In the recent Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles, the duo provides their insightful reactions to the thrilling Week 7 victory of the New England Patriots over the Buffalo Bills, with a final score of 29-25.
Greg and Nick delve into various key topics, including Mac Jones' game-winning drive, Bill O'Brien's exceptional game plan against a struggling Bills defense, the Patriots' defense stepping up to the challenge against Josh Allen, and last but not least, they share their "3 up and 3 down" takeaways from this memorable Sunday showdown in Foxboro.
TIMELINE:
0:00 Teaser
1:17 Main takeaways
4:00 Mac has his moment
11:00 Get $200 in BONUS BETS with Fanduel Sportsbook
11:35 Great gameplan by O'Brien against a bad Bills defense.
16:28 Greg on Patriots offense, Mac was good in the 4th
32:33 Patriots defense actually tries to play defense against Allen
36:45 3 DOWN
40:00 3 UP
42:00 Bill’s contract
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles Podcast is brought to you by:
Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5 and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.
ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. Go get it at https://oddsr.com/BEDARD
Visit https://factormeals.com/BEDARD50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.
Greg and Nick delve into various key topics, including Mac Jones' game-winning drive, Bill O'Brien's exceptional game plan against a struggling Bills defense, the Patriots' defense stepping up to the challenge against Josh Allen, and last but not least, they share their "3 up and 3 down" takeaways from this memorable Sunday showdown in Foxboro.
TIMELINE:
0:00 Teaser
1:17 Main takeaways
4:00 Mac has his moment
11:00 Get $200 in BONUS BETS with Fanduel Sportsbook
11:35 Great gameplan by O'Brien against a bad Bills defense.
16:28 Greg on Patriots offense, Mac was good in the 4th
32:33 Patriots defense actually tries to play defense against Allen
36:45 3 DOWN
40:00 3 UP
42:00 Bill’s contract
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles Podcast is brought to you by:
Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5 and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.
ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. Go get it at https://oddsr.com/BEDARD
Visit https://factormeals.com/BEDARD50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 you ask of your franchise quarterback,
00:02 hey, the game's close in the fourth quarter
00:04 or you're behind, go make throws under pressure
00:09 into tight spots to win the game.
00:11 Mack Jones did that.
00:13 So, you know, people should give him his flowers
00:15 for this game, especially the people
00:17 who've been killing this kid relentlessly
00:19 throughout his career because he doesn't look
00:22 like Tom Brady, he doesn't do what Tom Brady does.
00:25 Look, the kid got it done against a really good opponent.
00:28 You know, I don't care what shape the Bills
00:30 in are right now, that's the Buffalo Bills.
00:32 And they're a good team and Josh Allen
00:34 is on the other sideline.
00:35 And Mack Jones out-dueled Josh Allen.
00:39 If this was Tom Brady, people would be pants off
00:42 talking about how great Tom Brady was.
00:44 And, you know, because it's Mack Jones,
00:46 people, you know, wanna poke holes in it.
00:48 You know, wish there were holes to poke in it,
00:50 but the bottom line is, the fourth quarter,
00:52 he was tremendous.
00:53 He got the job done, two scoring drives,
00:56 including one when it looked like the Patriots
00:58 were gonna blow the game.
00:59 They didn't go down and just kick a field goal
01:01 to go over time.
01:02 They won the game with like 12 seconds left.
01:05 I mean, it was tremendous.
01:07 It's what we've been waiting for out of Mack Jones.
01:09 - The Greg Bidard Patriots podcast is brought to you
01:11 by FanDuel, the exclusive wedgering partner
01:14 of the CLNS Media Network.
01:15 - Hey everybody, we've got a win to talk about today.
01:20 We also have to talk about Bill Belichick's
01:21 contract situation since everybody in their mother
01:25 has been reporting on that the last couple of days.
01:27 But first, I let you know that this episode
01:29 is brought to you by FanDuel,
01:30 the exclusive wedgering partner
01:32 of the CLNS Media Network.
01:34 Greg, what team did we watch on Sunday, my man?
01:38 Your main takeaways from that game against the Bills.
01:42 - Yeah, it was a complete 180 for the Patriots, Nick,
01:45 and I'm really at a loss to explain it.
01:48 I mean, look, let's start with,
01:50 they were really good in all three phases.
01:54 I mean, you know, they really were.
01:55 They won the game in all three phases,
01:57 which I can't even remember the last time they did it.
01:59 I mean, even including special teams.
02:01 Special teams was great in this game.
02:04 I thought that the Patriots,
02:08 I thought the game plans by both Bill O'Brien
02:11 and Steve Belichick, Gerard Mayo,
02:14 were tremendous in this game.
02:16 They definitely gave their team an advantage.
02:20 I was especially excited about the defensive plan,
02:23 which was actually to play defense against Josh Allen
02:26 and the Bills for once.
02:28 After, for years, I've been railing against that,
02:30 and they actually decided to play defense,
02:34 which was great to see.
02:37 And, you know, look, I don't think,
02:40 let's also acknowledge that the Bills
02:42 aren't very good right now.
02:43 They just aren't.
02:44 They have a lot of issues on offense.
02:47 The offensive line isn't very good.
02:49 I don't know what Ken Dorsey is doing
02:51 with their passing game.
02:52 You see other teams like the Raiders and Josh McDaniels
02:56 who know the Patriots well,
02:58 and they're peppering the middle of the field
02:59 against the Patriots,
03:00 yet the Bills, everything was on the exterior,
03:03 and they didn't really do much of anything
03:06 down the middle of the field,
03:07 which was confusing to me.
03:10 Their injury ravaged on defense, which helped things.
03:15 So that was part of it.
03:16 But, you know, let's also acknowledge
03:18 the Patriots weren't tremendous in this game.
03:21 I mean, they had, what, 13 points?
03:23 I mean, they were dominating the game.
03:25 13 points at halftime, 16 points after three quarters,
03:29 which was basically sort of where they've been all year,
03:32 sort of like a, you know, 18, 19, 20 point offense
03:37 is what they look like if they could cut down
03:41 on the turnovers, which they didn't have.
03:43 They almost had a couple of big turnovers in this game.
03:45 But the most important thing is,
03:48 and I think should be the main takeaway,
03:52 and we'll see where this goes.
03:53 We don't know where it's gonna go.
03:55 But Mac Jones finally had his moment in the fourth quarter.
03:57 We've been calling for it.
03:59 I mean, he's been a good quarterback at times
04:03 during his career for various other circumstances.
04:07 You know, but he's had opportunities
04:12 to come away with victories.
04:14 Sometimes he's done his job, sometimes he hasn't.
