
like Shakiro a lot. By the way, he was one
of the guys in the draft that year that I

(01:31:29):
really liked, both Josh Allen especially, but specifically. Buffalo has
done this in the past. They now they have some
of these other guys that aren't always they're not world beaters,
but like Josh Palmer's not bad. And you know, they
have Elijah Moore this year who's kind of a nick
niche kind of player. These guys are capable of making plays.

(01:31:52):
They're not gonna like, Elijah Moore is not going to
catch twelve passes for one hundred and fifty yards, but
he might catch three and and and end up with
like sixty because he's kind of has capability. Do you
remember the twenty one season after the game in Buffalo
that was the wind game, the three you know, the
fourteen or ten game, whatever, they came back here and

(01:32:14):
josh Allen just ripped him apart. They didn't punt. Isaiah
McKenzie killed Miles Bryant that day. That's to me, that's
what I think of, Like Elijah Moore, Jortis Samuel I
don't think it's even been active in some of these games,
but played last so did he. Those kinds of players,
Joshua Palmer.

Speaker 1 (01:32:31):
But that's the brilliins of josh Allen too. Willing to
go to those guys.

Speaker 5 (01:32:34):
He can take those third and fourth and fifth options.
And if you decide to take that, what I really
want away from me, I can beat you with these
guys too. And by the way, dul thinking kid and Dawstins,
we're both pretty good.

Speaker 7 (01:32:46):
Jackson great blocker.

Speaker 1 (01:32:48):
Yeah yeah, they got it all right now. I mean,
Buffalo is not a lot of credit.

Speaker 5 (01:32:51):
This is not an easy task.

Speaker 7 (01:32:52):
It's probably the best offense in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (01:32:54):
It's a reason they score thirty every week.

Speaker 1 (01:32:56):
Ivan's in California.

Speaker 15 (01:32:57):
Hey, Ivan, Hey guys, how you doing good? I got
a quick question, but before before that, for me, from
where I stand, I think there's just as good a chance. Honestly,
we're going to go into Buffalo and get smoked. And
I'm not trying to be negative. I just feel like
the way the defense, you know, they've got great tight
ends and everything you guys have just been touching on.

(01:33:19):
I just think it is one of those games where
it's going to be really hard to stop this guy.
So for me, I think a win would be if
we can go into the fourth quarter with a shot
and play a clean game. You know, then you know, hey,
listen as special teams player or something like that. Who knows,
we get a lucky bounce. But this is a really
tough task, but it doesn't derail what they're doing. I

(01:33:42):
just like to I think, just temper the excitement. I think,
you know, we have to understand the Buffalo is at
the top of their game right now, and our defense
is still you know, I think there's still a lot
to be desired, I think in certain ways. But with
that said, I'll jump to my question and then jump
and that is on offense. I know Diggs, you know,
people are saying he's a slot when we know obviously

(01:34:03):
it's not just that, but thank you. I'm wondering if
how we can incorporated Kyle Williams so that we can
you know, with Diggs being in the slot, can we
what is it going to take to get him maybe
on the field, stretch the field, and uh, I think
if we can get him more involved in the offense.

Speaker 5 (01:34:22):
All right field a little bit more often in this game,
and I think I've probably be able to speak to
this better. I think they had something dialed up for
him a couple of different a couple of times, and
unfortunately they weren't able to That was kind of an
ill advice. That was after the after the bogus face
mask on Hooper, they ran an end around for like

(01:34:44):
minus two. Yeah, but I think they ran a shot
play to Williams earlier.

Speaker 1 (01:34:48):
In the game.

Speaker 5 (01:34:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:34:49):
They they've done that, honestly, going all the way back
to Week one or week two. Week two against Miami,
they ran a one man route to him on a
double reverse face and it was him that was running
the go and they ran yet last week they tried
to run a double move to him towards the end
of the game against Pittsburgh. He was on the outside,

(01:35:10):
ran a little out and up just didn't bite up.
So they've tried a few different things, you know, on
the digs, crossing route explosive. He was on the deep
post that occupied the safety. So I don't think that
Kyle Williams has been like I know everybody wants him
to get into the box score, and I know everybody
wants them to get production and things like that. But

(01:35:30):
he's playing, you know, he's he's the outside vertical stretch
of their offense when he's on the field, and sometimes
that's just to clear out space. It's not necessarily to
get him the football. I think he's done a fine
job at it. You know, I have no quibbles with
what he's doing right now.

