• 7 hours ago
Join Greg Bedard and Nick Cattles in this episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast as they dive deep into the recent struggles of the New England Patriots following their tough loss to the Rams. With a spotlight on quarterback Drake Maye's standout performance, Greg analyzes how his game management showed promise despite some critical mistakes.

As the team prepares for their upcoming matchup against the Dolphins, Greg emphasizes the urgent need for strategic adjustments and effective leadership to turn the season around. Tune in for insightful commentary and a breakdown of the key players and coaching decisions shaping the future of New England sports!

0:00 - Bruins coaching change
2:30 - Player accountability issues
5:24 - Cole Strange's return
8:38 - Offensive line concerns
10:35 - Kraft's due diligence
12:43 - Van Pelt's improvement
18:20 - Mayo's repeated mistakes
20:20 - Coaching staff performance
26:39 - Coaching strengths and weaknesses
28:46 - Coaching mistakes admitted
34:36 - Coaching staff responsibilities
36:46 - Account creation promo
39:02 - Drake Maye's performance
43:27 - Grading Drake Maye
46:06 - Patriots Defense Issues
48:52 - Lack of Game Plan
51:07 - Defensive Failures
53:01 - Offensive Standouts


************************************************
Patriots Content Brought to you by....
πŸ’° Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS
Download the app today and use Code CLNS at PrizePicks.com/CLNS & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!

🎫 Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!

Merch Store - https://shop.clnsmedia.com

Social Media!!!!
🏈 Patriots Twitter- https://twitter.com/patriotsclns
🏈 Patriots Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/patriotsclns/
πŸ”΅ Facebook- https://facebook.com/clnsmedia
πŸ”΅ LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/clnsmedia/about/
πŸ’Ÿ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clnsmedia
*********************************************************
🏈 ABOUT PATRIOTS COVERAGE ON CLNS: 🏈

Welcome to the CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for New England Patriots 🏈 football. CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the 6X Super Bowl Champions. Get complete inside access to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and everywhere on the road. CLNS Patriots credentialed insiders Greg Bedard, Andrew Callahan, Tayler Kyles, John Zannis, Alex Barth and Mike Kadlick provide instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else inside Patriots Place.

If you enjoy CLNS’ Celtics πŸ€ All Access and are craving more Boston sports content, you head over to CLNS’ Patriots 🏈 Press Pass at
πŸ”΄ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqX7G3pEDTseNxtoDU27PEg?sub_confirmations=1 πŸ”΄
Transcript
00:00This is the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:10He's Gregg.
00:11I'm Nick.
00:12You know the deal.
00:13Download the prize picks app today.
00:14Use code CLNS.
00:15Get 50 bucks instantly when you play $5.
00:17Also take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time.
00:21Download the game time app.
00:22Create an account.
00:23Use that code CLNS for 20 bucks off your first purchase.
00:27Gregg, we start outside of the Patriots, but within the Boston area, and we talk a little
00:33Jim Montgomery.
00:34I know you're a big hockey guy.
00:36I also enjoy the game of hockey.
00:38Your thoughts on the Bruins firing Jim Montgomery?
00:41Yeah, you know, it's kind of a shame.
00:44I mean, you know, just to go back real quick, I think everybody knows I was not happy about
00:49the Bruce Cassidy firing.
00:51I thought it was a bunch of bull crap and sort of enabling millennial hockey players
00:58on the Bruins, namely Jake DeBrusque, who's no longer here anymore.
01:04And you know, they hired Jim Montgomery.
01:06I wasn't happy.
01:07I mean, I didn't know Montgomery.
01:09He obviously did a great job.
01:11I mean, he had one of the his first two regular seasons was, you know, one of the best in
01:16NHL history.
01:17He set the record for best regular season in NHL history, and less than a season and
01:21a half later, he's gone.
01:25Look, if you could, you'd fire the players, because to me, this is on them.
01:32It's also on Don Sweeney for, I mean, really none of his offseason moves have done anything
01:40that none of them have worked, including Jeremy Swayman's contract, dance extension, how much
01:46they're paying him.
01:48Now he has a 880 save percentage.
01:51You know, there it's legitimate to question whether the players in front of him want to
01:56play for him with what's going on.
01:59He's certainly an interesting personality and something is wrong there.
02:02I mean, basically, there's something wrong with this team fundamentally from talking
02:07to different people.
02:08You know, it, you know, it could be Marchand and his leadership.
02:12It could be the lack of leadership.
02:14To me, I see a lack of accountability from the players that didn't go on here for a long
02:20time, but now is.
02:22And the problem is you can't fire the players.
02:25You can only really fire the coach.
02:28But my opinion is this is all in the players.
02:33I hope they don't stop at Montgomery.
02:35I hope there is some sort of shakeup in a trade.
02:37I think this team needs to be shaken up internally.
02:41I would be open to trading anyone on this roster, but yeah, it's just it's just a shame
02:48because no one really expected this from the Bruins.
02:53So, you know, a lot of this is certainly on the players, as you said, you can't fire the
02:57team that's the old adage, and it makes sense because you can't walk out there and say,
03:00all right, all of you are gone.
03:02We're going to keep Montgomery and rebuild this team in late November.
03:05It just it can't happen.
03:07But Montgomery, I would also not totally defend him either.
03:10It's rather obvious that his message is not getting through to the players.
03:14It's rather obvious that this team was built kind of in his vision of a big physical imposing,
03:21and they're not playing that way.
03:22They're soft in front of the net.
03:25You also have, you know, your special teams being deplorable, and Montgomery hasn't been
03:30able to solve any of those problems.
03:33So, you know, some of this, at least some of this is on Montgomery.
03:37And when you're just kind of treading water and you've literally been one of the worst
03:41teams in the league, if you look at point differential, somebody's got to go.
03:45A significant move has to be made.
03:47And unfortunately for Montgomery, he's the easiest significant move to be made right
03:51now.
03:52You're 20 games into the season.
03:53So you're about 25% through the year.
03:56Nothing was changing.
03:57So you got to do something.
03:58His constant line shuffling was not working.
04:01So, you know, his answers were not great.
04:05But the team as well, it has been very underwhelming.
04:09And I know people say Sweeney should get fired.
04:12My thought is let's see what happens with Sacco as a guy.
04:16Let's see if he I'll get more out of Lindholm.
04:18I'm talking about Elias, obviously with Hampus being hurt.
04:21Hampus was actually their best player before his injury, which kind of crazy because he
04:25stunk the last year.
04:26But when you look at, you know, Elias and Zdarov and some of these guys, maybe Sacco
04:31can do something to unearth more energy and get more out of those guys.
04:37If it doesn't work and we're at the end of the year and you're looking back and you're
04:40saying Zdarov was a huge swing and a miss, Lindholm was a huge swing and a miss, Swayman
04:44never found his form.
04:46And that contract looks like an albatross hanging around the neck of this organization.
