On this episode of Pats Interference, the Boston Herald's Doug Kyed returns to the show to draft solutions the Patriots can implement right away after their disastrous loss to the Jets. Doug and Andrew then answer mailbag questions, before Andrew shares more Pats-Jets film notes and his latest travel tales. All that, and much more!
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Okay, it has been six long days since we last hung out here on Pat's Interference and I
00:00:17said, we need to, we need to bring the people up.
00:00:19I'm sure most people are over the Jets loss, but we're bringing in the people's favorite
00:00:23guest, Doug Kite of the Boston Herald, my teammate.
00:00:25And I pitched this to you yesterday, meaning Monday, as like, maybe we'll do a problems
00:00:31draft.
00:00:32And I said, you know what?
00:00:33Like, that's a little too negative for a town in a week that has just been steeped and soaked
00:00:38and this sucks and everything that goes with that.
00:00:41So we're going to turn that around.
00:00:42We are going to have a Patriots fixes draft today, things they can do right away, immediately
00:00:46before they go to San Francisco this weekend.
00:00:48We'll get to mailbag questions.
00:00:49We'll give the people some answers, some therapy, and we'll get out of here.
00:00:52How's that sound?
00:00:53Sounds good to me.
00:00:55Okay.
00:00:56And if you don't get enough, Doug, why don't you tease Pat's chat?
00:00:58Because that's back, baby.
00:00:59Yeah.
00:01:00Subscribe to the Pat's chat podcast.
00:01:01Me and Michael Hurley of WZLX do a podcast twice a week, just chatting about the Pats.
00:01:08Kind of self-explanatory there.
00:01:10But you can find it on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:16Nothing crazy there.
00:01:17And immediately post game.
00:01:19So if you need your therapy quicker than six days after the worst loss of the season like
00:01:23we have here today, you can get it on Twitter and YouTube and all those different places.
00:01:28Their numbers have been great.
00:01:29They're great.
00:01:30Hurley's never been on this podcast, but you can get him on the radio Monday through Friday.
00:01:35You can't have Hurley.
00:01:36Sorry.
00:01:37Yeah.
00:01:38That's okay.
00:01:39Patriots are one and two.
00:01:40They're going to play San Francisco this week.
00:01:41I'm going to dive more into the 49ers later this week in a traditional preview episode
00:01:47for people who are just masochists.
00:01:50I also have Pats Jett's film notes at the end of this in a separate segment, along with
00:01:54a couple of travel stories.
00:01:55But in the meantime, you and I have been hired as consultants.
00:01:59They say, okay, we need to bring you in, fix what's going on in offense, fix what's going
00:02:05on in defense.
00:02:06What's some of the low-hanging fruit?
00:02:07The first thing you would say, do more or less of this.
00:02:10And the Patriots are just a better football team starting on Sunday.
00:02:14For me, it would just be fix the left tackle position.
00:02:17I know that's easier said than done.
00:02:19But Siddie Sowe, back in practice this week, if he's playing left guard, I think that that
00:02:24could potentially help the left tackle position as well.
00:02:27But I also think it also could just be providing more help on the left side.
00:02:32But whether it's Caden Wallace or Vidarian Lowe this week or DeMontre Jacobs, that position
00:02:39just needs to be so much better and much more fortified.
00:02:42And the one thing that really surprised me this week was Jacoby Brissett is holding the
00:02:47ball a little bit too long.
00:02:49I fixed that a little bit in week three.
00:02:51But after week two is hovering around like 3.25 seconds per drop back, I think it's still
00:02:57over three seconds.
00:02:58So I was thinking like, this is a Jacoby Brissett problem, or like at least partially a Jacoby
00:03:02Brissett problem that the Patriots are allowing so much pressure.
00:03:06And then when I was looking at PFF, that's not the case.
00:03:09Jacoby Brissett is only responsible for about 8% of pressure that the Patriots are allowing
00:03:13right now, which is actually pretty low as far as NFL standards go.
00:03:18Most of that pressure or the position with the most responsibility for pressure right
00:03:21now is at left tackle.
00:03:23And that's not a major surprise since they've gone from Chakuma Korafor to Vidarian Lowe
00:03:27to Caden Wallace to DeMontre Jacobs.
00:03:30But that's the one position that you have to look at on this team and say, like, that
00:03:34has to be significantly much better one way or another moving forward.
00:03:40If we're looking a little bit further down the line, I would personally be a proponent
00:03:44of bringing in someone like Donovan Smith or Charles Leno.
00:03:47There's some other names out there that are less likely, you know, the David Bakhtiaris
00:03:52or the Dwayne Browns or even DJ Humphries.
00:03:55But like...
00:03:56Well, hold on.
00:03:57You just made pod history because you answered a mailbag question in the first segment, without
00:04:03even getting to that.
00:04:04And it's the same question we've gotten for weeks is like, would you sign anyone off the
00:04:07street?
00:04:09And your answer is an emphatic yes.
00:04:11I would.
00:04:12I don't think the Patriots are, because I've been asking people on the team this question
00:04:16for weeks now.
00:04:17And like the answer is like, yeah, still probably not.
00:04:20Still doesn't really seem like something that we want to do.
00:04:24And I mean, Donovan Smith, I think he's like 30, 31, something like that, played left tackle
00:04:30last year in the Super Bowl that the Chiefs won.
00:04:35He was a Super Bowl starting champion left tackle mere months ago.
00:04:42And now he's a guy without a job.
00:04:44And I can understand wanting to develop young players and trying to build from within and,
00:04:50you know, all these things that the Patriots have wanted to do.
00:04:54But at a certain point, like play at one position is just so bad that you need to bring in a
00:05:00professional.
00:05:01And if the Patriots aren't there yet, they're really close.
00:05:05Maybe that comes after this 49ers game.
00:05:07But this is a conversation.
00:05:08This is a bigger conversation.
00:05:10But it goes to the Drake May conversation as well, where like you just need that offensive
00:05:15line to be trusted.
00:05:17And I don't like maybe Vidarian Lowe can be trusted, but he also can't seem to stay healthy
00:05:21right now, which is a problem.
00:05:23So you covered a lot there.
00:05:25The first thing you apologize.
00:05:26No, no, no.
00:05:27You're good.
00:05:28That allows us to sink into this.
00:05:30It's number one is health.
00:05:31Right.
00:05:32And you mentioned that's an update.
00:05:33Patriots held yesterday.
00:05:34Sidney So and Vidarian Lowe were out there.
00:05:36So has not practiced since before the preseason finale.
00:05:40So you're talking more than a month ago when he hurt his ankle against Washington, August
00:05:4325th.
00:05:44And he's back out there.
00:05:45They'll have three more practices this week.
00:05:47You're going to need to see what that looks like.
00:05:48Good news is, again, he was on the field and he also is not wearing the ankle brace around
00:05:53the locker room that we saw immediately after the injury.
00:05:56Lowe, however, was limited.
00:05:58So that's the health portion of this.
00:06:00It's very possible Caden Wallace will start on Sunday as he did Thursday as a left tackle
00:06:07based on Lowe's availability, because Gerard Mayo also said Monday, I wish I could give
00:06:11you a timeline and I can't.
00:06:13So to me, that seems to cast a lot of doubt about Vidarian Lowe left tackle.
00:06:19My first choice for this draft was just pass protection in general, because you're right.
00:06:24Left tackle is a big, huge issue.
00:06:26I would sign a veteran, not even just to compete now, but to better protect the franchise.
00:06:31And I'm just going to go over these numbers again.
00:06:33The Patriots are giving up pressure on 48 and a half percent of their passing plays.
00:06:40I want you to guess, Doug Codd, what the number one defense in the league when it came to
00:06:46generating pressure, what their pressure rate was.
00:06:49There was the Detroit Lions.
00:06:50I'll tell you right now, it's according to pro football reference, the best pressure
00:06:53team in the league.
00:06:54And you'll see different numbers, different places.
00:06:57But guess what their pressure rate was.
00:07:00Is it like 40%?
00:07:02No, not even close.
00:07:0428.2.
00:07:05Oh my God.
00:07:06The best pressure defense in the league had a pressure rate last year, less than half
00:07:11of what the Patriots are allowing to their opponents.
00:07:14Yeah.
00:07:15Who all, by the way, don't have great pass rushes.
00:07:18The Niners do.
00:07:20The Bengals had Trey Hendrickson.
00:07:21That was it.
00:07:22The Seahawks had Leonard Williams and Boye Mafia.
00:07:25Okay.
00:07:26Solid.
00:07:27Good.
00:07:28Not great.
00:07:29Quinton Williams, really good for the Jets.
00:07:30Nobody else there should scare you.
00:07:31And yet they are more than doubling the best pressure rate any defense in the league had
00:07:34last year.
00:07:35So this is not just, as you said, the left tackle situation.
00:07:37It's a left guard situation.
00:07:39Michael Jordan, I gave him two sacks against the Jets.
00:07:42Not good.
00:07:43Lane Robson also gave up a sack.
00:07:45A lot of team stuff.
00:07:46And when I look at the team credited quarterback hits, which they're allowing 10 of those per
00:07:51game, by the way, there are a lot of issues with stunts and passing off games.
00:07:56And there's some scheme stuff in the bootlegs that you know, as I do, Jacoby Percet just
00:08:00turns around and gets popped.
00:08:02How do you address that, whether it's at left tackle or just overall as a line?
00:08:07Because there's some fundamental stuff in there, aside from the personnel that I think
00:08:10they need to address too, right?
00:08:12Yeah.
00:08:13And I think that some of it goes to an experience where, like, Leighton Robinson is a good blocker,
00:08:19but he's a young player who doesn't necessarily understand what opposing defenses are throwing
00:08:24at them.
00:08:25Like, there's a reason why it seems like whenever there's like a free rusher or a free man,
00:08:30it's usually going through one of Leighton Robinson's gaps.
00:08:33And he seems to not know when to pick that stuff up or how to adjust in those situations.
00:08:38So some of it just comes down to, like, these guys have to learn faster, especially a rookie
00:08:43like Leighton Robinson.
00:08:45And yeah, you mentioned Michael Jordan gave up two sacks.
00:08:48He was also someone who was very limited in practice this week on Monday.
00:08:52So like City, so the pitchers might not have a choice other than to start City.
00:08:58So because it seems like Michael Jordan at this point is also banged up to the point
00:09:02where he might not be able to play.
00:09:04So I even think, though, that like City, so yeah, it was a different offense last year,
00:09:10but he's someone who's more accustomed to playing with someone like David Andrews.
00:09:15So maybe that helps, maybe purely just that communication helps, but no, these guys just
00:09:19have to learn faster.
00:09:20They have to pick up what the defense is throwing at them.
00:09:22And I think that goes down to coaching as well to really drive those points home this
00:09:26week.
00:09:27Okay, so I need to step back.
00:09:29We're talking about a bad offensive line, penalties, pressures.
