How do the Patriots match up with the Rams? | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast - video Dailymotion

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Greg Bedard and Nick Cattles preview the Patriots vs. Rams game this weekend, where both teams will look to build some momentum and reposition themselves in the playoff race. Can Drake Maye continue his impressive form? Will Christian Barmore suit up? Can the defense figure out how to contain Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp?  0:00 - Intro 0:50 - Christian Barmore update 3:00 - Expectations for Barmore 5:00 - Alex Van Pelt's coaching impact 6:34 - Understanding NFL offense 9:11 - Coaches stepping up 10:42 - Praise for Van Pelt 13:29 - Concerns about backsliding 15:49 - Daboll's future 18:41 - Adapting offensive strategies 20:50 - AVP's media comments 24:44 - Kendrick Bourne's role 26:39 - Rams offense analysis 30:50 - Third down issues 32:46 - Patriots defense strategy 34:45 - Rams defense analysis 39:45 - Patriots offensive challenges 44:06 - Close game expected 46:19 - Rams win prediction   ************************************************ Patriots Content Brought to you by.... 💰 Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS at PrizePicks.com/CLNS & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!  🎫 Gametime - https://gametime.co Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!  Merch Store - https://shop.clnsmedia.com  Social Media!!!! 🏈 Patriots Twitter- https://twitter.com/patriotsclns 🏈 Patriots Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/patriotsclns/ 🔵 Facebook- https://facebook.com/clnsmedia 🔵 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/clnsmedia/about/ 💟 Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clnsmedia ********************************************************* 🏈 ABOUT PATRIOTS COVERAGE ON CLNS: 🏈  Welcome to the CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for New England Patriots 🏈 football.  CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the 6X Super Bowl Champions.  Get complete inside access to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and everywhere on the road. CLNS Patriots credentialed insiders Greg Bedard, Andrew Callahan, Tayler Kyles, John Zannis, Alex Barth and Mike Kadlick provide instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else inside Patriots Place.  If you enjoy CLNS’ Celtics 🍀 All Access and are craving more Boston sports content, you head over to CLNS’ Patriots 🏈 Press Pass at  🔴 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqX7G3pEDTseNxtoDU27PEg?sub_confirmations=1 🔴  __________________________________________________________________________ 🍀 For Celtics Content:  🔴  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1 🔴 🔴 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1 🔴 🏀 🍀 Celtics Twitter - https://twitter.com/CelticsCLNS

Transcript

00:00This is the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.

00:10Can this Patriots team actually win three out of four games?

00:13Well, we'll talk about the Rams-Pats matchup coming up in just a minute.

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00:48All right.

00:49The biggest news, Gregg, this week has to be Christian Barmore.

00:52He's back at practice today.

00:54Are you surprised by this development?

00:59Am I surprised?

01:00Yeah, I mean, I guess so.

01:03I mean, I think at the time we said, you know, everybody's different.

01:09You know, that I think, you know, whenever this happened, it was towards, so it was like

01:13a late August or something like that.

01:18I think, you know, at the time it was basically like three months of, you know, going through

01:24the medicine, you know, whatever, the treatment for blood clots.

01:29Basically, it's like you need to be on blood thinners for like three months and then you

01:32need to be off blood thinners for like three months.

01:37So, you know, it was looking sketchy.

01:42Maybe he got back by, you know, maybe December.

01:46Right now it's the middle of November.

01:49So you know, things have gone well.

01:51I mean, it was, I will say that the team at the time when they got the diagnosis, they

01:57were not optimistic that he was going to play at all this season.

02:00I do think we're still along the timeline of, you know, the way that people talk today

02:07down there, whether it was DeMarcus Covington or Jerry Montgomery.

02:11It was a lot of like, look, it's just good to get him back on the field.

02:15Let's keep expectations in check.

02:18So, and I'm not sure exactly how it works.

02:20Like, I don't think this is like coming off of IR where like they just opened up the 21

02:28day window because he was on non-football injury list.

02:33I think he can be on there for a while, sort of while he's like trying it out.

02:37So we don't know whether he's ever going to come off that list.

02:41But I think, you know, you're looking at a timeframe of a couple of weeks, them seeing

02:46how things go and then, you know, maybe around December 1st, somewhere, maybe late

02:51November, they decide, you know, whether it's, it's worth it to do this or, you know,

02:57what have you, but, you know, I would say the odds were long that he was going to be

03:02back this season so that he's back.

03:06You know, I think it's a pleasant surprise.

03:09You look back, it's a late July.

03:11So July 28th is the ESPN story saying that he was diagnosed with the blood clots over

03:17that weekend.

03:18So if you go by the three month thing, as you said, you have to be on medication for

03:23three months.

03:24We know that when he was stopped by Providence police, his mother said that he was on

03:29medication and blood thinners.

03:30So at that point, which was middle of October, he was still on those blood thinners.

03:35So it looks like it would have to be late October when he likely gets off of those.

03:40So it's been, it's been about two weeks since he's been off of, of the blood

03:44thinners you would have to imagine.

03:45So I think it's all relatively speaking, you know what I mean?

03:48I think we got to keep our expectations at a reasonable level.

03:52Uh, of course, excitement, uh, I'm happy that he's back on the field because it

03:56means the young man is healthy, which was all, which is always great.

03:59And was priority number one from the very beginning of this, you know, couldn't care

04:03less about his football career.

04:04You want to know that he's healthy and he's good as a young man.

04:07And, uh, so obviously him hitting the practice field tells us that now it's

04:12just, can he get himself ready?

04:14And if he gets out there and he plays a game, how much do you expect him to do?

04:19What are reasonable expectations?

