Was Bailey Zappe an IMPROVEMENT Over Mac Jones? | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast - video Dailymotion

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In the newest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast with Nick Cattles, Greg and Nick share their thoughts on the Patriots' 6-0 defeat to the Chargers in Week 13. They discuss whether Zappe was a better choice than Mac Jones, contemplate if this season might lead the Krafts to consider a major overhaul, debate the potential return of Bill O'Brien, and predict the upcoming Thursday night game against the Steelers!  EPISODE TIMELINE: 0:00 Intro 0:50 Rhamondre out with high ankle sprain 4:10 Bill gets skewered by the media postgame, walks off for second straight game 14:54 Zappe discussion 22:13 Bill O’Brien and the offense - is this his fault or not? 31:18 Quickie 3 up/down  33:00 Steelers -6; o/u 30.5  Check us out over at BSJ $50 for the year … Bedard and Giardi tag-teaming on the Patriots with film and the best sources around to give you the most accurate reporting on your football team this season.  SeatGeek! Use code DREAMERSPRO for $20 off your first SeatGeek order! Visit SeatGeek.com when you checkout! With NFL, NBA and NHL seasons in full swing, you don’t want to miss out - SeatGeek has your tickets to every game!   FanDuel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First onlinereal money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. 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.  Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro Download the Odds-R App! They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. Patriots Press Pass viewers get a 30-day free trial! Elevate your game day and join the smart betting revolution! Go get it at https://oddsr.com/presspass  Visit https://factormeals.com/PRESSPASS50 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.

Transcript

00:00 Do I think Bailey Zappi was better than Mac Jones in the present?

00:04 Yes, absolutely.

00:05 I think that he was slightly better.

00:10 I think he made some plays, something that we haven't seen in a while from the quarterback

00:14 position.

00:15 I think Greg got his pellet stove issues figured out, hopefully.

00:26 We're now ready for the podcast on this Tuesday, getting you ready for the Steelers game and

00:31 also talk about what we saw on Sunday against the Chargers, unfortunately.

00:36 But before we get into all of it, this episode is brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive

00:39 wagering partner of the CNS Media Network.

00:41 Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 Moneyline bet.

00:49 Let's start with Ramondre Stevenson, Greg.

00:52 We found out high ankle sprain, likely out in multiple weeks.

00:56 My take on this?

00:57 Shut him down.

00:58 See you in 2024.

00:59 What do you think?

01:00 Yeah, exactly.

01:01 You know, it was an unfortunate play that happened on.

01:06 I'm sure Michael Wenu feels a little bit bad considering he whiffed on the block.

01:11 But, you know, we saw it was one of those hip drop tackles that I think the NFL is going

01:19 to make some serious changes with that.

01:21 You know, how they are going to officiate it, how they're going to coach it.

01:26 You know, we'll have to see.

01:27 I'm sure that will be a big debate around the owners meetings in March.

01:32 But this is another example of a really good NFL player being lost to these guys, just

01:38 grabbing these guys around the hip and then falling on their legs.

01:41 And it seems like every week we see this.

01:44 And I totally agree with you.

01:48 You know, no point at 2 and 10 for him to come back.

01:51 It just further illustrates sort of the roster problems on offense that this team has that

01:57 there aren't any real good options.

01:59 I think Kevin Harris is on the practice squad.

02:02 There might be somebody else.

02:03 I don't know.

02:04 But again, another offensive position that's not a priority for Bill Belichick.

02:09 The Patriots are shorthanded.

02:10 It's going to be Zeke the rest of the way.

02:12 I hope to God we don't see Ty Montgomery getting any more carries out of the back.

02:18 That was one of the worst two yard runs I've ever seen in my life.

02:23 You know, it looked like it looked like me coming home from the grocery store with a

02:26 bunch of stuff just trying to like get in the door.

02:29 Like that's basically what it was.

02:32 I mean, he had two arms around the ball and then just sort of shuffled where like if he

02:36 hit the hole hard, there could have been five or six yards there.

02:40 And you know, he just pitter pattered his way to a whole two yards.

02:44 So God forbid we have to watch that.

02:47 That would only add to the awesome offensive display that we're going to get on Thursday

02:51 night if they run Ty Montgomery out there.

02:54 But yeah, unfortunate because Romandre, he he was just starting to hit his stride.

02:58 Yeah, the offensive line was starting to run block better.

03:01 Yeah, I think if he lasts that whole game, he might have carried the Patriots offense

03:06 to a victory by himself.

03:09 Just the way he's been running, the way he looked early in that game, how they were feeding

03:12 him.

03:13 It was sort of beast mode, Romandre, and then poof, he's gone.

03:19 No idea why Ty Montgomery is on this roster.

03:22 He's now not even returning kickoffs.

03:25 Jalen Rager was out there returning kicks on Sunday.