Speaker 1 (01:35:46):
I would agree.

Speaker 2 (01:35:47):
Boston Cream wants to know when you gave the nod
last game, second quarter, fourteen to six.

Speaker 1 (01:35:53):
Oh, I thought you were gonna say it, and I
don't give the nots.

Speaker 5 (01:35:55):
I don't give the knot anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:35:56):
Right, So say that. So you didn't give the not
the nod.

Speaker 5 (01:36:00):
I don't give it publicly anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:36:02):
No, no more public it's behind a paywall.

Speaker 7 (01:36:04):
You have to get this game is over in the
second quarter.

Speaker 2 (01:36:06):
Okay he did, Yeah, but you're not publicly giving a
nod anymore?

Speaker 1 (01:36:12):
And why is that?

Speaker 5 (01:36:13):
Because they don't earn it?

Speaker 1 (01:36:14):
Okay, Okay, they haven't earned.

Speaker 5 (01:36:17):
There's been too many nods, mental nods that they were like.
I'll give you the most recent example was Week two. Yeah,
I looked at Mike. I said, I think this game
is over. Five minutes later they were losing.

Speaker 1 (01:36:31):
Yeah, right, Mike.

Speaker 5 (01:36:33):
Yeah, that's when you get mad at me. Sometimes Mike
gets mad.

Speaker 1 (01:36:37):
Come on, I give the nod, you know, just real quick.
I was.

Speaker 3 (01:36:40):
I think I brought up Malcolm Mitchell in the past.
It's just an example of kind of an outside rookie
receiver and you know, his snaps. I kind of a
gainst what I was going to look for. But in
twenty sixteen, right out of the gate, thirty nine snaps,
thirty one snaps. I mean, first game, five targets, you know,
two catches. But he's just active right out of the gate,
which I just think is interesting. Be a little patient

(01:37:00):
with Kyle Williams, but clearly they know what he can do.
And I mean I agree with the general sentiment. I
think people see it like eventually him on the outside
and you know work.

Speaker 5 (01:37:10):
You know, before the season's over. It's just I don't know,
not going to put a deadline on it. I'd like
to see him sort of emerge, you know, ahead of
like Mac Collins. And I'm not talking about the same role.
Don't like this is not like, oh he's playing this
role and he doesn't do that, Paul. I'm saying the
amount of snaps Mac Collins gets I would like to
see flip flop. You know, Mac Collins gets fifteen snaps

(01:37:33):
and Kyle Williams ends up getting thirty or whatever the
case may be.

Speaker 3 (01:37:37):
But like, what did I call it Mac Hollins in
the summer. I don't know if it was four or five,
but like he's an ideal five. He's like guy who
plays special teams. He's got some size. He'll go out there,
can blow, you know, he can catch. But but if
Williams can emerge as that two three guy, you know,
like compliment.

Speaker 7 (01:37:53):
Not going to take Mac Collins off the field.

Speaker 5 (01:37:55):
He's an ideal is what I want to see. I
didn't say it was going to happen.

Speaker 7 (01:37:58):
But it's just his blockings too valuable. And I know
that that drives people crazy, but his ability to block
allows them.

Speaker 5 (01:38:05):
To thought he was shaking your head up my scouting
report on the no, no, no, it's like that he
does all those things.

Speaker 7 (01:38:10):
His ability to block allows their whole early down sequencing
to work. Like the fact that they can run and
play action pass out of the same formations is because
they have receivers that can block. So if you take
him off the field, like Kyle Williams is not gonna
he's not going to be digging out the nickel Paul.
So you know, I know it's like boring and like.

Speaker 5 (01:38:34):
For a love of the game routes, but he ain't
gonna be digging out the nickel.

Speaker 2 (01:38:36):
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(01:39:05):
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(01:39:26):
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slash pats or with coupon code pa TS. All right,

(01:39:46):
let's get back to the phones here. Uh John is
on hold from the Philippines.

Speaker 1 (01:39:51):
What's up?

Speaker 5 (01:39:52):
John's yep?

Speaker 1 (01:39:56):
Yeah, you're like in a cave in the Philippines. Where
are you?

Speaker 18 (01:40:00):
Pretty much?

