On this episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast, the NFL season is finally here! Greg Bedard and Nick Cattles make their predictions for the Patriots entire season, as well as the final results of the AFC East. Greg and Nick also predict the entire playoff picture in both the AFC and NFC, and their picks for individual awards. Plus, Greg gives his pick for the Bengals game, and what his picks on PrizePicks will be for Week 1. All that, and much more!
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00:00This is the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:10Another football season is officially upon us.
00:13We cannot wait until Sunday, even though neither of us believe the Patriots are going to have
00:17a magical season.
00:18We love football and we love watching the game.
00:20We love breaking the game down.
00:22There are young players to watch to hopefully be excited over.
00:25We'll get to all of that.
00:26But first, I remind you, the prize picks app.
00:29Download that app today.
00:30Use code CLNS.
00:31Get 50 bucks instantly when you play $5.
00:34That's code CLNS on prize picks to get 50 bucks instantly.
00:38When you play five bucks, you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus.
00:43It's guaranteed.
00:44Prize picks run your game.
00:46Also, shout out to our friends at Game Time.
00:48Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time.
00:51Download the Game Time app.
00:52Create an account.
00:53Use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.
00:57Download Game Time today.
00:58What time is it?
00:59It's Game Time.
01:00Before we get to our conference previews, Greg, a couple of stories came out this morning.
01:05OK.
01:06Karen Grecian interviewed Robert Kraft about the upcoming year and Andrew Callahan of the
01:13Herald.
01:14Of course, Koreans at Mass Live want to give them the shout.
01:17And then Callahan at the Herald spoke with Elliot Wolfe for an interview.
01:23Just two things I want to ask you about.
01:26And I tweeted about this this morning at Nick C Radio if you want to follow me.
01:29Greg doesn't need any more followers.
01:30He's got like 100,000 people following him.
01:34But it was a great column by Karen, who is an OG, does her work better than anybody else.
01:41And she met up with Kraft.
01:43And here's what Kraft had to say, Greg, about this upcoming year to go along with his decision
01:49to hire Gerard Mayo and Elliot Wolfe and all that, quote, I'm always thinking about what's
01:53right for the long term.
01:54Our businesses are private.
01:56I don't need to make reports to Wall Street every 90 days.
01:59I do what the right thing is strategically long term.
02:03And I think I've done that with Gerard.
02:04I'm going to do what my gut tells me and stay with it until I'm convinced it's not right.
02:09Norwegian writes, of course, Kraft vividly remembers what happened during Belichick's
02:13first year.
02:14He remembered all the pushback and pundits writing about his huge mistake.
02:18Here's what Kraft said about those critics, quote, Belichick went five and 11 that first
02:23year and they were killing me.
02:25But I'm not going to let doubters influence my life.
02:27I'm going to do what's right for this team and our fan base.
02:30It's very important that I think we have a management group.
02:32I don't know how we're going to do this year, but we have a management group.
02:36I feel is right for the future, Greg.
02:39I'll just highlight some words in the first sentence, long term, third sentence, long
02:46term, then in the second quote, you have I don't know how we're going to do this year,
02:54but we have a management group I feel is right for the future.
02:57I know RKK has talked about making the playoffs and all of that stuff.
03:01But I took from this interview, he knows what's going to happen this year and he's getting
03:06people ready for a tough season, reminding them this is about the future.
03:10Your thoughts.
03:12So I did skim that the interview story, I I thought most of it was basically versions
03:21of things that he has said, whether it was the owners meetings or Gerard's introductory
03:28press conference.
03:31The trip to Israel was was really hit on.
03:34Yeah.
03:35I mean, I understand why you you took that out.
03:39What I took out of it was sort of the vibes, Israel, spiritual, like, you know, OK, maybe
03:54if I'm picking somebody's godfather, then then that's the stuff that's important to
03:59me.
04:00You know, I'm trying to hire a football coach and somebody to win Super Bowls.
04:06And, you know, he could feel that way about Gerard Mayo.
04:10You could also say that when he hired Bill Belichick, none of those things were true
04:13about Bill Belichick in terms of it was all, you know, what we've heard Robert talk about
04:20with Bill over the years has all been about his mind, how he thought of analytics, how
04:25he thought of economics, like he was ahead of the time.
04:29You could see like so so Bill, they believed at the time when they hired him was giving
04:35them an edge football wise, team building wise that other teams didn't have, that the
04:43Patriots weren't used to, that they could use to their advantage.
04:46And now I compare that to ways talking about Mayo.
04:49And all I could take away from it is Mayo gives the Patriots an edge in terms of vibes
04:57and spirituality.
04:58Yeah.
04:59Okay.
05:00Again, yeah, if I was picking my grandfather, godfather for my kids, then those things would
05:07be important to me.
05:08But we're trying to win football games here.
05:10So look, just the same way as I talk about like Elliott with personnel, Gerard with his
05:16coaching decisions, RKK gets to hire the coach and he can have his reasonings and I'm not
05:22going to push back hard against it.
05:24I'm going to note certain things and some of my worries and some of the things that
05:27I like, but largely I'm going to be like, okay, he's earned the right to make the decision.
05:32Then the scoreboard will tell the tale.
05:34So you know, just from a football standpoint, if I'm a football fan, I thought the reasonings
05:41and a lot of them that we've already heard from Robert for picking Gerard were pretty
05:48weak in my opinion, but it's his team.
05:53Yeah.
05:54I would first say, I want to get to the comments you're mentioning and I want to let people
05:58know in case they didn't read the article, what exactly Kraft said, I will say, you know,
06:04the benefit of the doubt, you think they hired Pete Carroll.
06:07It didn't work out in New England, but Pete ended up being a pretty damn good head coach
06:10eventually.