00:09:33Last week, talking about this group made me lose my mind in television in a way that I'm
00:09:37still paying for a week later.
00:09:39Now it is making me lose my mind because I can't do simple math.
00:09:4248.2 multiplied by two is well over 48.5, which is the Patriots pressure rate.
00:09:48So let me estimate and say roughly the Patriots are making their opponents look almost twice
00:09:54as good when it comes to generating pressure than the best pressure defense in the league.
00:09:58Last year, it is not more than twice as much as what the Lions had at 28.2%.
00:10:03So flagging the play, taking my penalty, there it is.
00:10:06You mentioned coaching.
00:10:09Play calling to me is another aspect where they could alleviate a lot of pressure in this
00:10:12offensive line.
00:10:13We know Alex Van Pelt's offense in a vacuum is a downfield play action, attack, attack,
00:10:20attack.
00:10:21Just they led the league again in intended air yards.
00:10:23How many yards the football covered when it flew out of the hands of the Browns five quarterbacks
00:10:27last year?
00:10:28More yards than any other team in the league.
00:10:30He orchestrated and ran that offense.
00:10:32The Patriots, I think, wanted to do that despite their offensive line issues in weeks one and
00:10:38two.
00:10:39We talked about Percet and how much of pressure is on him versus the offensive line.
00:10:43He was bottom five in the league in that metric you cited.
00:10:46Average snap to throw rate.
00:10:48How long do you hold the ball in the pocket?
00:10:50In week three, you could see Van Pelt use, I think, some more quick game concepts.
00:10:55And it wasn't just that Percet's average snap to throw time, which is a function of what
00:10:59he decides to do with the ball when the receivers are springing open and the play calling that
00:11:04I'm diving into now.
00:11:06He was top 10 in that this past week.
00:11:08So he's getting the ball out quicker.
00:11:09And who gets to benefit from that?
00:11:11Mr. Quick Game himself, Demario Pop Douglas.
00:11:14Team I-9 targets.
00:11:15Most of them are over the middle, safe, easy throws.
00:11:18More of those concepts, I think, will put less pressure on the tackles who just can't
00:11:22take it right now.
00:11:23They can't do it.
00:11:24I can't take it.
00:11:25I can't take it watching them.
00:11:26They can't do it when they're on the field blocking.
00:11:29What else besides get those quick, easy access throws to players like Pop Douglas can they
00:11:33do from a play calling standpoint?
00:11:35Because I think this is the easiest, most accessible fix that they have, right?
00:11:42Coaching, development, that takes time.
00:11:44This is something Alex Van Pelt can change as soon as something.
00:11:47Yeah.
00:11:48I mean, another one that I would say, and it is kind of related to what you were just
00:11:53talking about, is just getting the ball in your best players' hands.
00:11:57And I think, based on what we saw this summer, Jalen Polk is one of the Patriots' best offensive
00:12:03players.
00:12:04And through three weeks, he has been targeted six times.
00:12:09He is averaging two targets per game through the first three weeks of the season.
00:12:13And I don't want to necessarily compare Jalen Polk, obviously, to Roma Dunzey or Malik Neighbors
00:12:19or Marvin Harrison Jr.
00:12:21Because those were all top 10 picks at wide receiver.
00:12:25But they're rookie wide receivers who are, in recent weeks, thriving in their respective
00:12:30offenses.
00:12:32Roma Dunzey was hit downfield by Caleb Williams a few times.
00:12:35Malik Neighbors is like a superstar right now for the Giants, despite some bad quarterback
00:12:40play.
00:12:41Marvin Harrison Jr. had a major breakout in week two.
00:12:44And maybe Jalen Polk can't be that, but I do think that he can be better than what he's
00:12:49been so far.
00:12:50And we even saw it in the preseason.
00:12:53He can make some plays with the ball in his hands, even if it's on a bubble screen or
00:12:59some sort of screen or short pass.
00:13:02He's not necessarily just a contested catch guy.
00:13:04But I also think that if you're going to be competing against some of these top tier defenses
00:13:10and like the 49ers this week is a good example.
00:13:14At some point, you do have to start making a few more chances downfield.
00:13:18You have to take more chances with your offense.
00:13:21It's great that Jacoby Brissett isn't turning the ball over and the Patriots overall are
00:13:25not really turning the ball over.
00:13:27But after a while, you start to see that that's not necessarily a winning formula if you're
00:13:32offense isn't talented enough and your defense isn't making enough stops.
00:13:36So Jalen Polk is a really good contested catch guy.
00:13:39Throw it up to him.
00:13:40See what happens.
00:13:41If you get an interception, it sucks, but you're probably going to lose anyway.
00:13:45And like those big plays are what you need out of your offense to actually win some of
00:13:49these games.
00:13:50And to that point, the formula of screw it up less works most in September.
00:13:57Teams get their stuff together the further this season goes along.
00:13:59If all you're doing is just standing by the wayside and letting them implode, it's not
00:14:03going to work in November and December, even sometimes against bad teams.
00:14:06You need to get better.
00:14:07The Patriots are aware of this.
00:14:08Gerard Mayo, I said, I think said it four or five different ways on Monday when we last
00:14:13spoke with him.
00:14:14In addition to those Polk targets, which I think is a good point, you can take those
00:14:18from Taequann Thornton, give them to Jalen Polk, and no one is going to complain.
00:14:22And it's not because Thornton isn't always getting open, but the Patriots also have not
00:14:25hit in a deep pass all year.
00:14:27Jacobi Brissett is 0-5, and he wasn't particularly good downfield anyway.
00:14:32But I feel more comfortable at the catch point in tight coverage, Jalen Polk, who beat Soss
00:14:38Gardner on a slant for one of their few catches against man coverage against the Jets, making
00:14:42that catch more than I do Taequann Thornton.
00:14:45One last note here, talk about play calling, talk about quick passing game, offense attack
00:14:50rules, and we'll move on to the next fix here in a second.
00:14:53The screen game, I think, has to be better, and it's not just, you know, they've called
00:14:58some of them, this is an execution point, you know, who's getting the ball.
00:15:02I think you could involve Demario Douglas in the backfield a little bit more, like we
00:15:05saw in that little pitch that went for nine yards against the Jets.
00:15:08You could fake some of those pitches or screen back the other way.
00:15:11Even the tight end screens, I mean Hunter Henry went for 35 yards against the Seahawks.
00:15:15That stuff has to work.
00:15:17That stuff where there's not a lot of work or effort on the offensive tackles, it's just
00:15:20going to take some creativity.
00:15:22The Chiefs are the best screen team in the league, not because they've had the best offensive
00:15:26line every year, but Andrew Reid is excellent at drawing these up and keeping you off balance,
00:15:30so that's something to tuck in the back of your mind.
00:15:32All right, number, okay, we shared the first pick, I'm going to take the second one.
00:15:37Okay, number two in the draft, I'm going to take a boring one, and hopefully we can hit
00:15:42on this and move it away.
00:15:44Quarterback containment.
00:15:47We heard time and again from Bill Belichick and all the coaches that he hired and molded
00:15:50and left behind, you can't rush past the quarterback.
00:15:53It's the worst place to be.
00:15:54The Patriots are doing this a lot, or they're not even setting an exit that gets up to his
00:15:59level.
00:16:00And to that point, the last two weeks, Aaron Rodgers and Geno Smith are a perfect 11 of
00:16:0511 when throwing outside the pocket.
00:16:10That's a pass rating of 117.4.
00:16:13They also had three first downs on four total scrambles.
00:16:17They're aware of this.
00:16:18Guys in the locker room told me yesterday, this is the number one thing that DeMarcus
00:16:21Cummington and Mayo have been stressing in defensive meetings.
00:16:24There are other issues, and we'll get to those, but to me, this is one where it shows up most
00:16:28in high leverage situations, and you just can't go past the quarterback, keep him in
00:16:33the pocket.
00:16:34Yeah, it's pretty shocking to see from a Patriots defense how often they're getting past the
00:16:39quarterback.
00:16:40And if we do want to move past this one quickly, for my pick, I would take that the Patriots
00:16:46pass rush overall has to improve as well.
00:16:50And this one of those issues where it's almost kind of similar to their issues in the passing
00:16:55game where it's like recovery reset needs to not only throw downfield more, but also
00:17:01get rid of the ball quicker.
00:17:02It's like, all right, well, maybe you're maybe you're passing offense is just broken at that
00:17:05point if both those are issues.
00:17:07And I almost feel the same way about pass rush where it's like you have to get after
00:17:12the pass or better, but you also have to keep containment on the quarterback, which
00:17:17doesn't run quite as counter as the passing issues.
00:17:20But it is kind of a similar situation where it's like you just need to like, yeah, you
00:17:26have to rush less in some situations you have to get, you know, you can't get that far upfield
00:17:33on these quarterbacks, but you do still need to provide pressure on these guys in general
00:17:37because right now, Keon White is really the only Patriots pass rusher who's getting consistent
00:17:45pressure.
00:17:46Josh Uche is doing a decent job as well, but he's not finishing as well as Keon White is.
00:17:51But you know, Anthony Jennings, when he's one of your starting defenders, like he's
00:17:55a great run defender, but he's just not going to be that consistent or that effective as
00:17:59a pass rusher.
00:18:01Dietrich Wise has not been getting a lot of pressure, which is a little bit concerning
00:18:05for a player who's kind of getting up there in age like Dietrich Wise is.
00:18:09You start to wonder like, all right, is this just Dietrich Wise now at this point?
00:18:13Is he not as effective?
00:18:14Well, he's not even playing that much, so he should be fresher for these pass rushing
00:18:20snaps than guys like Anthony Jennings, who are also run first players, but playing more
00:18:25than him.
00:18:26And you just don't see that.
00:18:27No, yeah.
00:18:28I believe Dietrich Wise only has six total pressures on the season, which, yeah, some
00:18:34of that is due to the fact that he's only played 61 snaps, but he needs to get that
00:18:39pressure right up.
00:18:40And he had a really good preseason as well, I thought, and he was decent in training camp.
00:18:44So hopefully this all clicks for him, but I think it also really hurts that they're
00:18:49not getting the interior pressure that they would have been getting if Christian Barmore
00:18:54was on the field.
00:18:56But at that point, I would probably start experimenting a little bit more with some
00:19:01of these other interior defenders on the team.
00:19:04If Daniel Equality is not getting the job done, or if he's playing too much on early
00:19:07downs, maybe you do start to give Tristan Hill some more opportunities, or Eric Johnson
00:19:14a few more opportunities.
00:19:16They're not suddenly going to find an elite interior pass rusher, but they can mix some
00:19:21bodies around and hopefully start to get a little bit more interior pressure.
00:19:25But just overall, they have to get more pressure on the quarterback.
00:19:28So the solution I would offer to the containment part is, hey, just fundamentally don't go
00:19:34past the quarterback.
00:19:35Right.
00:19:36That's a little boring.