Speaker 2 (01:40:02):
Are you gonna have to do something? Take us off
speaker or go outside from the cave?

Speaker 14 (01:40:09):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (01:40:10):
Get well, yeah, I don't know what's going on over there, John, Okay, okay,
let's go.

Speaker 18 (01:40:21):
Just one thing, Like, how refreshing was seeing this offense
set up some plays last week?

Speaker 1 (01:40:29):
How refreshing was it? Very was very refreshing.

Speaker 5 (01:40:32):
I think I needed a shower?

Speaker 1 (01:40:33):
He did. He's still very refreshing, you tell us, But
were you refreshed?

Speaker 18 (01:40:40):
Yeah, that was refreshing. But my question is I tuned
in a little late, So stop me if you've already
answered this. But the past couple of years, we've been
really bad against running quarterbacks, I guess all quarterbacks.

Speaker 15 (01:40:55):
For that matter.

Speaker 18 (01:40:56):
But like you, guys are critical third downs, Like, last
thing I want to see is a close game, Josh Allen,
you know, starts running on third downs. Like, do you
think we have someone that can, like we could put
as a spy. We've gone like lighter at lighter at linebacker.
There's someone that can keep pace with Josh Allen in

(01:41:19):
that aspect?

Speaker 7 (01:41:20):
Well, I mean my question, I mean it's it's a
good question, but like everybody's trying to keep MVP of
the league.

Speaker 5 (01:41:27):
But I do think there's guys that can keep pace
for them. But can you tackle them?

Speaker 14 (01:41:30):
Right?

Speaker 5 (01:41:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:41:32):
I mean there's not a lot of depth on the
Patriots defense, so there's not a lot to like tack too.
But that's why I highlight Douger. Maybe Dougger has to
fill in for Hawkins though and play safety or Marty Mapu.
I just I think he's you know, got some size,
he moves pretty well, and we'll see what happens.

Speaker 5 (01:41:45):
Both those guys can run with Josh Allen. I think
Robert Splaine can probably run, you know with Can they
get him on the ground. Nope, I'm not saying that
because no, no disrespect to the players that we just mentioned.
Josh Allen is the best player in football.

Speaker 1 (01:42:00):
Yeah, that's why.

Speaker 7 (01:42:02):
They had a third down against the Saints where they
Saints like we're sending pressure, could him mount and on
third down? And he finally just said, like it, I'm
just gonna run. And he's just like stiff arming guys
and he was just like, I'm just gonna take off.
I mean, I don't I don't know what you do
about that.

Speaker 5 (01:42:22):
And it's close late is when you get those runs. Yeah,
he put the game away.

Speaker 7 (01:42:28):
Yeah I'm gonna And then he'd rent a naked and
just really put the game away and like it was
just like all right, I don't know, but you gotta
put him in the trash compactor. Right, Like when they
rush the quarterback, you don't want to be flying up
the field. You don't want to be out of gaps
because if you open a gap up he's just gonna
take it, so you gotta put it collapse the pocket.

Speaker 2 (01:42:47):
Yeah, Matt Rochester, New York. As the unofficial quarterway point
of the season. If the players below exceeded, met or
failed to meet whatever expectations you had for them going
to the season.

Speaker 5 (01:42:59):
Will Campbell exceeded exceeded.

Speaker 2 (01:43:02):
I'd say he met my expectations because I had high expectations.

Speaker 5 (01:43:06):
I did too, that's fair.

Speaker 2 (01:43:07):
Garrett Bradbury exceeded, exceeded, Okay, Milton Williams, I know what
Evan thinks.

Speaker 5 (01:43:15):
Exceeded.

Speaker 1 (01:43:16):
Yeah, yeah, Carlton Davis.

Speaker 5 (01:43:19):
That's the last one, last underwhelming.

Speaker 1 (01:43:24):
I don't know whatever their sceeded, meta, failed.

Speaker 2 (01:43:27):
Failed, failed, so far, it's a stretch my three options
for Carlton Davis.

Speaker 7 (01:43:34):
Hear what you guys are saying, but failed seems.

Speaker 5 (01:43:37):
Failed is definitely a harsh word.

Speaker 1 (01:43:39):
But that was the option.

Speaker 5 (01:43:41):
The option was exceeded.

Speaker 1 (01:43:42):
Below expectations, below expectations. We just go with blow expectations
because I don't.