06:11Right.
06:12And then they hired Belichick.
06:13So, so far, so very good when it comes to picking head coaches.
06:18So Greg, what you said about, you know, the spirituality and some of the reasoning, it
06:23feels to me like this was a hire done with the heart and not necessarily the head.
06:30And Kraft said, and again, this isn't about religion or spirituality.
06:34We're not, we're not talking about that part of it.
06:36We're talking about that being the reason to hire somebody for a very important job.
06:43Kraft said about the trip to Israel, we went to a lot of special places and then he said,
06:47I remember his reaction when he got baptized in the Jordan River.
06:52I saw a sign of spirituality.
06:55I could tell that moment was special.
06:57Again, I have no idea what in the hell that has to do with hiring him as a head coach.
07:05And then he said, Kraft said, the main thing, we're at the airport getting ready to leave.
07:11So he says like, this is the main reason, this was the watershed moment.
07:15The main thing, we're at the airport getting ready to leave.
07:18And there was a big delay.
07:20So we had all these guys sitting around.
07:22Then Gerard organized a meeting with a forum and held a discussion on the trip.
07:26He did it all on his own.
07:28And at that moment, I saw the initiative and the way people respected him.
07:32And I said to myself, he's going to be our next head coach.
07:38Wait a minute.
07:40So he got the Yah-Yah Brotherhood meeting together and they all held hands in the airport.
07:46Okay, great.
07:47He showed the initiative.
07:49But that's back in what, 2019?
07:53And Robert's saying that it was five years ago when he said, this guy's going to be our
07:59next head coach in Kraft.
08:02Again, this might all work out and I hope it does.
08:07But the reasoning, man.
08:08So like five years ago, coming off of a very spiritual, emotional trip, in that moment,
08:15you made the decision that Mayo was going to be your next head coach.
08:20No matter what happened with the team, no matter what happened with Mayo, no matter
08:23how the league changed, no matter what Mayo did from 2019 to 2024.
08:29I don't love that, Greg.
08:30Yeah.
08:31And this is something that we've also talked about.
08:34If he was ordained to be the next head coach, which evidently was like five years ago, then
08:42Robert should have talked to Gerard and said, look, you're our next head coach.
08:47I want you to prepare for that job down the line.
08:50And that might not be here.
08:53We all know the way Bill is in terms of titles and responsibilities and Steve's there.
09:00And like I've said this before, and even at the time they had that written into his
09:08contract succession, he would have been better off for a year or two going somewhere and
09:13being somebody's defensive coordinator, being in a different system, being with a different
09:18offensive system.
09:19Maybe he gets buddy buddies with the next offensive coordinator like Slowick or Zach
09:25Robinson or something like that.
09:28If Kraft really believed that, he should have been counseling Gerard to be like, look, you
09:34need to stop thinking short term and about here.
09:37You need to start thinking globally.
09:39So you need to go out and you need to acquire knowledge and experience and all this stuff
09:46so you can come back and be our next great head coach.
09:50And none of that stuff happened.
09:53And so that's another disappointment.
09:55To get back to the quotes that you were talking about earlier on, yeah, I mean, I think we've
10:03seen a lowering of the bar here and I think at least somebody's giving Robert a dose of
10:10reality.
10:11And the good thing is I think Robert will be patient, a lot more patient than the fan
10:17base is.
10:18I want them to marry that in terms of personnel and also the quarterback.
10:25If everybody's in this for the long term and they don't mind taking short term losses,
10:31again, you have to prioritize the development of Drake May.
10:35I don't want to win a couple games this year, a couple more games this year, just getting
10:39Drake May in.
10:41He cannot play until you think he's ready and there's very little chance of regression.
10:46So if this is the way the franchise is going to be, which I do not disagree with at all,
10:51I think this is the path they need to go.
10:54Make sure you keep a global view of all this, including the quarterback.
11:00It's as if we've done this podcast before.
11:03Greg leads me right into Andrew Callahan's interview with Elliott Wolfe.
11:07And I wanted to touch upon a couple of the comments that Wolfe made about Jacoby Brissett
11:12starting.
11:13He said, quote, one thing with the quarterback position specifically is we've seen Jacoby
11:17do it.
11:18We've seen him excel in this offense.
11:19I think his best year in the league was in this offense when he was in Cleveland.
11:23And so there's just more of a known quantity there with what we have with him.
11:28And we feel like he gives us the best chance to win here early in the season.
11:34I have another quote.
11:35But first on that one, the most telling part to me was gives us the best chance to win
11:41here early in the season.
11:43Early in the season, leaving the door open for Drake May to quickly become QB one if
11:49need be.
11:50Right.
11:51Yes.
11:52So keep that in mind.
11:55Second comment.
11:56Obviously, it's going to depend on how the team's doing and if Jacoby is lighting it
11:59up.
12:00I'll just stop there.
12:01So we're wondering, you know, what what are the situations where the Patriots might make
12:05the change?
12:07Elliott Wolfe says it's going to depend on how the team's doing and if Jacoby is lighting
12:12it up.
12:14So even if the team is competing, but Brissette is not necessarily, quote unquote, lighting
12:18it up, they could still go to Drake May.
12:21Yeah, I you know, I would agree with that.
12:24I just think and I think we talked about it last pod, but I've been on a bunch of different
12:30shows and stuff, so I'm not sure what I've said where, you know, I do think that.
12:36I think the only reason that Drake May is in the starting conversation, whether it was
12:44for week one or early on in the season, to me, it's more about Jacoby that I think at
12:51a certain point in time with the practices, with this performance in the preseason game,
12:56I think it dawned on people or at least they remembered they're like, oh, right, Jacoby
13:01is really not that good.