00:19:37So there are a couple other solutions you could have here, and you don't need this every
00:19:39single week, and probably not even for Geno Smith and Aaron Rodgers.
00:19:44But I do wonder if they might incorporate a little bit more of a spy in there.
00:19:51Let's try to just go buy something to fix something for free at home that I don't want
00:19:55to put in the effort and the work, the fundamentals and techniques here in this instance.
00:19:59Because you don't need to spend that money.
00:20:00Just take the time and effort and fix it at home.
00:20:02But going to a schematic change, whether it's that, or maybe sending more defensive backs
00:20:07off the edge, which we've seen a lot from Marcus Jones in that week two game against
00:20:10Seattle.
00:20:11Kyle Duggar came off the edge for a sack, also against the Seahawks.
00:20:14I think they've got more margin for error because they've got the speed to then catch
00:20:17those quarterbacks from behind.
00:20:19So those are very niche solutions.
00:20:21I would prefer, again, just kind of stay on the outside.
00:20:24To your point about pressure, this brings me to another issue here in solution, which
00:20:29the solution is to disguise better.
00:20:31Their blitz package has failed them the last two weeks.
00:20:34And I have stats here, but when you think about that and rewatching the games and obviously
00:20:39studying them the first time, what are you seeing when they blitz?
00:20:43Because the numbers I have are not good.
00:20:47I don't fully understand why they're not more effective blitzing.
00:20:52I think that some of it is just that they aren't covering quite as well.
00:20:58They're letting the middle part of the field a little bit more open than usual.
00:21:04But no, I'm curious to know what you think on it.
00:21:07Okay.
00:21:08So the blitz is secondary to just edge rushers need to keep contained outside the pocket,
00:21:15setting the edge, and that can be done.
00:21:17It's just more coaching fundamentals and techniques.
00:21:19The blitz rate is average.
00:21:21This is not a case of the Patriots getting blitz happy and blitz crazy in these young
00:21:25defensive coaches saying we're going to solve everything with aggression, which happens
00:21:29in other places.
00:21:30The issue is timing and predictability.
00:21:34The Patriots do turn to aggression in high leverage situation.
00:21:37This is spin the dial defense.
00:21:39Sometimes it's a blitz.
00:21:40Sometimes it's a pressure, whatever it is, but when they get to those spots, even if
00:21:43you're only blitzing, which they are 20 to 25% of the time and you're getting killed
00:21:48in high leverage spots, third down red zone on the fringe of field goal range and in two
00:21:54minute drills that matters more than if you were blitzing 40% of the time and it was all
00:21:58first and second down.
00:22:00And here are the numbers.
00:22:01Aaron Rodgers was seven of nine for 84 yards and two touchdowns versus the blitz last week.
00:22:06The jets had a 77% success rate when they brought extra rushers.
00:22:12That's insane.
00:22:13You have offenses that have half of that.
00:22:15And by my math, half is actually a reasonable number because we're talking in the high thirties.
00:22:20The week before Gino Smith, 10 of 12 or 171, a touchdown, a sack and a scramble.
00:22:26The Seahawks averaged 13.2 yards per play against the blitz and their success rate was
00:22:32a not so nice 69%.
00:22:34But the issue is Smith and Rodgers to older quarterbacks, smart quarterbacks, mobile enough
00:22:39quarterbacks could identify at pre-snap, make the proper check or call and their offensive
00:22:45coordinators were well prepared to.
00:22:47Ryan Grubb had excellent calls there and the DK Metcalf touchdown and the last two first
00:22:51down Seattle got an overtime to move the ball downfield and beat it.
00:22:55I think older coaching staffs have a leg up right now on the Patriots defensive staff,
00:22:59which is doing a fine job, but I would change the timing of the blitz.
00:23:03Don't wait always if you want to bring pressure to third and third downs, red zone on the
00:23:09fringe of field goal range.
00:23:10It's week four.
00:23:12Teams know already you're going to do this and that's partly the reason why you've lost.
00:23:15So my solution is just to not spin the dial on what play you're going to pick, spin the
00:23:22dial on your watch, like change the timing of what's going on here so that teams are
00:23:27caught off balance of when you're bringing that pressure.
00:23:29I also think it's going to hurt moving forward, just not having Juwan Bentley out there because
00:23:33he is an effective blitzing linebacker and he was taking off another good player.
00:23:37And I think that the other thing too is just kind of going back to my point is like the
00:23:41Patriots pass rushers just simply aren't really talented enough right now.
00:23:46And I know that that's not something that you can really fix, but like that's one of
00:23:49the reasons why they're not getting home is that these guys, other than Keon White and
00:23:52maybe Josh Uche, just aren't really good enough.
00:23:55And I didn't want to throw out a stat because I was looking it up while we were talking
00:23:58here.
00:23:59There's 11 interior pass rushers who have at least 90 pass rush snaps.
00:24:06And Daniel Quali is last with two overall pressures.
00:24:10He has two pressures on 101 pass rushing snaps.
00:24:15He's got the lowest pass rush productivity among those interior rushers in the NFL.
00:24:21And it's just, I think he's being a little bit overworked, like I said, on early downs.
00:24:27But it's not working.
00:24:28And that's one area that they pretty much massively need to fix is starting to get some
00:24:33of that pressure up the middle, because then you don't have to worry about containment
00:24:36as much as long as they're rushing smart.
00:24:39So yeah, it can be a talent issue, but there's also other ways to work around that as well.
00:24:45So I'm glad you brought that up because I think Echo Ali being overworked is a guy who
00:24:48never played more than, I think it was 45% of a defensive snaps in any given season is
00:24:54now being asked to play all three downs, gotcha as well.
00:24:57And that shows up when he's rushing a third down, you're like, what does he, again, of
00:25:00course he's tired.
00:25:01He's also on the field.
00:25:03He's a nose tag.
00:25:04Um, they need to find a way to rotate those guys on early downs.
00:25:08If Echo Ali is still going to be a big part of your third down package, because they signed
00:25:13guys to do this.
00:25:14Eric Johnson is a player on this team who stunk against the jets.
00:25:17Who was the waiver claim run, stopping defensive tackle, hasn't stopped anything.
00:25:21Okay.
00:25:22And so they need to be better there to give Echo Ali snaps.
00:25:25I do think too schematically you talk about fixes if Keone white now, I think is rightfully
00:25:29drawing some gravity, some extra attention, right?
00:25:32They did this with Jude on all the time, use those double teams or that side or that chip
00:25:37against the offense, right?
00:25:39Like put Keone white and Matt Jude on his place on one side of the line of scrimmage,
00:25:43knowing he'll draw two blockers and then overload the other side or run stunts and twists and
00:25:48games where, you know, he's going to get extra attention because he's Matt Jude on, or he's
00:25:51now Keone white and send guys looping around that otherwise can't generate rush on their
00:25:56own.
00:25:57Those are things I think that they can go to.
00:25:59Whereas teams probably weren't game planning for Keone white weeks, one, two, or three.
00:26:02Oh, we have to stop him at five quarterback hits last year.
00:26:06Okay.
00:26:07Now he has more than that.
00:26:08He has four sacks.
00:26:10So I think they can start to do that this week with San Francisco, as far as quick fixes
00:26:13you can implement right away.
00:26:16What else is on your list of anything?
00:26:17And then we got some mail back.
00:26:20I, I think that they need to figure out what they're doing in the secondary overall, just
00:26:27especially at cornerback.
00:26:28Like Marcus Jones, I think hasn't had necessarily like the, the worst start to this season.
00:26:33I think he's been overall pretty solid, but moving forward.
00:26:37And in the past, there's just going to be issues with Marcus Jones height where he's
00:26:42five foot eight.
00:26:43The jet slot receiver last week was Alan Lazard.
00:26:46He's six foot five, 230 pounds.
00:26:48It's just like those things don't match up.
00:26:51And that's how you see Elma's art have have a pretty big game.
00:26:53Like he had, I'm not sure if Marco Wilson's the answer.
00:26:58Cause he's already been benches that fourth cornerback Alex Austin didn't have the greatest
00:27:01game against the jets.
00:27:03So this might not be a great immediate fix, but one thing that the Patriots could start
00:27:08to do a little bit more is maybe don't always match up Christian Gonzalez with the opposing
00:27:14team's best wide receiver.
00:27:16Maybe start to do what Bill Belichick really liked to do and putting Christian Gonzalez
00:27:20on the team's number two, and then giving your other cornerbacks more help against the
00:27:27number one, whether that would be, you know, Jonathan Jones, Matt, like this is, this is
00:27:31something where in week one, let's say if T Higgins was on the field, I think it probably
00:27:35would have made more sense to put Christian Gonzalez on T Higgins, who's the Bengals number
00:27:39two receiver, and then have another cornerback, whether it's Jonathan Jones or Marcus Jones
00:27:44on Jamar chase with more help because one, the heights just match up a little bit better
00:27:50T Higgins, six, four, Christian Gonzalez, six, one, Jamar chase about six feet.
00:27:54I think you just, you can't allow that to happen where like height is going to be height
00:27:59and size is going to be such a massive advantage.
00:28:02I do wonder what happens.
00:28:04And this is an immediate, but I do wonder what happens when Marte Mapu comes back.
00:28:09Marte Mapu, not necessarily someone that you want to match up against like a wide receiver
00:28:12runs like a four, four or something like that, but Marte Mapu played a ton of slot at Sacramento
00:28:17state.
00:28:18He was really good in that role at Sacramento state.
00:28:21And if it is a smaller tight end or like a bigger wide receiver, I do think that he could
00:28:26probably run with those guys better.
00:28:29Maybe size-wise, certainly at least better than Marcus Jones.
00:28:33And if it is a bigger slot receiver runs like a four or five, four, six, I'd see what that
00:28:38looks like with Marte Mapu covering him one-on-one because Marte Mapu is a guy who doesn't really
00:28:42necessarily otherwise have a role on this team.
00:28:45You already have two better, strong safeties in Kyle Duggar and Jabril Peppers.
00:28:49You don't want Marte Mapu playing back deep.
00:28:51You'd rather have Jalen Hawkins in that role.
00:28:53So I do wonder if they mix them into that slot a little bit more in certain matchups.
00:28:58Marte Mapu for me is like a November Victor thought, honestly, I mean, given the time
00:29:03that he's missed, right?
00:29:04Like we're talking about the first, second week of camp and we haven't seen him since,
00:29:09but he's a young developmental player that you plug in.
00:29:14And I think it's worth thinking about though, Jalen Hawkins, now their third safety has
00:29:17one of the better coverage grades for whatever that's worth at PFF, but in my opinion has
00:29:21done a good job in coverage.
00:29:23I think the other point that this is indirectly speaking to is, okay, if you don't feel comfortable
00:29:28with Marcus Jones, Mr. Five foot eight in the slot, well then pivot and play more three
00:29:33safety because we know their base personnel grouping is either three corner safety, three
00:29:37corner nickel, excuse me, or three safety nickel.
