The Patriots pulled off a 16-10 upset over the Bengals in Jerod Mayo's coaching debut, leaving many wondering how they managed to topple a tough Cincinnati team. Greg Bedard and Nick Cattles dive deep into the game, breaking down the key factors behind the victory. They explore how the Patriots' defense played a pivotal role, led by standout performances from Kyle Dugger and Keion White, and how the offense, led by Jacoby Brissett’s efficient play and Rhamondre Stevenson’s strong running, contributed just enough.
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SportsTranscript
00:00I don't know how many of us expected what happened on Sunday, but it happened.
00:14On Sunday, Patriots beat the Bengals 16-10.
00:17We'll get into the game, offense, defense, special teams, all three phases.
00:22We'll talk about Gerard Mayo, new head coach, a lot to get to, a lot to get to with Greg
00:26Bedard.
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01:00Greg, before we start with what actually happened on the field, defensively, offensively, Jeremy
01:05Springer all hopped up on Mountain Dew thanks to what his special teams crew did on Sunday.
01:11Let's talk about the guy who runs the program, Gerard Mayo, debut as a head coach.
01:17Your thoughts on what you saw from him as a coach and also the locker room and the buy-in
01:22level and what the guys had to say about him.
01:25Yeah, so, you know, a couple of things.
01:30Just in general, I didn't know what to expect out of these Patriots.
01:33New head coach, new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, new special teams
01:37coordinator.
01:40You know, what I did know of what I saw on the field, I thought that Gerard ran a really
01:47good camp that would have the Patriots physically prepared for this game.
01:52I think that obviously showed up and might have been the reason for their victory in
01:56this game over, you know, Bengals team, which let's just call it, they're a little soft
02:02and Jamar Chase has barely practiced and Tee Higgins was out and all that stuff.
02:08So I definitely was confident that the Patriots would be physically prepared.
02:11I figured they would tackle well.
02:15You know, who knows how they would block, whether they would hold up in the running
02:20game.
02:21So I thought they'd be physically ready and probably ready to go the distance more than
02:25the Bengals, which I think played out.
02:26But I, you know, I will say, and I think Nick, it didn't really hit me until I was listening
02:33to Brian Hoyer and David Andrews are doing a podcast now.
02:38Yeah.
02:39I think it's called quick snap, which is really cool.
02:41Two guys that I really like who I've covered, you know, having a current player on there
02:46to talk about things that never would have happened when Bill Belichick was here, a current
02:51player.
02:52I mean, there are multiple players, I think, doing in season podcasts now.
02:57But there was something that stood out to me that made me going into this game, sort
03:01of rethink things a little bit.
03:03So Brian Hoyer talked about, he talked about Bill Belichick and, you know, we all know
03:09about the infamous sort of film sessions that the team would have.
03:13And basically it was like a, a low lights thing where, you know, Bill would be like,
03:17ah, you know, he'd even chew Brady out about like, you know, God damn, you know, the freaking
03:22quarterback of Foxborough high could make this play Brady, you know, that sort of thing.
03:28And you know, we all knew about that and that was a part of life all the way until the end
03:32here with Bill.
03:33You know, so Brian was talking about how, so Brian was in Las Vegas with Josh McDaniels
03:39and we all know how that ended up going for McDaniels, but Brian said something along
03:45the lines of, you know, if Bill was a 10 in terms of that stuff, that low light sort of
03:51video thing, McDaniels was like a two, you know, in Vegas compared to Bill, yet he still
03:58saw the, especially the younger players getting negatively affected by that sort of negative
04:07reinforcement, corrections, calling people out sort of thing.
04:12And that's when like, I sort of dawned on me that like, maybe, maybe Mayo's onto something
04:17here.
04:18Maybe, you know, I, I certainly, you know, have liked some of the things he's done, not
04:23like some of the things he'd done, but I think, you know, you know, in the, you know, the
04:28vibe.
04:29So, you know, I've even made fun of it, you know, we want the vibes to be well and all
04:33this stuff.
04:34But when I heard Brian say that it put in a different perspective for me and I was like,
04:38maybe Mayo's onto something that, you know, being partners with the players, um, understanding
04:44how they feel, um, you know, putting an arm around them, um, telling Jacoby Brissett that
04:51he's going to go win a game today for the team.
04:55Maybe there is something to that.
04:57And I think what we saw on Sunday, at least for one week, and again, it's just one week
05:01and we talked about it opening opening weeks are funky and they're no indication of what's
05:05going to happen.
05:06Right.
05:07But for one week, I think we, what we saw was on the field, pretty much the way the
05:12Patriots played and went about things was the Belichickian way.
05:15Yeah.
05:16But I think that the attitude, the enthusiasm, the, uh, respect going both ways between the
05:24players and coaches was very real and gave them a confidence.
05:28And I'll just tell you the post game locker room was unlike anything that I can remember.
05:36I mean, look, we've, we've been, we've been part of some great Patriots victories and
05:40things like that.
05:41Even last year.
05:42I know people are talking about like, Hey, I heard Felder and Mads talking about like,
05:46it's been years since we felt this way or, you know, this about a Patriots game.
05:51Well, if you remember the Patriots almost beat the Eagles and dolphins in the first
05:55two weeks last year, including the Eagles and opening week, they upset the bills with
05:59Mack Jones playing probably the best fourth quarter of his career to beat Josh Allen.
06:05Something they hadn't done in a long time, you know, so it's not all that foreign.
06:08I know it feels like it cause we're in the desert right now or have been for a while,
06:13but, um, I don't know.
06:16It's hard to describe it, Nick, but there was definitely a different vibe, like almost
06:20like a, a heaviness had been lifted.
06:24Um, and I do think that's a credit to Mayo.
