WEBVTT - Patriots Catch-22 11/22: Biggest Takeaways From Win Over Jets, Vikings Preview, Evaluating Mac Jones 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.600 This is the Patriots Catch twenty two Podcasts with Evan 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:12.080 Lazar and Alex Barth Lazar. Hello, everybody, nailed it? Joined 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:18.200 us always buy our David match noch. Here is Evan 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:20.759 Lazar and Alex Barrs. And you told me that my 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.200 take was unoriginal, but I'm gonna give it anyways. You 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:27.920 are the host. Hello everybody, and welcome into a new 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.280 edition of the Patriots Catch twenty two podcasts. My takes 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:36.199 are sometimes unoriginal, Alex, but they're correct. That's the way 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:37.960 I look at it. I just want to be accurate, 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.360 even if it's what everybody else is saying, or even 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:45.040 if it's something I've said before. If that's what it 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:46.680 is to me, that's what it is. Now. That that 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.360 being said, busy day, busy day. And by the way, 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:52.839 that that's what this show has been since its inception, 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.240 Before it was this shows pointing out the opera. We're 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.440 not necessarily trying to comment and burden the place down. 0:00:58.480 --> 0:00:59.920 We just want to be right. We want to take 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:02.360 If there's one thing this show appreciates, it's a good 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:06.560 victory lap. This show is basically just one long vehicle 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.160 to set up victory laps. That's all it is. Yeah, 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.720 I'm not sure. We don't have a ton of victory 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:16.880 laps yet, but one victory lap we certainly well, this 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:20.759 is what is this? This is uh Brian Hoyer episode eight. Yes, 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.800 Antoine Walker eight, Antoine Walker eight, cars Tramsky of course, 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:28.680 I can't forget about Yaz. Was cam Neely eight? Was 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:30.840 cam Neely seven or eight? I think he was eight? 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.880 I'm going eight. People are going to be furious at 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:35.960 me for not being able to get this. There's other 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:38.200 we're missing one Patriots eight. I don't know why I 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:41.640 can't Jawan Bentley eight? Is it cam Neely eight? A 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.080 Josh Miller eight? There you go, a punter back in 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:46.840 the day. I looked this up last week when we 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:48.400 did the seventh. There haven't been a lot of the eights. 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:49.960 I was right about cam Neely though, Right, you were 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:52.200 right about cam Nely. Yeah, that I thought. All right, 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.080 So we don't have a lot of victory laps yet 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.680 about the Patriots to take not because we've been wrong. 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.520 It's a show hasn't been on that long, and we 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:03.160 also just I think the Patriots still need to hold 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:04.640 up their end of the bargain for us to take 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.520 some victory laps. Now, with that being said, one victory 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.320 lap that we both certainly can take is that the 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:15.639 Zach Wilson is not good victory lab. Yeah, neither one 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.480 of us were huge Wilson guys coming in it him 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:20.360 as the sixth quarterback in that track. I think I 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.280 had him at five or four in that draft, but 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:30.440 certainly light years behind Lawrence Fields. Trey Lance, and I 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.120 fell in love with Trey Lance. We still don't know 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.919 about Trey Lance. We still the books still out on 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:38.200 Trey Lance. And I'll even say the sitting here is 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.760 a person. And this apparently might surprise some people. I 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.120 didn't realize this was up for debate as somebody who's 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.440 a big time Mac Jones guy. Book still out on 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:47.680 Mac Jones. We don't know. He might be an NFL quarterback. 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:50.840 He might not. We know about Zach Wilson now we 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:55.959 know he's not. And it's not even necessarily the raw 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:01.720 quarterbacking ability. He doesn't. He's not. He doesn't have the 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.360 makeup the mental makeup of an NFL quarterback. He just 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:06.880 he just doesn't. You saw it in the post game. Yeah, 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.920 I think we saw that in the post game I 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.440 was listening to your guy Ted Johnson this morning briefly, 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:15.079 and he also mentioned that he's not a captain, which 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.400 I don't usually look too deep into those types of things, 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.000 but you're too. Mac Jones see on his chest, so captain. 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:24.680 One of the big knocks about Zach Wilson coming out 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.240 was that he was a multi year starter at BYU. 