On this episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast, Greg and Nick Cattles dive into the coaching decisions that continue to leave the Patriots scrambling late in games. How much of the Patriots' late-game struggles fall on Jerod Mayo? And what is Greg seeing with Drake Maye's development? All that, and much more!
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SportsTranscript
00:00This is the Greg Bidard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:09Yet again, here we are another depressing loss this time against the Indianapolis Colts.
00:15We have a lot of thoughts on that game, but first I'll tell you, as I always do about
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00:44Greg, I want to start with Gerard Mayo and a bigger picture kind of look at Mayo and
00:53something that he continues to do.
00:55And it bothers me.
00:57I don't know if it bothers you, but he keeps saying, if it wasn't for this, then that,
01:04if it wasn't for this, then that against Houston, if it wasn't for two 50 plus yard runs, the
01:11run defense would have been fine.
01:13If it wasn't for that Miami game, uh, we'd be playing much better lately.
01:19Of course now this past game, it was, well, if you take out the 19 play game winning drive
01:26plus the two point conversion, the defense wasn't really that bad.
01:31Your thoughts on this approach, thought process, and the fact that Mayo says these things out
01:36loud.
01:37Uh, it's, it's a really good question, Nick, um, you know, I, and just in general
01:48about like what Mayo says and, and you might know this because you have your ears perked
01:53up around the league a little bit more, uh, than, than I do come, you know, Mondays and
01:58Tuesdays and things like that.
02:00But like, is, is there any other coach in the league that says that says things on Sunday
02:08that he walks back on Monday?
02:10I mean, it's, it's not every week, but it seems like it's every week.
02:14And this week it was the, the Seattle super bowl comment and he walked that back.
02:19I shouldn't have said that.
02:20We know all the things that he said.
02:21I mean, going back to, you know, burning some, we're going to burn some cash and, and all
02:26that stuff.
02:27Um, yeah, I, I don't understand.
02:32I don't understand the excuse making, um, that he, he seems to want and getting, I mean,
02:39I think I understand that he wants to, you know, illustrate that he's doing a good job
02:47and the team is getting better.
02:50Um, you know, I know the offense is getting better.
02:54Um, you know, they have been better of late and they're doing some things and, you know,
03:00set a season high for yards and, you know, we all know the points they left on the field,
03:05but yeah, I, I mean, I, I don't, I don't see it, how it benefits the team at all to
03:14talk this way that, you know, if we would have done this, if we just would have done
03:18this a little bit better than everything is, is roses and, and smelling great.
03:24But I, you know, the bottom line is this team looks, unless they get a surprise in the final
03:30four weeks that they are going to finish three and 14, it'll be the lowest wind total
03:36since 1992 Dick McPherson.
03:39And to me, it's a huge step back from where they even were last year.
03:46I mean, I, I expected the team with a new quarterback, with a new head coach, uh,
03:54especially one on the defensive side of the ball.
03:56I expected them to be, you know, a couple of games better this year than they were last
04:01year.
04:02And that doesn't look like it's going to happen.
04:06One more thing on, on those kinds of comments when he, when he tries to say, well, if this
04:11didn't happen, like, yeah, I get it.
04:14It did happen.
04:15So I'm not sure why it matters because in reality it did happen, Gerard.
04:20And, uh, the fact that you gave up the two 50 plus yard runs against Houston means your
04:24run defense was bad.
04:26The fact that you had the Miami game means that your team has not been playing it.
04:30You know, some of its best football recently.
04:32Uh, you know, the fact that you gave up the 19 play game winning drive along with a two
04:37point conversion means your defense was not good enough on Sunday, period, point, end
04:41of sentence.
04:43Another thing though, uh, you know, our friend Andrew Callahan at the Herald, I thought he
04:46brought up a very interesting point.
04:48I wanted to ask you about it.
04:51Andrew pointed out that the vast majority of those kinds of comments, if not all of
04:57them is defense related.
05:00And I have to ask you, you know, and Andrew made the point of when, when Gerard's been
05:06asked about the offense, he hasn't always had these kinds of comments.
05:12He's held the offensive guys more, you know, more accountable and more responsible for
05:18things that they mess up on.
05:22First do you, do you agree with that?
05:23Because I do.
05:24Secondly, could we read into that and say it's because of his close relationship with
05:28the Marcus Covington and the fact that he did not have a relationship with Alex van
05:32Pelt before van Pelt was brought in?
05:34Yeah, I hadn't really thought about it, but I think Andrew brings up a valid point and
05:39I would say, yeah, that, that is true.
05:42I don't think he, I don't think he's as tough on the defense as he is on the offense, but
05:48I will tell you like, this isn't, this isn't new for Mayo.
05:54Some of the things that irked people behind the scenes last year when they were on staff
05:58was from what, what I understand.
06:02And I've been told this from multiple people is that Mayo crapped on the offense during
06:09even like full coach meetings.
06:12Like he, you know, he would talk about how I don't know about what's going on on the
06:17other side of the ball, but you know, we're all good on our side of the ball.
