The Boston Sports Journal's Mike Giardi joins the show to sift through Jerod Mayo's latest comments about Drake Maye, then preview Sunday's game at San Francisco. The guys run down how the Patriots can pull off an upset, plus three player matchups, two keys, and one Wild Card thought before making their game picks.
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00So we tried to keep him out.
00:00:15It's been two months since he's been in this podcast and I did a joke open and mispronounced
00:00:21his name and then said some kind things and went back in there very quickly.
00:00:24But he found a trap door, a back door or something, Mike Giardi back on Pat's Interference.
00:00:30And I guess we'll keep you here Thursday afternoon rolling into Pat's 49ers.
00:00:34How long do you want to stay today?
00:00:37Make this as short as possible.
00:00:40You know, that's about all I can tolerate you for is like in short windows.
00:00:43Yeah, you and my wife both.
00:00:45Um, it's a shout out for you, Cheryl.
00:00:47Not my wife's name.
00:00:48But anyway, we have a big show today.
00:00:50Not because Patriots 49ers is the biggest game of the weekend.
00:00:53Unless you like to bet on the biggest underdogs of the weekend, Patriots are ten and a half
00:00:57point dogs.
00:00:58Only the fifth time this century.
00:01:00That's happened.
00:01:01Fun fact, though.
00:01:02They're two and two.
00:01:03Also a fun fact.
00:01:04Nick Bosa might be lining up opposite Demantre Jacobs, who's someone who only came into our
00:01:08lives a couple of weeks ago, hasn't really played in the NFL football.
00:01:11Before we get to that, you and I chatted about this yesterday, which is Wednesday.
00:01:15Again, we're going to roll in like full game preview mode here today and get to three to
00:01:19one breakdown and game picks and all that.
00:01:20Kyle Duggar, by the way, at the end of the show, four minute drill.
00:01:22He was awesome.
00:01:24But Gerard Mayo said something Wednesday morning yesterday that caught my ear and then led
00:01:29me to write a column, the headline of which was Do Does Gerard Mayo want the Patriots
00:01:34to start Drake May?
00:01:36I want you to answer that question first before we get going and everything else.
00:01:40Yes, absolutely.
00:01:41One hundred percent.
00:01:43And it's like Andrew, this has been going on for a while now, and it's not talked about
00:01:47it before.
00:01:48I've written about it.
00:01:49I wrote about it again today.
00:01:50To a certain degree, despite the conversation about being on the same page, how many times
00:01:57have they said that they're on the same page?
00:01:58He's on the same page with Alex on the same page with Elliot.
00:02:02I think Gerard Mayo has looked at Drake May since about mid-August and said, that's the
00:02:07guy who should be taking our snaps this year.
00:02:09That's the guy I want to hitch my wagon to.
00:02:11And I want to find out just what he's capable of.
00:02:15And then you go through three weeks where it's a tractor pull for the offense.
00:02:19I don't put that all on the quarterback.
00:02:21In fact, I put a small fraction of that on the quarterback, which I think has annoyed
00:02:26some people.
00:02:27But like, watch the game, watch it with your eyes and tell me what could have happened
00:02:31differently if you had Patrick Mahomes back there.
00:02:34It still would probably look pretty ugly, guys.
00:02:38But I think Mayo has sort of made it clear.
00:02:39I think it goes back to the, you know, he's outplayed Brissett for two, you know, the
00:02:44two-week thing.
00:02:45Like, really?
00:02:47You're going to say that publicly?
00:02:49You're committed to this veteran guy to come in here and be the stopgap until you can get
00:02:53some of these things out of Drake.
00:02:55And yet here we are, where every time he gets an opportunity, he even did it after the game
00:02:59on Thursday night, right?
00:03:01Where would you consider a quarterback change or something to that effect was the question.
00:03:05He's like, you know, we'll see.
00:03:07Like he didn't have, no, Jacoby's my quarterback.
00:03:09Then of course, Friday morning, after I think he has a conversation with other people, Jacoby's
00:03:14my quarterback for right now.
00:03:16So I just think that the writing has been on the wall for about a month now, that that's
00:03:21what he wants to do and he's being prevented from doing it.
00:03:27So you just repicked the cherries that I picked and admitted to picking in the column for
00:03:32folks who are probably going Boston sports media, trying to stir stuff up, yada, yada,
00:03:38yada.
00:03:39Which if you're new to the show, you're going to find out very quickly, that is not at all
00:03:42what's going on here.
00:03:43We don't have a lot of deep dive numbers and analytics and metrics and efficiencies and
00:03:46yada, yada.
00:03:47We get into the football here.
00:03:48The drama can save for itself.
00:03:50And when it does happen, I get to the root of that too, with a lot of stories at the
00:03:54end of some very, very bad seasons, we'll see what happens this year.
00:03:56But number one, I think it even goes back further than this, right?
00:04:00Like Mayo was the face of the defensive frustration behind the scenes last year, when you had
00:04:05a pocket bound quarterback who was turning the ball over and Mac Jones, and it was Bailey's
00:04:10app in the defense.
00:04:11Two guys on defense starters, Adrian Phillips and Devon got chow are telling me in December.
00:04:15Oh, well, I guess we got to hold them to zero and Mayo surely was saying the same things
00:04:19behind the scene.
00:04:20I know from other people, he was frustrated.
00:04:22So naturally you're going to be frustrated as a defense, uh, which did not play well
00:04:26against the jets, but the Patriots score three points, right?
00:04:29They barely score enough to be Cincinnati Jacoby, Brissett captain, nice guy, decent
00:04:34quarterback, but it's not creating on his own.
00:04:38And the reason I don't think Mayo can pull him yet is something you alluded to there.
00:04:41Elliot Wolf and Alex Van Pelt have lived the quarterback development plan.
00:04:45They know patience pays off, but Brissett has also not done enough to give the keys
00:04:50away.
00:04:51Like you can't take them out of his hand when he goes, okay, so I'm getting hit 30 times.
00:04:55I'm getting pressured 48% of the time.
00:04:58And I've turned the ball over zero times, no fumbles, no picks.
00:05:03And you want to sell me out because I'm not doing my job.
00:05:07What do you make of that against the backdrop of the whole Mac Jones experience?
00:05:10Because I do have to think that plays a role in this.
00:05:12Yes.
00:05:13Like the whole season does, but especially Drake may and everything that they're doing
00:05:15and not doing right now, like they did with Mac.
00:05:18I think there are too many people that were in the organization for the three years that
00:05:21Mac Jones was here and saw how that got handled.
00:05:23And so how quickly that went sideways, who, I mean, that's like a hangover.
00:05:27It still lingers.
00:05:28Everybody's it's, it's on the wall somewhere.
00:05:30You know what I mean?
00:05:31Like they, they, they feel that crime scene.
00:05:33The yellow tape is there.
00:05:37It's like, yeah.
00:05:38And whether you think that that's right or not, they lived it and they saw how it really
00:05:42just ripped apart the organization and it costs people jobs, including arguably the
00:05:46most successful coach in NFL history.
00:05:50So yeah, they want to make sure from Elliot Wolf's standpoint.
00:05:55And I think Alex is sort of the caretaker of that position.
00:05:59They want to make sure that when they turn it over to him, that he is equipped to deal
00:06:03with all that's going to come with it, the criticism, the pressure, the mistakes.
00:06:08Can he bounce back from all the different things?
00:06:10He's going to get hit a ton because I got news for you, then matter who's, again, Michael
00:06:15Vick and his prime behind this offensive line would still be getting knocked down quite
00:06:18a bit.
00:06:19Like that's how bad they are.
00:06:20So until that gets shored up, it's like, Hey, as Alex told us on Friday of last week after
00:06:26the game, his best place right now is to watch on the sidelines.
00:06:30And I think that is the, the, the push and pull between he and Mayo Wolfen and Mayo about
00:06:36how we're going to go about this thing and a couple loose ends to tie up here because
00:06:40it wasn't just last year.
00:06:41It wasn't him going, I don't know, after the third game of the season, but again, Jacoby
00:06:45percent was not good against the jets.
00:06:46He wasn't the worst offensive player.
00:06:48That was from Andre Stevenson who fumbled again, or anyone who basically played offensive
00:06:51line and was not named Mike on when, but that lack of confidence, which he turned around,
00:06:56as you mentioned, Friday is only a piece of the puzzle.
00:06:58The latest piece in the quote was this, and I'll read it to you in its entirety, because
00:07:02this is important.
00:07:03This is what ultimately tipped me off.
00:07:04As I said yesterday morning going, wow, he really wants to do this.
00:07:07The question was a followup to another question and said, Hey, why don't you guys want to
00:07:11sign a veteran quarterback?
00:07:12Or do you have any interest in that?
00:07:14And he said, that's not in our current plans.
00:07:16So the followup was, okay, is Drake playing well enough in practice to make you feel disinclined
00:07:21to add this extra veteran quarterback layer of protection for him as a future of the franchise?
00:07:26Here's what Mayo said, quote, he's look good in practice, but once again, it's just practice.
00:07:30You want to get a guy like that, obviously on the football field, but at this current
00:07:35time, I don't want to go back to that answer, but at this current time, we're just not looking
00:07:38to add any pieces at that spot.
00:07:41You want to get a guy like that, obviously on the football field and one more loose end
00:07:47to tie up, which was in the column.
00:07:49And this is again, the, the, the point is to ask the question and look at the case because
00:07:54I think there's a strong case to be made.
00:07:56Mayo wants to do this and he's not because of Elliot, Alex Van Pelt and the fact that
00:08:00it's just not safe right now.
00:08:01The last one is this on September 5th, he goes into my podcast, good podcast.
00:08:05I enjoyed listening to it.
00:08:07This caught my ear, quote, I'm talking about just extending place.
00:08:11If you have that skillset to me, that's the most important thing.
00:08:15That's Gerard Mayo talking about the quarterback position in 2024.
00:08:20What does Drake may do that Jacoby Brissett does not extend place.
00:08:24So I came close, but the jury leaves and I'm feeling pretty good.
00:08:29Yes.
00:08:29The flip side of that is he took probably, and considering the amount of punishment,
00:08:34the Patriots quarterbacks have taken this year, Drake probably took the worst freaking
00:08:37hit of all of them when he basically got sawed in half in that Jets game.
00:08:41And so again, be careful what you wish for, because the ability to, at least to a certain
00:08:48degree play on time, I know the offense is still slow, but you know, whatever, to be
00:08:51able to handle that pressure is something that Brissett has proved to be pretty good
00:08:56at to this point again.
00:08:57And I think if you put Drake in that situation, yeah, you might get your splash play.
00:09:02You might get the extended play and you finally get a chunk play in the passing game that
00:09:06doesn't involve passing two yards behind the line of scrimmage to Hunter Henry and him
00:09:10having taken 35 yards down the sideline on that tight end screen against Seattle.