04:20I think we've got to make sure we don't go too fast here with Christian

04:25Barmore and understand the situation he just went through and, and.

04:28Especially not to expect him to walk out there and look like an all pro or a pro

04:33bowler, uh, if he does great, I mean, then we're all pleasantly surprised

04:38and very happy about that, but let's keep everything kind of in, in relative

04:42terms and understand what he just went through, uh, meanwhile, Greg, your

04:45buddy, Bert Breer, a very complimentary of the job Alex van Pelt has done with

04:50Drake may, uh, I know you have not been as complimentary, which apparently I

04:55did not know has, has rubbed some people the wrong way, beetle and so, uh, your

05:00thoughts, your thoughts on, uh, Bert Breer's comments about AVP, the job he's

05:04done in his future here in new England.

05:07Um, well, I'm a little bit, so I don't know what you're referencing.

05:11Maybe, maybe Bert said something in the interim.

05:14I mean, I, I was more curious.

05:16I wasn't sure if we talked about his quote unquote report, thanks to badgering

05:20from Felger that the crafts have been gathering information on how,

05:26Oh, all right.

05:27You want to talk about that part of the, the quarterback and how

05:29to develop the young quarterback?

05:31Yeah.

05:32Okay.

05:33Unless you're referencing something else that I'm not aware of.

05:35Well, Bert had just said that he, he thought that AVP has done a very good

05:39job with Drake may, and then he's continued to improve and he looks like

05:42a different guy from what he looked like in August and I know that's not what,

05:46what you see, so I was asking you about that part, but if you want to go to the

05:50craft side about him looking at young quarterback play and, and how to develop

05:54a young quarterback, how to take care of that quarterback, go right ahead.

05:57It is your podcast, Greg.

06:00Uh, well, I mean, on the other thing on Alex van Pelt, I mean, as far as

06:03Drake may, um, you know, I do think he's done a good job with Drake may.

06:10I mean, you know, it's sort of a chicken and the egg type of thing on, you know,

06:17would Drake may be, you know, would he be better if they ramped up his

06:22preparation and he played week one?

06:24I still believe, I still believe that.

06:26And even some of Drake's comments this week, when he basically said, like, he

06:30thinks he's still the same player that he was in college.

06:33He's still sort of making the same plays.

06:34I mean, does he have, does he have more of an understanding of

06:38this scheme and NFL offense?

06:40Yes.

06:41But I don't think that's Alex van Pelt specific.

06:44I think that would have largely happened with, you know, any offensive coordinator.

06:48And remember there's two other people, TC McCartney and Ben

06:51McAdoo are involved, um, in, in the training of, of Drake may.

06:56Um, so, but I do think I, there's no question in my mind that Alex van

07:01Pelt is a good NFL quarterback coach.

07:05Is he a good NFL coordinator, offensive coordinator?

07:09I think the jury's still out.

07:10I mean, certainly the bears game was promising.

07:13I need to see more.

07:14Of that, but his job is just, you know, sorry to the people who think

07:19everything is about Drake may this year.

07:21Like his job isn't to just develop the quarterback, his job, because

07:25they do have a quarterbacks coach.

07:26They do have Ben McAdoo.

07:28His job is to coordinate an NFL offense.

07:30And I do think that's been underwhelming largely to this point, as far as Bert's

07:36reporting about the crafts and sort of what it means, um, from what I know about

07:43it, um, you know, I, I, they are, they are doing things in the background.

07:51What exactly that means and the timing of it, I do think is important.

07:55I, I, I know this has not been a tightly held secret, um, that the crafts have

08:04been doing this and a lot of it, when I heard about it, um, it was more,

08:09it was sort of in crisis time.

08:11It was sort of around the one in six start around there.

08:15Um, which at that time, Nick, I think you would agree.

08:19We were just like, I don't know which way the season's going.

08:23I mean, if it continues to be a dumpster fire, everybody could be out.

08:27Now they've steadied a bit since then.

08:31Um, you know, maybe some of this word got back to Alex Van Pelt and other

08:36people and Gerard Mayo, and they started to step their game up.

08:38I do think that the coaches stepped their game up in terms of, especially

08:42in the bears game, where we talked about, you know, the things I look

08:45from a coaching staff are solve problems on your own team.

08:49Uh, first of all, I don't want to hear about personnel.

08:51Your personnel is your personnel.

08:52You need to figure out a way to solve problems on your own team.

08:56And you need to present, uh, difficulties to the opposing

09:00team in all three phases.

09:01And I think finally we saw that against the bears.

09:04You can make your arguments as did we see it in some other games as well,

09:08but there's no question.

09:09I think they've stepped their game up that way.

09:11Um, you know, do I necessarily think that they are shopping

09:14for Alex Van Pelt's replacement?

09:18No, I do think that the crafts are just have been on a fact finding

09:22mission of sorts to figure out.

09:24I think, I think their primary motivation for what they've been doing in the

09:30background is to that, that they're going forward with Gerard Mayo again.

09:36And I said, that was likely, unless it was a complete dumpster

09:38fire, uh, which it has not been.

09:42Um, how do they, I don't think they had all the information on Gerard Mayo.

09:47They obviously have more information on him and his coaches now during an actual

09:53NFL season and going through this.

09:55And they're trying to figure out how do they better support Gerard

09:58Mayo and the young quarterback?

10:00It's not just Drake may, how do they better support Gerard Mayo and the young

10:05quarterback going forward?

10:07And I don't think they, I don't think they went into this to be like Alex

10:10Van Pelt sucks as an offensive coordinator.

10:12We need to make a move.