06:21And that did not go over well with his fellow coaches on that staff.
06:27And so it just makes you, it makes you worry, you know, long-term and going forward in the
06:35future is that, you know, does, is Gerard looking with a critical eye on all aspects
06:43of football operations, his coaching staff, what's going on with his team or, you know,
06:50is he, is he afraid to, you know, it's not only is he afraid to throw his good friend
06:56DeMarcus Covington under the bus, but that would be further indicting, you know, his
07:02own ability coming up as a defensive player and a defensive coach that they can't even
07:07get that side of the ball straightened out.
07:10And I would say that if you look at this team as a whole, Nick, I'm sure you would agree
07:14that the, probably the most disappointing aspect of this team this season has been the
07:18performance of the defense.
07:21And I'm not saying last year's defense was great, finished ninth in DVOA, which is good.
07:27And I would say that's about right.
07:28I would say they were certainly like top 15, probably somewhere in the 10 to 15 range
07:34last year.
07:37And they didn't have a lot of the pieces that they have now.
07:40And of course they, they're missing some of the pieces that they did have.
07:44But you know, when we looked at this team coming into the season, we figured, all right,
07:48well the defense will hold its own, will buy this team time for the quarterback situation
07:56to get straightened out to Alex van Pelt for his scheme to start to take hold a little
08:00bit, which is what we're seeing in the second half of the season that they are getting better.
08:07And but it's just the defense just can't make any plays.
08:10I mean, I know they got two interceptions on Sunday, but that was mostly Anthony Richardson
08:15being Anthony Richardson and not really, I wouldn't say the Patriots like forcing his
08:21hand and they're just not making enough place to get off the field, especially in crucial
08:26times.
08:27And that really goes to both sides of the ball, a couple of things start with the defense.
08:31I would say that, you know, what, what's frustrating is Christian Gonzalez is playing like a legitimate
08:36number one outside corner, a guy who can shut down many receivers and limit some of the
08:42best receivers that are in the game.
08:44He's played like that all year long.
08:47He's mostly been terrific.
08:48And the fact that you have a corner playing that well and playing a lot of man coverage,
08:52the fact that the rest of your secondary can't figure it out is truly an indictment on both
08:56the secondary, but especially the coaching number two, you know, Alex van Pelt, here's
09:02my concern about the relationship between Mayo and Covington, aside from the things
09:06that you just brought up, Greg, I'm concerned that this team is going to finish three and
09:1114 or four and 13, and they're going to need a scapegoat.
09:16And even against everybody else's, you know, wisdom of watching this team and we'll get
09:21into it in a little bit about the offense, continuing to improve that van Pelt might
09:26end up being the scapegoat because Mayo doesn't want to look bad.
09:31He doesn't want to make his guy Covington look bad and you end up getting rid of who
09:34I think has been the best coach on this team.
09:37That's, that's my concern is that that relationship goes further into the off season decision
09:44making process.
09:46And again, it's a hypothetical, but if that were to happen, I would lose my mind.
09:50Yeah.
09:51I mean, I think we can get into the van Pelt discussion sort of after the season.
09:55I need to see the full thing and I really want to see how this, this offense functions
10:02down the stretch against Gannon McDermott twice.
10:10I mean, you know, you know, offense, not so hot in Miami where Miami pressure's a little
10:17bit more puzzle, a little bit more man against the Rams and the Colts both play sort of zone.
10:24They don't really have good cornerbacks.
10:27Don't really blitz a lot like, okay, yeah, it's better, but you know, you're, you're
10:33overarching sort of a point.
10:35I, I understand it.
10:37I agree with it.
10:39I just you know, Nick, we're hearing more and more about like, oh, well, you know, they're
10:46going to do more to support Mayo and you know, how do they, how do they do that in like,
10:53you know, if that's the direction that they're going to go, which it looks like it is.
10:57I mean, I, I don't know.
10:58I don't know how that ever works.
11:00I don't know if I've ever heard of that working in the national football league where, you
11:05know, what, all of a sudden they're going to bring in some veteran coaches, put more
11:07cooks in the kitchen.
11:09Um, yeah, I, I just, you know, the direction that this coaching staff goes, I'm not optimistic
11:16about it.
11:17When I talk about van Pelt, I want to make it clear.
11:20It's all relative and van Pelt compared to the other coaches.
11:25What I mean is if he's the dude that ends up being first in the firing line because
11:29of relationships, when the other coaches have clearly been worse than him, that to me is
11:33a problem.
11:34Uh, and as far as the Miami game, you know, it's a fair point about waiting to see against
11:38better defenses and all of that, a fair point by you.
11:41I think the Miami game was more behind the chains and then you got down big and then
11:44what the hell else are you supposed to do?
11:47I mean, you know, that entire first half you're, you're playing second and 15, second and 23rd
11:52and 17, uh, the penalties and all of that.
11:55And some of that of course is on van Pelt, the offensive penalties.