06:27And I think at least for one week, it was very real on Sunday.
06:32I remember saying when people were looking at Belichick and Mayo and it was all, you're
06:35going to have another Belichick guy.
06:37He's going to be just like Belichick.
06:39And I made a note at the time on my podcast, and I think I made it on this podcast as well.
06:46And the point was, well, Mayo also understood what Belichick might not have gotten right.
06:52And he's in the locker room and he's talking to these guys.
06:56He had a great relationship with a lot of players on the team.
06:59And I'm sure during those conversations, Mayo picked up that some of them were frustrated.
07:05Some of them had had enough of the Belichick method.
07:07And it's not to say that Belichick can't work out next year if he comes back to the league.
07:12And it's not to say that Mayo has everything figured out.
07:14As Greg just said, it's been one week, but it's the idea of, you know, Mayo taking notes
07:19and learning, OK, this is what works.
07:22This is what I can bring to the table, which was, you know, a lot of the principles football
07:27wise.
07:28Mayo's stands, you know, firm with Belichick, you know, really hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder.
07:34But he's watching this all play out in the locker room and he's like, he's probably saying
07:37to himself, this isn't the way, Bill, like just not not in 2023.
07:43It's like we can do a better job of reaching these players.
07:46With all that said, it wouldn't mean anything if we didn't see things play out the way they
07:51played out on Sunday.
07:53And I thought Mayo had a great day on Sunday.
07:55The discipline, you know, the lack of flags we've been talking about, the penalties, they
08:00weren't really there.
08:01He did not wait to pull Chooks Acora for which I thought was the right move.
08:05Twelve snaps and he said, I've seen enough.
08:07I'm not going to let this play out.
08:09He's got to sit his ass down.
08:11Lowe hasn't practiced a lot, but we're putting him in the game.
08:14And I also thought, you know, the end of half clock management, Greg, it seems like a small
08:19thing.
08:20But in the preseason, Gerard struggled with some of that stuff, not taking timeouts, going
08:24to the going to halftime with timeouts in your back pocket for no good reason.
08:28I thought he played the clock perfectly at the end of that first half, gets the field
08:32goal.
08:33You go in at halftime, getting the football back to start the third quarter.
08:36I thought there was a lot of things as far as what we saw play out, the physicality,
08:41the preparation, playing aggressive, playing fast, playing smart on offense.
08:46It all made sense and it all fell into line.
08:48And I think what you just mentioned, it has at least some to do with it, that these guys
08:52believe in their head coach.
08:53They think that the head coach is looking out for the best interests of them and not
08:57necessarily himself.
09:00And they picked up what he was putting down week one.
09:03Yeah, no question.
09:05And getting this type of result, and this goes for basically anybody from the Belichick
09:11tree.
09:12I mean, whether it was McDaniels or Patricia or Joe Judge, you can believe in the same
09:19things and do things the same way.
09:21But the players, they'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but they got to see results.
09:27And whenever they don't see the results, they start to question, why the hell are we going
09:32through this?
09:33That Gerard broke through.
09:36And I thought, to echo what you said, I thought the game plans were very sound.
09:41You could tell they were very focused.
09:46And I don't know if it's because Alex Van Pelt and TC McCartney and Scott Peters have
09:52a lot of familiarity with the Bengals from being with the Browns and AFC North.
09:56I'm sure that helped a lot of things.
09:57Shigobi Brissett as well.
09:59I think it was a comfortable open for a lot of people, especially on the offensive side
10:03of the ball, having gone against the Bengals defense and all that stuff.
10:08So it might be a unicorn in a lot of ways.
10:10We'll see when they take on Seattle on Sunday.
10:15But I think the players need to see, to get buy-in, they have to see the results pay out.
10:21And I think that happened in this game, and that's only going to help buy-in even more.
10:26Now, do the Patriots have enough talent?
10:30Can they win the same way week after week for 17 games?
10:36Probably not.
10:38But it was a really good start, and I think it's going to make the coaches' jobs easier
10:48when they say, this is what we want you to do.
10:51This is the way we're going to win this game.
10:54This is our game plan.
10:56They're going to get instant buy-in, and that's certainly going to help things.
11:00We're going to get to the offense and Shigobi Brissett a little bit later, but I actually
11:04want to start with the defense.
11:05I know the offense is the sexy thing, but to me the story was the defense on Sunday
11:10and how great those guys played.
11:12They got off to an incredible start in the first half.
11:16Front seven was dominant.
11:17They were shutting down the run game.
11:19They were getting pressure on Joe Burrow.
11:21I thought they made Cincy's offensive line look uncomfortable early.
11:26Needless to say, Greg, in 2024 when you give up 224 total yards, your defense did a pretty
11:33damn good job on that Sunday.
11:36What was the highlight for you?
11:37When looking at this defense overall, what's the one thing that stood out the most?
11:42Then we'll talk about a lot more that happened, but what's the one thing that stood out when
11:46you were watching the film?
11:50There were a lot of the same principles.
11:51It's the same defense.
11:52DeMarcus Covington's running it.
11:54It's Mayo's defense.
11:55Same stuff that the Patriots have basically been running for years.
11:58I would just say that they elevated their game in terms of pre-snap looks and post-snap
12:08coverage looks.
12:09I would say they took it to another level.
12:12We've seen it before.
12:15We've seen Jonathan Jones or Marcus Jones end up at safety and linebackers end up at
12:22cornerback and all those sorts of things, but I thought DeMarcus Covington took it to
12:27another level in this game.
12:31Live, I thought that caused Joe Burrow a lot of indecision, and I'm sure it didn't help,
12:38but on film it wasn't quite as evident.
12:41It just seemed like Burrow was just resigned to taking the checkdowns all day.
