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00:00This is the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:10For the second time in the last three weeks, we get to talk about a win.
00:15Sounds kind of crazy.
00:16We're going to get into it in just a minute, but first download the prize picks app today.
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00:41Before we get to the game, we always do this.
00:42We get to the headlines first and Greg, over the weekend, right before the Patriots played
00:48the Bears in Chicago, they decided to claim Yannick Ngakwe.
00:53Your thoughts when you saw that move?
00:57My immediate thought was, um, basically they picked up the equivalent of Josh Uche, um,
01:06and kept their draft pick in their pocket that they got for Uche.
01:10Um, it was, you know, they sent, they sent, uh, sort of a designated pass rusher out the
01:15door and they brought in one.
01:17Now I know Mayo and other people have talked up his ability to play all three downs.
01:23It's never been really a strength of him, uh, his, he's not really the most disciplined
01:27guy as far as defending the run or rushing the passer.
01:31Um, certainly a talented guy.
01:34That's for sure.
01:35Um, you know, has been one of those guys that, uh, is able to affect the quarterback.
01:41Um, but I think it was just the Patriots don't have, once they sent Uche out the door, they
01:46don't really have anybody like in the wings, like waiting to, you know, be like a designated
01:53pass rusher.
01:54Um, you know, you can talk all you want about, you know, Anthony Jennings and Keon White
02:00playing more snaps or this, that, and the other, or, you know, if you want to talk yourself
02:04into Oshawn Mathis or something like that, you know, more power to you, but they didn't
02:09really, they don't really have anybody.
02:11So to get somebody in the mix that can take up some snaps, they claimed in Gawkway.
02:16I think it's a good move.
02:19Um, you know, perhaps he has something that he can give you in the future and you're getting
02:23them in the building right now.
02:24But I think it's just, uh, they need pass rush help, um, to ignore what happened on
02:29Sunday.
02:30Um, this was a team that had eight sacks entering, um, Sunday's game before they had, uh, nine.
02:36So it was, uh, they were looking for past, for past rush help.
02:42And I thought it was a good, solid move.
02:43Yeah.
02:44I think it's an upgrade over Ushae.
02:46And as you said, you get the pick for Ushae.
02:49So you replaced the spot on the roster.
02:51Uh, and this is really when the very early injury to O'Shane Ximenez is something that
02:56we kind of overlook, but Ximenez, I think was going to be that guy and Ushae, if he
03:01was moved off the roster, like he was Ximenez would just slot right in and he had a pretty
03:06good preseason.
03:07Then he tore his ACL and that was that.
03:09So you have a bunch of youth behind, uh, behind Ushae.
03:12So you make that move that they made for Ngakwe makes a lot of sense to me.
03:18Uh, did it make sense to you that Raekwon McMillan was the guy out after the move?
03:22Yeah, he really hadn't done anything.
03:25Um, you know, I'm sure there's other, there's some depth pieces that maybe could have moved
03:31before him because he's, he has experience.
03:34But I think the Patriots are, um, they're in a place right now where they are, uh, tilting
03:41towards youth that they're there.
03:43They'd rather give the playing time and, you know, possibly, you know, bank somebody, keep
03:49them on the roster.
03:50Who's, you know, a first or second year player rather than somebody like Raekwon McMillan,
03:55who's, who's been around the block a few times, not saying that he's old or anything like
04:00that.
04:01They would, they would rather keep, uh, some of the guys that they have on their roster
04:05and just, uh, let go of some veterans that don't have much of a future here.
04:10It's interesting, Greg, because you look at that linebacker spot, uh, McMillan has gone.
04:14We know Bentley is done for the season.
04:16Uh, Christian Ellis missed this past weekend with an injury.
04:19And then during the games, the only talkie talkie left with a hamstring injury, how concerned
04:25are you?
04:26How concerned are you about that linebacker spot?
04:28Yeah.
04:29Yeah.