11:59But you know, as a play caller, I don't know how much to take out of that game given the
12:02circumstances.
12:04Uh, you, you mentioned, uh, the games, you know, that you thought that the Patriots would
12:09be at least a couple of games better than last year.
12:12Uh, you have officially, you let me know, added to your list of winnable games after
12:16Sunday.
12:17Yup.
12:18Just, I mean, just, uh, you know, add it to the list, you know, you got Seattle, the dolphins
12:26with Huntley, Jaguars, Titans, Rams, Colt, Dolphins, Colts.
12:32You know, really you look at that group and Seattle and the Rams, uh, Seattle's 18th and
12:39DVOA right now, the Rams are now 16th at the time you played them, they were 21st.
12:43So they've been climbing a little bit, but, um, you know, to me, this is just a, this
12:50is another in a long line of winnable games, uh, for this team.
12:54And, um, to me, uh, again, this is, um, I just watched this game and to me it's, it
13:02goes to coaching.
13:03Like they have to, they have to figure out a way in the crucial moments to get a play
13:10on both sides of the ball.
13:12I mean, after the Gonzalez interception, that drive, the two runs and a sack where it was
13:17obvious that May was told, uh, if you don't have anything, get down, keep the clock running
13:23where really the focus, the focus should have been, we need 20 yards to get a field
13:28goal and ice this game.
13:30That's what we're doing.
13:31I wouldn't have minded a mentality where Mayo said, look, we're going for it because they
13:36got the ball midfield.
13:38We're going for it because even if we don't get it, if they go down, um, in score, it'll
13:43leave us with more time, you know, that sort of thing.
13:46Um, and then, you know, defensively, like you said, 20 place, 19 plays, a two point
13:50conversion, three fourth downs, um, you know, in, in those moments where the game is going
13:57to be decided, um, yeah, you need a high level of execution.
14:02I understand that.
14:03It might not always be there for the Patriots, but you know, those play callers, they gotta,
14:07they gotta have something in reserve, you know, got to have it moments.
14:11This is what we're going to do.
14:12Designer pressure, designer coverage, something we haven't shown before, um, you know, something
14:18offensively, especially, I don't know, using Drake Mays athleticism to your benefit in
14:24crucial moments.
14:26And to me, they just continually come up short in those areas.
14:29And that's why this team is staring three and 14 in their face.
14:32I said this on black Friday morning, doing the show on 98 five with Alex bars, people
14:36continue to do the, uh, black or white thing, coaching or talent.
14:39How about both?
14:40Um, the talent has not been very good.
14:43We know that this roster is not very talented, but even with average coaching.
14:48I think you've had six or seven winnable games on this schedule, the way these games
14:52have played out.
14:53And are you going to win all of those games?
14:55Of course not.
14:56But should you have five wins for five wins at this point, apps are freaking lootly.
15:02And that part is, is about the coaching.
15:05You know, if, if you had better talent, then you might've had 10 winnable games on this
15:09schedule or nine winnable games because of the lack of talent.
15:12You have six to seven winnable games and you've won half of those.
15:16Not good enough.
15:18Too many games that are there for you to win.
15:21And because of bad decisions, they don't actually go on the wind column.
15:26The upcoming schedule is no joke.
15:27We'll talk about that.
15:28I'm sure more next week, but I wanted to get your thoughts, Greg, on the field goal versus
15:32Hail Mary decision.
15:34Yeah, let's get into that.
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16:25Hail Mary field goal.
16:26What'd you make of it?
16:29I look, it's 51 49.
16:34I just wanted to look back for a second.
16:38So the Patriots got the ball with, they got the ball back with 12 seconds left.
16:48They tried the deep, deeper shot to Hunter Henry that got tipped away at the last second.
16:54That was almost a really nice play at midfield.
17:00You know, I think I, I, I would have gone with the Hail Mary.
17:05I mean, what the hell?
17:06I mean, I 68 yard field goal has never been made, um, in a game, let alone in the elements
17:15in new England.
17:17And you have, you know, Drake may, who can run around, who can throw, um, you know, Jane
17:22Daniels pulled it off.
17:23Who knows?
17:24I mean, you know, Drake may has pulled plays out of his rear end.
17:27Look at the Titans game.
17:29Um, and I wouldn't say that the Colts are known as to be the smartest team in the world.
17:34So, you know, I would have liked to have seen Drake air it out there, but I think,
17:40you know, sort of my bigger takeaway is, so they had 12, they have 12 seconds left and
17:46I'd love to, I should go back and look at what the, what the chiefs did against the
17:50bills with their 13 seconds.
17:53Um, in the AFC championship game, like, you know, I would have liked the Hunter Henry
17:59play.
18:00So they did 11 yards, nine yards.
18:04You know, one problem was they didn't have their, they didn't have all three timeouts.
18:08So maybe that's why they went for the deeper shot.
18:11Um, but I would have loved to have seen three, three of those Hunter Henry plays in succession.
18:17And then you're talking about a realistic shot at a field goal.