13:03And, you know, the more that you see him play, the more you see him hesitate and be slow
13:09and take sacks and miss open receivers, which, you know, I guarantee next week when we break
13:15down the film, you know, on this pod, you know, I think there will be I'm just going
13:20to say right now, I would say the over under on minus decisions that I have in the game
13:25for Jacoby is probably going to be about five over under.
13:31And that's that's normally a lot.
13:34I think even for Mac Jones, you know, three or four would be a lot in terms of just decision.
13:42And you know, that includes taking sacks and taking hits where I give the quarterback part
13:46of it, where I'm like, you didn't need to do that.
13:48You didn't need to take that hit.
13:49You got a guy open.
13:51You could make a different decision.
13:52So I think that I think that really internally, I think they've been underwhelmed by Jacoby.
13:58And they I think a lot of them are like, you know, hopefully he can keep it together
14:03for three, four or five games.
14:06But eventually it's going to get to a point where and I think they're there now where
14:12Drake isn't all that far off from Jacoby.
14:17And you know, unfortunately, I mean, I do think it goes to some of the stuff that like
14:22the Felgers of the world said about like they needed to pick a better bridge quarterback.
14:26I mean, they were trying to sort of thread up some very small needle, Nick, in terms
14:33of like you could say, like, go out and sign Baker Mayfield or go and sign Kirk Cousins.
14:39Like, that's great.
14:40But you're talking about guys, first of all, you're going to have to put a lot of resources
14:44into them.
14:46Second of all, they're sort of alpha dogs and they're they're not going to acquiesce.
14:52They're not going to go quietly into the night should the rookie get to a point where
14:57he's going to play.
14:58You have to find the balance of, OK, you want to get a better quarterback.
15:02But you know, what if the kids ready, you know, in week eight, how is that veteran going
15:06to react?
15:07How is that going to affect the rest of the team?
15:10You know, it's it's easy to play fantasy football in a lot of different areas, including this
15:13one where you can just say, well, just go pay pay Baker Mayfield.
15:16OK, fine.
15:18What if Baker's two and six?
15:20The Patriots aren't going anywhere.
15:23And they're like, all right, well, the kids ready to play, you know, Baker could cause
15:27all sorts of issues in there that could affect the rookie quarterback.
15:30So, you know, that's all part of the discussion, too.
15:33But I just think that I think that very quickly yet Elliott's not wrong in terms of he played
15:39well in this offense in twenty twenty two.
15:41We've talked about it.
15:42I think he was eighth in QBR that year.
15:45Statistically, you can make that argument.
15:48I think the film shows something a little bit different.
15:51Not quite as good.
15:53And you got to remember, yeah, he was doing that with Kevin Stefanski basically calling
15:59the plays a really good offensive line.
16:02He had Amari Cooper.
16:04He had some tight ends.
16:05He had Nick Chubb behind him.
16:07And so there were a lot of things going for Jacoby and Jacoby needs to be surrounded
16:11by a lot to look like that.
16:14The Patriots don't have it.
16:15So what's it going to look like this year?
16:20Mayo and Wolf both talked a lot about culture as we went through the offseason.
16:27And I think you could look at the decision to bring in Jacoby Brissett versus guys like
16:30Gardner Minshew or maybe spending even more money on a Baker Mayfield.
16:36That could have more to do with personality than actual on the field play.
16:41Wolf might think we don't know.
16:43He might think that Minshew would have been better than Brissett if they brought him in.
16:49Baker was going to be better.
16:50But as you mentioned, Greg, you know, Gardner Minshew.
16:53He's a big personality.
16:54Yeah.
16:55I remember all the stories when he took over at Jacksonville, you know, like he he was
16:59like one of the topics of that NFL season.
17:02And his teammates love him.
17:03Love him.
17:04Yeah.
17:05His teammates love him.
17:06The media loves him.
17:08He's a great interview.
17:10He's again a big personality.
17:12And Baker has a lot of that, too, like, you know, kind of like, look, I've got the cachet.
17:16I was drafted at the top of the draft.
17:18And, you know, he's got a little bit of magnetism, too, where Jacoby.
17:24And this is no slight to Jacoby, but Jacoby's Jacoby and he's not a bigger than life personality.
17:30He he, of course, has an ego.
17:32We all have egos.
17:34But just looking from the outside in, you could see Jacoby's ego being a little less
17:37than the Gardner Minshew's of the world or Baker's.
17:39So this could be more about who Jacoby is as a person, more than who he is as a quarterback,
17:45because they know they're going to eventually go to Drake May and they wanted to bring somebody
17:49in who, yeah, might not be as good as those two guys, but it's not a huge drop off.
17:54And, you know, when you make that move, it's not going to be a big deal.
17:58It's not it's not going to become a big deal.
18:00All right.
18:01We got to get to the AFC preview.
18:03I did want to mention before we get to that, though, one more comment from Wolf within
18:08that within that comment about the quarterbacks.
18:11And I agree with him here.
18:12He says, we just feel like the worst thing that could happen is you put a guy in before
18:16he's ready and then you have to take him out, whether that's him or somebody in another
18:20position for a young player to not be ready and be put in that position.
18:23It can be counterproductive to their career.
18:26I agree with that.
18:27Like once you go to the young quarterback, I think it's a terrible idea to then take
18:31him out if he's not doing well.
18:33I think that can mess him up.
18:35But also beyond the quarterback position, Greg, this might give us a look into the other
18:41young guys.
18:42Right.
18:43They might be less prone to play Jalen Polk a lot early because, hey, once we put him
18:48there and we got him with all of those snaps, eventually he's going to we want him to be
18:53one of the guys.
18:55We don't want to then take him out if he's struggling.
