Patriots Catch twenty two. We'll join Evan Lazar and Alex Bart every Thursday as they take a deep dive into the exits and o's trends and latest New England Patriots roster moves.
And I'm usually into the numbers. Okay, we do something. I'm into the tangible numbers.
There's there's tame here.
Just give me. There's the advantage that fact. Haven't know how to work it. I'm surprised an old man over here. I thought maybe i'd have to show you like a vitorial or something.
How am I old man?
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You gotta get them. Yeah, fellow, I don't know what this was.
I can do this. Turntable hands. I gotta put those turned table hands in. Yeah, right, do the la la law.
I turntable hands, turntable I gotta give marine credit.
Those were clever. Yeah, those were clever. I mean, I'm a big fan of you know, Evan, you know from the locker room too, but those were those are clever, Those are clever. So excellent job, an excellent job.
We need to put a camera on Marine though, because he's bump he's bumping in there.
I love music, I love it.
We just I just wanted to be documented, that's all.
So that way we get like embarrass him in front of his kids later that kind of thing, or in front of his next don't do this in front of them already. That's probably also true, right kids, the same moves to the power, poor poor kids. Hey, Patroon fans, I'm gonna do this right now and get this in early patri vans. If you want to see Toyota's best offers,
including those not seen on TV. Right not seen on TV, go to buy a Toyota dot Com Toyota's official website for deals from the official vehicle of the New England Patriots, Toyota. Let's go places. I'm John Rook. We welcome you into the Patriots Playbook for a Wednesday, and you know Evan Lazar is here. We will also have the one and
only Mike Greeese from ESPN on the program today. Russell Baxter will be back today as we go week ten around the NFL this week, you know, And yeah, we're gonna talk about dub AARs, but they've got their own issues, which I'm sure you and I will jump into in a little bit and we'll catch everybody up to date if you're not totally initiated with them. And two and seven, like I said, we kind of have our own issues too.
I'm left with two overwhelming thoughts hit me from Tennessee. Yeah, Number one, May is a baller, okay, which I'm really happy to see. And I feel I'm sure like most of the fans in this regard. I mean, guy just balls out and I'm like, whoa, Okay, that's number one. Number two, there's no talent on this team, not near enough. There's some talent, okay. I say that with all due respect to the guys in the locker room were working their asses off. They are, but he needs a lot
of help. And so now to me, what I'd like to see from this team over the course of the last eight weeks, because we're now officially past the halfway point nine down, eight to go by week, coming up in another week or two, and so I just I want to see some progress number one wins and losses. I'm not going to measure progress and wins and losses. I think I probably gave up on that one about
six week weeks ago, so I've had to reevaluate. I thought this team honestly with what it hadknown, not knowing at the time that there was this plan, which I'm still not sure really what the plan was, if it really even existed. I'm a you know, I'm a big conspiracy theorist. You know, there's more than one shooter for JFK Okay, that's all. I'm one of those people. But as far as the Patriots plan for this year, I don't think so. All right, maybe someday we'll go into that.
What I'm kind of looking at now, though, is this season, this franchise's immediate future is incumbent upon Elliott Wolf and the scouting staff identifying players who can play. Yeah. I mean, we all love Bill for what he did over a number of years, but it is documented, it is well known, and it is a large reason that he is no longer here because he came up short as build a GM, Eldred, You'll be happy to hear me say that. Okay, he
came up way short as build a GM. Build a coach still, Okay, yeah, build a GM, although I think we could also probably surmise that that was a fundamentally flawed mistake, you know, bringing in Matt Patricia as an offensive coordinator. Okay, So what I need to see now, and please I want you to you know, differ with me if you do, But I need to see the guys who have any interest in playing NFL football. I need to see them busting tail. I need to see
guys playing through whatever ails them. I need to see more like Drake who's a week off of going through protocol and he's freaking diving and running and going ahead first and I'm like, wow, that's I mean, that's like, how could you not be inspired by that if you're one of his teams? Yeah? I need to see that from other people. I need to see Jalen Polk decide he wants to play football instead of being a prima donna.
I need to see some others decide to bust their tails as opposed to just kind of letting it happen, you know, And that's really what I want to see. I thought this team, like I started to say, I thought this team had the capability of winning five or six games. I really did. I felt very strongly about it. I ain't gonna get there. Yeah, and so now I've reevaluated could they well, yeah, I guess anything could happen. They got seven games left. Could they win five of those?
I doubt it. But I'm just saying I want to see effort. I want to see guys start to rise to it. I want them to make Elliott and Gerrod and everyone's job tougher when it comes to deciding, all right, who's worth sticking around who's not. Now to that end, I think that process kind of got started this week because there was no trading before the trade deadline. Yeah, so they're like, okay, how we were really going to
improve ourselves week. You know, our guys here are developmental, so let's continue to develop them before we shoot them to the side. What do you think?
Yeah, I think you made a lot of really good points.
I look at this team right now, and there's there's like macro level issues, and there's micro level issues, and sometimes just For me personally in season, I tend to focus more on the micro of what's actually going on on the field because we all understand on a macro level that they just don't They simply just don't have enough talent on this roster really at this point because of the attrition on the defense on either side of the ball coming into the season, when you had Kyle
Duggart healthy, and you had Jabriel Peppers and you had Christian Barmore. Obviously you know Judah and I don't think we was a part of their plans for this year, so I don't necessarily count him, but Judahan, if you want to count him. You looked at this roster Jwan Bentley defensively and you said, okay, they have some talent on the defensive side of the ball, that a lot of that has withered away, so that side of the
ball is dealing with that. Offensively, we knew coming into the year they didn't have a lot of talent, and they still don't have a lot of talent. So I look at Elliott Wolf and I understand a lot of people's frustrations with the lack of additions to the roster. Certainly the draft last year right now is looking like Drake May is the only guy that you're going to get out of that. Now, that's the biggest position in the sport. So I don't want to downplay.
It's still disappointing.
It's disappointing, and it was also not to take anything away from the scouting department. I could have made that pick, and you could have made that pick, and Marine could have made that pick right, like you know, like every single one it was.
Do we not say if Jayden Daniels isn't there, it's definitely.
Yeah, you can sit there at three and take Drake May right. And again, I'm not trying to I know that sounded like a shot. I'm not trying to know, but that's just the bottom line. So what separates the men from the boys when it comes to the draft is what did you do in rounds two through seven? Because it's easy for us to sit here and take the third overall pick and say this is the best player for that draft pick. But what did you do in round two, three, four, five, and so on? So far?
Right now, we don't even know if those guys can play NFL football, let alone if they can contribute in a big way, you know, it'd be big time pillars or anything like that. Like, we don't even know if Jalen Polk's an NFL wide receiver.
No, we don't right now, which is sad. Yeah, we should know that by now. It's midseason, right.
And then you look at how they handled free agency in the veteran market last March. You know, they re signed a lot of their own guys. They didn't make any real splashes in terms of additions from the outside. So I get all that. The one thing, and I said this on Tuesday, that I would say in an Elliott wolf in the front office's defense is that when you go into an off season, it's your first year
on the job. You have no quarterback, you have no culture, you have no identity, You have really no nothing drawing free agents here, as we found out with Calvin Ridley, right, you really have no nothing to hang your hat on to sell to anybody. Right now, let's give him this
off season coming up where they're gonna end. They're gonna be able to use all their assets on non quarterback positions, right, you know, they're gonna be able to attack receiver, tackle, edge rusher, corner and potentially linebacker, but like, there's tons
of holes. Just just pick them, every single one on the offensive line, right, like you You're gonna be able to address all that with one hundred million dollars in cap space, a high draft pick in every single round, probably another top five or ten pick in the first round. So let's see what they do with all of that, because it does appear that they've hit on the quarterback. Now, the micro level of the in game stuff to me is that I have so many questions right now. O.
Wait, let me understand. We're going from macro to micro right.
Ok, big picture to live Yeah, because sometimes, like today, I'll be honest with you, John, I sometimes I lose the forest for the trees in season, right, every day every day, And so I have to remind myself of when I watch them on film and I'm pulling my hair out because there's things that are going wrong that shouldn't be going wrong. I have to remind myself that there's not a whole lot of talent on this team. So you're at.
Pains, right, I mean, how do you get this bad?
Yeah? So you look at you know, things like for example, one of the things that I have Frankly, just to be honest, I cannot watch their run defense right now. I can't watch it. It absolutely Watching their run defense every Monday on film is like the bane of my existence.
I think they re energized Tony Pollard season last week.
It is painful. It befits the inability to get off blocks, the gaps that they blow on the line of scrimmage, the linebacker play, all of it, all of it, all of it, all of it. And I sit there and I'm like, but why would you go here when you're supposed to be here? And it makes logical, But at the same time, you have to take a step back and realize, Okay, this is no longer Vince will Fork or Richard Seymour or you know somebody of that ilk that is this great, all time great player.
We know that there's a huge reason behind this, a catalyst for this. You know, malaise defensively with no Christian Barmore, no Juwan Bentley, yeah, and certainly no Jabril Peers. So because of those three, I mean, that's right up the gut. That's like missing catcher, second base, center field, and base right, You're not gonna be a good defensive team without being strong up the middle. It's the same thing in football, if not more so. Now, I don't know how you
fix that. I don't know that you can fix that. But what that does tell me, though, is that when you missed the three key pieces of the puzzle that you can't do without, this team did not look very macro. Yes, right, you're not looking at see.
I got that.
I'm figuring this stuff out as we go. Is math, Yes, it is math, and it's I don't like algebra. And I'm you know, trigonometry. Oh it spooked me, you got all right, But I'm understanding the concept, right yeah. And I'm just like, how do you How do you not try to game plan for the present without an eye towards the future. That should be done every stinking season, every draft, every free agency, every everything. You always draft
for today with an eye toward tomorrow. Have to and if you don't do that, that's, to me, that's a fireable offense. Now, I want you to go a little bit further though, into the micro as long as we're going on that route today, because I think we can clearly see that guys are not where they need to be. There's not bodies where they need to be, which is a big problem defensively right now.
And just fundamentals and level.
And we already have gone through many, many, many many times this year about the inadequacies of some of the play calling on offense, largely due to the personnel, but nevertheless there hasn't been a whole lot of creativity. We're seeing more of it because you've got somebody like Drake who can actually wing it and be athletic and do things. But to me, I'll go back to the offense for a second, that was embarrassing. He has three hundred and fifteen to the three hundred and thirty total yards or
whatever it was last week. Yeah, I mean, come on, guys, help a fell out.
Yeah, And look, I think it even starts to me it the coaching, And this is where I wanted to go next, because we're mentioning all these big picture things about the roster and the fact that they don't have the talent and I have to keep reminding myself of that and not rail on the coaching too hard because
of that. But at the same time, I come out of this game, in particular on Sunday against the Titans, against a one win Titan team with their backup quarterback, like this is a very, very winnable game in Nashville on Sunday, and I come out of this game feeling like the coaching staff has not put these players in the best positions to win these games.
I don't think they have either, And to me, that's that's what troubles me almost the most about this staff. Again looking at the micro point of view here is that we're in the business of winning games in the NFL. Right, I don't think has been put toward winning games.
Yeah, No, I don't think that they're doing enough, you know. I. I'll just bring up my three critiques that I did the other day. The very first one starting Leyden Robinson at right guard, knowing that the matchup was Jeffrey Simmons there in the middle of the Titans defense, knowing that that was a mismatch and doing it anyway, and then giving the excuse after the game that we moved on when who back inside to match up against Jeffrey Simmons,
who was always going to show up on Sunday. If I don't know if you know this, but he was gonna come to the game and he was gonna suit up for the Titans, and he was gonna.
Play probably gonna play well too.