00:29:40And they're able to toggle between the two because Marcus Jones as Miles Bryant did everyone's
00:29:44favorite fellow five foot 10 and under nickel corner played both nickel and safety.
00:29:50So the look and say, okay, you want to change personnel?
00:29:52We'll just move our little guy around and he'll play safety or nickel and we'll match
00:29:55up that way.
00:29:56I do think they have an issue though, where even if you want to put him at safety or have
00:30:01a different corner, you don't have a third outside corner.
00:30:04Like you said, Marco Wilson has been bent.
00:30:06Alex Austin got punked by Al Mazar and it's early and they'll develop and they'll have
00:30:09time.
00:30:10But there is something here that's an issue and I think they tried to protect themselves
00:30:13against this by playing a lot of zone against Cincinnati and they got closer to man to man
00:30:17rates around 40% against the Seahawks and jets.
00:30:20All of which is to say, I don't think they know how they want to play except what we've
00:30:27seen consistently, which you hit on with Christian Gonzalez falling number one receivers and
00:30:31then a lot of cover to with and around that scheme and the jets tore that up.
00:30:37Rodgers was 13 to 16 against main coverage.
00:30:40The Patriots are playing a ton of cover too and they're giving up a lot of stuff over
00:30:42the middle.
00:30:43So how do you change that?
00:30:44Your solution of Christian Gonzalez take the number two guy and we'll double the number
00:30:48one I think is an excellent point.
00:30:51Something I brought up before the Jets game last week saying they should do this with
00:30:53Garrett Wilson because Lazard is that big and he's a problem for Jonathan Jones and
00:30:56Marcus Jones and he was a problem for Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones, but not for you because
00:31:00he was the top of what your draft Kings captain fantasy help me here.
00:31:06Is it showdown captain something like that?
00:31:08Yeah, no, I threw that out there and that was a that was a good choice to have him in
00:31:13your lineup in that I love the single game fantasy.
00:31:16It's fun.
00:31:17Yes.
00:31:18Yeah, not not knocking.
00:31:19Anyway, trying to tie in a puppy up here, especially you're on like the draft Kings
00:31:22pregame show that I was Emerson and in New York anyway, that is a shift.
00:31:27I think they could make because the things they've committed themselves to generally
00:31:31good ideas generally worked against the Bengals and the Seahawks.
00:31:35I think the Jets made some key adjustments.
00:31:37They also bulked up and beat them up in base personnel, which again goes to the defensive
00:31:42tackles get tired because they're playing a lot more than any other defensive tackles
00:31:45do across the league.
00:31:46Devon gotcha.
00:31:47In January, Kuala or most defense tackles and over time, it's just not sustainable.
00:31:52So it's time to adjust and they've got they've got to adjust.
00:31:54I had one last one and this is I don't have a ton of solutions here, but you need more
00:32:00explosive plays on offense.
00:32:01Yeah.
00:32:02Yeah, absolutely.
00:32:03100%.
00:32:04So I mentioned Jacoby percent is not completed a deep pass all season.
00:32:08He's 0 of 5 on passes and travel 20 yards or more in the air.
00:32:11He'll hit one.
00:32:12Eventually.
00:32:13I don't know if he's going to hit one first on play action or not because their play action
00:32:16numbers are bad.
00:32:18Your friend and my Bill Barnwell brought this up a couple of weeks ago, rump more play action.
00:32:21That's cool.
00:32:22It's a good idea.
00:32:23In theory, they just don't trust themselves to protect.
00:32:26So what I looked at was more of the intermediate throws where percent completion percentage
00:32:31is actually above 50.
00:32:32So I don't know how to access more of those.
00:32:36You get a lot more backside digs, maybe some comebacks stuff over the middle, and it's
00:32:42just harder to nail down because there's it's a multi-layered issue with the passing game,
00:32:47right?
00:32:48Protection receiver separating percent getting the ball out.
00:32:51But that window, that area of the field is something they can exploit against defenses
00:32:55playing too high coverage, middle of the field open and something that percent is good at.
00:33:02So what's the solution like is it a combination of screens or just getting the ball to your
00:33:08best players like you're talking about with Pop Douglas and Jalen Polk?
00:33:11Because I think maybe that's the focus in like forget the scheme part players over plays
00:33:15might be the starting point and then you get these explosive games because every offense
00:33:18in the league.
00:33:19I don't care how you play needs explosive plays to win.
00:33:21It's the second strongest correlated stat to winning after turnovers.
00:33:25Yeah.
00:33:26I mean, I do think it's getting the ball in your your better players hands a lot like
00:33:30Do you think they're using enough?
00:33:32Let's say like pre-snap motion in the offense right now as well.
00:33:35Are they doing enough to confuse and and disguise defenses?
00:33:40So no is the answer right then stepping back number one Cleveland the last few years is
00:33:48pretty low relative to the rest of the league and pre-snap motion, especially motion at
00:33:52the Patriots.
00:33:53It's not really something you can count on them to do in general, right?
00:33:56They were also either dead last or 31st in motion at the snap after their season opener.
00:34:02So this is not a big pillar of the offense.
00:34:05I would also say what we do a fair amount here in media and people on the outside would
00:34:09not within the building is mistake activity for productivity, right?
00:34:13The offense is emotion a ton and do all these different things and we look at and identify
00:34:17and say more is better not always the case because you could have a lot of pre-snap penalties
00:34:21and issues and timings and formation the idea.
00:34:24But as I've said before the less talent you have the more coaching matters more motion
00:34:30like that is supposed to generate advantages for the talent to be able to seize on and
00:34:35in a way that they couldn't on their own playing one-on-one.
00:34:38So I do think that's a good point of you know, maybe more of that cheap motion which defenses
00:34:43are used to but get popped out what's in motion and then at the snap he's turning up field
00:34:47and more of a wheel route.
00:34:48So that's I think that's a good point.
00:34:50It's just not as easily accessible as I think people would say Oh shift more motion
00:34:54more.
00:34:55I'm calling for that too.
00:34:56I just think it's a little more difficult an application of that makes sense.
00:35:00Yeah.
00:35:01No and I just think also just in general like it was worth trying for them in the game against
00:35:06the Jets to go so pass heavy off the top because I think they were just assuming the Jets believe
00:35:12that they would go run heavy but like I do wonder how the results of that game would
00:35:16have been different if they did try to run a lot more to begin the game because I mean
00:35:22I don't know if they win that game the Jets were so much better than the Patriots.
00:35:26I think the Patriots still lose but I think it's at least closer and it doesn't look quite
00:35:30as embarrassing the way that did for the Patriots if they did come out a little bit more run
00:35:35heavy and you don't want to be predictable obviously, but I also think that that's clearly
00:35:39the strength of the Patriots game right now.
00:35:41Like you don't have those same concerns about run blocking as you do with pass blocking.
00:35:45So like even if you might be a little bit predictable to start even if it doesn't work
00:35:49right away.
00:35:50It's at least try it's at least worth trying to see if you can be effective running the
00:35:53ball early in the game.
00:35:55And usually I'm definitely a proponent of the passing game but like passing him is just
00:35:58so broken right now.
00:35:59I think that you just you need to have the running game early on just to see if it'll
00:36:04be effective for you.
00:36:05Yeah, and you're playing 49ers who Kyle Shanahan's on the record or at least his older players
00:36:12his former players have said this he's committing to running the ball 30 times a game not because
00:36:16it's always efficient and on its own leads to scoring but what it does is it sets up
00:36:23the play action.
00:36:25This is difficult for me to sail out because there's not a whole lot of analytics community
00:36:29that would back this up.
00:36:30But his point is, you know, you do the same thing and it looks a certain way often enough
00:36:35that you're banking on this having an amplified effect when you do run play action or attack
00:36:39downfield either by box count or linebackers biting that there is some sort of adjustment
00:36:44on the defense's part that at least I need to respect this in a way that even though
00:36:49I know you're going to use play action at a high rate, you know, one of these times
00:36:53I'm going to get burned.
00:36:54He's counting on that to lead to explosive plays correlations not always their analytics
00:36:58folks would say you don't need to establish the run to throw well off play action and
00:37:01you don't.
00:37:02But in this case, if you're the Patriots in your play action game is not working as it
00:37:06is right now.
00:37:07Yeah, probably do the thing that you're better at even on its own and maybe could be in connection
00:37:12to your play action passing.
00:37:14I think that there's also an assumption in the analytics community like it in that that
00:37:19like your team can throw the ball, which right now the Patriots just cannot do like, like,
00:37:25yeah, a hundred percent like you don't necessarily need to establish the run to set the set of
00:37:29play action in normal situations.
00:37:32But when the Patriots have fewer than 400 passing yards in three weeks, like it, the
00:37:37rules don't necessarily apply in every situation.
00:37:40And I would argue that this is one of those situations where the normal rules don't apply.
00:37:45So I, I said this this morning on radio, but this, it still was just jarring to see last
00:37:51night when I pulled up the set, you know, Brock Purdy has more passing yards this year
00:37:55than the Patriots have total yards.
00:37:58I'm not shocked.
00:37:59I mean, it has, I wouldn't be shocked if you told me that like Brock Purdy had more passing
00:38:03yards in one game than the Patriots fat all season.
00:38:05Like, yeah.
00:38:06That's, that's not, but like total yards, all of the good reminders, even plus Jacoby
00:38:11percent passing yards.
00:38:12That number is not up to what Brock Purdy has gotten just throwing the ball.
00:38:17No, it's it's that that's absolutely wild, but it's also not entirely shocking when the
00:38:21Patriots have thrown for so few yards and obviously passing yards is like such a major
00:38:27part of most teams.
00:38:28It's the majority of the like, yes, that is that.
00:38:33And once again, in a normal circumstance, that would be extremely shocking with the
00:38:37way that the Patriots offense is currently performing.
00:38:41It's maybe not as, not as surprising or shocking.
00:38:43Yeah.
00:38:44One more for you.
00:38:45Cause I, I love this and it didn't trick them up in this two stats and a lie segment we've
00:38:49been doing.
00:38:50No, Gerard Mayo has not beaten the 49ers either as a player or as a coach since 2008.
00:38:57I mean, that one's maybe not as like, just because the Patriots play the 49ers so infrequently.
00:39:04Um, but that is interesting.
00:39:05Yeah.
00:39:06So he was in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 Mayo wasn't on the team in 16, right?
00:39:17Correct.
00:39:18Okay.
00:39:19But it's still a, it's not an insignificant sample size, I guess I would say.
00:39:23Yeah.
00:39:24Well, that, that one got me burned cause uh, Fred and Fred and Hardy gets that one in there.
00:39:28That was their first correct guess of the year.
00:39:29But anyway, I still beat Wallach on that.
00:39:31So it was, uh, it was, it wasn't a total loss plus they got me imaging, which I have
00:39:34very boldly called for like a week ago, my second spot with them anyway, but they delivered.
00:39:39Um, okay.
00:39:40We are going to get to mailbag.