18:57And then the offensive line, Leighton Robinson and Caden Wallace, they might be a little
19:02bit more patient with Caden Wallace and say, yeah, he might eventually be our guy at right
19:08tackle and we slide a winnow back to the right guard.
19:11But we don't want to go to him too early, because if we go to him too early and then
19:15we got to pull him out, it's going to screw up his psyche, especially if we're still thinking
19:18about maybe down the road, moving him to left tackle.
19:21Yeah, you know, I can definitely see that.
19:23I just think I think Polk's I think he's ready to play.
19:28I think his his mental errors, the way I see it on film and again, I don't exactly
19:34know what they're being asked to do.
19:36To me, they've gone down with every game.
19:39You know, I just think he reminds me a lot of I think he's a better I've said it before.
19:43He's a better Jacoby Brissett, a more athletic Jacoby Brissett in terms of his toughness,
19:48smarts, reliability, all that stuff.
19:52And so I'm not worried, you know, as opposed to a Javon Baker.
19:56Like I could see that that guy being just a mental mess if he's out there and he screws
20:02up and the coaches bench him and like all that.
20:05We've already seen him go through that in camp after I think it was the second preseason
20:09game when he was kind of a train wreck out there.
20:10He got demoted all the way down the third string and, you know, hanging his head and
20:14things like that and let alone going on Instagram and recording stuff about cops giving him
20:20a ticket and things like that.
20:22But I don't worry about Polk.
20:24And I just think, you know, Robinson's been so good that kid's got to play and he'll he'll
20:29be fine.
20:30He'll find his way.
20:31For the record, I agree with you.
20:33I'm just looking at how the Patriots might handle it.
20:36Yeah.
20:37Polk better be out there a lot early on.
20:38Yep.
20:39And Robinson should be out there as well.
20:41All right.
20:42Before we get to the AFC preview, we're going to run through a lot here.
20:44Let's first get Greg's thoughts on prize picks coming up this weekend and and what he's looking
20:49at and why.
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21:03All you have to do is pick more or less on two to six stat projections and watch the
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21:10One Caleb William passing yard gets you one win on Prize Picks every week in September.
21:15I used it.
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21:22Four weeks of free W's.
21:24Don't miss this deal on Prize Picks because it's gone when September ends.
21:28For this weekend, and pretty much I'm sticking just to the Patriots game because it takes
21:33me too much research to figure out what's going on with other teams.
21:36At least I know a little bit about what's going on with the Patriots and their opponent
21:40that week.
21:41So this week on Prize Picks, and I did six picks.
21:45So I took the Caleb Williams free square.
21:47So that's one.
21:49I just have to get five out of the next five.
21:50I took Antonio Gibson over 12 and a half receiving yards.
21:55I think that's definitely going to happen.
21:57It could happen in the first quarter with Antonio Gibson.
22:00I think they're going to be relying on him a lot in the passing game.
22:03I took Hunter Henry more than 27 and a half receiving yards.
22:08There was also the catches.
22:09I think it was four.
22:11I didn't feel as good about that.
22:14I think in this offense, Jacoby loves throwing to the tight end.
22:17This offense highlights the tight ends.
22:19All they need is one sort of play action, seam pass, which this offense loves, and Hunter
22:24could hit that again in the first quarter.
22:27Jacoby Brissett, I took less 19 and a half pass completions.
22:33If he's completing 20 or more passes, the Patriots are in trouble.
22:36Now that could happen.
22:38That could be the case.
22:39But I think a good day, a competitive day for the Patriots is Jacoby somewhere around
22:4613 of 20, 15 of 22 type of thing.
22:50So I went less than 19 and a half.
22:51I feel good about that.
22:53I switched over the Bengals for two more of my picks.
22:56Trey Hendrickson, the defensive end, more than 0.75 sacks.
23:01So he needs one sack against Chuck Secor for, I'm feeling pretty good about that one.
23:07And this one might be a little bit iffy, but I'm going off history.
23:12Joe Burrow, more than 0.5 interceptions.
23:16Joe has a history of shaky debuts.
23:19A couple of years ago, he threw four interceptions in the first game against some crap bag team.
23:24I think he's good for a pick in this game.
23:27So those are my picks.
23:27Download, play along with me.
23:29Download the PrizePicks app today and use code CLNS and get $50 instantly when you play $5.
23:36That's code CLNS on PrizePicks to get $50 instantly when you play $5.
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23:46PrizePicks, run your game.
23:49All right.
23:50Speaking of running, let's run through the AFC preview, NFC preview.
23:54We'll start with the AFC East.
23:57Greg, who do you have winning the AFC East?
23:59And I know that you also broke down the entire division.
24:02So give the people the intel.
24:03So I have the – it's going to be very close, okay?
24:07I have three teams within a game of each other.
24:10And a lot of this stuff is going to come down to tiebreakers.
24:12I see the AFC very close for the last playoff spot.
24:16So every sort of head-to-head matchup, tiebreaker scenarios is going to be huge.
24:21Because I actually – at the end of the day, I had four teams tied at 9 and 8 for the last AFC playoff spot.
24:31In the AFC East, the champions – no, I don't feel good about this – the New York Jets at 10 and 7.
24:38I have the Bills finishing 9 and 8 in second place.
24:43The Dolphins in third at 9 and 8 as well.
24:48And your New England Patriots, their record for the 2024-2025 season will be 6 and 11,
24:58including 1 and 5 in the division.
25:031 and 5 in the division.
25:04All right, so I've got the Jets winning the division as well.
25:07I just – their defense is really good.
25:11Sol is very smart defensively.
25:13Yeah, and you're going to get improved quarterback play, even if you don't love Aaron Rodgers.
25:17You're not playing Zach Wilson.
25:19They won, what, seven games last year?
25:21They won seven games last year with what they had at quarterback.