So there's always players on the other side. And we talk about this a lot on Catch twenty two during the offseason. Tuesday players. Tuesday players are the guys that the coaching staff comes into the game plan meeting in on Tuesdays and says, we cannot let player X wreck this game. We cannot let player Y have one hundred and fifty yards and ten catches in three touchdowns. Right, we have to take away Jeffrey Simmons. We have to have a plan. What are how are we accounting for him?
How who are we gonna who do we feel comfortable leaving at one on one? Who do we need to help to, How are we gonna slide to protection? How are we gonna double team him? How are we gonna take care of Jeffrey Simmons. They come into this game, they shake up the offensive line again for reasons I
still don't know. And then Jeffrey Simmons has eight quarterback pressures and takes over the entire game and is single handedly responsible for multiple negative plays, including Drake May's first interception where he comes up through the middle and knocks him off his spot and causes the entire play to you know, kind of unravel from there. And we had no plan coming into the game for Jeffrey Simmons. Who's their best player on the roster, the offense, defense, special teams,
that's their best player, you know. I I'll use another kind of cliche. Pregame. They always introduced the team, right the road team or the home team. Excuse me, when the Patriots are on the road, they do intros. You know who the best player on the team is because he goes last in the intros, just like when you go to a Celtics game, Jason Tatum is the last name that they call off the bench for the starting five. The last player that the Titans introduced was Jeffrey Simmons,
and he comes running on the field. The crowd loves them right, and they're all into it. He cannot take over this game. He took over the game. Not even just took it over. He dominated the game, completely wrecked it. So that was number one. Number two is whatever their plan is before halftime, like their end of half. Situational
football is horrendous. It's been horrendous all year long. The only time that they've actually done a good job with it is when Drake May threw a forty yard bomb to Kaishan Boudi against the tech, which, like I'll get to that, you know him in a second. Like that, that is not the coaching staff. That is a great young quarterback making a great play to a receiver making a great catch right like that. That's not any but no one deserves credit for that besides Drake May and
Kishan Boudi. So that whole situation, you pick up two first downs or almost first downs with a you know, twenty four yards back to back or twenty three to Kendrick Bourne fourteen yards, nine yard completion, second and one run stuff, run, stuff, pun like that is just it's bad football. Call for what it is, it's bad football. So that's number two. Number three the fact that the head coach of the team did not know which way the wind was blowing to properly decide which way they
wanted to kick the ball in overtime. And we can play the game all day long. This is just my opinion. I believe that if the wind is at Drake May's back when he rolls to his right and throws the deep post back left to Kaiseh on Boudi. It might be a walk off touchdown, but because he was throwing the ball into the wind, the ball hangs up. It gives a moni hooker a time to recover and he makes the interception.
All right. Two of the things that we know, and I know this has been talked about by you guys this week, been talked about in the local media here this week. Number One, Drake's throw was a little off his back foot. Yep, okay, so he probably has a tendency to hang it up a little bit when you're throwing off your back foot and you're not driving into the throw. That's number one. Number two, we know that
not Kaiseh on Boudi. It was Kendrick Bourn. Yeah, slipped and stumbled and failed to pull the safety over who ended up making the picks on that play. Because if he doesn't stumble on that route, the safety is still going to account for him. There's more of an opportunity for Booty to make a play on.
Yeah, I think that that's potentially true. I look when I wrote about it in my film review, I'm not in a moni hooker's head, So I can't tell you if the Kendrick Bourne felling falling down mattered or not. Could it have been a factor on the play? Absolutely, it could have been a factor. Is it getting a little bit over played to me on like the Twitter machine and stuff like that, and this was this big factor in the play. I would say yes to that
as well. Yeah, I'm somewhere in the middle on that one. But what I do know is that that throw is designed to go to the post right because they have three receivers kind of running from left to right to draw the safety. Like you were talking about, Drake's gonna roll out right and he's gonna throw back left. And over the years, you know, I was joking with Alex Barth about this over that has become the pro day throw is that I'm gonna roll all the way right,
arms right, and I'm gonna whip it back left. And it started with Zach Wilson, who I know is not a great harrison, but it started with Zach Wilson. And now every single UH big time quarterback prospect coming out of the draft makes that exact throw at his pro day. And I watched down in North Carolina, you know, six months ago. Drake may make that exact throw at his pro day inside. So obviously no wind as a as a factor, and we all know that he's got a
great arm. So I don't know if Kishon Boody would have made the catch. I don't know if you would have gotten tackled short of the goal line. I don't, you can't, you can't know. Uh, but it was a The wind was the biggest factor in my opinion. And that is a really really agreed unfortunate It's an agreed Yeah, it's egregious.
Ara, It's gonna be more situational awareness and and I can even chalk that up a little bit of it. And I don't disagree with your points. I'm just saying I think we have to realize that we've gotten to the stage of the game now where there are certain quote unquote rookie mistakes that are gonna happen when you're learning your way through the sport for the first time as a head coach for the first time. But I would also tell you that after you know, situational occasions occur,
and we've seen several of them. And I'm being kind by saying occasions. Yeah, somebody in that STAB's got to wake the hell up and say, hey, guys, what are we doing here? Right? Nobody's doing that. So it tells me one of two things. Either a nobody wants to do that, maybe they want to hang him out to dry, I don't know, or b they're just not smart enough to figure it out. Yeah, And I'm just like, that can't be. That can't be because I know these guys. I mean, I've told you I've known Alex van Pelt
since he was in high school. I covered him when he was a high school quarterback. So I know he's extraordinarily capable. He's a smart guy. He knows what he's doing. I think that there are decisions, my own opinion, there are decisions that are being made above his pay grade.
Yeah, it could absolutely be the case. I just I look at those three things in particular, and there's probably a million other things that I could rant about as well about how this game was coached and handled, But you look at those three particular things. The first half offense really struggled in this game because of the offensive line in the past protection. They actually had a handful of plays that had some open receivers down the field, had the protection held up that Drake May maybe would
have made more plays in the first half. You look at the film and it's there. You know, there's plays down the field that could be made that he's not having the opportunity because they shook up the offensive line and they started Laydon Robinson. So if you come into this game with the same starting five that you had the week before that did pretty well against the Jets, you know, do you have a better start to the
game in the first quarter. That's definitely possible. If you put your foot down on the gas pedal at the end half of the first half and you don't prioritize a yard over field position and you know the two minute drill, well, then maybe you score points there. You get the ball to start the second half, you score points there, and now we're in a different ballgame. If you have the win at Drake May's back and overtime,
maybe we have a different ball game. And all these things that add up to the coaching staff making it harder on the players to win games, and they already have enough of an uphill battle.
And that's extraordinarily troubling. I mean, I think we all knew it was going to be a trying season. Yeah, we all knew going in that, you know, it was probably there was a very good possibility for things to get worse before they get better. Right, All we're looking for is a little light at the end of the tunnel that's not that train coming at you one thousand miles an hour, you know, and ready to run you over.
And it just seems like the Patriots in certain instances can't get out of their own way on this one. And whether or not it's you know, having a mentor to help Gerrod with some of these decisions, because if there is one, I don't know who it is. I haven't seen any example of it. Somebody that could, you know, mage the game and say, hey, yo, guys, what are
we doing here? We're against the wind? We want the win in the extra period, or guys, we want to go for two here and try to knock these you know, sons of bleeps out now because we're on the road against a team that's playing better and Jeffrey Simmons is crushing us, you know, which, you know, that's a whole nother matter, right, we're talking about football decisions here. A number three, Why are we not trying. If this is
a developmental season, why are we not trying to win games? Yeah, don't you develop things when you try to win games too. I don't understand what the difference is. Why don't we say, well, our priority is not winning games because they're trying to develop guys. I find that to be mule muffins. That's that's There's just this that doesn't make any sense. And it seems to me like that's almost the answer. That's the that's the between the lines read that we're getting
every time we're looking for explanations. And I don't blame, you know, the New England media, the Boston media especially, I don't blame them for being as tough as they've been because we've seen twenty to twenty five years of championship football. I think we know what championship level football looks like around here more so than almost any other fan base in America right now, and so when we
see things that don't look the way they are. I'm also wondering if there's not really a little bit of a conflict with Gerard because we know what a really good guy he has been. He was a great player when he was here, and he's coached and learned as well as be coached by one of the best to ever have coached this game. I don't see any signs of that in him.
Yeah, the two things with Gerard. The one thing is is that I just don't see a coaching staff or a head coach that has great control of the game situation. And I'm not a big game management kind of guy, but to me, it's a pass fail and you can't fail it, right, Like I don't necessarily need you to pass it with flying colors.
Right, but as long as you don't commit an agregious air right well right, the problem is just they're making those errors, right, So there should be some kind of quote unquote you know qc E quality control guy in there helping their rookie head coach with these decisions. Yeah, you know, hey, don't forget draw, we score here, we go over one, we're going for two. What are we doing here?
What's the control of the situation? And what's you know what, what's the plan?
Right?
What's what's the method? In madness?
Yes?
You know?
And the other thing I would just say with Girod and I've kind of been on this with him too, is like, what kind of coach does he want to be? Because I always put coaches in two buckets. One is the strategist, right the the Kyle Shanahan's. I think Bill started out as a strategist and then kind of ended
up morphing into the greatest ever and it did different things. Uh, but you know the Kyle Shanahans of Sean mcvay's like the guys, uh that are are winning with x'es and o's that are winning with strategy, football scheme and strategy.
Then there's the culture builders. There's the Pete Carroll's, there's the Mike Tomlins, there's the Dan Campbell's, like the raw ra guys, the personality hires, And I'm not that's not my cup of tea as a higher but I'm not knocking those guys because those guys get those their guys to play their butts off every single week and they are a cohesive unit and they are a team and they stand for something and they're tough and like all those types of things. And that's why Pittsburgh is a
great example, Like they never stink. They never stink because Tomlin always has that group ready to go.
So Mike Tomlin, but at consistent.
Right, And so when I look at Gerrod, we're nine weeks in and I don't know which bucket he belongs in when it comes to the culture stuff. I don't think that they've had great culture on this team this year. I think there has been well documented a number of different things that have gone wrong in the culture category on and off the field. And so I don't think that they that they have great culture necessarily on the team.
And I don't think that he is this wiz kid defensive mind either, because they certainly don't put that on film in terms of their defensive strategy or scheme or x's and o's whatever you want to call it. So what is he as a coach? And I think right now what we're learning is that he's learning like he doesn't necessarily know which way he wants to coach and which way he wants to be and the team sort of looks likes to.
Be a little oversight and a little guidance. Yeah, you know, I made this, I made this come into so many a couple of weeks ago, and they said, you know, right, beyond to something Gerardmeo needs what Bill Belichick head and Ernie Adams.
Yeah, so they have Evan Rostein on staff. Understood, who's supposed to be that? But where Yeah, I know it's a fair point, but Evan Rostein is supposed to be the in game let just call what it is analytics guy, right, So the decisions forked down two point conversions at the end of games like the other day, like those are all supposedly being made in concert with Evan Rostein and the math right in the and the win probabilities and
all that kind of stuff. For what it's worth, the win probability told him to kick the extra point if that's not your cup of tea. It's not your cup of tea. But the win probability told him to kick the extra point. The all the other the other Ernie stuff that you're talking about, I would assume is is Ben mcadoo's purview of you know, CONSIGLIERI, you know, the guy that you can uh sounding board that you can go into and discuss these things with. Yeah, you know,
just consultant like that's supposed to be Ben McAdoo. I don't know how much of that. I don't know how much of that Ben mcadow is doing though, because a lot of what Ben McAdoo is doing is coaching the offense. He's helping out Alex Van pell.