00:09:14But there's also going to be the mistakes and they could come by the boatload when
00:09:18you're facing that kind of pressure.
00:09:19So it's, it's again, part of that balance of trying to figure out when is the right
00:09:24time.
00:09:24And unfortunately, with this offensive line is playing, they might never really truly
00:09:29have a right time.
00:09:30They might just have to say, all right, screw it.
00:09:33Let's go kid.
00:09:34Good to see what happens.
00:09:35See if you can survive.
00:09:36You always love the epic plan before we get to forget Halloween, even October, which is
00:09:42not to say that's going to happen Sunday.
00:09:44Jacoby Brissett is going to start on Sunday and then September is going to end and you
00:09:47can wake me up and then they're going to play the Dolphins and the Texans and we'll go on
00:09:51and on.
00:09:52The point of this is to put a bow on it.
00:09:55Why does this matter?
00:09:56It's not just because to Rod Mayo is a new head coach and it's important to know what
00:09:59the head coach wants and I think is tipping us off.
00:10:01He's telling us how he really feels in these comments here and there and then it evolves
00:10:05the franchise quarterback and Drake may who's been waiting.
00:10:09To me, it's interesting to see, and this is conjecture, right?
00:10:12We're projecting, but you're picking up little tidbits, the power play behind the
00:10:16scenes, and this isn't to say dry mail is not making the call like others in the market
00:10:21have been, because I don't believe that.
00:10:23I think though there's Elliot, there's Alex Van Pelt, the head coach, the offense
00:10:28stride, and then I'm curious about ownership because we know Gerard is very close with
00:10:32ownership and I don't think it's a stretch to think that there might be pressure from
00:10:35my top as the Patriots, uh, we'll say crumble for now against the jets.
00:10:40And as the season goes on it, they're not fannies in the seats.
00:10:42They say, we drafted this kid.
00:10:44You believe in him?
00:10:45What's the holdup?
00:10:46And Gerard shouldn't care about that.
00:10:48And he might not, hopefully he does not about the ticket office.
00:10:50That's not his job.
00:10:51His job is to build the best football team and coach the players and provide a setting
00:10:54in which they can thrive and perform.
00:10:56And right now, no quarterback is thriving.
00:10:58They're just surviving behind this offensive line.
00:11:00And I think Drake may would throw more picks and take more sacks and Jacoby
00:11:04percent is because he's a rookie and that's what he does, but he can't do that right
00:11:07yet because it's just so undeniable how bad the situation is.
00:11:10And Jacoby percent is at least doing enough to say, you can't take the keys away from
00:11:14me, but given how I think he feels, I think it'll happen sooner than we expected.
00:11:19Maybe even a week or two ago, based on all these comments.
00:11:22I also think, and I wrote about this Wednesday in the Boston sports journal, and I, I went
00:11:26up to percent and I said, this is good.
00:11:29Talk to me about 70, 30, right?
00:11:31And that's the reps that they're breaking up with.
00:11:32The first team percent is getting 70.
00:11:34May's getting 30 and may of course getting other reps with the scout team and the
00:11:38second, whatever he's getting, he's getting more reps than that, but that's how they're
00:11:40breaking it up.
00:11:41They're the only team in the national football league that's doing this.
00:11:44And Andrew, you've covered the team for a long time.
00:11:47You've covered the league for a long time.
00:11:49I've covered the league for a long time.
00:11:51I don't really recall this divide ever.
00:11:54Like the starter gets 90 to 95% of the reps.
00:11:57That's just what happens.
00:11:59And the backup, even if the backup is someone highly thought of Patrick Mahomes in
00:12:02Kansas city, you go over here, man, we got a plan for you and we're going to, you're
00:12:06going to do work on the side field and you're going to do work in the film room and
00:12:09we're going to give you projects.
00:12:10You're going to do all these things.
00:12:10But like, we got to get the guy ready.
00:12:13And Jacoby, I used the word unique and Jacoby basically stopped what he was doing
00:12:17and that God, the eyebrows, the eyes got wide, the eyebrows went up a little bit and
00:12:21he's like, he nods and I'm like, right, it's unique.
00:12:24And he's like, it's very unique.
00:12:26And to his credit, he said, look, man, I can't, I can't stress on it.
00:12:31I can only control what I can control.
00:12:32If these are the reps I'm given, I got to do the best with them that I can.
00:12:35And, and that's that.
00:12:37And he, and he.
00:12:38Unconvincingly said that he's getting enough reps, but again, there's a reason
00:12:42why everybody's done it this way.
00:12:44And I know people will poo poo the idea.
00:12:46Well, what's 20% of the reps?
00:12:48Well, if you got five reps and you're given one away and you do that over the
00:12:52course of a two hour practice and how many reps is that?
00:12:54And then add it up times three during the course of the week.
00:12:57And then all of a sudden it's like, Hey, I don't know.
00:13:00Like he's not as he's a capable quarterback, but he's not a great quarterback.
00:13:04And maybe he needs that work, right?
00:13:06Maybe.
00:13:07And actually, and the flip side of this and the thing that maybe I'm most
00:13:10concerned about now is, is Drake really getting enough work?
00:13:14Like you're giving him this stuff and he's doing the scout team stuff, but like,
00:13:20is it a half measure?
00:13:22And I mean, eventually it'll be a full measure because I would assume when the
00:13:25switch happens, 70 thirties out the window and it's going to be 95 for Drake
00:13:29and it's going to be five for, for Jacoby.
00:13:31But until you get to that point, you know, how, how developed is
00:13:36he getting that they're walking a fine line?
00:13:38And quite frankly, one, two.
00:13:40But the way they're playing, I don't know that the, the walking, the
00:13:43line is working all that well.
00:13:45And let's, let's take the practice reps that you just noted 70% with the
00:13:49starters for Jacoby percent, 30% go to Drake may put that in game terms.
00:13:53You're going to have roughly 10 possessions a game.
00:13:55That's like giving Drake may three possessions in a game.
00:13:59That's significant, right?
00:14:01And that's unusual to play that with your starter and backup quarterback.
00:14:04Normally, as you said, start against all of them, even in a blowout,
00:14:07what does the backup get?
00:14:08Well, he gets the scraps.
00:14:09He gets what Drake may got at the end of that jets game.
00:14:11That's normally how this works.
00:14:13That's not how it's going in practice.
00:14:14I will say, I do think those scout reps are valuable and that you're
00:14:17facing a, the starting defense, but B, he doesn't know the coverage that's coming.
00:14:21Right.
00:14:21He knows how to run the certain play and concepts, and he's
00:14:23impressing according to guys.
00:14:25I talked in the locker room here today.
00:14:27It's just, it is tough.
00:14:29And to your point about talking to Jacoby about that, that kind of
00:14:33look is his way of nodding while keeping his chin still.
00:14:36Like it's, I see you.
00:14:38I hear you.
00:14:39We're speaking the same language.
00:14:40Stop talking.
00:14:41I can't do it on the record.
00:14:43So it's.
00:14:44It's there.
00:14:44I mean, look, he knows, he knows what he signed up for, but I think he's, I
00:14:49think he's looking at what we're saying here and that, you know, the people
00:14:52that are on the outside that are crying, well, you've got to put me in there.
00:14:56The offense will be so much better if you're going in there.
00:14:58And he's saying, dude, it's not me really.
00:15:02Like, yeah.
00:15:03Could I have hit Hooper on the over?
00:15:05Sure.
00:15:06Was that a missed opportunity?
00:15:07Yeah.
00:15:07But by and large, I'm managing this the best way possible.
00:15:11And if you think that the other guy's going to do that, you're probably mistaken.
00:15:15I've seen a lot more football than he is.
00:15:17So I think he's just kind of like, I mean, I know why they're doing it, but
00:15:21like, I don't think that they really know what they're talking about here.
00:15:24Yeah.
00:15:25And it's, I just want to be clear again.
00:15:28I'm excited to see Drake May.
00:15:29Oh, we all are.
00:15:31Drake may believer.
00:15:33I don't want to rush him out there now because I don't like Elliot Wolf does
00:15:36not want his confidence to be broken in a way that Jacobi percent is used to
00:15:40stepping into these fires.
00:15:41And this is a kitchen that just, you know, Drake may has never experienced
00:15:45before, let alone all of the hits.
00:15:46Like the Patriots just need to do better, do better than 10 quarterback hits per
00:15:49game, do better than a pressure rate of 48.5%.
00:15:53Jacobi percent is surviving that zero turnovers.
00:15:55That's not the bar for success.
00:15:57He needs to be better, of course.
00:15:58But that bar is going to come crashing down on Drake.
00:16:01May a piece was subjected to these same circumstances.
00:16:04It won't be perfect.
00:16:04The protection is ever going to be good based on this talent level, but it
00:16:08should and could be better.
00:16:09That's what I want to wait for.
00:16:10Just be better.
00:16:11That's all we're asking for.
00:16:13Yep.
00:16:13All right.
00:16:14Speaking of better, uh, earlier this week, I did a Patriots solution
00:16:19stress, Doug kind, most of them are quick fixes.
00:16:21Some people quibbled with, Oh, the first problems left tackle.
00:16:24Like that's, that's not so easy to fix.
00:16:26It would be if we were in charge because Donovan Smith this year, we're
00:16:28getting some warm body in the room.
00:16:30That's not for Montree Jacobs or a limping Caden Wallace.
00:16:33If you were in Doug's place, what were like one or two quick fixes you see
00:16:37available to this team players play calling, coaching, whatever it might be.
00:16:41Yeah.
00:16:42You know, so some of this stuff is going to come up in the
00:16:44things that we do later on.
00:16:46So my initial reaction to quick fixes, there are none.
00:16:50I'm serious.
00:16:51Like, so we came up in your feet and you're like next.
00:16:54Yeah, no.
00:16:55I just like, I look, I understand the point.
00:16:57And like I said, some of the things that, that I think they need to do
00:16:59better will come up when we talk offense and defense specific, but like, to me.
00:17:04This is the roster that you created.
00:17:06This is what you, you decided to roll out there.
00:17:08You decided that chooks of coral for could be a left tackle, even though he'd
00:17:12never been a left tackle at Pittsburgh, you decided that Caden Wallace, whether
00:17:17you decided or whether it got decided, but for you, because of how the draft
00:17:20played out, well, maybe he can play left tackle.
00:17:23And that obviously look rough situation for him to be in on Thursday night,
00:17:27but that did not go very well.
00:17:28So.
00:17:29Once again, we sit here when we're pining for Vidarian low.
00:17:33Now, as much as I love the Darien story and I appreciate his improvement this
00:17:37year, he's got a good personality is what you're saying.
00:17:41I think he's gotten better.
00:17:42Like I think, I actually think he's light years ahead of where he was last year.
00:17:46Well, what's the cap on what he is, right?