04:51Then, yes, you absolutely look at Sweeney.
04:54But I look big picture when you're a GM, when you're a president of operations, your main
04:59job is to make sure your team is a contender.
05:01And for the most part, Sweeney's done that throughout throughout his career.
05:04So has he hit on everything?
05:06Absolutely not.
05:07Was this offseason possibly brutal?
05:09Yes, but he did construct a roster that, you know, as you said, was one of the best historically
05:15in the game a couple of years ago.
05:17He got this team to multiple cups.
05:19They won a cup.
05:20So it's not like he's been a complete mess.
05:23So by the end of the year, if it's bad, then you say goodbye.
05:26But, you know, Montgomery, some will say sacrificial lamb.
05:30Look, it is what it is.
05:31All right, let's get to let's get to football, Greg.
05:33Gerard Mayo spoke with the media today.
05:35He said Cole Strange is returning to practice your thoughts.
05:40Yeah, well, I mean, look, this is this would be a welcome addition.
05:46You know, I guess this opens up the window.
05:48So it's 21 days on what they do.
05:50It sounded today with Mayo that, you know, this is going to be more of a process than,
05:57say, Christian Barmore, who all of a sudden practice one day not in pads and is all of
06:04a sudden playing 21 snaps on Sunday.
06:07I mean, that the injuries are obviously different.
06:11The quote unquote injuries, you know, Barmore dealt with blood clots.
06:15So, you know, he was still still able to lift and do everything that he needed to do
06:19to approximate football shape.
06:23You know, Cole Strange is coming back from if it's not an ACL, it's some sort of knee
06:28injury, but a major knee surgery.
06:31And so there's going to be a little bit more involved, you know, with him getting back
06:37into, you know, football shape.
06:39But look, we all know the situation on the offensive line.
06:45I know there's been and will continue to be some talk about him playing center, which
06:50I'm not opposed to.
06:51And again, when I evaluated him coming out of college, I thought that his best position
06:55in the pros would be center due to his freak athletic ability in terms of getting up the
07:02field.
07:04You know, I just I just thought he had a chance to be, you know, elite at that.
07:08And we'll see whether that works in the scheme and what have you.
07:12But I got to say, Nick, with what we've seen in recent weeks, I think and we've talked
07:19about this before, considering how Michael Jordan is playing, he's been sort of on a
07:25downward trajectory probably since about his fourth game.
07:29I would be more interested in Cole playing left guard going back to his left guard spot.
07:34Ben Brown's been good enough, hasn't been perfect, but, you know, good enough.
07:39I mean, if you put Cole at center now, who's playing left guard?
07:42I mean, I just think I think they need more of an upgrade over Jordan at left guard.
07:48I think that's why you've seen some of the things they they've thought about doing.
07:53You know, a win to left guard Leighton Robinson, the right guard.
07:59I think that's been probably one of their bigger weak spots in recent weeks.
08:04So, you know, as soon as Cole can get back in the mix.
08:07I mean, again, I said the same thing about Barmore, but I'm going to say the same thing.
08:11I think it would be a stretch that he plays this week.
08:13But, you know, the week after, you know, quite possibly you start getting him into the mix
08:19and some sort of rotation at left guard with Michael Jordan.
08:22I mean, we even saw City.
08:23So I didn't notice it during the game, but I did on film City.
08:27So played like three or four snaps at left guard.
08:29I don't know if Jordan was hurt or what, but that was certainly interesting.
08:33But yeah, I think as of right now,
08:36I would target Cole to go back to his left guard spot and deal with other stuff later.
08:40And you'd imagine that strange is a better fit within AVP system because he's more athletic.
08:46So, you know, maybe he looks a little bit more like himself when he gets out there.
08:49Granted, he's got to be healthy.
08:51And how does he return from this?
08:52He's had multiple injuries.
08:54One of the big questions about him was his anchor.
08:56Greg would question whether or not he was a little too light in his ass.
09:00And so, you know, that's come back to haunt him a little bit.
09:02So, you know, how does he look first and foremost?
09:05And then we can wonder about if he can if he can fit better within this system.
09:10Something else that Gerard Mayo has said this week caught your eyes, Greg, and that's
09:15Mayo shooting down your buddy Bert Breer's report about the crafts reaching out
09:20to people within the football world regarding how to handle Drake May.
09:26What'd you take out of what Gerard said and how he said it?
09:29Well, I mean, he was certainly forceful about it.
09:32And I'm sort of like a blank, blank statement, blanket statement saying,
09:36like, all those reports are false.
09:39I don't, I don't exactly know what he's responding to.
09:43I'm sure there's some sort of technicality.
09:45I don't know if it's about like, you know, that Bert said that the crafts were calling
09:50around, are they holding, have they had more informal in-person like dinners and things
09:58like that?
09:58Maybe that's one way to say it.
10:00Maybe Gerard took issue with, and I don't think Bert characterized it this way.
10:06I think it's more, you know, Felger doing Felger and twisting things to, to sort of
10:14arm his own argument or steer it into a more interesting talk show.
10:18No, Mike, Mike would never do that, Greg.
10:21Yeah, which is, you know, he steered it more towards their, their, their searching for
10:25Alex Van Pelt's replacement.
10:27And that's not, that's not the way I understand it from, from what I understand.
10:33And this hasn't been a big secret to, to some people around here.
10:38First of all, a lot of these conversations people have to keep in mind, we're having,
10:44we're happening around the time of the six game losing streak.
10:48You know, it wasn't like in the last couple of weeks and maybe they were continuing to
10:53have conversations.
10:53I'm just talking about when it came on my radar.
10:57And also from what I understand, it wasn't, I would say the crafts were, their conversations
11:05were more about doing their due diligence that they probably should have done in February,
11:09March and April before the draft.
11:11I think they were preoccupied with other things like filling out the coaching staff, figuring
11:16out the front office, and maybe they didn't really ask all the questions they should have
11:21when it came time to drafting a quarterback at third overall.
11:26And I think they're just doubling back and making sure in a couple of different areas
11:32that they're doing the right thing.
11:33Number one is, is supporting Drake May.
11:36Are they doing everything they should?
11:37Is this, you know, Hey, is this, is this the right scheme?
11:41Are these the right coaches?
11:44But also I think part of it, this is them realizing, I would say they've been underwhelmed
11:51with the first year of this coaching staff, but they're interested in making sure they
11:58do the right things to support Gerard Mayo and Drake May.
12:03This isn't just about Drake May in the offense.
12:05I think this is also about Gerard Mayo, just making sure like, are there more things that
12:09they could be doing?
12:10Could they maybe bring in a veteran, former, you know, head coach with a lot of experience
12:15that could help Mayo, you know, that sort of thing.
12:18I think it's got to do the handling of this Burt report because Burt never said that they're
12:26looking at Alex Van Pelt.
12:28They're trying to replace Alex, but he never said that, that that was not the report.