Well, and that's really, honestly, that's where Ben macadoo should be. I mean, that's right. I mean, it's his area of expert materia of expertise. So I mean, I don't mean I'm not trying to cast dispersions or throw stones at at Ben McAdoo or Evan Rosten anybody like that. I'm just saying that it's a parent help is required, and I don't think whoever is in the position to supply that help. If there is someone, and you're telling me there likely is, it's not resonating. Yeah, now does that
mean you got to switch things up? Yeah, you kind of have to think about that.
Yeah, it's tough. It's I I feel the team, you know, often takes on the identity of their head coach. It's an old, you know, cliche, and right now it feels like Girod is still figuring out who he is and what his identity is as a coach and how he wants to run the team, and the team feels that way. It feels discombobulated, and it feels unsure of itself. And I don't think that that's a coincidence. I think he is unsure of Am I here for vibes? Am I here to run the defense? Am I?
You know?
Am I trusting the analytics? Or am I trusting my gut when it comes to these last second situations? You know, Dan Campbell and Drod brings up Dan Campbell a lot as a comparison Dan Campbell. For if you want to call it as a detriment, you can do that. But Dan Campbell got to Detroit with the philosophy that they were going to go forward on fourth down, They're going to go for two at the end of games, and they were going to be an aggressive decision making team.
His first year in Detroit, they lost a bunch of games, and a lot of the reasons were because of that. The NFC Championship Game last year, you could argue was because of that. But they started early and often his very first year, and they built a reputation in the culture of this is what we're going to be about. And now they're one of the best teams in the NFL. So if you want to be about that, then be
about it. You can't you know, kind of middle it, which is what I feel like they're doing right now.
I also want to take this a little bit of different direction today as well, because while so much of the discussion has been about the offense and you know, and Drake and things, one of those lines when we were talking about defense and the fact that this team is sorely lacking up the middle and doesn't have the replaceable depth to be able to, you know, cure a lot of the eels that this team has right now?
How much of this is his fair game on DeMarcus Covington and his game that seems to have you know, sometimes the players in the right spots not making place. Sometimes the players are not in the right spots and there's nobody there to make plays.
Yeah, it's definitely fair.
You know.
Look, I I've I've pointed the finger at Covington at times for a couple of reasons. I'd say the number one thing to me is that third down and third down pressure is like, to me, like on the on the defensive coordinator, Like that's really where a defensive coordinator makes his money. Yes, from a strategic standpoint.
On the quarterback getting off the field on the third right.
You know, what is your scheme? What what are you taking away? What are you how are you dialing up pressure? You know, that's when you really get first and second down across the league is pretty it's all the same, right, Like everybody's kind of running the same sort of stuff on first and second down. Third down is really where you make your money. And right now the Patriots are bottom half of the league and third down their bottom half of the league in pressure rate. They're bottom half
of the league in unblocked pressure rates. So they're not scheming up guys to get to them to the quarterback either. And and that to me is on the defensive coordinator. You know, just looking at third and five and overtime last week, and you run a scheme the press, the rush doesn't get home. You know, christianan Zalez is one on one with Calvin Ridley, A get a really good receiver. Yeah that's your number one corner and you hope for play there. But it was not exactly a awesome down
of football. And you can't get off the field. You give up a field goal blouses, right Like, if you get off the field there on third and five and overtime, and now you don't you don't have you know, need the field goal or whatever. Who knows what happens in that sort of game. So, uh, it just those are the things I'd look at for Covington, and I do
look a little bit at the fundamentals up front. You know, pad level technique, can usage like that sort of stuff is all part of run defense, you know, mentality, you know, all that is part of it.
You know. And while I think we've seen some you know, let's let's just you know, kind of run the gamut here since we started on this one. This is meant to be you know, I intended this actually to be you know, the positives from Tennessee. It turns out that this is the way it goes here. But I think, well that largely we've seen some successes special teams wise, yep, I think we've seen that there's a there's a potential you know, all star player and special teams and Brendan
Scouler out there. Maybe he can fulfill that that mental that you know, Slate played so well for so many years. Pro Bowl calendar, yeah, pro Bowl caliber guy, right, yep. There aren't many else out there, but at least he's there. Let me. Also, let's talk about you know, Jones returning punch. I mean, my goodness, now, Mark, Yeah, the guy is is he knows how to do it. He is giving his team a chance. There's two right there that I'd be ready to say, Okay, find me more like those guys.
So there are some successes that are out there. But how now do you bleed that over to the rest of the team.
Yeah, Schooler has been fantastic. And I know that special teams some people are all their eyes at it. But I just I know, as an example, I've.
Seen what a different special teams can make over the years.
Sure, and it's it's sort of like to me and I think that you're odd too. It's kind of like an identity thing of your football team. Like eight teams that cover kicks and cover them well are like tough, hard noteses football team.
And he's right about that. Yeah, that that's an attitude thing, okay, And maybe that could be the way that you could go about, you know, setting your your your your identification, you know the type of team that you are, you know, But I just don't see them following up enough on it. And I'm just like, why does that there's not a trickle down here.
Yeah.
Yeah, It's almost like everybody is their own separate, complete department. Yeah, okay, time for women's lingerie out on the fields. You know, I'm just like, what are we doing here? There's no continuity? Yeah, and I'm just like that that belongs to the coach. Yeah.
So one of my favorite plays in this game that obviously gets washed away because they lost the game. To start overtime, they short. They kicked the short kickoff to force the Titans to return the kickoff out of the end zone, and Brennan's schooler at over twenty miles an hour, comes flying in and clocks the returner at the twenty yard line, just thud sticks them right at the.
Twenty yard line.
And I said to myself at the time, I was like, holy crap, is that like he was like a freaking zero to sixty on that phot Yeah, and you saw it. You saw the energy that you're talking about, and then it just doesn't carry over into the defense drive. But that to me was like, we have an opportunity here to steal some yards. And they actually fumbled a punt earlier in the game, so maybe they were thinking we
actually have an opportunity to turn them over. So we're gonna put Schooler right on on where we're gonna drop the ball. Then Joey Slide is gonna kick the ball right into Schoolers, you know vision, and he's just gonna take off and he's gonna make the stick. And that was a great play. And I would also just say underrated play in this game Marcus Jones's twenty five yard return that set them up at the fifty yard line on the game tying drive at the end of the game.
If he doesn't return that to the fifties.
Probably, Yeah, you gotta have the shorter field for the offense that struggles to get yards.
So that I thought it was a nice compliment. Complimentary football.
That's complimentary football. You always heard that term, yep, whether it was Bill or anybody else, you always heard the term complimentary football as the way you develop winning teams. Well, they played it a little bit there. That's what complimentary football is, and that's really getting at the heart of what it is that I feel like is the biggest problem with this team. There's no complimentary anything out there.
One squad is not helping the other, and the defense certainly didn't help things this last week because it couldn't get off the flip and field.
Yeah, yeah, I And I just wanted to You said something earlier about Drake may that that I liked, and I wanted to follow up on. You mentioned, you know, his compete in his energy, uh, and the plays that he's making. And I talked to Devon Gotcha after the game, and that's when he gave me the quote that he's Josh Allen, which.
And I'm stealing.
Yeah, And I listened to Godshad and not to put words in his mouth, but he was basically saying, we have a franchise quarterback here. I'm straight and I hear him say that, and I'll I again not to put words in his mouth, but but I wonder if he's sort of trying to tell the rest of the locker room like, hey, guys, let's go yeah, like this kid can play. Yeah, you know, let's not mess around with
this and let's get behind. And I said this, you know, a month ago or whatever when they they put him in there, and you know, when they first made the move to start him, and it's not fair to ask a twenty two year old to carry a football team and to be this leader. But look, if I was playing on this team and I saw what we had, I'd be getting in line right like I'd be right behind him. And I just I do hope that some
of that starts to happen. So when we talk about, you know, what do we expect for the end of the year and the rest of the season, that's what I expect. I expect Drake may to start to rally the troops a little bit. And you have guys all of a sudden that are saying, you know, I'm gonna do a little bit extra, and I'm gonna do a little bit more during the week, and you know, I'm going to run that route a little bit harder on Sunday because Drake's gonna get me the ball if I'm open.
You know that those sort of things, because it just blows my mind, you know, as somebody that played sports not well and as you know, I know you played sports as well, maybe not well too, but it blows my mind when you have a me too, that was the one thing I was good at. It blows my mind that you have a guy that talented in that gifted, Like, in my head, that's an automatic, like this is our leader and this is the guy that you know, I
can play for this guy. So I'm hoping that we we started to see some of that because Drake is playing great football for the most part, like lights out stuff.
Yeah, absolutely lights out stuff, all right, So I want to I'm gonna try to spin this forward just a little bit more because I mean, we can sit here and we can surmise about all the bad stuff that's going on, uh at nauseam. And we still got seven weeks left to go in the regular season, so there's
I mean, bad can get worse. At the same time, the opportunity that presents itself this week against the Chicago Bears team that fell flat on its face, yeah, collective face last week and an inexplicable loss to Arizona they only scored nine points. It's a unique opportunity to see two of the top three draft picks from last year go at each other, even though they won't play against each other. But Caleb Williams Drake May one versus three and you know, and I was kind of curious to
know when when Drake spoke earlier today that he recognizes that. Yeah, And so it's kind of like, yeah, I want to be able to show everybody what I can do. So it looks to me like he's going to be sufficiently motivated to guad and play this and again, like last week in Tennessee, this is a unique opportunity for the Patriots to actually, you know what, damn, let's show something.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Look, I think a lot of the things that we're saying on the positive side about Drake to be honest, that a lot of people in Chicago are worried about what's going on with Caleb Williams. That offense has a really really underperformed this year with Caleb. You know, they go out they make the DJ More trade a couple of years ago with the Bryce Young you know, first overall pick swap and all that kind of stuff and mores in that trade. They go out
and trade for Keenan Allen. They draft Roma Dunza in the first round with their original first round pick. You know, they make all these moves to really load up this roster around Caleb Williams signed DeAndre Swift and free agency. Cole Kmett is a pretty good tight end. He's already there. So they have like kind of five guys around Caleb that are all capable NFL players, much better supporting cast than what Drake May walks out there with every single Sunday,
and they're twenty seventh in DVOA. Caleb is twenty seventh in QBR right now. Caleb Williams' is QBR is the same as Jacoby Bursetts was wow with the Patriots, So they are not performing very well on offense relative to expectations. His deep ball, Caleb's deep ball has really been terrible. He's one of the worst statistically, one of the worst deep ball throwers in the NFL this season, which is
not what he was advertised as. He was advertised as a bombs away, big play machine coming out of US Seed, and that's certainly what he was in college. So Shane Walder and their offensive coordinators taking some heat, Caleb's taking some heat. So they right now are in an interesting spot. Like their records, not as bad as the Patriots. Obviously they're favored in this game on Sunday, but I wouldn't
say that it's been gangbusters there in Chicago. Offensively, certainly now defensively, really good test I think for Drake May against a really really good Bears pass defense, one of the better pass defenses in the league, and they're very, very vulnerable or leaky against the run. So if the Patriots can actually get the run game going, it's probably
gonna be this week. But against the pass, they've been pretty stingy in Chicago in that respect, so it'll be a nice little test for him against a pretty good defense.
Andrew Billings out, Jakwan Brisker out according to the latest Chicago reports as well, So it's gonna be an opportunity there.
I think, yeah, a couple guys that will be out. I don't know about Montes's sweats status. He was didn't play in the game last week, so we'll see. He's their best pass rusher on the edge, so if he doesn't play, that's obviously big. But statistically they've been very very good against the pass this year in Chicago when they rush the passer extremely well to you know, top ten pressure raid win rate, you know all those fancy
metrics that measure pass rush. So they're a good defense. Now, where they're vulnerable is where the Patriots have struggled, and that's running the football. You can run on them. The Cardinals ran for two hundred and thirteen yards last week and only six of them came from Kyler Murray. So it wasn't like Kyler just running around and you know we saw from Drake. Yeah, like we've sign from Drake.
