LIVE Patriots Daily: Post-bye week mailbag

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Tune in live with CLNS Media's Taylor Kyles for a post-bye week Patriots mailbag!  This episode of the Patriots Daily Podcast Show  is brought to you by:  SeatGeek! Use code DREAMERSPRO for $20 off your first SeatGeek order! Visit SeatGeek.com ! With NFL, NBA and NHL seasons in full swing and the NBA starting soon, you don’t want to miss out - SeatGeek has your tickets to every game!  FanDuel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First onlinereal money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234. ￼￼  Visit https://Linkedin.com/BEAT to post your first job for free! LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Did you know every week, nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn.￼￼￼  Factor! Visit https://factormeals.com/PATSDAILY50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.  #Patriots #NFL #NewEnglandPatriots

Transcript

00:00 solo show in a while.

00:01 It's been a long time since we just got to talk

00:04 to each other face to face.

00:05 Maybe we can use some bonding time.

00:07 I missed you all.

00:09 But it's gonna be a mailbag show

00:10 where I answer a bunch of your questions

00:12 that you've already sent to me on Twitter.

00:14 Also try to throw in some stuff that you have

00:16 in the live show if it's relevant.

00:18 If I run out of stuff and I need some more stuff

00:19 to fill out at the time, whatever that may be,

00:21 I wanna make sure I keep you guys engaged,

00:24 especially if I'm by myself.

00:25 I got no excuse.

00:26 We're talking to each other.

00:28 But first, before we get into the mailbag,

00:31 we do have some news.

00:32 Obviously Patriots season, not going too great right now.

00:36 Sitting at two and eight, coming out of their bye week,

00:38 not knowing who their starting quarterback is gonna be.

00:41 We actually got some news today out of Patriots practice.

00:45 I was not actually in attendance.

00:46 I had to go to the orthodontist.

00:48 I just got feeling back in my face.

00:50 Excited to be spending that time with you all.

00:52 But we found out that Mack Jones

00:55 and Bailey Zappi alternated reps

00:57 and Trent Brown and Ty Montgomery actually came back.

01:00 So first and foremost,

01:01 we gotta address the quarterback situation.

01:04 Now I'm on record as saying I didn't think

01:06 that the Patriots should switch quarterbacks

01:09 unless either Mack Jones' confidence was completely shot

01:12 and they were worried about whether or not

01:14 he'd even be able to function

01:15 or if Bill Belichick wanted to send a message

01:17 to the locker room that his level of play

01:20 and turning the ball over, putting your team

01:22 in a bad position simply wasn't gonna be acceptable anymore.

01:26 Now it's completely possible that one or both

01:28 of those things could be the case.

01:30 We've seen it reported that Mack Jones is losing confidence

01:33 in some parts of the locker room.

01:35 And as well, I think that it's also getting to a point

01:38 where players are like, hey,

01:40 if you're gonna be losing me games

01:42 and I'm working my butt off,

01:43 put my body on the line to try to win these,

01:45 then I'd like to see some kind of change.

01:48 Now my thing is, and this is,

01:50 my opinion is probably gonna be very different

01:51 from what's going on in the locker room.

01:53 I think we've passed the point

01:54 where the Patriots should be trying to win games.

01:57 That's not players' mentalities.

01:58 Like these guys, again, they're putting their bodies

02:00 on the line in these games.

02:02 So they're not just gonna go out there and play patty cake.

02:04 Like they have to be physical,

02:05 they have to be going 100% or they could get seriously hurt.

02:08 So I still think they're gonna try.

02:10 But I mean, that said, Bayley Zappi,

02:13 frankly, I just don't wanna watch Bayley Zappi.

02:15 I've seen quite a bit of Bayley Zappi

02:17 and unless he's taken a quantum leap in recent,

02:21 you know, over the past week or so,

02:24 I'm not sure how much more you're gonna get out of him.

02:27 And that's not a surprise.

02:28 Like there was the whole Mac Bayley Zappi debate last year.

02:31 I did not take part in it.

02:32 I didn't think it was legitimate

02:34 'cause Zappi was drafted in the fourth round for a reason.

02:36 The talent just isn't really there

02:38 for a more upper echelon quarterback.

02:39 He'd really have to rely on always making the right reads,

02:42 always doing the right thing,

02:44 and then getting the ball where it needs to be

02:46 and putting guys in position to succeed.

02:48 Now he did do that briefly last year.

02:49 I'll give him credit for that,

02:50 doing what he was asked.

02:52 But Bill O'Brien's system isn't really that simple.

02:54 There's more onus on the quarterback

02:56 as we see with Mac and all the pre-snap communication.

02:59 I'm not sure how Bayley's gonna handle that

03:00 on a consistent basis.

03:02 I'm not gonna lie, it kinda worries me

03:04 because I watched him in the summer during training camp

03:06 and that was a pretty significant issue.

03:08 And it's not like Bayley's been great

03:10 when he's, you know, been in relief duty.

03:12 Now, to be fair,

03:13 he hasn't been the focal point of the game plan.

03:14 They're not tailored towards him.

03:16 So, you know, it's not gonna be a seamless transition

03:18 when he goes in cold at the end of games,

03:20 especially when Belichick throws him in

03:22 on a game-winning drive situation.

03:23 That was, I thought, really unfair.

03:26 But still, I just don't know

03:27 that you're getting anything out of Zappi.

03:29 They already waived him,

03:30 so we know they don't value him very highly.

03:31 So you're not trying to see who's better

03:33 for the team going into next season,

03:35 which is where I think this team's head

03:36 kinda needs to be at.

03:38 It's really who's gonna play hard for me.

03:39 We'll get more into that a little later.

03:42 But yeah, unless people are really just exhausted

03:45 with what Mac has been putting on the field,

03:47 or you really are worried about his long-term,

03:51 you know, mental health as a quarterback,

03:53 you know, I could probably put that better.

03:55 But mid-season, I thought it was kinda ridiculous

03:58 to say, "Okay, let's take him out

03:59 and let him get his head set, 'cause this is football."

04:02 But now, while looking ahead,

04:05 maybe you're like, "All right, next season,

04:06 we don't want his confidence to be completely gone,

04:08 even if we do bring in somebody to compete with him."

04:11 So not so quick-hitting news there.

04:13 But also, you know, Ty Montgomery coming back

04:15 is important for special teams.

04:16 He doesn't have a huge offensive role.

04:18 The bigger one is obviously Trent Brown.

04:19 He's missed the past two games,

04:21 'cause he got rolled up on against the Bills.

04:23 You saw his play dip the next week against Miami,

04:26 and then, again, missed the last two games.