00:17:48I mean, he's a person who said to us in August, I thought I was going to make
00:17:53the NFL as a swing tackle.
00:17:55And I'm thinking, Hey buddy, you're the starting left tackle for the Patriots.
00:17:59And you're going to be protecting eventually the number three pick in the draft.
00:18:03Like, like you can't tell me that anybody in Foxborough, Elliot, Matt, Gerard
00:18:10thought that, man, we really need Vidarian out there.
00:18:14Like, I just, there's no way that that was a big part of the plan, but that's
00:18:18where they are and that's, you get all these people will tell you, I don't
00:18:20know if they slide into your comments.
00:18:22We get it on the membership.
00:18:23We were like, they can't, they just find somebody who can block
00:18:25for two and a half, three seconds.
00:18:26I'm like, dude, if they could.
00:18:28They would.
00:18:29But the problem is there aren't many of those guys left tackles.
00:18:32Don't just, you know, fall off the, as my grandmother would say, the
00:18:34turnip truck, and it just fall off the turnip truck.
00:18:37Uh, I'm embracing that I'm old.
00:18:39Um, so like, this is your roster.
00:18:42Now you've got to make do with it.
00:18:43You got to figure out a way to, to, to survive it.
00:18:46Cause in some places that's really what you're trying to do is just survive it.
00:18:49Would you do anything on defense?
00:18:54I mean, I, so I don't love the plan next to God child and they're,
00:19:03they're extending those guys.
00:19:04And I think that's been a topic of conversation here in the last 24 hours
00:19:08from, I know Doug was talking about that today.
00:19:11Uh, some other people as well, like putting a lot of responsibility
00:19:14on those guys' shoulders.
00:19:15And I'm not sure that they're that kind of player, but what that means is
00:19:19Daniel Akiwale is playing 74% of the snaps and it's on pace to more than
00:19:23double his career snaps in a single season.
00:19:26Something I talked to him about today.
00:19:28Yeah.
00:19:28I just don't think he's that kind of player.
00:19:29And I think he's an NFL player.
00:19:31Don't get me wrong.
00:19:32Like I, I, a couple of years ago, I was like, I can't, I wouldn't cut this guy.
00:19:35I think he's a good football player.
00:19:36He's one of your best 53.
00:19:37I think he is one of your best 53, but that's, that's too much.
00:19:42Yeah.
00:19:42Yeah.
00:19:43Yeah.
00:19:43And they're, they're trying to rotate players like Eric Johnson, who they
00:19:47claimed off waivers from the Colts.
00:19:48And he's got a big body.
00:19:49I think he's six, two, three 20.
00:19:51But he was learning a very different system is Jerry Montgomery, their
00:19:54defensive line coach explained to us today.
00:19:56All these other guys have had hundreds of reps with our
00:19:58techniques, how we want to play.
00:20:00And this is a hybrid.
00:20:01Sometimes you're single gapping.
00:20:02Other times you're two gapping.
00:20:04And like those guys in the middle have different responsibilities than the guys
00:20:07in the middle of Gus Bradley's four down cover three defense in Indianapolis.
00:20:12It's just based on different principles and techniques.
00:20:14So he's going to need time.
00:20:15I hate Bradley.
00:20:17Oh, I hate his defense.
00:20:18I don't know.
00:20:18I know Gus personally, but I hate his defense.
00:20:20Yeah.
00:20:21That, that shit fell off the turn up truck.
00:20:22Um, but it, it, it's just different.
00:20:25The thing is just like in the offensive line, the Patriots don't have time or
00:20:29really bodies behind Devon gotcha.
00:20:31Or even next to him, if Daniel McQuality God forbid went down.
00:20:34So it's, um, yeah, it's a little tricky.
00:20:36Speaking of tricky buying tickets, Mike, I don't know if you go to shows, I
00:20:42know you go to games, but typically you get to go for free.
00:20:44You're working.
00:20:46For folks who don't get to go for free, like you and me, I would
00:20:48suggest they go to game time.
00:20:49Yes, because they support this podcast.
00:20:51I want you to support them also, because when I look for tickets to games,
00:20:55shows, concerts, whatever, I just want the lowest price and a game time.
00:20:59The lowest price is freaking guaranteed.
00:21:01And if you find a lower price elsewhere for a Patriots game or whatever
00:21:04ticket you want to buy, they will.
00:21:06Give you 110% of the difference in credit.
00:21:09If you find a lower price, not to mention when you go there, you don't
00:21:12have to deal with the pesky price and fees and everything at the end.
00:21:14It's all in pricing with game time picks, which filters out all the fluff.
00:21:18It only gives you incredible deals, great seats.
00:21:20You don't have to waste time, whether it's the upcoming game against Miami
00:21:24or Houston or the jets at the end of the month, you can get to Gillette for
00:21:28the lowest price anywhere at game time.
00:21:30So do it today, download the game time app, create an account, use code
00:21:33CLNS for a free $20 off your first purchase term to apply.
00:21:37Just create an account, redeem code CLNS for $20 off.
00:21:41It's like finding a $20 bill in your pocket, except this
00:21:44has game time on it.
00:21:45So download game time today.
00:21:46What time is it?
00:21:47It's game time.
00:21:48It's almost game time.
00:21:49Here's give it a, give it a pause for a second.
00:21:52I'm going to compliment you.
00:21:53That was an elite read.
00:21:56It'll lead.
00:21:57I've had some practice, though.
00:21:59I think the folks hearing that are, are, are sick of me and it's not
00:22:03anything to do with game time, which has been very good to us.
00:22:05And again, I'm looking actively for a Jaguars fan, fan, friend of mine.
00:22:11Say that carefully.
00:22:12And he's going to come to London.
00:22:13We're going to have a great time.
00:22:15And I'm every day in game time.
00:22:16Cause I go to other places just to check.
00:22:18I want that 110% of the difference if I can find it elsewhere.
00:22:21And I haven't pushed the free 20 bucks.
00:22:23If you're a first time sign up, be there.
00:22:25Sign up.
00:22:26I was well said that was, I kind of like it actually sign up.
00:22:31Sign up.
00:22:32Be okay.
00:22:32Um, let's move on to an actual game.
00:22:35Patriots going on the road, 10 and a half point dogs again, fifth time this
00:22:39century, and they are facing a banged up 49ers team, but even banged up.
00:22:43The Niners were also one and two are still seventh in offense by DBA.
00:22:47They're 19th in defense 30th and special teams.
00:22:51Here's your schedule.
00:22:51So far last weekend, they lost 27 to 24 at the Rams in a game.
00:22:55They more or less gave away.
00:22:57Great job by Matthew Stafford, bad job by everyone in red or garnet and
00:23:01gold and whatever they call, uh, before that they lost 23 to 17 at Minnesota.
00:23:05And in their opener beat the jets on Monday night, football, 32 to 19, the
00:23:10Patriots, meanwhile, also one and two 21st in offense, 26 on defense, 10th and
00:23:14special teams.
00:23:15I want to start with the real chess match here.
00:23:17Something I thought I was going to sink my teeth into before talking about
00:23:20drag manager at Mayo, which is a Patriot staff that's had extra time to prepare
00:23:25for one of the best offensive minds in football.
00:23:27Say we will about the game management playing from behind Kyle Shanahan is in
00:23:30the top three of your offensive designers, minds, play callers, whoever you are.
00:23:35He's on that top three.
00:23:37When the Niners have the ball though, for a run first offense, they've
00:23:41not been as efficient at that.
00:23:42They're fourth in passing by DV way offensively.
00:23:45They're 21st when running, despite the fact that new running back Jordan Mason
00:23:50in for Christian McCaffrey is first in the NFL and missed tackles
00:23:53forced and runs over 10 yards.
00:23:55So all that being said, I want to start in the obvious place.
00:24:00What do you do with Christian Gonzalez?
00:24:02Oh, because I talked about this with Doug and this again, it's part of the
00:24:07chess masters.
00:24:08We'll get into dry Mayo with extra time to prepare against Kyle Shanahan to
00:24:12Marcus Covington is very confident.
00:24:13Like they're ready to bounce back.
00:24:14They think they will.
00:24:15If I'm the Niners, I go, there are two things constant about this defense.
00:24:18Number one, Christian Gonzalez is shadowing the number one receiver.
00:24:21Number two, around their man to man calls.
00:24:23They're playing a lot of cover too.
00:24:25So what do you do with Christian Gonzalez?
00:24:27Do you stick with the plan?
00:24:28And is it Jawan Jennings who leads them in every receiving category or is it
00:24:32Brandon?
00:24:32I, my, my first inclination would just say, leave him as a boundary corner for
00:24:36this game.
00:24:37Um, boundary court.
00:24:38Okay.
00:24:38Yeah.
00:24:39I think short side of the, yeah, yeah.
00:24:42And look, I kind of toyed with the idea of not IU, but Jennings, if I was going
00:24:46to do the matchup thing, is this a scenario?
00:24:49And I kind of thought maybe this might come into play against the jets where you
00:24:52take the smaller John Jones, you put them on Garrett Wilson and then have help
00:24:56over the top.
00:24:57But in this case, Jawan Jennings, a bigger guy.
00:24:59So maybe Gonzalez is, if you want to go that route, that's the matchup you do.
00:25:03And then with IU, you're, you're doing help.
00:25:05And John Jones, although the way I explained currently, the way he's running
00:25:08and having actually some difficulty, uh, consistently separating, and then he's
00:25:12already got the drops this year.
00:25:14Um, maybe you can actually get away with one.
00:25:16I don't know if you want to, if you want to try that, but John still runs pretty
00:25:20well.
00:25:20And it's not like this massive size mismatch.
00:25:23Like we saw some of those, uh, against some of the jets receivers
00:25:26with Mike Williams and Alan Lazard.
00:25:28So, um, that would be my secondary option.
00:25:31I just think at this point, probably the smartest thing is just
00:25:34to leave them to the boundary.
00:25:35And then look, if they start to exploit away from him, then maybe
00:25:39that's when you make the change.
00:25:41Yeah.
00:25:42DeMarcus Cummings can talk to us today.
00:25:43He described all their receivers and pass catchers and running
00:25:46backs as go-to guys.
00:25:47Obviously that's not true, but it feels like it because Jawan Jennings, when
00:25:52per 11 catches 175 yards and three touchdowns in that loss to the Rams
00:25:56last weekend, part of that is because he's six foot three and 212 pounds, not
00:26:00as big as six foot five, Alan Lazard, who I don't know, bruised Alex Austin
00:26:05so badly that he's not practicing any, any time this week and still being
00:26:08dragged behind Alan Lazard and route to the end zone, Jonathan Jones plays
00:26:11bigger than, than his listed five, nine size.
00:26:15I still don't feel really comfortable with that matchup, but, and I talked
00:26:19about this last week with James white.
00:26:21I like Chris Gonzalez now on the number two and then doubling the number one.