04:30I mean, you know, you gotta be, um, I mean, Ellis is really a special teams guy, you know,
04:34he shouldn't be starting.
04:35I mean, really, I mean, this is why talkie talkie was brought in here, but the guy cannot
04:39stay healthy.
04:40He gets hurt every time he's on the field.
04:42Um, you know, we saw, you know, Curtis Jacobs was out there.
04:46They brought up Joe Giles Harris.
04:48Um, you know, yeah.
04:52You know, it's a concern.
04:53I'm not overly concerned because, you know, especially once they get Duggar back from
04:57injury, um, you know, they have enough safeties, you know, could get schooler into the mix
05:04a little bit more.
05:06Um, and you know, most, most of this, the NFL game is now sub package anyway.
05:12So, you know, linebackers, I, you know, they're, you need them, but, uh, I'm not overly worried
05:18about it.
05:20Yeah.
05:21And, and some might be thinking about Tyrell Dotson who was released by Seattle, uh, yesterday,
05:28which was a pretty interesting move because Dotson is the leading tackler for the Seahawks.
05:32Looks like Mike McDonald is, is, you know, trying to shake some things up on that second
05:36level.
05:37I would say that Dotson is somebody that did not do a great job against the run.
05:42So if you're concerned about the run defense, I don't know if Dotson is the guy to, to go
05:46out there and try to claim, but he is an interesting name because he was highly productive
05:51with Seattle this year.
05:52Uh, he's good in coverage and he's only 26 years old.
05:55So I would not be shocked if the Patriots could have some interest in Dotson, but we'll
06:01see if that comes together or not.
06:02All right.
06:03Kendrick born wide receiver.
06:04Another big storyline to me over the weekend, Greg was the fact that Kendrick didn't play.
06:09And I know that Andrew Callahan came out and said that one of his sources told him that
06:15born did not play because they wanted to play the younger receivers, which to me, it makes
06:19a lot of sense.
06:20I could buy that.
06:21I could buy that explanation until I see KJ Osborne get 27 snaps.
06:27So Greg, why was Kendrick born really not playing on Sunday?
06:30Yeah, I don't know for sure the answer, but I didn't when I heard Andrew's report, which
06:36I'm sure somebody in the building told them that, um, I didn't believe it quite frankly.
06:42Um, to me, it smells like Kendrick born did something wrong and was punished in this game.
06:47And really he was only going to play in case of injury or, uh, you know, if it was a situation
06:53where they had to drop back to pass like 57 times, um, he could have been used to spell
06:58somebody a time or two, but, um, you know, Kendrick Kendrick for as good of a morale
07:05guy as he is, uh, certainly a cheerleader, a talker good with the media.
07:11Uh, he's had his issues here as far as remaining focused, um, you know, doing everything he's
07:20supposed to be to do to me, this, this reeks of, he did something late for a meeting, didn't
07:25show up.
07:26Um, you know, his film hasn't been great, but, uh, to me that it smelled to me like
07:32this was punishment and that was a cover story.
07:35Yeah.
07:36The false start followed by being short of the sticks.
07:39Some of the stuff that you've brought up to Greg about his route running, a lack of
07:43detail.
07:45You wonder if that played a role into it as well, that they're just trying to get people
07:48on the same page.
07:49Uh, but it's, it's definitely something that should have our attention because again, the
07:56idea of, Oh, we just wanted to get the young guys in there when Jayvon Baker got four snaps
08:00and Osborne got 27.
08:01Yeah.
08:02I'm not picking up what that source is trying to put down.
08:04I ain't believing it.
08:05Uh, we can't believe something because it's confirmed.
08:08We know what happened.
08:09Jayvon Waldron fired by Chicago earlier today.
08:12Uh, just Greg, when you look at the Waldron situation, playing out with the rookie quarterback
08:17that was picked very high, Caleb Williams at number one, of course, compare that to
08:21the Patriots situation and how this might kind of set a domino effect for the Patriots.
08:25Yeah.
08:26Well, I mean, it, it, um, it worries me.
