WEBVTT - Patriots Catch-22 1/5: Bills Preview, Damar Hamlin, Mac Jones' Performance Against the Dolphins 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:07.200 This is the Patriots Catch twenty two Podcasts with Evan 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:12.200 Lazar and Alex Barth. I'm Lazar La. Everybody nailed it, 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:19.200 joined us always buy our match. Here is Evan Lazar 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:23.680 and Alex BArch. If you've decided based off of this 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:27.319 season that Mac Jones is not the guy you don't 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:34.239 know football. You don't know football, You're more sorry, you're dumb. Uh. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:36.640 That's the first time I heard that back since I 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.639 went off last week about that, and I'm okay with it. 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.280 The internet loved that. I know some people were a 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.400 little bit angry with me. That's okay. That was that. 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.920 I knew that was coming, and I do want to 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:53.279 mention right off the top, Evan Lazar, Alex Barth with 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:57.400 you as always excuse me. It does seem a little 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.120 trivial right now talking about football. Yeah, it does. And 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.080 we're very well aware that Alex is going to read 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.039 off an update. Was it from the Bills? So we 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:08.039 got we got two updates. I'll just get right into 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.040 it here. So first off, it's probably about five maybe 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.480 ten minutes ago. Kairie Elam, who's a corner yes for 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.760 the Bills, a rookie corner tweeted, our boy is doing better, 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.759 awake and showing more signs of improvement. Thank you God, 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.959 keep the prayers coming. All of three and then that 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.040 was three being Damar Hamlin's number, right, And then that 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:29.319 was followed by an update from the Bills this literally 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:33.759 as we as the open was playing. Per the physicians 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.319 caring for Damarrow Hamlin at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.000 Damar has shown remarkable improvement over the past twenty four hours. 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:44.440 While still critically ill, he's demonstrated that he appears to 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:48.080 be neurologically intact, his lungs continue to heal, and he 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.920 is making steady progress. We are grateful for all the 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.960 love and support we have received. So fantastic news right, 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:57.360 not sounds like maybe not out of the woods yet, 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:00.760 but certainly I think this is the first big update 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.560 we were all waiting for and certainly could be a 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.680 lot worse. Right, So, it sounds like things are trending 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:08.960 into I'm not a medical professional, but it sounds like 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.320 things are trending in the right direction, which I think 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:13.440 is all you can pretty much ask for at this point. Right. 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.959 And Adam Schefter this morning also tweeted that Damar Hamlin's 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:21.400 father actually addressed the team and gave an updated I 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:23.919 think it was actually last night that they gave that yea, 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.919 but that the general feeling and the building from the 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.280 team standpoint was that they heard a lot of encouraging 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.959 things that made them feel better about moving forward and 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.600 made them feel better about the situation as much as 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:42.880 you possibly can. So we have to talk about it 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:47.320 because we can't talk about football without that being in 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:51.640 our minds to a degree. And it's just it's hard 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:56.120 because we all love the game. We all love covering 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.520 the game, Alex and I and watching it as fans, 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:04.480 and this is always the fear, right Like, there's always 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:08.560 that fear that somebody's gonna get hit in a football 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:10.679 game and he's not going to get back up. And 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.200 we haven't really seen this in our lifetime. I know 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.360 it's it's happened, you know, at some point in the 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:21.160 history of the NFL. But in today's day and age, 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:25.040 where there's a million ESPN cameras, there's social media, there's 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:30.119 all these different things, this thing, obviously is is tough 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:35.840 to see. And I hope that the Bills are given 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:40.000 the leeway from the NFL that if they decide as 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.080 a team that they're just not ready to play this 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.920 game on Sunday from a mental health standpoint in which 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.280 not to obviously Damar Hamlin's health is the number one 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.200 thing that we have to think about, but number two 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:55.520 to that, I would also just mention the mental health 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.520 of the players and his teammates, right and the players 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.000 on the bank side of things too, that just witnessed 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:07.600 what happened on Monday night, and that's important too. So 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.920 I think there's a lot of those angles. Obviously, our 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:14.760 our thoughts and prayers are with Damar Hamlin, and uh 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.600 it's glad. I'm so glad to hear that he's starting 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.039 to pull out of this and hopefully doesn't have any 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.880 long term damage from all this. With that being said, 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:25.600 we are going to talk about football because that's what 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.800 we do and that's what we're gonna do. I have 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.520 to move here, we go, Okay, all right, there, we 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:37.120 got the video here today we are going to talk 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:41.200 about football. And I'm going to admit before we move 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.760 on here from the Damar Hamlin stuff. Getting fired up 