12:32I think a lot of this is just kind of, you know, preconceived notions, Greg, of, of who
12:36Alex Van Pelt is.
12:38And people were just ready to write this dude off from the very beginning.
12:41And even at the station that I work at 98 five, you know, I know my guy Beatle was just
12:47like before the season, he was pounding that Alex Van Pelt table.
12:51And, you know, every little thing that he could find, it was, it was an indictment on
12:55Van Pelt.
12:55And, and, you know, Mike went with his whole, oh, you know, he's been fired here.
13:01He's been let go here.
13:02You and I have discussed that context.
13:03A lot of things happen where guys, they decide to leave on their own accord to go find a
13:08different system, maybe work with different coaches, their buddies move and they move
13:11with them.
13:12Sometimes, yes, you get fired.
13:14Sometimes you're the scapegoat, which certainly seems like the case last year when he was
13:18let go by Cleveland and Cleveland has absolutely sucked and Kevin Stefanski might lose his
13:23job.
13:24So, hey, I don't know.
13:25Hindsight 2020, maybe AVP wasn't the problem with the Browns offense and maybe AVP wasn't
13:31the reason why Deshaun Watson stunk.
13:33It's just because I don't know Deshaun Watson stinks.
13:36So I think a lot of people built that stuff up about Van Pelt and whatever can try to
13:41build their quote unquote narrative to be stronger.
13:45They're going to jump on it.
13:46You know, this could be about a lot of things.
13:48This could be about Elliott Wolfe.
13:49Hey, is Elliott Wolfe doing a good enough job of supporting the young quarterback as
13:54ownership?
13:55Are we allocating enough resources to help the young quarterback develop?
14:00Maybe this is about Scott Peters.
14:02They're looking at the offensive line.
14:04Is it a talent problem?
14:05Is it an injury slash health problem?
14:08Is it a coaching problem?
14:11There are a lot of things that you can talk about that, you know, either hurts or helps
14:16the quarterback.
14:17It's not always just offensive coordinator, offensive coordinator.
14:22Diana Rossini, speaking of the staff, Greg, she reported on Twitter that at this point,
14:28people around the league believe the Patriots staff is safe.
14:31Is that what you're hearing?
14:33Um, yeah.
14:34And, you know, like I said at the time, and this was, I think, in the wake of the Jaguars
14:39game where, you know, I talked about, look, if, if the rest of the season looks like this
14:44and, you know, they were in the midst of a six game losing streak and, uh, they ended
14:49up getting blown out by the Jaguars after having a 10, nothing lead and the rest of
14:52the season looked the same.
14:53And if not worse than people's jobs were on the line, I will say it, you know, it seems
14:59like things have stabilized, um, a bit.
15:03I mean, but, you know, they still have games to play.
15:05So we'll see.
15:06But, you know, I think, I think Mayo at this point is definitely safe.
15:11Um, Van Pelt, I would say it's up in the air.
15:14Let's see how they finish.
15:16I thought he had a really good game, um, on Sunday, probably, probably his best of the
15:21season in terms of, uh, you know, his opening script, throwing some trick plays out there,
15:25some that worked, some that didn't work, um, you know, overall creativity.
15:31Um, so, you know, that's good.
15:32So it looks promising that he's going to be back.
15:35I mean, I think at this point, um, you know, if I were the Patriots, you know, I think
15:42from what I've heard, Nick, I'd put it this way, considering where they are and especially
15:49what's gone on with Jalen Polk.
15:51Um, I, it would surprise me if Tyler Hughes is back.
15:54And, and Gerard even said going into the season, like, well, we know that the coaching staff
15:58really isn't a, like a finished product.
16:00Like this is what they're going with right now, but everybody's going to be evaluated
16:04during the season.
16:05I would say in terms of weak spots that, you know, I would look to, you know, possibly
16:10upgrade, um, you know, I do think the offensive line coaches have done a pretty good job.
16:15I would say, you know, Tyler Hughes, uh, possibly the running backs coach, um, uh, possibly
16:24Jerry Montgomery on defensive line, possibly Drew Wilkins, um, on the edge and, you know,
16:31look, Dante Hightower, um, I don't think his group has been great.
16:37We know that there's been injury issues.
16:39Um, did he like his, his experience coaching his first year?
16:42You know, that could be, um, up in the air.
16:45So I don't, I don't think the entire staff is safe.
16:49I would be surprised if there aren't any tweaks after the season.
16:55You know, when I look at this list of, of people on this staff, I think to me, and I
17:01know you go back four or five weeks ago and it was, man, Van Pelt's going to show some
17:05improvement even two or three weeks ago, but I really think I've seen some improvements
17:09from him.
17:09And when you start to look at how this whole plan has been developed offensively, it kind
17:15of makes sense with, you know, slowly rolling into certain things.
17:19Other things don't make sense.
17:20But when you walk into the year, Van Pelt had not been a play caller on a week to week
17:25basis for 15 years, and he only did it for one year.
17:29So there's a learning curve.
17:30So I kind of look at that and say, at least Van Pelt is showing some signs of figuring
17:34out his own talent.
17:35He's utilizing pop Douglas, I think in a smart way.
17:39And it starts and it really ends with the quarterback and Drake may continues to get
17:44better.
17:45And Drake may has come out publicly and said that he is fully behind Van Pelt.
17:49Now, of course, I don't think he'd come out and say, I don't want to play for Van Pelt.
17:53We all understand that.
17:54But I mentioned this last week.
17:57If the quarterback is comfortable with the play caller, he's comfortable working with
18:01him and T.C.
18:01McCartney, and the quarterback is improving.
18:03I'm not touching Van Pelt, you know, unless he's doing things that are just like, oh,
18:07my God, how do you not adjust to that?
18:10And we've seen more adjustments from him throughout the season, which gives me hope.
18:14I'm looking at.
18:16Go ahead, go ahead, finish your thought.
18:18No, I'm looking at Mayo and Mayo has continued to make the same mistakes over and over and
18:23over again in crucial situations.
18:26I have more questions about Mayo at this point than I do Van Pelt.
18:29And I also have some questions about Covington, who was supposed to be more ready than Van
18:34Pelt and was supposed to be, you know, this guy who is jumping out and he's going to be
18:38special and maybe he will be.
18:40But I've got bigger questions right now on this staff than I have about Alex Van Pelt.
18:46100% agree with you, Nick.
18:48That's what I was going to say.
18:49I mean, I will say I and I don't think it's any accident that it seems like the last two
18:55weeks, especially like Alex Van Pelt is up this game.
19:00I do think it was, you know, somewhere around the time when, you know, we're talking about,
19:05you know, futures of people and the coaching staff and things like that.
19:10You know, I don't know if he had extra motivation, like, oh, crap, I need to.
19:15I need to do something, you know, I might be out of a job.
19:17I do think he's been better the past two weeks.
19:21So that's encouraging.