08:29I think it's the, it's the cautionary tale, um, that if the Patriots don't get certain
08:36things right here, um, this could be them.
08:39And actually you can make the case that, and, and I don't know, I think we might've talked
08:43about this last week when we talked about Caleb Williams and Drake may, and who would
08:47you rather have now or five years from now?
08:51And you know, I brought up the scenario where, you know, you could make the case that Caleb
08:57Williams will be in a better position next year if they blow out the building, which
09:03they already blew out the offensive coordinator.
09:06Um, we'll see if people can save their jobs again, um, by making a run, changing things
09:12up with Thomas Brown as the new offensive coordinator, even though, you know, he doesn't
09:16have a whole lot of experience doing this.
09:19Um, you know, you could make the case that if the bears blow everybody out of the building
09:24and they signed Ben Johnson from the lions and he's now the head coach and he's, you
09:28know, he's got talent, he's got Caleb Williams, Kayla, you know, he has a track record.
09:33Everybody sees what he's done in, in Detroit.
09:36Um, and you can make the case that Caleb's in a better position.
09:40The Patriots aren't all that dissimilar from the bears, uh, defensive head coach, West
09:47simplified West coast offensive coordinator, Waldron and van Pelt are, are very similar.
09:53Um, you know, let's just play out the Patriots scenario in all likelihood.
09:58Gerard Mayo is back next year.
10:01Um, you know, the more they, they win against some of the dregs that they're
10:05playing, the more that increases the chance.
10:07I think, I think last week before this game, I said it was about a 15% chance that Mayo
10:12wasn't back.
10:12I'd put that down at Nile 7%, uh, probably, but you know, let's play it out.
10:19So Drake's a rookie right now.
10:22Mayo comes back, you know, let's, they go through next season, say it's not great.
10:28And are they in the same position where van Pelt is sort of the Shane Waldron and
10:32they're firing him and they're bringing in a new offensive coordinator.
10:35Now, all of a sudden Drake Mays third year, he has a new offensive coordinator
10:40or if not a new head coach.
10:42So Caleb is now, he would be in a second year with a Ben Johnson type.
10:47And now may, uh, Drake may is.
10:50Uh, sort of, you know, restarting in year three and you can make the comparisons
10:56to Mack Jones with Bill O'Brien in his third year.
10:59So, uh, I I'm, I'm more, not that I'm surprised that this move, we talked
11:05about the bears offense last week and how bad it was against the Cardinals
11:08and was worse against the Patriots.
11:10Um, it's to me, it's a cautionary tale for what the Patriots are doing and doing
11:16with Drake May and how important it is.
11:19They get the offensive coordinator slash head coach, right?
11:23All right, Greg, we're going to get into this game between the bears
11:26and the Patriots and what you saw.
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12:08I want to warn people.
12:10I understand that my audio might sound different from the
12:12very beginning of this podcast.
12:14For some reason at this beautiful complex I live at, the power keeps
12:19going on and off every like three minutes.
12:21If you see my lights behind me fade and my audio doesn't sound as great.
12:25It is what it is.
12:26We're dealing with the elements.
12:27Greg, big picture, what did the win on Sunday mean for this Patriots
12:32franchise, this coaching staff, if anything?
12:36First off, before we get into that, I want to get your take on the Shane
12:41Waldron situation and whether you think there was any sort of, I mean,
12:45how do you feel about it compared to what the Patriots are doing?
12:51Yeah.
12:52So, I mean, I think if Van Pelt improves throughout the year, then you're not
12:58in a rush to make any kind of move.
13:00But I think, you know, when you look at offensive coordinator, young
13:03quarterback relationship, it means the world.
13:06And if you're not 100% sold on Alex Van Pelt as the guy, then you've got
13:11to find somebody who can be that guy.
13:13The challenge is Gerard Mayo is your head coach.
13:17You know, that Robert Kraft is, you know, solid with Mayo as
13:22Bert Breer has reported.