03:28 Does he have pictures on Belichick?

03:29 I don't know why Ty Montgomery continues to make money and suck up a roster spot.

03:35 He literally does nothing for this football team.

03:37 He stands there and does this on the kickoffs, arms extended for people not watching.

03:41 It's all a fair catch.

03:43 That's it.

03:44 That's all he does.

03:45 I can.

03:46 You know what?

03:47 I'm currently unemployed, Bill.

03:49 If you're looking to pay like 50 grand for the rest of the year, you'll save money.

03:54 It'll be great.

03:55 You can tell Kraft you're saving money.

03:57 Get a uniform on me and I promise you I can stand on the five yard line and extend my

04:01 arms when the ball sails over my head.

04:03 I can do it.

04:04 Do it.

04:05 And Nicky Cattles hits the whole hard to.

04:09 Let's get to Bill.

04:11 He got his took us all all worked up in a bunch on on Sunday.

04:18 He got skewered by the media.

04:20 Greg, Mike Reese went at him pretty hard.

04:23 Phil Perry had a back and forth, which seems to be, you know, the rite of passage every

04:27 Sunday now.

04:28 Mike Giardi also got into it a little bit with Bill.

04:32 It was not a very pleasant postgame and he wrapped it up.

04:35 Bill wrapped it up by just walking off.

04:38 And I believe Stacey James, who is the, you know, master of communications there in Foxborough,

04:44 said there was one more question, but Bill wasn't even having it.

04:47 He just walked away.

04:48 Your thoughts on that postgame?

04:49 Yeah, sort of a continuation of what we talked about last week, where it's just more chicken

04:55 bleep stuff at a Belichick.

04:58 You know, if he wanted to, if he wanted to, if he was up front accountable, he could have

05:05 had a discussion on Friday about this.

05:07 He was offered the opportunity.

05:11 He could have just come out.

05:12 I mean, he said in his postgame press conference, yeah, I made the decision earlier in the week

05:16 to start Zappy.

05:18 So why not just say that?

05:20 Yeah, we know why.

05:21 Because that would lead to the inevitable questions about, you know, specifically, Bill,

05:28 how did it get to this point with Mac?

05:29 You know, second in offensive player of the year voting as a rookie to now he can't start

05:35 an NFL game.

05:36 How did it get here?

05:37 And, you know, God forbid the guy who's in charge of everything and gets paid $25 million

05:42 a year can't answer simple questions like that or be accountable.

05:47 And so good job by it seemed like the two mics softened them up, you know, a little

05:52 little jabs left, right, left, right.

05:54 And then Phil came in with the, with the, uh, the overhand right.

05:59 And finally, you know, it wore Bill down to the point where he was like, well, this isn't

06:03 going away.

06:04 So I have to answer it.

06:05 And I think it was interesting that his, his answer, um, you know, there were a few, you

06:12 knows in there.

06:13 It was like, he, it was like, he wasn't prepared to answer the question that he was just going

06:19 to do the rope, a dope Bella check thing.

06:22 And then he finally decided what the hell our answer, I'll answer it.

06:26 And he didn't have a good answer.

06:28 Like he was like, we are Mac, you know, like Hemin and Han sort of like, you know, me,

06:35 but, uh, you know, I think that this is what happens.

06:40 These are the questions that get asked and, and, you know, it's just unfortunate that,

06:45 and of course he did the rope dope, like, you know, this isn't a season ending, you

06:50 know, review or whatever, but he's not afraid to go on the radio on EEI and talk about the

06:55 season that Jelani Tavis had or anything like that.

06:59 But when it comes to Mac Jones and how he's completely broken, God, we can't, we can't

07:04 talk about that even though it's affecting the team and has affected the team all year.

07:08 You know, like I said, just more chicken bleep stuff from Bella check.

07:12 And like, if you want to spoon it up and eat it and, you know, go bill and, you know, go

07:17 at the media fine, but you know, this is what you get.

07:21 You get a two in 10 football team, you get no answers.

07:24 You get the head honchos who's in charge of personnel and everything else and the coaching

07:28 staff and you know, where this team is and he doesn't want, he doesn't feel he has to

07:34 answer any questions.

07:36 Just no accountability.

07:38 And right before you and I started to record this, I did a live podcast with my pod, the

07:43 Nick cattle show.

07:44 And I thought Greg that the Greg Hill interview was embarrassing for Bella check.

07:49 I thought the lack of accountability and some of his answers in that interview were just

07:55 putrid.

07:57 First of all, he starts with the, yeah, but we're close kind of stuff like is, is two

08:03 in 10 indicative of what kind of team you have.

08:06 Oh, well, we're close.

08:07 We played a lot of close game.

08:08 That's what losing organizations say that that's what, that's what head coaches and

08:13 GM say to try to keep their jobs.