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.680 about this is gonna is feel silly to me at 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.280 this point. It does, but that's what we do, and 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:52.640 that's what we're gonna do. So you can call in 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:56.120 and join the show here at five five PATS five hundred, 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.240 web radio at Patriots dot Com is the email as 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.160 you all probably we know at this point. And uh, 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:05.600 I want to start with the quarterback, because that's where 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:07.400 we always start. I want to start with the offense, 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:11.920 though as a whole, in the quarterback as a secondary 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.000 to that obviously, because that's what we do. We get 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.800 fired up about people that that can that that are 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:20.560 I mean the clip in the open set it all right, right, 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:22.120 And I don't want to I don't want to go 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:26.200 on that whole rant again, but I still go back 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:30.000 to it. When it comes to Mac Jones, can someone 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.320 offer a real critique of his game? Like? Can we 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.520 can we talk about a real critique you're talking about 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.920 the specifically the performance on Sunday? Sure, yeah, the performance 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.679 on Sunday in particular, because that's what's the newest information 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:45.520 we have. But can can we talk about a real 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:50.640 critique of the film of his of his game? Because 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:55.159 everything that I hear or tend to hear, I guess 0:05:55.240 --> 0:06:00.960 I should say about Mac Jones is related to his 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:05.160 body language. How he looks. Oh he's whiny baby, Oh 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.880 he's he has he's a noodle. Army has no zip 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:11.520 on his throws. He's missing open receipt. Like I don't 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.480 hear I hear all these absolutes, right, like all these 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:18.400 dramatic the Patriots offense sticks. We know the Patriots offense 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:20.720 isn't good. We know they don't score points. Do you 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.960 know who also doesn't have a good offense? The Chicago Bears. 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:27.880 Do I hear any of these things about Justin Fields? Right? 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.640 Everybody loves Justin Fields, and I love Justin Fields. I 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:35.039 love watching Justin Fields. But Justin Fields flat out looks 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:37.760 better playing football. He's got a big arm, he's athletic, 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.560 he runs right, he does all these other things that 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:45.320 add to just playing quarterback. And the Bears offense is 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.640 the Patriots are twenty sixth and DV away, the Bears 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.480 are twenty seven Like they're both right there in the basement, right, 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.000 So all this other stuff, And I know he went 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.680 on your rival station, Alex Boomer assiasin like coming out 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:00.920 and saying, I don't remember the exact word that he 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:02.520 used off the top of my head. Maybe you do. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.599 About Mac Jones on I think it was Monday talks 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:09.640 about the aesthetic and look, I think there's something to 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.560 that if you go so when you have all the 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.880 team pictures, I don't know about you. Yeah, when I'm 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.280 posting a article on ninety five sports ub dot com, right, 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.240 and I need to find a picture to use, Yeah, 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:23.200 go on getty dot com and I type in mac 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:24.760 Jones and it just gives me a bunch of pictures 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.440 in mac Jones. He doesn't photographed well on a football 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.400 field like that, just doesn't doesn't look when he and 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.760 when it goes bad for him, it looks even worse, right, 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:35.840 like when when he's not playing well. And I would 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:37.840 even say when he throws the ball, like he kind 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:39.800 of makes weird face. And he's not the first quarterback 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:43.840 to do that. You know who else doesn't like Justin Herbert? Yeah, 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:45.840 go look at pictures of Justin Herbert and look at 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:49.040 his face when he's throwing the football. Um that that 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:51.680 impacts the way people think about him. It's stupid, absolutely, 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:56.520 but um yeah, it's just it's it's like it almost 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:58.080 kind of reminds me of and you're gonna hate this, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.280 but I don't care. Remember it was earlier this year 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:04.840 somebody flipped the video of Tua, so we saw what 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.160 he looked like during righty, and everybody's like, wow, he 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:10.480 looks like completely different quarterback right right. It's just the 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.880 aesthetic of it, right, And I think that that's what 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:16.080 why I get so triggered by it is because I 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:18.080 don't give a crap, right Like, I know, are not 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.680 a guy for aesthetics, You are not. I don't care 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:25.360 what he looks like. I don't care about his mannerisms. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.840 I don't care about the sideline. I don't care about 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.240 how he runs off the field after they don't convert 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:34.679 another third down, because we've seen that a ton this year. 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.960 I do not care. What does the film tell us. 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.160 Is he making the right decisions with the football? Is 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:43.959 he accurate with the football? Is he getting the ball 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:46.440 into tight windows down the field? Is he making those 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.400 down the field throws? Is he a trigger shy or 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.599 is he willing to push it down the field? Like 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.920 all these things, I care so much more about his 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.240 body language, the way he carries himself, the way he 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:00.920 looks and when he makes a throw. I just this 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.720 type of stuff to me bugs me because it's it's 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:07.839 not it's not that's not actually football, right, Like it's 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.880 not football. This is just I don't like the guy. 