00:39:42You've already answered one of the bailback questions, further take care of something
00:39:46else here.
00:39:47Okay.
00:39:48Mailbag.
00:39:49Uh, we have, let's see.
00:39:50Let's see.
00:39:51Let's see.
00:39:52This was right here.
00:39:53Then it disappeared.
00:39:54Now it's back.
00:39:55Dave is asking, quote, is it possible to really evaluate all of the new coaches because of
00:40:00the state of the roster?
00:40:02Like how would anyone know if the new offensive line coach is doing a good job based on what
00:40:06he's been given?
00:40:08Um, I think that's fair to some extent.
00:40:13I also think that there's like, I think that there were some things done in the spring
00:40:21or even in the summer that like maybe they should have made decisions on a little bit
00:40:25earlier.
00:40:27When tackle was clearly an issue and it took them so long to, but to go from right guard
00:40:33to right tackle for Michael when you think that that's a, a coaching decision that probably
00:40:38should have been made a little bit sooner when you're cutting Calvin Anderson, once
00:40:42you go into a core four is benched after 12 snaps and then leaves the team.
00:40:46Um, when Caden Wallace clearly wasn't up to starting right away, I just think that that's
00:40:51probably a move that should have been made earlier, especially when you've got some decent
00:40:55depth at guard.
00:40:56Um, as far as like full on field product, I think it's fair, but I also think that,
00:41:04you know, yeah, there's bad players around the NFL and they're not all performing as
00:41:08bad as the Patriots are right now.
00:41:09So at a certain point you do have to put some of it on coaching.
00:41:12Yeah.
00:41:13I think this is, I don't know, probably the area where in the media we blow more hot air
00:41:23on any other topic than so-and-so got out coached.
00:41:26They don't know what they're doing.
00:41:28We generally don't know what they're doing.
00:41:29If you really wanted to get into, you know, the different snatch technique, uh, for playing
00:41:34offensive line or Molly blocks or how cover to trap work.
00:41:38Like these are little things that I picked up along the way, going to clinic, studying
00:41:41different books.
00:41:42That's cool.
00:41:43But generally when you have so-and-so got out coach, okay, tell me how, right.
00:41:47And I try to do that.
00:41:48I know you do too.
00:41:50because we have numbers and stats and plays and things that work like this.
00:41:54But generally when most people say that, it's a great question day.
00:41:58What I would say is though, Hey, it's really early in the season.
00:42:00So just like all the players, like get a bigger sample, judge them off of that.
00:42:04There's a lot of noise here and not a lot of signal, um, to really look into, but also
00:42:09try to isolate as best you can the coaching from all the other factors going around.
00:42:14Meaning what does it look like when they have a choice and that choice is going to directly
00:42:19impact the result.
00:42:20For example, like you said, Michael, one who playing a right tackle means that you have
00:42:23to play Calvin Anderson or playing him a right guard means Calvin Anderson or someone else's
00:42:28a right tackle.
00:42:29It just doesn't seem like a great decision.
00:42:30And then you give up pressure and you go, well, that guy at right tackle is there because
00:42:33the coach said so.
00:42:35Bad decision.
00:42:36In my opinion.
00:42:37The other part I would say is development.
00:42:39How good are the young players coming along?
00:42:40That's why Scott Peters is here.
00:42:41Late Robinson is a starter.
00:42:43I think he earned that spot, but if Kate Wallace doesn't develop and granted he's been jerked
00:42:47around something, again, you can isolate who's making the decisions.
00:42:50It's that coach.
00:42:51How are these decisions working?
00:42:53Not great.
00:42:54Independent of other things going around them.
00:42:56That's another way to look at it.
00:42:57I think it's easier with guys who call plays.
00:42:59I think it's easier with guys who have established veterans who have a baseline performance and
00:43:04if they outperform that baseline, then the coaching is doing a good job.
00:43:07If they underperform, that's when you know things are a little bit screwed up.
00:43:10Right.
00:43:11Uh, moving on Lawrence quote, should the Patriots start using a fullback?
00:43:15You'd be better than relying on the atmosphere to slow down free rushers, right?
00:43:18I'll hang up and listen.
00:43:20Well, didn't Alex Van Pelt said?
00:43:23Maybe I'm making this up.
00:43:24I thought someone at some point said that the Patriots would like to find a fullback.
00:43:27Maybe it was.
00:43:28Maybe it was Ethan Embry.
00:43:29I'm not Ethan Embry.
00:43:30Maybe it was, uh, yeah, Taylor Embry, the running back Taylor Embry.
00:43:33Yeah.
00:43:34Maybe it was Taylor Embry.
00:43:35You said it.
00:43:36I forgot.
00:43:37I thought there was some quote about the Patriots wanting to find a fullback at some point.
00:43:40They've showed no interest whatsoever.
00:43:41I don't think anyone's even really come in for a workout at this point.
00:43:44Um, but I don't know.
00:43:46I mean, I'm not the biggest fullback guy and the running game's been fine without a fullback.
00:43:51So I know there's big, uh, fullback proponents in new England.
00:43:54I just don't know if it's the make or break for the Patriots.
00:43:58I hope these people go to the grocery store with like the Mike Allstock rolled up in the
00:44:03neck roll.
00:44:04You know, like if you're a fullback person, I want you to show it in the wild and stick
00:44:07your chest out and lower your shoulders, clearing the way everywhere that you go.
00:44:12Uh, but no, seriously, it's funny, Lawrence, you asked this question because they've actually
00:44:17started to use a fullback by putting a Hunter Henry in the backfield, a tight end, obviously
00:44:23not fit to play fullback full time, but they've incorporated some more two back running concepts
00:44:28in place and then use play action off of it.
00:44:30I started charting against Seattle and they only did that three times and then one or
00:44:33two more times against the Jets.
00:44:35It wasn't significant enough to make my film review, but they are kind of toying with this.
00:44:39I just don't think they have the personnel and if you said, and you would know better
00:44:42than I on the workouts, they're not bringing anybody in and they really aren't planning
00:44:46on doing this.
00:44:47Yeah.
00:44:48They've also used a Nick Leverett at fullback at times.
00:44:53So I mean, I think that there are like guys who can be used in that like Jaheim Bell played
00:44:59some fullback at Florida state.
00:45:01I think they haven't done that yet.
00:45:03I think that he's a little bit more of an undersized player, but like fullback doesn't
00:45:07necessarily need to be a guy's only job on the team.
00:45:10I think that you could use a tight end or an offensive lineman or some sort of defender
00:45:13or something.
00:45:14If you really need a fullback on a play, yeah, we saw what July to buy do it.
00:45:19Was that this offseason or last offseason?
00:45:21Yeah, he got smoked.
00:45:22Can't wait.
00:45:23He got smoked and I divide now at this point is their top linebackers.
00:45:26That's not going to happen, but like there could be some linebacker on the roster who
00:45:30they decide to give those snaps to.
00:45:32Yeah, two more Cleaver Sports Cleaver with a K.
00:45:36Is the high blitz rate against Jacoby Percet more indicative of an offensive line that
00:45:39can't protect against it or quarterback that can't handle pre and post now?
00:45:48I think it's probably mostly offensive line related teams.
00:45:53See these issues Patriots have had with free blitzers and they're like, hey, maybe we should
00:45:58try that too because we get a free shot in Jacoby Percet in like a second and a half
00:46:02or maybe even less than that.
00:46:04So I think that that's the biggest thing right now, but no, I do think that there are certainly
00:46:10quarterbacks out there who are better against the blitz.
00:46:13But like that, yeah, and Jacoby Percet is a bottom quarter starting NFL quarterback.
00:46:20Like everyone knew that coming in.
00:46:21So like the criticism that you see out there about Jacoby Percet, like, yeah, maybe he's
00:46:27not the greatest quarterback under pressure.
00:46:28Yeah, maybe he's not the greatest quarterback against the blitz.
00:46:31We knew that.
00:46:32That's why I signed for $8 million.
00:46:33That's why they drafted a quarterback.
00:46:34So those are issues that the Patriots are just really going to have to get through until
00:46:38Drake Mays.
00:46:39They're starting quarterback.
00:46:40Yeah, I would say this.
00:46:42The blitz rate was only high last week, right?
00:46:48Seahawks and Bengals combined for six total blitzes in weeks one and two.
00:46:53And I think that caught the Patriots off guard because the Jets generally don't blitz.
00:46:56It wasn't as high when I charted as you saw from places like next gen stats and certainly
00:47:00not PFF who can't figure out what a blitz is.
00:47:03But it was abnormally high and there were issues because in this offense, the protections
00:47:09are set by the center.
00:47:11I'm not going to put a lot of blame on Jacoby Percet.
00:47:14There were communication issues, something David Andrews, that center addressed and admitted
00:47:18post game.
00:47:19So I do put it more on the offensive line.
00:47:20Now sacks generally are quarterback staff generally also.
00:47:24You can pass the ball, which we just established is not normally happening here in New England.
00:47:28So there is a lot going on.
00:47:30Jacoby could be better defending Jacoby Percet and wadding a sack avoidance really riled
00:47:35up a very strange corner of Patriots Twitter last week, including shout out the guy who
00:47:38called me a man giant.
00:47:40But I can't get around to putting more blame on Jacoby Percet for the one game they saw
00:47:45high blitz rate and he took more sacks, but he had a lot of unblocked pressure, which
00:47:50I asked Rob Mayo about.
00:47:51He's like, oh, it's really only the inside that matter.
00:47:53I'm like, yeah, I don't know.
00:47:55Putting safeties off the edge are pretty problematic as well.
00:47:59Last one, Roman Anthony quote, enjoyer, who I think used to be probably still is a Jared
00:48:06Duran enjoyer, unless we have multiple enjoyers of Red Sox players who just don't really care
00:48:11about the possible reading into what that means when you say you're enjoying someone.
00:48:16Their question is, will Kendrick Bourne be back by week five?
00:48:22That seems pretty early, but maybe I mean, like we haven't I, I don't know.
00:48:32That seems like it'd be pretty quick.
00:48:33I think that you probably want to get him on the practice field before you actually
00:48:36put him a game for longer than a week.
00:48:39But I don't know.
00:48:41I think they could certainly use him.
00:48:43I'm very curious to see, because Drodd Mayo is saying he's close in Drodd Mayo.
00:48:49I haven't mastered Drodd Mayo speak, so I'm not sure what close means for a player.
00:48:53That could mean that he's going to be back on the field on week eight, could mean week
00:48:57five, could mean week 12, who the hell knows at this point.
00:49:01But I am curious to see what the offense looks like when Kendrick Bourne is back on the field,
00:49:04because I think he's the best or second best wide receiver on this team when fully healthy.
00:49:11We don't know if he's fully healthy, but he was on pace for like a 800,000 yard season,
00:49:16whatever it was last year, before he got hurt.
00:49:19The number one thing I wonder about is where they put receivers in certain positions, like
00:49:26who's the X, who's the Z, who's the slot, when Kendrick Bourne comes out.