04:17 But the bottom line is, during his career,
04:19 you know, he only has one fourth quarter comeback,
04:21 one come from behind victory in the fourth quarter,
04:25 one game-winning drive, and that was the Houston Texans,
04:28 which doesn't really even count
04:29 'cause that team was god-awful.
04:31 You know, but he had his moment.
04:33 He wasn't great for the first three quarters.
04:37 A lot of what the Patriots did on offense
04:39 was, you know, Bill O'Brien, his scheme,
04:42 which I thought was tremendous in this game,
04:44 you know, which we'll get into.
04:45 But you look, the fourth quarter, Mac Jones was dimes.
04:48 I mean, was it perfect?
04:51 No, he had to delay a game penalty,
04:53 he had the near interception,
04:54 he got strip-sacked on a bad play,
04:58 he missed DeMario Douglas, the play before Mike Gusecki
05:02 caught the game-winning touchdown.
05:04 You know, it wasn't perfect,
05:06 but you know, what you ask of your franchise quarterback,
05:09 hey, the game's close in the fourth quarter
05:12 or you're behind, go make throws under pressure
05:16 into tight spots to win the game.
05:19 Mac Jones did that.
05:20 So, you know, people should give him his flowers
05:23 for this game, especially the people
05:25 who've been killing this kid relentlessly
05:27 throughout his career because he doesn't look like Tom Brady,
05:30 he doesn't do what Tom Brady does.
05:32 Look, the kid got it done against a really good opponent.
05:36 You know, I don't care what shape the Bills in are right now,
05:38 that's the Buffalo Bills, and they're a good team,
05:40 and Josh Allen is on the other sideline,
05:43 and Mac Jones out-dueled Josh Allen.
05:46 If this was Tom Brady, people would be pants-off
05:49 talking about how great Tom Brady was,
05:52 and you know, because it's Mac Jones,
05:54 people, you know, wanna poke holes in it.
05:56 You know, wish there were holes to poke in it,
05:57 but the bottom line is, the fourth quarter,
06:00 he was tremendous.
06:01 He got the job done, two scoring drives,
06:03 including one when it looked like the Patriots
06:06 were gonna blow the game.
06:07 They didn't go down and just kick a field goal
06:09 to go over time.
06:10 They won the game with like 12 seconds left.
06:13 I mean, it was tremendous.
06:14 It's what we've been waiting for out of Mac Jones.
06:17 - You know I've countered this idea
06:19 about the comeback victory thing
06:21 and the game-winning drive. - Yes.
06:22 - I think that's focaccia.
06:23 I think that's such a fugazi thing,
06:26 and I say that because it's a complete team sport,
06:29 and we rely on breaking down what the team did
06:32 for the first three and a half quarters,
06:33 but then all of a sudden, it's all about
06:35 the last six minutes and the quarterback.
06:36 It's a strange thing to me.
06:38 I don't know why the human brain works the way it does
06:40 for many, but it does.
06:41 I have my Mac files, as you called them a week or two ago.
06:45 I'm not gonna get into it.
06:46 You can check out my podcast, The Nick Cattle Show.
06:49 This is Greg's podcast.
06:50 We talk about the game in this pod.
06:53 You can check it out, but I'll just say this.
06:56 There are a lot of games in Mac's career
06:57 as a Patriots quarterback that he has done more than enough
07:00 to put this team in position to win against good teams
07:03 in the fourth quarter,
07:04 and we just forget about those moments
07:06 because the Patriots end up losing those games,
07:08 and I'll just say that many of those games,
07:10 it's not on Mac.
07:11 It's on the defense.
07:12 It's on Belichick kicking a 56-yard field goal
07:15 that Nick Folk misses by a million miles.
07:18 It's punting in overtime against Dallas
07:21 after your defense gave up.
07:23 So, I mean, it's just,
07:25 it's fumbles by running backs inside the 10 twice.
07:28 So, there's a lot that goes into that.
07:30 I will add this because I found it interesting,
07:33 and again, it's Nick Cattle Show podcast
07:35 if you wanna check it out
07:36 to get the full layout of all that,
07:38 but I will say that I found it interesting, Greg,
07:39 in the postgame.
07:40 I thought Mac kind of hinted towards that at the podium
07:44 because he was asked a question
07:46 about this being his first comeback, blah, blah, blah,
07:49 and Mac, and I'm paraphrasing it,
07:52 but Mac said that he's looked at all of those games.
07:55 He said, "I've looked at all of those games
07:58 and something along the lines of
08:00 many things have to go right,
08:03 and I look at my role that I've played
08:05 in some of those games, and I need to be better."
08:08 I think Mac's saying what I'm saying,
08:10 which is, "Hey, man, I've looked at all those games.
08:12 We've had a chance, and it isn't always on me,
08:15 even though that's the narrative.
08:16 I've actually helped a number of times."
08:17 So, I found that very interesting.
08:20 I agree with you, most complete game in a long time.
08:22 - Yeah, one followup sort of on the Mac discussion
08:26 about coming through in the fourth quarter,
08:28 and you and I are completely on the same page,
08:30 and I went through this with Aaron Rodgers
08:33 when I covered him, where it took him a while
08:36 to get over the hump, as we've talked about on this podcast,
08:40 but you could look at specific games
08:44 where you're like, "Rodgers did this,"
08:45 and then the defense let up a game winning drive.
08:48 Rodgers did his part, then the defense didn't,
08:50 and there's all sorts of stuff like that,
08:52 but it's totally valid, and I completely agree with you.
08:58 I do think, though, however, that there is a significance
09:02 in actually coming through in a moment like this
09:05 for a quarterback, especially for his teammates.
09:08 I just think that come Wednesday's practice,
09:12 or maybe they're on the practice field today,
09:14 I don't know what their schedule is this week,
09:16 'cause first 24 hours after a game,
09:19 I'm just buried in film, and I don't know what's going on.
09:22 (laughing)
09:24 His teammates are gonna look at him in a different way.
09:27 I mean, when you come through like this
09:30 in the waning moments of a game for a win,
09:32 they might say the right things about Mac Jones,
09:37 and that they believe him, and all that stuff,
09:40 but when a quarterback actually does it, it changes things.
09:45 Now, look, they need to go out and follow this up in Miami.
09:49 I mean, it doesn't do any good if they go out
09:53 and they get blown out by the Dolphins,
09:55 and they're back to turning the ball over
09:56 and pick sixes and stuff like that.
09:58 It's not gonna amount to anything,
10:00 but it was very important for Mac,
10:03 while he might have done his job in the past,
10:05 to come through in a moment like this
10:07 against a good opponent just for his teammates,
10:10 and their belief in him, and the receiver.