12:47Of course, making a good quarterback with a good receiver take checkdowns, I think in
12:53the second half the Patriots invited the run straight out of Belichick's playbook in a
12:58lot of ways.
13:00Just for example, I'm just looking on the Bengals' drive in the second quarter that
13:07started at 11-42.
13:10Just to give you an example on how they changed things.
13:14So third and six on the 39, they ended up converting, but the Patriots showed man pressure
13:22before the snap.
13:23They reverted to cover two.
13:26Next play they showed cover two, stayed in cover two.
13:32Then they showed man pressure, and then they went to Tampa two.
13:36Then it was just that kind of stuff over and over again.
13:40Sometimes you saw Christian Gonzalez would be lined up opposite Jamar Chase, but all
13:45of a sudden he dropped back into cover three.
13:47We saw him at safety at various times.
13:49We even saw him as the quote unquote middle linebacker in a Tampa two element.
13:57To me, that was the biggest wrinkle that I saw defensively, and that's a great sign.
14:06It's not surprising, Nick.
14:09We talked about how they re-signed all these guys on defense, and pretty much everybody
14:13who's on defense has been there multiple years.
14:15So that they're going to another level shouldn't surprise, but it's going to cause offensive
14:24coordinators a lot of second glances, and when it comes to their game plan, how are
14:31we going to deal with all these things?
14:32The Patriots only blitzed Burrow five times in the game.
14:38They only blitzed 14.3% of the time.
14:44We know it gives you, I don't want to say hope, but you see the Patriots now have various
14:52clubs in their bag that they can, we know, I mean, they haven't even shown it that much
14:59because they played basically a little bit more zone in this game than they did man-to-man.
15:04But in terms of Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones, and Marcus Jones, we know that they
15:10can play pretty good man coverage, which they didn't really even do this week.
15:15They did a whole bunch of playing coverage, and like I said, going to a lot of different
15:19zones and sometimes matching up.
15:24We know that, and we've heard Mayo talk about it in terms of replacing Matthew Judon in
15:30terms of his pressure.
15:31Well, we can scheme it up as good as anybody.
15:33Yeah, they can.
15:35They didn't do that in this game.
15:37So that's something, that's another thing that they haven't used yet.
15:41So that Demarcus Covington showed restraint in this game, and I do think probably, you
15:49know, the Bengals not being at full strength without Tee Higgins and things like that.
15:54I'm sure it played into their hand a little bit, but it just, it gave me a lot of confidence
16:02that week to week, they're going to be able to morph.
16:05And they've always sort of done that, but I just think they have a few more ways to
16:10win defensively than we've seen, you know, in recent years.
16:15All right.
16:16We'll get to the offense in a minute, but I do want to ask you, because I'm sure a lot
16:19of people listening to the podcast, watching the podcast, want your thoughts on Keon White's
16:24game.
16:25He's been the guy that a lot of people have talked about, two and a half sacks, three
16:28quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, one of the sacks.
16:32Can we please credit Joshua?
16:34I guess we're now calling him Uche.
16:36Uche.
16:37Yes.
16:39That was all Uche on one.
16:40I mean, he gets the pressure, Burrow has to run away, and Keon White's like, come to papa,
16:45just waiting for Joe Burrow and his Eminem hair from back in the day.
16:52So just your thoughts about Keon White and what you saw from him, because we've talked
16:55about him a lot during this camp season, and there it is, game one, making some impact
16:59plays.
17:00Yeah, I found it interesting that both White, almost on, I think it was the first snap of
17:07the game, completely embarrassed Trent Brown.
17:11Trent was just, had terrible technique, and Keon made a nice play and sort of looked outside
17:17but dipped inside, and Trent was all off balance, and his feet were close together, and he's
17:22reaching, but Keon made him look horrible, and maybe Trent is horrible.
17:28And Uche later on in the game, all, I don't know, 230 pounds of him, put Trent Brown on
17:36his rear end.
17:38So not a great look for the former Patriot, but you know, I thought Keon was really good
17:45in this game.
17:47He led the team for me with three total quarterback pressures.
17:50I had him for two sacks.
17:51I had him for one full sack and two half sacks, including the Uche one, which you're absolutely
17:57right.
17:58It drives me crazy.
17:59Like, there was a sack, I forget who had the other half, I was just looking.
18:05But I gave, it might have been a Keon White play, but do you remember, Nick, do you remember
18:11the play when, it was one of the few times when Zach Taylor actually showed some creativity
18:18and had, Jomar Chase came in motion and then went into the flat.
18:22It was a third down play, and it was almost sort of like jet motion or whatever.
18:29Jalen Hawkins did a tremendous job, now Christian Gonzalez was out there on whoever the other
18:34wide receiver was out there, and I think Gonzalez was running with Jomar Chase across,
18:43and Jalen Hawkins was on the wide receiver there.
18:46And Hawkins actually came up and took Chase, and the whole play was designed, and it was
18:51third pretty short, I don't know, three or four yards.
18:54And the whole play was designed just to get a rub, and Burrow was just going to throw
18:58it out to Chase, he was going to turn the corner and go up the field.
19:02And Hawkins stepped up and took that away, and Burrow had no other options and he took
19:06a sack.
19:07So, there was a lot of really good team defense.
19:09But just specific to Keon, I thought he was really effective, I will say he wasn't quite
19:16as effective when he had to put a hand in the dirt.
19:20Playing defensive end, especially late, he was part of the reason he got blown off the
19:24ball when they scored that rushing touchdown.
19:27But for the first game where he has a major role, I want to see him standing up more just
19:33on the edge.
19:34I don't want to see him put his hand in the dirt inside up against a tackle or a guard.