00:49:30No one covers this part of the offense like you.
00:49:35I don't know who's the X in that situation between Jalen Polk, Kendrick Bourne, and Demario
00:49:39Douglas.
00:49:41I think that you have to force either Bourne or Polk into that role, just because I'd rather
00:49:45those guys be on the field than KJ Osborne or Taequann Thornton.
00:49:50But I'm curious to see what it all would look like when he comes back.
00:49:53Yeah.
00:49:54And for the folks who are uninitiated, if you're the X, you're generally on the weak
00:49:57side of the formation, you're generally alone, and it's your job to win one-on-one.
00:50:01So the best receivers typically, not always, are X receivers.
00:50:04So if you're thinking who separates best of that group, who could play the X, like Pop
00:50:09Douglas separates best, but he's a little small.
00:50:12Kendrick Bourne, better run after the catch, and he's separating coming off the ACL.
00:50:15To answer the original question, and thank you for submitting that, first of all.
00:50:18We can poke fun and joke about stuff.
00:50:20Roman, Anthony, and Jaren Duran, whatever.
00:50:23Thank you for submitting the question.
00:50:24Thank you to everyone who always puts in for these mailback questions.
00:50:27I wouldn't bet on a week five return, because not only that, Kendrick, who came on this
00:50:32podcast and said he would be ready for training camp, didn't then practice once in training
00:50:38camp, and hasn't been able to by league rules these last three, four weeks, has to jump
00:50:43back in.
00:50:44He might be fully physically healthy, but we know football shape's a different deal.
00:50:48He needs to get back into football shape.
00:50:50The question for me is then, if they do play him, where does he go?
00:50:55Which is a good point by you.
00:50:58Do they give him more snaps than they might otherwise?
00:51:02Because you want to sell him off of the trade deadline.
00:51:05That's a player we know the Niners were interested in bringing back.
00:51:07There were other teams I know around the league that at least made a couple of calls
00:51:10around for agency about what that might look like.
00:51:13Obviously, he came back to New England.
00:51:16He signed a team-friendly deal, but that's a piece that's not a long-term core piece
00:51:20for them.
00:51:21If he's productive, then his DACA time, they might sell off, but that's only if he plays
00:51:24and how much he plays.
00:51:25A good question.
00:51:26Thank you again to everyone who submitted.
00:51:28You got to go.
00:51:29I am going to wrap up quickly with some leftover Pat Shed's notes.
00:51:32If anyone jumps ship, I understand, but you're going to miss out on some travel stories.
00:51:35Doug will be back later.
00:51:37Listen to the Pat Shed's podcast.
00:51:39Read us both at thebostonherald.com.
00:51:40Anything else we missed?
00:51:41I don't think so.
00:51:42I think that's about it.
00:51:43Cool.
00:51:44All right.
00:51:45Appreciate you, buddy.
00:51:46Absolutely.
00:51:47Talk to you later.
00:51:48Okay.
00:51:49This is for the sickos.
00:51:50I said just there with Doug, we've got Pat Shed's film notes.
00:51:53It's been almost a week.
00:51:55You don't have to hang out for this, but I'm very glad you are.
00:51:58Always appreciate everyone listening.
00:51:59I know I made this call in the last few weeks, episodes, rate, and review.
00:52:05It helps us.
00:52:06You can see the numbers and how they go up when your contributions and feedback go up.
00:52:11Everyone who has rated and left reviews, positive or negative, of course, we want the five stars.
00:52:14We'll take whatever you got.
00:52:15Thank you very much.
00:52:16If you haven't, you can do us a major help by leaving a review and a rating on Apple,
00:52:22Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:52:24It helps us go.
00:52:25Now, we have Pat Shed's film notes, some travel tales, because those have, I don't want to
00:52:30say taken off, but I think of all the feedback we've gotten, that has been at the top of
00:52:34the list of more of that, more of that.
00:52:37I have more of a solo trip this time, typically on road trips.
00:52:39You can go out with Doug or guys from Massive, sometimes The Globe.
00:52:43You don't know who you're going to run into when you get out for these road games.
00:52:47A little bit of that.
00:52:48Next week, or not next week, next episode, we will come back with a new four-minute drill.
00:52:54Kyle Duggar is going to be on the show.
00:52:55We will have a new guest and preview past 49ers, and we'll get to a couple of leftover
00:52:59mailback questions.
00:53:00I asked pretty late, I would say, this morning on Tuesday for those questions.
00:53:04We got the first five or six that came in.
00:53:05Everyone else, we'll answer you in the next episode.
00:53:09Without further ado, Pat's lose, 20-43, to the Jets.
00:53:13You know how it happened.
00:53:14The players told you right afterward, Jabril Peppers, we got our ass kicked.
00:53:19Jacoby Brissett, got our ass beat.
00:53:21Yeah, he did.
00:53:23Out-muscled, out-coached.
00:53:24I've talked a lot about Jacoby Brissett, and his sack avoidance and things that are unseen
00:53:30or don't happen can matter as much as things that actually do happen.
00:53:34Well, there were a lot more things that happened when it came to Jacoby Brissett and getting
00:53:38sacked.
00:53:39Five times, okay?
00:53:40He got pressured 13 times.
00:53:42The number that I would take is not just the five or the 13, which again, I said in the
00:53:46open, 48.5% of the time, the Patriots are allowing pressure.
00:53:50This was over 50 for the first time in this game, but the key number is six pressures.
00:53:57Almost half of the pressure Jacoby Brissett saw was unblocked, six unblocked pressures.
00:54:01This is an issue.
00:54:03I talked earlier with Doug about this offense puts the protections on the center.
00:54:07David Andrews can make the call if you don't execute it.
00:54:09You're not aware if you're playing tackle, the guy flying by you from safety or nickel
00:54:13or wherever he's coming from.
00:54:14That's an issue.
00:54:15They need to get that fixed more than most.
00:54:17We're going to go offense, defense here, by the way, for the folks who are new.
00:54:21No game balls because they lost.
00:54:23We need to talk instead.
00:54:25And then what would NFL film say in travel stories?
00:54:27So moving on with the offense, you don't want to hear any more about Jacoby Brissett and
00:54:30sack avoidance.
00:54:31I don't want to talk about Jacoby Brissett and sack avoidance anymore.
00:54:34Bring up Drake May, four of eight, 22 yards, couple of sacks, 12 rushing yards.
00:54:40And one apology for me, which is to say there's nothing really here to take away about his
00:54:47long-term prospects as NFL quarterback.
00:54:50And I think most of you know that, but for the folks who are disappointed at me saying
00:54:55that, let's review.
00:54:56He played fewer than five minutes of game time.
00:54:58He directed one drive.
00:55:00The Patriots used one personnel grouping that entire drive, and he played against a smattering
00:55:04of Jets backups.
00:55:06And to me, he looked like a rookie.
00:55:07He played like a rookie.
00:55:08I was not surprised that they put him out here.
00:55:10I would not have done the same given you had a fourth string, a fourth string left tackle
00:55:15and a third string left guard when he started that drive.
00:55:19Amid all of the four of eight for 22 and whatever it was, 22 yards, two sacks, he did thread
00:55:26a nice 15-yard completion, DeMario Douglas, some fourth down over the middle.
00:55:30Underneath that and before that, he went 0-for-2 against the Blitz with a couple of scrambles.
00:55:35He got, again, sacked twice, took another massive hit, and had an incompletion affected
00:55:39by more pressure.
00:55:40So his athleticism is an obvious plus, but it is not synonymous with sack avoidance or
00:55:48pocket presence.
00:55:49Okay?
00:55:50The two are not one and the same.
00:55:51Some of the worst quarterbacks when it comes to pocket presence and reacting and navigating,
00:55:58you know, reacting to and navigating pressure are the most athletic quarterbacks.
00:56:02These are different skill sets.
00:56:03So for May, obviously, he's got room to grow there, even though he can outrun Jacoby Brissette
00:56:08by a country mile.
00:56:10It's that he's 22, pocket presence, sack avoidance comes with reps.
00:56:13And in the meantime, the Patriots really have to decide whether it's worth it because it's
00:56:17tough and it's smart and as gifted as he is, he's a mystery until we get to see more
00:56:21of him.
00:56:22And I'm on the record, I don't want to see him for weeks because I think the Patriots
00:56:25can do better, must do better, should do better than giving up 10 quarterback hits per game.
00:56:31He had one drive.
00:56:32He got sacked twice.
00:56:33He got hit two more times.
00:56:36Not good enough.
00:56:37Speaking of not good enough, Patriot success rate, we talk about this has got to be a run
00:56:40first on schedule offense.
00:56:43Again, success rate is how often are you staying on the chains or ahead of them?
00:56:4729%.
00:56:48The Jets, 55%.
00:56:50Those numbers, frighteningly similar to the defensive pressure rate.
00:56:55The Patriots defense got pressured 20% of the time.
00:56:58The Jets defense, over 54.
00:57:01So not great.
00:57:02Speaking of not great, Alex Van Pelt told reporters Friday he regretted his game plan.
00:57:09You know, we talked about going past heavy script early, seven of their first nine plays,
00:57:14almost twice as many past as his runs in the first half overall, and this is against the
00:57:18Jets defense.
00:57:19We talked about it.
00:57:204.7 yards allowed per carry, bottom 10 by DBOA, bottom 10 by PFF.
00:57:26Van Pelt also called passes on seven of his first 11, first down plays, which as we know,
00:57:33Patriots are not great at pass protection.
00:57:34And even though Jacoby Perceck completed his first one and went to Hunter Henry in the
00:57:37flat for zero yards, and he got hit because all the bootleg play action game is going
00:57:42nowhere.
00:57:43So either they were gaining zero yards, sometimes one, or going backwards, which then of course
00:57:48sets you behind the chains, hence the 29% success rate.
00:57:52On play action, I didn't have the numbers when Doug and I were chatting, but when Perceck
00:57:57started, there's something missing here because he was two of three for one yard and two sacks.
00:58:04He got hit three times on the first five times that Alex Van Pelt called play action.
00:58:09You remember from Seattle, their issue with play action was not like, oh, we don't know
00:58:13how to block it, though.
00:58:14That wasn't great.
00:58:15It was every time they called it, the Seahawks were ready for it, either with a big blitz,
00:58:19which they ran at midfield, or after sudden change in first and 10, Alex Van Pelt wants
00:58:23to go long because offensive coordinators love to go long after sudden change.
00:58:27And they had two safeties deep and they were ready for it.
00:58:29I still have not found anything in a granular level that would say, oh, the Patriots are
00:58:34tipping this, like a pitcher might, his curve ball when he holds his glove closer to his
00:58:38face and whatever, and the hitter gets a hold of it because he's found some sort of tell.
00:58:43But this is an issue because the explosive plays in this offense are designed to come
00:58:47from the big play action throws.