25:25I have to imagine they win 10, especially – I agree with you.
25:28I think Miami takes a little bit of a step back, and Buffalo continues to take a little
25:32bit of a step back.
25:34That makes it a little bit easier for the Jets.
25:36My Patriots record is 5 and 12.
25:40I think they finish 5 and 12.
25:42I think their floor is 3 wins.
25:43I think their ceiling is 7.
25:45Greg, I'm going to give you my wins.
25:48You let me know if you agree with any of them.
25:51So I've got them beating Seattle in week 2.
25:54Same here.
25:55The idea is Geno Smith against this defense.
25:58I think they can do some things against him that will bother him.
26:01Mike McDonald, fantastic singer, tremendous voice range.
26:06I mean, his vocal range is out of control.
26:09Just check him out.
26:10Doobie Brothers and all that stuff.
26:11But in his off time, he's the defensive coordinator for the Ravens last year.
26:15Now gets the full-time gig at Seattle as the head coach.
26:19He's going to throw a lot at Brissette in this offense, but I think they can win that
26:23game.
26:24I've got them winning against Jacksonville in London.
26:27Okay, I do not have that one.
26:31I think they can get at Trevor Lawrence.
26:33I think they can do some things against that.
26:36Or Mack Jones.
26:37And get after that defense as well a little bit.
26:41I think you could see more Patriots fans than Jaguars fans in London.
26:45I've got them winning the home game against the Jets.
26:48I do not, but interesting.
26:51What division win do you have for them?
26:53The Dolphins.
26:54Okay.
26:55I could see that.
26:56I thought about that.
26:57And it could be Drake May's first start.
27:00Yes, week five.
27:03I was like, between the Jets and the Dolphins for the win in the division.
27:08I think they'll get swept by Buffalo.
27:11I think they're getting closer.
27:13I mean, they've never beaten Tua, but I think they've been getting closer.
27:16I think they know how to defend the Dolphins a little bit better.
27:22A lot of the stuff that the Patriots are going to want to do defensively, I think Aaron's
27:26just going to, Aaron's too advanced.
27:29He's going to be able to sniff it out.
27:31So I'm afraid of Aaron if he's healthy this year.
27:35My fourth win of the season.
27:38At Tennessee.
27:39Yep.
27:40We agree on that.
27:41Week nine.
27:42I think they'll drive Will Levis batshit crazy.
27:46My fifth and final win.
27:49Home against Indianapolis.
27:50I agree.
27:51That is one of my victories.
27:54Dome team.
27:55Richardson, of course, played at Florida warm weather, played in the dome.
27:59Still very raw.
28:00Lots of talent, but very raw.
28:03So those are my five wins.
28:06You have six wins.
28:07I think you agreed with Seattle, Tennessee and Indianapolis.
28:11So what are the other three wins?
28:12You said Miami.
28:13So we got five at home.
28:15What are the other two wins that you have that I didn't have?
28:20Let me just go through them because I didn't remember exactly what you said.
28:23So week two versus the Seahawks.
28:25Week five, home to the Dolphins.
28:27Could be Drake May's first start.
28:29Would be a good spot if he's ready and Jacoby is not, quote unquote, lighting it up.
28:35Week nine at Tennessee.
28:38We agreed on.
28:39Not a fan of Will Levis.
28:41And I just want to bluff Felger about like, look at the way the tights did it.
28:46You know, they signed so-and-so and Ridley and they did it the right way.
28:50The Patriots did it wrong.
28:52They cheaped out.
28:53And guess what?
28:54The Patriots beat him.
28:55I just want to be able to bluff him.
28:57Week 11 versus the Rams.
29:00And you'll see here, two of my victories are West Coast teams coming east, which is going
29:06to be tough.
29:07And I didn't even look whether those games are four o'clock or one o'clock.
29:11But if they're one o'clock, it's even better for the Patriots.
29:14You know, I think the Rams are fine, but I do think, you know, life after Aaron Donald
29:18is not going to be easy for those guys.
29:20And, you know, they have Jared Verse and all this stuff, but, you know, I'm not, I'm not
29:24crazy about them.
29:25Who knows if, if the quarterback, I wanted to say Sam Bradford for a second, I was going
29:32back in the day.
29:36What's his name?
29:37Yeah.
29:38Stafford.
29:39Who knows if Stafford is even healthy then, you know, is it Stetson Bennett?
29:42Like, you know, who the hell knows?
29:43So, you know, I'm, I'm just going to go Rams at home with the West Coast team coming east.
29:48I have the Colts at home, which we agreed on.
29:51Who knows that who's a quarterback?
29:53Who knows if Anthony Richardson is any good?
29:55I do think that team has talent, but we say the same thing every year about the Colts
29:59and they're always the same.
30:00They're sort of blah.
30:03And this is a bit of a surprise.
30:06Week 17 versus the Chargers.
30:08Again, a West Coast team coming east, the Chargers are probably going to need that for
30:12the playoffs.
30:14They'll probably be well-primed with Harbaugh and all that.
30:16I just feel like, you know, I just, maybe the Patriots catch them napping a little bit.
30:24I do think that they'll win one of the last couple games, whether it's the Bills at home
30:29and the Bills might not need it or something like that.
30:32I do think, I think they'll find another victory towards the end of the season.
30:36I don't think, I don't think there'll be like last season when everybody's given up hope
30:39and doesn't really care anymore.
30:42I like the Chargers one.
30:43I had that as a possible, if I could swap any of the games, you know, maybe they lose
30:48in London.
30:49I do like the Chargers.
30:51By the way, the Rams game is one o'clock Eastern, the Chargers is TBD, so that's the old to
30:58be determined.
30:59So the one o'clock games, if that one, probably it'll be a crap bag game.