Speaker 5 (01:43:47):
Think he's been a failure a point. I don't think
he's been a failure, but I don't think he's met expectations.

Speaker 1 (01:43:51):
Been banged up a lot, he missed a lot of practice.

Speaker 5 (01:43:53):
It's penalty.

Speaker 7 (01:43:55):
The penalties are not great.

Speaker 5 (01:43:56):
Christian Barmore, Oh, I can say I'm gonna say exceeded
because I I still had some questions.

Speaker 1 (01:44:03):
I'd say exceeded too.

Speaker 5 (01:44:04):
He's been and you know his availability.

Speaker 2 (01:44:07):
There's ah Met Matt.

Speaker 1 (01:44:13):
I didn't have Miami.

Speaker 2 (01:44:14):
I would have said exceeded, but that was you know, yeah,
just he hasn't stabbed him yet.

Speaker 3 (01:44:19):
No, no, no disrespect to Booty, but I see him
as kind of one of the guys that you're trying
to upgrade, you know, down the line. That's a position
where you need a dynamic player who's going to make
it hard. He's turned into like a very gritty, like
a possession receiver, plays on the outside receiver.

Speaker 5 (01:44:38):
Even that catch the other day, it's like he you know,
the he's on the ground. It was a little underthrown.
Do you see how he caught it? Like usually when
you're on the ground, you're like scooping the ball off
the turf. He that was a handsketch out in front
of him about six inches off the ground. That was
a good hands catch.

Speaker 3 (01:44:55):
It almost makes me wonder if he's miscast a little bit,
and like, you know, is he does he have the
dynamic athleticism to play on the outside and really do
what they truly need him to do, or would he
be better served as a guy who can catch the
ball and move the chains like a debo.

Speaker 5 (01:45:08):
Debo power power what do you call power slots? Power slot?

Speaker 7 (01:45:12):
Yeah, he was. He was a little bit more of that,
and he has.

Speaker 1 (01:45:14):
The name for every power slot.

Speaker 7 (01:45:18):
Slot is the best power slot in the game.

Speaker 2 (01:45:21):
Doug Doug Boone, IOWA says, listening to Evan talk about
football is like reading the King James Bible.

Speaker 7 (01:45:28):
I don't know what that means.

Speaker 1 (01:45:29):
I don't read the complicated. I was going to say,
is that it's just the basic. I think they're all
the Bible, the standards. I don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:45:39):
I read a different book, so I'm not sure. I
think you read the first plating thing in the world.
And other people would say reading the Bible is kind
of boring.

Speaker 2 (01:45:48):
Jacket and abba, uh, I thought it was Wednesday, disregardless. Man, No,
we'll do this email today. For each of the bills below,
each member of the p U staff must declare whether
he's a stutter or a stiff. No no in the middle, stutter,
stiff Josh Allen, Studd, James Cook, Stud Dalton Kincaid.

Speaker 1 (01:46:10):
Really don't know. I don't think he's the first round.
Joey Bosa.

Speaker 7 (01:46:17):
I would say he's having a good start to the year.

Speaker 5 (01:46:20):
I don't know. I'd say Stud, but he's always injured
and White Stiff Yeah, Washed.

Speaker 7 (01:46:30):
Never does it for me.

Speaker 5 (01:46:32):
Was a really good player. Yeah, around with Buffalo and
then I think he did he tear his a c
l oh, yeah, something like that. Yeah, he was a
good player, but I don't think he is any very
good player. Howard It was a good player, really not anymore.

Speaker 2 (01:46:48):
Darius from Louis Louisville. I also believe we can beat
the Bills. I'm not just riding high off our win.
I really believe it. If we can limit turnovers a
force maybe one or two, we have a good chance.
We've looked like a real NFL team for three weeks now,
minus the five turnovers against the Steelers.

Speaker 5 (01:47:09):
We look like it's we look to play Missus Lincoln.

Speaker 1 (01:47:11):
We look like a top fifteen to seventeen team.

Speaker 5 (01:47:14):
I think that's probably fair. Sure like that with the
last part fIF Yeah, they're right in the pack right low. Yeah,
that might be low. Yeah, fifteen to seventeen.

Speaker 7 (01:47:24):
Especially at the quarterbacks good.

Speaker 5 (01:47:27):
And that was my caveat all off season.