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.040 He started as a I don't remember, sophomore, junior, junior, senior, 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.519 whatever it was. He was never a captain. A multi 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.320 year starting quarterback not being a captain in college football 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.040 is unheard of. And even just making him the captain 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:43.200 just because he's the quarterback right right, Like, even if 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:44.680 he doesn't earn it. A lot of teams will just 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:48.720 give the quarterback, the starting QB, the incumbent starter, the 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.560 entrenched starter, the captainship just because they want the quarterback 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:54.280 to bed. I think you could say the same about 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:56.280 what's going on with the Jets right now. It's not 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:59.320 it's not like, oh, you know, we had all these 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.200 qualified players, he's not not. The quarterback is usually a captain, 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.720 like they just we thought Mac might have been named 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:07.240 a captain last year. We were talking about that as 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.640 an outside shot after Cam got cut right, No, that 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:13.080 happened because he's not up to it. Talking about Wilson, 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.680 Robert Sali went to the podium yesterday. I don't know 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:19.919 was the virtual podium or the physical podium, but he 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:23.679 was at the podium yesterday in the Meadowlands and said 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:28.719 that he's not committed to a quarterback next week. So 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.640 this is starting to get really dicey with Zach Wilson. 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:36.159 And I don't want to take away too much from 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.960 what the Patriots defense did on Sunday against the Jets 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.520 and come in here and say they actually didn't play 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.440 that good, because I don't think that that's necessarily true. 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.560 They're the Patriots. And what I did before the show 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.520 to kind of plan this show out was I put 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.039 things in two buckets. Things I liked about this game 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:57.760 and things I didn't like about this game. And I 0:04:57.800 --> 0:04:59.400 want to tee him up and then we can talk 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:01.560 about him. Can call in also in weighing on this 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.800 eight five pads, five hundred if you want to email 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.440 us at web radio at Patriots dot com as well 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.800 and give your two cents on how I break this 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.680 down or how you another point. If we don't get 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:15.840 that to that to us up for it, So give 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:17.640 us a call, and we were with you for the 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.040 next hour until the head coach, until Bill comes to 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:24.440 the podium, so what we'll be here for the next hour. Anyways, 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.359 one of the things that I did like about what 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.640 they did on Sunday, Well, first of all, Zack Wilson 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.039 not being good is great, right, I mean that that 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.159 confirms our priors, which is obviously most important. But secondly, 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:42.960 it means another team in the AFC East is searching 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.599 for a quarterback I think as soon as next year's draft, 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.720 which which is fascinating. And you also put into it 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:51.839 that the Jets are probably still going to be around 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:53.920 a five hundred football teams, so it's not like they're 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:55.880 going to have you're talking about for the rest of 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:57.800 this year. Yes, okay, yeah, So it's not like they're 0:05:57.800 --> 0:05:59.920 going to have a top five pick again to take 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:01.840 take a quarterback. So I think there's a really good 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:06.240 chance that the Jets are going to sell the farm 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.080 to move up for a quarterback, and maybe Zach Wilson 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.280 will be involved in that trade, right, A team that 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:14.960 wants to try to tap into that physical potential, and 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.680 maybe they think that their situation can get more out 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.200 of him sort of thing. So that or because I 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:23.679 mean the Jets might be a quarterback away from being legit. 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.080 That that's that's sort of what I was getting out with. 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:33.040 The defense is watching this this film back the Patriots front, 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:38.920 their defensive front is excellent, and I know everybody's waiting 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.400 to play Buffalo, right and everybody's waiting for the shoe 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:43.200 to drop with this defense. And I'm not saying that 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:45.800 the Patriots defense is going to hold the Bills to 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.040 ten points or anything like that. I don't think that's 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.080 going to happen. But the way that they play the 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:55.800 run and the way that they rushed the passer right 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.960 now is it's fun to watch. I mean, they are 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:03.800 coming downhill at the line of scrimmage, guys like you 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:08.560 know on the defensive line wise Godshaw, Larry Guy, Matthew 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:11.040 jude On, you know, those guys are doing their jobs 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.520 up front. You have the linebacker level. I think Tabi 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.080 has been sneaky. Okay, yeah, I'm not saying that he's 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.960 a superstar. He's done his job. Jawan Bentley, when you're 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.000 having him just come down and fill against the run 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:27.440 and that's his only responsibility. He's been huge. Kyle Dugger 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:31.400 and Jabril Peppers just lighting bodies up in this game. 