18:21The problem was they only had two timeouts left.
18:23I did not like Mayo taking that timeout.
18:26Um, and when I, in the, in the press box, when I saw it, the play clock was at one when
18:33he took the timeout.
18:34The Colts didn't know what they were doing.
18:36Um, I'm sure stiking would have taken a timeout, but I don't know.
18:40He's one of these play callers.
18:41Like I'm Mike McDaniel.
18:42I see them get delay games all the time where you're like, why didn't they take a timeout?
18:46Um, but at least they're taking the timeout.
18:49Even if the Colts snap it, they're discombobulated.
18:52Like I, you know, and then after the game or, uh, was it after the game?
18:57Yeah, it was after the game when he talked about the Seattle super bowl, no God compared
19:01it to that.
19:03And when actually Mayo did the opposite of what bill did in the Seattle game.
19:08And you know, he wasn't, he wasn't, he was injured at the time.
19:12He wasn't on the coaching staff, um, you know, and he took ownership of it.
19:17It was similar to the map Patricia comment when he was in Detroit.
19:21Um, I just didn't like how, just like the end of the first half.
19:25And we've seen this repeatedly.
19:27I thought the Patriots managed the game at the end of the first half terribly.
19:30And I thought they managed the end of the game terribly.
19:33All right.
19:34A couple of things going back to that Buffalo bills, Kansas city game, uh, end of regulation.
19:42When Kansas city kicked the field goal, they had 13 seconds to drive, which a lot of people
19:46forget that the, that game was so bananas.
19:50Uh, the, the chief scored a 75 yard touchdown drive in 52 seconds.
19:56Buffalo came back and scored a 75 yard touchdown drive in 49 seconds.
20:01And then you had the 13 second field goal drive by Kansas city.
20:05That all happened in like the final two minutes of that football game and regulation.
20:10Uh, but here's what they did.
20:12First and 10 Kansas city, 25 homes to Tyree kill for 19 yards, a timeout by Kansas city
20:19with eight seconds left.
20:21That was Kansas city's first time out.
20:22So they had all three.
20:24Then for some reason, Buffalo called the timeout.
20:26That was the third and final timeout.
20:28They called that after the Kansas city timeout.
20:31Then it was first and 10 at the Kansas city 44, my homes to Kelsey for 25 yards, timeout
20:39number two by Kansas city with three seconds left.
20:43So Kansas city did not even have to use all three of their timeouts because after that
20:4625 yard play to Kelsey that got them to the Buffalo 31, Bucker hits the 49 yard field
20:52goal to send it into overtime.
20:53So, uh, that's how that played out.
20:57Um, as far as the super bowl 49 comments, uh, look, he walked it back again.
21:04You know, one of multiple, one of multiple comments that he walked back, said he was
21:08frustrated.
21:09I get it.
21:10It's a human emotion.
21:11Uh, but you, you know, bringing that up is just, it's ridiculous.
21:15It's ridiculous.
21:16And so many different ways.
21:17Look back, Greg, that defense in 2014, right?
21:23That's super bowl winning defense.
21:26Their red zone defense in the NFL that season was ranked sixth.
21:31They had almost a top five red zone defense.
21:34Uh, so you're trusting your red zone defense as much, as much as you're trusting Pete Carroll
21:39melting down in that moment.
21:40You want to know why?
21:41Because you had Brandon Browner, Darrell Revis, uh, you had Malcolm Butler, uh, Arrington,
21:46you had Devin McCord, you had Patrick Chung, you had a secondary full of veterans, really
21:51good veterans that were on the same page with communication.
21:55Didn't blow multiple red zone coverages, which we saw again earlier in this game.
22:00It's a completely different scenario.
22:02Indianapolis just in that game at that point was two for three in the red zone before that
22:07final drive.
22:09Also how about giving your defense a little bit of a rest, call a timeout, let them take
22:13a breather, call a timeout before the big fourth and three play after you didn't challenge
22:18the catch.
22:19Right.
22:20I mean, there were so many things in that drive, but the, the super bowl 49 thing was,
22:24was just outrageous.
22:25Um, let's, let's look at the offense, Greg may, was this a Drake may as best start yet?
22:32Yeah.
22:33Uh, it was, um, you know, I wouldn't say like by far, um, because I mean, it was my highest
22:41rated, uh, game for may.
22:43It was my highest rated quarterback at just out Jacoby Brissett in week one, um, against
22:49the bangles.
22:50And that is even with me putting the interception to Hunter Henry on Drake may, um, I, the way
22:57I saw that play and you know, the, the coaches film gives you a good angle at it.
23:03I mean, it's just, you know, Hunter Henry is, he's setting up and he knows, he knows
23:09the linebacker is on his right.
23:11So he's, he's sort of leaning on his, on his left leg, like expecting the ball should be
23:17like right here.
23:19That's ideally it should be, it should have been on his back shoulder, his left shoulder
23:24and may throws a fastball sort of, uh, knee level, um, just outside his body.