19:23And yeah, I would say at this point in time where we are after this last game, I think
19:29you could make a convincing argument where you say.
19:33In turn, well, outside of Jeremy Springer, who's probably done the best job if he could
19:37just get Bryce Berenger to stop freaking booting balls into the end zone.
19:42Good lord.
19:44But Springer's probably in terms of like department heads and head coach, coordinators and head
19:49coach.
19:50You can make the argument right now that Alex Van Pelt has performed the best out of all
19:55of them.
19:55Like, you know, probably Springer first, Alex Van Pelt, and then.
20:01I don't know.
20:02Covington and Mayo are sort of together.
20:04I mean, Covington and Mayo in a cage match.
20:07Yeah, I mean, I've I've seen I've seen improvement out of Alex Van Pelt.
20:11I've seen improvement out of the special teams.
20:14Have I seen improvement out of the head coach and defensive coordinator?
20:18I don't know.
20:18I think that's up for debate.
20:20All right, Greg, talk about prize picks.
20:23Yes, I will do that.
20:25Nick prize picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active
20:29members.
20:29Prize picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports.
20:34All you do is pick more or less on two to six player staff projections and watch the
20:39winnings roll in.
20:40You can now win up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct
20:45picks.
20:46Download the prize picks app today and use code CLNS and get $50 instantly when you play
20:51$5.
20:51That's code CLNS on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play $5.
20:57You don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus.
21:00It's guaranteed.
21:02Prize picks run your game.
21:04Now let's get to the Rams.
21:05Greg, your 10,000 feet overall thought about that loss last Sunday.
21:11Yeah, to me, and I don't know if I'm in the minority here.
21:16It seems like it is on some of the shows that I go on.
21:20But I thought this was another winnable game that went by the wayside for the Patriots.
21:27You know, I know there are people that are just out there who just like chalk up everything
21:31to talent.
21:31They don't have the talent, can't win.
21:33No, they shouldn't be expected to win.
21:36Um, so, like, and I just don't understand because like, okay, so wait, first of all,
21:43when can I start judging Gerard Mayo, the head coach?
21:46Somebody let me know.
21:47Because apparently that's what it feels like.
21:52Also, so wait, Gerard Mayo needs more talent to show that he's a good coach.
22:00How does that show anybody that you're a good coach?
22:03You know, it's actually when you have less talent, when you do more with less, that's
22:09really good coaching.
22:10Like, I just think back to, you know, last year, I remember at some point, I think the
22:15Patriots played the Cardinals.
22:17I remember watching Cardinals film.
22:22And I came away very impressed with Jonathan Gannon.
22:25And he didn't have Kyler Murray, had Josh Dobbs.
22:29I think they only won four games.
22:31Some of them were lopsided, but I think they went three and four down the stretch.
22:36Like, I could watch the Cardinals and say, I kind of like this Gannon guy.
22:43I think he's doing a good job.
22:44I think they're doing more with less out there.
22:47And I don't think that you can make that argument here.
22:51The Rams, certainly better than you.
22:54And we talked about it going in.
22:56The Jets and the Bears, where they were, when you beat them, like, they were cratering.
23:03They were a dumpster fire.
23:04They were firing people and all that stuff.
23:07And so you're like, OK, I know the Patriots coaches are not worse than coaching staffs
23:15that are about to get fired after the season.
23:16OK, so they're better than the worst.
23:19The Rams were a step up.
23:22Not a huge step up.
23:24This isn't a Super Bowl contender.
23:26This isn't the 49ers game or something like that.
23:32This was different.
23:32The Rams were like 20th in DVOA, just five or six spots, eight spots ahead of the Patriots.
23:39And plus, you were at home.
23:41They were on a short week.
23:43They had to come east and play at 10 a.m.
23:45So you're like, all right, this is, you know.
23:47And look, in the end, they lost.
23:50It was a one score game again.
23:53So that's good.
23:54But, you know, if you would have told me going into the game that Drake May would play as
23:59well as he did, that they'd have, you know, 22 points and the chance for more with the
24:05ball at the end of the game.
24:07And basically, they'd be swimming upstream the whole second half and get off to a really
24:12good start, get the lead early again, that they'd be swimming upstream basically the
24:17entire second half and needed to scramble to make it a one score game.
24:21I would have told you you were crazy.
24:23You know, if you would have told me that Cooper Cup was going to, Cooper Cup and Puka
24:26Nakua were going to go off like they did in that game and that Matthew Stafford was going
24:31to look like prime Matthew Stafford again, I would have said, no, I don't see that.
24:35Like we talked about, I said, the only thing I feel good about in this game is the under
24:38and that was wrong.
24:39Yeah, me too.
24:42But, you know, it's just a lot of coaching mistakes from, you know, in-game decisions.
24:49And I know you're probably going to go on a rant about this because I know you feel
24:53strongly about it.
24:54The defensive plan, just woeful.
24:58I mean, they just, they weren't even a speed bump for these guys, you know, and we'll get
25:03into more into that.
25:04But I just, you know, look, the Seahawks, you lose by three in overtime.
25:08The Dolphins with Snoop Huntley, you lose by five.
25:11The Jaguars, you lose by 16, but you led 10, nothing.
25:15The Titans, you lose by three in overtime to Mason Rudolph.
25:18And the Rams, you lose by six at home when everybody was sort of feeling themselves after
25:24the Bears, you know, la-di-da, we're on the right track.
25:27And then, you know, I think defensively, they just laid an egg.
25:31And I'm sorry, the Rams aren't that, yes, Kup, Nakua, and Stafford are good.
25:35Outside of that, not really that good.
25:37The offensive line isn't that good.
25:38They got thrashed by the Dolphins the week before.
25:41Um, so my 10,000 foot view is just another underwhelming coach preparation performance.
25:51And that led to the loss.
25:54I just want people to kind of think about generally what head coaches should be showing
26:01you and how, you know, whether or not the coaching staff is doing a good job, great
26:07job, bad job.
26:08First, I'd start with accentuating strengths and hiding weaknesses.
26:12That's your number one priority as a coaching staff, accentuate the strengths of your team
26:17and hide the weaknesses of your team.
26:19I simply ask this question to all of you watching and or listening.
26:24Do you feel like the Patriots do a good job of that on a weekly basis?
26:28I'm not talking about the level of talent that you have just with what you have.
26:32Do you think the coaching staff does a good job of accentuating the strengths and hiding
26:37the weaknesses?
26:38I do not.
26:39Okay.
26:41The other thing I would say is I'm not looking for a huge leap of improvement.
26:47I understand that this staff is young.
26:49It's inexperienced.
26:50I was expecting a learning curve, but I was also hoping that they would show signs of
26:55improvement.
26:57So I ask you, Gerard Mayo, has he shown signs of improvement to you?
27:02I'm talking about coaching.
27:03I think he's actually done a little bit better of a job with the media stuff the last month
27:07or so, but on the field, coaching, has he improved?