10:13 Some of them might be like, oh, okay,
10:15 just a little bit more belief in Mac,
10:17 especially at the end of games,
10:19 or when Mac says, all right, two minutes,
10:21 this is what we're gonna do.
10:22 Because he's done it, now they believe it a little bit more.
10:25 Maybe there's a little bit more effort.
10:27 It's just those little intangible things.
10:28 This does make a difference, and we'll see.
10:33 Like I talked about before, Aaron Rodgers,
10:35 10 and 14 to start his career.
10:37 His teammates were questioning him.
10:39 He was trying to play hero ball.
10:41 He got called out on the carpet in a team meeting
10:43 after losing to Tampa, and then the very next week,
10:46 he led his drive against Dallas to come back and beat 'em,
10:50 and that changed everything for this team.
10:52 I'm not saying that's gonna happen,
10:54 but that's the type of thing that can happen
10:56 when a quarterback comes through like this.
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11:31 - All right, let's talk more about the offense from Sunday.
11:40 Can we all settle down on the Matt, Patricia,
11:42 Bill O'Brien comparisons after what we saw
11:45 against the Bills?
11:45 (laughing)
11:47 - Yeah, yes, for sure.
11:49 This was, and I wish, I'll have to make some more calls
11:54 later in the week when guys sort of decompress from this
11:58 and are on to the next game.
11:59 But let's just deal with the offense right now.
12:04 This was such a different game plan for the offense
12:07 than we've seen.
12:08 I mean, they went from nowhere's ville on offense,
12:13 they couldn't do anything.
12:14 And look, I don't think a lot of it had to do
12:17 with the offensive line changes.
12:18 I think it helped, and maybe that was the catalyst
12:21 for Bill O'Brien to do a few more things
12:23 that he felt like they could execute things
12:26 at a higher level.
12:27 Maybe that's what it was.
12:29 That's the easiest answer, and often,
12:31 the easiest answer is the right one.
12:35 But for Bill O'Brien to come out and use motion
12:40 as much as he did, RPOs as much as he did,
12:45 he was able to just scheme up a lot of easy plays
12:49 for the quarterback, which is something
12:50 we've been begging for for weeks.
12:52 Like, you know, when your quarterback's in a funk,
12:56 like, you need the coordinator to go out there
12:58 and be like, all right, here's a bunch of easy throws.
13:00 And that's basically what the first three quarters were.
13:03 I mean, I had, in the first three quarters,
13:06 I had Mack for one plus throw in the game,
13:08 and that was a third down throw to Demario Douglas
13:12 over the middle, which was a tremendous throw
13:14 and tremendous catch for them.
13:16 I think might've set up a touchdown.
13:18 So a lot of their offense that they got going
13:22 in the first three quarters was on Bill O'Brien
13:27 and scheming it up.
13:28 He'd bring guys in late motion,
13:29 using Demario Douglas as much as he did.
13:32 And basically, it was the Kendrick Bourne
13:34 and Demario Douglas show.
13:36 I mean, hallelujah, thank God.
13:38 And hopefully that continues.
13:40 And I think, you know, they just,
13:43 and I was on TV last night with Mr. Felger,
13:45 and he's ranting and railing about Belichick's contract
13:48 and about how, you know, you don't want this.
13:51 Like, is this what you want?
13:52 Look at their offense.
13:54 He's behind the times.
13:55 And I'm like, this is a tough week to make this argument
14:00 because the Patriots actually looked like a modern offense
14:03 on Sunday for once against the Bills.
14:06 We don't know the reasons for it, but yeah,
14:09 I thought it was a tremendous job by Bill O'Brien.
14:12 I don't know why it took this long, but look,
14:15 it's out there.
14:16 They look like a modern offense.
14:17 It looked really good.
14:18 Going back to the off season,
14:21 we talked about the lack of separation from the receivers,
14:24 and it just makes sense to have Bourne and Pop play more
14:27 than Parker and Juju.
14:28 That should have been the case going back to week one.
14:31 Now, Pop had the concussion and all that stuff,
14:33 and there's some Pop issues.
14:34 I posted on X on Sunday,
14:37 a video of when Mack threw it
14:39 in the back of the offensive line
14:41 and then got mad at Pop Douglas,
14:42 which we'll talk about a little bit later
14:43 about his emotions.
14:45 But Pop is supposed to sit on that route,
14:47 cornerback outside leverage, zone defense.
14:51 Pop is supposed to sit, and as Mack,
14:53 and I actually not only shot the video of it
14:55 and broke it down, but I also took a snapshot,
14:58 a still frame of when Mack is unloading,
15:01 about to unload the football, and where he sees Douglas.
15:05 And Douglas runs the whip route instead of sitting,
15:07 and Mack sees it, thankfully,
15:09 'cause if Mack throws that football to pick six
15:11 and 75% of the people that don't know what they're watching,
15:14 respectfully, will say, "Oh, there goes another Mack."
15:18 But Pop runs the wrong route in that situation.
15:21 So there is some of that.
15:23 You can't throw Pop out there to run 60 snaps
15:25 when he's not doing the correct things,
15:28 but you also do have to live through
15:29 some of those mistakes, right?
15:30 There's a balance.
15:31 So scheme the guys open.
15:33 We talked about it.
15:34 That's the motion.
15:35 That's what we saw, rhythm throws.
15:37 As far as easy throws,
15:38 I know some people will look at that and say,
15:40 "Well, you've got a coach around your quarterback."
15:42 I disagree.
15:44 Every coordinator has a job,
15:46 and that coordinator's job is to set up
15:48 his quarterback to succeed.
15:50 Every quarterback, including Patrick Mahomes,
15:53 has a number of, quote-unquote, easy throws
15:57 that are scripted within the game.
15:59 Andy Reid will do that constantly.
16:01 If you see some of these-
16:02 I think he throws behind the line of scrimmage.
16:04 I think he throws behind the line of scrimmage
16:05 more than any other quarterback in the league.
16:07 Yeah, and nobody will talk about it
16:09 because that's not on SportsCenter.
16:11 What's on SportsCenter is when he extends the play
16:13 and makes a ridiculous throw,
16:15 and obviously the guy is just elite and crazy good.
16:18 But every quarterback has scripted easy throws.
16:21 It's to kind of decompress, get you in a rhythm,
16:24 even Patrick Mahomes.
16:26 All right, with that said, Greg,
16:28 I want you to dive in deep with Mack's performance.
16:31 I know you've kind of hit around the edges here.
16:33 I'm gonna tell you that I read your piece on Mack.
16:36 I thought you were a pretty tough grader on Mack this week.
16:39 I'll be honest, I thought it was a pretty tough grade
16:41 you gave him.
16:42 But tell the people what you saw beginning to end.