13:23He believes in Mayo.
13:24So if you're a young offensive coordinator who wants to make that next step up, it
13:29gets tough to hire a guy like that because he might be out the door if he
13:33has a good year with Drake May.
13:35And if he has a good year with Drake May and the Patriots are winning,
13:40then Gerard Mayo is going nowhere.
13:43So if that happens, then you have to, you know, reset again at the
13:46offensive coordinator slot, which is a nightmare for young quarterbacks.
13:50So it's a very challenging situation.
13:54And this is what happens when you hire Mayo, who's a defensive guy
13:57and not an offensive guys.
13:59You've got to hope that offensive coordinator position works out for
14:02you in the first hire makes sense.
14:04So I think if AVP is not the answer, you might be more prone to go with
14:09somebody like Ben McAdoo, who's not going to be a head coach anytime soon,
14:13ever again, or you look at a T.C.
14:15McCarver.
14:17Grow and say, well, we're just going to kind of give the reins to this guy and
14:21hope that he's, you know, better than what Van Pelt was, and he brings a little
14:25bit more creativity, et cetera, et cetera.
14:27But it's a very difficult, challenging situation.
14:30I understand people being frustrated with Van Pelt.
14:33I've been frustrated, but you've got to think about Drake May and long-term
14:39and what it could do for him, because you don't want three or four offensive
14:43coordinators and yeah, absolutely.
14:45And, uh, while we wait, Nick's having a few, uh, technical difficulties there.
14:51Um, let me go, uh, so back to the game, um, I guess sort of my overriding
14:57thought, Nick, and he seems like you're back and, um, like, look, it's, it's
15:02good that the, the Patriots, I thought it, I thought this game was a lot like
15:06the Jets game in terms of they executed in all three phases.
15:11Um, they did, they attacked the weaknesses of the opponent.
15:17Um, they stayed pretty simple.
15:20Um, basically went with, especially like offensively, it seemed like
15:24they put a premium on let's limit the negative place, uh, which,
15:29which have been an issue for them.
15:32Um, you know, I defensively, they, they, you know, brought a little bit of pressure.
15:40Um, they, they manned up, they played really good coverage.
15:45Um, you know, and I think that this is something that we talked about
15:50previously, where I was, when they were struggling against the run, I was like,
15:53look, just play more man coverage and get an extra guy in the box that can help you.
15:58And that's sort of seems like what they've done, even though I do think, I do think
16:02that the bears ran the ball decently.
16:05Well, I don't know why they didn't run the ball more.
16:08They were very streaky.
16:10A few times where they ran like four or five times in a row and they were moving
16:13the ball and then all of a sudden, you know, they're throwing all over the place.
16:17And, um, we know the state of their, their passing game.
16:20So, um, you know, look, it was a good job by all the coaches.
16:24They did their job.
16:25They, they did what I've been asking to do.
16:27Like, you know, look at that week's opponent, put your team in the position
16:31to succeed, to have a chance to win the game.
16:34Um, and they did that, but I mean, you know, bigger picture.
16:38These two wins against the jets and the bears, you know, it's against two coaching
16:43staffs that are going to get blown out after the season.
16:46Um, certainly with the jets in all likelihood, the bears and it's two teams
16:50that are, that were bottoming out in the process of bottom, bottoming out.
16:54So the Patriots, I, I know that they can out coach those guys.
17:00Now the next step is stack success, stacked competency and do it against
17:07a, uh, a, a decent coaching staff.
17:11That's not going to get fired after the season.
17:12Yeah.
17:13And of course we've got, you know, the Rams coming up next, we'll get into
17:16that game later in the week, but you've got Sean McVay and McVay is a very
17:20respected coach, although they lost to Miami last night and they haven't
17:24necessarily been playing great football, but they're much better than
17:28Eber Flus and Shane Waldron.
17:29So, you know, we'll, we'll see if the Patriots can take what we saw from
17:33Sunday and actually build off it.