00:26:24But in this situation, I still treat Iuke as the number one, partly because
00:26:28I believe in John Jones in that, uh, smaller size difference, right?
00:26:31Him versus Iuke.
00:26:32And then maybe a safety over the top.
00:26:34But I just think Christian Gonzalez was flat out better than Jawan
00:26:36Jennings, those numbers not withstanding.
00:26:39The only tricky part is he'll be in the slot more than a lot of the other
00:26:43number one receivers he might see.
00:26:45And they're played offensively move guys around.
00:26:48It's not always, Oh, you're the Z and you're the strong side and you're the X
00:26:50and the weak side, but I don't want him in a ton of run fits because he will
00:26:53miss tackles.
00:26:54He's not a particularly physical player, but in passing situations,
00:26:57that's the matchup I want.
00:26:58It's just interesting because they've not pivoted at all from the, okay,
00:27:03Christian, you're following this guy this week, like the 2019 Steph Gilmore.
00:27:08Yeah.
00:27:08I asked a Christian today, just like, Hey, what do you generally find out?
00:27:12And he's like, ah, sometimes Wednesday morning, but sometimes Tuesday, I'm
00:27:16like, you get the text.
00:27:17He's like, Oh yeah.
00:27:18I was like, you get excited about it.
00:27:19He's like, yeah, because you can watch film differently.
00:27:20I mean, not that you can't, you still have to watch the whole thing, but he's
00:27:23like, as the guys that have come before him, Revis and, and Steph have talked
00:27:27about, then you just get into that one guy.
00:27:29And it's like, you're literally watching him walk back to the huddle.
00:27:32You're watching all the angles of the old 22s.
00:27:34What tell can I, when he breaks from the huddle a split second early, is that
00:27:37mean he's going to go to the left side and run a dot, you know, like they
00:27:40literally trying to break down and find any sort of tells that they can possibly
00:27:44find, but he would not reveal whether or not he was going to go.
00:27:48But as he mentioned, he said, of course, like, that's, that's what you
00:27:51want as a, as a, as a cornerback, you want that assignment.
00:27:55So, um, you know, he, he had a lot of nice things to say about IU, but he
00:27:58also had a lot of nice things to say about Jennings.
00:28:00So no, no real clues there from him.
00:28:04So I'm, I have a habit of reading into things a little bit too much.
00:28:08This is when you, you wake up and you think, and right before you go to sleep,
00:28:11you're still thinking, and you just do this all day and all day and all day.
00:28:14Like I do.
00:28:15He paused for a second.
00:28:16When I asked him yesterday about IU, he was like, oh, he's, he's a good receiver.
00:28:20You know, not in the over the top flowery way.
00:28:22You might say of a guy that you would be shadowing.
00:28:24And I, I'm not taking that to the bank as a tell that it's
00:28:27definitively not going to happen.
00:28:29But the reason he might pause is because Brandon IU right now does
00:28:31not look like Brandon IU at all.
00:28:33This is a dude who has not cracked 50 yards in a single game.
00:28:36He doesn't have a touchdown.
00:28:37I think Brandon is going to be that receiver.
00:28:39Eventually he's only 26.
00:28:40It's coming off consecutive, a thousand yard seasons, his success
00:28:43against band coverage and zone are both in the 90th percentile or above.
00:28:47So this is an elite dude, but right now, week four, September 29th,
00:28:522024 in Santa Clara, where they're going to play, that's not the
00:28:56guy you're going to be facing.
00:28:58That's why I think I'd be more comfortable with that.
00:28:59But I, I, I generally don't know what they're going to do.
00:29:02Yeah, I don't either.
00:29:04I don't either.
00:29:04But I, the one thing you do know is that whatever they decide to do,
00:29:09Shanahan will be ready for it.
00:29:11And he'll have some sort of way to minimize if he's traveling with
00:29:14someone, minimize the effect of it.
00:29:16I think the other thing here that's interesting, and I would
00:29:20imagine Kittle's not going to play.
00:29:21I know he was limited, but I think with the hamstring feels like this might
00:29:25be buy him another week before you put them out there and that certainly
00:29:29changes things as well, because they're not, I mean, there's no
00:29:33George Kittle on the roster.
00:29:35If George Kittle is not playing, the backup cannot even remotely come close
00:29:39to being a facsimile of George Kittle.
00:29:44Can you spell facsimile?
00:29:47Uh, is it F A F A S F A C?
00:29:53I forget.
00:29:53It's the C before the S or the S before the C.
00:29:57I think it's the C before the S, right?
00:30:01Cause then it's facsimile.
00:30:02Yeah.
00:30:03And then you say, yeah, see, I nailed it.
00:30:05I had to think it through.
00:30:06Just tell me to go facsimile myself and we can do it the way you want to.
00:30:11I got something for you.
00:30:12Yeah.
00:30:13Uh, so the other part of the passing game, obviously, whatever the coverage
00:30:16matchups are in the back end, you're right.
00:30:18Like they're going to have counters.
00:30:19They're going to have answers.
00:30:20The issue to me is more protection.
00:30:22Like the Patriots need to win that X's and O's battle in a way that in week
00:30:26two, old pal, Brian Flores crushed the Niners absolutely through the kitchen
00:30:31sink, ripped the sink out of the bathroom, took out all of the plumbing
00:30:36and just threw it at Brock Purdy, who was spinning and had no idea and a lot
00:30:40of dirty water around him and obviously they lose and you know, the Niners go
00:30:44home and are just shocked because they were huge favorites going into
00:30:46that game against Minnesota.
00:30:47The Patriots cannot copy and paste that plan because they just don't have as
00:30:50many dudes on that as the Vikings do on that defense, but what they can do is
00:30:55implement a lot of those similar pressure concepts, which look like one thing and
00:30:59obviously bounce into another.
00:31:01This though, gets at the heart of what you and I've been talking about.
00:31:03You asked Covington about this today.
00:31:05Hey, what's going on with your puts is like, this is, there's something missing
00:31:08here that you're just not getting home where they're calling them out.
00:31:11Um, the other part about that is they play a lot more too high.
00:31:14The Vikings did.
00:31:15And then that gets into a discussion about the run game.
00:31:18How would you go about this generally?
00:31:20Cause Purdy has been good against pressure.
00:31:21He's still worse than he is in a clean pocket, like all other quarterbacks.
00:31:24How do you win that matchup, which I think is a battleground that's just
00:31:28non-negotiable for the Patriots on Sunday?
00:31:30Well, I mean, I look at McKibbets, the right tackle and say, he's not been good,
00:31:34not by any metric whatsoever, uh, struggling.
00:31:36And it's interesting if you go back and sort of watch some of the cutups, it's,
00:31:40it's sometimes it's just straight up one-on-one getting beat.
00:31:43Sometimes he's not, they're not passing off the games properly and
00:31:46he's making mistakes there.
00:31:47He looks a little slow.
00:31:48So I don't know if you want to take Keon and put them over there and just say, go,
00:31:54go to go nuts on this guy.
00:31:55Like the Patriots used to do with, right.
00:31:57Well, I mean, and we, you know, there's been that comparison to Trey flowers and
00:32:01Trey, you know, like maybe that's not, people think that Keon has a higher
00:32:04ceiling than that, but like Trey used to do some evil stuff to guys and like they
00:32:08would, but they would go into weeks, you know, there was like a two year period
00:32:11there where they were going to be like, all right, left guard sucks.
00:32:14You're going to line up with the left guard and obvious passing situations,
00:32:17beat the crap out of them.
00:32:17And he would, and this might be one of those situations where they go,
00:32:21Keon's our best guy.
00:32:23He is their weakest link.
00:32:25And when we know that we're going to be in pass rushing situation, but it could
00:32:29just be for the duration, put them across from him and just let them just tear that
00:32:34guy apart.
00:32:34And then that gives us the opportunity.
00:32:36Maybe if we feel like we have such a big advantage there that we can play some
00:32:40games elsewhere.
00:32:41And maybe that's where you get O'Shea free or whatever, work some games there
00:32:45that you get some other pressure.
00:32:47Let me put it like this.
00:32:47Can the Patriots win if Keon White has a bad game?
00:32:50No.
00:32:52All right.
00:32:53There it is.
00:32:53No.
00:32:54And I would say, I think you could also just loop the entire, the edge group
00:32:57into that because they were, they, they've been, they were especially bad
00:33:02against the jets.
00:33:04They weren't terrific against Seattle either.
00:33:06And I think, and that's a run pass game thing as well, where you're not setting
00:33:10the edge there.
00:33:11And Anthony Jennings is, you know, he's limited as well, whether he's going to
00:33:14be good to go or not.
00:33:15I don't know, but like, Oh, your best edge setter as a run defender is him.
00:33:20And he might not play against a team that can run the football pretty well.
00:33:23That would be concerning as well.
00:33:25So one day we have not said yet.
00:33:27And then we'll, we'll get into the last part of this and move on.
00:33:29The Patriots have the ball is Teebo Samuel who missed last week with a calf
00:33:33injury, did not practice on Wednesday with a calf injury.
00:33:35It would be a surprise to me that if he plays.
00:33:37And so just in my mind, for the sake of this podcast, he's going to be out.
00:33:41Kittle may be a little bit closer, but as you said, hamstrings are finicky.
00:33:44I'm not going to play these games.
00:33:45I'm just going to imagine for simplicity sake.
00:33:47And what I think is really going to happen.
00:33:49Neither of those guys are in, which again is why we focused on Jawan Jennings.
00:33:52And Brandon, I, you, because those four lead them in catches.
00:33:55Would you care to guess who is the 49ers fifth leading pass catcher
00:34:00right now by receptions?
00:34:03Is it the tight ends name, the tight end, the backup?
00:34:06What's his name?
00:34:07Siebers cyber.
00:34:09No, it's Kyle.
00:34:10You sick.
00:34:11Who's in X.
00:34:11Oh yeah.
00:34:12No.
00:34:12Yeah.
00:34:12Yeah.
00:34:12He's a very good player.
00:34:14And he has six pitches.
00:34:15So to me, when we talk about and start with what is Christian Gonzalez doing?
00:34:19Okay.
00:34:19What are you winning in pass protection?
00:34:21This is a very simple game in my mind, defensively for the Patriots, because it
00:34:25is about Jawan Jennings.
00:34:26It is about Brandon.
00:34:28I uke in the past game that of course is going to be set up by how often do they
00:34:33go, uh, pass heavy on first down.
00:34:36And what do they want to do again?
00:34:37Any standard neutral downs that, you know, the Patriots need to win again, to
00:34:40get them into longer passing situations and unlock or copy and paste whatever
00:34:43floors did a couple of weeks ago in Minnesota, but that starts again, of
00:34:46course, which Orton Mason, who I mentioned is replaced Christian McCaffrey.
00:34:49He's creating on his own.