04:27 Connor McDermott played over him.

04:29 Was solid, but, you know, as Trent Brown,

04:32 again, we'll get to this a little bit later,

04:34 but he was the best player on the offense,

04:36 and not having him was a big difference-maker.

04:39 But not only did he return,

04:41 we actually got some clarification on his situation.

04:44 So Mark Daniels had a couple of great reports today.

04:47 The first, Trent Brown said,

04:49 "I don't think it's coincidence that all season,

04:51 I've been the best on offense,

04:53 and then when I'm not playing,

04:54 that bullshit starts happening."

04:56 So what bullshit was he talking about exactly?

04:59 I'll pull it up on my screen right now.

05:01 This is just a tweet from Mark.

05:03 If you wanna go read it in depth, that's all you.

05:06 But yeah, he slammed the bullshit rhetoric

05:07 about his absence in Germany,

05:09 because what we were told was that he was habitually late,

05:12 according to Albert Breer,

05:15 and that that was seen as a personal problem in the locker room,

05:18 although we already knew he was dealing with the injuries

05:20 because he got rolled up on in Buffalo.

05:22 Trent Brown pushed back against that,

05:24 said that that wasn't an issue for him.

05:26 He said he'd never been late before.

05:28 If he was, he's a grown man,

05:29 he deserves to go to the bathroom.

05:31 Phenomenal quote, by the way.

05:33 But I've been on record

05:34 talking about Trent Brown's toughness.

05:36 People always act like he's someone

05:38 who misses games all the time.

05:39 This year, we saw him get rolled up on.

05:42 Like, that was just a really unfortunate injury.

05:44 A lot of people probably would've missed more time,

05:46 but he's been fighting back,

05:47 trying to get back on the field.

05:49 Before that, he'd only missed a game

05:50 with a concussion that season,

05:51 which again, that's just pretty much a mandatory,

05:53 you're missing at least one week.

05:55 And last season, he played every game.

05:57 He even played through the flu.

05:59 So I personally would love to see Trent Brown

06:02 back next season.

06:03 Where it gets complicated is,

06:05 does he want to be back at all?

06:07 'Cause it kinda seems like he's not too enthusiastic

06:09 and isn't dying to get back to play with New England

06:12 because the team hasn't been great the past couple years.

06:14 I don't know if that's why I'm not reporting.

06:16 I'm just saying it would make sense.

06:18 Maybe he wants to close out his career with a contender.

06:21 He's 30 years old.

06:22 And also, coming off these injuries,

06:23 you don't know how they're gonna affect him long-term.

06:26 He's a really good player,

06:27 but if he's looking for top-tier money

06:29 and you're a team that's trying to rebuild,

06:30 maybe you have a good pick or you have enough money

06:32 where you just go get somebody who's more affordable,

06:34 who you can rely on maybe for longer,

06:36 or who doesn't have the significant injury history.

06:39 Maybe you do that.

06:40 But I really like Trent.

06:41 I think he's a great player.

06:42 It seems like he stepped up in the locker room as well

06:44 as kind of a leader as they go through

06:46 a lot of things this season.

06:47 So it was nice to see that,

06:50 what kind of initially scared me with the report

06:53 was that, okay, if it's an attitude thing,

06:54 like this team has enough attitude issues,

06:57 don't need another one.

06:58 But that's just 'cause that's something

07:00 that's kind of been present with Trent Brown

07:02 throughout his career.

07:03 There's always these murmurs about like,

07:04 oh, there's something where it's attitude or whatever,

07:07 but I don't necessarily buy into that.

07:09 And if the price is right, I'd like to have it back.

07:12 But speaking of players who had a bit of an attitude problem

07:15 we also got another great scoop from Mark Daniels

07:18 on JC Jackson.

07:20 The quote was that his not traveling to Germany

07:23 was a reality check, he said.

07:25 He realized he's not bigger than the team

07:27 and he wants to finish his career here.

07:29 Once again, I'll throw up a tweet.

07:32 This is actually from Chris Mason,

07:33 who got a good little quote block.

07:35 I'll read the whole thing.

07:37 JC Jackson said, "Reality check,

07:38 I'm not bigger than the team.

07:40 I'm not bigger than nobody in here.

07:42 I want to be a part of the team.

07:43 This is my team.

07:44 This is home for me, man.

07:45 This is where I want to be.

07:47 I don't want to go nowhere else.

07:48 I want to finish my career here."

07:50 And then just so you can see it,

07:52 here is Mark's actual article.

07:54 But yeah, I mean, that says a lot.

07:57 I did not expect him to go that far.

07:59 It kind of seemed like JC might've been on his way out,

08:02 quite frankly, heading into, I guess,

08:05 this quote because you had the benching

08:07 because he reportedly didn't show up to the team hotel

08:09 the day before the Commander's game.

08:11 Then he was left in the US while they traveled to Germany.

08:14 And RapidPort said that it was because they wanted

08:16 to kind of give him time and see if he could be back

08:19 in a better space once they returned and after the bye week.

08:23 And it seems like their plan worked.

08:25 JC hasn't lived up to the Mr. INT label.

08:27 And it has to be addressed that the benching

08:30 was not just because of his attitude,

08:31 it was because of poor play.

08:33 I've tweeted about it, but I've seen a missed

08:36 or a mistake in at least one game,

08:38 every contest he's been back with New England.

08:42 And against the Commanders alone, I spotted three.

08:45 So he's not getting interceptions

08:48 and he's not giving up explosive plays.

08:52 Well, he is.

08:53 He had the one, obviously, the really bad one

08:55 with Marte Mapu where they busted a bracket coverage.

08:57 But in terms of just like one-on-one

09:00 where you're expecting him to be competitive

09:02 in those situations, like he's not giving those up.

09:04 It's more mental lapses.

09:06 So physically, I think he's not quite as fast as he used

09:08 to be, but he's still competitive.

09:10 He's just got to lock in and really, once again,

09:13 buy into the system and start doing the things he needs

09:15 to do on a down-to-down basis.

09:17 But also the turnovers haven't been there.

09:19 You'd like to see that from a guy

09:21 who's physically a bit limited.

09:22 You don't like him going up against the really fast,

09:25 quick receivers.

09:26 You'd like him to be able to body guys up and be physical.

09:28 So, hey, if JC Jackson's on board

09:30 and he also shows improved play,

09:33 then I'd be excited to see what he has to offer.

09:36 And he is, New England has the option

09:39 to pick up his contract next off season.

09:41 So we'll see what happens.

09:44 He's someone that contractually could stay in New England.

09:46 The cards are all there for that to happen.

09:48 It's just going to be a matter of whether or not

09:50 he can be someone they can rely on.