10:13I I'm just think, I think they're doing their due diligence somewhat after the

10:17fact, but I think that's really what it's about than just like replacing the

10:22offensive coordinator, if that makes any sense at all, I mean, I guess it's good.

10:26They finally got there, even if it was a little bit too late, uh, regarding AVP.

10:30I found it interesting.

10:31All the comments that were made yesterday, Gerard Mayo coming out and being very

10:36complimentary saying that there's nobody that is, you know, more responsible for

10:41Drake Mays improvement than van Pelt and may came out and sung van Pelt's praises.

10:48And Hunter Henry said that he, he really appreciates and loves the football

10:52mind of van Pelt and the game planning of van Pelt.

10:55Now, of course, I don't expect any of those people to come out and publicly

10:59throw van Pelt under the bus when asked about the offensive coordinator.

11:03But I do think taking that extra step in praising him is what we heard yesterday.

11:08My question to you, Greg is how tough would it be for the Patriots to let AVP

11:15go if he does have a strong grasp on the room and the room loves him.

11:21And Drake may feel super comfortable with him.

11:23I know, you know, you got to look at what's on the field product on the field,

11:27but how much more difficult does it get for this organization to wave goodbye to

11:30AVP if he is beloved in that room and guys believe that he can get the job done in

11:352025, I don't think it's, I don't think it's a huge issue.

11:41I mean, the biggest thing is, um, in terms of, you know, what

11:47they, what they do going forward.

11:48Let's say they decide to, you know, make a change at offensive coordinator.

11:55And by the way, I don't think the crafts would be doing any sort of due diligence

12:00unless, uh, Gerard Mayo sort of gave him a wink and a nod type of thing.

12:06Yeah.

12:06Because I think they talk constantly with Gerard and, you know, obviously

12:11know about Robin Glazer's connection to what's going on there and

12:14her closeness to Jonathan Kraft.

12:15And, and so, um, you know, that should be mentioned as well.

12:19But I think the most important thing is if, if you move on from Alex van Pelt,

12:24you better know what's behind door number two before you move on door number one.

12:31Um, because that could turn into just a catastrophe.

12:34Um, you know, whether that can happen or not, I don't know.

12:40Um, but they need to have a good idea, but look, um, the NFL is not about nice

12:48people, good people feeling comfortable.

12:50It's about winning football games and it's great.

12:53Alex van Pelt, we all knew coming into this, Alex van Pelt is, uh, widely

12:59revered by the players that he coaches.

13:01Um, he's just that type of guy.

13:03Um, he's a really nice guy and he certainly relates to the quarterback

13:08and the players because he's been in their shoes before players really respect that.

13:12But, um, you know, the, these guys are big boys, they're professionals.

13:17As long as they're going to a better situation, um, say next year, if they do

13:22move on from Alex van Pelt, I think that's the paramount thing to the players.

13:26Um, you know, I, I don't think there, there, there's any danger of them

13:32backsliding and, you know, because they, they, they miss Alex van Pelt or anything

13:37like that, I, I don't think that's the, the, the case, a couple of things.

13:42Uh, you know, if the crafts are looking around, as you say, as Breyer says,

13:45and you said that, you know, it's not really a secret that the crafts are at

13:49least doing some of the due diligence and looking at this offense

13:53and looking at the quarterback.

13:54If they're looking around, that would lead me to believe that, uh, they might

13:57not think, or they've been told that TC McCartney and Ben McAdoo are not the

14:02answer because to me, if you let a VP walk, the easiest solution is if you

14:08want to go for the young, Hey, this guy might be up and coming pick with TC

14:13McCartney, he's there.

14:14If you want to go with the.

14:16You know, grizzled veteran.

14:17Who's done a pretty good job as an OC in the past at the NFL level, you would go

14:22with McAdoo who has been around Drake may, and you would imagine that they could

14:26marry some of the offense from this year to next year, which just begs the

14:30question, you know, if you do go out, as you said, and look behind door number

14:34two, and you bring somebody in from behind that door, you know, what is that

14:40person's intentions?

14:41How long are they going to be here?

14:43Are you setting up Drake may to have, you know, three or four offensive

14:47coordinators in his first three or four seasons, which is a disaster.

14:51How much of a scheme change would be involved?

14:53How much does that change your offensive roster and your plan going

14:56forward, if you're Elliot Wolf, there's a lot of complexities to this

15:01conversation, and I think a lot of people just treat it, Oh, well, AVP

15:05hasn't been great, so let's just move on and just find another guy.

15:08It's not that easy.

15:09There's a lot of different things you, you have to, you know, look into

15:13and figure out, I would say.

15:15And I, this is not an original thought.

15:18I'm not the first person to bring this, this name up, but Brian day ball, I

15:22would have to imagine would be on the list.

15:24Um, you know, his history here, the crafts I would imagine would be very

15:28comfortable with him being here because of that history, his experience with Josh

15:33Allen, the similarities between Allen and may.

15:37So if day ball gets popped in New York, I would just have to believe he

15:43would be near the top of the list for the Patriots if they did

15:47decide to move on from van Pelt.

15:49And if you bring day ball in, it's not like maybe it happens, but I, I find

15:54it hard to imagine that day ball would get a head coaching job in 2026.

15:59So if you did bring day ball in, you'd have him for at least two years, if not.

16:04Yeah.

16:04Um, I have checked in on, on day ball and, you know, people who know him and

16:09what they think he might do if he, he is let go in, in New York.

16:14Um, you know, I was told they would be, it would be a long shot for day ball to

16:21come here and a work under Gerard Mayo, because you, you gotta remember, and

16:26we've talked about this before, you know, Mayo has a couple of things working

16:29against him, um, number one, um, you know, what's, what's going to be

16:35his longevity as far as head coach.