19:39Maybe in sub to use his quickness, but certainly not against the run.
19:45But I thought him and Uche, both of them, they were responsible for more than half the
19:51pressures the team generated.
19:53It wasn't a huge pressure day for them.
19:56They had nine, that was 25.7%.
20:00So not huge, but Joe was getting rid of the ball really quick.
20:02Like I said, he was dinking and dunking, taking the underneath stuff.
20:06Not a whole lot of rush opportunities, but I thought those guys did a really nice job.
20:09Alright, we'll take a break.
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21:09Run your game.
21:10Let's move to the sexy side of the football, Greg.
21:12Everybody wants to talk about offense, offense, offense, and Jacoby Brissett.
21:17I want to ask you, Alex Van Pelt has taken some criticism before they even played a game
21:25that mattered.
21:27Doesn't mean that Van Pelt's going to be awesome.
21:29Doesn't mean he was even awesome on Sunday.
21:32I give everybody the benefit of the doubt until they prove they can't do the job.
21:37So he's out there.
21:38First game.
21:39You mentioned against Cincinnati.
21:41There's obviously familiarity with that because he was in Cleveland the last couple of years.
21:46But 30,000 foot view, how do you think AVP did his first day on the job play calling
21:51a game that mattered?
21:53Since 0-9.
21:54Yeah, I thought it was really good.
21:58I questioned why they didn't use more play action.
22:05I thought that could be effective, but then again Brissett wasn't, those weren't his most
22:09effective plays.
22:11That's why he junked them.
22:12I thought they went a little bit too much shotgun in the second half, but I thought
22:20it was really good.
22:22I think he certainly understood the Bengals and what Anirumo, the defensive coordinator,
22:29wanted to do.
22:30I think that they understood a lot of the Bengals' rules and how to use it against them.
22:36For example, on the Stevenson run, yes, Leighton Robinson made an excellent block and finish
22:43on that.
22:44David Andrews had a great seal block on that.
22:47But the main reason that they scored that touchdown is that Jermaine Pratt, the Bengals'
22:50linebacker, wasn't in the gap he was supposed to be in because the Patriots kept using motion
22:57to move the Bengals' linebackers around, and that gap was totally open when Stevens went
23:03into it.
23:04So I think there was a lot of that, but I think the most important thing in terms of
23:10AVP's effectiveness in this game was the performance of Jacoby Brissett.
23:18I don't know if I've ever seen Jacoby play this way, to be as decisive as he was, to
23:25largely stay out of trouble, not take sacks, get rid of the ball, take care of the ball.
23:32Now, there was the Hunter Henry play in the end zone that had shades of Mac Jones written
23:37all over it until Hunter Henry played defensive back.
23:41But if this is an example of, and again, this could just be Jacoby knows the Bengals as
23:48well, so maybe this was just comfortable for him.
23:52But if this was an example of how AVP, Ben McAdoo, TC McCartney, Evan Rothstein, and as
24:01I wrote, a partridge in a pear tree in terms of their QB collective over there.
24:07If Jacoby playing this way from what we're used to in his career, and keep in mind, this
24:14is a guy that has a 7.5% career sack rate, dating back to his rookie year, that's seventh
24:22in the league, seventh highest.
24:24So this is a guy who takes a lot of sacks and holds the ball and is late with reads.
24:32Didn't see much of that on Sunday at all.
24:35And so if this is indicative of how they can coach up players, coach up the quarterback,
24:41I mean, not only is it a good sign for the offense, but it's a good sign of the present
24:46offense.
24:47It's a good sign for what they're doing with Drake May and developing him down the road.
24:51So I would say, look, nobody's going to write home with 121-yard passing yards, 75.2 passer
25:01rating, 39 runs, 170 yards.
25:06I do think it's a feather in his cap that Stevenson was like, well, let's not run wide
25:11zone anymore.
25:12I don't want to run that anymore.
25:13Pretty much saying we stink at it.
25:15Can we just go to gap?
25:17And that's what he did.
25:18And that basically sealed the game at the end.
25:21So I would say in all sorts of areas, not fireworks or anything like that, but a good
25:29productive day for the offense, the quarterback, and that's a credit to the offensive coordinator
25:35and the rest of the coaches on that offensive staff.
25:37A level of humility from your offensive coordinator to take the advice of the running back and
25:45say, all right, let's go with what he's comfortable with.
25:48And he might end up being right, and he probably is right.
25:51So let's make the pivot and let's do what he's comfortable with and get the most out
25:55of our best player today.
25:57So shout out to Van Pelt for doing that.
26:00Some OCs are just stubborn and no, we're going to run what we're going to run.
26:04As far as the runs, I know people are saying 39 runs.
26:08I believe Brissett had seven runs.
26:10So it was 32 called runs.
26:12Brissett, none of those seven runs from Jacoby were called runs.
26:16So I think the balance was a little bit closer than people realize because they look at
26:21that and number and see 39 rushes.
26:24Yeah, I think there were 29 drop backs, I believe.
26:27So you get 32 called runs, 29 drop backs.
26:31Pretty even.
26:32I did think that Van Pelt and I know Andrew Callahan at the Herald wrote about this a
26:36little bit in his story today.
26:38I did think they got a little too conservative, especially in the second half.
26:43And the first three drives of the second half, they had less than five minutes time of possession.
26:48So I would have liked to see them be a little bit more aggressive.
26:52Now the first drive coming out of the half, people will remember they took the shot to
26:56Taekwon.
26:57I didn't hate that because I think that was kind of a warning shot from Van Pelt to make
27:04sure since he honored them and they came out of the locker room saying we're going to take
27:09a shot downfield.
27:11So since he doesn't get too comfortable.
27:13But I thought overall Van Pelt had a good day.