00:58:49And I'll say it again, Perceck started two of three for a one yard and two sacks on play
00:58:54action.
00:58:55Once the Jets took a multi-position lead, their pass rush teed off wasn't good.
00:58:59Perceck got sacked in one third of his drop backs versus the blitz.
00:59:04We'll just skip through some more of this and get to the defense.
00:59:07Drake May didn't complete a pass against the blitz to that point.
00:59:09The Jets blitzed a lot more than the Bengals and Seahawks did.
00:59:12In fact, they blitzed more than the Bengals and Seahawks did combined, multiplied by two.
00:59:17That number was six for the Bengals and Seahawks.
00:59:20Jets blitzed 13 times.
00:59:21Again, it was a lot of safety blitz, nickel blitz off of the edge, and either Caden Wallace,
00:59:27Michael Nguyen, or the pass protection rules that the Patriots had just gave that up.
00:59:32It's not good enough.
00:59:33When the Jets did run four, though, I said this earlier, it was a lot of two man stunts
00:59:37off that left side, where Caden Wallace and Michael Jordan haven't had a lot of chemistry
00:59:41time to develop that.
00:59:42Same with Leighton Robinson.
00:59:43We gave up a sack, unblocked pressure at that.
00:59:46The Patriots want to run the ball.
00:59:49We know where it's going.
00:59:50It's going right.
00:59:51Not because there's anything really more than a 50-50 split in terms of where they're going
00:59:56left, right, or up the middle, which would then be, of course, 33-33-33.
00:59:59Against that, in key situations, you go behind your best lineman.
01:00:03Michael Nguyen is still that, 5.2 yards per carry, Patriots average off the right side.
01:00:08But carrying the ball and getting yards is just half the battle.
01:00:13The first half is hold onto the freaking ball.
01:00:16Reminder, Stevenson, we'll come up later, forced just two missed tackles, and he fumbled
01:00:20for a third time this season, a third time in three games, in Drive-Mayo, Announcement,
01:00:25Pelletrain.
01:00:26Oh, he got a mark on you now.
01:00:27No.
01:00:28He had a mark on him after week one.
01:00:31Defenses don't care that are preparing for you.
01:00:34If your last fumble was recovered by you or the other team, they care about, we can get
01:00:39it on the ground, and then we can get ours.
01:00:41The Jets did.
01:00:42Tomorrow, Douglassville, bright spot, send it on, I know.
01:00:46Seven catches, 69 yards, team highs.
01:00:49He drew another flag, by the way, the defensive penalty.
01:00:52Those are yards that count.
01:00:54They got to keep feeding him, and especially against man coverage.
01:00:57He beat man coverage on his longest catch, went for 22 yards, was in the third quarter,
01:01:01just a deep cross.
01:01:02That was one of four catches Patriots had against man to man.
01:01:06Hunter Henry, Jalen Polk, Keishon Booty had the others.
01:01:08Booty was on the last drive.
01:01:09Polk beat Tosh Gardner on a slant, and Hunter Henry had a deep in over the middle on one
01:01:14of their first three downs.
01:01:16Those are the guys, excluding Booty, all due respect, that you have to revolve around in
01:01:21the passing game.
01:01:23Your best tight end, your best receiver, and then your second round rookie who's going
01:01:28to take more receiving snaps if you give them to him.
01:01:31On to the defense.
01:01:32So I said this earlier, what we know about the Patriots' defense through three weeks
01:01:37is they want to play in the back end two different ways.
01:01:41And yeah, their game plan defense will change week to week.
01:01:44Those two ways are assign Christian Gonzalez to your opposing number one receiver, and
01:01:48Garrett Wilson had five catches, yet a touchdown, only 30-something yards.
01:01:52So I'd say largely a draw, because Christian Gonzalez was a bang-bang play, it was a pick
01:01:56play.
01:01:57Good job on the touchdown.
01:01:58First touchdown that Gonzalez has ever given up, by the way, in the NFL.
01:02:01And when they're doing that, Patriots play a lot of cover, too.
01:02:04They entered week three playing more cover, too, than any other defense in the league.
01:02:09The issue, of course, was the pressure.
01:02:10I talked about this with Doug, so I'm just going to repeat the stats.
01:02:14Aaron Rodgers, seven of nine for 84 yards and two touchdowns versus the Blitz.
01:02:18That was after Gino Smith was even better than that.
01:02:22The Patriots played man coverage, though, and this wasn't always with the Blitz.
01:02:25Sometimes rush four, you have cover one robber or rat or whatever it might be, and you play
01:02:31mostly man within that scheme.
01:02:33He was 13-16 for 118 yards and two touchdowns versus man to man.
01:02:38Did not care.
01:02:39He threw out Christian Gonzalez, rarely, but he did, and really picked on the Patriots
01:02:45with Alan Lazard and Titan Tyler Conklin, who had five catches, and then some checkdowns
01:02:50to Breece Hall.
01:02:51So they didn't disguise well enough.
01:02:53When they wanted to play man to man, they couldn't do it.
01:02:58And that's what this defense is really about.
01:03:01So they need to disguise better to generate better pressure.
01:03:04And when you're playing man to man against a defense that really only has one receiver
01:03:07that scares you, that's, again, why I would have doubled him and put Christian Gonzalez
01:03:11on Lazard for the size issue in the fact that I don't think Rogers would have liked
01:03:15either of his matchups in that case.
01:03:17But when Gonzalez was on Wilson, he certainly did, because he went to Alan Lazard with the
01:03:22first touchdown and had a very, very good game.
01:03:26Keon White, not a great game, still had three pressures, quarterback hits in a hurry.
01:03:30Anthony Jennings had a hurry and a drawn holding penalty, also had a couple of run stuffs.
01:03:36But you don't really care about that.
01:03:38You care about the mistakes, because that's also why they lost this game.
01:03:42Jelani Tavai had three, Raekwon McMillan had two.
01:03:45Patriots dearly missed Juwan Bentley in this sense, not just because he's a run stopping
01:03:49linebacker against an offensive rush for 133 yards against you, but he's also one of your
01:03:54sure tacklers.
01:03:56So next gen stats estimated the Jets got an extra 100 yards off of missed tackles.
01:04:02This is stuff the Patriots are normally excellent at year after year after year, even 2020 when
01:04:06their defense was no good.
01:04:07One of the surest tackling teams in the league.
01:04:10I think they'll bounce back.
01:04:12This is an outlier, but you got to work at it.
01:04:15The other part we already talked about again, contain, Jelani Tavai got greedy on the first
01:04:19one.
01:04:20Anthony Jennings, Josh Uche, Keon White all took turns cutting right loose.
01:04:24And we'll end on a high note again, Jonathan Jones, forced fumble, broke up a would be
01:04:30touchdown.
01:04:31Yeah, he gave up eight inches to Alan Lazard and a bunch of pounds.
01:04:35This dude scraps and fights in a way that deserves a little bit more attention.
01:04:40Patriots have a very good number two corner who can also play in slot a little bit of
01:04:44safety, and maybe he should play a little bit more in those spots as we get deeper into
01:04:48the season.
01:04:49But for now, great job by Jonathan Jones.
01:04:51Okay.
01:04:52No game balls to be said, we just got to, we just have to sit down and talk.
01:04:56We need to talk.
01:04:57And I'm looking at you from Andre Stevenson.
01:05:01He did not want to talk specifically to me after the game, not in a way that was aggressive.
01:05:05You guys heard him on the podcast and he was last month.
01:05:08Yeah, we did it in training camp.
01:05:09You know, I have a good rapport, but he comes to the podium after the game, ask you about
01:05:14those fumbles.
01:05:15What do you have to do better?
01:05:17What's the kind of technique?
01:05:18What's the talking point about this?
01:05:20I got to hold it.
01:05:21Okay.
01:05:22But specifically, do you need to be higher and tighter?
01:05:25Is it a matter of switching arms?
01:05:26Is it just awareness?
01:05:27Do you have two arms on it?
01:05:28Like you fumble three times, what's going on?
01:05:30I got to hold it better.
01:05:31Okay.
01:05:32We'll do it.
01:05:33Because if you are going to be the driver and the engine of this offense, you cannot
01:05:36be giving possession away.
01:05:37And the Patriots got lucky that the first two times he fumbled, they recovered.
01:05:42Didn't happen against the Jets.
01:05:44No surprise.
01:05:45That was their worst loss of the season.
01:05:46There was a lot of other stuff that goes on.
01:05:48But if your best player is playing some of his worst football and tiny little spurts
01:05:53that could swing game and you dodge those bullets, that's cool.
01:05:56You go one-on-one.
01:05:57Even upset Bengals on the road.
01:05:59But when he's doing that and everyone else is also letting the team down, you get your
01:06:03ass kicked.
01:06:04And that's what happened here.
01:06:06One fumble, two missed tackles forced, and that was it for Stevenson.
01:06:10You got to be better.
01:06:11He knows it.
01:06:12Doesn't want to talk about it a whole lot, says he didn't even learn anything from this
01:06:15loss.
01:06:16It was, quote, just another loss.
01:06:17That's fine.
01:06:18Guys don't have to talk to the media any more than they don't want to.
01:06:21They do have to address us.
01:06:22It's in the league rules.
01:06:23I didn't write them.
01:06:25But once you're up there, you can say whatever you want.
01:06:27That's what he said.
01:06:28We need to talk.
01:06:29We just did.
01:06:30What would NFL film say?
01:06:31Okay, this is probably the quickest installment of the year, knock on wood.
01:06:36If this fictitious documentary about the Patriots' 2024 season goes through, and it would be
01:06:41heavy on the Bengals upset.
01:06:43It would be heavy on the Seahawks and the 10-year reunion and the nostalgia and the
01:06:462014 Super Bowl team coming back.
01:06:48And there's Malcolm Butler as the absorber, ringer, bringer, whatever, the light.
01:06:53They go 30 seconds or less on this week three game.
01:06:57It's Rodgers' touchdown pass.
01:06:58It's a missed tackle there.
01:06:59It's a Stephenson's fumble.
01:07:01It's Drodd-Mayo on the sideline.
01:07:03Cut to him making a comment after the press conference, and boom, we're on to week four.
01:07:07Whatever is in San Francisco is going to be more interesting than this clip.
01:07:12They're not going to belabor it.
01:07:13This is a Patriots documentary, a series, whatever, and you don't spend a lot of time
01:07:18on losses to the Jets, who, by the way, won back-to-back games against the Patriots for
01:07:23the first time since 2009.
01:07:27Miley Cyrus was in our hearts, first of all, also in the top five of the Billboard Top
01:07:33100, and that was a time, a moment in time, 2009.
01:07:38So that's it for the Jets.
01:07:40Let's talk about travel tales and we'll get out of here.
01:07:42So I talked about this in Cincinnati.
01:07:45People liked hearing about where we went, what we did, how late we stayed up, and it
01:07:49was really just four dudes hanging out, hitting waffles, and having to leave, and some other
01:07:53stuff that was going on.