00:34:50He's getting longer runs.
00:34:52This is good.
00:34:52The thing is though, despite all of that, they're 21st or rushing the ball by
00:34:58DVO way, and they're not running away with games except for that opener against
00:35:01the jets.
00:35:02So I think they'll be more inclined to run at the Patriots in light of the
00:35:07defensive tackle issues that we just described.
00:35:10Rayquan McMillan is still in there for Jawan Bentley.
00:35:12And the fact that the jets made the Patriots defense bulk up with 21 snaps of
00:35:18old school, big ass base defense, three, four, baby.
00:35:23And they had success running at it.
00:35:25I don't have the success right off the top of my head, but they look at that and
00:35:28go, okay, you want to play bully ball with us?
00:35:31You want to play bully ball with us?
00:35:34We will play bully ball with you and just keep hammering it away.
00:35:38Knowing we'll wear on you.
00:35:39We have God knows how many run schemes.
00:35:41And that is an area where I still would prioritize Iuke and Jennings, but you
00:35:47can't afford to lose that.
00:35:48And I don't, I don't, I don't have a great solution of them and they just
00:35:51really have to show up up front.
00:35:53Yeah.
00:35:54And look, the linebacker play was, you want to talk about again, diving into
00:35:58things, the linebacker play against the jets was not very good at all.
00:36:02A lot of missed tackles between Tavai and McMillan.
00:36:04McMillan looked, you look light against the run, you know, like, and that's a
00:36:09concern because obviously Jawan Bentley probably done for the year.
00:36:12Uh, I haven't heard of too many guys coming back from a torn Peck, um, in a
00:36:16few months and even by that point, like, what are you, what are we talking about
00:36:20in December?
00:36:21So, uh, they gotta be better.
00:36:23Um, but it might help if they kept clean by some of the big guys in front of them.
00:36:28Yeah, I, uh, I don't have much to add.
00:36:30I mean, they also have to tackle better, which goes without saying.
00:36:32We spent a lot of time since the Patriots missed 12 tackles.
00:36:35They haven't done, they have one game with more than 12 tackles
00:36:39missed since the start of 2021.
00:36:41Like, I'm just going to say you get one of those every once in a while.
00:36:43I don't know what happened, but the chief offenders with the
00:36:46missed tackles were Jelani to buy, who's going to play both the edge and
00:36:50off ball and then Rayquan McMillan followed by Marcella style, who's just
00:36:53not really going to play a whole lot in this game, right?
00:36:55So they, they, I would say they need to wrap up.
00:36:58That is your answer here.
00:37:00Like at first contact, you need to take Jordan Mason down in a way that other
00:37:03defenses have now, because you just can't give those yards away to a San Francisco
00:37:07offensive, by the way, is built on yards after the catch.
00:37:11And hasn't been great at that so far this year.
00:37:13So you're catching them at a good time health wise and whatever they're doing
00:37:16to spree a spring, their receivers open is not really working.
00:37:20So don't let the running backs do the same thing.
00:37:22I, uh, I don't think we've done anything, do we?
00:37:24No, no.
00:37:25And I was just going to say the one thing that would, so I'm with you.
00:37:29I look at the missed tackles and even the sort of the blown edges and say, like,
00:37:35these guys have been around, like I I've trusted them to be able to do this.
00:37:38They've done this in years past.
00:37:40I mean, it's basically the same crew.
00:37:42That happens again.
00:37:44I start to worry about what the, if the message is getting across and we were
00:37:47real big in the first couple of weeks of like, well, they're playing hard form.
00:37:50They bought in, then you have a stinker like Thursday and look, this isn't an
00:37:54easy spot, even with all the injuries that San Francisco has, but like, are
00:37:58you've had 10 days to stew on this thing and realize like, that's not who we are,
00:38:02but we put that out there on tape.
00:38:04Don't put it out there on tape again, because then I'm going to
00:38:08start sounding some alarms.
00:38:10Speaking of alarms,
00:38:14Debo Samuel's at practice today.
00:38:18So we can, I literally, I was with you.
00:38:21I mean, I, I, I pretty much dismissed the notion that either Kittle or
00:38:26Sebo or Debo, we're going to play this week.
00:38:28And look, that does not mean he's, he's missed the last four practices.
00:38:31Calves are, I think the hamstrings a little finicky, like they will flare
00:38:35up at a second that you don't expect.
00:38:37If you overwork them or go too soon.
00:38:38And the Niners, again, it's 10 and a half point favorites, desperate playing at home.
00:38:42Go, we can beat you without Debo.
00:38:44Um, but there's maybe a little bit bigger chance than I thought when I
00:38:47said whatever I did 10 minutes ago, if I'm just going to, for simplicity,
00:38:50say, I was more like three minutes ago, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:38:53Good work by me.
00:38:53Um, moving on, speaking of good work, Patriots offense, they are, uh, their
00:38:58rankings are, are higher than you would expect by DVOA, small sample.
00:39:02Uh, you know, you can go by scoring, go by whatever EPA is great, but here's
00:39:07the DVOA rankings.
00:39:07They're 26 in passing 19th when running San Francisco's defense, not hot 15th
00:39:14against the past 24th against the run.
00:39:17And that bottom 10 ranking holds up.
00:39:20When you look at yards per carry a lot, actually they're 21st, but they're,
00:39:23they're below average yards per carry allowed four and a half this year.
00:39:26And they are actually bottom 10 by pro football focus grades.
00:39:30So I want to get into play calling.
00:39:32I wanted to get a Dinkin Bosa, but we all know the Patriots need to run
00:39:35the ball to win this game.
00:39:36How confident are you with the Niners missing Javon Hargrave, defensive
00:39:40tackle and not having great numbers when he was in there, that they can move
00:39:45the ball and do what they couldn't do against the Jets on Thursday.
00:39:48I am moderately confident that they can do that.
00:39:53And I think we saw them move people the first two weeks.
00:39:57I think we, uh, I mean, I know that I certainly complained about it quite a
00:40:01bit and it's still kind of offends me that they didn't, uh, they didn't
00:40:04have offends me that they didn't attempt to run the football much early
00:40:07in that Jets game and help contribute to the negative game script, which of
00:40:10course they are not equipped to handle.
00:40:12And I'm hoping that, uh, as Alex van Pelt said, you know, he's learning,
00:40:16he learns his lessons and he, he, as he said, I, I should have probably run
00:40:20the ball a little bit more early against the Jets.
00:40:22And hopefully he takes that with him when he goes into San Francisco, because
00:40:26it is the one thing on offense that they've done with any, um, sort of
00:40:32success at all this season.
00:40:33And like, just do it, just do it, man.
00:40:37That's, that's how you're built.
00:40:38That's how you're going to have to be in games.
00:40:40That's how you're going to have to win games.
00:40:42So that's what you got to do.
00:40:44Can we stop there for a second?
00:40:45Because the fact that Alex van Pelt is, I would say the last two games
00:40:50called the sub par game, not great.
00:40:52What is nice and refreshing.
00:40:54And I think folks at home should want this is a coach who owns up to that
00:40:58publicly and shows a little bit of humility and everything that I've
00:41:01learned about Alex van Pelt talking with him, talking to people around him,
00:41:04getting to know his background.
00:41:05I was like, that's who the dude is.
00:41:06You do not get that for many NFL coaches, let alone coordinators or
00:41:10people who have been in the league longer than my lifetime, which is
00:41:13what Alex van Pelt has been doing.
00:41:15So when he says Thursday today, like, oh yeah, it could have been better.
00:41:18I'm going to learn from my mistakes.
00:41:19That stinks.
00:41:20Cause he made a mistake in the first place.
00:41:21And if you're at home and you're pissed, be pissed.
00:41:23But it's nice to hear that when there were certain mistakes made by previous
00:41:27regime and coaches that would never fess up.
00:41:30And then we come off as a bad guy cause we're pointing it out.
00:41:32But eventually we're all watching the same thing.
00:41:36And if you own it, you can fix it and there's no extra mess.
00:41:39So I just appreciate Alex van Pelt saying that not because it makes my job easier.
00:41:43He's nice to me as the media.
00:41:45It's just like, we should all take that with our mistakes, especially publicly.
00:41:48Yeah, I, I, I appreciate it.
00:41:51And look, despite being in the league for a long time, as we've talked about
00:41:55before, uh, he hadn't called plays regularly since 2009.
00:41:59And that was a bleep show.
00:42:01I mean, literally the offensive coordinator got fired right before the season.
00:42:03So I was like, oh, and you're going to call the play.
00:42:06So it wasn't even like he was prepared to be that guy.
00:42:09And he had to learn on the fly and it, that season didn't go very well.
00:42:13And it sort of bounced around since, but this is his first real crack at it.
00:42:16And look, I've, I know you have, I've talked to experienced play callers.
00:42:20I've talked to Dable.
00:42:21I've talked to McDaniels, talked to Billy Oh about that.
00:42:24And they will all tell you, like, you're never comfortable in this job.
00:42:28Like you always go to bed.
00:42:30Like, did I, is that, should I do what, you know, you're, you're just, you're in that
00:42:34place where you're like, I think I've got us prepared, but I don't know.
00:42:37And then of course, you know, first play, somebody blows out a knee.
00:42:39And then the whole thing that you worked on is already out the window.
00:42:42And then you've got to adjust on the fly like that.
00:42:43So that's a difficult job.
00:42:46Um, but he's got to do it better.
00:42:48And he, but he knows it.
00:42:49And he's, he's telling us that.
00:42:50Yeah.
00:42:50And he even said after the first week, he didn't have enough place on his play sheet,
00:42:54which is going in all.
00:42:55But I'm, I'm sitting there going, are you serious?
00:42:57Which they, they expected than that game since then I would say one.
00:43:01So, you know, if you're a results oriented person, you don't care, but I'm going, okay,
00:43:05how does that happen?
00:43:06But they were caught off by guard by how little the Bengals blitz them just twice in that
00:43:10game.
00:43:11And I'm going, why would they blitz you?
00:43:12Your offensive line stinks.
00:43:14The goal is just to get, you know, one-on-ones or let Trey Henderson go to town anyway.
00:43:18Um, to answer my own question, I am also moderately confident.
00:43:21Patriots will run the ball because Hargrave is gone.
00:43:24Their numbers again are not good.
00:43:25Four and a half yards allowed per carry by San Francisco, and they can load the box and
00:43:28that's cool.
00:43:29But the Patriots are averaging six yards per carry when they hand the ball off there.
00:43:33Mondry Stevenson.
00:43:34And he goes behind Mike on window and they love this pet play this week inside zone.
00:43:39So you put the tight ends on the left side and you have inside zone or even sometimes
00:43:44wide zone going to the right.
00:43:45So it's like on winning against who's ever on the edge.
00:43:48If he wins that matchup, you're off to daylight.
00:43:50And that's what Stevenson has done.