27:12Do you have benchmarks that you look at and say, oh, he improved here, there?
27:15To me, I haven't seen much improvement.
27:19I've said this now for weeks, Greg.
27:22This staff, for the most part, outside of Van Pelt, because I do think Van Pelt's done
27:27a better job over the last two or three weeks of reacting in game, game planning, some of
27:33the stuff, again, utilizing his talent in better ways.
27:35We saw Marcus Jones this past weekend on two snaps.
27:38One was you give it to Jones, the next play, it's smart because you're using him as
27:43a decoy to the screen to Stevenson, which got nine yards, which probably could have
27:47been a bigger play if Stevenson cut up earlier.
27:49But so you see some of that.
27:53This staff, especially Covington and Mayo, and I don't think it's a coincidence that
27:58they're the two guys that have been together for a while now, and they're BFFs.
28:06They're way too, way too reactionary.
28:09And sometimes the reactions are way too late if they get to them at all.
28:13And I just kind of think of this one thing that Mayo has said recently that irritated
28:19me an incredible amount.
28:23He's been speaking to the media and he did it again today.
28:26And his whole thing is, I'm going to look at things in the off season.
28:31I'm going to look in the off season and look at what I could improve that.
28:34You know, Andy Reid does that in the off season.
28:36Well, I mean, look, Andy Reid's also won multiple Super Bowls.
28:39Okay.
28:40So, but, you know, I'm going to wait until the off season is pretty much the message
28:43from Gerard.
28:45And it's like, okay, so you're just going to continue to make the same mistakes, but
28:48you're going to chalk it up to your first year as a head coach.
28:51And you'll just wait until the off season to maybe correct those mistakes.
28:55So you're, you're pretty much admitting to everybody.
28:58I'm burning down the 2024 season because what really matters is the off season.
29:03When I get to sit back and I see what I screwed up, there's just, there's no real time
29:08feel.
29:09The post game, Greg, after the, after the Rams loss, I could not believe, I could not
29:16believe that Gerard Mayo was standing at the podium and he fixed his lips to tell us that
29:24he felt like his team was in control of that football game.
29:29What game was Gerard Mayo watching?
29:32You were never in control after the Rams started to rip your defense apart.
29:37I couldn't believe that Gerard Mayo, and I just said, he was doing a better job with
29:41the media.
29:42This shows you how bad I think he's been doing coaching lately.
29:45I also could not believe when Gerard Mayo, I'm trying not to swear, try not to curse.
29:54I'm trying not to lose my mind.
29:56I'm just, when he looks at time of possession and is in his mind, he says, well, we were
30:03in control of the game because look at the time of possession.
30:06Gerard, you don't need the football as long.
30:09If you're getting 70 yard touchdown passes, time of possession doesn't mean anything.
30:14When the other quarterback is killing you, because guess what, Gerard, you don't need
30:2014 play drives that last seven minutes when you're putting up six, less than five plays.
30:35For people saying like, oh, he's early.
30:37I get it.
30:38I get it.
30:38But come on, man, this stuff is football 101.
30:42And some of the things he says after the game, honestly, leave me questioning, did this guy
30:48actually watch the same game that I just watched?
30:50What was, was he, was he on the sidelines of this game or was he teleported to some
30:56other game, to some other universe?
30:58And I'm not aware of it.
30:59And then he came back to the post game press conference.
31:02It drives me crazy.
31:04I mean, you, you make a great point.
31:06Um, no, I mean, all those were great points and I, I completely agree with you.
31:10First of all, how many times this season are we going to say, what game was he watching?
31:16I mean, you know, that was the whole, remember when he's like, I forget which loss it was.
31:21And he's like, oh, I think it was the dolphins game.
31:23And he came back after and he's like, there's no question that we're a tough team.
31:28And I came out and I was like, what the dolphins just ran the ball seven times down your throat
31:33to win the football game with Tyler Huntley, a quarterback.
31:37And all of a sudden, two weeks later, he's calling his team soft.
31:39Okay.
31:40I mean, but there's been like, this is now three or four times this year when we've been
31:44like, what game is he watching?
31:46Also, yeah, to say that the whole, um, control the game.
31:49I mean, in the first quarter, they definitely controlled the game.
31:52I mean, they dominated the first quarter.
31:53That was great.
31:55But from then on out, and then in the fourth quarter, yes.
31:57But the Rams were trying to run clock, you know, more than anything, they were basically
32:01have two scores the entire fourth quarter.
32:03Um, and we're just trying to run clock.
32:05I mean, but just give you an example of how they weren't in control of it.
32:08Um, by expected points, the, the, the, the Patriots, when they did dominate the bears,
32:16um, the week before they were probably like a plus 18 and expected points between offense,
32:22defense, and special teams.
32:24This game, they were about a minus eight and almost all of it almost, you know, all of
32:30it was on defense where they were a minus 19, which was their worst mark of the year
32:36worst on defense or expected points, worse than the jets game, worse than the 49ers game.
32:41Um, so I agree with you.
32:44And the other thing real quick, you mentioned about, he, did he mention Andy Reed?
32:49Did he do that?
32:50Uh, today?
32:50I believe he did.
32:51Yes.
32:52Oh, okay.
32:52I'll look for the, uh, I'll look for the exact quote.
32:55No, that's fine.
32:56I, but, but what's interesting is, um, Andy Reed, let's just think back to a year ago
33:03and the Kansas city sheeps, and they were kind of floundering and, uh, the passing game wasn't
33:09really going there.
33:10They didn't have any weapons.
33:11And, you know, at some point in time, Andy Reed, I think Patrick Mahomes, you know, was
33:16part of the discussion as well, but Andy Reed decided, um, this team, we need to run, we need
33:22to focus on running the ball and playing defense.
33:24That's what we're going to go through.
33:26It was very similar to what the Patriots did.
33:28Um, the last time they won, uh, for the 18, you know,
33:33they lost those back-to-back games into December and McDaniels and Belichick got together.
33:39And they were just like, we just gotta, we gotta run the ball.
33:42We can't, we can't keep going through the air.
33:44We're going to run the ball and play defense.
33:46And both teams went on to win Superbowls.
33:49Like, you know, you're the head coach of the football team.
33:52You know, your job is to win every week.
33:54And I was just, I was listening to, uh, the let's go podcast and Belichick and Brady and
33:59scratchy were on there.
34:00And Bill, Bill said, uh, something along the lines of like, he learned a valuable lesson
34:05with Bill Parcells and, you know, where Bill Parcells said, there's a way to win every
34:12game.
34:12And it's my job.
34:14It's our job as coaches to figure out what that is.
34:17And it doesn't matter your level of talent or whatever.
34:20That is the goal.
34:21But for, you know, Mayo to be like, oh, well, I'll evaluate these.
34:24I, you know, you hear, you hear him talking about like, I'm a young coach and I'm going
34:28to make mistakes.
34:29And how about correcting mistakes?