27:16Brissette had a good day given what given what he had the circumstances.
27:19He had one bad throw the throw to Henry.
27:21He had three or four misfires.
27:23He missed Osborne high.
27:25He threw high to pop on a third down.
27:27He wasn't flawless.
27:28Yeah, far from it.
27:29But as you mentioned, Greg, you know, the poise, the toughness, the decisiveness for
27:33most of the day did not turn the football over.
27:36You know, this coaching staff, the decision to sit Drake May at the beginning of the year.
27:41You saw why on Sunday, because you had that veteran steady presence and a guy who just
27:46managed the game and did enough for you to walk out with the W and I'm not sold that
27:51Drake May would have been as cool common collected on Sunday as we saw Brissette, especially
27:56when he's getting, you know, people around him and he's going to he's going to break
27:59those runs.
28:01So I thought the coaching staff, they look good on Sunday making the decision at quarterback.
28:06Yeah, 100%.
28:08And, you know, Nick, even if you add in the struggles of the other first round quarterbacks
28:15on Sunday, I mean, you know, Bo Nicks was terrible and pressured a lot by the Seattle
28:23team that the Patriots, the only team that had more pressure.
28:27The only team that yeah, that.
28:30So the Bengals against the Patriots offensive line had the second highest pressure rate.
28:35I think it was like 47% or something like that.
28:38I had them actually for more 51% when I'm sure we're going to get into that in a second
28:42when we talk about the offensive line.
28:45But you know, the Seahawks had the highest pressure rate against Bo Nicks and Bo was
28:51not good.
28:52Caleb Williams was terrible.
28:54Jaden Daniels wasn't great either.
28:57And you sort of look at it in that context and you're just like, see, this is why you
29:03sit the kid.
29:04They like, don't, don't be in a rush.
29:07I mean, look at, did all three of those teams lose?
29:09I think they all lost.
29:10And the team, the team that sat there, would you say through the worst pick six you'll
29:16ever see in the history?
29:19Right.
29:20Right.
29:21I forgot about that.
29:22You know, the, the bears Caleb Williams offense that got a big goose egg and they got 24 points
29:26from their defense and specialty.
29:27So they won.
29:28But you know, the, the offense that actually, you know, did something to contribute to,
29:34to to a victory, they were the one team that said, you know what, we're not going to rush
29:39the kid.
29:40We're not going to just throw them out there because he's a shiny new toy.
29:43We're going to go with the veteran and they won a road game, you know, against a team
29:47that's, you know, later on in the season is usually pretty good.
29:51Not really in week ones and weeks twos.
29:53One thing I wanted to point out that that opening play of the second half, because I've
29:57heard some criticism of that play and I think you're right.
30:01Like I did not have a problem with that at all.
30:05Not just, not, not just from, you know, making the Bengals a little pay more, a little bit
30:10tension to the deep ball, but they got exactly what they wanted on that play.
30:17They got man coverage.
30:18The Bengals brought one of their few blitzes on that play and they basically had two outside
30:23receivers one-on-one with a middle of the field safety.
30:26I just thought Jacoby threw it to the wrong place.
30:29He went to Taekwon.
30:30I thought Polk, Polk had a step on the other side of the field.
30:34I thought Polk probably was the one receiver that, that got open a little bit more than
30:40the other ones.
30:41I, that, that was also a play where I didn't understand why not just go play action.
30:45Like they didn't do play action.
30:46He just dropped back.
30:47You know, you, you've been running the ball, running the ball, like give a good play action
30:51and then, you know, see what happens.
30:53But yeah, I thought, I, you know, I thought it was a, it was a really good day for one
31:00week at least for the offense and, you know, Jacoby, you know, I just can't say enough
31:07how he played in this game for, I was extremely impressed.
31:12Was it perfect?
31:13No.
31:14But in terms of what he had to deal with, you know, being pressured on like half of
31:19his snaps, the, the first downs and the yardage that he picked up instead of taking sacks
31:27you know, probably Jacoby a couple of years ago might've taken five sacks in that game.
31:32And that might've been the difference in the game.
31:34Instead, he was making plays, moving the chains, getting him in the third manageable, hitting
31:40some big third down plays.
31:42You know, as you said, comparing him to, you know, if they played May in this game, you
31:46know, twice Leighton Robinson didn't just let a free runner come in right at Jacoby.
31:51And I think both times he completed the pass and including one time to Austin Hoop and
31:56Hooper when, you know, two guys came free, Jacoby knew exactly where to go with the ball.
32:02Hooper was hot.
32:03They get it, get a big gain and you know, here they go.
32:06But you know, Jacoby, he was in terms of the way I grade games and a lot of it was, is
32:12just about decision-making and did they make the right decision?
32:16Did they hang in against pressure and things like that?
32:19This was the highest graded game for a Patriots quarterback that I've had since Mack Jones's
32:25rookie year.
32:26I was just incredibly, and that also includes the stuff that he did with his legs, obviously
32:32it wasn't perfect.
32:33He left some plays on the field.
32:35He left a big third down play when he threw high to KJ Osborne on that check down.
32:40He was a little too quick with that one.
32:41He had pop coming open for a big play and he kind of bailed a little bit early.
32:46But overall, you know, my hat's off to Jacoby Perced.
32:50That was one of the toughest performances, you know, under duress that I've ever seen
32:57in my career covering the NFL.
32:58Greg, tell the fine people about game time.
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34:48Before we get to the offensive line, Greg, I don't know how much needs to be said because
34:52I feel like a lot has been said the last 36 hours or so.
34:57Yeah.
34:58Greg Stephenson was a freaking beast on Sunday.
35:01Yeah.
35:02Yeah, he really was.
35:05The offensive line didn't block great.