This is that was conventional traditional run game. We're gonna come right at you with James Connor and we're.
Gonna run Andre Stevenson, I'm like licking my chops if you can get the run block and get the run blocking right.
Yeah, So they are a team that's vulnerable there. They struggle against downhill concepts, you know, pull a guard through and get downhill on them. They've struggled to get at fifty three yard touchdown on the ground last week to Arizona, and Connor was was really good in the game, averaged over five yards carry. So they have a vulnerability there.
What do your thought some Matt Eberflus what I mean, clearly, he's been up and down almost like a you know, like a roller coaster internm of his career. The one thing I noticed after last week's loss is that they're just three and eighteen on the road. Yeah, so he's completely it's a completely different team home versus road. So this is to their advantage by playing at home this week.
Yeah, that's a good one. I didn't know that. Yeah, they with eber Flus. I think there's some of the things that are being said about him are similar in some respects that you're odd and that you know he's a good defensive mind, but they don't know if he's a good head coach right in terms of game management and game plan and uh, you know, situational football and like all this kind of stuff. Like when you're the head coach of the team and you give up a hail mary on the last play of the game to
lose the game. As much as you can blame Tyree Stevenson, like that comes down to coaching and knowing the situation.
Yeah, yes, Stevenson's taunting before well the game was going on all the snaps. Yeah, that's I mean to me, that's just karma playing off right there. Yeah you know, Yeah, but that's that's an egregious error in oversight from the coaching staff to not have that be prepared for that.
Yeah, and not to mention, you know, the play before the hall mary. They set up like it's gonna be a hail mary before the hell Mary, and they give up like a free ten yards, you know, so that they didn't get a little closer so that Daniels can make the throw at the end of the game. So their situational football, their game plan, like all that kind of stuff has sort of come into question with them. But defensively, I do think he runs a pretty sound unit on that side of the ball, and he is
the primary guy running that defense. But like I said, you know, Walder and their offensive coordinator has been catching some heat for the things that they're doing offensively.
Then I guess the last one on the Bears that whatever you hear, is in Caleb Williams. Do they have their guy?
I'm a Caleb fan, you know. Look, I full disclosure. I had him as the consensus number one overall pick, like everybody else did, right, So I really felt like going into the draft it was Caleb one to one, no questions asked, and then I could be swayed.
What does he do that Daniels does not?
I would say that, you know, in college Caleb was a more capable field reader and passer than Jayden Daniels was. But I would, you know, in a stronger arm, certainly stronger off platform things of that nature as well. But what Caleb has struggled with, in my opinion just watching his film from the last couple of weeks, it is really like timing and anticipation within this framework of the scheme.
So you see him like late to things or holding the ball, and you know, a lot of the time when you're late to throws like that is actually what's to blame for the poor accuracy and not actually control of the football, Like I actually think he throws with pretty good control of the football and ball placement when
he's on time. But when you're a beat late to a crossing route or you're a bit behind a deep ball or something like that, that's when you start to see the balls behind the receiver of the ball is under throw and the ball, you know, so on and so forth. So sometimes what we look at is saying, oh, he just missed the throw is actually more based off of like the timing and the anticipation of the play.
And you know where Waldron's come into this, as you know, some of his route combinations are a little bit conflicting for the quarterback of like where am I supposed to go with the football here? I actually watch their offense and see a lot of similar issues as what the
Patriots offense has. And they're both West coast you know systems, they're both West Coast guys, and they have a lot of the same sort of rudimentary route concepts and like not a whole great spacing and like timing and rhythm within the passing game and all that kind of stuff. So I think that Caleb's really talented. There's certain things that he does really well. I think that he is
amazing off script. You know, you get him in playground mode and you get him running around, his arm is as loose as a un armed as you're gonna find on the move. But in structure, he's got some work to do.
Okay, And he then thoughts overall about the real opportunities for this week and whether or not the Patriots havorship. What's the spread? I haven't even seen it.
Yeah, the Bears are favored by six right now.
Six?
Yeah, yeah at home. Uh, you know, they're they're five hundred. They're a better football team. They certainly have more talent on their on their roster.
This far away from being that kind of team themselves. Yeah, they're two and seven. It doesn't take much stretch of the imagination put this team at four and five. Yeah.
Look, I I think there's there's a chance that this game is is close on Sunday.
Uh.
The main reason why I would say that is because I just believe a lot in what Drake May is doing and what he's putting out there. And I thought he said all the right things today about needing to walk the tightrope a little bit better of aggressiveness versus taking care of the football and knowing when the play is over or knowing when sometimes the best thing to do might be to just throw it away instead of try to force something sure, uh, and or something along
those lines. And I think, you know, two of the two interceptions on Sunday, he felt like he forced it, Like he could have just thrown it away or checked it down or you know whatever and live to play another day and that sort of thing. And he tried to force it down the field. And that's where you can get yourself into trouble. So I do with the good thing about the the the things he's doing wrong is that I feel like every time I do feel him learning from it. And and that's all you can
really ask for. But Chicago, there's no doubt about it. Like you look at their offensive roster and you say.
Well, who's blowing you away?
I mean, you know, DJ Moore, Dunsay, Keenan Allen, Like, how many of these receivers would you take on the Patriots right now? You're right, so you have to say they have more talent you have to on paper.
Yeah, but again they're sort of underachieving a little bit there as.
Well offensively for sure. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and we'll see what happens. You know, I know a lot of Chicago fans are already getting justin Field's flashbacks like Okay, you know you can see how talent like his raw talent and you can see all that, but it's not it's not translating right now to production.
And that's translating football. Yeah right right, yeah, thanks man, anytime, appreciate you. Thank you all right for me?
Yeah, I will ask him how the Rick Springfield concert was. Yeah, that's where he was.
He was at Rick Springfield.
Yeah, that's Jesse's girl, right right, Yeah, I don't know, ye.
Do we have any Rick Springfield to bring Mike Greesese into the show in a little bit.
We don't have the rights to that.
Well, that's right, do not have the rights to Yeah, we don't have rights I know, doesn't I mean, you know, this is the Internet. Come on right, I know, see you next week. Yeah, thanks buddy, appreciate you. Hey, bud Light, easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Bud Light the official beer sponsor of the New England Patriots. So we thank Evan for his insight on the Bears and on the Patriots. And look, I mean I think it's pretty easy to see. Uh, you know, we got to take you know, small victories
when we can get them. That. This is a huge wip work in progress, maybe a little bit bigger than a lot of us, including myself anticipated. There are multiple issues in play here, and I think it's going to take. I think it's going to take a lot of patients, a lot of patients, more than maybe I was even initially ready to invest as a fan and as a follower, and is someone who works around here, you know, you want it to happen. Now, let's go, we know what to do. Let's go do it. You know the old
adage rome wasn't built in today. I think that's appropriate here. I think that's appropriate here, all right, Mike Grease is going to join us here in a couple of minutes in the meantime eight five five pats five hundred, toll free eight five five pats five hundred on the TPX hotline. It is podcasts at Patriots dot com if you want to send the email you got some thought, maybe some questions over some of the things that Evan and I talked about, or something coming up this weekend or beyond
fire away at JR Broadcaster. That's how you can follow me on X. I want to thank Todd in North Carolina for sticking around as long as he did during that conversation. Hey Todd, how's it going bad?
You're sure I was there though. That was kind of a gamble, wasn't it.
It was? It was, And if I'd gotten beat beat beat, you know, then I would have you crushed you. That's all.
Yeah, you know, I'm gonna ask a favor, John, shoot one old part to another. Okay, stop saying that the business of the team is to win games.
But it is the business of every team the professional sports is to win games.
The team that's the business of the sport is to build the team, and the team includes the coaches.
On the way, on the way to on the way to winning. Yeah, you got to build the team on the way. But the bottom line is still winning.
Behind the card, dude, the turn ain't gonna go get the donkey back there.
You got to have the horse to pull the cart. And that's what I'm talking about.
You.
You got to have people in order to be able to win. They don't have the people.
They haven't even built the cart yet, John flew down. I'm glad you.
Said the cart. The cart is in place. The cart is in place, Todd, The cart is in place. Okay, it has been in place. The cart is the franchise. The cart is the team. Right now, there's there's no driver. There's no there's no driver on the cart, and the horse is lame.
Well, no, the horse right now, i'd actually have to say, is our young quarterback. But he ain't got nothing.
Well that's true, that's true. But he doesn't have anybody to run with him. He doesn't have anybody to spell him.
He's got nobody to run with him, and he's got nobody to, you know, to keep his back end safe either. Because there's no driver for this thing other than you know what he's got going.
So that's that's where we'll agree.
You say, I just feel that sometimes, John, you get caught up because you're not a you're not a Massachusetts guy. You're not a big mass guy. You're a you're a Texan. What a god man? You had?
What? Wait?
Wait?
Wait o, hold on, hold on, hold on, I am a wait hold on, Todd. No, no, no, I'm not letting that go. All right. First of all, First of all, hold on, hold on. I am a card carrying Masshole. Okay number one, John, Yes, absolutely, one hundred ten percent. I'm proud of my state. I've been here well over half of my life. I may have been born someplace else, but I understand what it takes to you know, work
when compete in New England. That's one of the reasons why I moved to New England as a very young man, because I wanted to be in a marketplace like this, where things like this matter history here with the Red Sox and the Celtics and the Bruins, and the mindset, you know, the lunch pale work set, you know, the that that's what I wanted out of life.
We remember the Celtics with you know Bird, all those old guys.
Those are some of my favorite teams. And I hated the Celtics growing up. And you know why I hated him because they won all the time. That's why. And that's the only reason I could ever come up with. I wanted to live, work, and play in that environment. So I feel like I made the right choice in that regard. And I love Texas dearly. That's where I was born and raised. My entire family is still there. You know, I'm not a big fan of the Cowboys
anymore because I'm just not a Jerry Jones fan. But hey, that's yeah, I listened there. I get it. But you know, anybody who's listened to the show for any linked to time, you know, I went to the University of Texas, so you cut me. I probably still bleed orange, right, And.
We all know what happens once a year. There's a specific game, you know, the red River gets on, and there's there's the there's we know what John's up to.
That's all I can say. Okay, it's it, you know, hook of Horns, that's it. That's all I got, you know. And by the way, I believe it was thirty four to three. Sorry to bring that up in the Strippers, but it was thirty four to three this year, so you know, but that's okay, that's fine. But still, you know, I've been around long enough and I've worked for this team now, in this organization for more than half of its existence.
So I just put you on the spot, John, go if this is how you want to be and you're the card carrying you know, massoll, et cetera.
Here you go.
I've given you right.
Now a choice.
Are you keeping Male, AVP and Wolf are not ye or any combination?
Yep?
Are you keeping any of them?
Yep?
Some of them?
Yep. I'm keeping them because I just I feel it's unfair to give somebody a year to turn things around. That's just unfair. Okay, So I'm keeping them, yes, but I need to see significant improvement. And if I don't see it this.
Time right to be ich type stuff.
Yeah, listen, I'm just saying. And if we don't see significant improvement, then yeah, then listen, all bets are off this time of year from now, so I'm willing to write it one more time. But this has to be a team thing, you know, Elliott and and and the entire crew. They've got to bring talent in. They've got the cap space.
A VP worked with Mayo in any form or shape previously.
To my knowledge, No, No, And like I said, I've known Alex for a long time too, so yeah, and and you know, I know what he's capable of, and I was thrilled when he came here, you know, And I just I just I just think that there, it's almost like you've got a bottle cap on something that's ready to go. And that's kind of how I picture this. He needs, he needs weaponry, and it's it's up to the player personnel people to get them here and then
we might actually see this thing take off. And that's kind of what I'm That's how I'm looking at it.