16:37I mean, it sort of depends on how they finished this year, how it looks.

16:41Um, because you could get in sort of a Matt Eberflue situation where it was

16:46like, all right, they brought him back, but you know, a lot of offensive

16:49coordinator candidates were like, well, you know, I don't know if he's going

16:52to be there beyond, you know, one year.

16:54And what does that mean for me?

16:55So I think that's part of it.

16:58A big part of it to me is all these coaches talk and a lot of them share

17:03the sort of the same agents and things like that in the coaching community.

17:07Um, so the first thing they're going to do, especially say if you're Brian

17:12Dayball, you know, the first thing you're going to do is call a bunch of Bill

17:16Belichick guys who had worked with Gerard and, you know, what do you think?

17:20What are you hearing about the situation there?

17:22And I don't think that's going to go well for Gerard.

17:24I, you know, I don't think it's any secret that Bill and him don't have

17:28much of a relationship and they didn't have much of a relationship, Bill's

17:31final season here, um, for various reasons.

17:35And so, um, you know, I think those are from what I've been told about

17:39Dayball that, you know, cause I do think he reached a contract extension recently.

17:45I've been told it's more likely that Dayball takes a season off and goes,

17:49hangs out in the Florida Keys, um, for a year or two, then, um, jumps back

17:54into being somebody's offensive coordinator, but you know, you

17:57never know with these guys.

17:58They're they've been doing this their whole lives.

18:00Um, they're junkies.

18:01Um, I'll be interested to see how long Josh McDaniel stays out.

18:05Um, you know, after being out for a year, um, you know, how's

18:09he, how's he going to react to that?

18:10I would not put Josh McDaniels as a possibility to come back

18:14here, but things can change.

18:16He, he lives here.

18:17Um, you know, maybe he wants to get back into coaching that much.

18:21I, you know, I don't know.

18:23Um, but we, you know, one thing I did want to mention, um, Nick, as far as

18:28what the Patriots could do as far as improving their situation, and again,

18:32we could get into more, this is too many cooks in the kitchen, but who knows

18:36maybe a Ben McAdoo or TC and McCartney leaves after the season, what was

18:40really interesting and I sort of made fun of it at the time when Andy Reed.

18:45Got fired in Philadelphia and went to Kansas city.

18:50One of the things he did when he got there was he named Brad Childers,

18:54who had been the Minnesota Vikings, um, head coach and was fired.

18:59He named him sort of spread offense coordinator.

19:03Um, basically his whole job was, um, any, any use some outside sourcing?

19:08Like we heard Bert talk about the Nevada coach, like they had people come

19:12in and teach them certain things.

19:14Is that Chris Peterson?

19:15Is that who that was?

19:16Uh, I think it was, uh, Chris Alt.

19:18I want to say salt.

19:19Okay.

19:20Yeah.

19:20That they, they went out of their way because Andy Reed was very

19:25much an old school West coast guy.

19:27So with Brad Childers, they went out of their way to say,

19:30we need to learn more tricks.

19:32We need to adapt our offense for sort of the modern game

19:36and what's going on in college.

19:37And I think the Patriots could very, very much use that.

19:41And that could be a solution where you're helping, you know, the coaches

19:45and Alex van Pelt and Drake may by doing something along those lines.

19:51All right.

19:51Before we get to a few more questions that I had in the headlines and

19:54then get to the Rams matchup, let's first get to Greg's prize picks for this week.

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20:50All right.

20:50Before getting to a Rams Patriots, just a few questions.

20:53AVP spoke to the media today, big AVP, uh, podcasts here today

20:57before Rams and Patriots breakdown.

21:00The, the, the, the ratings are going to go through the roof with this one.

21:04Van Pelt talk, baby.

21:05That's what the people want.

21:06That's what they need.

21:07All right.

21:07So, uh, Van Pelt said on May's footwork today, Greg, I just

21:10wanted your quick thoughts on this.

21:12He said a big growth and that may against Chicago had some plus plus

21:17plays when it comes to the footwork.

21:20Uh, we did not necessarily talk about, we talked about it last week about

21:24may not really showing a huge amount of growth with the fundamentals.

21:30But the Chicago game, did you see anything that stood out to you?

21:34Was he a little bit more controlled in the pocket outside of running into pressure?

21:37You did mention that he kind of created a lot of pressure on his own, but as

21:41far as being in the pocket and, and, you know, the, the footwork and the

21:44technique of it all, anything stand out to you, would you agree with AVP that

21:48it's been big growth at this point?

21:50Or do you stand by what you said last week?

21:51And not so much.

21:55Um, I, I mean, I wouldn't say, um, big growth.

22:00And again, this is a guy who part of his job.

22:04Oh, actually a big part of his job is to develop the quarterback.

22:06And if he's not making growth, if he's saying like, I mean, is he going to go

22:11out there and say, bet you dragged Drake Mays really backsliding,

22:14like he's indicting himself.

22:15So I don't really care what he said.

22:17I will say this week, I didn't, I will say negatively, not, not

22:22much jumped out in terms of that.

22:24Like I didn't find myself like, you know, Oh geez, that was, that was not good.

22:29I do think that he threw better in the wind than Caleb Williams did.

22:32Um, you know, we, you know, we talked about it.

22:36Um, and I broke it down on BSJ with my column and also posting like, uh, the

22:41entire first half worth of film offensive film, um, from when I was doing my

22:46grading, um, you know, the, the, the throw to Austin Hooper again is as good

22:53as you're going to see in the NFL is in cut to Keishon booty before the field

22:57goal before, before first half, you know, great job, great ball placement,

23:02great read, all that stuff is on point.