09:52 And that cornerback room, the entire room,

09:54 is not full of a lot of guys who you can rely on.

09:57 You got Christian Gonzalez, fantastic player.

09:59 Got an injury that took him out for the season

10:01 with a torn labrum.

10:02 Marcus Jones, also had a torn labrum.

10:04 Second season ending injury he's had.

10:06 Jonathan Jones has been in and out of the lineup

10:08 and he usually doesn't even play the full game.

10:10 Jack Jones, no longer on the team.

10:12 Sean Wade, decent player, but not

10:14 someone that you'd like to see extensive starting snaps.

10:16 And then Isaiah Bolden is on injured reserve.

10:18 You're hoping he takes some kind of leap next year

10:20 and can contribute outside of just special teams.

10:23 But it's just a position where you don't really

10:26 know what you have for next season.

10:28 But having JC, if he's locked in,

10:30 would definitely help in terms of knowing

10:33 what's in the pantry.

10:34 Before we get into the questions, though,

10:35 we finished the quick hitting news.

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11:17 All right, first question we're going to answer.

11:24 I kind of got into this one a little bit already,

11:26 but I'll just kind of fully address it as its own question.

11:30 Mac might be broken beyond repair.

11:32 That's fair.

11:33 But I'm not convinced any of the other QBs in our roster

11:35 give us a chance to win either.

11:39 How do we handle the rest of the season?

11:41 Yeah, yeah, we're at a really weird place

11:44 now where there's a lot of games left to play,

11:46 but the Patriots are virtually eliminated

11:48 from playoff contention.

11:49 They don't have much to play for other than pride at this point.

11:52 And one thing about the Patriots is

11:54 we can question how much pride they have on the outside

11:56 and their buying and everything.

11:57 But when you talk to them, they're

11:59 at least spouting the company line, where it sounds like,

12:01 especially for Matthew Slater, that guys

12:04 are trying to live up to the standards of the organization

12:08 and try to still play to a certain level

12:11 and attempt to win games.

12:13 There is pride involved in this.

12:14 And while there might eventually be players

12:17 that are trying to preserve their bodies,

12:19 contracts, things like that, I still

12:21 think there are a lot of guys who

12:23 are trying to show that they are going

12:25 to play hard in a bad situation.

12:26 And those are the kind of players you want to bring back.

12:28 So I don't think that you're totally just a grown

12:31 this year in the garbage.

12:32 I think you still have a lot of players who

12:34 are extension candidates, who are free agents

12:37 after this season.

12:37 You need to see how much effort they're going to give you

12:40 and whether or not they're people

12:41 you want to bring back and start to rebuild

12:43 this franchise around.

12:44 When it comes to Mac Jones, I don't

12:46 know that he's broken beyond repair.

12:49 Here's the thing with Mac.

12:51 Going back to the Colts game in Germany,

12:53 outside of three terrible decisions in the red zone

12:57 and then a couple others, there was one bad decision

12:59 I didn't like where he threw to Hunter Henry

13:01 when the safety was staring right at him

13:02 and could have checked it down.

13:04 He also had an inaccurate throw to pop on a quick out,

13:07 even though Forrest Buckner won immediately

13:09 against Colts Strange and was hugging him

13:11 in less than two seconds.

13:13 There were still plenty of fine plays.

13:15 I'm not going to sit here and say that Mac is like a Josh

13:18 Allen kind of guy where, yeah, he makes some bad mistakes,

13:21 but also look at that.

13:22 You're not seeing that level of play.

13:24 But at the same time, he's showing you

13:26 that he's a competent NFL quarterback.

13:28 It's just the two or three reps a game where you're like,

13:32 good Lord, man.

13:35 Did you forget what team you play for?

13:37 And that's just being brutally honest,

13:38 because I've been someone who's tried to not defend Mac

13:42 when it was not necessary, but I do

13:43 think he's a solid player when you're not

13:47 at this point in the season where, yeah, his confidence

13:50 has clearly been affected.

13:51 I'm not sure that he's broken, because again, he is still

13:54 showing solid flashes.

13:57 The accuracy, if you look for it, it's there.

14:00 The downfield throws have kind of gone away.

14:02 But when he gets the opportunity,

14:03 they've been there that season, but the consistency

14:05 has not been there.

14:07 And I'm not going to defend Mac and say

14:08 he should be the starter moving forward after this year.

14:11 I think you have to get competition

14:13 and you have to legitimately show him that the seat is hot

14:16 and really, I don't think you can even

14:18 go into next season with the idea

14:21 that he will be your starter for the rest of the year.

14:23 So again, I think you see who's fighting hard for you.

14:27 You can't just lay over and die, as we've heard from the players

14:30 every single week.

14:31 But at the same time, they're in a tough position

14:34 where you really don't want to win games,

14:37 but you do want to see who's got that heart in a losing season.

14:40 And yeah, Mac, look, I don't want

14:44 to watch Bailey Zappi quarterback

14:46 a professional football team.

14:47 I think it will go disastrously.

14:49 No offense to him, but that's what he's shown me

14:50 and that's all I have to go on.

14:52 But I don't think Mac's given you much either.

14:54 So like I said earlier, if you're

14:55 trying to send a signal to the team,

14:57 if you really are worried about his confidence

14:59 and you think that he might not be able to come back

15:02 if he continues to struggle, then fine.

15:03 But other than that, I think you stick with him

15:05 and see if he has something that you could build on

15:09 to be kind of comfortable with him being maybe your backup,

15:12 maybe your starter for the beginning of next season,

15:14 whatever the case may be.

15:16 I'm not good at doing these mailback questions quickly.

15:18 I'm really not.

15:19 I love to ramble.

15:20 But hopefully, it's at least entertaining whatever

15:23 is coming out of my mouth.

15:25 Let's check the comments.

15:26 How's everybody doing?

15:28 He keeps thinking we're trying to win this season.

15:30 We're not trying to win.

15:31 Yeah, everybody-- OK.

15:31 Everybody knows that we're not trying to win.

15:33 All right.

15:33 Fair enough.

15:34 All right.

15:35 With the state of the rest of the NFL,

15:37 do you think the Patriots have, through their roster

15:40 and coaching mismanagement, spoiled perhaps

15:42 their best chance to make a run at it for the next few years?

15:46 I tweeted, this question sent me to a dark place.

15:48 Because, yeah, I think it did.

15:52 Now, I will say that this is a season where

15:55 all the key offensive positions that you

15:57 like to see the Patriots address are relatively packed.

16:02 You got good quarterbacks.

16:03 You got good offensive linemen at the top,

16:05 specifically a tackle, two generational prospects

16:08 that are probably going to go off the board in the top five.