How much time is it going to take to recover from what they used to do, because I think AVP scheme is a little different than what they used to do here with McDaniels, And I don't think they have all the right people, you know, on the old line to do it.
They you know, they don't.
I think they're missing a few key pieces, right.
I think there's.
Somewhere in a kind of a zone between the two places, and that's kind of where they play. Yeah, and that's why it looks kind of awful at times. It looks just as you said, I think you discombobulated or something.
Yes, discombobulated that too. Yeah, right, doesn't look right, No, it doesn't. It doesn't. And that's why they've been mixing and matching, like you know, pieces in a puzzle, you know, and they just never they you know, they can't find here's a good analogy. They don't have the corner piece to this puzzle right now. They can't find it. It doesn't exist. No, okay, I agree, And the corner piece that puzzle is definitely at left tackle. That's that's all
there is to it. And so it's got to start there. And so here's what I heard, John, I heard somebody earlier this week say, Okay, well, you know, if they end up with the first pick, which right now they would, I'm not sure that they end up with that. But if they end up with the first pick, you know they ought to just trade that off and go get a boatload of other picks. Well why no, why go get the best guy that can help you win football games?
Yeah? I agree, wholeheartedly with that.
So let's see what they do. Right, So I'm with you, not no, John, I'm gonna let you go. My kids running out of school waving at me frantically, and he's probably wondering what dad's doing on the Phone's God, I bet you miss both days, don't you? John?
Always always trust me. They will go by fast.
They are, they have been.
You'd be good Todd? Now, Yeah, thank you? Enjoy it, Todd in North Carolina. All right, let's bring in the one and only Mike Reese, ESPN dot Com, ESPN NFL Nation reporter and apparently lover of all things Rick Springfield.
John, I also have to say to Todd in North Carolina, I'm gonna be running around after this interview doing a little carpool, get my kids where they need to go.
Yes, together, good dad, you are good Dad? You are? I like that. See, I've I've graduated from that stage though. I just married off my youngest about two weeks ago, so I'm now granddad stage, except my grandkids. My grandkids call they call me pop pop. So there we go.
That's awesome.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Do you miss it? John? Uh?
I miss I missed some of the hockey practices I do. Uh, I missed coaching baseball, which I coach for twenty years. I do so, but I try to see, you know, my grandkids as much as I can. They have their own lives, you know, and uh and I respect that. And you know, their father's a busy you know, entrepreneur as well. He you know, has his own business and so it's it's tough. But at the same time, I'm always here if they need me, and I'd love to have that, that fallback measure when they need me, and
I'm I'm happy for that. So I was ready to move into a different stage where I don't have to be dad anymore. I can be friend and I can be pop pop and that's kind of where I like. And you'll enjoy that that time too. But while you can brother enjoy the time with the kids, definitely definitely do so. Springfield, come on, I need to know the
details about this. You know, I didn't realize you were such a fan, because to me, Rick Springfield is the epitome of the late seventies and early eighties rock and roll. Loved him. My wife actually Ms Robin, she she loved Rick Springfield as an actor on General Hospital. Do you go that far back?
I do, John, And I'm gonna text you a short video. I stepped from a show I went to see Friday Night in when Pocket, Rhode Island at this Stadium Theater. So I liked him, John. I like live music where everyone is happy and yeah, you're in. It's one of the few environments to me in the world where we can all come together and everyone can put their differences of died and for two hours we can simply have joy together.
That's one hundred percent. I'm with you on that one. Uh Miss Robin and I just went to a concert like that a little over a month ago. We went to see uh Elo at the TD Garden and Uh it was. It was freaking awesome. It was awesome concert.
I heard really good things about that show.
John jeff Lynn still got it. He still got it. Yeah, And I'm all too sorry that this is their farewell tour because I think the man could play and and but I don't blame him. He wants to retire. Let's let the man retire, right, But I just I'm like, Wow, he totally and completely reformed that band, reformed his orchestra, and they sound just like they did in the seventies, and I'm like, wow, I felt like I stepped back
into a time warp. And and so that's why I was interested when uh, you know, Evan mentioned, Hey, ask ask Mike about you know, Rick Springfield, and I'm like, I didn't realize that you were such a big fan of you know, that that era rock and roll, because I'm a huge fan of seventies and eighties. Miss Robin knows the lyrics to every song ever performed in the rock genre in the nineteen seventies.
Amazing. I listen, I get sent the video.
Yeah, she blows me away every time we turn on you know, seventies on seven on Serious Exam and she's singing along with the Little Rex and I'm like, I don't even remember this song. I don't even remember it, and she's singing it and I'm just like, I don't get it. And here's the kicker. Wait second, Mike, here's the kicker. Miss Robin is well younger than I am. Okay, she wasn't. I'm not going to give her birthday. I'm
just gonna say she's younger, okay. And so nineteen seventies were my teenage years, right, and yeah, I was twenty in nineteen seventy nine, so that gives you a bit of an idea how old I am now. But I'm just saying she's well younger. What is that?
Oh?
Oh, did you text me on my phone? Okay, here it is. I'm looking at it right now. Oh, this is awesome. Look at this, John.
As John's looking at it, I'll just teake over it so you can enjoy it.
This is great. You had great seats, great seats, like, holy crap boat.
It would be like for those listening, it would be like being at the fifth say, the twenty yard line, yeah, front row.
Sweet, All right, now you're talking. All right, Mike, I have a whole new found respect for you, and and and here and here's the and here's the other thing. Here's the other thing. Dude. We need to go to a concert. We need to go that.
You want to swift my arm on that one?
Okay, all right, We're gonna have to do that because it sounds to me like we'd like the same music, even though I'm I'm a little older than you. So I have a I have a real appreciation for people who like that that aaro rock and roll because that's to me. That music speaks to me, still does and it probably always will. Right, all right, should we talked some football now and get off the music.
Let's get it, Let's do it, Let's do it.
Thank you, buddy, I appreciate your time as always. So I guess my biggest issue with his team, and I was talking with Evan about this a little bit earlier, has to do with Man, they get to a certain point and they just can't seem to get over the hump. And I think there are several things that are keeping
them from getting over the hump. This last week. It might have been a little game management, It might have been a little strategy, you know, whether or not you know, I mean, you know, hey they went into the wind in overtime, or they didn't go for two and they tried to kick the extra point, or I mean there's some things there. They're close enough, but they can't go over the hump. What are they missing, Mike? To get them over the hump at this stage so then they can begin to learn how to win.
But I think you nailed it. John Tuckin's the todd Sires to be coming on with the offensive line. It's just the part to win when you don't have that area of the team squared away. And so I guess I look at a team like the Lions of one of the class teams in the.
NFL right now, Yeah.
Why is that? I mean, I think they got that foundation on the offensive line, and I don't know if that'll get if that can get sick you know this during the season. I think you can just try to piece it together and hope to catch lightning in a bottle. But I think big picture, that's the top of the list that be done.
Okay, all right? So I think also that are we wrong from a fan or a media perspective? Are we wrong to criticize a coaching staff that Tennant's rookie season around here? Or is criticism warranted? Is it fair game? Because you know, you'd like to think that we know a little about football after covering for many as many years as we have, we'd like to think that we know a little bit about it, even though we haven't
ever played it at that level. What are you your thoughts on on on You're odd and for that matter, Alex van Pelt and Marcus Covington, you know, deflecting, uh, you know, the bullets that come at them.
So so I think it's fair to criticize the coaching as long as the critique is rooted in fairness. And I believe that all three of the coaches that you talked about, right, they're john they they wouldn't expect it otherwise because they're critical of themselves. I guess the balance for me, and this is what's been hard for me, and I don't know where you stand on this, is I feel like the talent level on the team is lower on a week to week basis than the other
team they're playing. So when I'm critiquing the coaching, it's it's a balance of like, they're not they don't have a talented of players most weeks at the other team, So are they getting the most out of what they have which still might not be enough? And how do you sort of balance the critique with those dynamics?
Point?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, that's the only thing. I do want to be fair because we all like Giraft, I like a VP. I've known you know this. I've known alexand Pelt since he was in high school and covered him for a long time too. Since he was a quarterback at San Antonio Churchill. You know DeMarcus Covington. I'm learning this year, but I think he's extraordinarily bright,
intelligent guy, good football guy, good football mind. The players like him, and yet we ain't seeing any results out there, and maybe that's maybe it's a personnel issue, whatever it may be. Clearly we know that this is going to be a w IP, a work in progress for quite a bit of time. But when you see them with opportunity and they can't quite meet that opportunity, who is it fair to point the finger at.
Oh Man?
Like I will start with this.
I mean, I just had this note today. I didn't realize it, and I'm always sasitant to delve into the sports wagering aspects of the business. But so they had been an underdog in all ten games, right, and so it's the first time since nineteen ninety two that they've had a ten game in a row streak. So I think when I look at that, it tells me that it's a So who do you appoint the plane to?
It's never like one thing I think in fairness when we talk about fair critique, they took over a tough situation. The covered It wasn't like they were walking into a the covered and stocked situation. But at the same time, they could have probably done more because not probably John, they could have done more to get better players in here. And when I say that, I'm thinking about they signed chuk Sakora for they signed nick Lesrett, they signed kJ Osb.
These are players that are even either no longer with the team or they're not contributed to the team, so they're blamed there. I think some of the coaching decisions, some of the development of players, are the coaches getting the most out of the players.
Some of this on the players.
So I think it's all as I hate to col.
Bill Belichick but used to use the words.
It's a mosaic, and I think that I'll quote him and say that it's all those pieces together.
Were you surprised that they didn't make any real moves for the before the trade deadline. I know they've They've added since added a couple of pieces of the puzzle off of other practice squads. They brought the kid in from Oklahoma, the guard Robinson.
Uh.
I think they signed another one that was just in for practice or for trout yesterday too.
Correct, Yeah, linebacker Monty Race.
That's Monty Rice right at.
The University of Georgia. Yeah, and he's on the practice squad. And I think my only I wasn't surprised because I think the only question I was curious about would any team give up an asset for Taekwon, Thornton or kJ Osbourne. I thought, if anything, the Patriots would be trading players, not acquiring players.
Yeah. I kind of was a little surprised by that too, But I guess what that told me though, was they still feel like they're in a developmental stage and they still want to see what they might turn some of these guys into before they cut bait. Does that make any sense?
It does make sense.
And another scenario that I've thought about is maybe those players just didn't have a market, you know, because usually when you're another team and you're thinking about trading for a player, the first thing you do is turn on the tape and watch those players they are. Let's see how they would get And in fairness, what Taypwon, Thornton and kJ Osbourne has put on tape this year, it might not be worthy of trading anything for at this point.
And so I think that's another.
Thought had on how sure and very quickly before we let you get out of here? Did did they get what they should have gotten for josh Ushe should they have given up on him, oh man.
And that's so tough for me, John.
So I'm gonna I hope I don't play both sides of the fence here because I felt like they actually missed him in this last game.
That's why I asked the question on one pass rushing.
Yeah, yeah, and so yeah, what were you gonna say?
No, no, no, I was just gonna say that's that's kind of what I thought too, which is why I asked the question.
Yeah, so I thought they missed.
Him in this last game, and I hate to give up a pass rusher. I guess they just felt like it what they weren't going to bring him back next.
Year, and he was.
He's limited in what he does. He doesn't play much on special teams, so they took a modest staff in return. That was the death. I think a five or six you know that you could get. I don't know, John, it's just sort of to me. I probably would have kept them, just because I like pass rushers, But I don't know it's probably what if they say six to one half or whatever.
It is, Yeah, six and one half a dozen another, Yeah, I agree with that. There you go right precisely. Well, the Chicago team has got its own problems right now. They've got a couple of defensive starters that it looked like they'll be out for Sunday, and they've got some gross inconsistencies going on offense. Stop me where you've heard this story before. But even though they're a five hundred team right now, it sounds to me like they're looking for a little identity, just like New England is.