35:07Everybody, I'm sure, by now has heard the statistics.
35:10Yards before contact, yards after contact.
35:13Some of that is a little bit misleading because some of the stuff that they did in the run
35:17game, especially late, the gap and the duos, a lot of those schemes leave ... Actually,
35:27every running play leaves one unblocked guy for the back to take care of.
35:33The line between good to great backs and just a guy is a guy who doesn't break any tackles
35:41and just gets tackled by that one guy that's their responsibility.
35:45That rarely happened on Sunday.
35:47Stephenson was a beast, 118 yards after contact of his 120.
35:52I thought the biggest thing for me, Nick, was I think Romandre, and again, I don't know
35:57if this is Gerard's input or the coach's input or what, but for Romandre to sort of rework
36:03his body, trim a little bit, I thought that definitely showed up on Sunday.
36:08I thought that his explosion, his acceleration was back.
36:12You got to remember, this is a guy who, for most of his career, he's averaged over three
36:17yards after contact, like 3.4 or 5.
36:22Last year, he had slipped to like 2.7 when a lot of us were like, what's wrong with Romandre?
36:27Because Ezekiel ran pretty good last year behind the same line.
36:31He did a lot more than Stephenson did in the same sort of opportunities to the point where
36:36I think you and I were talking about like, just start Zeke.
36:39He's better right now.
36:40He just is, and that was a fact a year ago, but Romandre made some changes, and for him
36:46to be like 4.8 yards per contact after 2.8, to me, was really indicative of not only is
36:53Romandre back, but he might be better than ever, and now they just got to figure out
36:58how to manage it because he cannot carry the load that he did on Sunday, 25 carries.
37:07He had another three touches in the pass game.
37:10He can't do that.
37:11We've seen when they've relied on him a lot, when Damian Harris went down, and all those
37:17guys take a beating.
37:18Maybe if this is going to be their identity, maybe they do have to think about adding another
37:22running back to the roster, but yeah, not only is Romandre back from week one, that
37:30it looks like from week one, he might be the best that we've ever seen him.
37:33It's like a movie trailer, Romandre's back, and Romandre's better than ever.
37:40One quick note on the running backs, Antonio Gibson was dinged up.
37:42He was questionable going into the game, so maybe they didn't give him as many touches
37:47as he's going to get moving forward as long as he's healthy, so that could have been a
37:50management situation.
37:51All right, let's get to the offensive line.
37:54I tweeted out yesterday, and look, I'm the guy who's been sitting here saying, as a lot
38:01of people were saying, this offensive line is going to be an absolute nightmare, disaster,
38:05blah, blah, blah.
38:07I want to see it unfold.
38:08I believe they have at least three good offensive linemen at the NFL level.
38:12I believe they can get to four good offensive linemen by week five or six.
38:16I stand by that, but I tweeted yesterday at Nixie Radio for the smart people who want
38:22to follow me.
38:25There was a little bit of hyperbole coming out of the game on Sunday about the O-line
38:30because I'm watching and I'm saying, man, Jacoby ran seven times, not because he wanted
38:36to run seven times, because he had to run most of the time, because he had to.
38:42And obviously, Chooks gets benched after the first 12 snaps of the game, which is not what
38:46you're looking for from your starting left tackle.
38:49Let me start here, though, with Chooks.
38:51I saw you write about this, and I agree with you.
38:55Gerard Mayo, I think, told the whole world what's going on with Chooks Acora for.
38:59The head coach, Greg, does not think it's a talent problem, and you've said this the
39:03last few weeks.
39:07There were a lot of good stories about Chooks.
39:09At one point, you said the coaching staff loved what they saw from him.
39:13Then you get into camp, you get pads on, and it seemed like he fell off a cliff.
39:19But the coach is saying he's got all the talent.
39:23He's got the talent that he needs.
39:25What's going on with Chooks?
39:26Does he just not have the tick-tock to play this game at a level that he should be playing
39:30at?
39:31Yeah, I don't know for sure.
39:35I can just give you my opinion.
39:39I do know that he balked at going over to left tackle, because that was one of the big
39:44questions.
39:45They get to training camp, and they're like, why isn't Acora for it, left tackle?
39:48I'm told that that was a lot of his doing.
39:53I just don't know how much he—I would put it this way.
40:00I'm sure he likes to play football, and I'm sure he seems like a good guy.
40:07I just don't know how much he loves football.
40:09This is not just a New England problem.
40:11I think this was a problem in Pittsburgh as well.
40:17I think you were exactly right, and I hadn't thought of it, Nick, with the earlier point
40:21that you made about the decision to quickly bench him after 12 plays, mid-series, and
40:28go with a guy in Vidarian Lowe who had practiced once in the previous two weeks.
40:34In the Commander's game, when he kept lining up wrong, people were screaming, why don't
40:39you bench him, and stuff like that.
40:41I was just like, well, it's a preseason game.
40:45They're trying to get snaps on film and try to see if this is going to work or not work.
40:51You can't really bench a guy.
40:53Preseason game is not a place, but I did say if it happens in a regular season game, I
40:57can almost guarantee you that they're going to bench him.
41:01That's exactly what they did.
41:03I think, largely, it was ... Look, Chooks, he played 12 plays.
41:09He gave up three pressures, and I had him for four minus plays in 12 plays.
41:16Vidarian Lowe wasn't a whole lot better, but on a per-snap basis, he was 50% better.
41:23He gave up five pressures and was a minus nine in 52 snaps.
41:30As far as effectiveness rate, he was twice as good as Chook Secor for.