08:15 And I, I watched that Greg Hill interview and listened to it and read about it.

08:20 And I just felt that was a guy who was trying to get his ducks in a row for his post-season

08:25 interview and discussion with Robert Kraft.

08:28 Robert Kraft says, bill, why the hell will we three and 14 or whatever?

08:32 Yeah, but Robert, we were in a lot, we were in a lot of close games.

08:34 We were almost there.

08:36 Bill, how about your, your wide receiver room?

08:39 It's not a talent issue.

08:40 It's a consistency issue.

08:42 What?

08:43 What?

08:44 That the wide receiver issues are consistency and not talent.

08:49 Is this guy watching the same football team?

08:53 And I just, I walk away from answers like that and what he does at the podium or doesn't

08:59 do and he just, he's incapable of taking accountability.

09:05 And we say it week after week and he just keeps burying himself with this crap.

09:10 I thought, I don't know about you, Greg, but I thought the Greg Hill interview was an embarrassment.

09:16 I thought he sounded defeated.

09:19 I thought he sounded like a guy who was trying to save his job.

09:23 I thought he sounded like a guy who was desperate trying to justify some of the terrible decisions

09:28 he's made on the offensive side of the football.

09:30 What say you?

09:32 So I didn't hear it.

09:34 So I definitely take your word for it, Nick.

09:36 You know, you have a good ear for this stuff and have observed Belichick for a long time.

09:42 I mean, I just think it's more of more of the same in terms of in some parts of new

09:47 England because I do think, you know, there's a, I would say a majority of the Patriots

09:52 fans now are, are tired of this and ready to move on and ready for change, including

09:59 probably many of our listeners on here who, who, you know, the, the realist, the, the

10:04 people who, you know, look at the scoreboard and are real about things.

10:09 You know, I posed this question in our Felger and Maz email, and I don't know if we're going

10:15 to get into it on the show today or not, but you know, I, I said, if you, if, if you could

10:23 not use anything before 2019 with Bill Belichick, what's your argument for why he should continue

10:31 on and, and, you know, why should they just keep the status quo?

10:35 I mean, I don't think anybody who's real could come up, you know, with a reason.

10:41 And you know, I think that, I think that, you know, Bill, the way he, he expects to

10:49 be treated to me, it's like, you know, and I know that other people have said it in the

10:52 past, but it's like, you know, this is Penn state, it's happy valley with Joe Paterno

10:57 in, in some sections in new England where, you know, the guy can do no wrong.

11:02 Um, and you know, I just think that's, uh, that's unfortunate, but I do think a majority

11:07 of Patriots fans look at the scoreboard, look at, you know, I did it the other day, you

11:13 know, they are 29 and 40 since Thanksgiving of 2019, 29 and 40.

11:20 I mean, you know, anywhere else, you know, this guy's out the door, there's no questions

11:26 asked and I understand, you know, what he's done and what he means.

11:30 And I, you know, I do think that as far as Bill Belichick, a CEO, just coaching a football

11:36 team just in charge, you know, that that's fine.

11:40 I have no problem with that.

11:42 But when you start to lump in, you know, he's going to want to pick his own assistant coaches.

11:47 I think to me, Nick, and I've had some discussions with this about people in the organization

11:53 around the organization.

11:56 You know, we talked a couple of weeks ago, I've, I've started to talk to a lot of people

11:59 sort of about, you know, where things went wrong, what's the end game here and things

12:03 like that.

12:04 Right.

12:05 And I'm hearing more and more that, you know, I do think that, you know, and I don't know

12:11 what Bill said about the talent specifically, but I do think that I think the, the vast

12:17 majority of the problems with this team, or at least that, you know, they would be around

12:22 500 or so.

12:23 I think it's the coaching.

12:25 I think it's the positional coaching specifically on offense that if you, even if you had the

12:30 2018 last time they won a super bowl, if you had those coaches, even car, Bracillo on the

12:36 offensive line, Mick Lombardi at receiver Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinators,

12:41 you know, Bo Hardegre, I know that might've been 21.

12:46 But even the 21 staff, let's just, let's just go to the 21 staff, Josh McDaniels staff.

12:52 If you had that coaching staff with this group of players, I think it's way better than what

12:57 it is.

12:58 I think it's about the inconsistency with the receivers or what have you.

13:03 Where do you think that comes from?

13:04 It comes from coaching like that.

13:06 That's where it comes from.

13:07 It's not just, it's not just in a vacuum that, Oh, we're just not consistent enough, not

13:12 consistent enough on the offensive line.

13:14 The running back pass blocking has been horrid the last two weeks.

13:18 The wide receivers actually thought they, they ran better routes this week to tell you

13:21 the truth.

13:22 But to me, it's the coaching on this team.