It does look that.
Way to me. And here's the thought from the Patriots perspective. A couple of weeks ago, you were going to London to play the Jaguars, and everyone was saying do they want to play for their coach Doug Peters? And you got up on them early, and you had a chance to put them away, and you let them stick around and you're faded, you know, down the stretch. And here you got a situation where you got a team they're
asking the same question. After the Bears lost on that Hail Mary two weeks ago, and then they had a gug coming back last week. You know, they might be vulnerable. John, I don't know that, but what you know, like, let's see what you got. Can you come in there and throw a punch, you know? And I will say the lost eight quarters at least have been competitive and a little bit better than what we saw the final three in London. So can you go off that, you know, and go make it happen and let's.
See what they can do?
Right?
Yes, that's I'm just that's all I'm looking for right now. I just you know, I've stopped worrying about wins and losses. I want to see positive steps forward for this team to get back to creating some kind of an identity about itself. And I think that has to start now. If it hasn't, if it didn't start weeks ago, that's right, that's right, you know, Mike, I wish that I had Jesse's girl.
Yes, he's a friend.
You're all right, Thank you, buddy. I appreciate your time. Enjoy the time with your kids today, bro, Thanks, thank you, thank you, Bud. I appreciate you. Thank you. The one and only Mike Reese at Mike Reese ore E. I S s On X. Yeah, that's he's a good dude.
Uh he is, he tweeted earlier this week. Uh jeez, Wow, Patriots are one of nine teams with two or fewer wins, which ties for most through week nine since nineteen seventy Holy crap, right, yeah, yeah, this is very reminiscent of of uh, you know, the teams that struggled here in New England, you know, like under Coach Rust. You know, back in nineteen ninety ninety one, that was the year that nobody wanted to do a television show, a coaches show,
and so we volunteered to do it. When I was working at what is now the CBS affiliate in Providence. We did the Rod Rust Show, if you will. I think we called it something differently because we didn't want to attract attention to it necessarily. But as I recall, we did like a monthly show. It wasn't even a weekly show. And Coach Rust could not have been nicer, more polite, smart guy. He wasn't a bad guy at all.
He wasn't terribly engaging, God rest his soul, but he was He understood the drill, He knew it, he knew what was expected of him. You know. So that's why, you know, talking to Todd earlier, it's kind of like, you know, hey, can we do some building here? Can we build the cart? Before we know it's about winds. Coach rush knew that back in ninety one when they were one in fifteen. No, they weren't one in fifteen. They were one in How many games do we play
back then? Sixteen? Yeah, one in fifteen, Right, I'm trying to remember when did we go to the sixteen game schedule. I don't even remember now. I think it was then we are in sixteen, so they were one in fifteen. Ugly, ugly. Nevertheless, it's I mean, this is you know, I can understand that there's a certain amount of frustration, but I'm going to try to take one or two small things out of every week and hopefully plant them like seeds in
the garden. This has probably even been discussed by the coaching staff, but I want to plant small seeds in the garden. I want to nurture them, I want to water them, I want to make sure there's plenty of sunshine on top of them. By the way, eighty one degrees in Boston today, what is up with that? Don't tell me that's global warming. Okay, that's a freak show on decent. Wait, not December. I get a head. I'm
geting ahead of myself now, November sixth, unbelievable. I think this is the warmest it has been this late in the calendar year in maybe like one hundred years. Am I right about that? I think it got to eighty one in Boston today. Here in Foxborough it was seventy seven, seventy eight. I think it got to I know when I got into my car off of campus today. Okay, when I was leaving campus to come to the stadium, the thermometer in my car is at eighty four.
It's currently seventy six in Foxborough right now.
Holy crap, November sixth. I'm not at four pm, you know what I mean. I'm just I don't want to look the gift tourists in the mouth. I used that phrase a couple of times today showing my age. Now that was one for my grand mother. But I feel like I want to just go out and drop trial and run around. We don't. I'm not gonna do that. First of all, it's scare the hell out of everybody. Second of all, I don't want to go to jail, so I'm not gonna do that. Sorry, fight that war. Sorry,
State police, which is right down the street. Don't don't come over here. Okay, I'm not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. We're going streak.
Hang.
It feels like it outside, man, a spring day, shocking. Oh look what we have here, Eldred? We found you, Eldred?
How are you?
How you doing it? It's all good, brother, How are you?
I'm doing good?
Y'all?
Seventy six seventy seven, and I can't believe it's November two?
Why how is it in? How it is in Carolina today? What's the temp there? Set? Seven seventy seven? Okay, good, all right? You said that? All right?
Yeah, Simms Charlotte, Yes, or nice a.
Little rain here and there, and see we're not getting we're not getting any of that. We're not getting any of that here, which is why we've got these brush fire warnings going on right now. They don't want you to even put fires on in your fire pits out and your you know, your back patio or anything you know, like a lot of people have, like I built during COVID and all that kind of stuff. They don't want you lighting fires because they're afraid of the sparks setting
brush on fire. So okay, that's fine. We haven't had rain here in a month over a month.
No, yeah, yeah, I'm raying to shoe. We got a good last week this week too. Yeah, so it's getting coming down pretty good here.
Yeah.
Green, can you bleed it?
Yes? Mine still is too. I mean and I I've had a couple of freezes, a couple of frost. You know, when I get up in the morning, I'm like, whoa, it looks like it snowed because there's a cover of frost right on top of the of the lawn. But it hasn't killed everything off yet, so everything is still green, and and uh, you know, the color color is still beautiful. Hey, what's your hauling today?
I'm off right now. I took an hour and a half lunch break and been to go home. Matter of fact, when I blew my horn, I was parking the truck hoping on the Boston come outside and looking like, what are you blowing the horn from me?
Yeah?
Hey, he's in trouble. Let's help them out. Yeah, yeah, somebody, somebody's trying to tell them if the Patriots are worth the damn. Oh, let's give him to some mouth. Well, okay, I get it, I get it.
Yeah, that's true too.
Do all of your friends and your family and the people that you work with, do they know how much of a die hard you are? Oh?
Yes, sir. At first they thought I was joking and should have heard me a couple of times on the radio. Then I pay you back some of the podcast. Yeah, And then like I told him, I said, I've been doing fifteen years. They knew me by by name, yeah, only by face on face on the picture. But they haven't haven't met in person besides Melvin and you know, I like to meet met Trey. But one of the day to come to tennis. SI, I'm gonna look Tray up because uh used to be married to one of
them missus girls. Oh yeah, yeah, yes, sir, that was my first ex wife.
We all have We all have those. You know what, I would love, Eldred one day that me and you, Me and you and Trey and Melvin and anybody else that wants to join in. We got to get together and we got to strap on a feedback.
I was glad. I would love to do that.
So would I want to be here North Carolina or Memphis or Atlanta or now Boston. Don't gonna have a little problem getting now.
I think I understand, I understand, but I don't.
I don't time to get off.
I don't.
I don't mind meeting you guys south of the Mason Dixon I don't.
Okay, Okay, So I'm looking forward to that too.
Yeah, we got to do that. We have to. We have to talk that up and figure out a way to get that thing done. Brother, we do.
Yeah. I got mad because I missed an opportunity with a big head and Paul and Fred and Eric back in the day when we played the Carolina Panthers here at the ticket just because me, we was gonna meet one day after the barrow or drink.
So it never did get to do that. You know.
That's when that's when Luke Lee passed in drunking end zone. Everybody saw it blatantly, but Carolina won the game.
Yeah, yeah, I loved Still that's great, big head love it. Yeah all right, So what's trouble in you after this week?
This week, I knew the beginning of the year. I remember, I told you if it's going to be a minute. You know, I give him a little minute. But everybody, you know, I've been saying this for ten to fifteen years. Letting you said, I always called the talent. And even when Bill was here, when we had Brady, you know, that's what Brady left in the nineteen because he had enough talent. You know, he could win no more year. He needed some help, Becauldn't you know he's forty needed
some help. So what's the puzzling me is grow and Wolf was here when Bill was here. Yeah, and like I said during the draft, besides me, the drafting, the same player you gotta Osbourne, that's that's uh, the guy that can't catch now.
You know from Washington you know yeah, Jayleno Polk, Jalen Polk, you know.
So they you know, you got the same type of guy. Like I said, you need the athlete. That's why I wanted Mitchell. Uh uh, the guy from Jack the Jack Wars. There's Thomas that's doing real good right now. Or you know, I understand you need a quarterback first, but some of them other guys went after you got the quarterback, you know, and then you could have been aggressive and then you know what you inherit from Bill. The cover was always
bare from the last five years. Sure you know the draft for you know, So to me, if you're gonna take old GM said, okay, it was mainly Bill making all the all the bad picks. I can't tell now because you pick it and just like him, you know. And then you say you don't go to pack them away with the wide receivers, Yeah, they six two, didn't range from four to three to four four maybe four
or five speed. They can block whatever. You didn't do that here, you know, focus slow Baker, he's you know, I don't know what to make of him yet.
You know we can't we can't. Yeah, we can't make a judgment. You can't make a judgment on any of these guys.
Really, no, no, because that line won't let you do anything. But like I said, you the GM, you should already recognize the fault on this team. So if you ain't got no confound good line or left tackle, why you want to get somebody on the right, try to make him play left when they can't do it, or put yourself and rookie go to me. And that's bad GM, you know. And you said you donna fall behind your.
Dad footstep or whatever.
I don't think I remember seeing the Packers with a bad line, maybe a couple of years before Rogers left, But wasn't that they had pretty good run line, good line pass running, even with Far and H and everybody.
Else, you know.
So I just can't see that. And you see them the problems here, and I would have traded. I'd have kept it for six for the following year. That's dumb. That's dumb. I'm sorry, sir, I'm just calling what it is. That's dumb. We'll always get our pieces. I know they might be valuable for us, maybe not vau for somebody else we say left, but we go after their pieces high and their piece to be worse than what we got, you know. And then I see making a bunch of players Monday night.
And ever now, yeah, I mean in a couple of tackles, but I mean he's being used as a situational player.
And the situation player.
Yeah, and we know he wasn't gonna be an every down guy, I know. Yeah, So I mean he's not down, no, which is why I think they found it. I think that's why they found him expendable in terms of well, we're probably not gonna resign this guy because he's not really what we need. So okay, I I can allow for that, I give him.
Yeah, but I'm also ain't gonna ain't gonna kill him too bad. I'm gonna wait and see, you know, until, like like I said there before, May I got I gotta. I meant to tell Evan, I don't change my mind a little bit. Bro, You got me coming around a little bit more on. Maybe I want to go in there next week and get that truck and get that jersey. Okay, but like you know, you gotta show me, and he
showed me a little bit. Still a little bit like North Carolina, but it's a little bit better than North Carolina.
Listen the first time he took off, the first time he took off running with the football last week, And I'm like no, no, no, no, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, you know because because he's you know, first of all, I mean, he's coming off a concussion protocol and he's got to understand, you know, rookies have to understand. You know, guy, you gotta you gotta learn to protect yourself. This is a violent, violent, physical game. And he's like you know, I gotta make plays with my legs because I can
for my team. And I'm like, that's a guy I can play with. That's a guy I can play four, you know. And one of the things that has been a big criticism of the Patriots, you know, over the last year or two is who do they have now that people want to come play with. They've found the guy.