Speaker 3 (01:47:30):
I just I'm so interested to see how the defense
stacks up against Josh Allen Lamar, you know, even Baker
like the really good quarterbacks.

Speaker 5 (01:47:37):
Do you think Lamar is going to play? When they
play the.

Speaker 1 (01:47:41):
Are they rest the play?

Speaker 5 (01:47:43):
He's already heard Don and Philly.

Speaker 2 (01:47:46):
I'd like to impersonate Evan recapping a play. I love
his insight. Evan impersonation to set the scene. The Patriots
are in fifty four personnel, five running backs, four.

Speaker 5 (01:47:55):
Tight ends, doesn't even exist.

Speaker 1 (01:47:57):
Y william was in.

Speaker 2 (01:47:58):
Motion and effectively acts this is the backside, Sniffer.

Speaker 7 (01:48:02):
It's not the right thing. No, this is just all wrong.

Speaker 5 (01:48:04):
You didn't like the backside before I move on.

Speaker 2 (01:48:07):
I love how much motion McDaniel's incorporated in this offense.
The Panthers defense is in cover three Cloud one. Strake
notices he has no offensive lineman on the field. He
hits Williams for an explosive twenty yard play, a genius
concept only McDaniels could scheme up. And the Patriots have
one of the highest explosive play rates in the NFL,

(01:48:29):
but ranked thirty first in yards and crew on those plays.
I know what your network would say about that, barth
bar You think that was a good impersonation?

Speaker 5 (01:48:39):
No, because there's all like the backside sniffer. That's not
even what the sniffer does.

Speaker 1 (01:48:44):
It makes a bbl thing. It was kind of a
funny term though, Brazilian butt lift.

Speaker 5 (01:48:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:48:50):
I was gonna say literally, but I I will digress.

Speaker 5 (01:48:56):
I'll give it to him.

Speaker 2 (01:48:57):
Good job, Tyler writes in Fred, you and Paul are
the best, like grandpa or dad some of us never had.
I just want to ask, if the offensive line goes
as well as it has, should we keep some wide
receivers or should we do what we did this year
and get some veterans and maybe get rid of some
dead weight and hopefully start hitting in the draft and

(01:49:19):
free agents. Hopefully Kyle Williams starts showing something that way
a vet William's booty, and I don't know what anyway,
I'm not sure what his question is.

Speaker 5 (01:49:30):
They need?

Speaker 2 (01:49:31):
So if the offensive line is fine, we just focus
on wide receivers. Is that is that what you think
you're going.

Speaker 5 (01:49:37):
I mean, I think they're going to continue to need
offensive linemen. It's not going to be fine forever. I
mean brad Berry and Owen who and Moses are closer
to the end in the beginning yep.

Speaker 7 (01:49:50):
Right, Bradberry has been good, and I think that's not
big for them. I'm not saying that you have been
as advertised, but thirty four years old, like they're going
to need a right tackle. Uh, we still don't. I
think I fully know that Will Campbell is going to
be good. I don't know if Jared Wilson's going to be.

Speaker 5 (01:50:06):
Even if he's probably going to take over for Bradbury,
you're gonna need another center card.

Speaker 3 (01:50:12):
Yeah, I mean this point out anything when you's got
like the biggest cap hit next year, big.

Speaker 5 (01:50:17):
Money closer because he's not closer to the end age
wise like Moses, but.

Speaker 1 (01:50:23):
He might be asked to take a haircut this austome.

Speaker 2 (01:50:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:50:25):
I just think the good news is is that if
Will Campbell continues on this trajectory, like left tackle is
the hardest one to get, you don't.

Speaker 5 (01:50:33):
Necessarily if they don't have to go back in the
left tackle market. Yeah, that's what you need to waste
a high draft wasting quotes on a high draft right, So.

Speaker 7 (01:50:42):
Like if they need to, if they bump Wilson into center,
and they don't need to draft the left guard in
the first.

Speaker 5 (01:50:47):
Round, you can get on the fourth.

Speaker 1 (01:50:49):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:50:50):
The benefit of you know, it's been good so far
from my with the offensive line is it looks like
they're coaching guys up again on the offensive line where
you're seeing week to week improve, You're seeing Ben Brown
get in there, and it really doesn't miss a beat
with the backup guard in there instead of the starter.
Like that was the things that they were doing in
the heyday when Scarneckia was here, and they were just

(01:51:11):
able to pump out these guys.