34:31You know, you, you said the job of a coach to me, it's the job of a coaching staff is
34:35to solve problems and create problems for the opponent.
34:39And they're not doing enough of either.
34:41And this game was a perfect example of that.
34:44And now we're, you know, week 11 into the season.
34:46Like, you know, all right, I'll give you the coaching staff needs to come together.
34:50They need to figure some things out.
34:52You know, the first half of the season, the second half start, start doing some things,
34:57show me something.
34:58Yeah.
34:59Mayo said today, this is from Mark Daniels, his, his post on Twitter earlier on, on Mayo
35:04on his development.
35:05There's so much more for me to learn.
35:08Yes, that's true.
35:09Said he was talking to someone recently about how Andy Reid approaches the off season.
35:12So there you have it.
35:13All right, Greg, tell us about game time.
35:18So I was just looking on game time because you got to be in person.
35:22Celtics won last night against the Cavs.
35:25I see they have a game coming up, which I'll get to.
35:27But some of the great features about game time, game time picks, filters out all the
35:31fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats.
35:33So you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets.
35:36I love the on pricing.
35:39Toggle this feature.
35:40It shows you the total up front.
35:41No, none of those annoying surprise fees at checkouts where all of a sudden your, your
35:47expected price is doubled.
35:48And you're like, what the hell?
35:49Seat views, get a panoramic view from your seat in the app before you buy.
35:54I was just looking, uh, I don't know if this is one of those stupid ass NBA cup games.
35:59I think it, uh, I don't think it is.
36:01Timberwolves at Celtics on Sunday.
36:05Good matchup.
36:06I found two seats.
36:08This is one of their best deals.
36:10They actually said, this is an amazing deal.
36:12It's top 5%, uh, deal, best deals, uh, on this event, 200 bucks each row nine section
36:22304 that's all in that includes everything.
36:26So if you want to see the Timberwolves and, and, uh, in the Celtics matchup, which should
36:31be a lot of fun with the T-Wolves team, make sure you go to game time, check out the app,
36:37uh, take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time, download the game time app,
36:42create an account, use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again, create
36:46an account and redeem code CLNS for $20 off download game time today.
36:51What time is it?
36:52Game time.
36:53Quick recap of the Patriots offense, Greg, against this Rams defense, especially
36:57Drake May and what you saw.
36:59Yeah, I thought, I thought this was to me, not only to my eyes live at the stadium and
37:05what I wrote after the game, but also upon film review, uh, today, this was my best graded
37:11game for Drake May by far.
37:14I thought he looked in complete control.
37:17I thought the Rams threw a lot at him.
37:20Um, a lot of, um, if not straight out blitzes, um, a lot of simulated pressures where they
37:27put five, six guys on the line, then you got to figure out who's going to drop out.
37:31Drake seemed to know exactly what they were doing all the time.
37:34Um, you know, he played like a vet.
37:37Uh, I thought it was, I thought he was great.
37:40It seemed to me, Nick, you know, for all the people who, you know, hate me when I actually
37:45point out the facts about how Drake May played, where, where I said last week, you know, my
37:50concern and my growing concern, and it went back the last couple of games was Drake's
37:55inviting too much pressure.
37:56This isn't sustainable.
37:58One, uh, two games ago, I think against the bears, it was four quarterback pressures that
38:02I put on him.
38:03Uh, no, excuse me.
38:04That was the game before that.
38:06The bears game, even though they won, I had a seven pressures that he brought on himself.
38:11And it seemed to me, Nick, that, uh, I think they saw the same thing on film.
38:16I think they had a, they said, you know, we got to continue staying out of negative plays
38:21as much as possible.
38:22You know, Drake, we're going to throw in rhythm of the offense.
38:25He had his lowest time to throw mark of the season.
38:28It was get to the back foot, make a decision.
38:31Boom.
38:31It's out.
38:32I think that was part of the way.
38:34I thought they had a good plan, um, against Jared verse.
38:37They did not hold onto the ball.
38:39They passed the gym, uh, Jeffrey Simmons test this week.
38:43So Tommy point for AVP and those guys, they did not let Jared verse wreck the game.
38:48Like Jeffrey Simmons did.
38:50Um, you know, I thought, uh, Drake, I will say this, this was more of a game manager
38:56game for Drake may.
38:57Yeah.
38:57Um, I wouldn't say he made any like huge plays that the third and seven play that he made
39:03on, I think it was the second drive, which might've been their best drive of the year.
39:07The play where he stepped up, held onto the ball pot and hit pop and got walloped at the
39:13same time, thrown across his body, like 15 yards.
39:16That play was awesome.
39:17Crazy.
39:18It was awesome.
39:19Um, the throw to Kendrick born on the touchdown was good.
39:23I was more impressed with the read.
39:24The Rams busted that coverage.
39:26There was supposed to be a, uh, uh, safety there.
39:29Both of them went out to, I think we're Mondray Stevenson in the flat and the safety left.
39:34They both look confused after, but Drake saw it.
39:37Um, I'm sure a couple of people are asking about, you know, some of the bigger plays
39:41in the game.
39:42Um, the strip sack fumble.
39:46I sort of put that on the team because I think it was, it was sort of a failure on multiple
39:51levels.
39:51Um, you know, it's a three-step drop.
39:55Um, I thought originally I thought Keishon booty was supposed to run more of a five yard
40:00route and he ran more of a, uh, seven, eight, nine yard route.
40:05I'm talking to more people who know more about this than I do.
40:08Um, that route booty ran it, right?
40:11I don't think he ran it great.
40:12It's called a nine stop, which is basically like you're selling like hell that you're
40:16going on a go down the field, which they might've had if that's what the play called for it.
40:20But the, but they got to run the play.
40:22This is not like the old Patriots offense where, you know, you, you have option routes
40:27and you can adjust things.
40:28So you pretty much got to run things, uh, how it is on the paper.
40:33And so, you know, basically the way it's explained to me, I mean, first of all, Brown
40:38and Jordan didn't handle the stunt.
40:41Well, I mean, the, the time that was the fastest stunt to hit that you're ever going to see
40:46in the NFL.
40:47So I don't even know how much Drake may had a chance, but Drake may did basically the
40:54way it was explained to me.
40:56I wish booty ran it harder and turn more outside, but basically Drake may has to get back if
41:01he chooses that side of the field.
41:02It's one or the other either.
41:04If he, if he chooses to go right, he's got to go right.
41:07If he goes left, he's got to go left.
41:09So he decided to go right.
41:11He knows what the route is.
41:12He's just got to throw it when he gets to the top of his drop and, you know, either
41:17back shoulder booty either catches it or goes out of bounds.
41:19That's what you want to do.
41:21Um, uh, so, you know, that wasn't great.
41:25Um, the stunt wasn't great.
41:27Uh, I think Stevenson even could have helped a little bit if he would have seen it.
41:32He didn't do that.