16:10 And then you got a ton of really good receivers.

16:12 Here's my thing.

16:14 If they get a Caleb Williams or a Drake May or a Jaden Daniels,

16:18 it's still the draft.

16:19 These are lottery picks.

16:21 I'm not trying to discourage.

16:23 I hope that these guys, one of them gets picked

16:26 and he works out their pennicks.

16:27 I know everybody likes pennicks as well.

16:29 Tons of options.

16:30 That's the point.

16:31 But man, this year feels wide open.

16:34 The Patriots have already beat the Bills.

16:36 They were close to tying it against the Dolphins

16:39 on their last drive, but their offensive line

16:41 collapsed around Mac Jones and they couldn't.

16:43 And then they just really killed themselves

16:45 against the Dolphins.

16:46 That was the first loss where you're like, all right,

16:48 yeah, it's probably tank a thought time.

16:51 But they were in it until they just squandered it

16:53 on their own on offense and defense

16:55 was extremely disappointing.

16:57 And then you got teams like the Bengals, obviously, unfortunately,

16:59 lost to O'Borough.

17:00 I don't think they were--

17:02 I'm thinking of the AFC here.

17:03 I don't think they would have gotten past the Ravens.

17:06 I think the run defense has been fantastic this year,

17:08 but they haven't really been tested

17:10 with a Lamar type talent.

17:13 So Jalen Hurts, obviously, is very, very good.

17:17 But Lamar Jackson's different, and he

17:18 tends to kill them on the ground whenever they face off.

17:21 And that team is just really talented as well

17:23 on both sides of the ball.

17:24 So the Ravens are a tough out.

17:26 But the Chiefs, because of their wide receiver position,

17:28 kind of like the Patriots, they look vulnerable.

17:31 Their defense is fantastic.

17:32 Patrick Mahomes is obviously great.

17:34 Didn't have a great game from Travis Kelsey.

17:36 He's still a Hall of Fame player.

17:37 We're not going to act like Travis Kelsey's bad

17:39 because he had one bad game.

17:40 But I think it's fair to say that, yeah, I mean,

17:42 I think they can still probably compete with the Chiefs.

17:44 We'll see in a few weeks.

17:45 But that defense is really tough.

17:47 But Belichick usually has good schemes against Patrick Mahomes.

17:50 A fun fact I love to throw out there any time it's

17:53 a Mahomes, Belichick, they're in the same breath,

17:56 is that Patrick Mahomes has not thrown a touchdown

17:59 in one half of every game that he's played in his career

18:02 against Bill Belichick, which I think is very telling.

18:05 Just in terms of Bill's familiarity with Mahomes.

18:07 Although I think Patrick has grown significantly

18:09 since they last faced off.

18:10 But still, the receivers are the problem there.

18:12 You're not beating Mahomes.

18:13 You beat the receivers.

18:15 But yeah, I think there are opportunities for them

18:17 to really make a run.

18:18 Now that said, it is kind of nice

18:21 that we can refresh a bit, most likely can refresh a bit,

18:25 because they're most likely going

18:26 to have one of the top picks.

18:28 And while it would have been nice

18:29 if Mac Jones had a good season, everybody stays healthy,

18:31 and you have a stable team heading into 2024,

18:35 and maybe they do make that playoff push.

18:37 I still think that it's probably best

18:40 that you just clean house.

18:42 As much as instant gratification,

18:43 I love me some instant gratification.

18:45 You got ADHD, it's like my entire thing.

18:47 But yeah, I think it's probably just better

18:50 that you eat it this season, and then you start anew

18:54 with whoever is that coach or GM or whatever,

18:58 and you just start a new cycle

19:01 of New England Patriots football.

19:04 Speaking of who's going to be running the team,

19:06 another really good question.

19:09 What are your thoughts on Mayo being the next head coach

19:11 if the Patriots move on from Belichick?

19:13 In my opinion, they need new ideas

19:15 and schemes in the building,

19:16 and doesn't hiring Mayo give you the same problem

19:19 we currently have?

19:20 So the problem you currently have is your offense,

19:23 and more specifically, your offensive personnel.

19:26 The defense has not been great,

19:27 but you're not going to convince me

19:29 that having Christian Gonzalez, Matthew Judon,

19:32 a relatively healthy Jonathan Jones,

19:34 doesn't seem, even Daniel Equale,

19:36 I'm not saying he's the needle mover,

19:38 but man, he's a really good rotational player for you.

19:41 And he's been missing, and it's shown in their pass rush,

19:43 because on the interior, or really on the defensive line,

19:46 they don't have many consistent pass rushing presences

19:48 outside of Barmore.

19:50 Uche hasn't been the same since his foot injury,

19:52 so he's not someone you can really count on right now.

19:55 Hopefully he starts to feel better and improve.

19:58 But Equale, man.

19:59 All right, I'm going on the Daniel Equale train.

20:00 But yeah, I think their losses have been significant.

20:03 The defense isn't the problem.

20:04 In fact, I think the defense has been one of the few reasons

20:06 this team has been competitive recently.

20:08 Special teams haven't been good the past couple of years.

20:10 Offense hasn't been good the past couple of years.

20:12 The defense, 2021, obviously they were pretty good,

20:15 ran into a bus saw against the Bills,

20:18 and just got played way off the field.

20:20 But they've been pretty good for the past few years.

20:22 They've had their lapses, not perfect, but good.

20:25 So I think that honestly,

20:26 keeping what the Patriots have defensively,

20:28 I'd love to see the staff stay on defense.

20:31 Maybe not Bill Belichick as much as it pains me to say,

20:34 but that's just what the season's been.

20:36 I do think you kind of need a fresh start in some capacity.

20:39 Even if Belichick stays, I think defensively,

20:41 you're in a pretty good spot overall.

20:43 I really like that coaching staff.

20:44 They got a lot of guys on that coaching staff

20:45 who people are going to be interviewing,

20:47 potentially for coaching candidates,

20:50 most specifically to Marcus Covington,

20:51 the defensive line coach.

20:53 But offense is your problem.

20:55 I don't even think it's Bill O'Brien.

20:57 I honestly would love to see Bill O'Brien stick around

20:59 and help develop a young quarterback.

21:03 So we've seen him do it before.

21:04 I think that he's a guy that you really want to hang on to.

21:07 The scheme hasn't been perfect.

21:08 There's been spacing issues,

21:10 maybe some questions about what he's trying to do.

21:12 He's modernizing the offense,

21:13 but sometimes you see things and you're like,

21:15 I don't really know what the purpose is

21:16 or why you're doing that.