16:47 - Okay, so, and just to back you up on,
16:51 there were again some route issues in this game,
16:55 including, and you could see Mack react.
16:58 I mean, it's a little Tom Brady-ish, Dan Marino-ish.
17:04 Second play of the game,
17:05 I don't know if Kendrick Bourne went in motion,
17:09 but he's in the right slot, and Mack just takes the ball,
17:12 and it's a real quick sort of,
17:13 it's supposed to be like a little bubble,
17:16 a little quick screen to Kendrick Bourne,
17:18 and guess what happens?
17:19 Kendrick Bourne doesn't step back, he goes out,
17:22 and Mack basically, I mean, he had to scramble
17:25 for five yards on the play, and Mack's mad at Kendrick Bourne.
17:29 And that's the second play of the game.
17:31 How many times do you think they repped that play?
17:35 And that stuff goes on.
17:38 Ezekiel Elliott had a route where he was pass blocking
17:41 when he's supposed to be out in a route,
17:43 and Mack gets mad at him,
17:44 and there were other route issues on that.
17:46 But look, I think, like I said,
17:49 I think that the first three quarters, it was a lot of,
17:52 what the Patriots were doing offensively
17:54 was a lot of empty calories,
17:57 other than guys like DeMario Douglas breaking tackles,
18:02 or Raimondre Stevenson had a 14-yarder
18:05 where he broke a tackle.
18:07 So Mack Jones, I had him for,
18:12 he was tied for the most quarterback pressure
18:14 allowed in this game, as the quarterback.
18:17 I had him giving up two hurries in the first quarter.
18:20 The third and 11 sack in the third quarter was awful.
18:24 He had protection.
18:25 He admitted after the game,
18:27 he was looking at the rush too much,
18:29 and look, I understand it.
18:31 So many people just think like,
18:33 oh, well, Bill O'Brien comes in,
18:35 and the offense should be better overnight.
18:37 Well, they changed the offensive line,
18:42 they got guys back, just with a flip of a switch,
18:46 Mack Jones should feel comfortable and not be rushed.
18:48 That's just not how football works.
18:50 There's not instant gratification with anything
18:55 in football.
18:56 It takes time, and when a quarterback is sped up
18:59 as much as Mack Jones was over the first five,
19:02 six weeks of the season, there are residual effects.
19:06 There is a sort of PTSD, and that has been going on,
19:11 and so when Mack Jones goes back to pass,
19:15 sometimes he doesn't realize that it's
19:18 Michael Winnowette right tackle in this game.
19:20 He's thinking it's Vidarian low,
19:22 and he's about to get creamed,
19:23 because that's been going on for a month.
19:25 And it takes time, and I think in the fourth quarter,
19:30 he finally, because of the way Bill O'Brien
19:32 made it easy for him for three quarters,
19:35 Mack finally settled down and was able to hang
19:39 in the pocket and was much more calm,
19:42 and delivered strikes.
19:43 I mean, in the fourth quarter,
19:45 let's just go through the last two drives.
19:50 First down, the Farrow-Brown pass was unbelievable.
19:54 I mean, it was perfect placement,
19:56 great catch by Farrow-Brown.
19:57 We talked about last week, I wanted more Farrow-Brown.
20:00 I'm fine with him and Hunter Henry being the two tight ends.
20:03 Just move Kosicki to wide receiver to be a big post-up guy,
20:06 like he was at the end.
20:10 But however, Mack gets a delay game penalty
20:14 in the red zone.
20:15 That can't happen.
20:16 That's happened for two straight weeks.
20:18 But on the next play, he makes up for it
20:20 with a tremendous throw to DeMario Douglas
20:23 over the middle for 19 yards.
20:26 And then to finish the drive,
20:28 Mack Jones on second and goal,
20:32 looks to his left, he changes the wide receivers twice.
20:38 And this is why he's the MacBook Pro, Mack's brain.
20:41 This is why he's a good fit for what the Patriots do
20:44 for this exact situation, where he's changing things around
20:47 and then he delivers a ball,
20:51 a little bit late to Kendrick Bourne,
20:52 but he hangs in there and takes a hit
20:54 and delivers a touchdown.
20:55 Perfect pass on the outside to Kendrick Bourne.
20:58 He turns the corner for a touchdown.
21:00 So that's really good stuff.
21:03 The last drive, when they needed it.
21:05 Let's also point out on the drive before,
21:09 so Mack did have the sack that was negated
21:14 by a really cheap illegal contact penalty on Teron Johnson,
21:19 where if that stands, Mack's getting ripped, rightfully so,
21:23 for like sort of spinning around and getting hit.
21:25 It was an out of control play.
21:26 It was a dumb play.
21:28 It was the stuff we've seen out of him.
21:30 There was the near interception on the next drive,
21:35 first and 15, incomplete to Hunter Henry.
21:38 The ball gets tipped to the line
21:39 and almost gets picked off.
21:41 Would have been an awful turnover,
21:43 deep in their own territory.
21:44 He had Kendrick Bourne wide open with cushion on the right.
21:49 He just sort of thrown that pass.
21:50 But the final drive,
21:52 for example, we talk about the easy stuff.
21:55 First play to Ramondre Stevenson, it's 34 yards.
21:58 That's all Ramondre Stevenson and Bill O'Brien.
22:00 Mack Jones has nothing to do with that.
22:03 However, third and eight,
22:07 dime throw to Hunter Henry, who makes a great catch.
22:10 He only had, he had two tremendous catches in this game
22:13 where it was, Mack doesn't have Josh Allen Heat on the ball.
22:17 So it takes a while to get there and he's gotta take a hit.
22:20 He did a great job twice of doing that.
22:23 The little touch pass to check down to Ramondre Stevenson
22:28 for 10 yards on second and two at the Buffalo 17
22:31 was a really nice throw for Mack Jones.
22:33 First and goal at the one, Mack misses to Mario Douglas.
22:39 That could have been the game.
22:41 He missed the throw.
22:42 He knew it.
22:42 He missed the throw.
22:44 And then he makes the same throw.
22:45 They take out to Mario Douglas, who's five foot eight.
22:48 They bring in six foot six, Mike Gusecki
22:50 to run the same route, the same play.
22:53 And Mack throws the same ball
22:54 and Gusecki catches it for the touchdown.
22:57 So, the fourth quarter was tremendous.
23:01 Up until then, I don't think Mack did really all that much
23:06 to put this team in winning position.
23:08 They got the turnover.
23:09 They needed a short field to get a touchdown.
23:12 At that point, Bill O'Brien did a lot of good job,
23:14 but the fourth quarter was awesome.
23:15 It was.