41:33So it was just, it was a bad play all the round.
41:36Everybody's got to do a better job, including Drake may, but I didn't put the fumble on
41:40him.
41:40Quote unquote.
41:41And the last interception, I do think the sack before that play that was on Drake.
41:46He held it way too long.
41:48It's just got to get rid of the ball, live another day.
41:51Um, that way they didn't have to burn a timeout and all that stuff.
41:55So that was bad.
41:56Um, out of Drake, uh, on the interception, I know a lot of people are like, oh,
42:01pop needs to do this.
42:03And that you look on the all 22, pop Douglas, Hunter Henry, and Keishon booty are all running
42:08down the field.
42:08They all have their head down, uh, went by well, well after Drake may gets rid of the
42:14ball.
42:15Um, to me, that tells me that those were prescribed deep routes.
42:19If Drake may wants to throw those passes, he's got to find a way to hang.
42:24There was a pocket.
42:25He could have stepped up.
42:26He needed to hold the ball for like another second and then let it go.
42:30If he throws it down the left hash, it's probably a big play to pop.
42:35Um, the throws sailed on him.
42:37If Drake may doesn't want to hold onto the ball, if there's too much pressure, check
42:42it down to remandery Stevenson and the right flat along the sideline, get as much as you
42:46can get out of bounds, live on fourth and five or six and figure out another way.
42:51But I thought, look, he, he made many, he made some really good plays.
42:57Great game management.
42:58It was his best game.
42:59It wasn't perfect.
43:00I don't expect them to be perfect.
43:02I see a kid who learns every time he's out there.
43:05He's better every time he's out there.
43:07So I don't really mind the mistakes at this point.
43:11Are they contributing to losses?
43:12Yeah.
43:13But I thought that he played well enough overall in this game to win the game.
43:17If it wasn't for the defense, Greg had a may with 11 and a half plus plays in five and
43:22a half minus plays for a total of a plus six.
43:24So good game, obviously from Drake may.
43:27All right.
43:27The defense, what'd you think?
43:29Um, by the way, one, one thing real quick that I just want to say, and maybe you can
43:34help me with this and I know we're running long, but so I put out there on Twitter that
43:39this was easily my highest graded may game.
43:41Okay.
43:42And I said, um, highest since Jacoby Bursette in week one.
43:46And, you know, there were four Mac games, his rookie year that I had graded higher.
43:51Um, why do people lose their mind about that?
43:54Why is it so hard to understand that Jacoby Bursette, especially when he was getting
44:03pressured and knocked around like 60% of the time and led the Patriots to a victory against
44:10the Bengals where he made, there were three third down throw after third down throw that
44:14he was making and getting walloped.
44:16Like, I'm not saying that Drake may is not more talented than the Jacoby Bursette or
44:20not more talented than Mac Jones.
44:22Mac Jones, especially in the first half of his rookie year was really good.
44:27He was really efficient.
44:29He had a really good coach.
44:31Um, I don't even think the talent was all that great around him.
44:34You know, when you really go back and, you know, and look at it, um, like why do people
44:39lose their mind, Nick?
44:40I mean, you know, it's, it's, we know Drake may is talented.
44:44We know he's making plays and he makes more big plays than Mac Jones and Jacoby Bursette
44:49probably combined.
44:51But he also makes some mistakes because he's 22 and he's young.
44:55Why, why do people lose their mind?
44:57How is it so hard to compute that?
45:00You know, some fantasy football nerd is telling me like, I got to change my grading system.
45:05If Jacoby Bursette ever had a higher graded game than Drake may like, what games are you
45:11watching?
45:12Like he had a part of two turnovers, like he wasn't perfect, but he played well.
45:17I just don't understand why people lose their minds.
45:20Well, I mean, you're, you're asking me to operate somebody else's brain, which is very
45:25difficult, especially in 2024.
45:27I would say overall, Greg, uh, there's a lot of lack of critical thinking.
45:32There is a lack of context nuance, uh, you know, grabbing at the lowest hanging fruit
45:39all the time.
45:40And I also think that people will still to this day, uh, look at Mac Jones and they're
45:46triggered because they believe Mac just kind of went off the rails and fell apart on his
45:51own accord.
45:52And a lot of that has to do with bill Belichick and defending Belichick and defending Belichick
45:57record.
45:57So there's a lot of stuff that goes into it, but I think it's, you know, some people can't
46:02admit that Mac Jones actually was pretty good in 2021 for some reason, even though it's
46:08like, it's already been decided that he fell off the rails and he's no longer here and
46:13they've moved on to the next guy.
46:14And the next guy sure as hell looks exciting and looks like he's going to be a stud.
46:18They still just can't bring themselves to, you know, the idea that he was good from time
46:24to time and, uh, had some good games.
46:27All right.
46:27Patriots defense, Greg against the Rams.
46:29Yeah.
46:30I know a lot has been made out of, um, the coverage decisions that they made, you know,
46:34Gonzalez and how much man coverage and, you know, how they matched up and, um, you know,
46:41in the defense of the coaching staff, um, the Rams present a lot of difficulty in terms
46:47of, you know, the splits, tight splits with their receivers, the late motion.
46:52There's a lot of stuff that they do that makes it very difficult to play traditional man
46:58coverage, running with a guy, you know, all this stuff.
47:01Um, you know, so I understand why they made some of the decisions that they did.
47:07I do not understand why, um, a, they didn't have more of a plan for how they were going
47:16to deal with these things, especially cup and NACUA.
47:19Um, and you know, and also just, you know, uh, you know, a lot of their, and also how
47:26prepared they were to me, I saw a Patriots team that was unprepared, what they were going
47:31to see from the ramps, a lot of their motion bunches, how they handled things.
47:37It looked like they were woefully, uh, underprepared for this game.
47:43I think that, you know, and, and I hate to go going back to Belichick and we all know
47:48he's the best, but you know, these guys were under him, you know, Gerard Mayo and DeMarcus
47:53Covington, uh, you know, worked under bill for a while.
47:56And, um, I don't know how they don't come back to every week, at least to them privately
48:03and just be like, all right, what would bill do in this circumstance?
48:06I mean, I think they'd be stupid not to do that.
48:10I mean, cause I do that.
48:12I mean, I think that a lot of people would do that.
48:15And so going into this game, bill would have said, we're not letting Matthew Stafford go
48:22off to cup and NACUA.
48:24Um, he, you know, we'll let them, they can run the ball with Kyron Williams all they
48:28want.
48:29They can throw it at Colby Parkinson.
48:31They can throw it at DeMarcus Robinson, the two, two Atwell, whatever.
48:35But Stafford just wants to throw the cup and NACUA all the time.
48:39And we're going to take that away.
48:41And then you work, then you say, all right, how are we going to do that?
48:44And if you can't match up, which you can't really against the Rams, how else are you
48:49going to do it?
48:49And to me, the lack of focus on disrupting the timing of cup and NACUA just stood out.