13:25 If you have the 21 staff on this team, I think this team is around 500, if not above the

13:32 inability of Belichick to go outside of his circle when he's lost a lot of coaches over

13:38 the last several years.

13:40 And he's just unwilling to go outside of his circle.

13:42 And Greg, you wrote about the offensive coordinator, you know, position last couple of years and,

13:48 and how they got into Patricia and judge.

13:50 And now they're back to below Brian.

13:53 And when you look at many of these other decisions, the, the offensive line coach and who bill,

13:59 you know, talk to about that job, it's, it's his BFFs.

14:03 It's guys.

14:04 Yeah.

14:05 It's guys that are just, you know, in his personal phone contact list that that's, there's

14:09 no going outside of those, of those bubbles.

14:12 It's just, it is what it is.

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14:54 Okay time to get into Zappy, Greg.

14:55 A lot of people want to talk about Bailey's happy after Sunday.

14:58 There was a lot of talk about the quarterback position before this chargers game.

15:02 Bailey's happy.

15:03 Did it make a difference?

15:06 So do I think, um, Mack Jones and, and Bailey's happy, you know, where they are presently.

15:13 Do I think Bailey's happy was better than Mac Jones in the present?

15:17 Yes, absolutely.

15:19 I think that he, you know, he, he was, he was slightly better.

15:23 Um, I think he made some plays, something that we haven't seen in a while from the quarterback

15:28 position.

15:29 Um, you know, I had him for seven plus plays in the game, including, I think it was five

15:34 throws, some against pressure.

15:36 Um, you know, he moved around the pocket well, um, you know, but let's just say his first

15:42 half was God awful.

15:43 Some of it was the play calling.

15:45 It was extremely conservative.

15:46 They opened it up a little bit more in the second half.

15:49 Um, but he, he also had a lot of issues and you know, in the second half as well with,

15:55 um, processing, I hate the deep ball shots.

15:59 Um, I think I don't, I absolve Zappy a little bit of that because I think it was beaten

16:05 into him by Matt Patricia.

16:06 I think that's Matt Patricia loved that stuff.

16:08 He was like, yeah, let's go back to 1994 NFL passing offense where we just throw 50, 50

16:13 balls down the field all day, you know, 50, 50 balls and check downs.

16:17 Like that's, that's offense.

16:18 I mean, you know, what year is this?

16:20 And I think it's just like, he sees that, but you know, some of them were good throws

16:24 and you look the Taekwon Thornton pass.

16:27 Um, it's not quite a jump ball, but when you rely on, on the deep pass, you know, it, you

16:34 know, it's, it's about a 20% chance.

16:37 That's what he was in the game.

16:38 He was one for five on deep ball passes.

16:40 That's 20%.

16:41 Uh, I just don't think it's, it's a way to run a modern offense.

16:46 And I think that, uh, he had better options, you know, when he was taking those deep shots

16:51 to Devante Parker along the sidelines, I thought he had better options, um, that he passed

16:56 up.

16:57 And then also there was, I just think he's, you know, not only is Zappy limited in terms

17:02 of his physical skills, like, you know, he's just, he's small, the arms.

17:06 Okay.

17:07 But it's, it's not very good.

17:08 It's not as good as max, you know, when max not throwing off his back foot, every pass.

17:13 Um, I think that, and I think that Bailey processes slowly.

17:18 I think that, you know, he misses some things and then I charged them for two half sacks

17:23 and also one full sack.

17:24 The one where he got sacked after five seconds.

17:27 Um, he had an opportunity, he had Juju Smith, Schuster and Jalen Ragour as possibilities

17:34 on that play.

17:35 He looked at the rush and then he escaped the pocket.

17:39 He still had a chance to just to put it out in front of Juju, let him make a go, go make

17:43 a great catch.

17:44 And he ends up getting sacked after five seconds.

17:47 You can see Bill O'Brien on the coaches film.

17:49 Like, you know, he was like, you gotta be kidding me, at least throw the ball away.

17:53 And so, um, you know, he, he did some nice things.

17:57 I like the way he moves in the pocket.

17:59 He does a good job with that.

18:00 I think part of that is he doesn't have the PTSD built up.

18:03 Um, he might after this game, cause I had a 50% pressure rate in this game, which I

18:08 also factor in to how he played.

18:10 But uh, you know, the bottom line is my rating for him was, uh, minus about 12%.

18:18 It's not winning football.

18:20 It was better than five of Mac starts, but it was worse than six of Jones's starts.

18:25 So you're talking like a middling performance in a middling quarterback year for this team.

18:31 You look at the team stats, the offensive points, the offensive expected points added

18:37 was minus 13.

18:38 It was the worst since the saints game.

18:41 Uh, the passing offense was minus 12 expected points added.

18:46 Only the Giants game was worse since the New Orleans game.