41:36Certainly wasn't perfect, but I think what we saw to the offensive line, and Leighton
41:40Robinson, I think so far, what we've known from when I was telling you, this guy's coming
41:46on and he might be your starter right guard with some of the stuff that I saw in practice
41:52and in the preseason, pretty much so far ... Look, it's one regular season game and three preseason
41:59games in.
42:01Pretty much what you get out of Leighton Robinson is you'll get a handful of really freaking
42:06great plays where you're just like ... It makes me giggle on film, Nick.
42:10When I see some of his finishes and how he's ... He's a madman.
42:15He's sort of like the Joe Mizzoula of guards.
42:19I just start chuckling.
42:21It's hilarious.
42:22But, so he has those handful of plays where you're just like, God damn, that kid's got
42:27something.
42:28Then he'll have a handful, five, seven plays where you're just like, oh boy, he's a rookie
42:35and he's going to have to learn.
42:40Really when it came down to it, David Andrews, Michael Wenu, and Michael Jordan, who I think
42:45we talked in the pod, it did not surprise me that he was elevated and started at left
42:49guard.
42:50He is probably their best zone blocking lineman, which it surprised me that they cut him after
42:58making claims, but thank goodness they were able to get him back on the practice squad.
43:03I wouldn't be surprised if he's not signed to the regular roster very soon for the rest
43:07of the season.
43:08Maybe they have three weeks worth of these elevations that they can do.
43:12I even heard David Andrews on his podcast talk about how good Michael Jordan was all summer.
43:18I completely agree.
43:21You'll get City back and who knows about Cole Strange, but Andrews, Wenu, and Michael Jordan
43:31were all really good in this game, really, really solid.
43:35Left tackle was kind of a train wreck and Leighton was a rookie at times, but I think
43:40that's about what we expected.
43:43If Leighton can continue to improve and now they know, all right, now it's going to be
43:49very low starting at left tackle, I would assume, and Chooks goes to being like sort
43:54of the swing tackle type of guy, then now they can concentrate on helping left tackle.
44:01Be like, all right, this is where we really have to worry.
44:04Yeah, we got to watch David.
44:05You got to watch Leighton a little bit more on delayed blitzes and things like that, but
44:10I think after this week, I think you can see it, and this is why I wasn't up in arms
44:16about the personnel on the offensive line.
44:18I was like, I think they can piece it together, and I think even though this wasn't good with
44:23a 51% passer rate and pressure rate and the run blocking issues and things like that,
44:31I was more encouraged at the end of the day, but certainly it has to get a lot better,
44:38but I think there's something there for them to work with.
44:41Yeah, I agree with you on that.
44:42I'm going to stand by it, and look, they might end up being awful at the end of the year,
44:47but I'm going to give them four or five weeks to figure out the pieces.
44:50I do think they have the pieces to get at least four of the five guys up front to be
44:54good, decent, good, whatever adjective you want to use, and then as Greg said, you help
45:00the left side.
45:01Before I get to a couple more things before we bounce, I did want to ask you, you kind
45:08of just mentioned then they can start helping the left side.
45:11I was surprised how much the left tackle was left on an island against Trey Hendrickson.
45:18You go against Cincinnati, and I think there were a couple of things that were said by
45:22a number of people leading into this game that made Patriots fans feel like the Bengals
45:27had a great pass rush.
45:29They don't.
45:30I went through a lot of the stats during my podcast on Friday previewing the game.
45:35They were 18th in sacks.
45:37They were 14th in pressure percentage.
45:38They were 25th, I think, in hurry percentage.
45:41They don't blitz a lot.
45:42What they do is they try to make you guess who's coming.
45:46They don't send a fifth and sixth guy an awful lot.
45:49They just don't.
45:50They make you guess.
45:53So I was surprised that we saw Hendrickson a lot, who really is the only dude.
45:57I know Hubbard.
45:58Hubbard's okay.
46:00But I was surprised they went one-on-one so much the left tackle.
46:03Is that because of what you just mentioned that they don't feel like they can trust enough
46:06guys on the offensive line so they couldn't devote as much help to the left tackle?
46:11You know, it's a good thought.
46:13I don't think that was it.
46:15And again, something else I got from the Hoyer and Andrews podcast that I haven't quite gotten
46:20through because I think it was just released today.
46:23David Andrews mentioned something about, and this is another reason why you let Drake bake
46:30and just let him sit and listen and learn, because in the plan for this game, Andrews
46:37made some sort of reference about, like, Jacoby at one point said, and he knows these guys,
46:43he knows Hendrickson and Hubbard, and when he basically erased Hubbard in this game.
46:48He had like three pressures, but he wasn't very effective.
46:51Normally, Sam Hubbard's a lot more impactful on a game than he was, and so kudos to when
46:56he went right tackle.
46:58But that preset said something along the lines of, it's fine.
47:04Just let him rush up the field.
47:05I'll step up.
47:06And so I think, you know, having confidence in David Andrews and Michael Jordan especially,
47:12and I think the plan was to let those guys go up the field and try to, you know, keep
47:17the middle of the pocket clean.
47:19And I think that's what you saw a lot in this game from, you know, the plays where
47:23Jacoby took off and made plays with his legs.
47:28To me, this was a veteran saying like, you know what, let's not worry about helping him.
47:33I know these guys.
47:35I know Hendrickson.
47:36He's going to rush up the field.
47:39You know, just let him do it and I'll take care of the rest.
47:44And that's what happened.
47:46And you know, can they do this every week?
47:48Probably not.
47:50You know, and you know, Mike McDonald and his Seahawks team are coming to Gillette with
47:54a formidable pass rush.
47:57The best in the league last week and at least two dynamite corners out there.
48:03But for one week, Jacoby said, I got this.
48:06And you know, that that gives you a lot of solace having that veteran guy there.
48:10All right.