31:04If that's one o'clock too, that's a huge advantage for the Patriots that they're playing at one
31:07o'clock Eastern.
31:09It's right before Thanksgiving.
31:11Turkey.
31:12Yep.
31:13Then you've got, but the, the, the Patriots to twofold that Chargers game.
31:17Number one, they do have to fly to the East as Greg said.
31:22It's also December 29th.
31:25So after Christmas, right before the new year I would imagine it's going to be cold in New
31:30England, maybe a little bit of snow.
31:33You get the California team coming cross country to play in some poopy weather.
31:38Annette Justin Herbert has not been good against the Patriots and look, some of that could
31:42be Bill Belichick, Steve Belichick, but I have to imagine DeMarcus Covington has some
31:46tricks up his sleeve.
31:48Herbert's been pretty brutal against the Patriots in his young career.
31:52So something else to think about.
31:54All right.
31:55AFC seeds.
31:56What do you got?
31:57AFC seeds.
31:59Let's see.
32:00I have number one, the chiefs, number two, the Ravens, number three, the Texans, number
32:05four, the Jets, the wild cards, bangles, Chargers, bills.
32:12And you know, the bills just edge out the dolphins, Jaguars, and Broncos who are also
32:17all at nine and eight.
32:19By the way, I'm not saying go bet this, but one of the, one of the over-unders that I
32:25like this year on wins is Denver.
32:27I think they're like four and a half or five.
32:29I don't get that.
32:30I can't.
32:31I mean, you saw him with Russell Wilson last year and all the, all the chaos, Sean Payton.
32:38I'm going with at least six wins with Sean Payton.
32:40Didn't they win like seven or eight games last year?
32:42Like, and I don't even know how the hell they did that.
32:45Yeah, exactly.
32:46Wilson was like, looked like a right-handed Tebow at times.
32:51We agree with all, I think we agree on all seven teams.
32:53I flip-flopped the Ravens and Texans.
32:55I got the Texans as the two seed.
32:57I flip-flopped, I think it was the bills and Chargers.
33:00I got the bills, six Chargers, seven, but yeah, chiefs, Texans, Ravens, jets, since
33:05he bills Chargers are my seven.
33:07All right.
33:08NFC, let's get to the NFC.
33:09Your seeds there, Greg, my season, NFC, uh, 49ers lions, both tied at 13 and four.
33:16I think that was a, uh, head to head.
33:18I think I had the 49ers over the lions.
33:20I'm pretty sure they play this year and that's why they got the number one seed, uh, the
33:26Cowboys 11 and six, because I think they're divisions, a bunch of doo-doo number four
33:32Falcons five Packers six Eagles.
33:38So Eagles and Cowboys tied at 11 and six must've been sort of tie tiebreaker scenario.
33:44Number seven, the Seahawks,
33:45Hmm.
33:46Seattle.
33:47I don't have Seattle.
33:49I've got Detroit as the number one seed.
33:52I've got Philly, the Niners and the Falcons Cowboys, fifth seed Rams Packers.
34:01Those are my seven.
34:02So you have the Rams instead of, uh, you have the Rams.
34:05I have the Seahawks.
34:06Yeah.
34:07Yeah.
34:08I'll, I'll take Mike McVeigh over a Mike McDonald, but I do love his singing.
34:14Yes, yes.
34:17Taking it to the streets.
34:18I'll give you a little sweet freedom.
34:27I saw him at Newport with my brother.
34:30My brother's a huge Michael McDonald fan.
34:32He kicked ass Mike in the mechanics.
34:36He killed it.
34:37He killed it.
34:38It was just him in a, like a little keyboard up there.
34:40It was a big stage, just him and a little keyboard, like a, like a kid keyboard and
34:44he crushed it.
34:45He crushed it.
34:46Um, Superbowl.
34:47What's your Superbowl, Greg?
34:49My Superbowl is the chiefs.
34:52So I have the chiefs over the bangles to get to the Superbowl and I have the lions over
34:59the 49ers to get to the Superbowl.
35:01Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:04I got the, uh, lions in the Superbowl.
35:08I've got the Cincinnati bangles in the Superbowl.
35:11Holy crap.
35:12Lions bangles.
35:13Who do you think wins the Superbowl cats and dogs living together?
35:16Total anarchy.
35:17Uh, I have the chiefs with the three Pete and it'll drive people crazy around here.
35:23I just think if they can get, they, if they get within sniff, if they can smell that three
35:28Pete that Superbowl week, if they can get there, I don't think there's any way they're
35:33losing that game.
35:36Lions bangles, the lions win the Superbowl.
35:41Oh my God.
35:42I feel like I'm just going to freeze over.
35:44Hardy does the morning show on 98 five pantless that week.
35:48And uh, it's, it's utter chaos in the streets.
35:51We don't even know what to do with ourselves before we get to the awards.
35:55I want to throw this out there.
35:57I am going to dunk so hard on Felger and James Stewart today because your guy, Burt Brear
36:01just went on NBC sports Boston and said the Patriots offered more than $80 million guaranteed
36:06to Brandon.
36:07Oh man, Jay still and Felger down bad.
36:11Oh, I'm going to be insufferable on Twitter.
36:13Oh, I, I, I hope Jay Stu's ready for the nonstop barrage.
36:18I'm going to send his way.
36:19All right, let's get to a awards.
36:23We'll start with the easiest, I think.
36:25And we'll also do our Patriots awards for each category.
36:28Yep.
36:29Uh, MVP, Greg Mahomes, yep.
36:33Patriots MVP.
36:34Andre Stevenson.
36:36I would go at Stevenson.
36:37You went with Stevenson.
36:38I'll throw this randomly out there and Hunter Henry.