21:18 He is a very deliberate coach,

21:19 but I think he could better utilize some things,

21:21 like how he's trying to use the Miami motion

21:23 where they go across and they go up.

21:25 Nothing really has come of it,

21:26 even though they do it every week.

21:28 But the pieces are the problem.

21:29 You have a quarterback who's turning it over consistently.

21:32 You have wide receivers and receivers in general

21:35 who aren't consistently coming down with the football,

21:37 especially in critical moments.

21:40 And then the offensive line,

21:41 it's just been beaten to shreds this season.

21:43 You got glimmers of hope with Sidney So

21:45 and Mike and Winnie on the right side.

21:46 That looks like a group that if Mike and Winnie was resigned

21:49 hopefully is a side that you can count on

21:52 for the foreseeable future.

21:53 David Andrews has been doing his best in the middle.

21:56 Gives up a couple rough pressures a game,

21:59 but he's been one of the best run blockers

22:01 and he's David Andrews.

22:03 Cole Strange has been hurt

22:05 and I've had a couple conversations with him.

22:08 And it's just, it cannot be overstated

22:11 how missing an entire training camp

22:14 as a second year player impacts you.

22:16 Because there's so many physical reps,

22:18 especially because he put on weight.

22:20 So he was still getting used to a new body,

22:22 seeing what he can do, what his strengths and weaknesses are

22:24 in this current frame, as well as having to improve

22:26 after not playing every game last season.

22:28 And unfortunately, we haven't seen

22:31 consistently good play from him.

22:33 He said last week that he thought

22:34 he kind of got whooped by DeForest Buckner a few times.

22:36 He said the issues were more physical with his feet

22:38 and things that he could fix.

22:40 And they weren't really mental.

22:41 Now, what I was really worried about

22:43 was when Cole was giving up blitzes and stunts.

22:45 Like that's the stuff that worries me

22:46 because if you're consistently making the mental mistakes,

22:50 then it just kind of deteriorates from there.

22:52 And then it becomes physical and then you unravel.

22:54 If it's just physical things, then okay,

22:56 you improve that with more technique,

22:58 more reps and experience.

23:01 Hopefully he gets better, but the jury's still out.

23:04 And I don't think you could,

23:05 he hasn't lived up to that first round billing.

23:06 And I don't think you can rely on him one-on-one

23:08 against good defensive tackles.

23:10 Really nervous about what's going to happen

23:11 against Dexter Lawrence this weekend.

23:14 We'll see.

23:14 And then left tackle.

23:15 You got to address left tackle,

23:16 but they have the capital to do it.

23:17 That doesn't worry me.

23:19 So long way to answer this question.

23:21 I told you I'm not good at answering these quickly.

23:24 But I think Mayo is someone who can help maintain

23:27 a lot of the culture that made the Patriots such,

23:29 have continuously made the Patriots a competitive team.

23:32 Like, yeah, they're losing a lot,

23:33 but they're also in almost every single one of these games.

23:35 And again, the defense is a big reason why,

23:37 'cause your special teams and offense

23:39 aren't doing you a whole lot of favors.

23:41 So keep those guys around.

23:43 I think the changes need to be in the front office.

23:46 I think you need, that's where the new vision,

23:49 and you need some fresh eyes,

23:51 because just look at the draft history.

23:54 I think this year is probably going to be better

23:55 than other years,

23:57 but you can't really advocate for the Patriots.

24:00 Yeah, they've gotten some later round gems,

24:03 but they've squandered a lot of early picks.

24:06 And that's why you're in the position you're in now,

24:08 where you have to spend a ton of capital

24:09 to fix a ton of key positions.

24:11 And you've still got some holes

24:12 that are going to need to be addressed.

24:13 Like, I think this is going to be

24:15 a much more competitive team with the right moves

24:16 next season.

24:17 I think they could even fight for a playoff spot,

24:20 because again, they're in all these games,

24:21 except for Dallas and the Saints.

24:23 Every other game, in the fourth quarter,

24:25 they had a shot at winning,

24:26 but they haven't had the firepower

24:28 or the discipline to win these games consistently.

24:30 So, yeah, get more talent,

24:32 and maybe get rid of some of the players

24:35 on the team this year,

24:36 who aren't really doing you a lot of favors

24:38 in terms of the locker room and the buying

24:39 and things like that.

24:40 I don't know who specifically that is,

24:42 but the reports are out there.

24:43 So, you know, restart the culture a little bit

24:46 and get some new blood flowing there.

24:49 Before I move on, get some more of your questions.

24:51 I'm going to send it over to our friends at SeatGeek.

24:54 Be right back.

24:54 Self-proclaimed Swifty,

24:57 I have been dying to see Taylor Swift perform in person,

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26:00 (upbeat music)

26:05 I can't stand hearing myself do promos.

26:09 Oh, it makes my skin crawl.

26:11 All right, moving on, moving on.

26:12 Another question about the Patriots coaching situation.

26:15 Hi, Taylor.

26:16 Hi, hard journalist.

26:18 Do you think Josh McDaniels will return to the Pats,

26:20 and do you think he would help the offense

26:22 even with Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator?

26:25 So it's a weird situation there

26:27 because we did see Josh McDaniels rejoin the staff

26:31 when Bill O'Brien was in charge back in 2011.

26:34 The Rams cleaned house,

26:35 Josh McDaniels hopped back to New England,

26:37 but that was a slightly different situation,

26:39 not slightly, significantly different situation

26:41 because Bill O'Brien was already expected to leave

26:43 as he would take the Penn State job after that season.

26:46 And then Josh McDaniels kind of helped with the playoffs

26:48 as they prepared for, you know,

26:50 they ended up going to the Super Bowl that year

26:51 and losing to the Giants.

26:52 But Josh McDaniels helped with a lot of that preparation.

26:55 It's been a long time since then.

26:56 These guys have done a lot,

26:57 had a lot of leadership roles.

26:59 So I'm not sure if they would work on the same staff.

27:03 I didn't really take that into consideration as much

27:05 when the news first broke.

27:06 Maybe that was, you know,

27:08 just getting excited at the possibilities

27:10 when they were at a kind of a, not a turning point,

27:12 but you know, kind of a weird part of their season,

27:17 weird part of their season.

27:19 If Bill O'Brien left, however,

27:21 and did take a head coaching job back in college,

27:24 I'd like to see Josh McDaniels come back

27:26 because he understands the culture.

27:28 He wouldn't be in charge, which is the biggest thing.

27:31 I would assume Gerard Mayo would be the head honcho.

27:33 And we've already seen that Josh McDaniels

27:34 do a pretty bang up job with a young quarterback

27:38 as Mac Jones was a Pro Bowl alternate his rookie year.