23:16 He was great in the fourth quarter.
23:18 To me, the game's a four quarter game
23:20 and I don't grade on a curve.
23:21 I don't give extra points for fourth quarters
23:25 or game winning drives because the first drive,
23:28 as we've seen in other games where they've lost,
23:31 drives and decisions in the first quarter
23:33 can determine games as much as the fourth quarter.
23:36 And so, Mack was really good.
23:39 He was really, really good in the fourth quarter.
23:41 I give him somewhere around B- for this game,
23:46 but awesome fourth quarter.
23:47 Very important for him going forward.
23:49 - I was at a B+.
23:51 I thought he was good.
23:52 I thought he was good early on.
23:54 I thought he was great late.
23:55 I don't know.
23:57 Everybody grades things differently.
23:59 I see plays like the Bourne screen play
24:01 and I give Mack credit for that.
24:03 I say that's a good play.
24:04 I think that's a heady play.
24:06 It's a smart decision because the play's blown up
24:08 because Bourne runs the wrong route
24:10 and he tucks it, runs it, picks up four yards.
24:12 That to me--
24:13 - Oh, Nick, what's also interesting,
24:15 'cause I was trying to figure it out
24:17 'cause I'm looking at my sheet and I'm like,
24:18 why did I give him an awareness plus?
24:20 That was the play.
24:21 I gave him a plus for that play.
24:23 That he just tucked it and ran.
24:25 So I did give him a plus on that play.
24:27 - The pop sit play.
24:28 That to me is a plus play.
24:30 The Bourne chunk play where Bourne got,
24:35 you know, whatever it was, 25, 30 yards on the cross route.
24:38 To me, that's a plus play on Mack
24:40 because Mack looks at the options.
24:42 He moves up in the pocket, good pocket manipulation,
24:46 feeds Bourne on the run, Bourne takes it
24:48 and picks up 30 yards.
24:50 So I think there were plays there that he made
24:53 and obviously there were mistakes.
24:54 I agree with you.
24:55 You named many of the mistakes.
24:57 I would disagree on the illegal contact penalty.
24:59 Have to call it, have to have it,
25:01 especially the way that game was called.
25:03 That's a penalty 10 times out of 10
25:05 and I'm not gonna say the Patriots bailed out.
25:07 You know, Mack is looking at Douglas.
25:10 He's on the outside, outside of the numbers
25:12 and Mack has to tuck that football
25:15 because he's held at the top of the route.
25:16 That's a penalty 10 times out of 10.
25:18 If the Patriots defender commits that penalty,
25:21 I think we're saying the Patriots defender
25:23 is responsible for that
25:24 and we're not playing semantics games.
25:26 So I thought that was a penalty across the board,
25:28 no doubt about it.
25:29 And you know, the pop touchdown,
25:31 I wanna hear your thoughts on that before we move on.
25:33 The popped missed touchdown in the fourth quarter.
25:36 My read on that was because pop is 5'8" as you mentioned,
25:40 there was a player underneath for the Bills, 25,
25:46 was underneath the route.
25:47 How I read that was Mack,
25:49 'cause Charles Davis said Mack should have zipped that in.
25:53 I thought Mack saw the defensive back underneath
25:57 and thought if I try to zip that in,
26:00 it could be a deflected pass, it could be a pick.
26:03 I'm not screwing around with this.
26:05 So he lofted it and because he lofted it,
26:08 Douglas couldn't get to it
26:09 and then they had the Gusicki change.
26:10 Did you see that?
26:11 Like I saw that there was the defender underneath
26:14 and Mack played it safe and said,
26:16 "I'm not gonna try to zip it in
26:18 "because that's a really tight window in this situation."
26:21 - So that is definitely part of the calculation
26:24 for the quarterback on that play.
26:26 It's probably one of the coaching points
26:29 that this is what we're gonna do,
26:30 but you gotta look out for the linebacker.
26:32 I mean, how many times have we seen quarterbacks
26:34 like throw a pick there where you're just like,
26:36 they didn't see the linebacker.
26:38 However, on that play, and I agree,
26:41 I don't like, basically the coaching point on that
26:47 is to throw it high, basically in the end zone,
26:50 you throw it high to the end line
26:51 and you throw it low at the goal line
26:54 when you're in that area.
26:57 And I don't think he could have zipped it in there
27:03 because you're worried about balls getting deflected,
27:08 maybe the other linebacker is reading the quarterback
27:11 and comes out of nowhere and picks off the ball.
27:13 It's gotta be a high-pointed ball,
27:16 but the play was there,
27:18 Mack's gotta make, he's gotta make
27:20 a better touch pass than that.
27:22 He just completely missed it
27:24 and you could tell his reaction,
27:26 and I remember watching him
27:28 'cause I was in the end zone where I was sitting,
27:30 and he knew it, he almost went down to the ground like,
27:32 "Oh my God, I can't believe I missed that throw."
27:34 And I'm not gonna kill him for it,
27:37 but the worry is you get that opportunity,
27:41 are you gonna get another opportunity?
27:43 Because I think they were down,
27:45 did they have no timeouts at that point?
27:46 They had no timeouts.
27:48 - Yeah, no timeouts. - You're worried about,
27:50 yeah, Ra'mondre Stevenson could fumble,
27:53 which he and Damian Harris have done at the end of games.
27:56 You could get a holding penalty,
27:57 you could get a sack, a lot of bad things
28:00 could happen there, so you don't wanna just say,
28:02 "Oh, well, they got the touchdown on the next one."
28:04 But I think on film, Mack just missed the throw
28:09 even though it's somewhat understandable.
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29:31 - All right, let's move on to the defense.
29:35 Quickly, I mean, one minute from you on this,
29:38 'cause we got the defense,
29:40 we got three up, three down, and Belichick's contract.
29:43 Emotions from Mac on Sunday.
29:45 Is Greg Bedard okay with that or not okay with it?
29:48 - I've always been okay with it.
29:54 I'm just curious where it comes from,
29:56 especially off a quarterback who's one and five
29:58 and not playing well for several weeks,
30:01 all of a sudden is out there on the second play of the game
30:04 in multiple plays, like ranting and raving at people
30:07 about how they're not doing their job.
30:09 I really wonder where that comes from.
30:11 If it was Bill O'Brien,
30:12 I think Mac Jones said something about Hunter Henry
30:14 after the game.
30:15 But me, look, I'm a Dan Marino fan.
30:18 I don't care, people say stuff about him.
30:20 I don't care.
30:21 He was trying to hold his receivers to a higher standard,
30:26 his teammates to a higher standard.
30:28 It's not his fault his roster stunk
30:30 and they never had a defense or a running game
30:32 when he was there.