17:35The last three weeks, I will say for the most part, it's been better.
17:38It's generally been better, which is good news.
17:41But, but can you get more out of it against better coaches and better teams?
17:45We'll see Patriots defensively, Greg DeMarcus Covington.
17:48What'd you see?
17:49Uh, and we know the bears offense isn't great.
17:52Obviously Waldron fired, but, but what did Covington do that, that you
17:55might've liked or, or stood out to you?
17:58By the way, you're, you're back to sounding sweet.
18:01So I just want to let you know that.
18:02Um, uh, you know, I, I thought that I, it was, you know, it was really good.
18:09I mean, a lot's going to be made of the Brandon Schooler Longhorn package.
18:12I mean, they only used it five times.
18:14It was effective.
18:16Um, you know, but I, I thought they, I thought they, you
18:20know, largely kept it simple.
18:21They played man coverage.
18:23Um, you know, I, I liked how they had a plan against Caleb Williams
18:26because him scrambling around all over tarnation is part of his game.
18:32And you really didn't see that all that much in the, in the
18:35Patriots had a plan for that.
18:37So that's, you know, awesome to see, but I thought, you know, largely this game
18:41was about the coverage was really good in the backend and the Patriots defensive
18:46line, um, you know, beat up a completely decimated bears offensive line that was
18:52down to, I think their fourth and fifth offensive tackles, they lost their
18:56best guard during the game.
18:59Um, that offensive line is worse than the Patriots.
19:02And, you know, really like guys like Dietrich wise, Anthony Jennings,
19:06Keon white, Jeremiah was a bullfrog farms was a freaking beast inside.
19:11He was like worn sap in this game.
19:13Um, so, you know, I mean, you combine with dominating the game up front and,
19:18and, you know, really, you know, bullying a weaker foe, which is great to see.
19:23Plus the Patriots, you know, covered their ass off in the backend.
19:28Um, I thought it was just, it was, it was really good, really effective.
19:33And of course we knew that the bears weren't going to have any counter for that.
19:36Yeah.
19:37The school or spy stuff was good.
19:38It didn't happen at time.
19:39I think he played like a handful of snaps, but it made sense.
19:42He made a couple of plays, which was nice to see.
19:44Uh, Tavai was really good.
19:46Thought they used him.
19:47Well, I liked the idea of sliding Jonathan Jones out to safety.
19:51Uh, he played like more than 20 snaps there, which allowed Hawkins to be a
19:54little closer to the line of scrimmage.
19:56Marcus Jones was leaned on as really the second guy at cornerback
20:00and he played pretty well.
20:01So that was nice to see.
20:03And as far as the Chicago offensive line, I'll just point this out.
20:06You know, the, the Patriots offensive line has gone through
20:09more injuries and more issues.
20:11And, and I really do think that because it hasn't been an all out dumpster
20:16fire, Scott Peters and those guys, they, they, they deserve a little bit of credit.
20:20And I know you, you can, you can go after Elliot Wolf for, you know,
20:25maybe not doing a good enough job.
20:27That's another conversation before the season kicked off.
20:30But Hey, look, you know, they went out and they got trade Jacobs.
20:33He he's done pretty good at right tackle given who he is.
20:37They went out and got Ben Brown.
20:38He's done a pretty decent job at center given who he is.
20:42Michael Jordan had a better week this weekend.
20:44Um, and he's a guy that was looked up as, as a backup, but Darian
20:48Lowe was supposed to be a backup.
20:49So I think some people, you know, they look at this offensive line for the
20:53Patriots and they really don't think about the context and how many dudes
20:59have been hurt and how crazy it's been upfront and you just look at the
21:03Chicago bears and what that old line's going through and how bad they were.
21:07That could be the Patriots situation.
21:09So thankfully it's not that bad.
21:11It's not great, but it's not that bad because they've been able to find a
21:15couple of guys who, you know, aren't downright turnstiles every snap.
21:20All right.
21:20I, I, I do think Peterson and cooler have done a good job this season.