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:12.720 And if you don't like the guy, and I've been 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:14.880 saying this for weeks now because I feel like this 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.640 has been brewing for a while. If you don't like 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:19.559 the guy, I can't convince you to like him, like 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.240 I can't convince you to want to to like his 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:25.760 aesthetic or like his swagger or lack thereof, or like 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:28.760 his playing style, like I can't convince you otherwise. But 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:32.679 what I want to get into is what actually he 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.599 is putting on tape, the actual football of it, not 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:40.280 all the other body language doctor krap so he I 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.440 want to give a legitimate critique because I think people 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:46.120 think that I'm you know, I'm a mac apologist and whatever. Okay, 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:48.280 I don't care, but I want to give a legitimate 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.600 I'm proud you've gotten this far by the way, Yeah, 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:52.640 we went from not wanting to take him until like 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.120 the third round too. Now, maybe being more of a 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:57.200 macapologist I might have been. I might have been writing 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.959 my initial instinct on this one. Uh. I want to 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:05.200 give all a gym make critique. So if I told you, Alex. 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:06.839 I looked this up the other day, and I was 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:09.520 looking it up for the Buffalo Bills, and what I 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:13.480 found out was actually astonishing, so astonishing to me that 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.040 I looked it up again. I ran the Pro Football 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.959 Reference search again to make sure that it wasn't like 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:23.000 a bug or something like that in the system. The 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:26.560 number one team in the league and producing what explosive plays, right, 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.000 plays with twenty plus yards the Kansas City Chiefs. Sure 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.080 not a surprise. Patrick Mahomes will do that. He They 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:34.280 by far and away lead the league. They have forty 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.559 nine of them. It's eight more than second place. I 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.800 guess who's in second place, The Patriots. The Patriots. So 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.320 when I saw that, and I'm not sitting here saying, oh, well, 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.600 the Patriots actually have a secretly great offense because they 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.400 produced twenty plus yard plays. But when I saw that, 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.440 I did a devil taken. I was like, I would 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.120 not have guessed that. I would not have guessed that. 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.959 And I think what we've gotten to the point with 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:01.959 this offense with the quarterback, which I'll get to in 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:06.600 a second as well, is that they have the ability 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.600 to create chunk plays. They have the ability to throw 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.160 the ball down the field, and they have the ability 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.120 to have these moments where you're like, wow, that was 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.240 a good play, right. You know, Kendrick Bourne and Mac 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.360 Jones in the second half in Cincinnati, the opening drive, 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.760 they hit Taekwon Thorton down the sideline, he hits Hunter 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.160 Henry on third down. Right, they have the ability to 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:26.920 have these flashes, to have these moments, to have these 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:31.120 high level downfield throws, and they rank near the top 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:34.439 of the league in explosive plays. They rank near the 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.079 top of the league. Mac Jones does in PFF's big 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:38.920 time throw rate, which I know people got on me 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.080 and they hate that stat. I don't care. So they 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:46.520 have these moments of flash where they do have these 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:52.360 big plays. But the problem is is that right now 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:54.959 they are not doing the things to keep the chains 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.559 moving right so they can have these big plays. And 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:02.400 I mentioned Kansas City had forty nine chunk plays this year. 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.719 That means that they're roughly at three a game. So 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.960 you're not going to sustain offense with three chunk plays 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:10.880 per game, and that's the best offense in the league. 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.559 Get doing it right. So what you need is to 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:18.439 hit the eight yard curl on first and ten to 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:22.040 convert on third down to score in the red zone. 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.960 Right like all these little other things, these little details 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.719 that end up being big things. So right now, where 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.319 the Patriots offense is at and where mac Jones is at, 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.880 is that they're truly a boomer bust offense. They either 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:37.160 are hitting a big play down the field or their 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:41.040 false start, short run, incomplete, incomplete, three and out right 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.880 like that, there's no in between with the offense right now. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.319 And I think that this gets to the quarterback, which 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.280 is my legitimate critique. Don't worry, I don't think he's perfect, 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.640 all right, the legitimate critique. His short game was terrible 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.839 in this game. His short game was off, His reads 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.040 were off in the short game. There are some throws 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:01.360 that were off in the short game. And what that 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.360 leads to is that you just can't You can't matriculate 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:08.000 the ball down the field, right, They can't string drives together. 