01:07:55This was me driving down on Wednesday from where I live outside the city to Central Connecticut,
01:08:02where my in-laws live, drove down with my wife.
01:08:05Then Thursday, drove down, stayed at Marriott 20 minutes north of MetLife Stadium because
01:08:08the plan was I'm going to go to the game, and then Friday, we will go into the city,
01:08:14see her cousin she's very close with, her new boyfriend that this cousin just found
01:08:17a new place with and moved in with.
01:08:19And we'll have ourselves a weekend, we'll get out of there.
01:08:21So get to the hotel.
01:08:23The Marriott is unlike any Marriott I've stayed in before in that you've got like the standard
01:08:29tower, then an adjacent building that they like absorbed, I guess, because that's where
01:08:35we stayed, no more than three stories.
01:08:37And unlike the tower, it just looks like a regular old hotel.
01:08:40This is a different type of hotel in that we walk all the way through to the back building.
01:08:45And it's one of those where once you step outside your door, you can see every other
01:08:49door basically in the hotel, because it's just everything's facing inside the center
01:08:54of the building.
01:08:55And it's just row after row, or excuse me, floor after floor after floor, and everyone's
01:08:58on the same balcony.
01:08:59So we get in there, I take a nap, pack up, dress, change, go to the game.
01:09:03Game sucks.
01:09:04Game stinks.
01:09:05We all watched it.
01:09:06We were all talking about Shohei Watani, who had 10 RBIs and six hits and three home runs
01:09:11and two stolen bases pretty much right up till kickoff.
01:09:13I wish we had continued.
01:09:14Patriots loses, you know, John Mayo, I would say, because we have to mention it, spilled
01:09:19more OJ in saying, I don't know, to a question about Jacoby Brissette being the starting
01:09:23quarterback.
01:09:24He's since cleaned that up, saying, we need to support Jacoby Brissette.
01:09:28A lot better.
01:09:29Better answer.
01:09:30The one you should have had all along, but moving on.
01:09:33So we talked to Brissette.
01:09:35I asked him about those comments about Mayo.
01:09:37How do you feel?
01:09:38No one's trying to trick you or trap you here.
01:09:40What's going on?
01:09:41Didn't love that as well.
01:09:43People aren't in a good mood after losing to the Jets 24-3.
01:09:45I get it.
01:09:46Write up the comments, finish on my column, back to the hotel.
01:09:49I go to the ground floor of this hotel, where again, if you're at the center, you can look
01:09:53up and look around and see every single door that's all inside.
01:09:57And I just start writing and charting and watching film.
01:10:01And I got through the first half.
01:10:03And then it's 5 a.m. and I see pilots who are not leaving to go fly somewhere.
01:10:11But coming back from Newark or LaGuardia or JFK or wherever, and just kind of give
01:10:16me a head nod from three stories up, because there's a certain bond between men who are
01:10:20working at 4.45, 5 a.m. in the morning and say, okay, this is enough.
01:10:22I got through half the game.
01:10:23It's a big head start.
01:10:24That's what I want to have.
01:10:25Crash till 9.30 or so, work more in the hotel.
01:10:29We leave at like 1.32, a lot of traffic getting into the city.
01:10:34And look, I've driven around or through New York over a hundred times.
01:10:40Doesn't make me an expert, except about those places that I've driven and how to get around
01:10:44traffic if you need to, whatever time, wherever you're going.
01:10:47I haven't really done New York, though, in 10 years.
01:10:49I'm not a New York City person.
01:10:51I love Boston.
01:10:52Boston fits me.
01:10:53And it's great living here.
01:10:55So this was new, really, for the first time since college, one New Year's that I had there,
01:11:01which we'll skip over details of that story.
01:11:04But we were going to the East Village.
01:11:05So hopping on the FDR, which was just a lovely 45-minute wait in the car, like you were sitting
01:11:12at the dentist's office going just two miles an hour.
01:11:14Anyway, we get there.
01:11:16Cousin lives in the East Village.
01:11:17Go up to the apartment.
01:11:18She's there, greets us.
01:11:19I finished my film review.
01:11:20Well, that happens.
01:11:21My wife and her leave to go to the bar where her boyfriend works at called Maiden Lane.
01:11:27This place was awesome.
01:11:28I finished at 6.35.
01:11:29I'll meet up with them later.
01:11:31I walk in, said it right to him.
01:11:32I said, look, this feels like a place that you've been to, I don't know, all your life,
01:11:37and you just don't know it when you walk in.
01:11:39You've got warned tables, people laughing.
01:11:41It's closed.
01:11:42It's cozy.
01:11:43It's dark.
01:11:44Board games in one corner.
01:11:45TV behind the bar.
01:11:46You can see how the chefs are making food.
01:11:48Over in the corner was a tin fish kind of menu, which I'd never heard before and certainly
01:11:51not going to eat because I'm not a big seafood guy.
01:11:53But start to catch up.
01:11:56We get within this small place, this corner bar, again, in the East Village Lower Side.
01:12:01It's an open concept because his boyfriend's a great dude.
01:12:06We pick out, I don't know, someone picked out one of the games that was in the corner
01:12:09and it was this piece of green plastic that had rows going down and it simulated basically
01:12:16a straight horse track because that's what it was, little tiny plastic horses and each
01:12:21of these eight lanes and the length of this kind of plastic board or racetrack or whatever,
01:12:29it was like two shoe boxes or so.
01:12:32A couple of people who we had just met, friends of her boyfriend who works there, put single
01:12:37dollar bills on the table.
01:12:38We're betting the horses and we're picking them out and finding a name.
01:12:41Some dude who works there comes from behind the kitchen, seeing us starting to play this
01:12:45and jumps in.
01:12:46He goes, Alejandro horse.
01:12:47Alejandro horse.
01:12:48The man wanted to pick his own horse.
01:12:50He worked there.
01:12:51He could.
01:12:52That was fine.
01:12:53My horse was William Hung.
01:12:54We put down the $1 bills.
01:12:56My wife's cousin cleans up, I think won $20 somehow in a game with eight different horse
01:13:00tracks because you hit the button and all of the little plastic horses, you're chugging
01:13:04along very slowly to the end of this.
01:13:07We hang out there a little bit more, walk 45 minutes to the West Village, me and my
01:13:12uncle-in-law on that same side, great guy, hadn't seen him since Christmas.
01:13:16We eat at a place called the Ear Inn.
01:13:20This was another cozy, and maybe just because I'm not in the city, but we got smaller bars
01:13:24and places in Boston too.
01:13:28Cozy place, amazing burgers, good drinks.
01:13:33Her boyfriend had been friends with the bartender, so we get a little bit of a discount, certainly
01:13:35not complaining there.
01:13:37In a strange twist for what otherwise in the West Village felt like a factory for finance
01:13:43bros, who were sitting all around us and people in their mid, late 20s, been there, had that
01:13:47time of my life, not trying to make the good folks at JP or EY or Goldman or whatever all
01:13:54happy or proud of me, but not my crowd.
01:13:58Not the crowd we saw in Cincinnati when we were walking around, it was like, these bars,
01:14:01you really should be 27 or trashed, or ideally both if we're going to hang around here.
01:14:04The four guys in their 30s who cover football for a living, when else fair?
01:14:08No, we sat down, we had an amazing dinner.
01:14:10We stayed there for probably three hours, more drinks.
01:14:13The weird twist was, again, for this atmosphere, a lot of mid, young people in their mid to
01:14:19late 20s, was they put sheets of paper over the tables, which again, tiny restaurant,
01:14:25and put out crayons.
01:14:27You are free to be five years old for the entire time that you're there and drawing,
01:14:32and that lasted until 1230, 1245 at night, go back to their place, wake up early in the
01:14:36morning because there's a game, actually a match, I should say.
01:14:41We went to 11th Street Bar back in East Village, another amazing place.
01:14:45Maybe this is just my kind of vibe, like worn wooden tables, people who know you there.
01:14:49Again, her cousin's boyfriend knows basically 60, 70% of the people in that bar, everyone's
01:14:55clothed in red because this is the Liverpool Bar of New York.
01:15:00They're up three nil by halftime, a couple of beers for breakfast, go down the hatch.
01:15:04Apparently, Steve Kerr went there for Jurgen Klopp, their old managers, last match as manager,
01:15:10stayed to himself, hung out in the corner, had a lovely time.
01:15:12We go back to Maiden Lane, again, highly recommend if you're ever in the East Village.
01:15:16They've got, again, delicious steak sandwiches.
01:15:19They've got amazing seafood.
01:15:21I, being an infant, when it comes to food, order a pizza bagel, which was delicious,
01:15:26by the way, and some garlic bread and some other stuff, and as we're sitting on the outdoor
01:15:30patio space, which is really on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant, I kid you not,
01:15:35one of every 20, 25 people stops and says hello to my wife's cousin and her new boyfriend.
01:15:41It was idyllic.
01:15:42It was a beautiful New York day.
01:15:44If you like hanging out with friendly people, and this sounds like I'm doing an ad as if
01:15:48I'm talking price fix or game time, just go to Maiden Lane, or 11th Street Bar, or
01:15:52to the Ear Inn.
01:15:53This was a better New York experience I could have ever, ever honestly dreamed of, and not
01:15:59because I think any kind of way of New York, but you just don't know new people you're
01:16:02going in.
01:16:03I was tired, of course, being up at five, hanging with those pilots, so it was maybe
01:16:07just more my speed, but check it out, Maiden Lane, 11th Street Bar, the Ear Inn if you're
01:16:13up for a burger, or some Finance Bros out in the West Village.
01:16:16We drove back up later that Saturday, back to my in-laws.
01:16:19My sister had a baby shower actually on Sunday, back close to my hometown in Connecticut,
01:16:23which is closer to UConn, ran some games, emceed the day, lots of old family and friends,
01:16:27and finally came home and passed out.
01:16:30That was it.
01:16:31Not as exciting, Travel Tales, maybe Cincinnati, but just want to give a well-due shout out
01:16:38to those folks and people, and just a very friendly, happy, just good energy kind of
01:16:43place.
01:16:44I'm off to San Francisco this weekend.
01:16:46Doug and I are actually leaving Friday, so we'll be there Friday night, going to go to
01:16:49a Giants game Saturday.
01:16:50Though, Bob Soce, if you remember our schedule episode, said he would go to a game at Saturday.
01:16:55Bob Soce's since bailed him, and Bob Soce's going to hear about it, and then we will go
01:16:59out and I will have some more traditional Night on the Town tales for you after next
01:17:04weekend.
01:17:05Before that, though, a Pats 49ers preview episode.
01:17:07Kyle Duggar will be on the show.
01:17:09We'll get to some mailback questions again.
01:17:10Please rate and review and subscribe.
01:17:12Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
01:17:13You can find me on YouTube now as well.
01:17:16Appreciate the time.
01:17:17Thank you for listening.
01:17:18We'll be back soon.