Speaker 3 (01:51:12):
They were I was watching some of the game last
night and they were just tearing apart Miami's offensive line.

Speaker 1 (01:51:17):
Cole Strength by the way, I getting in there with.

Speaker 5 (01:51:20):
The like at this point four spots, Like they were
talking about it last night and it was almost comical. Yeah,
with how how many linemen did they and then you know, and.

Speaker 3 (01:51:29):
So you know, maybe this is unfair to them because
they are down into debt, but they were just pointing
out the things that we used to point out with
the Patriots whorts, like they're not in sync they're missing guys.
You know, when you just like it goes back to
that point I'm in earlier, when you have two seasons
of four wins, you really get up to speed on
the subtleties of the badness that get you beat and
the you know, the blown blocks and the you know,

(01:51:51):
lack of spacing and all those different details that are
so critical.

Speaker 1 (01:51:54):
I don't always appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (01:51:55):
When Evan and I argued about this earlier off. There
a game when the Dolphins probably should have won by
four touchdowns based on how badly the Jets played because
of those problems. They they couldn't convert a third down
in the second half, they took over. I mean, they
get a fumble recovery off the opening kickoff of the
second half, and they just can't score any points. And

(01:52:18):
you look at the end of the game and you're like,
how do we get involved in a one possession game?
The Jets have thirteen penalties, turned it over three times
to none, and they're still in the game and they
I mean, if not for a bogus passing appearance calling
Garrett Wilson in the end zone, I don't understand how
that's If that's interference. I don't know what the back
shoulder played the Diggs is. It's the same thing you like,

(01:52:40):
they run and they put the ram out like they
didn't knock him over like Diggs, I don't think he
was just out and he makes an unbelievable catch up.
For some reason, Chris Powler just decided I'm going to
ignore that the referee called it a touchdown on the field,
went on the on the microphone after and said the
ruling on the field was touchdown. However offensive passing affence.

(01:53:00):
It's on number five like he can continues to say,
like they that that they ruled it an incomplete past.
They didn't. It was a touchdown.

Speaker 7 (01:53:08):
That touchdown that he did catch that counted was Unbelievab's
really good.

Speaker 5 (01:53:12):
He's a receiver. I know he signed a big deal,
but he's a received What that would take the temperature on.

Speaker 1 (01:53:18):
You see the false star on Teddy K yesterday that
they call a.

Speaker 7 (01:53:22):
Call and I know this is big on on Paul shows.
I know Joe Murray, Jim Murray, sorry other Mary is
big on this, but I I agree with him. Some
of these ticky tack calls that are just bogging down
the game, like these little like alignment issues and like
the head bob for teddy.

Speaker 1 (01:53:38):
K last every center does that.

Speaker 5 (01:53:41):
I don't.

Speaker 7 (01:53:41):
We're getting way too technical with some of these.

Speaker 5 (01:53:43):
They cracked down on the head bob like if it's
like sort of a you know, a sudden movement, you know,
like it's really and they brought the rules analyst on
and like I thought, no, that's not what that's not
what they were talking about with these sudden movements. That
was just a normal every day act. Like it's it's
they're impacting games.

Speaker 1 (01:54:04):
All right, I'm calling it a show. I got things
to do.

Speaker 2 (01:54:07):
We got another shot at it tomorrow catch twenty two
am Eastern time.

Speaker 5 (01:54:13):
We'll talk some fall.

Speaker 1 (01:54:14):
What's part take on this.

Speaker 2 (01:54:15):
Is he he's in good, good spirits.

Speaker 5 (01:54:19):
He's in good spirit. I haven't talked to him since Sundays. Okay,
all right, all right about it.

Speaker 1 (01:54:23):
So we'll be back at noon.

Speaker 2 (01:54:25):
We've got Verabel press conference tomorrow, lots to do tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:54:29):
We'll talk to you then. Hey, this is Deuce. Thanks
for tuning into the show.

Speaker 3 (01:54:35):
If you really want to help us, make sure you
like us wherever you get your podcasts, like Apple podcasts
or Spotify.

Speaker 1 (01:54:40):
Also make sure you follow us on.

Speaker 3 (01:54:41):
The New England Patriots YouTube channel to see this show
and everything else that we do here at the Patriots.

Speaker 1 (01:54:45):
Thanks a lot.

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