00:43:51And I think they can do that almost against anyone.
00:43:53The key to me, though, will be blocking Fred Warner.
00:43:56This dude is probably the best linebacker in football.
00:43:58He also has three forced fumbles this year.
00:44:01Oh, three fumbles.
00:44:02Where have I heard that before?
00:44:03It's from Andre Stevenson.
00:44:04That can't happen.
00:44:07We're going to do prize picks, picks in a second, more or less than yards in this,
00:44:10whatever.
00:44:10He cannot put the ball on the ground.
00:44:12If he does, they should bench him for the rest of the game.
00:44:14I think that's obvious, but you know, the Niners are going to be swarming and punching
00:44:18and Fred Warner is going to be there.
00:44:19So whatever the play is, whatever direction they have to block him.
00:44:24Yeah, I don't think there's any question.
00:44:26My podcast partner, Will Parkinson for the all 32 pod was making the argument last week
00:44:32that Fred Warner might be the best player in the league.
00:44:36Wow.
00:44:37And when you look at just how much better he is at linebacker than pretty much everyone
00:44:42else and the impact that he makes and he doesn't come off the field for them.
00:44:46OK, I can start to have that conversation.
00:44:48I can be I'm intrigued by it, at least from that side of the ball.
00:44:52Of course, I'm always going to take a quarterback because that's just that's where it all starts
00:44:56and ends as far as I'm concerned.
00:44:57But like he's he's a terrific football player.
00:44:59Great instincts.
00:45:00How do you occupy him?
00:45:03Not too many teams fool him.
00:45:05You know, that is crazy.
00:45:06If you look at their numbers in the last game, they were they weren't even on the field that
00:45:10much.
00:45:10I think the offense had like it was 71 plays to 58 plays like that.
00:45:14They just some systematic breakdowns there that they have to clean up.
00:45:18So we've been to Van Pelt.
00:45:20I want to circle back to him, hit this and then get to the one matchup that more than
00:45:24Keon White against him ever.
00:45:25I think it could decide the game, even if it's neutral.
00:45:29Alex Van Pelt, what do you want to see from this game plan, which so far from every offensive
00:45:34player I've talked to, who, of course, is not going to say, hey, Kelly, by the way,
00:45:37our plan this week sucks.
00:45:39I think it's terrible.
00:45:43They are thoroughly excited about this plan.
00:45:45Jacoby Percent has even said we're going to figure out what our best runs are.
00:45:49We've done that and then we're going to build play action off of that.
00:45:51It's not revolutionary, but whatever.
00:45:53What is your opening script?
00:45:54What are your adjustments with the play calling, which are sequencing?
00:45:57What do you want to see from Alex Van Pelt on Sunday?
00:46:00So look to me, the play action stuff is a little risky because as we've seen, as we
00:46:05certainly saw against the Jets, they didn't really respect your play action all that much.
00:46:08And it led to some god awful plays and hits on Percent.
00:46:13But you certainly would, if you start to feel some confidence in that, would like to see
00:46:17a little bit more of that.
00:46:18I think the other thing for me, that the passing offense has looked its best.
00:46:22There was a stretch.
00:46:23And the way I chart games is probably would screw people up.
00:46:27But from play five to play 14 pass plays against Seattle, it was quick, quick, quick, quick,
00:46:33quick.
00:46:34And that was as good as their pass game has looked the entire season.
00:46:37The ball was coming out quickly.
00:46:39Percent was protected.
00:46:40He was like, I kept writing clean in the pocket, which pretty much before that and after that,
00:46:45I haven't been able to do for the entirety of the season.
00:46:48Look, I understand that there's probably some limit that not probably.
00:46:51There are limitations to that.
00:46:52Eventually, teams will creep up.
00:46:54But OK, then that's why Taekwon's here.
00:46:59Can you get over the top of the guy one time?
00:47:02Their longest play against the Jets was a pass interference on Taekwon.
00:47:05So like even if you didn't get the catch, he least drew the call.
00:47:08So to me, that's sort of that's what I want to see more of.
00:47:11I want it like if if you were five or five or six or six, I forget the number off the
00:47:16top of my head in the quick game the other day.
00:47:19Like, give me more of that.
00:47:20Give me give me some more of those looks.
00:47:23And whether you can double that, I don't know.
00:47:25But like do that and maybe you get a couple successful drives out of it.
00:47:29I just I need to.
00:47:30In addition to the run, that's sort of where I'm at with with the passing game.
00:47:34So you say quick game.
00:47:36I say quick pace.
00:47:38And there's a real downside here where you go three out in 30 seconds.
00:47:43And this looks bad.
00:47:44But if they want to establish more of their outside zone game, you and I both remember
00:47:49late, even like mid late in the Josh McDaniels era.
00:47:52That was their pet play in short yardage and at the goal line.
00:47:55Hurry up.
00:47:56Go outside zone.
00:47:57It's everyone's going to space or you identify who you're going to block.
00:48:00And then it's one cut and run.
00:48:02And you don't need to figure out what man you have, the angle you're taking, whatever
00:48:05the front is, you just hike and go.
00:48:08I like that.
00:48:08Now, granted, San Francisco seen a lot of wide zone because they're facing a Shanahan
00:48:12offense on the other side.
00:48:13But more tempo to wear out this pass rush, more tempo to get into quick game, more tempo
00:48:19to just kind of dictate how the game is going to go.
00:48:22And again, this could backfire very badly.
00:48:24But I don't think you have many other great options.
00:48:26And so if you have this timing, which you don't have to go no huddle tempo all the time.
00:48:32But you could use it sporadically in a way that Jacoby gets up, run quick pass, do it
00:48:36again, gets to the line, stops.
00:48:38You get a check from the sideline like a college offense.
00:48:41We take that time and use it to your advantage because I just think that plays to his strength
00:48:46as a veteran, and it will try to negate some of the advantages for an otherwise fast flowing
00:48:51defense and has a very good pass rush.
00:48:54And now we're finally at the matchup that just has me.
00:48:57I'm shaking at home.
00:48:59Nick Fossey, I don't care if it's Kane Wallace or Jermond Jacobs.
00:49:05So again, just came into our lives has really not played any NFL football is going to be
00:49:09going up against the guy who's a four time pro bowler.
00:49:11One time all pro is two stacks, six quarterback hits this season.
00:49:15And if it's Jacobs, this is the stat of the day from Zach Cox, my teammate, Darryl, he
00:49:19will be the Patriots 13th different starting left tackle since the start of the 2022 season.
00:49:28So good luck to him.
00:49:30Besides wishing good luck, what is your plan for both who could single handedly wreck this
00:49:35game and even if the Patriots hold onto a sack and three quarterback hits like that's
00:49:38a win for San Francisco.
00:49:39By the way, quick shout out to Zach, who's now the your beat writer for the Boston Celtics
00:49:43over there at the Herald, but also also bringing the noise with the with the football coverage
00:49:47as well as we know how well involved he's been on the beat for years and years and years.
00:49:52Look, I'm help.
00:49:53I'm not like I don't.
00:49:56I'm sending one guy less than the best into into into the routes.
00:50:00I'm just I can't.
00:50:02I'm chipping.
00:50:02I'm keeping it tight end in there.
00:50:04I'm just not unless your tape tells you like, look, he's had the rib injury, which he said
00:50:09he aggravated last week prior to the game.
00:50:11Unless you you you realize early on that it's not the same guy, then I think that's how
00:50:17I mean, I think you have to plan like it is that guy.
00:50:19And maybe you adjust if it if he proves that he's not that guy.
00:50:22But if he is like he can, Alex is right.
00:50:25He can ruin the game and you can't let him ruin the game without Hargrave up there, you
00:50:30know, makes him a little bit.
00:50:32Less sort of a doomsday scenario on that defensive line challenging you, but like if I mean,
00:50:38if you're trotting out Jacobs or low like that's Wallace, that's a brutal matchup for
00:50:43any of those guys.
00:50:44That's a brutal matchup for any.
00:50:46That's a brutal matchup for the good tackles.
00:50:47So you're and you're not you're not running out good tackles right now.
00:50:51So my plan for Nick Bosa and I I'm going to remember I think it was Houston.
00:50:58Sorry, kidnap him.
00:50:59No kidnap who who played the Cowboys recently and the remarks afterward was like, oh my
00:51:05God, this is the best plan.
00:51:07Micah Parsons had ever seen.
00:51:08They completely took him out of the game.
00:51:09Oh, it was New Orleans.
00:51:10It was New Orleans.
00:51:11So that's another Clint Kubiak, our offensive coordinator, is new this year came from the
00:51:1549er staff.
00:51:16Alex Van Pelt, the bones of the offense are similar, but the point of that plan for the
00:51:20Saints week to absolutely kick the Cowboys ass all over the place was how many different
00:51:24things they threw at him, understanding just like Bosa, he can wreck the game.
00:51:29And this is a staple of Patriots offense is going back to Charlie Weiss and dealing with
00:51:32Dwight Freeney like great quarterbacks.
00:51:35You throw everything at the great pass rusher.
00:51:38You should not be comfortable there.
00:51:40We are going to run at you.
00:51:42We are going to run play action away from you.
00:51:44We are going to chip you.
00:51:45We are going to double team you.
00:51:46We're going to have trap blocks.
00:51:48We might chop block if we can.
00:51:50I want a rotating cast a spin the dial offensively at that guy.
00:51:56So even if it causes him to hesitate for a split second, that's a split second that
00:52:00Jacoby Brissett has to get off a pass before.
00:52:02Inevitably, he gets crunched into the earth through San Francisco and pops up somewhere
00:52:06in East Asia because they need that and that's going to happen.
00:52:09And so I just you have to keep him up out.
00:52:11There's no way that's my dream.
00:52:13Jacob should be one on one with Nick Bosa more than eight times in this game.
00:52:17You just you just cannot have it.
00:52:18That is asking for trouble and arguably for a loss because again, this is the biggest
00:52:22matchup in football.
00:52:23I think in week four when you say eight times to I hope you mean when they're running it
00:52:27to the complete opposite side of the field such that you can just leave him over there
00:52:30on his own like an eight drop backs.
00:52:32You know, if it's three step room like whatever it is, you know, or kneel downs include those.
00:52:36I don't know.
00:52:37Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm I'm with you.
00:52:39Like you just he's too good of a player and you've seen him do it against the best of
00:52:44the best and you're not bringing the best of the best.
00:52:46So I mean, that's there's no question that we heard Alex today say, you know, when he
00:52:51builds an offense and when they're when they're when they're working on the plan, it's like
00:52:54it starts with the quarterback.
00:52:56In this case, it starts with the quarterback, but it also it also goes over there when you're
00:53:00looking at Bosa saying like, all right, well, whatever we're going to do with the quarterback,
00:53:04we got to make sure this guy isn't ruining the quarterback because they'll ruin the quarterback
00:53:07and ruin the game.