23:05I did not have a whole lot of, um, you know, sort of negative

23:10thoughts as far as his footwork.

23:12I did think that, um, certainly his biggest issue in this game was he created

23:18more pressure for himself than he needed to.

23:21And there were a couple of times he got a couple of passes batted down.

23:25Um, I think some of that had to do with how he brings the ball down really low

23:30and throwing from a low place, but, um, I didn't have any huge critiques this week.

23:35All right.

23:35Let's talk about Kendrick born.

23:36Van Pelt said that born is a big part of us moving forward.

23:39He did mention, uh, I think it was Keishon booty and, and pop Douglas and

23:45poke before he mentioned born, but said, he's a big part of us moving forward.

23:48What do you think happens with born this weekend?

23:50Does he play?

23:52Yeah, I would say that him and KJ Osborne sort of flip flop.

23:56Um, again, KJ Osborne ran a route where I didn't know what he was doing and he

24:01actually gotten Hunter Henry's way more than anything, and then he had a, a run

24:06block where, um, all it looked like he was running away from making a block.

24:11So you, the, the film is not good.

24:14Kendrick Bourne's film is not great.

24:16Um, it's sort of pick your poison, but I think it was KJ's KJ's time last week.

24:21It's probably Kendrick Bourne's.

24:23I will say, um, if you think it's going to be a big run game and the, the, the

24:28Patriots were, I think almost totally balanced last week against the bears.

24:33Yep.

24:34As far as blocking KJ Osborne would be your choice over Kendrick Bourne, who's

24:40just, you know, thinner and smaller.

24:41And, um, so that could have been part of it.

24:45All right.

24:46Last one about ABP is comments.

24:47He said, uh, about Keisha booty.

24:50He's our most consistent wide receiver.

24:52We haven't really dove in too much about booty.

24:55Uh, but he's really starting to make an impact.

24:57Greg, when you look at his tape, when you look at him as a wide

25:01receiver right now, year two, what do you think his ceiling is?

25:04And, and do you think X is where he's supposed to be?

25:07Or eventually if the Patriots can find that big X boundary guy, they

25:11could do something else with booty.

25:13Yeah, no, I don't think he's an X.

25:15He's not, he's not explosive enough.

25:17Um, you know, I do think he's, he's more like a power forward type, um, receiver.

25:25Um, you couldn't make the case that he could be like a big slot.

25:29Um, you know, his ceiling, I, I just think that the Patriots probably need

25:35all of these guys to be slotted down like a peg, uh, well, probably two or

25:41three pegs, they probably need two, two top end receivers, whether that's free

25:47agency trade or, uh, probably coupled with the draft.

25:51Um, but I mean, you know, you're hoping Jalen Polk becomes a number two.

25:56Um, you know, we'll see whether that happens again.

25:58I don't indict rookies on what they do.

26:01It's just that they have to get used to playing.

26:04Um, usually receivers are better in year two.

26:07Um, so I think that, you know, I just think that they need, they need a number

26:13one, they probably need a number two, or at least assure themselves of a number

26:18two and then, you know, so pop would be like a three that's probably where he

26:23ideally is, and then it's between Polk and booty as far as like, you know, four.

26:28And, um, so that's sort of where I see him, but I do agree with that.

26:32I do think he's, he certainly had some route running issues, but I think as

26:36far as the group as a whole, he's probably been the most consistent guy.

26:40He's a good route runner.

26:42He catches the ball with his hands.

26:44He's physical.

26:45Um, he's done a nice job.

26:47All right.

26:47Let's get into the Rams Patriots.

26:48Finally Rams offense versus Patriots defense.

26:52What should we expect and be looking for on Sunday?

26:55So as far as the Rams offense, um, you know, they do have, they still have a good

27:02scheme and I will say it's not, um, you know, McVay's good, but I would say guys

27:08like Shanahan and Mike McDaniel, they're more creative as far as what

27:14they do in this style of offense.

27:16Um, the biggest thing for me, Nick, that jumps out is the Rams offense is really

27:21you know, in fact, Stafford factors into a little bit of that because, you know, he

27:26is an older quarterback, he's been through it, um, but it takes these guys,

27:30you know, like, you know, Cooper cup is, is, you know, he's coming back from injury.

27:35I don't think he's quite the same player.

27:36He's still got quicks.

27:38He's more of like a, your traditional sort of slot guy, a lot of like, you know,

27:42speed outs and stuff like that.

27:45And, uh, you know, option routes, Puka, Nakua, you know, he's got a lot of

27:50Puka Nakua is, you know, he's, he's slow.

27:54Um, you know, he, that's why he was drafted where he was, but his, he's, he's

28:00an elite route runner and he's big and physical and has really good hands.

28:05Um, but he runs really good routes.

28:07That's how he gets open.

28:08But you know, this, this offense to me is really slow.

28:12And I do think, I think it's a really good matchup for this Patriots defense,

28:16especially because I do think in the secondary, I think they fly around.

28:20I think that the Patriots can play a lot of man coverage.

28:24And as we said, you know, reacting to the bears game, the, the three highest

28:29man percentage games that the Patriots have had are all three of their wins.

28:32I don't think that that's just a coincidence.

28:35That's something that I've been asking for them to do.

28:38Um, I think when we have a hundred God shall say like, you know, what was the

28:42difference, I think coming out of the jets game, he's like, we should start

28:45a stop doing a bunch of cute shit.

28:47And we just played football.