21:24I mean, I, you know, yeah, the Patriots have had some, some injury issues.
21:29Um, you know, but I think largely the group that they have outside of
21:33Jacobs are people that they were at least in there too deep, where I think
21:38the bears are getting down to four and five deep, but you know, their line
21:42wasn't good to begin with either.
21:45Uh, yeah, I don't know about the two deep thing, but again, I don't
21:48want it to get bogged down on the details there before we get into the
21:51Patriots offense against the bears defense.
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23:19All right.
23:19Patriots offense, Drake may.
23:21What'd you see your evaluation of the rookie quarterback?
23:24Uh, I, I'm not going to say he graded out poorly for me.
23:30Okay.
23:30Let me just say that upfront.
23:31This was his lowest graded game for me.
23:35Um, lower than his, his first start.
23:39Um, but most of it, like I didn't have a problem really with his decision making.
23:44I think I only had two minus decisions.
23:47There was really only one, uh, two throws and of course the interception.
23:52Um, so I've liked his accuracy.
23:55I've liked his decision-making for the most part.
23:58The thing I really didn't like in this game, Nick was he, he was
24:03responsible for way too much pressure on himself and way too many hits in this
24:06game, like, you know, leaving the pocket early, not hanging with plays, not
24:11going down when he could, um, you know, he did throw the ball away a couple of
24:16times, he had that left-handed throw yet another, you know, good throw away.
24:20I mean, all that stuff is good.
24:22Um, but, uh, you know, and, and also let's, let's acknowledge a couple of
24:28things that the bears passing defense is pretty good.
24:31They were missing a couple of people, but it's pretty good.
24:33And the pass rush is decent.
24:35Um, and also the elements were at play.
24:38Um, but, uh, I, I did not think he played that well.
24:42I mean, you know, look, the offense, I think they set a season, uh, season high
24:48in yards, you know, they had the same number of three and outs three as the
24:53bears did, um, all the advanced analytics were down on their performance in this
24:58game, I thought the running attack was really good, but, um, may, I think there
25:03was a, I'm glad they, they won this game.
25:06I mean, still, it was a, it was a two-score game and right there for the
25:09bears, if they could get their crap together, um, deep into the fourth
25:13quarter when that really not the way the Patriots defense was playing.
25:18Like that shouldn't have been it.
25:19So, you know, it was fine.
25:21I mean, let me also point out the Austin Hooper throw down the right
25:25sideline, that's as good as the throw that you, as you're going to see in the
25:29NFL, so, you know, not a ton of plays from may in this game, um, you know, he
25:35did a good job of taking what was there.
25:37I just, he he's, he, he's got to stop avoiding these hits.
25:41I had him for, he accounted for half the pressure that was generated in this
25:46game and that just, that's not sustainable for him or this offense.
25:51Yeah, I think we should highlight as you, as you did a little bit
25:55there, who he was playing against.
25:56And it's not an excuse.
25:58He didn't play great, but I didn't anticipate him playing
26:00great against this defense.
26:02Uh, I think Chicago was like something like fourth or
26:05fifth and past defense DVO.
26:07Hey, they're literally one of the best defenses against the past.
26:10Uh, they were top 10 and pressure rate.
26:12They were really good on third down.
26:13They're really good in the red zone.
26:15And the most interesting thing to me is that there was zone defense.
26:18They play a ton of zone.
26:20So this was a different challenge for Drake.
26:23He wasn't going to be able to scramble as much as a matter of fact, the one
26:26scramble play that he had, which made a difference was an impact play.
26:29An explosive run was actually a post snap man.
26:32Look, and he saw it and he ran with it.
26:34So going in, knowing that this defense played almost 80% zone, I was very
26:40interested to see how Drake would handle that because this was more of a stick
26:43in the pocket, see what you got kind of game versus, oh man coverage, I can
26:47take off and pick up 10 yards every single time, so that was a game and a
26:53challenge that I wanted to see him.