So now it's gonna be up to the veterans who are going to be on this team for any you know, next year or two or whoever it is, to be vocal about this and lead like this and go outad and recruit if they have to, just like if they're you know, out there recruiting for colleges, and just like they did when you know, they went out and tried to open up other free agent doors when you know TB twelve was playing here, Hey we got a guy here that you're gonna want to play with and play
for and and so now it's now it's time to start looking at it in that respect. And to me, I know, they lost the game. They probably shouldn't have lost the game. It might have been a little mismanaged down at the end, but that's my My big huge takeaway from Tennessee was I saw a spark that frankly, I think we can you know that we can. We can hang on, Yeah, give you something to deal with.
Yes, yes, but but uh, mister rook, mister legend, we're gonna always be on demand because out of town level don't meet everybody that we play.
No, it doesn't. That's and that's why you're losing games.
That's the major problem. Yeah, that's the major problem.
That's why you're losing.
Might be yes, the govenment might.
Be a great desp of mind, but you ain't got the right people to do it, you know. And then, like I said, that's called what he was left with. And then you lost your three main ones, traded off one good one. I know he was older, you know, Judie, but I think I would held on one more year, just just to see what was going on. But then again, I'm not JM. But with me, I will try to beat the books, try to get me service for left tackle that I know you can't get a good one
right off the bat. But I ain't going up to praps peak. I'm going after somebody that got the stuck a string maybe whatever they've got a little talent they ain't playing and got still on the younger contract.
Let's see what you got here.
And just like Paul was saying, I either going up to Slaton or Jadon Jaydon Miles. What uh where that wide receiver from Tennessee with the Giants that got knocked down because neighbors the man now and Jalen Hight excuse me him, that name scoot Yatt and that brought least they are exits because we got twos and threes over it. We ain't got no x booty trying to be but you know, uh, I tried somebody else, special slate, special slate. I already did that draft and just see and he
got eight games. If that's not the guy, well you know we still draft one.
I didn't have him for I think that's exactly Eldred why they didn't make deals by the trade deadline, because I really felt strongly they wanted to see more of what they had to so they could make an easier decision on whether or not to bring him back or cut bait.
I understand that, but sir, it's okay, you got a young Well the line is.
The other problem. It's the major problem.
And then sometimes, like I said, you know, you see the guys they get on sometimes they can't get over all depends on whose that corner is. They're not good. They can press to get gainst their cheam, and I think this week they're gonna have a problem getting loose with that secondary for the Bears.
But you know, it's the it's the talent graph.
You know, we ain't got that speed guy, you know like Arizona had. You know, I think my boy got hurt. Harrison got hurt in that game a little bit, you know, but he was torching so the other.
Guys, but they got speed.
Hey, Eldred, here's one for you. I just got this this tweet from NFL Stats Drake Drake May is the first quarterback in NFL history to have all of the following stats in his first four career games. First four career stats all right, here we go. Seven hundred plus passing yards, sixty completion or better, six plus passing touchdowns, two hundred plus rushing yards, and one or more rushing tds. He's the first quarterback in NFL history to have those stats in his first four games.
Well to having I get that jersey Friday.
There you go.
I put a picture on the play, I mean on the Should I ask him that network?
Should I ask the Patriots for a little commission for selling him on that jersey?
Now?
Good luck?
Yeah, because I was the big giftic well I saw in North Carolina. But I feel a little bit more of.
A different if game go on.
Yeah, you know, but then I gotta remember he was the kids playing over here nineteen twenty. You know, it's a little bit more mature. But he's getting it. But I like that what he said the last time. I'm gonna keep playing right, but I'm gonna come it down a little bit. But you know that's what I want to hear from quarterback too.
Yep, I agree with you. You know, all right, buddy, you'd be safe out there, my man.
Get jersey, all right, go get it.
Go get it? Yes, sir, all right, I need you just you'll need to send me a picture of you in it. Oh, I will, all right. I'm most definitely okay. Good to talk to you, Bud, the one and only Eldrid in North Carolina. Hey, football season is here. Sullivan Tire and Auto Service kicking things off in a big way with our exclusive gold Pat's Tires sale now through October thirty first. Oh wow, guess what it's past October thirty? First? Do they have the sale going on? Still? Shall we
ask Sullivan Tire anyway? Score big credible savings on Bridgestone tires. Save one hundred dollars instantly with a purchase of four eligible Bridgestone tires. Bridgestone is the official tire of the New England Patriots. See Sullivantire dot com for complete details and go Patriots.
A real woman could stop you from drinking.
Yeah, it's a real big woman.
It's time to go around the NFL with football guru Russell Baxter.
Now your name is Flounder on Patriots playbook hung and the man who brings his spare tire with him everywhere he goes Russell Baxter. Sorry, Russell, that was all right.
I'm just hoping that Sullivan Tire sale wasn't from February thirty.
That was too easy. That was too easy to go for though.
Hey I have when there's a high lob the day.
Yeah exactly. Oh I can say the same thing about myself too. How are you man, I'm good.
I'm sorry I missed you last week.
Yeah, but that's okay. Listen, family comes first, and I failed.
Uh.
The one thing that I really missed out on was to talk to you about our favorite call, Halloween candies again, did you?
Did you?
Guys?
Uh?
You know have a big crowd at the Baxter household.
No, you know, we do not. And for this reason, I live in the area which is very nice in Cheshire. There's no sidewalks in front of my house. The ants are very hesitant about bringing the kids over too, you know. And that's the fact that they have a changeaw out front. They probably disparages them out a little as well.
Not really.
That's a friend of mine of Frank, years and years ago, when a bunch of kids came out of his house, well snarky attitude and the kids and he had kin saw in his living room with the blade out. Okay, but it's still it's still made the noise, oh okay, Okay. So when they came up with the attitude, he read that thing up and all I can tell you is that I saw three of those kids in the Olympics. The fuck a couple of years down the road, that's how fast they moved moved out.
Of that out, all right, jeez, fast enough? So what what what was that? What did you say?
It's a safe formless prank, no to get good because there was no play.
Involved, right right? Okay, that makes sense to me. All right, so you know how our situation is here is clearly you know that. You know, we got a bunch of teams that are all kind of stacked with two wins right now at the bottom of the NFL. If the draft were to be tomorrow, the Patriots would hold the number one pick, which is great, but I'm not so sure that's going to hold. Uh and we get a long way to go before we get to next April. What what do you find that a lot of teams
that find themselves at this position. We're just now past the halfway point in the NFL season. But let's say they're two and six, two and seven somewhere around those and clearly you know that range the playoffs are really not an option. What should teams be doing? And traditionally, what do teams in your estimation who turn it around quickly? What do they do at this stage of the game when they are two and seven?
Well, first thing I think you need to do is take a very very close look at what your situation is. Just because you are two and seven or four and five or four and four doesn't mean necessarily do It depends on what's going on within your own division. It depends on what's going on within the conference. Now, we have a lot of two win teams this year, two win or three win teams. I mean, as I pointed out Buffalo as the venue wins and the other three
teams in the AFC is combined seven. So then when you get down to other divisions where teams aren't necessarily wrapping in the field, and so I mean, look at Arizona in the NFC West, they're five and four, start hearting. No one else is above five hundred, so that division is very very much up for grabs. Chicago is very intriguing. They're four and four, they're in last place. They haven't played anybody in the division yet, so they can they kind of hold the cards in terms of determining their
own fate. Let's say they go four and two in the division and so on. That's why Green Bay's sitting there at five and at six and three, John but yet they've lost two divisional games at home to Minnesota and Detroit, so they've kind of boxed themselves in the Little Borough corner. So I think you have to just evalue this situation. And also it depends on who your general manager and how the organization is run, if you're willing to cut beat, start selling those players and so on.
You know, you get the sense of the Cleveland Brands over the last couple of weeks. The area is that Zadarius Smith yesterday, Amari people a couple of weeks ago. You know, they've done themselves a big hole. They've already lost more games than they did all last year when they were eleven and six, and they're in a powerhouse division, even though Cincinnati is at four and five in Pittsburgh and Baltimore off to a tremendous start. So I think
it's an individual thing more than anything else. You know, you're looking at the Raiders who are chasing three teams that are all above five hundred. So again, a two and seven or a three and six in one division may not necessarily be the same as in other divisions. That might sound like an easy answer, but as we know, all you got to do is get in. Yeah, and who knows what can happen in terms of the post.
Team, Yeah, right right. I got a few teams that don't want to ask you about this week. Then the first one are the is the eight to no Kansas City Chiefs? When and where in your estimation do the Chiefs stumble first this year or do they at all?
Well, I mean if they've been a high wire act. They finally scored thirty points in the game. Yeah, we'll think was the first time since we twelve of last year. But they've won fourteen games in a row and now they're still ways away. They're two thirds of the way there. But I don't have to remind you. There are two NFL records in terms of winning streaks in NFL history most regular season wins, which is the Colts twenty three in a row, and then there's the Patriots in a
row which includes the postseason. And remember twenty years ago in Halloween they lost at Pittsburgh. They eventually went back to Pittsburgh to beat them in the AFC title Game. How fun would this be and how ironic if the Patriots. If the Chiefs win their next seven games, they will tie the record by the Patriots the most overall consecutive wins.
One do you know where they go for game number twenty two, Pittsburgh Wow, Karma and instead of Halloween, instead of Halloween, John, It's going to be Chris us Wow. Twenty years later that. I mean, it's a long way to go. I know the Chiefs still have Buffalo on the schedule, which they've kind of owned. But you know, you look at the makeup of this Chiefs team, which, by the way, DeAndre Hopkins has certainly made a difference.
Travis Kelsey won fourteen passes the other day. Okay, so Kareem Hunt getting settled in with his old team and one of us womb the Chiefs and led the league in Russian years ago with the Chiefs, which was treating
the homes, I believe. So, I don't know, They've got this uncanny way of winning games, which is not that unusual if you remember the Patriots of the early dynasty days in the early two thousands, where you know, they all three of their Super Bowl wins were by a field goal and many they just were smarter than everybody else. Right now, the Chiefs looked like a very smart football team, taking care of the ball at times. Patrick Holmes said
have been super sharp, and he's been super timely. And I understand, you know, Todd Bowles got a lot of crap this week about not going for two, but I know if you would have missed the two, they would have you know, they would have given them crap for that too. So it's hard to tell because it's not like you can point to the Chiefs and say, you know, they've been lighted out in the Even their defense this year, which is still very very good, has shown some words.
I mean, Tampa Bay really didn't have any problems to move in the football up and down the field on the on day. So I think this is a vulnerable team, but it's a resourceful team. So you know that's me in seventh seventh week, I would but I'm guessing the Buffalo game has certainly got a bit on the radar. And I'll also throw out the fact that and I'm trying to right to look at the schedule, I don't
think they closed it Denver. That would be interesting because if you were they played Denver this week, okay, and then last year they got humbled by the Broncos in Denver, and that's where they are. They closed the season at Denver and Denver beaten twenty four to nine. Last year, Denver snapped a fifteen game losing streak to the Chiefs when they knocked the moves in this game. So again, it's going to be fascinating to see how this unfold. But I will say that if we have seen teams.
It happened with the Patriots one year, it happened with the Steelers four years ago. Some of these teams get up to ten and oh elevens start and for whatever reason, when I'm at a gas and you know, things certainly don't go their way. That's why to me, it's always interesting see the team rip off along losing street and then when they finally lose, John, see how they react to week after that, because one loss to become three
losses in a row. Real real quickly saw the Vikings who went five to oh and then in the span of five days games.
Yeah. Right, the other team that I wanted to ask you about, Russell of the Washington Commanders, to me, I mean, I didn't see this coming. Seven and two. They're at home against the Steelers, who you've already talked a little bit about. Uh, I mean, and certainly Jayden Daniels has been a catalyst here. But what else has Washington done really to you know, establish themselves within the NFC East.
Well, the one thing that they've basically done better than any other team in the league is take care of the football. Okay, they have now going nine games into the season, yep, and you've turned over the ball three times.
That's amazing. That is amazing.