23:31Like, you know, when you're expecting a pass that way, when you're sort of leaning that
23:36back the other way, um, it's a tough, it's a tough catch, but you know, overall I thought,
23:42you know, like the grade even came out, you know, with the interception, I thought may
23:46was really good in this game.
23:47We talked going into this game and both things, uh, sort of came to be true.
23:53Um, it wasn't quite Drake Mays coming out party.
23:56Uh, it was pretty damn good.
23:58Um, and we talked going in, I said, if they win this game, it's because.
24:04Drake may owns Gus Bradley's cover three defense, which he did, you know, largely for
24:10the most part.
24:11Um, but also if they lose this game, then we're probably going to be talking about Anthony
24:16Richardson's athletic ability.
24:19How is, how they, they embrace his running ability and how the Patriots just don't with
24:25Drake may.
24:26And I think both were true in this game.
24:28I thought, you know, I don't need to see Drake may, I don't need to see a bunch of designed
24:32runs for Drake may, but when you get into gotta have it situations, goal to go, which
24:38they sucked at in this game, um, game on the line, uh, whether it's, you know, before halftime
24:45or after the Gonzalez interception, like you got to incorporate Drake Mays legs into that.
24:50It gives you another weapon.
24:52It's hard for the defense.
24:53I mean, look at what the Patriots did with Richardson, how many difficulties they had
24:57with that.
24:58And, but you know, back to your point, I thought, I thought Drake was really good.
25:02I mean, obviously the Hooper touchdown pass was awesome.
25:05I thought the, the Hunter Henry third down pass when the Rams brought a, brought a blitz
25:10was great.
25:11He had an in-cut to Kendrick Bourne where, uh, it looked like he was well-schooled this
25:17week.
25:18And, and I think they probably drew, they drew a lot from the Rams game, similar to
25:21sort of zone-based scheme where they, they, they told Drake, like, you're, you're going
25:28to have openings, but you're going to have to be quick and decisive and you're going
25:32to have to hold the linebackers.
25:33And one time he looked left knowing that Bourne was coming on an in-cut.
25:37And so he looked left and just let it go and barely beat the linebacker.
25:41Uh, those were, those types of plays were high level.
25:46You know, I do think that, um, a little bit more problems with pressure in this game.
25:51I put two sacks on him, um, and a hurry.
25:55I thought that the sack on third down after the Gonzalez drive, Kendrick Bourne was open.
26:02I don't know.
26:03I, I, he, he was looking in the, I'm not sure who was on along the sideline.
26:07I don't know if it was booty or Douglas, but that's where he wanted to go at first.
26:12But he saw the, he saw the cornerback creeping behind, which was wise.
26:16But if he, if pre-snap, if he thought that Bourne was going to be his guy, he had them
26:22there.
26:23They get it.
26:24They convert, they're in field goal range and they end up with a sack.
26:27And that's just, that wasn't a great play.
26:31Alex van Pelt to me has improved big picture throughout the year.
26:37A lot of stuff has gotten better for him and the offense.
26:42Drake may has played some of his best football lately, but there's one thing that bothers
26:48me with van Pelt and it's very frustrating.
26:52And that is situational play calling.
26:54And you touched on it a little bit, just a moment ago with the Drake may design runs,
26:58which I agree with you 100% about, uh, but, but two things, number one, uh, the conservative
27:05nature end of the half, 41 seconds.
27:09You're at the Indianapolis 11.
27:11You've got a first down, you've got two timeouts.
27:13You go run timeout, run timeout.
27:16Everything's now on the third down.
27:18I just thought that was way too conservative given the situation, the Gonzalez interception.
27:23Some might say, well, Nick, I don't think it was too conservative.
27:26That's okay.
27:27At the end of the half, I don't think I can live with what happened after that Gonzalez
27:30interception.
27:31The fact that you run the football under center, Drake may Stevenson two yards.
27:36Then you come right back with pretty much the same damn play for my eyes.
27:39I mean, you know, it could be blocked differently and all of that, but again, you give it to
27:43Stevenson on second and eight, he loses four yards.
27:47And now you have to have Drake may see the play that you talk about instead of taking
27:51the sack.
27:52It's, it's way too conservative, Greg.
27:55It was way too predictable.
27:57And the way that Drake may was playing, you know, it's not a bad idea to give this young
28:02man a shot to make some damn plays when you need some damn place to be made.
28:08I a hundred percent agree with you.
28:10And that's what I wrote my column on after the game, which was, you know, look, this
28:15team is, it was three and nine at the time.
28:17Now there's three and 10 like, and just what's the harm in letting Drake may just, just put
28:26the game in his hands in the crucial situations.
28:28Like, you know, I don't know what they're afraid of, Nick.
28:32Maybe you have some theories, but I just don't understand it because to me, first of all
28:39especially at the end of the first half, I mean, I think, I think may was like, I don't
28:44know, he's like 12 of 15 or 12 of 16 for like 180 yards at that point.