28:48Like, I think they got too enamored with, Oh, we need to show this pre-snap

28:52and like, we're going to do this post-snap and like, they're just not

28:55good enough and they're not assignment.

28:57Sure enough to, to really do that yet.

28:59Like they're not the Vikings and they're not the chiefs.

29:03So, you know, don't get over your skis in terms of that stuff.

29:07You're really, you know, you're the best part of your defense is the ability

29:11to play man coverage between Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Jonathan Jones,

29:17and whoever is the fourth cornerback.

29:19I assume we'll see more Alex Austin this week, uh, instead of Marco Wilson,

29:25who has, you know, really, he's really struggled.

29:27He was sort of the weak point against the bears.

29:30Um, but, uh, there was one step that I wanted to point out.

29:35Um, I'm trying to find it.

29:37So yeah, the Rams offense is really slow.

29:41They are horrible on third down.

29:43Um, they're at like 26% in the last four weeks.

29:46And I'm just looking at the last four weeks.

29:49Um, they are one of the worst teams as far as third down conversions.

29:53Um, the biggest thing is in Stafford, his worst rating, his worst stats come

30:01against cover one, which is man coverage, which is the now the

30:04predominant coverage of the Patriots.

30:06He has struggled against man coverage and cover one.

30:09Um, his passer rating is only 56.7.

30:12Um, the, but the big thing is if you're going to do that, you

30:17have to pressure the quarterback.

30:19And the Rams offensive line is not that good, but you know, can you do it?

30:24When, if you don't get enough pressure on Matthew Stafford,

30:27he is going to carve you up.

30:28Those guys are going to stay active.

30:30He's going to know where they are.

30:31He's going to carve you up.

30:32The thing that the dolphins did last week on Monday night was they got a ton

30:37of pressure on Matthew Stafford.

30:39So they played man and got pressure.

30:41Can the Patriots do that?

30:43I, you know, I, I, I have my questions about whether they can do that.

30:49Yeah.

30:49The Rams this year, they're 25th in the NFL on third down, uh, their

30:53run game hasn't been particularly great.

30:56If you look at their run game, I think it's 18th in DVO way.

30:59So pretty much middle of the pack.

31:02They get almost no rushing yards over expectation.

31:05I mean, they're the 31st in the league.

31:07So they get pretty much the rushing yards that they're supposed to get.

31:11Uh, if not a little less than they should be getting.

31:13And we know Sean McVay loves basing his offense off the run.

31:18Uh, so that's been a struggle, which would obviously lead to some third

31:21down issues, which is what it shows.

31:23And as you mentioned, you know, man coverage against Stafford.

31:26He has struggled, uh, my guy, Evan Lazar had the, had the stat and his story

31:34that Stafford is 31 out of 34 qualified quarterbacks and expected

31:39points added against man coverage.

31:41So he is literally one of the worst quarterbacks in football

31:46against man coverage.

31:48And last week against Miami, he was three for nine, 35 yards

31:51and a pick against cover one.

31:53So, uh, I, I do think there are some things, one of the major points of

31:57this is that the Patriots, not only about the pass rush, which you are right, Greg.

32:01I mean, if you look at ESPN, they got them 20th and pass block win rate.

32:06Teams have not blitzed the Rams a lot.

32:09They've they faced the 10th lowest blitz rate in the league.

32:11The Patriots have the fifth highest blitz rate in the league.

32:15So the Patriots love the blitz.

32:17The Rams haven't really had to face a lot of blitz.

32:19How much will that play a role?

32:21Um, but also just, you know, when you're going against the McVay offense in

32:26similar ways as like Shanahan deception, right, they're going to have lots of

32:30motion, they're going to run a bunch of like condensed formations and bunch

32:34formations and the Patriots just have to make sure that they are disciplined as well.

32:39So man coverage, disciplined, get some pass rush.

32:43And if, if the Rams can't run the football, I think their offense is

32:47going to have some difficulties against this, this Patriots defense.

32:51All right.

32:51Before we get to the Patriots offense against the Rams defense, Greg wants

32:56to tell you about how you can go to this football game on Sunday

32:58with our friends from game time.

33:01Yeah.

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33:43What time is it game time?

33:45Just a quick update from practice.

33:47See, uh, the posts from a lot of the writers down there at practice right now.

33:53Uh, bar more is officially back.

33:54He's at practice.

33:56Uh, he's taking part in some reps.

33:59And also of note Dietrich wise, uh, not at practice with his foot issue.

34:05So, uh, it looks like wise is probably going to miss this weekend's

34:08game if we had to guess.

34:10Uh, other than that, not too bad.

34:12I mean, Tyquan Thornton, Caleb Jones, two non-factors are absent.

34:15So Kyle Duggar's back at practice as we found out yesterday.

34:19Um, see only talkie talkie is also back at practice today, which is good.

34:24Uh, Marcella style, Isaiah Bolden, all those guys are back on the field.

34:28So wise is really the only impact player that, that plays a good amount

34:32of snaps that's not out there today.

34:34So from an injury standpoint, looking pretty, pretty, pretty good for the

34:38Patriots on Sunday, if they can get through the next couple of days.

34:42Okay.

34:42All right.

34:43Patriots offense Rams defense, Greg, uh, this Rams defensive line just continues

34:48to get better and better as the year goes on.

34:50Yeah, this is going to be.

34:53This is going to be where the games won and lost.

34:55Um, in, in my opinion, I think the, I think the Rams will do enough.

34:59Um, you know, I will say to, to further what you said, um, in the last four games

35:04for the Rams and in which they're three in one, um, you know, that should be pointed

35:09out, they obviously had a tough game on Monday, the Patriots also had that

35:12advantage of the Rams fight on Monday and they're coming East.