48:11We got three likes, three dislikes coming from Greg here as we get ready to wrap things
48:14up before we do that.
48:15I do want to mention Jeremy Springer, one of the greatest press conferences I've ever
48:20witnessed in my human life.
48:23As if was that today?
48:25I'm talking about the I'm talking about the the one when he was hired, when he first first
48:30came in, he was like he had the energy of like Adam Gase's eyes.
48:34Remember when Adam Gase had his press conference?
48:37Springer was like jump across the table and tackle people during his introductory press
48:41conference.
48:42I'll just say this, man.
48:44There was a lot of talk about special teams by Bill Belichick, and for a long time they
48:48were great.
48:49Last couple of years, they sucked out loud.
48:51I don't think anybody missed Cam Acord on Sunday.
48:54Special teams was fantastic.
48:56Schooler was a beast.
48:57I thought the coverage was great.
48:59You obviously had the Cardona forced turnover, which was awesome.
49:03And you had actually a kicker that made kicks.
49:06So that was good to see.
49:07So shout out to special teams.
49:10But I do want to get to the three likes, three dislikes.
49:12First, I want to let you know.
49:13Check them out.
49:14BSJ, Bedard, Giardi, tag teaming on the Patriots with film, best sources around to give you
49:19the most accurate reporting of your football team this season.
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49:50As I mentioned, Pix, I do want to just note this, and I'm sure we'll talk about it a little
49:53bit more as we preview the Seahawks later in the week.
49:56But Greg and I, both 1-0 on the season.
50:00So a good start for us.
50:01We both took the Patriots with the points.
50:03We both went with the under, which was at 40-1.
50:07So we both hit there at 1-0.
50:10So good start for us.
50:11All right, Greg, quickly, as I get ready to go to dinner, I'm sure you're doing the same.
50:16Three likes, three dislikes.
50:17Start with the dislikes.
50:18Let's start with the bad so we end with the good.
50:23So I have my concerns about the run defense have not been alleviated.
50:28I thought the Bengals should have run a lot more.
50:32Their running game was one of the most efficient in the league this week.
50:36They just didn't do it until it was way too late.
50:38And we saw the Patriots add a defensive tackle to the practice squad today.
50:43I think they realized they have an issue there.
50:50So that's going to be a growing concern for me.
50:54And we got Kenneth Walker coming in here this week.
50:57We'll see what happens.
50:58Of course, the Patriots were more worried about playing coverage against Joe Burrow
51:02and Jamar Chase than the running game.
51:04So this will be a good test for that.
51:07Number two worries for me, the lack of separation in the passing game by a lot of the receivers.
51:16I think this is going to be a big challenge.
51:18I think this is why you saw Elliott Wolfe try so hard on Calvin Ridley and Brandon Aiyuk
51:26because they need somebody that's going to get open a little bit easier.
51:33I think they held Pop back a little bit in this game.
51:36I didn't think they wanted to show everything in this game.
51:41And we know Pop's going to be effective.
51:42I wish I knew that's why I parlayed, by the way, because I was doing a two-player parlay.
51:47I went over 60 yards for Mondra on the ground.
51:49I went over 40 yards on receiving yards for Pop.
51:54I was pissed.
51:55I was pissed on Sunday he didn't get 40 yards.
51:58Anyway.
52:00I would blame the pressure on Brissette more than anything.
52:05Because I do think there were a couple of opportunities for Pop to get the ball, but
52:08Jacoby just didn't have enough time.
52:12So the lack of separation in the passing game is something that concerns me.
52:18And I will say, even though this is pretty minor, some of the reserve secondary guys,
52:25Jalen Hawkins, Marco Wilson, even though Jalen Hawkins had that great rep that I said on
52:35third down, he had a couple challenging plays.
52:38And by the way, speaking of that, what the hell would players change in their numbers
52:43right before the game?
52:47Or at least this week.
52:48Antonio Gibson all of a sudden is wearing four, now Hawkins is wearing 21.
52:52I'm like, who the hell are these guys?
52:54All right, three likes.
53:01Let's see.
53:02Three likes.
53:04Just some players that were sort of under the radar who I love.
53:07Jonathan Jones.
53:08Awesome in this game.
53:09That fourth down stop.
53:10That dude is so under the radar.
53:11My God.
53:13He was outstanding.
53:14I thought Hunter Henry was outstanding.
53:17Had a couple of really nice run blocks.
53:19Of course, had the pass break up in the end zone to keep Jacoby from bringing back memories
53:24of Mac Jones.
53:26Third down catch he had.
53:29And who else?
53:31Oh, Jelani Tavai had a huge, awesome run stuff where he just got rid of the blocker and made
53:41it.
53:42And then he had that, they were about, the Bengals were about to convert on third down
53:45with, I think it was to Gusecki in the red zone and Tavai got like a finger on it and
53:54led to it being an incompletion.
53:56So a couple of huge plays out of Tavai as well in this game.
54:01Shout out to Duggar too, who made the play on Gusecki in the end zone.
54:06Didn't give up on that play.
54:07And he also was the reason why they got that fumble at like the half yard line.
54:12Cause I don't know what the hell Tanner Hudson was doing with the football, but put a jack
54:16in his.
54:17It's a lot, Tanner.
54:18Tanner.
54:19How about that?
54:20Tanner Hudson.
54:21All right.
54:22He's Greg.
54:23You know him.
54:24I am Nick.
54:25You might know me by now.
54:26We'll be back later in the week.
54:27We'll preview the Seattle game.
54:28Should be a lot of fun.
54:29A lot of different things.
54:31You know, what we saw on Sunday, Seattle's got a lot of different elements than the Bengals
54:35do.
54:36Should be fun jumping into that one.
54:38Until then, be well, everybody.