That's amazing that in the context the Patriots has three turnovers last week again Tennessee.
I'm just saying, I mean, that's that's that's attention to detail, that's discipline, that's everything that the Patriots have had struggles with this year. But Washington has it, and you can see what a huge difference it has made in the over we all win lost fortunes of their team.
No doubt. And this was the team last year that gave up the third most points in one season in NFL history and turned over the ball thirty two times
in seventeen games. So this is a completely different. If I want to say the Saints three or four years ago, or maybe even longer ago, that set the NFL record for fewest turnovers to the season, I think it was either eight or nine, and then as if they're going to happen, they wound up to over the ball twice and lonched the Minnesota and the wild Carts to pay off an overtime. So yeah, that a very balanced offense. That's not Paul Jayden games. As we found out when
he heard his arrabe a couple of weeks ago. Marcus Mariotas stepped in and they were on prodge control. They have proven they can win ugly, and they have proved then they can win lopsided. Now I will say this, they still haven't played Dallas. I know Dallas has down in the luck but still rivalry game. They've not played
Philadelphia yet, so it's going to be interesting. You know, Washington and Arizona are just like the latest examples of teams that finished last place a year ago and now all of a sudden in convention for a playoff or a division title. Remember last year it was the Texans and the Browns who were in last place. In twenty twenty two, they both bounced back made their playoffs. In fact, Houston won the AFC South and then beat Cleveland in
the wildcard game. And a couple of years ago, you know, Obviously, there's eight last place teams john four of them in one year made the playoffs the following year.
I asked these questions, Russell, because I'm trying to give people some hope or at the very least discover how it's being done. So that could be a part of the template for you know, next year and beyond.
You know, well, you know what you know would have been a good segment. It would have been with all the with all the respective faith was producing the show today, you could.
Have had hope and fake oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
For sure. All right, two other quick teams. Lions have to be I mean to me right now, to me, I think they're the best team in football. They may very well not be, but we don't know that. But they're certainly one of the easiest teams to root for because they've never been to the big game. And I certainly can understand why people want to get a little bit on that bandwagon. And you're talking about a team that was going through a lot of the same stuff just a couple of years ago and now they're one
of the best in pro football. What is it about Dan Campbell though, that you've seen that has really caught on maybe with his team. I mean, I know they have talent, and it's really hard to beat talent, but they seem to have the intangibles in place as well.
I think it's an orthodox style of coaching in terms of what he has to say to the media, biting kneecaps, which I think is a crime. But I think the fact that he rallied to round his own players and believes in them, I think is very contagious for an organization that is the only team in the NFC that's never been to the Super Bowl. The other three teams that have ever been to the Super Bowl Houston, Jacksonville,
and Cleveland. So you have to go back to nineteen fifty seven, which is two years before I was born, and I tell you something, and the last time the Lions won an NFL title. It would be fun to see the lines in the super Bowl and maybe against the team in the AFC that's never been there, although you know, could it be Houston or be a team that you know, like say Buffalo with them but he's never won the Super Bowl. I think that would attract
a lot of attention. And would you know, with the Lions and the build it's two very very you know, one groups fighting kneecaps, the other one is jumping on folding tables. Yeah, I mean, what more can you get than that? That would be for a fun And by the way, could you imagine those two fan bases in New Orleans?
That would be off the hook? In New Orleans that totally would be off the hook. And I'm I'm kind of personally right now at this stage, I'm rooting for Detroit Buffalo. I kind of am, and that not because I'm anti Chiefs or anything, but I'm just kind of rooting for you know, hey, somebody's got to win the damn thing, and somebody who hadn't won it before is gonna win it, which is actually pretty cool.
You watch the Arnans play. I mean, you know, power rankings on the side. Obviously the Chiefs there right now, yep, and the Lions are for seventy one. They don't have the semement loss, right, Yeah, but Detroit's point differential, it's already one hundred and ten plus. Okay. Yeah, you know, they stubbed their toasted whom against the Buccaneers back in Week two. They've won six games in a row. We won many of them by by double digits. We saw that they did, you know, to the Cowboys. We saw
that they did to the Titans last week. They were tied, but the Titans fourteen fourteen and then scored the last thirty eight points of the game. They went into Green Bay last week and supposedly the Lions don't play well outdoors. I think it was their first outdoors that not only was it outdoors, it was in the rain, and they won that game by ten and then you know, did it with offense defense They got to pick sick. So I think this is the team playing with an enormous
amount of confidence. They have a tricky game with the Texans this week. But for a team like Houston who has given up a slew of sacks and we saw eight saxophones on c J Shoud on Thursday night against the Jets, you lose Aiden Hutchinson to an injury, you swing a deal and you get sa Darius Smith from the grounds.
Right the final team, I'm going to ask you about the Dallas Cowboys three and five, which to me is a stunner. But I'm wondering if it gets much worse than where it is right now. Is Mike McCarthy a candidate to be the next in season guy to go since the Saints made of firing this week when we.
Saw the Jets make a fire firing earlier this season, is.
Right, right, So that's two, so he'd be three. Yeah right.
I'm trying to think the last time, the last time Jerry Jones did an in season firing, in fact, it might have been the only time he did an in season was when he dumped Wade Phillips. Okay, he said Jason Garrett right off the top of my head, and yeah.
No, I think you're no, No, no, I think you're right there. I was just gonna say, I know it wasn't early in his tenure. I want to say that was Jason Garrett. Yeah.
Well, I know this. It's going to take a hell of one the Cowboys to go twelve and five. Yeah, for the fourth consecutive season. And it's it's interesting. And again, no one's been eliminated yet. Okay, obviously they have dug themselves a huge hole against both Washington and Philadelphia, and they played Philadelphia this week. But is this an interesting to note John that no team has repeated in the NFC East in twenty years.
That's that to me. We talked about that earlier this year. That's one of the more amaze saying undersold stories in the entire NFL that you've got all these different teams winning every different year and nobody repeats. And this year Washington is on top of the heap, going from what last to first.
Right, and they've got a four game lead. Well, it was funny when you can win the super Bowl in twenty seventeen. They were in last place in twenty sixteen, Yeah, and then bounce back in one the whole thing. So, but I mean the last time the Washington won the division, they weren't even a five hundred team. They were seven
to nine, yeah, in twenty twenty. So yeah, it's it's very bizarre considering the high profile the legacy a lot of those franchises instead of them in this steel it's a division where every one of those teams has won at least won Super Bowl, and all of them have won multiple NFL titles. Yeah, but they can't seem the same. Andy Reid led them to four straight NFC East titles from two thousand and one to two thousand and four, and no one's been able to get back back to back since.
And and and and may not do for for a little while longer. Yeah, that's the that's the that's the reality of it. And in this day and age, all right, Russell, I'm gonna let you. I'm gonna let you get off to other things. And I appreciate your checking in with us again today, and and uh, we'll see about doing it again next week and figure out how uh, you know, two and seven moves either to three and seven or two and eight And what's left ahead for us.
Well, listen, there are there were definitely some positives that came out of last week's game. There's no question about that. And that's the kind of thing you have to build up me. You know, we don't wasn't building the day because there was no free agency back then.
That's also very true. We do know that we can hang the hat on number ten. I think in a Patriot's uniform. I think we saw, uh, the future is here. He just needs a little help right now. Yep, thanks buddy, appreciate you. You got you got you next week, Yes, sir, The one and only at Backs Football Guru on x Russell Baxter on week ten around the NFL A reminder.
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Oh, pardon me.
I got to reach forward here, sorry, and bring in a couple of emails because I know there were a couple in here, so I wanted to share them with you here at the end of the program. Bob from Fort Lauderdale, great show. I listened regularly from Florida. The team is going through a tough time now, but we will get back to being relevant. Okay, Thank you, Bob. I appreciate your time to decided he didn't have enough
earlier when he yelled at me on the phone. Hey rook, let me know when you guys are going to a concert. I may need to go on a road trip and meet up with you. Guys. Would love to get together with Eldred for a beer and talk some football. You need to set up an events board people can sign up for. You want to help me with that? Marine,
I don't know. I don't know. Well, if Tana's in North Carolina and Eldred's in North Carolina and Trey is in Memphis, you know, I mean, I guess there's we We guess we need to do a playbook road trip one of these days. Maybe we get this. Maybe you and I will take off from here and we'll just drive down and meet those suckers. And if we're gonna, if we're the ones that are going to them, they gotta buy us lunch. Okay, deal right now, wears in
gas thirty dollars lunch. Ah, all right, Okay, we spend listening to two hundred others in gas three hundred dollars for a hotel, and they're going to buy us a twenty dollars barbecue. Okay, yeah, let's say that's fine. Whack oh, this is why I don't go any plays in life. I know our buddy Howard in Connecticut. Just some musings about this team. We have a QB. Now they need to build around him. Wolf needs to have an A plus plus plus plus plus five pluses. Needs to have
that draft and free agency offseason. They have top picks in every round, and they have more money than any other team in cap space. There are no excuses why he can't load this team up with talent that it currently lacks. AVP has been a disappointment to date. Perhaps it's lack of talent, but the play calling has also been unimaginative, static and predictable. That has to change. I couldn't agree more as far as Covington, again disappointing. Not as much as AVP, but still not as good as
I thought it was going to be. A lot of that is due to the injuries we talked about earlier in the program. Again, I get that he lost three of his key horses up the middle, but the d he needs to figure that out and scheme to cover the weakness. And how about bringing in Vrabel as a consultant to Mayo. He brings in prior head coaching experience
and there is a familiarity there. I don't know would he view something like that as a positive or as a threat something um Classy Claire also chimed in, here feels like a chicken an egg discussion, But I was hoping to get your take with regards to the landscape of the NFL, especially at the moment. It seems that teams can pick up quality wide receivers with trades and free agency, but the same can't be said for quality tackles. That's kind of interesting. Um, I don't know why that is.
I think it's because tackles are valued differently, and everybody knows that they need a cornerstone piece, you know, as we talked earlier, the piece of the puzzle, the corner piece of the puzzle, and those I mean, you know, when you're doing a puzzle, right, there's only four corners to the puzzle. There just aren't many of these guys
out there. Wide receivers like you see, you can always get guys that can catch a ball or run faster than somebody else, so they seem like they're more prevalent tackles. Franchise tackles not so not so so. I mean, that's just an observation, but I kind of sort of feel like that's really the the the answer to your question. You know, he's I've got this one from Courtney in Houston,
who says, I want to comment on girod Mayo. I believe what we're seeing from Grod is very similar to downfall years from post down Tom Brady, you guys discussed the brain drain that happened in New England towards the end. I solely believe Grod is going to need his arning, like we talked about. Hopefully Wolf can be as GM and grow and be director of scouting, but he needs more than Unfortunately means that maybe Covington has to go, or that could mean maybe they really hit on coaches
like a run game passing coordinator. Either way, I don't think it would be wise to roll this staff out completely the same for year two unless there's going to be an aggressive commitment to learning. Okay, I can understand that. I can understand that. All right. I appreciate you taking the time to do that. Thank you. Thank you for your comments and your criticisms and everything that you've got
on the show. Or thanks to Mike Reese, our thanks to Evan Lazarre, our thanks to Russell Baxter, and most of all, my thanks to you for tuning in, and my thanks to the Marine for helping put this thing together. Every week when we're here visiting. So the Patriots and the Bears on Monday, same patch time, same patch channel. Next Wednesday for the next edition of the Patriots Playbook, we'll recap that, we'll look ahead again, and we'll find other things that we can, you know, talk about, like
you know, Rick Springfield or Halloween candy or other team's success. Hey, kick us while we're down. It won't last forever. See ya. Thank you for downloading this podcast.
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He's a redshirt rookie at that point, so it's really that's his work. He season essentially too, so now we're really not talking about them, really knowing three twenty
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