27:41 Now I will say, if they were to go get someone

27:44 like a Jaden Daniels or somebody that you see

27:47 as more of a rushing threat who you could utilize

27:49 and you know, more mobile packages

27:51 or somebody who thrives on RPOs,

27:53 that would concern me because we haven't seen Josh lean

27:56 into more modern types of NFL concepts.

27:59 It's really the classic stuff

28:00 where it's a lot of under center, a lot of play action,

28:02 not a ton of motion or necessarily a lot of exotic motion

28:05 and not a lot of RPOs.

28:07 Even when he had Cam Newton, you know,

28:08 that's when you saw, to be fair to him,

28:10 he unleashed the playbook in terms of all the run concepts.

28:14 Although I think some of that was out of desperation

28:16 'cause as a thrower, Cam was kind of cooked at that point.

28:19 But the RPOs, we didn't see a whole lot of.

28:23 We didn't see them with Mac Jones,

28:24 even though he was great with them in college.

28:26 So yeah, it would be interesting.

28:30 I still think as a quarterback whisperer,

28:32 I think he's one of the better ones in the league

28:33 when he's in a system where again, he isn't in charge.

28:36 But yeah, I think that one of them could work at the top.

28:41 I'm not sure that either one of them,

28:43 I'm not sure how happy either one of them would be

28:46 if they were making decisions together.

28:49 All right, do the Patriots have enough

28:52 to have a good offensive line for next year

28:54 or do they need another piece in the off season?

28:56 I like this question.

28:57 I love an offensive line question.

29:00 So left tackle, like I said,

29:02 if Trent Brown comes back at the right price, sure.

29:05 I do think that he, whether it's for money, his teammates,

29:09 I don't care what the reason is,

29:11 the guy tries his best to get on the field

29:13 from anything I've seen or heard in the past couple years.

29:16 And he's a really good player when he is on the field.

29:19 So I would say bring Trent Brown back

29:22 at a reasonable price.

29:23 Left guard, Cole Strange,

29:25 I would like to see the Patriots get a veteran swing option

29:30 who could be a quality starter at left guard.

29:33 Like somebody who is unspectacular,

29:35 but you're not gonna hear their name called a lot.

29:38 Because the thing with Cole is he's a good run blocker.

29:42 He has good moments in pass protection,

29:44 but the consistency isn't there.

29:45 And sometimes the losses are bad.

29:48 It's one thing if you're getting pushed back

29:50 and you're trying to re-anchor and you're resetting your feet

29:53 and after your third or fourth reset,

29:56 eventually you get walked into the quarterback.

29:58 But it's another thing when you end up on the ground

30:01 or you get caught lunging or you get walked back

30:03 and it's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa."

30:05 When you completely are out of control.

30:07 And those are the things about Cole

30:08 that scare me right now.

30:10 So I'd like to see a Ted Karras,

30:11 where he wasn't somebody

30:12 that made a lot of egregious mistakes.

30:14 He wasn't bulldozing in the run game

30:16 and he wasn't just locking down the best defensive tackles

30:20 or anything like that.

30:20 But he was solid

30:21 and you didn't really have to worry about him.

30:23 So I'd like to see some kind of an insurance policy almost

30:27 at the left guard spot,

30:29 especially because Sidney So

30:30 is probably gonna be your right guard.

30:32 He's doing pretty well.

30:33 Last week, gave up a sack, a few pressures.

30:36 It was his worst game as a pass protector

30:38 since the season opener.

30:39 But he'd been great as a pass protector

30:41 in the games before that right guard

30:43 when he was in the lineup originally for Mike and Wynne,

30:46 who then just became a mainstay at the spot.

30:49 But still, having that veteran presence,

30:51 you're like, all right,

30:52 just in case this guy has a slump,

30:54 we can put them in there.

30:55 I think that would be best.

30:57 David Andrews, I'm assuming he'll be back

30:59 because he hasn't hinted that he wants to retire

31:01 and he's still under contract for another couple of years.

31:04 If he ends up retiring, obviously, he got a hole there.

31:08 Is Jake Andrews gonna fill it?

31:09 I don't know.

31:10 We haven't seen a lot of Jake Andrews

31:11 against good players.

31:13 I'd love to see Cole Strange move over to center,

31:18 but it's not a position he's super familiar with,

31:20 so that's more of a projection than anything else.

31:22 And then obviously you got Antonio Moffie,

31:24 who they drafted this year.

31:25 They tried very hard to make him the top backup,

31:27 specifically at left guard.

31:29 Did not work.

31:30 He is PFF's lowest graded offensive lineman.

31:33 I don't even think you need a qualifier.

31:36 I like Moffie, but his play really started to decline.

31:40 There were physical mistakes.

31:41 There were a lot of mental mistakes,

31:43 and he just kind of looks slow out there,

31:44 to be totally honest.

31:45 So I hope that he can get it together,

31:48 and maybe they can have an interior

31:49 where it's City, Moffie, and Cole Strange.

31:52 That is my fantasy, as long as it's,

31:55 all those players can play well in those roles.

31:58 I think they'd be a really interesting combination.

32:01 But yeah, if David Andrews leaves,

32:02 then it creates a lot of questions.

32:04 And then right tackle, I think, keep in mind,

32:07 you need guys who are playing well for you right now,

32:09 who are fighting hard,

32:10 and who have played well for you that you drafted.

32:13 Zach Cock did a great job breaking down

32:16 in a tweet a couple of weeks ago,

32:18 how the Patriots don't tend to resign their high draft picks.

32:21 And when the players that they've resigned

32:24 are typically in the middle of the late rounds.

32:26 Mike Nwenu obviously is a late round guy,

32:28 but he's not gonna fuck that trend.

32:30 But he's been playing good football for you.

32:32 And I think he deserves to get some money

32:34 and for you to show the locker room that if you,

32:37 not only that, he's been crazy versatile.

32:38 He's played tackle, he's played both guard spots.

32:40 He's played tight end in heavy sets

32:44 when they had actual offensive line depth.

32:45 I mean, I don't know what else you want from the guy.

32:47 The only knock is the ankle injury,

32:50 which is the first major injury that he's had in the NFL.

32:53 So I don't see a reason why you don't resign Mike Nwenu,

32:56 sign him to a contract like the Packers, Elton Jenkins,

32:58 where the bases as a guard

33:00 is like one of the best guards in the league.

33:02 And then you also add incentives

33:04 if he makes the Pro Bowl or All Pro as a tackle

33:06 to give him some flexibility in case you decide

33:08 that you wanna kind of mess around with his position again,

33:12 'cause he's just been great for you.