26:55Uh, and whether or not he could pass some of the difficult questions.
26:59It was, as you mentioned, super windy and, and let's not forget, Chicago
27:02is a pretty tough place to play.
27:04I know the team is not good and it hasn't been good, but they
27:07play good football in Chicago.
27:09I think they won eight or nine straight games before Sunday.
27:11So there are some elements there.
27:14There is some context.
27:16So I'm not surprised he didn't play great.
27:19I did like the two or three throwaways you mentioned.
27:21I also thought he checked down once or twice, which was nice to see.
27:25He went through the progressions and he didn't really feel
27:27comfortable at certain times.
27:28So he checked it down, which was nice.
27:31Uh, I thought he was better after a slow start.
27:34I thought the first quarter, quarter and a half, they struggled.
27:38And I thought he, he got off to a pretty bad start, kind of settled
27:41himself and I kind of focus on that end of half drive, uh, you
27:46know, after the touchdown drive.
27:48That shows me, you know, being up the battle adversity, figure some
27:52things out, not off to a great start, but he didn't let it go all the
27:56way downhill and fall off a cliff.
27:58Like we've seen some young quarterbacks deal with.
28:01So I thought it was really good to see him kind of have that in his mind
28:05of end of half situation and execute it perfectly, uh, given what had
28:11happened through the first quarter and a half or so that that was
28:14kind of a nice pick me up.
28:16The one thing that's really, you know, bothering me and I thought he
28:20did a good job of this during the Jets game before he got the concussion
28:24hit, if it was a concussion, but he's got a slide.
28:28And if you go back and you look at the Jets game, he slid a few times before
28:33he took that hit that took him out of the game ever since then, Greg, I
28:37don't know if it's something that he's doing on purpose, it feels that way.
28:41Like, I don't know if it's kind of a PTSD thing after the
28:44slide led to a concussion.
28:46I don't know if it's the coaches saying, don't slide, go ahead first.
28:50I know Ted Johnson a couple of weeks ago said like, he doesn't like guys sliding.
28:54He wants guys to kind of fall forward.
28:56I like the slide idea leading feet first, especially if you can do it.
29:02And Drake looked like he could do it, man.
29:04Slide because he's taken a lot of hits.
29:06He's taken a lot of hits to the upper body and he winced a
29:09couple of times against Chicago.
29:11He's going to do a better job of staying out of harm's way, because
29:15I'm starting to get concerned that he's going to take a hit and he's
29:18going to have to leave a game and he might not come back within the week.
29:21Yeah, I, uh, you know, I agree.
29:23I mean, even that like 19 yard scramble that he had, like he picked up the, he
29:28picked up the first down, like long ago and like, and then he took like a, he
29:32took an unnecessary shot at the end, like getting more yards, like, you know,
29:36know the situation and just, you know, you get by the first down marker, just
29:40slide and, you know, and, and move on.
29:42I mean, there were a couple of other times where like, you know, he, he moved
29:46into pressure where, um, you know, he had that jump pass in the, in the, in the
29:52middle of the, and he just ran into pressure and got crunched, um, unnecessarily.
29:58And even late in the game, when he had, uh, when he had Hunter Henry for 14
30:03yards, there was a bust, the bears brought pressure on it, like Drake,
30:09just, he moved into pressure.
30:11He hung onto the ball way too long and got like Malachi crunched.
30:15Um, he's got to know the game, the situation, the score, um, all that stuff
30:20and just like take care of himself a little bit more, because I do, I agree
30:24with you, I, there were, he took three or four hellacious hits in this game
30:29and, you know, came up limping and it's gotta be worrisome.
30:35All right.
30:35Before we get to what'd you like, what you didn't like, uh, how about
30:38AVP and his game plan this week?
30:41Your thoughts, he showed a little bit creativity.
30:43I don't know if the, um, reverse into the flea flicker worked out
30:48as perfectly as they want it to, but Hey, I'll give him an A for effort.
30:52But what'd you think AVP?