28:49Like he was, he was carving them up and, and, uh, like I, we just know like Drake,
28:57number one, he's, he's physically tough enough.
29:00He is mentally tough enough.
29:02He is resilient as hell.
29:03He doesn't let mistakes fester.
29:06He doesn't like let mistakes of his own teammates affect him.
29:11You know, he learns, he learns from things like, for example, this is just a very minor
29:17thing.
29:18This is the first play of the game when he threw a five yard out to Kendrick Bourne and
29:22they completed it for five yards and it was well-placed by may good catch by, uh, by,
29:30uh, Kendrick Bourne.
29:32But, um, you know, that play was harder than it needed to be because Drake was late on
29:37it.
29:38He was like a half a beat late.
29:39Like he just should have been like back foot boom.
29:42Like as soon as just, just throw later on in the game, he had the same play.
29:46I think it was to booty and it was much easier because may threw it on time and like, that's
29:53just an example to show you how this kid learns, like even within a game and how he improves
29:59even within a game and for them to turtle.
30:03And I will say in, in van Pelt's defense a little bit, the second down run after the
30:08Gonzalez interception, I'm pretty sure that may checked into that play.
30:13Um, there are ways to safeguard against that, but you just can't be coming out and running
30:18on those first two downs.
30:19I put the ball in the kid's hands again.
30:22I said this earlier, if I was Mayo after the Gonzalez interception, I would have been like,
30:27we are going for the jugular here.
30:28You need three points.
30:29You need 20 yards and three points and the game's over.
30:33We're winning the game here.
30:34We're not leaving until we, we win this game.
30:38I don't care if it takes us four, four downs, AVP.
30:42This is what we're doing.
30:43You know, go for it.
30:44Put the all gas, no break instead.
30:47This coaching staff is all break, no gas, especially when the game is on the line and
30:52you wonder why they're three and 10.
30:54Yeah.
30:55You ask why would van Pelt, you know, why is the feeling that way?
30:57Why do they approach things that way?
30:58I think it comes from the top.
30:59I think it comes from your head coach who wants to define this team by running the football.
31:04We're going to win by run game and defense and you're not defending your run games been
31:08up and down.
31:09The other thing about your team right now is your quarterback and you know, you're not
31:13trusting him enough.
31:14I think it's also clock management at the end of games at the end of half.
31:18I think Mayo is slightly shook with those kinds of things and he might even be second
31:22guessing himself now at this point because he's had so many examples of not handling
31:26it the right way to answer your question about Drake may his first half.
31:30By the way, I looked at my notes from the game, uh, 17 of 20 for a buck 69 and a touchdown.
31:36So yeah, I think he was pretty good in that first half, uh, quickly, just two more things
31:41on the offense, uh, red zone problems.
31:44I don't know if you want to add to this, Greg, but it's obvious they're five for their last
31:4815 in the red zone.
31:49As far as finishing those drives with touchdowns, a bunch of issues.
31:53I know we all focus on the offensive line and yes, the offensive line back-to-back holds
31:58from the two yard line obviously cost you four points, obviously brutal and inexcusable,
32:04but I'll tell you what.
32:05They got bigger problems in the red zone.
32:07Okay.
32:08They've got spacing problems with their receivers.
32:11They've got predictability problems when it comes to play calling, uh, they've got some
32:15issues, Greg and the red zone and van Pelt so far has not proven that he can figure those
32:20problems out.
32:21Yeah.
32:22I did not like their, um, their red zone approach in this game.
32:25And I don't know if he just like, there was one where, and I'm sure Kendrick Bourne ran
32:31the wrong route, but they had like, they had like three or four guys running, you know,
32:36crossing routes.
32:37Um, and it just, it looked like that was for man to man where the, the Rams, the Colts
32:44I'm getting, cause they almost play similar schemes.
32:46The Colts were just like dropping a bunch of guys into the end zone.
32:51And that played like took way too long, uh, the throw to Henry.
32:56That's actually the type of throws you needed more like, Hey, hit a running back in the
33:00flat, um, you know, some sort of bubble or something like that.
33:05Like those are the things that you needed to do against the Colts in this game.
33:08And I just did not like their, their red zone package at all.
33:11And especially like, if you don't make, if you don't make mace legs, a threat with RPOs
33:18or whatever, um, the defense is going to have an advantage down there and just not imaginative
33:23enough for me in terms of their red zone package.
33:26All right.
33:27Before we get to the terrible defense, tell the people about game time, uh, game time
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34:27I'm taking advantage of the bi-week to Saturday night, checking it off my bucket lists.
34:32Kelly and I are going to go see Seinfeld at Foxwoods.
34:35Oh, wow.
34:36We did that.
34:37We did that once back in the day in Palm beach County.
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34:40I'm very excited about that.
34:42All right.
34:43I'm not excited to talk about the defense, but here we are.
34:45Um, 19 play drive.
34:47What the hell happened?
34:49Uh, 19 play drive.
34:52What happened?