35:16So it's really a 10 AM game for them.

35:19Um, so, so that'll factor into it.

35:21Um, the, the, the Rams rushing EPA in the last four games is 32nd.

35:28Um, in the league.

35:29Okay.

35:30Uh, but in the last, let's talk about their defense.

35:33Here's some stats for you.

35:34And for, as far as EPA, and I know a lot was made of me on Felger and

35:38mass, like all of a sudden Felger's like, what's the definition definition of EPA.

35:42Sorry, I didn't have it on hand.

35:43And really it doesn't matter.

35:45It's like Popeye's chicken tastes good.

35:48I don't know what the hell's in it, but I know it freaking tastes good.

35:50And like, whether it's EPA, it's the same thing as war and baseball.

35:54I couldn't tell you what the hell war is, but it's a measurement

35:56of they apply it across the league.

35:58It's just like EPA DVO way, uh, PFF grades.

36:03Like, you know, it's basically like an efficiency toward a sort of thing, but

36:07as long as it's being used, applied the same way across the league, it gives

36:10you at least a barometer on how people compare both as a team and individually

36:17across people around the league.

36:19The, the Rams EPA on defense in the last four weeks is second.

36:24Um, in the league, their past defense is fifth.

36:28Their rush defense is second.

36:30Um, they take the ball away.

36:33They've had nine takeaways.

36:35I think in just the last four games, they've had nine takeaways.

36:38They've had five giveaways.

36:39The Patriots have had one takeaway and four giveaways, um, defensive

36:45pressure in the last four weeks, LA is fourth in the league at 41%.

36:52Uh, blitz rate 20th.

36:56Um, the Rams only play their 27th and man coverage.

37:01They play 80% zone, so that'll affect how Drake may can run.

37:05Um, also let's see, uh, defense is second in interception rate, uh,

37:12percentage allowing a 30% third downs.

37:15Their fifth and red zone at 38.5 third in goal to go.

37:19They are third in sacks, uh, over the last four games, they're getting

37:22basically almost four sacks per game.

37:25Uh, let's see, what else?

37:28Pressure rate is 40.9%, 20th and blitz.

37:32Um, yeah, this Rams defense is good.

37:36Um, Jared, the two rookies up front, Jared verse, uh, who's probably going to

37:41be the defensive rookie of the year.

37:43Um, Fisk who's inside.

37:45Um, you know, they're excellent.

37:48Um, they, you know, they're, they're not, I wouldn't say they're overly exotic,

37:53but they're, you know, they, they, they fly around and Jared versus something else,

37:57man, that guy, he's got really good.

38:00Get off.

38:00He's got power.

38:01He's got speed.

38:03He's got all motor, motor, motor, motor.

38:06Yeah.

38:06He runs around, he'll make a bunch of backside plays.

38:10Um, yeah, this is going to be a really tough matchup for the Patriots.

38:14I'm excited to see, um, you know, Drake may against this.

38:18I think the bears were a step up for him in terms of competition

38:23and, you know, he did reasonably well.

38:25This is another step up in competition, um, for Drake may.

38:30But, uh, yeah, I think this is, this is, this is going to be their

38:33toughest matchup to me, uh, so far.

38:36I mean, you could have said the jets, but the jets without Robert

38:38solid, they've been horrible on defense.

38:41They just not playing the same.

38:42This is a real, real tough test for Drake man.

38:45The offense.

38:47Early down offense.

38:48We saw how much of a role it played, uh, against Chicago.

38:51Can they get their run game going?

38:52Can the Patriots get any run game going on first and second

38:55down the rushing defense?

38:57Look, I mean, it's, it's really good.

38:58Seventh and run stop win rate this year, eighth and yards per carry.

39:02They just faced, uh, Devon, a Chan who is, you know, a speedster and that

39:06Miami, you know, speed lineup, a Chan ran for 37 yards on 12 carries.

39:12And 15 of those 37 yards came on one of those 12 carries.

39:15So they absolutely humiliate those.

39:20And one of those specialty plays, like, you know, I mean, one of those specialty

39:23plays, whether it's, you know, um, you know, the speed motion and stuff like

39:28that, like that, the Patriots just don't have in their bag.

39:31No.

39:32So you, you mentioned, I mean, Fisk verse they're ridiculous.

39:36Uh, Kobe Turner, Byron young, also no joke on that defensive line.

39:41Uh, very difficult, very difficult test for the Patriots offense.

39:46And you know, we'll AVP help the Darien low against verse.

39:48I hope to hell.

39:49So how does the one who do against Fisk, how does the rest of that

39:53interior offensive line do against Fisk?

39:55That's going to be a big question.

39:57Uh, they, you know, they, they do some things like the creeper motions.

40:01I mean, the creeper pressures, which we've talked about in the past.

40:03I do think Greg, the one thing I would say is van Pelt has to take advantage

40:09of the aggressiveness of this defense.

40:11And they are a very young defense.

40:14They're very aggressive.

40:15They get down field a lot and that could open up some opportunities, but

40:20the timing has to be there, whether you're talking about screen game or draw

40:23game, uh, utilizing the tight ends and stuff like that with, you know, leaking

40:26out late, uh, some of those things could help against this kind of a defense,

40:31but van Pelt has to be very good on Sunday.

40:34And his timing has to be nearly immaculate to make the Rams pay for

40:39that aggression, because if he doesn't, it's gonna be a tough day.

40:43All right.

40:43Before we get to the prediction, check out BSJ 50 bucks for the year.

40:46But Dargie already, you know, the deal, they do great work.