30:54Yeah, I thought it was good.
30:55I mean, I don't know if it was Mayo or, or what, but it seemed like
30:58somebody gave the directive of, um, you know, we gotta, we gotta stop the
31:02negative place and we gotta stop being too creative here, um, in terms of,
31:08you know, what we're doing, like, just make it simple for the players.
31:10Now they did have, you know, uh, uh, a decent amount of penalties
31:14again, and so pre-snap stuff.
31:16But I thought the foundation was, you know, they, they,
31:21they varied the running game.
31:22It was, they, they would go sledgehammer would duo and stuff in the middle.
31:27And then they, they pull or run counters, which you saw the Cardinals do a lot
31:32against the bears the week before their, their, their linebackers aren't very
31:37disciplined.
31:38Um, Tremaine Edmonds is not somebody that I've, I've ever been a big fan of even
31:42when he was back in the, with the bills.
31:44Cause I don't think, um, he's on top of the details and the Patriots took
31:48advantage of it, not only in the running game, but also like on the
31:51touchdown to Jalen Polk.
31:53Um, you know, I, I thought, I thought Alex Van Pelt, you know, did, did a good job.
31:59I thought that the, the, the run was obviously the foundation.
32:03Uh, he mixed in a few, you know, really good concepts.
32:06Uh, you know, high, low concepts, you know, getting to Hooper
32:11using Henry is almost a decoy.
32:14Um, you know, but I thought it was, it was a good, solid performance
32:18by the offense and, you know, Van Pelt.
32:21I thought they had a good, good, solid game plan going in and they largely executed.
32:27All right.
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32:47All right, Greg, what'd you like?
32:48What you didn't like from a Sunday's game against Chicago.
32:52So offensively, um, I liked DeMario Douglas and you know, how they got him
32:56the ball a few times creatively that goes to AVP, um, you know, and what he was
33:01able to do with his opportunities.
33:03Um, you know, I thought the backs, all of them, uh, were really
33:07good with their opportunities.
33:09I thought Hunter Henry was outstanding in the running game and, uh, and was a big
33:14reason why they were able to do what they did in the running game.
33:20Uh, that's offensively defensively.
33:22I mean, guys like, you know, like I said before Dietrich wise, Anthony
33:26Jennings, Keon white, Jeremiah farms, Jelani to buy, I thought Marcus
33:32Jones had a really good game.
33:34Um, Del Pettis made a couple of plays.
33:38Schooler had the hit and the half sack.
33:41Um, you know, all that stuff was good stuff.
33:44Um, the things I didn't like in this game, Drake may way too much
33:49pressure taking way too many hits.
33:51Um, I thought Michael Jordan wasn't, he wasn't horrible.
33:57I mean, it was definitely an improvement over where he's been
33:59the previous couple of weeks.
34:01Um, but outside of that, I, you know, I, I didn't offensively, I
34:06didn't have too many minuses defensively.
34:09I thought Daniel Ekwale was terrible in the run game.
34:12He got shoved around.
34:14Uh, I didn't like, um, what the hell's that number 22's name?
34:20Um, oh, Marco Wilson, Marco Wilson.
34:24Um, but that was about it.
34:26I mean, I, you know, I thought overall, um, this was one of the, um, best
34:32executed games all around, um, for the plate Patriots, of course you had
34:37Marcus Jones in, in the punting game too.
34:39Um, so, uh, good stuff all around against an opponent that was, uh,
34:46that was begging for it.
34:47And it was good to see the Patriots take advantage of it.
34:50Well, uh, I apologize for the failure of execution on
34:53my part during this podcast.
34:55I think the wind got the best of the, uh, electricity here a couple of times.
34:59So apologies for the, uh, the issues that we had and, you know, it's not
35:04always going to be a flawless operation apparently in Foxborough.
35:07Uh, so my apologies for that, but we're back later in the week.
35:10Greg and I will, uh, break down the Rams.
35:12We'll preview that game until then be well.