34:53Um, it's just, I don't know.
34:56They just can't make any plays and they just, they just don't make enough negative plays.
35:02Um, you know, Richardson obviously presents some difficulties.
35:07Um, I thought they were soft against the run all day.
35:10They were obviously worried about Richardson's legs.
35:13Um, you know, the Colts came out after, after halftime and just ran the ball down their
35:17throats similar to the, that dolphins game that they lost against Snoop Huntley.
35:22Um, you know, I, and I told, I said to Giardi at some point in the first half, I said, if
35:28I were the Colts, I wouldn't, I wouldn't pass again.
35:31Like I just run the six back offense with Anthony Richardson and the Patriots had, you
35:36know, no answer for it.
35:38Um, you know, they, you just, I mean, it's inexcusable.
35:42I mean, 19 plays plus the two point conversion, not to be able to get off the field.
35:48And here's my bigger issue with the, well, a couple of things that that's my issue with
35:54this defense.
35:55Um, you know, remember, remember before the season when they traded Matthew Jude on and
36:01people are like, Oh, where's the pass rush going to come from?
36:05And you remember Gerard Mayo said this, he said, we've gone years without having a premier
36:09pass rusher Chandler Jones, the Judons of the world, where we were able to manufacture
36:13a pass rush through our stunts and games in our game game planning.
36:17Uh, basically he was saying that we're going to do that again.
36:20How's that going so far this year, how's, how's, how's the game planning, the stunts
36:25and the games and you know, the, the, the pressures and all that.
36:29They haven't been able to do that, um, at all.
36:32And, uh, they just, they just can't, they just can't get off.
36:39They can't get off the field.
36:40And you know, they're starting to get near full health.
36:44Baltimore has multiple games.
36:46Peppers was back.
36:47Oh, the other thing I was going to say is like, and you mentioned it earlier, just bus
36:52every week.
36:53I mean, you know, just multiple bus and every game when, you know, in years past, you'd
37:00get like one, two or three a year.
37:04Now it's a couple of game.
37:06And that's just a horrible indictment on the coaches, the players, everybody that's been
37:13probably the biggest problem with this defense this year, you know, lack of lack of making
37:18big plays and way too many coverage bus.
37:22You know, what's drove, uh, driven me crazy.
37:24What's driven me crazy is, uh, the inability for DeMarcus Covington to slow down the one
37:30thing you have to slow down.
37:33And what I mean by that is last week, he says, we've got to trap Anthony Richardson.
37:38We've got to keep them in the pocket.
37:41They do a good job of that.
37:42No, you got to slow down his ability to run the football.
37:45He had nine carries for 48 yards.
37:47Now that doesn't sound like a ton, but soul crushing moments, Greg third and one on the
37:51second drive 13 yard run, because your edge just completely is not there.
37:56Gets wiped away first and goal touchdown run on the game winning drive fourth and three
38:01have to have it extends Jabril peppers is there.
38:04He finds Mo Allie Cox for the first down fourth and two later on the game winning drive left
38:10end for six yards, running the football, the two point conversion.
38:13Yes.
38:14The Patriots got hosed.
38:15Yes.
38:16Barmore got held.
38:17And also he had the high, low block combination, but they just, they just weren't ready to
38:21slow things down there.
38:22As far as the pass rush, I mean, Matthew Judon was not going to be the great panacea folks.
38:27If you haven't paid attention and you probably haven't, because I don't know how much Falcons
38:31football you watch.
38:33I love Matthew Judon, but Judah looks cooked.
38:36He looks, he looks cooked.
38:38So he has two and a half sacks this year for Atlanta in a, in a, in 12 games, he had four
38:45sacks last year for the Patriots in four games.
38:48He has 19 quarterback pressures, 19 pressures in 12 games.
38:54Last year, he had 14 pressures in four games.
38:58He looks done.
38:59So it's actually one of the best moves Wolf made in an off season.
39:02It doesn't look too great.
39:04Um, Kyle Duggar, Greg, before we get to your ups and downs, he was bad again.
39:10What the hell is happening?
39:11Yeah, I, I, I don't know.
39:13I, um, I was talking to somebody about this, um, today and, uh, I'm sure the ankle is bothering
39:22him.
39:23Um, but really, I mean, it's, it's not so much the physical play.
39:27It's he's a day late and a dollar short on everything.
39:30He, he loses his focus.
39:32You know, he's not there.
39:33I mean, on the game winning or game tying touchdown, Jabril Peppers needs to help him
39:38out.
39:39And, you know, like Tavai, somebody ran across Tavai's face and he knocked him over and he
39:44knocked him really off his route.
39:46Jabril, the guy goes by Jabril Peppers and he just like swipes at the guy, misses him.
39:51Um, but of course Duggar is a step behind.
39:56Um, but the person I was talking to today, they wondered like, you know, it was a situation
40:00where, uh, Duggar needed like a guy like McCourty to sort of be his guide and keep
40:07him, uh, in tuned and on top of things.