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40:57tickets with game time, download that game time app, create an account, use

41:01code CL and ask for 20 bucks off your first purchase, all right, this week's

41:05pick, let's see, uh, I'm five and five against the spread four and six straight

41:09up, Greg is three, five, and two against the spread.

41:12He is five and five straight up.

41:14The Rams are giving four and a half.

41:16Uh, the over under is 43 and a half.

41:20Greg, what is your prediction?

41:23Well, first of all, I think my best bet, because I still, I don't know what I'm

41:29going to get week to week with the Patriots or their opponent.

41:32And, um, so yeah, I'm struggling a little bit on my picks, but I think the, the

41:37thing that I feel best about is the under in this game, I just don't think, I don't

41:42think the Rams are all that good offensively.

41:44And I think the Patriots against that Rams defense, it's going to be a struggle.

41:47I could see this game being played.

41:50Um, in the teens, certainly in the, in the low twenties, I could

41:54see this being like a 2017 game.

41:57Uh, like I said, the Patriots have a couple of things going for them.

42:00The Rams played on Monday night.

42:01They got to come cross country.

42:03They're playing at 10 AM.

42:05Um, it's always tough for West coast teams to come East, especially for 1 PM, um,

42:09starts.

42:10Um, and I think we sort of talked about this before the season, when I talked

42:14about games that the Patriots could possibly win, I think I, I probably

42:18picked this game for them.

42:20Um, I had questions also about, you know, the Chargers game and we had the

42:24Seahawks coming, you know, uh, West to East.

42:27Um, one thing I did want to mention Nick, um, as far as our talk about the Rams

42:33defense, um, to me like Nick, I don't know how you feel about this, but I do

42:38not want to come here on Tuesday and I don't want to watch the film here on

42:42Monday and Jared verse to rest, wreck the game like Jeffrey Simmons did against

42:49or like, or Nick Bosa, like, like, you know, we all know we're not football

42:57geniuses, but even we know like, you cannot let you have to have a plan for

43:01Jared verse, you have to know where he's going to line up, you have to know how

43:04you're going to block it on or how you're not going to block it.

43:07You need to do that on every single snap.

43:09I do.

43:10If we come in here, if we see on Sunday that Jared verse has, you know, three

43:15sacks and 10 quarterback pressures or what have you like, that's an epic fail

43:19by Alex Van Pelt as far as coordinating this offense.

43:23And so I want to see a step forward.

43:25Um, with that, if we don't, um, not only is Drake may is in trouble, but

43:30Alex Van Pelt was in trouble too.

43:32Um, so I do think that the Patriots are going to do well against the Rams offense.

43:39Um, I don't have as much confidence about, about Alex Van Pelt against this defense.

43:46Um, and I assume Sean McVay is a good game planner.

43:50He's the type of head coach would be like, look, we can't let

43:53Drake Mays legs beat us.

43:55What are we, what's our plan?

43:56What are we going to do?

43:57I don't think they're going to let him run around.

44:00Um, I do think this is going to be a really close game.

44:03I think it's going to be a field goal game.

44:05And I think because of Stafford, I don't think the Patriots are going to get

44:10enough pressure on Stafford to really affect them and make him make

44:14his life miserable in this game.

44:17So I'm going to go Rams 20 Patriots, Patriots 17.

44:27All right.

44:28So the Rams are interesting team because they've, they've had some bad losses.

44:32They lost to Arizona by 31.

44:34They lost at Chicago, the team we just watched this past weekend.

44:38They lost to that team.

44:39Uh, it was not a good loss on Monday against Miami.

44:42Miami was pretty much dead in the water and they somehow lost

44:45a home game against Miami.

44:47They're also, if you look at it, they're one in three on the road.

44:50So it's, it's kind of interesting.

44:51Something has to give this weekend because the Rams are one in three on the road.

44:55The Patriots are one in three at Gillette.

44:57So who's, who's going to actually show up?

45:00Can the Patriots win another game at home?

45:01Can the Rams win another game on the road?

45:03A big question there.

45:05I feel though, very similarly, not, not surprising.

45:08I will say that we've been pretty much dead on when it comes to us

45:12describing the game and explaining what it's going to, you know,

45:15what's going to happen and play out.

45:17We've lost a lot of these against the spread bets by a couple

45:20of points here and there, but the general tenor of the game, we're usually right.

45:24And I agree a lot with what you said.

45:26Like, I don't think that the Rams are going to score much more than 20,

45:30unless you have turnovers, which does concern me because Drake

45:34may, it has been very turnover worthy.

45:37Uh, in this first five starts.

45:39And as you mentioned, the Rams, they create takeaways, uh, an

45:43awful lot that concerns me.

45:46Uh, the D line of the Rams against the Patriots offensive line concerns me.

45:51Uh, but I do think the Patriots can limit the wide receivers for LA

45:57and keep them kind of somewhat close.

46:00So I'm, I've been sitting on like 20 to 13 or 20 to 16.

46:07And it's, it's such a deal breaker because if you go with 20 to 16, you

46:12take the points with the Patriots.

46:13If you go 20 to 13, you take the, you take the Rams given the four and a half.

46:18So, uh, shoot, I'm going to go 2016.

46:21Screw it.

46:22I'm going to go 20 to 16, uh, Rams win Patriots barely cover.

46:26But I agree with you.

46:27I also like the under, I don't, I don't think they'll go over

46:2943 and a half because of what we've talked about.

46:32So there you go.

46:32We'll see if we're right or wrong.

46:34Uh, on, on Tuesday of next week, uh, hopefully it's a

46:37competitive and fun game to watch until then everybody, uh, be well.

How do the Patriots match up with the Rams? | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast

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