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:10.920 And so that's where you have these peaks and valleys 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.120 where they can have the opening drive of the game, 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.079 they can have the eighty nine yard drive in the 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.000 fourth quarter, but then the middle quarters is a rut 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:20.920 of nothingness. So you know, he had a couple of 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.040 different plays where I thought he didn't really read the 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:27.040 underneath coverage very well. They ran, you know, snag like 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:32.160 and I want to mention this play because snag, which is, 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:35.640 you know, a flat shallow cross and then you hook 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.439 it up right in between the two zones. Snag is 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:41.600 a play that every high school team in the country 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.120 runs right like. This is not Matt Patricia's bad at coordinating. Okay, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:47.400 I'm not saying he's good at coordinating. It's one of 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:50.080 the basic plays that every team puts into their playbook. 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.439 But the point is is that the quarterback, regardless of 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.520 who's calling the play in from the sideline, should be 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:59.880 able to execute it. And they get exactly what they want. Meyers. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.920 He runs across the field on the shallow drag, It 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.079 pulls one zone defender this way, I think it was 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:08.480 Taekwon runs the flat, it pulls the other to zone 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.640 defender that way, and Nelson Agloor just sits right down 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:14.679 in between the stretched out zones and is open on 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:17.600 first down, wide open waiting for the football, and mac 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.160 Jones decides to throw it over the middle to Jacoby 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:24.120 Myers with two guys bracketing him in the zone and 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.480 it's incomplete. I thought that the ball that everybody I 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:29.720 think has talked about with Hunter Henry in the flat 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:31.520 where he kind of short arms it a little bit, 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.120 I actually thought that was more about the read than 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.560 it was about the throw. Okay, another throw that I 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:38.480 thought he should have thrown the hitch instead of throwing 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:40.960 the flat you know, curl flat combination, and he throws 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:45.880 the flat instead of the curl. So for whatever reason, 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.120 like I feel like mac Jones has at least based 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:51.680 off this film, and I think that there are some 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.520 evidence from other films as well, his rookie season has 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:57.280 like flip flops. Like now, all of a sudden, he's 0:14:57.320 --> 0:14:59.840 making these good throws down the field and maybe be 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.800 a little bit more aggressive in his approach down the field, 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.400 but he's not hitting the easy ones, right, He's not 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.360 making the layups. And in order to be a sustained offense, 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:11.600 you need to be able to make the layups. So 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:15.040 whether you're Buffalo, Kansas City, the Patriots, the Bengals, like, 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:16.680 it doesn't matter, you still need to be able to 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:19.240 make those layups. And I think that that's what happens 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:21.840 is you know, first and ten, they throw in complete 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.080 to the flat to Hunter Henry. Now it's second and ten, 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:26.640 and then they maybe they gain yards on second and ten, 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:28.440 but now it's third and six, and now they have 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:30.600 to convert a third down, right, and we know that 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.840 they've struggled in that department at times this year. So 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.440 the short game was offen this one from Mac which 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:41.000 again it is seems to me like a flip flop 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.280 from what it was his rookie season where you had 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:45.720 some concerns that he wasn't pushing the ball down the field, 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:47.840 that they weren't letting him push the ball down the field. 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.480 Now they're letting him and he's doing it, but he's 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.200 you know, he's regressed in the other areas. So that's 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.160 an interesting thing I took away from this game. The 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:01.520 other interesting thing I took away from this game was offensively, 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:05.920 I actually think the Patriots offense and their passing game 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:08.840 does a pretty good job against man coverage. Now they 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.120 went right down the field, and I know Miami had 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:18.160 some injuries. Right in terms of the secondary, is Avian 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:21.400 Howard's out, Byron Joe's hasn't been playing, Nick Needham hasn't 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.920 been playing, But at the same time, they have been 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.280 able to beat man coverage. You can go back to 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.040 the Pittsburgh game in the beginning of the year when 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:32.360 Pittsburgh played a ton of man coverage and Nelson Aghaloor 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.000 had that big game. So they've had this ability. They 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:39.480 had some issues. Miami adjusted in the middle quarters to 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:42.520 more zone, and they had some issues doing that right. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.320 They had some issues picking apart the zone, settling in zone, 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:47.520 and I think the biggest reason why is you know 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.480 the old adage is you run away from man coverage, 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:53.120 you find soft spots in zone, right, That's how you 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.160 are incorporate your passing game. And I think the biggest 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:59.520 reason why they've struggled against zone is because that takes chemistry, right, 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.000 That takes timing. It's not just I'm gonna read it out. 