33:13 And I think that you need to reward him for what he's done.

33:17 So yeah, left tackle is the most glaring need.

33:19 I think that's like quarterback is 1A, receiver is 1B,

33:24 and tackle is 1C.

33:28 Yeah, I almost said 1-3, my bad.

33:29 But yeah, those are obviously top needs for you.

33:33 But you have Trent Brown as an option,

33:36 but if not, maybe like a Jonah Williams

33:38 for your top three pick,

33:40 and the quarterbacks are off the board,

33:42 or Marvin Harrison's off the board,

33:43 and you don't love your quarterback options,

33:45 you go with Joe Alt or Oluf Ashanu,

33:48 or one of those guys who, instant plug and play,

33:50 they're gonna be one of the better tackles in the league.

33:53 All right, next question.

33:54 With Tom Brady no longer on the Patriots

33:57 and the probability of playing

33:58 for the Super Bowl being very low,

34:00 how much of a market value will the Patriots have to pay

34:03 to entice free agents to play in Foxborough?

34:05 I think we were kind of already there.

34:07 I think there's still gonna be,

34:08 well, that's assuming that Belichick leaves.

34:10 I think there are still some players

34:11 who would wanna play for Belichick,

34:13 because obviously the record hasn't been great

34:16 the past couple of years,

34:16 but players constantly rave about Belichick

34:19 and how he brings out the best in them,

34:21 how much smarter they are at working under him.

34:23 But I'm assuming you're talking about offense.

34:26 But yeah, I think now you're one of those teams

34:27 that has to throw a bag at players to get them excited

34:30 because you don't have a lot of credibility

34:31 in terms of if you come here,

34:33 you're gonna play for championships.

34:34 Get players to come for money.

34:36 Players like money.

34:38 So yeah, I think above market value.

34:41 I mean, the market is what it is.

34:43 I think that if it's,

34:45 if you gotta get into a bidding war,

34:47 this is one of my kind of keys for the off season.

34:49 Not for anybody.

34:50 Like I'm not saying like what,

34:52 what the right tackle situation is off season

34:54 was a perfect example.

34:55 I didn't think there was anybody in that group

34:56 that deserved the kind of money that they got.

34:59 I thought they were a bunch of solid players

35:01 who were okay in their systems,

35:04 but weren't really worth throwing a bag at necessarily.

35:07 But if you're a team with a lot of money

35:09 and a lot of draft capital,

35:11 and you can kind of navigate

35:12 and don't have a ton of holes,

35:13 Patriots are not one of these teams,

35:15 but sometimes you can kind of get away

35:17 with just throwing a lot of money at someone.

35:18 Now, if it's a receiver like a Tee Higgins,

35:21 although his injury situation this season

35:22 kind of scares me a bit.

35:24 But if it's somebody like him or Michael Pittman,

35:26 where they can legitimately elevate your franchise

35:28 like instantly, and you know what they are.

35:30 Not like a Judith Smith-Schuster,

35:31 where he's injured and you're kind of banking

35:33 on what he might be.

35:34 Not like a Nelson Aguilar,

35:35 where he's had one really good year,

35:38 but the rest of his career has been eh.

35:40 Like no, throw money at someone

35:41 with multiple years of proven high quality production,

35:45 where in a year or two when that contract looks outdated,

35:49 it's fine.

35:50 That's the thing, these contracts always get more expensive.

35:52 The only time you overpay for a player

35:54 is the player's not good.

35:56 If it's, you know, if you're paying a lot of money

35:58 for good players, that's fine.

35:59 If you pay a lot of money for a decent player

36:01 or a pretty good player,

36:03 that's where you run into problems,

36:04 'cause that's a bad contract you're gonna have

36:06 to try to wiggle your way out of afterwards.

36:09 But yeah, the Patriots are probably gonna have to pay

36:11 a nice chunk of change if they want a difference-making

36:14 player on offense, who's gonna want attention elsewhere,

36:18 or gonna have interest elsewhere.

36:20 And that's just what you gotta do.

36:21 I think it's something the Patriots have been hesitant

36:23 to do for a while.

36:24 They went on their little spending spree,

36:25 but the spending spree is what you don't wanna do.

36:27 Like what they did in 2021,

36:29 where you throw money at Hunter Henry,

36:31 who I was excited about at the time,

36:33 but wasn't the same kind of player,

36:35 and obviously got banged up, which hurt.

36:37 Or like a Johnny Smith, where he's the kind of player

36:39 where he had like a good season,

36:40 but when you really look closer, you're like,

36:43 he's more opportunistic than he is a difference-maker.

36:45 Although he had some highlight plays as well.

36:48 But it wasn't there to the degree

36:49 where you could instantly project

36:50 that he was gonna be a number one tight end,

36:52 who was a big difference-maker for you.

36:54 So don't do what you did in 2021.

36:56 Like, you know, you can add your smart Patriots value

36:59 pickups where you don't overpay for a guy

37:01 who's gonna have a defined role,

37:03 and be a fan favorite, like a Jelani Tavai maybe.

37:07 But yeah, you're gonna have to throw money at somebody,

37:10 and just make sure that that money is well spent.

37:12 That's the biggest thing.

37:13 It's the only time that really comes to concern.

37:16 Do you think trading back and getting more prices,

37:19 but getting more picks, but staying in the top 10 is better,

37:22 or sit and pick at three or four?

37:24 This is an interesting one.

37:25 I haven't, and I had a disclaimer,

37:28 I feel like in every show,

37:29 I haven't gone through these draft prospects, much at all,

37:32 but definitely not close enough to be like,

37:33 all right, if you're top three, get that, that, that,

37:36 and it's top 12, get that, that, that.

37:37 Like, I don't know all that.

37:39 I'm like, it's top five,

37:40 and then I'm not really totally sure,

37:41 and I don't know where these guys are gonna land.

37:43 Draft stocks can also change.

37:45 Like Jaden Daniels is someone who I really think

37:48 is gonna get a lot more popular as the season goes,

37:53 or I'm sorry, yeah, I think he's gonna just get

37:55 a lot more popular, and his stock is gonna rise a little bit

37:57 because I think his progression is kind of like

37:59 a Jalen Hurts, where you see significant progress,

38:02 year to year, which is what teams wanna see.

38:04 Like, if you can make a jump,

38:05 then they think you can make a bigger jump

38:06 with NFL coaches.

38:07 I digress.

38:10 I think if you believe you can get a quarterback,

38:15 like later in the top 10, maybe like in the 15-ish range,

38:19 because there's, you know, if you don't have a tackle,

38:23 then I feel like, all right,

38:24 you can kind of pass on a receiver and a quarterback,

38:26 but a rare tackle, you're not finding those,

38:29 and you're not getting them outside of the top five

38:31 or top 10, like ever,

38:33 unless they have a significant red flag.