36:41Yep.
36:42Got a chance.
36:43Offense, offense, tight end driven.
36:44He's looked pretty good in camp.
36:45I think people overlook how good he is.
36:47He can do something.
36:49Offensive player of the year.
36:50Brees Hall jets.
36:52I just think he's, yeah, he, I just think he's going to be, he's going to be really
36:56good in the, in the run game, the pass game.
36:59Uh, yeah.
37:01Give me angry Jamar chase for Cincy.
37:03Uh, Patriots offensive player of the year.
37:06Pop Douglas.
37:07I just think, uh, hopefully he stays healthy.
37:08This is all a health thing because if he stays on the field, he'll be highly productive.
37:12So go with pop.
37:15We agree.
37:17Defensive player of the year.
37:18Micah Parsons.
37:19I just can't.
37:20But now that Aaron Donald is out, um, I can't go with any of it.
37:24He's the best.
37:25He's the best in the league.
37:26Well, if you think about my super bowl pick, I'm going to grab somebody from there.
37:34I'm going to go with Aiden Hutchinson.
37:35Wow.
37:36Nice player of the year.
37:37Uh, Patriots, DPOI, Keon white.
37:40I just think he's, uh, I think he's primed.
37:44I think he's going to be on the field all the time.
37:45A little sub rushing inside.
37:47Um, yeah, I think he's going to be highlighted.
37:51I'm going to go with my Patriots crush.
37:53Jabril Peppers, um, offensive rookie of the year, Caleb Williams.
37:58I just think like, look, I don't think he's going to be sensational.
38:01I think he's gonna, he's going to throw a lot of picks and things like that, but I just
38:05think he's going to revive Chicago.
38:07I think they're going to be real.
38:08I think they're going to be in it.
38:10And um, you know, I just think, I think it's going to be too tough for the voters to overlook.
38:16They're going to be real and they're going to be spectacular.
38:18Uh, I'm going to go with the, uh, Patriots, Jalen Polk.
38:22Let's go.
38:23Wow.
38:24How about you?
38:25That's right.
38:26Let's go.
38:27So I am going with, of course I'm staying, you know, in character.
38:32I'm going with, and by the way, I spelled it Jaden Robinson, uh, Laden Robinson, uh,
38:37the right guard.
38:38I just think he's going to be, you know, you remember when a when he came on and he was
38:42really good his rookie year.
38:45I don't know why, but I think Robinson's going to be even better.
38:48Of course.
38:49And when it was like a six round pick and Robinson was a fourth round pick, but I just
38:52think that kid, you know, even though he had his struggles, he, I loved how he had his
38:57struggles early in that preseason game, but he rebounded and he actually played really
39:01well.
39:02Like, I think he's going to be a beast inside for them at right guard, defensive rookie
39:07of the year.
39:08I have, uh, I have Jared verse of the Rams, um, you know, edge guy, he's going to have
39:13to pick up a lot of the Aaron Donald's, uh, slack.
39:16I don't like a lot of these.
39:18I mean, some people will go a lot to, or, you know, Byron Murphy, I think is going to
39:23be great.
39:24And he, you know, the defensive tackle for the Seahawks.
39:26I mean, he's probably my favorite defensive player, but those guys, I think Aaron Donald's
39:31the last defensive tackle to, to get that.
39:34And he's not going to have the kind of pass rush numbers that Aaron not all did.
39:38Murphy fell right into the lap of Seattle and he was exactly what they needed.
39:41Yep.
39:42Uh, I'm angry at you.
39:43Cause I also had verse and I thought I might surprise you with that one, but you stink.
39:47Uh, the Patriots defensive player of the year, Greg.
39:49So they don't really have one.
39:51Uh, your, your, your possibilities are Del Pettis.
39:56Uh, undrafted free agent or Marcellus dial, which, you know, last time he was burnt toast
40:03in the preseason game.
40:04So I'm not picking him.
40:05I did want to take one moment to mention.
40:07So I was at a practice the other day and this guy, Oh, Sean or off Sean Mathis, this outside
40:15linebacker number 32 that they picked up on the practice squad.
40:19Holy cow.
40:20That dude is a dude.
40:21Like I was like, who the hell is that?
40:24Like he is built like an Adonis.
40:26And so, you know, who knows, look, look for him to get a shot at some point.
40:30And when you see him out there and you're like, it reminds me a little bit of Jamie
40:35Collins, but more in like a safety body, if that makes sense.
40:39But, uh, anyways, I just wanted to point that out, uh, you know, good looking dude off the
40:43hoof coach of the year, coach of the year, uh, uh, Jim Harbaugh.
40:50I think that he is, uh, everywhere he goes, he has an instant impact and that's, you know,
40:57I can't wait for him to, uh, resurrect Justin Herbert and lead them to multiple Superbowl
41:02titles for all the people who are just like, he doesn't win enough and like, he's kind
41:06of choky.
41:07Like, come on.
41:08Brandon Staley was his freaking coach.
41:10Like what are we talking about?
41:11And so Jim, Jim Harbaugh, uh, of the chargers, not the Rams is, uh, is going to be the defense
41:19coach of the year.
41:21Staley sucked.
41:23Uh, Jim Harbaugh, I had down, so I'll do something different here.
41:27I'll, I don't know.
41:28I'll top of my head.
41:29I'll go Dan Campbell.
41:30Why the hell not?
41:31Patriots assistant coach.
41:33So I'm going to go with Scott Peters, the offensive line coach.
41:35I think it's, uh, you know, cause where the bar is.
41:38And I think, um, I think it fairly short order.
41:43I think they'll get things settled on the offensive line.
41:45And I think, you know, the, the, the, the wide zone running scheme will, will take hold.
41:50They'll get the timing down and all that.