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.040 I'm gonna look count Henry's gonna beat his man and 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:07.480 I'm gonna throw and put the ball on him this 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:11.080 when it comes to zone, it's where is he gonna sit? 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.560 Where is he gonna settle? Does he see it the 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.280 same way that I see it? Is it? Is it? Split? Safety? 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.200 Is a post? Right? Like what is the coverage and 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:22.080 what's the conversion based off the coverage. That type of 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:26.719 stuff takes, chemistry, takes timing, dare I say, takes coordination right, 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.920 and those type of right and those types of things 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:33.520 are fleeting this offense so in a lot of ways. 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:35.440 And Buffalo is coming in this week, and we're gonna 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.280 get to a Bill's preview here soon. Buffalo in the 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.320 week third team matchup played a ton of zone and 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.760 the Patriots obviously struggled with it. So now I feel 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.280 like for years we were talking about this team can't 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:48.720 get off press man, right, like they can't create separation 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.320 against man. What I see on film with this team 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.600 now is actually more struggles against zone than it is 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:58.119 against man. All right, So a couple things, Yeah, a 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.920 lot of unpack. Yeah. First off, you mentioned that really 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:05.600 interesting number at the beginning, right about twenty plus yard plays. 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:07.600 The Patriots are second in the league. Yes, and you 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.160 need to sustain what happens in between. I know people 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:12.560 are probably gonna roll their eyes at this stat. It's 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:14.720 a little bit my station. Oh well, if you take 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:18.159 away this right the Matt's all of videos, but it 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:23.080 proves a point here. Yards per play this season overall, right, 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.000 Patriots are averaging five point three yards per play on offense. 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.119 That's tied for seventeenth in the league, so middle of 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:32.840 the pack. Yeah, yards per play on plays that gain 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:37.280 less than twenty yards. So on one hand, oh, you're 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.560 taking out the big plays. Of course, the number is 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:43.840 gonna go down. But if you are a sustainable offense, 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.119 you should still be about the same spot, right in 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:49.760 terms of yards play. In terms of their ranking, everybody's 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:51.560 number is gonna go down. I'm looking at it here. 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:54.800 The most yards per play the team with the most 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.440 yards per play on plays of under twenty yards. Yes, 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.080 is a yard less average in the last place team 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.440 in terms of yards per yards for play totals. So 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:06.720 we're not gonna don't focus on the total number here, 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.719 focus on the ranking, right, focus on where they are 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:14.159 relative to the other teams. The Patriots again, yards per 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:20.080 play period this year offensively tied for seventeenth. They are 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:24.080 twenty ninth, or sorry, they are tied for twenty seventh 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:28.119 in yards per play on non explosive plays, right, So 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.359 that just some numbers to back up your point there 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:34.920 that basically, when they're not getting those shot plays, it's 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:37.560 really the only way they're moving the ball at this point, right, 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:41.840 and that is volatile. It's just inherently volatile and we 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.639 know that. And I think the other thing is if 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:48.240 you look at those explosives, a lot of them are 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.600 like twenty five yard explosives, right. You know he hits 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:54.680 Taekwon Thornton on the opening drive. I think it was 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.080 a twenty four yard pass, right, And not a lot 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.840 of them, unfortunately, been for touchdowns right there right there 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:05.200 between the twenty explosives. But it's it's so weird to 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.920 me because they and I love that stat that you 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:09.639 brought up. I'm probably gonna steal from you yet that 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.760 that's important Pro Football reference. Yeah, I love that stat 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:16.720 because it's so weird to me because everything that you 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:20.160 hear nowadays from coaches and stuff like that about football 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.879 is that explosive is explosives. Explosives like big plays. If 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:28.639 you get one big play a drive, then usually you 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:31.400 are getting points from that drive. If you get two 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:33.720 big plays in a drive, you're in the end zone 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.000 like almost every time, right, Like that's how it works. 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:38.359 But this team is only getting in the end zone. 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:41.119 You know, when Marcus Jones Houses went out from forty 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:43.440 eight yards or the drive that they had against the 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.480 Raiders where they had a big passage of Kobe and 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:48.280 a big run by Remondra and it was like a 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:51.080 four play drive, right, Like, those are the drives where 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:55.240 they're scoring. Where they're not scoring is the eleven, twelve, 0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:58.520 thirteen play drives because eventually they shoot themselves in the 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.479 foot and they go backwards, or they don't pick up 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:03.960 the third down, or they have a false start on 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:06.080 first and ten. Now it's first and fifteen and you're 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.840