30:33 They got the results out of it this weekend,
30:36 and maybe it just got to a point
30:39 where their execution was so bad
30:40 that they were just like, Mac, just go and yell at people.
30:45 I don't know, but it worked.
30:47 And it was very visible on film from the get-go
30:50 that he was hot at people.
30:52 I'm in the camp of like, go out being you.
30:54 If Mac's gonna go out in a blaze of glory,
30:58 go out being you.
30:59 Just be yourself.
31:01 Good or bad, just be yourself.
31:03 And guys will understand that that's you.
31:04 If you're coming across as fraudulent, it's not good.
31:08 I also thought there were moments,
31:10 positive reinforcement.
31:11 There was, I don't know if it was a three and out,
31:13 but the O-line, they didn't do great on one of the drives.
31:17 And Mac was on the sidelines,
31:19 and I don't remember seeing this.
31:20 And he talked about communicating better
31:21 a couple of weeks ago.
31:23 He was on the sidelines waiting
31:24 for his offensive line to get there.
31:26 And he made it a point to greet each guy,
31:28 slap him on the ass, say something.
31:30 So I thought that was a positive step.
31:33 I liked him pumping up the crowd on the first drive,
31:36 you know, the Kendrick Bourne mess up.
31:37 After he gets up, he's throwing his arms up at the crowd,
31:40 saying, let's go.
31:41 He's all, I like that.
31:43 And if you're gonna sit there
31:44 and you're gonna criticize him
31:45 about the Dallas smirk for a half a second,
31:47 which Greg said, and I thought it was a great point
31:49 going back to that game, we don't know what Mac said.
31:52 Mac could have looked at Bailey and said,
31:53 don't shit the bed like I did.
31:55 We have no idea what he said.
31:58 But if we're gonna take a snapshot
31:59 of a half a second from a blowout
32:01 and run with it for the entire week
32:05 and say Mac doesn't care, he doesn't care about winning it.
32:08 Like, I'm just so tired of the lazy commentary.
32:13 Like, let's be fair.
32:15 And so I'd rather see him pumped up
32:17 and slapping asses and high fives
32:19 and yelling at receivers.
32:20 Because if you're gonna kill him
32:21 for not being fully engaged, well, that's fully engaged.
32:25 You can't have it both ways.
32:27 All right, let's jump to the defense.
32:28 They changed things up, Greg, against the Bills finally.
32:31 - Yeah, unbelievable.
32:33 I mean, they blitzed Josh Allen.
32:36 And we talked about this coming into the game
32:38 that when you looked at what the Giants did
32:40 against Josh Allen and the Bills the week before,
32:44 they brought a lot of at least token pressure,
32:48 but the big thing is you need to get Josh Allen sped up.
32:53 You can't just, in recent games against the Bills,
32:58 they just sit back, they drop a bunch of guys
33:01 into coverage, and Josh Allen just sits back there
33:04 and buys time, and then somebody gets open.
33:07 And you're just looking at it, and you're just like,
33:09 what the hell are you doing?
33:11 Like, play defense against this guy.
33:15 You can't let him sit back there all day
33:17 because he's got a howitzer,
33:19 and he's gonna pick you apart.
33:20 And that happened time and time again against the Patriots.
33:23 So this time, they blitzed him 50% of the time.
33:27 We've talked about how much they blitzed
33:30 and how that sort of stressed the secondary,
33:32 especially the safeties, and that went on in this game.
33:36 But the Bills just did not,
33:39 I really question if Ken Dorsey knows what he's doing,
33:42 because they just did not take advantage of,
33:46 okay, the Patriots are gonna blitz,
33:48 take advantage of their safeties,
33:51 which obviously are not good in coverage.
33:53 And that happened in this game.
33:55 I mean, for example, the one time they did it,
33:57 there was a deep incompletion to Stephon Diggs
34:02 beyond anybody on the Patriots.
34:04 I mean, this should have been an ADR touchdown,
34:06 but because of the wind, and I do think the wind helped.
34:08 I think the wind was almost like a 12th defender,
34:12 like a deep free safety for the Patriots in this game.
34:16 But that was a total play that we've seen the Patriots
34:20 in Kyle Duggar blow, and he blew it again,
34:23 and there was a touchdown.
34:24 They're just lucky the wind was blowing really strong,
34:26 and the ball moved about five yards at the end.
34:29 But I thought it was great.
34:33 This is the way you need to defend, Josh Allen.
34:35 I thought the rush was great between blitzing,
34:38 but also a controlled blitz.
34:40 And often what they would do was,
34:42 when they brought extra people,
34:44 at least one of them was just sort of token pressure.
34:47 I come up, and then I sit back as a spy,
34:50 and I thought they did a great job most of the time
34:53 of collapsing the pocket,
34:55 not giving Allen many places to move.
34:58 That being said, Josh Allen is a freaking freak, man.
35:02 I mean, how many times did the Patriots have him?
35:05 How many times did they have him dead to rights
35:07 in the pocket?
35:08 - Oh, God.
35:09 - And he would sidestep somebody,
35:11 whether it's Barmore or Duggar.
35:13 The one that cracked me up the most was,
35:16 they sent Miles Bryant on a corner blitz against Josh Allen,
35:20 and he doesn't make the sack.
35:22 I mean, of course he doesn't.
35:24 It's like a fly trying to tackle a sequoia.
35:27 He just bounced off Josh Allen's legs,
35:30 and then he goes outside.
35:32 I just thought that the plan was awesome.
35:35 I love how they attacked.
35:37 They actually played defense in this game.
35:39 Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
35:41 Maybe part of it was 'cause they're getting
35:42 a little bit healthier in the secondary
35:44 with J.C. Jackson, and Jack Jones was back in this game.
35:49 I do think part of it is,
35:51 the Bills are just lost on offense right now.
35:53 They just don't know what to do.
35:54 It's not schemed well,
35:56 but I definitely like Mac Jones in the fourth quarter.
35:59 I thought the Patriots did great executing their plan,
36:02 and I loved how it was aggressive for once,
36:04 and they tried to win the game,
36:05 which they did in the first quarter.
36:09 It was a bad interception that Josh Allen threw.
36:12 It wasn't a complicated scheme.
36:15 It wasn't like the Patriots showed man,
36:17 and then all of a sudden morphed into cover three.
36:19 No, they tipped their hand.
36:20 They were gonna be cover three before the snap,
36:21 and Josh Allen underthrew the route,
36:23 where on that sort of pass,
36:25 you need to overthrow the route to the sideline,
36:27 and he just made a mindless interception.
36:29 But getting a turnover like that,
36:31 getting a 10-point lead,
36:33 that was probably the whole key to the game.