48:59These guys, like they just had free run wherever they wanted to go.
49:02I mean, for example, the second play of the game, and this is not unusual.
49:07The Rams do this NACUA comes in motion and it's kind of cool.
49:13He exits through the sea gap.
49:15So between the tackle and the tight end, that's where, so they're in man coverage.
49:20Jonathan Jones is on NACUA.
49:22So he exits through the line.
49:24Christian Ellis is there, gets a slight piece of them, but basically they, uh, Ellis picks
49:31Jonathan Jones.
49:31So NACUA just turns, he's wide open 38 yards.
49:35Okay.
49:37You know, if you're focused on having a plan and being like, all right, if NACUA does this,
49:42if he exits here, if he goes in motions, exit here, this is what we're going to do.
49:46Like in that circumstance, they should have been like, Hey, defensive lineman, Keon White,
49:53whoever it is, Jeremiah Farnes, whatever.
49:55If you see one of their receivers try to exit through the line, you hit the everlasting
50:01snot out of them.
50:02They do not get past the line.
50:04Like they are inviting contact, knock the crap out of them.
50:07Or, you know, if, if cup has a tight split, get Keon White out there, hit them.
50:14You know, NACUA comes in motion, have Kyle Duggar out there, hit them coverage over the
50:19top.
50:19They just, there was no plan to disrupt what the Rams wanted to do.
50:23Those five possessions where they did exactly what they wanted to do.
50:27It was unbelievable.
50:29They look like they look like an NBA offense without much deep.
50:33It looked like the NBA all-star game.
50:34They could go wherever they wanted to and do whatever they wanted to do.
50:38And Stafford was never under pressure.
50:40And so I just thought it was an epic fail.
50:43The only reason that it wasn't worse is I do think Stafford missed a couple of couple
50:48of throws that were there.
50:49Um, I do, you know, they missed the field goal, Sean McVay declining a holding penalty
50:54that would have brought up second and 20 instead made it third and 10.
50:58And then they had a penalty to make it third and five.
51:00That was just colossally dumb.
51:02Uh, so they were lucky.
51:03The game was as close as it was.
51:05I thought that I thought the defensive plan and execution and preparation was terrible.
51:11And, uh, they, they got absolutely abused by Sean McVay and old friend, Nick Kaley.
51:19They just kept blitzing when the blitz wasn't working and they just kept doing it.
51:25Stafford absolutely tore them apart against the blitz, especially when they went cover
51:30zero.
51:31I think they went cover zero blitz, like three or four times in the game, including the
51:35Cooper cup, 69 yard touchdown to start the third quarter, six all out blitzes.
51:41So six all out blitzes.
51:43And, uh, it, it didn't work.
51:45And it was like, no, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing.
51:47And it goes back to what I've said, that the lack of the lack of adjusting inside of the
51:52game from the head coach and the defensive coordinator, especially those two guys, it
51:57just leaves me shaking my head.
52:00If it's not working, you got to bail from it, do something different, try to do something
52:04that, you know, might surprise the offense.
52:08And it's, you know, there's that, there's that after the cup touchdown catch, there's
52:14the, uh, the replay of Stafford.
52:16And he's looking over to the sidelines to McVay and he's like smiling and laughing and
52:20he's throwing up a zero as to say, they just, they just sent cover zero at us again.
52:24And we just torched them.
52:26Like the Stafford was laughing at you.
52:29He was laughing at you on the field.
52:32Never a good sign.
52:33All right.
52:33Check out Greg and Mike, uh, GRD at BSJ 50 bucks for the year.
52:37You also want to download the prize picks app today.
52:39Use code CLNS, get 50 bucks instantly.
52:41When you play $5 and take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time, download
52:47that app, create an account, use that code again.
52:49It's CLNS for 20 bucks off your first purchase up and down lists.
52:53Greg from you.
52:54Yeah, guys.
52:54I liked in this game, starting when the offense, obviously Drake may was my number one up.
52:59Um, in this game, um, Kendrick Bourne was really good.
53:03DeMario Douglas was really good.
53:05Uh, Ben Brown and Michael Wenu, um, you know, really good, uh, on the offensive line.
53:12Uh, defensively Keon White was a big up for me.
53:17Uh, five impactful plays.
53:19Um, Devon Godchow was decent.
53:26Uh, Marcus Jones.
53:28Now not Marcus Jones.
53:29Um, that's it.
53:30That's it for good people in this game.
53:33Um, people who struggled, let's see, uh, this list is long city.
53:40Uh, his paddle level is terrible, whether it's at fullback or at left guard.
53:44Um, he pulled and he just got the snot kicked out of him.
53:48Uh, I thought Hunter Henry a week after having a great run blocking game had a rough run
53:52blocking game.
53:53Uh, in this one, um, Jaheim bell with the drop Jalen Polk looks completely and utterly
54:01lost out there, uh, on the offensive line, low Jordan and Jacobs combined for nine and
54:08a half quarterback pressures.
54:10And they were what they have 14, 22 minus place for me, uh, Ben Brown and Michael Wenu
54:17had three minus place for me.
54:20Uh, I thought Anthony Jennings had his worst game, uh, on the edge that I have seen in
54:27some time.
54:28Um, I don't know what was up with him in this game, but that's not his normal performance.
54:32Daniel Ekoale keeps getting run over in the run game.
54:35Christian Ellis, I thought was terrible in this game.
54:38He was a day late in a dollar short, both in the run and the past game.
54:42He had a couple of pressures, which was nice on blitzes.
54:45Uh, but it seemed like the Rams were taking advantage of him.
54:48Uh, Jonathan Jones gave up two touchdowns on the cover zero play.
54:54He's gotta, he's gotta have inside leverage on that.
54:56I don't know why he set up outside.
54:59It was almost like he thought there was going to be a safety in the middle of the field.
55:02Um, it made it a much easier throw for the Rams.
55:05What he's supposed to do is have inside leverage and force the throw over him and to the sideline,
55:10which is a more difficult throw.
55:12Marco Wilson was bad and he's now gone.
55:15Um, Del Pettis and Kyle Duggar was really, really rusty in this game.
55:21Missed tackles.
55:23Yep.
55:23Um, not great in coverage either.
55:26Uh, hopefully this was just rust because, uh, they need him to play a lot better than
55:31that.
55:32All right.
55:32There you have it.
55:33We'll be back, uh, later in the week to discuss Dolphins Patriots.
55:37We'll see if we can get Greg Bedard in his, uh, Dolphins footy pajamas from his childhood.
55:42He can, uh, show up a little, a little Dolphins hat on while doing the podcast to trigger
55:47some people to troll some of you.
55:48Uh, we'll get into that game.
55:49Of course, their second game against Miami this year, this one down in Miami, which is
55:53always a challenge until then be well, he's Greg.
56:02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
56:08yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
56:12yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
56:14yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
56:16yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
56:18yeah.

Recommended