00:53:08And and then you're flying home one and three, which you may end up doing anyway, but make
00:53:12somebody else do it to you.
00:53:14We did not talk about receivers of tight ends.
00:53:16I, I don't feel particularly inclined to do that just because you're talking about an
00:53:21offense that had fewer than 100 passing yards last week.
00:53:24You're talking about an offense that has not produced as many total yards as Brock Purdy
00:53:29has had passing yards.
00:53:30So I hope they feed Pop Douglas.
00:53:33I talked about him last week.
00:53:34I think you're going to the quick game.
00:53:35We're hoping for the same.
00:53:36Yes, yeah, 100%.
00:53:38Okay, and if play action hits, which I think needs to be a bigger part of this offense,
00:53:41granted, they need to block it first.
00:53:43And that's been touch and go.
00:53:44That'll free up space over the middle of the field.
00:53:46Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper, there will be plays to be made.
00:53:49I just can't reliably tell you listening at home or watching or whatever.
00:53:52This is a key to the game or this definitely will happen because we saw DeMario Douglas
00:53:58being witness protection in weeks one and two.
00:54:00And then the Patriots throw for less than 100 yards in week three when he started.
00:54:03So we'll all cross our fingers and hope the Patriots get to 150, which by the way, if
00:54:08you think Jacoby percent is going to throw for more than 150 yards, go to price fix,
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00:54:31So you pick more than half a yard because obviously he's going to have more than that.
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00:55:07Ideally, season record for the record.
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00:55:32Okay.
00:55:33The price picks picks of the week.
00:55:34And then we're going to get to three matchups, two keys, one wild card thought prediction.
00:55:38Get out of here, which sounds like a lot, but we're going to go much quicker than we
00:55:41have so far.
00:55:43My price picks picks of the week.
00:55:46More than 69 and a half total yards.
00:55:48Reminder, Stevenson, I just have to hope and pray to your God of choice that he holds onto
00:55:54the football.
00:55:54If he does, there are a lot of check downs to be had.
00:55:57There are rushing yards.
00:55:58I think they're going to pick up more than they did against the Jets pair that with more
00:56:01than half a passing yard for Caleb Williams and parent also with more than nine and a
00:56:05half rush yards for Brock Purdy, who has rushed for more than nine and a half yards in every
00:56:11single game this season.
00:56:12Not to mention what is the Patriots big problem on defense right now?
00:56:15Oh, keeping the quarterback in the pocket.
00:56:18I think they'll be better, but not good enough to keep Brock Purdy from going 30 feet and
00:56:23getting more than nine and a half rushing yards.
00:56:25So there you go.
00:56:25Caleb Williams, more than half a passing yard.
00:56:28Reminder, Stevenson, more than 69 and a half total yards.
00:56:30Brock Purdy, more than nine and a half rush yards.
00:56:33Thank you very much, Mike.
00:56:34You're fantastic.
00:56:35I have two for you.
00:56:36Oh, good.
00:56:37Yes, Chase Brown running back for the Bengals 9.5 yards receiving more than more than and
00:56:46Joe Burrow in that same game sticking with that same game more than 11 and a half yards
00:56:51rushing.
00:56:52Take it to the bank.
00:56:53Will they play if it doesn't go to the bank?
00:56:55Blame Callahan.
00:56:56Who is he playing Carolina?
00:57:00Oh, my God.
00:57:01Take Bengals more everything.
00:57:03I don't know.
00:57:04More fans in the stands.
00:57:05I don't even care if that's in Charlotte.
00:57:07That also is possible.
00:57:08Yes, big bangles more than.
00:57:10Okay, let's get to the 321 matchup again.
00:57:12Folks are new.
00:57:13Three matchups, two keys, one wild card found a prediction three matchups.
00:57:17I think we can agree.
00:57:19Nick Bosa versus Caden Wallace or Demetri Jacobs is number one on this list.
00:57:22Yes, yes.
00:57:24Okay, we just talked about them.
00:57:26Next matchup.
00:57:29Devon Drake Campbell, who's the one of the inside linebackers for the 49ers, has not
00:57:34played particularly well.
00:57:35They tried to replace him during the last game.
00:57:37The replacement got hurt.
00:57:39I believe it was a hamstring.
00:57:40So I think it's winters is the guy's name.
00:57:43So questionable.
00:57:44He had to come back out there.
00:57:46He has been nothing remotely like the guy who was in Green Bay before he fell out of
00:57:52favor in Green Bay.
00:57:53And when you combine that with Hargrave's absence, there might be a little path right
00:57:57there to shove the ball down their throats.
00:58:01Sounds good.
00:58:02Sounds great.
00:58:03You want to quick.
00:58:03I gave you quick.
00:58:04Yeah, it doesn't matter whether it's the guard center.
00:58:07Get after it.
00:58:08Well, in that spirit, I'm going to pick Keone White, where I think you and I are in agreement.
00:58:12He'll be parked mostly on the defense's left or across from the 49ers right tackle.
00:58:16You're going to pick and play matchup ball if they want to run the other way.
00:58:19That's cool.
00:58:20We'll load up over there because Keone White's your best defensive player right now.
00:58:23All due respect to Christian Gonzalez.
00:58:25That's what he's playing like.
00:58:27And the Patriots need him to have a big game.
00:58:29If they're going to win Keone White versus whatever 49ers offense alignment he's facing
00:58:34Nick Bosa versus Demantre Jacobs or Caden Wallace.
00:58:38And then your guy, not your guy, Demantre Campbell against reminder Stevenson, who I
00:58:43will say this only broke two tackles against the Jets.
00:58:45I'm not sure that number is going to be much higher because the Niners are the third best
00:58:49tackling team in the league right now, according to the PFF and PFF, Brain Assault, yada yada.
00:58:53But your top three, you're not probably by any metric out of the top 10 or 12.
00:58:59So they're a sure tackling team.
00:59:02Two keys.
00:59:03What do you got?
00:59:05So I look at San Francisco's running game and I say, can you hold them under four yards
00:59:09of rush, which is not easy.
00:59:12But like if you want to sort of control the way they operate and take that part of their
00:59:18game away, put more on Purdy with yes, an underperforming Iuke Jennings, who you may
00:59:24have answers for if you decide to match up with Gonzalez and then.
00:59:28Not expecting Kittle unsure about Debo Samuel, but like even if they are out there, are they
00:59:33going to be themselves?
00:59:34And when Samuel's not out there, Bell's been their third receiver and he has been hot garbage
00:59:39ball, hit him off the face mask the other day, could have won him the game.
00:59:42Like there's a big drop off between Iuke Jennings and who's next when Debo is not there.
00:59:49I think that's fair.
00:59:50Mine is black Fred Warner.
00:59:51Again, we talk about blocking Nick Bosa when you're running the football.
00:59:55If he's got 12, 13, 14, 15 tackles or more, it's probably bad news.
01:00:00You need to get to the third level, make their safety tackles, involve their corners in the
01:00:05run game.
01:00:05And whether it's David Andrews or Lane Robinson or city, so hopefully comes back this week
01:00:10and he's practiced three times already Monday, Wednesday, not Thursday.
01:00:13They need to get to Fred Warner and lock him up and hold on and don't let go.
01:00:18Because he is the biggest threat to reminder.
01:00:20Stevenson, aside from whomever is up front, three force fumbles, bunch of tackles, all
01:00:25pros, all that block Fred Warner in the run game.
01:00:27That's a concerning matchup just in terms of like, as you mentioned, city hasn't played
01:00:31for a while.
01:00:32So him getting his legs underneath him is the guy that's been starting.
01:00:35Michael Jordan has been has been out with injury.
01:00:38So you're not sure he's going to be available in the game because I would imagine you probably
01:00:42want to at least get city some rest during the course of the game.
01:00:47If that's the case, and you might not have Jordan.
01:00:49And then obviously Laden Robinson has been it's been a roller coaster.
01:00:52He's been awfully good at times and he's been awfully bad at times.
01:00:55And that's what you get when you have a rookie in the lineup.
01:00:58Yeah, wildcard thought this is anything tangential to the game.
01:01:01Another matchup, something on the field, off the field, history, whatever it is.
01:01:06Dwight Clark was one of my favorite receivers all time.
01:01:09Cool.
01:01:10Yeah, absolutely phenomenal.
01:01:12I had the picture of the catch was on my was on my wall for eons.
01:01:16I think he even brought it to college with me.
01:01:18Like, that's how long that stayed with me.
01:01:20This isn't why you always told me your best friend growing up was Dwight.
01:01:23Is it the poster?
01:01:26You weren't supposed to say that out loud to the people.
01:01:30So like, yeah, you know, back in the day, Andrew, because again, I'm significantly older
01:01:36than you.
01:01:38We didn't have the option to watch all these games.
01:01:40There was a game and the Patriots were almost never on because they were blacked out because
01:01:44they couldn't sell out the damn place because they stumped.
01:01:46So you got a lot of Giants games.
01:01:49And then the late window was usually San Francisco or Dallas.
01:01:52And you would get that as the other game.
01:01:54So there was a period of time in which I had adopted the 49ers as my team, because again,
01:01:59we didn't have the ability.
01:02:01There was no Internet.
01:02:02There was not all these things where you could watch other teams and clips and all that sort
01:02:05of stuff.
01:02:06And yeah, Dwight Clark, that was my dude for a long time.
01:02:10So that has inspired me to offer different wildcard thought, but I'll say the other one.
01:02:14While I look up the name of the book that I want to share, at least give credit to the
01:02:18author.
01:02:19This is a new stadium for me.
01:02:20I don't have many of these left.
01:02:21Never been to San Francisco.
01:02:23Patriots haven't been there.
01:02:24Never been to their stadium, which is really, you know, you don't love it, which is cool,
01:02:30but I'm excited to go.
01:02:31I know David Andrews is excited to go because he's checked off a couple of new stadiums
01:02:35this year, never played in Cincinnati.
01:02:36And those are the small things where, again, if this is we're starting down the path, we
01:02:41all expected to go at the beginning of the season, three and 14, four and 13.
01:02:45You got to count the little victories or the little things along the way.
01:02:49Like, I'm sorry, I'm so excited for this trip.
01:02:52We're flying out tomorrow.
01:02:54We're going to stay over Friday night, Saturday night, and then take a red eye home Sunday.
01:02:57And I'm going to go to a Giants game.
01:02:59And we're going to have a lot of travel tales after this, which is just not me getting a
01:03:03little drunk with my wife's cousin and her new boyfriend and uncle and having a great
01:03:06time.
01:03:07It will be a lot of stuff out there in San Francisco, including this new stadium, which
01:03:10will have a full breakdown.
01:03:12Now, the other one I just thought of since you brought up Dwight Clark, I read a biography
01:03:16of Bill Walsh called The Genius.
01:03:17It's written by David Harris.