36:36 The defense going out and trying to make plays,
36:38 trying to win the game for once,
36:40 and I thought it was awesome.
36:42 - Three up, three down.
36:43 Let's start with the down,
36:45 so we end up on a positive.
36:47 Let's start with a three down.
36:48 Go ahead, Greg.
36:49 - So, Sidney So.
36:53 I know there is some school of thought
36:55 from pro football focus that Sidney So
36:58 was some unbelievable guard in this game.
37:01 I just did not think that was the case.
37:03 I had him for three quarterback pressures,
37:05 three and a half stuffed runs.
37:07 He was by far the worst offensive lineman in this game.
37:11 Not to say he was bad,
37:12 and he's certainly serviceable.
37:14 What they did with the offensive line,
37:16 putting their best five on the field
37:18 was definitely a good approach,
37:19 and they might as well stick with this.
37:21 I mean, they didn't have any more options at right tackle.
37:24 I mean, Vidarian Lowe was a disaster.
37:26 Riley Reif is hurt.
37:28 Calvin Anderson is so bad,
37:30 he's inactive every week, a healthy scratch.
37:32 Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is hurt
37:35 and probably wasn't really an option.
37:37 So, it was either put Sidney So out there
37:39 or Michael Wenning.
37:40 I don't think it was a hard choice,
37:42 but to me, Sidney So was the,
37:45 he had a rough time in this game,
37:48 and it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great.
37:50 - I'll go with Miles Bryant.
37:54 He had some tackling issues.
37:55 You mentioned the Josh Allen thing,
37:56 but he also missed a couple of tackles in this game
37:59 that I thought allowed some yak.
38:01 He could have been better there.
38:02 So, I'll go with Miles Bryant.
38:03 Who's next?
38:05 - Kyle Duggar.
38:06 I did not think he was good in this game.
38:07 He did have a, he drew a holding penalty,
38:10 which was his one plus,
38:11 but I had him for two missed tackles,
38:14 a couple big plays.
38:16 He gave up the two-point conversion.
38:17 Again, same sort of play in the back of the end zone
38:20 where his eyes aren't in the right place
38:22 and he gets easily beaten.
38:24 You know, he almost,
38:27 he almost had another play that he gave,
38:30 oh, the digs play that we talked about.
38:33 Like, he got torched on that.
38:35 That should have been an 80-yard touchdown for the Bills.
38:37 He just got lucky it was windy.
38:40 He wasn't great on that.
38:41 You know, I still,
38:42 I must have watched that Allen to Steph digs throw
38:46 with 14 seconds left, like 15 times,
38:49 trying to figure out how he dropped the ball
38:52 because it was right there.
38:53 Adrian Phillips was there.
38:53 - Oh my gosh. - They were all there.
38:55 I mean, you watch it,
38:56 you watch the throw and you watch digs,
38:58 you're like, oh my God, that's gonna be completed.
39:00 And I guess he hit the ground sort of in a funny way,
39:04 but it was right there.
39:05 So, you know, Kyle Duggar,
39:06 they need to get him out of space.
39:09 They need to get him near this line of scrimmage.
39:11 This is not working.
39:12 Somebody's gonna really kill this team.
39:15 - Yep, I agree.
39:16 Look, you gotta play better,
39:19 but I blame the coaching staff as well.
39:22 Like, he's miscast.
39:23 Put him where he belongs.
39:25 He should have had that pick in the end zone too.
39:26 The thing was up there for 45 seconds.
39:28 I have no idea how he doesn't bring that down.
39:31 I'm like, game over.
39:32 That's like, this is awesome.
39:35 It's just hanging up there for,
39:37 Taekwon Thornton, three snaps, enough said.
39:39 Your last down guy.
39:41 - Same, Taekwon Thornton.
39:42 He had three snaps, ran a bad route on one of them.
39:45 That might've got him sent to the bench.
39:46 So yeah, you could also toss Devante Parker in there too,
39:50 if you wanted to.
39:51 - Yeah, I'll throw Parker in there.
39:53 Whatever.
39:54 Let's get to three up.
39:57 - So, who did I, oh, Demario Douglas.
40:03 He was unbelievable in this game.
40:05 I had him for six ups.
40:07 The one route that he ran poorly
40:10 could've cost the team dearly,
40:11 but he was super impactful in this game.
40:14 So that's tremendous.
40:17 Fourth quarter, Mac was my second up.
40:20 And my third up, I'm just gonna go in general
40:25 to the defensive line, defensive front.
40:28 I thought very minimal mental mistakes in this game.
40:32 They did a great job with pressure and rush
40:34 and being disciplined.
40:36 To me, that was the whole key in this game
40:38 and holding Josh Allen down was how they rushed
40:42 in the front seven.
40:43 And that included some of the safeties and stuff like that,
40:45 but just the pass rush, the defensive line in general.
40:48 - Dodge, Shaw, and Barmore.
40:50 Woo, on a heater.
40:52 I loved Jabril Peppers.
40:56 He might be my favorite player on this team.
40:58 I love his attitude.
41:00 I love his approach.
41:02 I love his physicality.
41:04 I love everything about this guy.
41:07 He is the perfect example of a Bill Belichick player.
41:10 We used to talk about this going back more years ago,
41:14 and not as much recently, but first round kind of talent.
41:19 And he's just, Bill's gotten the most
41:22 you can get out of Peppers.
41:23 And I just think this guy is such a force.
41:27 He just, he makes plays.
41:28 He's gonna make mistakes, but he makes plays.
41:30 He had like nine tackles.
41:31 He had the interception.
41:33 Dude's a beast.
41:35 I'm a big fan of Jabril Peppers.
41:37 Huge, can't say his name right now,
41:39 but I'm a huge fan of Peppers.
41:40 All right, before we get to Bill Belichick's contract,
41:44 check these guys out over at BSJ.
41:45 They do a great job.
41:46 Badar, Giardi on the Patriots, Haggs on the Bruins,
41:49 Corrales getting ready for his Celtics coverage.
41:51 That's gonna be awesome.
41:52 So check them out.
41:53 Also, I'll tell you, this episode, as always,
41:55 is brought to you by FanDuel,
41:57 the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.
41:59 All right, Greg, what the hell is going on
42:02 with Bill Belichick's contract?
42:04 - You know, I don't really know.
42:08 And, you know, I think this is a pretty overblown story.
42:13 I mean, just because, we're never gonna know any specifics.
42:16 We're never gonna know the details.
42:18 And just because there's these fuzzy, multi-year,
42:22 lucrative, blah, blah, blah,
42:25 like it doesn't mean there's any more information in that.
42:28 It's just words.
42:30 Like, you know, the bottom line to me is this, Nick.