18:49 So you know, both the way it looked, it was a little bit better.

18:54 I do think Zappy was a little bit better, but the bottom line is it's not even close

19:00 enough to play winning football.

19:03 The bar is so low that we're at the point that a quarterback can play slightly better

19:09 than a completely broken quarterback.

19:11 And it makes some people feel good that that's, that's the reality of the situation.

19:17 That's how dire the circumstances are.

19:19 The bar is so low.

19:22 This is a terrible defense folks that he played against on Sunday.

19:26 The chargers stink out loud defensively.

19:29 So when you think about the context and did he play better in the second half, I thought

19:34 he played much better in the second half.

19:35 I thought the first half he was awful.

19:39 The first pass of the game, the slanted Devante Parker behind him, Hunter Henry's wide open,

19:45 throws it low and behind him.

19:46 Z kill.

19:47 Elliot is wide open in the flat.

19:50 He completely misses him.

19:52 He was brutal in the first.

19:54 I actually posted at Nixie radio.

19:56 If you want to follow me, ding, um, I actually posted that and I meant this, it wasn't like

20:03 just taking an unnecessary shot.

20:05 It was a legitimate question.

20:07 Watching that game in the first half.

20:08 Did he throw one accurate football?

20:11 He might've thrown two passes accurately.

20:13 Yeah, I didn't have him for a plus throw.

20:15 The only plus I had for the first half was a five yard scramble.

20:19 Everything was behind.

20:20 Everything was low.

20:21 Everything was late.

20:22 Every.

20:23 So again, it's a low bar.

20:26 It's a low bar.

20:27 And I agree with the, on the PTSD stuff.

20:30 People, yeah, he looked less panicky than Mac did.

20:33 I thought he still took a couple of sacks.

20:35 He couldn't, the one that you brought up the five to five seconds is a brutal sack to take,

20:40 but just give it time.

20:41 Folks give it time.

20:42 Mac, Mac Jones, some, and this is not to defend Mac.

20:46 Okay.

20:47 I, we all, all of us have to now drop that caveat.

20:49 When we talk about Mac Jones in the media, it's disgusting.

20:51 We always have to say, this is not defending Mac.

20:54 He didn't wake up broken.

20:55 He didn't wake up and just say, Oh, you know what?

20:58 I'm going to just completely forget how to fundamentally play the quarterback position.

21:02 It took time.

21:04 Let Zappy run around for his life multiple times behind this offensive line.

21:08 And we'll see what happens.

21:10 Last thing on this offense.

21:11 I wanted to actually before, before we get to that, the one more thing I wanted to ask

21:14 you about, do you continue with Zappy?

21:16 I would imagine Zappy plays short week, Thursday night.

21:19 Yeah.

21:20 Yeah.

21:21 I think so.

21:22 At least, you know, I thought he played well enough and there was enough that like, you

21:25 know, that I want to see him get the opportunity to watch the film and make corrections and

21:31 see how he does.

21:32 I think he'll be better against the Steelers against a much, much better defense, you know,

21:39 on the road.

21:40 I think he'll be better.

21:42 So I'm fine with it, but let's see how it looks against the Steelers.

21:47 You know, you get sort of the mini buy with the Thursday night game.

21:51 If it's not appreciably better in this game, then I thought, I think you got to give a

21:56 thought of going to Malik Cunningham, at least for a game or two, seeing what that looks

22:01 like.

22:02 You know, if not Mac, I mean, I think that's too soon for Mac, but for now, yeah, I thought

22:07 I thought Bailey was fine enough to, to, to warrant going forward with him.

22:12 Let's look at the bigger picture with this offense, Bill O'Brien and the offense.

22:15 And here's something else that I addressed today on my pod.

22:18 You and I are usually on the same page when we talk about, you know, what to address and

22:22 what not to address here.

22:24 Bert Breer sports Sunday.

22:26 I know Bert's a close friend of yours, really good at what he does, has lots of sources

22:30 in the building, pretty plugged in guy said on sports Sunday with Felger that Belichick

22:37 restricts O'Brien and that Belichick doesn't allow O'Brien to run the kind of offense that

22:43 O'Brien wants to run.

22:45 When you look at this, Greg, from 30,000 feet, how much of this is on Bill O'Brien, this

22:50 offensive ineptitude.

22:53 So I think not surprisingly, I think Bill Bert and I talked to a lot of the same people

23:00 because I will say so, you know, in the wake, if, if you're not a BSJ member and why not

23:05 yeah, what are you doing for Christmas?

23:08 I know.

23:09 Come on, let's go.

23:10 So my column off of the game on Sunday was basically, this has gotten so bad that the

23:18 crafts have to entertain a full reset.

23:21 And you know, we will, we'll either dive into that a little bit more deeply in this or,

23:27 you know, possibly next week.