40:10And he doesn't have that anymore.
40:12It's, it's been bad.
40:14The last two weeks have been really bad.
40:16Um, you know, you look at a lot of these guys, Nick, and we're going to get into this when
40:20I give him my ups and downs, but I will say a, when it was pretty good in this game, he
40:24did have that one stuff.
40:27Um, but you know, as far as the year on the whole, you're talking about guys like some
40:32of the guys you gave extension to Duggar, uh, when you Stevenson in this game was terrible.
40:40He left so many yards on the field.
40:42We talked about it last week.
40:44I said, when are we going to start having the conversation that Gibson is much better
40:50in the scheme.
40:51He's much more comfortable than Stevenson giving him more reps.
40:55This was a game that called out for it.
40:57Um, you know, you look at these guys that they extended and those guys were supposed
41:01to be the bedrock for your team.
41:03And they've largely, they've underperformed this year.
41:06And you wonder where you are, where you are.
41:10The Mondra stuff drives me nuts.
41:11And I'm a fan of Mondra, but my freaking goodness, Antonio Gibson, we say it almost every week.
41:16He's one of your most explosive players on offense.
41:19He had 62 yards on seven carries.
41:21He scored a touchdown on a play that according to ESPN analytics had a 2% chance of being
41:26the touchdown because he's good at what he does.
41:29He's another one.
41:30That's one of the best moves that, you know, Elliot Wolf made in an off season that doesn't
41:33look good.
41:34And he had 17 snaps on Sunday, 17 snaps when he's playing as well as he's playing.
41:40He's a really good receiver.
41:42He played wide receiver back in the day and he has zero targets on Sunday and they really
41:47haven't used him in the passing game aside from like two or three screens this year.
41:51The usage of Antonio Gibson drives me up a freaking wall.
41:55All right, we'll get to the ups and downs first.
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42:11ups and downs.
42:12Greg.
42:13Yeah.
42:14So Stevenson got the only three targets for running backs in this game.
42:20And you know, you think back to this is a similar scheme that, you know, Dan Quinn ran
42:23with the Falcons and that Super Bowl.
42:25And you think about, you know, all what James White did in that game.
42:28Like this should, especially in the red zone, they should have used Gibson as a weapon out
42:32of the backfield.
42:33That would have, that would have helped.
42:35And they just didn't do that offensively.
42:38Guys that I liked Antonio Gibson, number one.
42:41He's my, he's my first up.
42:43Drake may number two.
42:45I thought Hooper was good.
42:46I thought Henry was good, especially in the run game.
42:49Uh, Ben Brown was the top, uh, player on the offensive line.
42:54I actually thought the offensive line as a whole, you know, look outside the penalties
42:58and some of those are a little bit iffy, sometimes, you know, you get the quarterback running
43:03around you, you get called for a whole, those are tough circumstances.
43:07I would say, um, you know, I, I would say outside of Leighton Robinson, the offensive
43:12line was good as a whole defensively.
43:16I liked Keon White, uh, bar more, I thought, uh, got back in the swing of things.
43:23Gonzalez was good in this game.
43:26Um, Marcus Jones, uh, Alex Austin until, you know, he would have been like a top up until
43:34he got that DPI and that was Leighton on third and nine, uh, guys that I didn't like in this
43:40game.
43:41Ramond Ray Stevenson, Jalen Polk, uh, Leighton Robinson.
43:46I know Mayo said like, this was his best game.
43:48I don't know what he was smoking.
43:50I had him for four quarterback pressures.
43:53I had him for 10 minus plays in this game.
43:55I didn't think he was terrible.
43:56It's a tough matchup, but you know, to go on and on about him, I don't know.
44:02Um, let's see.
44:04Defensively did not like Daniel Ekowale again against the run.
44:08He is a big problem there.
44:09I did not like, I did not like either of the linebackers.
44:14Um, you know, aside from the, the Tavai tip was a really nice play.
44:18He got back to, into his drop properly, unlike Miami.
44:21Uh, but for the most part they were getting owned in the running game.
44:25Duggar is a down Jalen Hawkins is a down and that'll about do it.
44:32Yeah, I was being hyperbolic with like the, the handful of targets for Antonio Gibson,
44:38but he's only had 18 targets, 18 targets and 13 games.
44:42This is somebody that you look back to just last year, had 60 targets the year before
44:46that he had 58 the year before that he had 52 and his rookie season, he had 44 targets.
44:52This guy should have at least 35 to 40 targets right now, double than what he has and he
44:57should be playing more.
44:58All right.
44:59He's Greg.
45:00I'm Nick brutal game this past weekend, demoralizing, uh, just a lot of adjectives you could use,
45:06but Greg has to go run to Felgram as and talk about it even more.
45:09So I'm happy.
45:10I don't have to talk about it now.
45:12I'm done.
45:13This is it for me.
45:14But Greg has to be punished now for the next two hours.
45:16So Greg, enjoy that.
45:17Uh, we'll be back later in the week, everybody.