42:35 The only thing that matters,
42:37 the only thing that's relevant,
42:38 I don't care about the term, I don't care about whatever,
42:41 is ownership, if things get really bad,
42:44 is ownership willing to move on from Bill Belichick
42:47 no matter what is left on his contract?
42:49 I've been told yes.
42:51 There will be people who don't believe that,
42:53 who think the crafts are cheap and they won't do this.
42:55 And they might be right.
42:57 But all I can tell you is what I'm reporting
43:00 and that the crafts will move on if it comes to it.
43:03 And we'll see what happens at the end of the season,
43:05 whether it happens.
43:06 But, you know, I don't think there's,
43:09 I think this is completely overblown.
43:11 I think this is a talk radio story
43:12 because it's different than the football team,
43:14 which has mostly been bad.
43:16 And they're just globbing onto it.
43:17 And, you know, look, like I said last week,
43:21 going into the Bills game, you know,
43:23 and I can't tell you how many emails and tweets
43:25 I got from people saying like,
43:27 how come you're not coming down stronger on the team?
43:29 You know, they're obviously dead.
43:30 And, you know, one paper's writing the time of death
43:33 of the Patriots off of the last game.
43:35 And I just refuse to do that
43:37 because I've seen too many things covering the league
43:40 for over 20 years and how things can change
43:42 and how one game can change.
43:44 I don't know whether that's gonna happen now.
43:46 So my stance, and I know it's not sexy
43:49 and I know we have a podcast to do today
43:51 or we have a talk radio show to do today.
43:54 But the truth of the matter is
43:55 there are gonna be no decisions made on Bill Belichick
43:58 until the season is over.
44:00 We need to see all of it.
44:01 We need to see Mac Jones.
44:02 We need to see the offense.
44:03 We need to see the season.
44:05 If they close with seven straight wins,
44:07 that's gonna change the calculation.
44:09 So, you know, it doesn't surprise me.
44:14 My read on it is Bill was probably going
44:16 into a lame duck year.
44:17 That never happens with a coach.
44:18 You always get extended going into a lame duck year.
44:21 You know, but the Crafts, if needed,
44:25 they will walk away or they probably have language
44:27 built into it about buyout and deferred payments
44:30 and like all this stuff.
44:32 You know, but the most interesting thing
44:34 that I found from this,
44:36 that Bill got an extension or new contract
44:39 or whatever it is off of his second losing season
44:42 in three years.
44:44 And I have no problem with it
44:45 because I think Bill Belichick has earned that.
44:47 Like he has earned what he's done for the Crafts,
44:50 the franchise, the area with the six Super Bowl titles
44:54 and the unparalleled success.
44:56 If I give him an extra $50 million, okay, fine.
45:00 I've, you know, I've made that back how many folds
45:03 if I'm the Crafts with my franchise valuation.
45:06 But the thing is, so I have no problem with that.
45:10 What's ironic is that that's the respect contract
45:13 that Tom Brady wanted after winning a Super Bowl title
45:16 in 2018 that he never got from Bill Belichick.
45:19 So Bill gets the respect contract, which he should,
45:24 Tom doesn't.
45:25 I think that's a bunch of bull crap.
45:27 If I was Robert, I'd be like,
45:29 well, we're just gonna give you the Brady deal
45:31 that you would give him
45:32 and why you basically drove him out of town.
45:34 So those are sort of my wide ranging thoughts on it.
45:38 - Went deep into this, we're short on time
45:40 because Greg has to run to Felger and Maz
45:41 and go through that pain for a couple of hours.
45:44 But I will say, you can check out my pod
45:47 on the YouTube channel there, Nick Cattles.
45:49 You can check that out for my in-depth breakdown
45:52 about everything if you're interested.
45:54 But I tend to agree with a lot of what you said, Greg.
45:58 I read this situation as, all right,
46:00 you got one year left on your deal bill in 2023.
46:03 What are we gonna do about this?
46:05 Well, let's tack on an extra year for 2024.
46:09 And I would not be surprised
46:10 if there's some kind of option for 2025.
46:13 And that's where the whole several years, multi years,
46:16 all that crap comes in.
46:18 I don't think Belichick or Kraft wanted Belichick
46:21 to be a lame duck coach this year.
46:23 It makes no sense to do that.
46:25 And he wants to break Shuler's record.
46:27 So I think Kraft gives him a chance to do that
46:30 by extending them through '24, gives them an option '25
46:33 just in case this works out.
46:35 And then they can revisit it later on.
46:37 I think that's what likely happened.
46:39 And I'd be flabbergasted if Kraft doesn't have protections
46:44 within this contract.
46:45 There has to be outs, what's the guaranteed money,
46:47 all of those things.
46:50 The earned it thing that you mentioned
46:53 for what Belichick has done,
46:54 I think you earn it to a point.
46:56 I do think '25 and '26, the previous three years,
47:00 the Patricia Jo judge decision,
47:02 how Bill handled the quarterback position since Brady left,
47:05 Jared Stidham, anybody remember that?
47:08 Cam Newton off the scrap heap.
47:10 So I think if this was what I think it was through '24
47:15 and then the option, I'm okay with it.
47:17 If this was Kraft giving Belichick like through 2025,
47:22 I think that's malpractice.
47:24 I think that's bananas.
47:25 I don't think you can go beyond '24 with some outs built in.
47:29 I think that's bad by the owner.
47:32 And I'll just say this to wrap it up.
47:34 I tend to believe the people that work in,
47:40 I'm not saying that Ian Rappaport was wrong or Schefter,
47:42 I'm not saying that.
47:45 The details, the language, all of that.
47:47 I tend to lean towards the guys and the women
47:51 that have sources for a number of years built up
47:54 and have been around.
47:55 And I know Rappaport for a little while,
47:57 but Jeff Howe's report going back a couple of weeks ago,
48:01 which was months after this negotiation,
48:04 told us that Kraft was willing to pull the trigger on Bill.
48:07 Greg's told us that Kraft's willing to pull the trigger.
48:10 Tom Curran has said it.
48:12 Mike Reece said it today on Bertrand and Zoe,
48:14 or Zolak and Bertrand.
48:16 So Mike Reece has also said that.
48:18 Karen Geregian, who I love her work.
48:20 She is an OG.
48:22 She knows a ton of people.
48:24 Her and Tom Curran have been working on the beat
48:25 for like a combined 60 years.
48:28 And they both say, "Belichick's not safe."
48:31 That's the message.
48:32 That's what matters the most.
48:33 He's Greg, I'm Nick.
48:35 We'll talk to you later in the week
48:36 to get you ready for the Dolphins.
48:37 Until then, be well.
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