23:29 But you know, I heard from a bunch of people with the Patriots after my column posted and

23:36 they read it and you know, there's, I think some of it is job preservation.

23:44 I think certainly that's, and that's natural.

23:46 I don't fault them and I'm not saying that they're wrong to say what they did, but there

23:51 are a lot of people who are saying that, that, that O'Brien is being handcuffed by Belichick.

23:59 And you know, I don't know how exactly that works.

24:01 I'm looking, you know, more into that.

24:05 We'll see if anything, I get anything more, but there are a lot of people who think that

24:09 Bill wanted to do, Billy wanted to do a lot more with this offense and we've seen it in

24:14 flashes.

24:15 It's hard for me to say that's true because I know the way, specifically the way Bill

24:22 O'Brien looks at the game, you know, from, from being behind the scenes with them when

24:27 he was with the Texans and how they offense, how they put together their offensive game

24:30 plan and things like that.

24:33 And you know, and also, you know, from, from observing and dealing with Josh McDaniels

24:38 over the years, like these guys as offensive coordinators, they are not going to call things.

24:43 They're not going to put things in the game plan unless they have a very good reason and

24:47 they have, they feel very strongly that they'll be able to execute those plays.

24:52 I just think that, I do think that there is some element of Belichick saying like, this

24:56 is how we're going to play the game and we're going to be very conservative and you know,

25:01 we got to try to cut down on the turnover.

25:03 So let's, let's just take the air out of the ball, that sort of thing.

25:06 But I also think there's an element that, that Billy looks at it and puts guardrails

25:11 on himself because he's just like, this offensive line stinks.

25:16 The receivers can't run routes.

25:18 The running backs can't pass protect.

25:20 Like I don't feel confident in anything.

25:23 So you know, we have to go to a very conservative playbook.

25:26 So it's hard for me to tell whether that's Belichick or O'Brien, but I do think there's

25:31 a marriage of the two things.

25:33 But I think the baseline of this offense and the problems to me is the offensive coaching

25:39 staff.

25:40 And I think that the, I think that the positional coaching on the staff is terrible.

25:44 And I think that Belichick made a huge blunder, not letting Billy O'Brien just hire whoever

25:49 he wanted to on offense saying, Billy, you can do whatever you want to do.

25:54 I think these guys are good and this is why I like these guys.

25:57 But if you want to make a change, go right ahead.

26:00 And Belichick's, you know, not doing that as you know, you illustrated earlier about

26:07 how he doesn't go outside a five foot circle basically to get people to work for him.

26:12 I think is, has really, I think that's the biggest thing that's hurt this offense this

26:16 year.

26:17 Dear Bill Belichick, stay the hell away from anything offensively with this football team.

26:24 Uh, you believe that a one legged Juju was an upgrade over Jacoby.

26:28 You thought giving Devante Parker an extension was a good idea.

26:33 Stay away.

26:34 I don't want you touching the offense.

26:36 I don't want you sniffing the offense.

26:38 I don't, I don't even want you watching the offense when the offense is on the field.

26:41 Turn your back to the offense.

26:43 Let Bill O'Brien handle it.

26:44 Please.

26:45 If, if, if Belichick has 30% of what's going on here is 30% too much.

26:50 Stay away, please.

26:51 And I do wonder, Greg, I wanted to ask you this during camp.

26:55 There was a lot of talk from, from you guys down there covering the beat about how things

27:00 look different and how there were, there were some fun things happening.

27:03 Pre-snap.

27:04 Did you see any of that actually translate into the regular season or has most of that

27:10 stuff just kind of stayed on the back burner because of what you're saying that they can't

27:15 get down the basics.

27:18 You know, there was only one occasion and I, maybe you remember the game.

27:22 There was one game where they used a crap ton of motion and I forget which game it was.

27:30 That was really the only game that has stood out.

27:32 But my impression from training camp was, you know, I didn't know how good they were

27:36 going to be.

27:37 And again, I picked them for seven and 10, uh, perfectly healthy.

27:40 So I wasn't that high on things, but my impression from watching training camp and the joint

27:45 practices was, um, that I thought bill Billy O'Brien was going to marry the best parts

27:52 of the old Patriots offense with, uh, what he learned in the college game.

27:57 And that's a lot of what I saw this summer.

27:59 And most of that has gone poof, but I think, uh, you know, a large portion of it has to

28:04 do with, uh, the personnel that he has to deal with that.

28:08 He doesn't feel strong that they're going to be able to execute much of anything.

28:11 And again, because of the positional coaches.

28:15 And that was part of Bert's report, by the way, which is that, you know, bill O'Brien,

28:19 a lot of the stuff that he's learned outside of the Gillette walls is the kind of stuff

28:24 that he hasn't really been allowed to, uh, to go out there and do.