01:03:19Outstanding.
01:03:20There's a lot of stuff in here, too, I will say for Patriots fans.
01:03:23You'll see ideas that Belichick became known for that Bill Walsh really installed first
01:03:28and then wrote in his basically his coaching manual called The Winning Edge, which has
01:03:32become a very rare sought after book.
01:03:35I have a copy in coaching circles across the NFL.
01:03:37Seth Wickersham wrote an awesome article about this book.
01:03:40Anyway, some of those ideas and concepts cutting players a year too early versus too
01:03:44late.
01:03:44They're all in The Genius during The Winning Edge.
01:03:47So pick up The Genius if you can.
01:03:48It's about Bill Walsh, the Niners.
01:03:49Really, really, really good read.
01:03:50Even if you don't care about the Niners, you've never been to their stadium.
01:03:52So there you go.
01:03:54Prediction time.
01:03:55What do you got?
01:03:5924, 13, 49ers.
01:04:03So you're doing the they cover it, but just barely.
01:04:06Yeah, yeah.
01:04:08Look, I don't again.
01:04:09I don't think the Patriots were as bad as what we saw on Thursday night.
01:04:12I expect a more representative effort, a tougher effort, a more physical effort.
01:04:17Significantly less mistakes defensively in terms of the simple things like tackling.
01:04:22And I think, you know, we're Debo McCaffrey kiddo.
01:04:28Where are you?
01:04:29The IUC of last year, you know, like those sorts of things.
01:04:32Then I would say this is like a 37 to 13 runaway.
01:04:35But I get there.
01:04:36You're catching them.
01:04:37If you can catch them at a good time.
01:04:38This is about the best time you can catch them at.
01:04:41And I think they keep it relatively close.
01:04:44Yeah, I think that's fair.
01:04:46You know, good teams.
01:04:46You want to get them early in the season before they build this habit.
01:04:49Settle into who they are.
01:04:50The injury things are one part.
01:04:51I mean, you'd love to have Juwan Valley for this game.
01:04:53Don't get me wrong.
01:04:54So it's not like the Patriots timing is great, very low.
01:04:57Now this savior of the offense that everyone is poopooing, whatever they could.
01:05:02You're hoping to have.
01:05:03They won't probably.
01:05:04And we're going to get the injury report after we finish recording,
01:05:06because it's still not 7 o'clock yet.
01:05:08I'm going to go 2610.
01:05:09This has a very similar feel.
01:05:11I think it will play out in a way like the last or two times ago.
01:05:14And they were ten and a half point dogs.
01:05:16They were at Kansas City in 2020, and they're hanging around for three quarters.
01:05:20And it's a good plan.
01:05:20They had some screw ups in the red zone, and the Chiefs get a defensive score.
01:05:24And the whole game are like, I can't believe they're doing this.
01:05:27And then you just kind of let the rope go at the end.
01:05:30But that was the exact score of that game.
01:05:32I think it's going to be the same one this time around,
01:05:34because I think their defense will hold up.
01:05:36But we know the Niners are committed to running the ball over and over and over again.
01:05:41I think it's just going to wear down a Patriots team that just doesn't have the
01:05:43depth right now to withstand it in a way that San Francisco, in addition to the star power,
01:05:48can just bring up guys from their second string that are better than your starters.
01:05:52And it just it just wears you out.
01:05:55You know, I have one final note to all this.
01:05:57We didn't really talk about Brock Purdy.
01:05:59Like, it's sort of like the piece of the puzzle.
01:06:01He's really good.
01:06:03He's really good.
01:06:04He's not Mahomes, obviously, or Josh or Lamar.
01:06:08Like, he's not in that class.
01:06:09But he operates that offense so efficiently.
01:06:13And he cleaned up his delivery a little bit.
01:06:15It's a little shorter.
01:06:15It's a little quicker.
01:06:17He's playing at a really high level.
01:06:18He's good.
01:06:20He's good.
01:06:20He's going to get paid.
01:06:21And I, you know, like some of these guys that get paid, you're like,
01:06:24you really want to do that?
01:06:25And I'm sure there'll be some people who say the same thing.
01:06:27I think he's a perfect fit for what they're doing.
01:06:30Yeah, athletic enough.
01:06:31Good processor.
01:06:32Four touchdowns, one pick.
01:06:34They're winning with and because of him.
01:06:37He's not driving the whole thing, obviously.
01:06:38But I think that's one where we don't have to make it so binary.
01:06:41Is it Brock Purdy or is it not?
01:06:43Like, everyone's contributing.
01:06:44And he's contributing now specifically more than he did before.
01:06:49Say a game like in Minnesota, they could have lost that early
01:06:52if he'd lost his mind against all of the spinning pressures
01:06:54that Minnesota was throwing at him.
01:06:55But anyway, he's never been better as far as I can see.
01:06:57Great under pressure.
01:06:58I'm with you.
01:06:59Probably should have talked a little bit more about the post.
01:07:02There's so many other things, but he's just a good player.
01:07:05He's just become one of those guys.
01:07:08I'm surprised if I look at a box score now,
01:07:10I'm like, oh, Purdy had a bad game.
01:07:12Like, I just don't really see that from him.
01:07:14Yeah.
01:07:15Another good player coming up to wrap up this episode.
01:07:17Kyle Duggar on a four-minute drill.
01:07:19You get to learn that he was an excellent breaker-upper back in the day.
01:07:23And he'll take you inside a captain's meeting just barely.
01:07:25It's the last question we have from him from the locker room.
01:07:27We will be back next week.
01:07:29More new guests.
01:07:30We'll have film Mondays based on everything that happened.
01:07:32Until then, say goodbye to Mike Giardi.
01:07:34Thank you, sir.
01:07:35Bye-bye.
01:07:36Wrapping up another episode.
01:07:37As promised, Kyle Duggar here for a four-minute drill.
01:07:39You know the drill.
01:07:40Football questions on Football Questions.
01:07:42We start the clock.
01:07:42We get out of here.
01:07:44Here we go.
01:07:45Number one, if you could hit this teammate every single day in practice, who would it be?
01:07:51Hit his teammate.
01:07:52Pop.
01:07:53Pop.
01:07:53Why?
01:07:54Yeah.
01:07:54Pop talk a lot.
01:07:55Okay.
01:07:57Kyle Duggar gets into an Uber.
01:07:58Do you share when someone asks inevitably,
01:08:01oh, what do you do for a living?
01:08:02Do you're an NFL player?
01:08:03How do you handle the Uber?
01:08:05I say I play ball typically.
01:08:09I don't really share unless they keep digging.
01:08:11I don't want to lie.
01:08:13But no, I don't share at first.
01:08:14You don't lie at all?
01:08:15I don't like to lie.
01:08:16No.
01:08:17Because ball only invites more questions, right?
01:08:19Is it baseball?
01:08:19Is it football?
01:08:20Basketball?
01:08:21Sometimes.
01:08:22Yeah.
01:08:22You can tell they want to ask questions, but they don't.
01:08:24And those are usually the people I appreciate.
01:08:27But yeah.
01:08:28It depends.
01:08:30All right.
01:08:30What's a name an opponent you played against you find is super underrated by the media?
01:08:36Ooh, an opponent.
01:08:38You're gonna have to give me some time for that one.
01:08:40Yeah, I would have to think about it.
01:08:41I can't really think of anybody off the top.
01:08:43Okay.
01:08:43We'll come back to it.
01:08:45Going back to non-football.
01:08:46What's something in your house as a parent you do
01:08:52that makes you either a good cop or a bad cop?
01:08:53And are you a good cop or bad cop at home?
01:08:56I'm definitely bad cop.
01:08:58For sure.
01:08:59Why?
01:09:00Because when I come home, my son at two already knows.
01:09:05He gets to look.
01:09:06He knows I'm gonna be on him.
01:09:07Pretty tough about things.
01:09:09I make my two-year-old clean up, message, and stand there until he finishes cleaning it.
01:09:15Because he's really smart.
01:09:16So I know he can do it.
01:09:17And I don't think he appreciates that too much.
01:09:19But I got to do it.
01:09:21That sounds like something you had to do.
01:09:22Oh, for sure.
01:09:23Yeah.
01:09:24Chores was non-negotiable.
01:09:26Okay.
01:09:26Let's say you hear something in the media and you stand next to them until they get this right.
01:09:30What's something that's a misconception or it's been said that you want them to clean up that mess?
01:09:34Something you could clean up for good.
01:09:35We say this.
01:09:36It's not true about football.
01:09:39About football and myself.
01:09:40About football.
01:09:46I would say just how easy it is in general.
01:09:51I feel like a lot of people, when they watch it,
01:09:53they're like, oh, it's easy.
01:09:55Just do this.
01:09:57See it this way.
01:09:57It should be easy to see.
01:09:59So I think just seeing things how they are and how they look to us on the field is a big difference
01:10:05between the media and ourselves.
01:10:06And I don't think it's as easy as they may think it is.
01:10:09Okay.
01:10:09This just in from Kyle Duggar.
01:10:10Football very, very hard.
01:10:12And he's excellent at it.
01:10:13Belichick lowlights are famous here.
01:10:16The tapes they used to play in meetings.
01:10:17Can you take us to one moment where you got roasted in particular?
01:10:21What was the game?
01:10:21What did Bill say?
01:10:23How did you feel when that came up?
01:10:25Uh, so we played the Raiders last year.
01:10:28Um, I had to play in the middle of the field where I dove down, um, to cover Devonta Adams.
01:10:35Unprovoked.
01:10:35There was no reason to do so.
01:10:37Um, and left the middle of the field wide open.
01:10:39And yeah, he laid into me pretty good.
01:10:42Just far as, you know, let me know that I was basically as bad as it gets, you know,
01:10:46at that position and let me know that that was an awful mistake that I made.
01:10:50So you're smiling, but that stung.
01:10:53Yeah, it hurt pretty good.
01:10:55I mean, good pain.
01:10:56I say that I learned from it.
01:10:57All right, getting close to the end.
01:10:58When Kyle Duggar in the past broke up with someone, how did he deliver the news?
01:11:04Face to face.
01:11:05Face to face.
01:11:06Okay, let's do it right now.
01:11:07We're face to face.
01:11:09I mean, I ain't breaking up with y'all.
01:11:10Yeah, I can't really re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re
01:11:40It's a very open conversation I say that it's not like
01:11:45One guy and everybody just like kind of you know
01:11:49Listen, it's just a very open talk
01:11:51And it's very I think everybody's very receptive in there
01:11:55And I don't think people most people would think it'd be like that especially with the head coach in the meeting
01:11:59So I think that's a one thing people might not expect well
01:12:02We go over for the first time in four-minute drill history
01:12:04But that's because Kyle as he said likes the long conversations whether it's breaking up with you or staying together here with me
01:12:09Kyle appreciate the time and best luck on Sunday