38:35 However, there are quarterbacks

38:36 who are probably gonna fall out of the top 10,

38:38 and there's also really good receivers

38:40 who are gonna fall out of the top 10.

38:41 So I think if that's the kind of situation

38:43 where you think you can get a receiver

38:45 and a quarterback a little bit later,

38:47 and you're relatively set at tackle,

38:49 then I think, yeah, because this team, as I've said,

38:52 needs a lot of players.

38:53 They don't have a ton of blue chips you can point to

38:56 and be like, that's a guy that people have to game plan for

38:59 that I'm worried about.

39:00 I thought they could get away with just having

39:02 a bunch of good players who weren't blue chips,

39:03 but did their jobs,

39:05 and obviously that didn't work out too well.

39:07 So I don't hate the idea of trading back

39:09 if you've got like a top five pick

39:11 and you don't really know what to do with it,

39:13 or the elite prospects that you wanted are off your board,

39:17 because then you can maybe get a couple positions of need

39:19 with top 50, top 32 picks,

39:23 depending on how you move around the board.

39:24 But I like it.

39:25 I like the idea of getting at least four,

39:29 maybe five players in the top 100.

39:31 If they have a top three pick,

39:32 they'll have about four choices in the top 100,

39:34 and that could be more if they are able

39:37 to finagle the board a little bit.

39:38 But yeah, I think it's an interesting option.

39:40 All right, last one from the actual mailbag.

39:44 If anybody has any other questions they'd like me to answer

39:47 before I head out of here, feel free to throw them in.

39:50 I will try to get to them before I bounce.

39:52 Which Thanksgiving Day game are you most excited to watch?

39:56 It's gotta be, gotta be 49er Seahawks.

39:59 One of the more entertaining,

40:00 like consistently entertaining rivalries,

40:02 I think in football.

40:04 Plus I love Geno Smith.

40:07 Seahawks, super talented, they're competitive,

40:10 obviously great receivers, good defense.

40:12 And the 49ers are the 49ers.

40:14 And they're always a good time to watch, even, you know,

40:16 and then when they're playing badly,

40:17 it's fun to watch because it's like,

40:19 you're watching the King fall for a night or whatever.

40:21 And you know, I'm a sicko, so I like a little bit of that.

40:23 But yeah, also throw in the comments if you want,

40:25 which games are you looking forward to?

40:27 I feel like this slate isn't great.

40:29 I think that, what is it, Lions Packers?

40:31 Let me make sure.

40:32 Lions Packers, that has some potential.

40:37 Jordan Love just had himself a good game in the Lions,

40:41 bringing the roar back in Detroit.

40:43 They've been really fun to watch.

40:44 Ben Johnson, Patriots don't have

40:46 an offensive coordinator next year.

40:48 Top of the list.

40:49 That's the kind of guy where the toughness

40:51 that the Lions have.

40:52 Now the winning culture that they are currently instilling.

40:56 And just the way they go about their business.

40:58 I really, really love it.

40:59 I enjoy watching Lions football.

41:01 I think that they are pretty much what the Patriots

41:03 want to be and what they tried to become in a lot of ways.

41:08 And just the pieces haven't been there.

41:10 I mean, obviously you got to build a team around

41:12 if you get Ben Johnson, but I digress.

41:14 Yeah, so I think that'll be,

41:16 it has the potential to be a fun game.

41:18 We'll see what actually happens.

41:19 I also don't know how much I trust the Packers defense

41:21 to keep it super competitive, but we'll see.

41:23 And then Commander's Cowboys,

41:25 potential.

41:28 That actually is another one that has potential.

41:30 So Sam Howell, I've been saying like, dude, dude can ball.

41:34 I think Patriots fans don't need to be convinced anymore

41:37 because he had, first it was a throw across his body,

41:39 which wasn't the smartest thing in the world,

41:41 but it was impressive.

41:42 And he had like three or four throws in that game

41:44 where I'm watching it and I'm like,

41:47 I can't really be mean to the defense.

41:49 That was a really impressive play.

41:50 And there's only so much you can do.

41:52 So yeah, I think Sam Howell might be able

41:55 to keep it competitive, but that Commander's,

41:57 defense against, like Dak is on fire right now.

41:59 And that Commander's defense has been booty.

42:03 I watched the Giants offense against them.

42:07 And you know, Brian Dable did his thing.

42:10 He schemed him up pretty nicely.

42:12 But at the same time, like, woof,

42:13 there were some real unimpressive plays

42:16 in coverage for the Commanders.

42:19 Like, yeah, the pass rush thing is what it is.

42:22 Obviously they're not really trying to win games

42:24 or anything like that, but they're also a competitive team.

42:26 But some of the mistakes that defense was making

42:28 were really, really bad.

42:29 And you know, I don't know, again,

42:31 I don't know if they'll be able to keep it competitive,

42:33 but it's a solid slate of games.

42:34 I think that, you know, if Jordan Love

42:36 and Sam Howell do their thing,

42:37 if the defenses, you know,

42:39 don't get run out of the building,

42:41 I think we can have a good slate of games.

42:43 But I feel like Seahawks 49,

42:44 it's like, you can't go wrong with that one.

42:46 We'll go through comments before I get out of here.

42:49 Turn up necessary, you're awesome.

42:50 Aw, thank you so much for the kind words.

42:52 I appreciate it.

42:53 You're awesome.

42:55 Sweet potato pie overrated.

42:57 Fair point.

42:58 Sam Howell was overrated.

43:00 He scores more points for the Giants than he did.

43:02 The Giants did.

43:03 Eh, that's fair.

43:04 That's fair as well.

43:05 I'm not gonna lie to you.

43:06 But you know, he's fun at least.

43:08 When he does bad things,

43:10 it's kind of that Carson Wentz,

43:11 where it's like a car accident,

43:13 where it's like, it's awful,

43:14 but I can't stop watching.

43:15 But yeah, good slate of Thanksgiving games.

43:19 I'm out of stuff.

43:21 I don't see any more questions in here,

43:22 so I'm gonna head out.

43:23 But thank you all so much for keeping me company.

43:25 It was good catching up.

43:27 We should do this again soon.

43:28 Enjoy the rest of your night.

43:30 Make sure to keep it locked in on CLNS Media.

43:33 Follow me at @tkyles39 on Twitter.

43:37 Take care of yourselves.

43:38 Take care of each other.

43:40 And we'll see you next time.

43:41 Thanks again, everybody.

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