28:29 And so it's, that's interesting reporting as far as the hard reset.

28:35 Just one thing I'll say about this.

28:38 I think it, it does make Gerard Mayo look much better as a prospective head coach.

28:45 If it's not here, at least somewhere else that this defense has bought in that this

28:51 defense is playing hard.

28:53 They haven't always been great, but they continue to compete.

28:58 And I don't know if you agree with me on this, Greg, but that does tell me that as far as

29:03 Mayo relating to guys and getting guys to buy in and actually care, if I'm looking at

29:08 this as Robert craft, I'm saying, Hey, you know what?

29:12 This season sucks.

29:14 This defense has every reason to tap out and not care, but they're coming in and they're

29:18 actually playing with, you know, they're playing their ass off.

29:20 They're playing hard, they're competing.

29:22 And I think that does say a lot about Gerard.

29:24 And it says some about little Belichick.

29:26 Yeah.

29:27 Uh, you know, I would agree with that.

29:28 I mean, you know, I, I don't think that, um, you know, just because of the points allowed

29:33 that they've, that they've given up, uh, you know, whatever it is, um, 26 or something

29:39 in the last three games, um, you know, I, just because of the, the bottom line, I don't

29:44 think that means that the defense is, is all world.

29:47 I don't think that that is indicative of the level of defense.

29:50 I mean, I do think they've executed at a high level.

29:53 Um, I think that, uh, there's a lot of things that go into it, including, I think the, the

29:58 opponents realize we don't really have to do much as long as we don't turn the ball

30:02 over, we're going to win this game.

30:03 We don't have to score many points.

30:05 We're not going to try.

30:06 And I think that, that offensive have been conservative and plus, you know, you also

30:10 look at it.

30:11 I mean, you know, who was it?

30:13 Gardner Minshew.

30:14 Um, who was the other, who was the other team that they beat, uh, or lost to during this,

30:20 uh, Tommy DeVito.

30:21 Yeah.

30:22 Tommy DeVito.

30:23 And then, you know, Justin Herbert with guys dropping balls all over the place and then

30:28 in a monsoon, um, you know, with, with, with a, with a crappy offensive line that couldn't

30:34 get any push, you know, I thought the Patriots defense did awesome against the run, but the

30:38 Chargers stink up front, which we talked about going into the game.

30:41 Um, you know, I think that, yeah, I think they've done a really good job.

30:44 I don't think that they're, you know, a lights out defense or anything like that, but there's

30:49 no question.

30:50 I think it was last week, you know, if you took JC Jackson off of the field for the Patriots

30:57 and all his errors against the giants, I think that that, that might've been like a perfect

31:01 game by the defense in terms of execution.

31:04 So I, I do think that's, that's where coaching matters.

31:07 That's where coaching comes in.

31:08 And I think that the defensive coaches have done an excellent job.

31:12 I just think with injuries and other things, they're, they're just sort of limited and

31:15 to what their ceiling is.

31:17 We'll keep it to you.

31:18 You're super quick three up from the Chargers game.

31:21 Uh, so, uh, Christian Barmore again, um, you know, really nice job dominating inside, uh,

31:29 Jonathan Jones, I thought, you know, was excellent in this game.

31:33 And offensively, I'm going to go with, uh, I'm going to give one to David Andrews.

31:38 I thought he was, um, outstanding in the running game.

31:41 One of his best games, uh, I I've ever seen, uh, as far as downs, uh, Michael Wenu, who's

31:48 freaking horrendous in this game.

31:50 Um, he had to, I know there's an illness going through Dietrich wise was sick.

31:55 Sean Wade had to tap out during the game with an illness.

31:59 Um, I'm going to give big Mike, the benefit of the doubt because I've never seen him play

32:05 that bad.

32:06 He, he was, he was awful in this game.

32:08 Um, and then also, um, let's see, Bailey Zappy was number two.

32:15 I mean, look, it wasn't bad, but I've had Mac as a three down all year, basically the

32:20 same sort of performance other than Zappy didn't turn the ball over.

32:23 Um, he did almost have one interception in the game, one near interception, um, towards

32:29 the end.

32:30 And then, um, Trent Brown, he didn't play a ton in this game.

32:33 I don't know how much is physical.

32:35 I can only go off the film and you know, right now it's sort of the annual right of passage,

32:41 which is trying to figure out Trent Brown's give a crap factor, uh, late in a Patriot

32:46 season.

32:47 It's a tradition, unlike any other Nick, we should have like a meter, like a, like a,

32:53 like a Trent Brown give a crap meter.

32:56 All right.

32:57 Quick thoughts on the Steelers as we get ready for what I'm sure is going to be an exciting,

33:02 uh, incredible football game on Thursday night.

33:06 Yeah, I don't have much to say about their offense.

33:09 I think it's, I think it's bad.