41:52And I think they'll have a decent unit.
41:55And so for where the expectations are right now, I think, uh, by the end of the year,
42:00you're going to think, uh, Scott Peters and Robert Kugler, the assistant offensive line
42:04coach that those guys did a hell of a job.
42:08Mike Pellegrino.
42:09I think the defense will be good.
42:11And I think the defense will be good because of that secondary.
42:13So give me a Mike Pellegrino.
42:15Greg, tell the fine people about game time.
42:18It's that time of year.
42:19It's football season.
42:20It's getting a little chilly out at night.
42:23Just football.
42:23You could smell football in the air and to be part of it.
42:27You got to be there.
42:28You got to be at the game, whether it's college, you know, BC is doing a good job with Billy.
42:33Oh, go up to the Heights, take in a game or, you know, get down to Gillette to watch the
42:39Patriots and to help you get there and get the best deal.
42:43You got to go to game time.
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42:59I love the all in pricing.
43:01You just click a button.
43:02You see it, you know, you know, the fees that you get at other places where you're just
43:06like, holy cow, this is like double the amount that I thought I was going to pay.
43:10You just need to click that button.
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43:13No surprises at the end.
43:15Seat views.
43:15It's a must for me.
43:17Get panoramic views from your seat in the app before you buy.
43:20I need to know what I'm looking at, where I am, what sideline, whatever.
43:25I need to know the information.
43:26I was just looking through the app.
43:29Look like some really good deals for me, for Patriots at the Jets Thursday night.
43:34I know you got to deal with Jets fans.
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44:05All right.
44:05Before we get to our game picks and thoughts about this game against the Bengals on Sunday,
44:09I remind all of you that you want to check out BSJ, $50 for the year.
44:13Bedard Giardi doing great tag team work over there about the Patriots, writing about the
44:19Patriots.
44:20And I saw John Corrales had a write-up on his interview with Joe Mizzoula.
44:25I watched the first part of that last night.
44:28So you want to check that out.
44:28Mizzoula is a very, very interesting and unique individual.
44:33And he's a madman.
44:34It's a fantastic talking about how he was studying the breath control of Broadway actors
44:42and actresses when he went to Broadway with his wife because he found it fascinating about
44:48their ability to sing and then talk within four seconds of each other.
44:52And he wanted to see their breathing patterns.
44:54I'm like, I mean, and also he went to the U.S.
44:57Open tennis and he's charting unforced errors and stuff.
45:01And how many times, bro, how many times they spoke to their coaches during their matches?
45:07It's unbelievable.
45:09Also, I remind you, download the prize picks app today.
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45:25Run your game.
45:26All right.
45:26Speaking of picks, Greg Patriots at the Bengals game one of the 2024 NFL season.
45:34The Bengals are eight and a half point favorites.
45:37This number has gone down a little bit.
45:38It started at around nine and a half.
45:40Some places have it down to like seven and a half.
45:43So the money is coming in on the Patriots.
45:45The over under is 40 and a half.
45:47What say you, Greg Bedard?
45:50So a couple of things at play here.
45:53I think that the Patriots are largely an unknown with new head coach,
46:00new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, but same sort of scheme.
46:04I think Demarcus Covington as defensive coordinator is going to be a lot like Brian Flores.
46:09Then say Steve Belichick or Matt Patricia.
46:13I think he's going to be very aggressive.
46:17I think there's a lot of things going on in Cincinnati with the whole Jamar Chase thing.
46:22How happy is Tee Higgins about his contract situation?
46:25You got Trent Brown's going to be out there.
46:29Joe Burrow has a history of not playing well early on in the season,
46:36especially in the season opener.
46:38I don't think these guys got a ton of work in the preseason.
46:42The Patriots got a lot of work in the preseason.
46:44I always like teams that do that.
46:47I think they have a chance to start faster.
46:49I think that Joe Burrow coming back from this wrist thing,
46:53another reason why I was a little cooler on the Bengals.
46:58I don't know how healthy he is.
47:00I don't know how healthy he is going to be the whole season.
47:07I just think the Patriots have the ability,
47:09as long as Jacoby doesn't turn the ball over,
47:13I think that they can hold down the Bengals.
47:15They're never really high flying in the opener.
47:19Joe, I think will turn it over a time or two.
47:24I just think it's going to be closer than people think.
47:26So I'm going to go Bengals 20, Patriots 13.
47:32So that is under the 40 and a half.
47:37I'm impressed that you did that quick math in your head.
47:40Yes.
47:40I'm going to go Patriots plus eight and a half.
47:43Just too heavy for a week one.
47:45I just think it's too many points and many people agree with that.
47:48That's why the number continues to go down, as I just mentioned.
47:51So if you can jump on this,
47:53I think I jumped on it earlier in the week when it was nine or nine and a half.
47:56So Pat's plus eight and a half, too many points there.
48:00Van Pelt does have a good history against Cincinnati.
48:03So that's something to think about.
48:05Chase, even if he plays, I don't think he's going to be
48:09out there as much as if he had a full camp.
48:11So who knows how much he plays if he plays.
48:14And Cincinnati really has an issue up front against the run.
48:17And I think the Patriots can pop some runs against this defense.
48:20So give me the Patriots.
48:22Similar score to you.
48:23I got it like, you know, 23, 16.
48:26So a touchdown difference there.
48:29And of course, that would also be just under
48:32just under the 40 and a half with a total of 39.
48:35So those are our thoughts.
48:37Hopefully enjoyed the podcast.
48:38We're back early next week to recap what happens on Sunday.
48:42Until then, have a great weekend.
48:44Enjoy the football.
48:45It's going to be a lot of fun.
48:46Should be a great season.
48:48We'll talk to you next time.