33:10 I don't think the Steelers would be able to run.

33:12 They're going to try to put it on the Patriots who want to put it on Mitch Strabisky.

33:17 If I were him, I would just run all the time, you know, like we, he did against the page.

33:20 He almost carried the bears to a victory against the Patriots with his legs that one year where

33:26 the bears were God awful.

33:28 I mean, that's what they should do.

33:30 Um, you know, can you imagine if it was like, if Malik Cunningham gets in the game, especially

33:34 Trubisky and Malik Cunningham running like the single wing for both?

33:39 I mean, they might as well, let's, let's throw it all the way back.

33:43 Um, the Steelers defense is obviously very formidable.

33:47 And if the Patriots get their type of tackle performance, uh, against the Steelers that

33:54 they got against the chargers, like, Holy hell pray for Bailey's happy.

33:57 I mean, because you have TJ watt, I think he might be dealing with an injury.

34:02 Um, and then you have Alex Highsmith on the other side.

34:06 And then the other thing is Cole strange played really well in this game against the chargers.

34:12 Not a surprise because the chargers are undersized upfront on the defensive interior.

34:16 They seem to always be for years.

34:19 And that's in Cole's wheelhouse.

34:21 What's not in his wheelhouse is Hayward on the other side, you know, these big, strong

34:26 physical defensive tackles.

34:28 He has issues with that.

34:29 So you combine what Highsmith and Hayward, um, along with Minka Fitzpatrick at safety.

34:38 And like, you know, I just feel bad for Bailey's happy.

34:41 He wanted to take Mack Jones's place.

34:43 God bless him.

34:44 You know, he might be ruling that decision come sometime on Thursday night.

34:49 Just brutal, just brutal.

34:51 I think he ran for like 80 yards that game against the Patriots that we're talking about.

34:55 I just look it up.

34:56 Some of his stats is his game logs.

34:58 That's the Pat's game I could find back in, uh, I think it was 18, 2018.

35:01 All right.

35:02 So check them out.

35:03 Of course, as we always say over at BSJ 50 bucks for the year, but Darji already all

35:07 the rest of the team, great coverage on all of the teams you could expect there.

35:11 50 bucks a year.

35:12 You can get it at sports journal.com.

35:13 Also remind you this episode is brought to you by a fan duel.

35:16 The exclusive wagering partner of the CNS media network.

35:18 New customers receive $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 money line bet.

35:23 Let's get to the pick Steelers minus six Thursday night in Pittsburgh.

35:29 The over under is a delicious 30 and a half.

35:32 Uh, Greg, Greg, where are you?

35:36 Uh, where, where are you going with this one?

35:39 30 and a half.

35:41 Oh my God.

35:43 This is like, this is like, this is basically a kind of Rutgers in Iowa, which is like,

35:48 you know, shoot me in the face.

35:49 Um, you know, that I have to watch this stuff.

35:52 Uh, six is a lot for the Steelers.

35:56 Like I mean, I guess they're expecting the Steelers Steelers to score on defense.

36:00 Um, you know, which they, they, they tend to do.

36:04 Um, you know, like you said, what's it, what's your sort of your line on the Patriots?

36:10 Like I'm just going to pick against them.

36:11 Like I don't know.

36:12 I'll pick them to beat the chargers.

36:14 I'm going to pick against them every week until they actually win a football game on

36:17 the field.

36:18 We'll see.

36:19 That's why you're wicked smart.

36:20 And I'm a freaking idiot.

36:22 Like this past week, not only did I pick the Patriots to win at the end of the day, not,

36:27 I don't know if I did on the podcast, but for Sunday I picked them to win and I picked

36:32 the over how much of a freaking moron am I six, nothing.

36:37 So I'm adopting, uh, you look, I'm going with Nick.

36:42 I'm sort of backing his play.

36:44 I'm going, the Steelers are covering the, it's going to be the under, uh, I'd say, let's

36:52 say, uh, 16, 16, six or something like that for the Steelers.

37:01 This game is going to be an offensive explosion.

37:05 You're going to have a 50% more points total than we had this past weekend.

37:09 So get ready for it.

37:10 Steelers nine, nothing on Thursday night.

37:12 I'm going Steelers minus six, well under the 30 and a half.

37:16 I'm not picking this football team until they went on the field.

37:19 I am now six and six against the spread.

37:21 So I'm even back even.

37:23 So that's the, that's the pick.

37:25 This game's going to suck unless something is just dramatic happens and a miracle breaks

37:31 out of Pittsburgh.

37:32 It's going to be terrible.

37:34 But we'll be back to recap it.

37:35 Everybody sure.

37:36 It'll be fun.

37:37 He's Greg.

37:38 I'm Nick till then be well.

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Was Bailey Zappe an IMPROVEMENT Over Mac Jones? | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast

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