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:33.800 It was that was one of my favorite parts of 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.640 this game is Kyle Dugger and Jabriel Peppers just filling 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:40.680 from depth, whether it's a linebacker or too high a 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:43.800 lineman and with the safety is rotating and they just 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:48.920 come in and they get into like a fit against 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.320 the run, and they are coming downhill at people and 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.240 you see that sort of physicality you see. I think 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.400 the energy that this defense plays with, or you can 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.840 call it speed I suppose, but I call it more 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:04.680 energy that they play with against the run and in 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.880 the pass rush is terrific. There four and five mine 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.680 pass rush on third down is ridiculous. I mean, they 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:15.520 can do all sorts of different things. It's not Judon 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:19.480 allows them to get creative with it because he can 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.720 win a one on one on any given down. But 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:23.960 it's a team effort up front with those guys that 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:28.600 Judean why is a quality just playing that interior role, 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.760 taking on double teams and occupying guys on stunts ouch 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.000 Mac Wilson. So they have that five man rush unit. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:40.199 Gole's not forget high rate. Right. They don't have arguably 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:42.760 their second best pass rusher right now in Christian Barmore, 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:44.560 and they look they won't have him for a bit. 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.880 But there's still room for this group to grow. I 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.040 guess it's my point. Yeah, I just love watching their 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:52.679 five man pass rush package on third down because they 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:56.240 can just do so many different things out of it. 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:58.520 They can two man stunt like a TNE They can 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.800 three man game. They can spy with Mac Wilson or 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:05.720 he can be part of that five man rush package. 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:07.960 They can one on one, beat you one on one. 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.880 They can beat you with loops, they can beat you 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:14.800 with blitz Is Nickel, Blitz's linebacker Blitz. I mean it 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:18.000 just they can throw so many different things at you 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:21.319 as a group, and you just never know where it's 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:25.880 coming from, right Like who's looping, who's picking, who's blitzing, 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:30.959 who's dropping. Like it's all just creative and exotic right 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.720 now and just difficult to decipher. I would say more 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.480 so for the offensive line than the quarterback. I think 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:40.640 a lot of gets made out about confusing quarterbacks, but 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.240 that's not necessarily what the pressure package is naming to do. 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.400 That's more about confusing the offensive line, and this Jets 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:49.920 offensive line, you know, they're opening the center to one 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:52.280 direction and then they're spinning it the other way, and 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:56.120 they're just getting all sorts of pressure on Zack Wilson. 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:58.040 I think their pressure it was forty eight percent in 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.400 this game, which is incredible. That's without a lead, right, 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.240 Like the Cowboys pressured Kirk Cousins on sixty percent of 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:07.200 his dropbacks in that game on Sunday, but they're up 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.720 forty to three, so they're pinning their ears back and 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:11.959 getting sacks in the second half. The Patriots were in 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.640 a three three ball game the entire game and they 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.160 still pressured Zach Wilson on half of his drop backs. 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:19.920 That's incredible. So I think this pass rush is legit. 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.120 But when you look at you know, going to the 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:25.160 things that I didn't like as much about this game 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:29.000 after watching the film is that, quite honestly, the coverage 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:33.439 wasn't great, and I think that this Jets receiving group 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:35.760 is a little bit underrated. Garrett Wilson's a dude. That 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:37.280 guy is going to be a good player. If he 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:39.800 gets a competent quarterback, He's going to be a thousand 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.839 yard receiver in this league. I think that Conklin, their 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:46.360 tight end, is a little bit underrated. Denzel Mims has 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.240 stone hands, but when he catches the ball, he makes 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.720 plays and he also gets open, right. He might not 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.800 complete the catch, but he can get open. So in 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.600 this game, there was a handful of opportunities. I'd say 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.600 half a dozen plays that a good quarterback hits. He 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:05.120 just a good quarterback is not going to miss these throws. 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.320 A good quarterback is not gonna miss his tight end 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.520 open over the middle and he throws it ten yards 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:13.320 over his head and Devin mc into Devin mccordy's lap, right, Like, 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.960 those types of passes are going to get completed on you. So, 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.800 on the one hand, love what they're doing with the rush. 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.880 I think the rush definitely helps out the coverage of 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.640 time and makes it so that quarterbacks have to fit 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:27.520 the ball into their first progression, right. It's not like 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.280 they have all day to go one two three or 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:33.079 one two check down, like they have to find an 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:36.120 outlet quickly because of the way that they're rushing the quarterback. 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.440 But you do get a little bit concerned about the 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:42.680 way that they're covering, and I just look at it now, 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:47.840 and I see the good teams, you know, Miami, Buffalo, Cincinnati, 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.439 these good passing tacks. I would say even the Raiders 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:52.679 to a degree as well, just because they have Davante Adams. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.000 These teams are gonna take Miles Bryant, They're gonna take 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.640 Jalen Mills, and they're gonna target these guys a ton 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:00.800 right like they're just gonna come out after those dudes. 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:05.000 So whether it's Marcus Jones getting run on defense, if 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:08.240 Miles Bryant's having a tough game, or they have you know, 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:13.520 John Jones, Jack Jones and Brian in the slot, or 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.040 you know, whatever mix and matching they can do. I 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:18.280 think that that's an advantage that they have this year 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.400 that they didn't have last year, is they have some options. 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:22.520 If guys are not playing well, they don't have to 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.680 live and die by Miles Bryan against Isaiah McKenzie. They 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.800 can change it up a little bit. But they didn't 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.760 cover particularly well in this game, and there's definitely some 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:34.480 things that they need to improve on and in that regard, 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:39.520 and I've just I still can't get there with this 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:41.760 defense where I'm one hundred percent sold that this is 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.520 gonna last. And it's not so much about the defense 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:48.160 not being good. It's just eventually they're not going to 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.079 hold teams to three points in one hundred and three 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.960 yards of total offense. And when they played the Bills, 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:57.080 the lowest yardage total of the Belichick era that I believe, 0:12:57.120 --> 0:12:59.240 and it really it could have been less, Like there 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:03.120 was instances. I mean, the win turned what should have 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:05.319 been an interception to a forty yard completion for the 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:08.480 Jets right on that tape ball. And that's why kind 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:10.199 of you talk about putting this in context, right, the 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.600 good and the bad. And I had this conversation with 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.439 somebody yesterday and I'm interested to get your thoughts on it. 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.720 I mean, Bill's been here for twenty two years. Yeah, 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.079 They've played a lot of games, They've played a lot 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.920 of bad offenses. They've played a lot of bad quarterbacks. 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.280 So to hold a team to one hundred to the 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.080 lowest yardage total ever in that error, regardless of who's there, 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.560 is impressive. Like we just set off the top. We 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:35.280 don't think Zach Wilson's an NFL quarterback? Is he the 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.719 worst quarterback Bill Belichick has faced in New England? I 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:39.800 don't think so. No. I mean they started Bryce Petty 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:41.680 against the Patriots a couple of years ago. I was 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.160 going through a list the other day, EJ. Manuel, it's 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.280 better than Sam Allener, Sam Ellener. I was going like 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.840 I was just going through the AFC East quarterbacks. Brooks 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.640 Bollinger started a game for the Jets against the Patriots. 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:57.120 At one point like so, it's you're you're you're grading 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.360 them on a curve for sure. But the fewest total 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:01.600 yards allowed in the Bill Belichick era, I don't care 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.760 who the quarterback is. That's impressive at this point. Yeah. Absolutely. Now, 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:10.680 after the game, Garrett Wilson was very vocal about his displeasure. 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.680 I think mainly with the quarterback play. I know he 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:17.360 didn't he was a good teammate and talked about it 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.640 from somebody was a big picture standpoint of all of us. Right, 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:23.720 it was us, It was we. It wasn't Zach right. 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.560 It wasn't like he was singling out the quarterback. But 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.360 I think that I still have to see it. I do. 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.280 I still have to see it against Buffalo, against teams 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.640 like Cincinnati in Miami. I think that you know, those 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:40.200 teams to me are not the ultimate litmus test, just 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.840 because if you want to see how much this team 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.320 has improved from last year to this year, it's about 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:47.840 stopping Buffalo, right and and again, I'm not saying that 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.120 they need to hold Buffalo to three points. I'm just 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.080 saying that they need to be more competitive against the 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.840 Bills than they were in those two games last year, 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:59.240 especially the one here in the regular I hate talking 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:01.920 about the playoff game because they have you know, DeVante 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:05.960 Bosby and Jewan Williams playing corner and at that point, 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:08.920 so it's really the regular season game here until we 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:14.480 see it against that team in a full capacity like 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:17.320 next Thursday night or um, you know, in Buffalo I 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.280 had the last week of the season. I'm still gonna 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:22.480 have reservations. I mean, that's why I don't know. I 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.560 just can't help it. Now. If the defense was their 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.240 biggest problem, they'd probably be a thirteen win team right now, right, 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.000 So I hate to pick on them. I just I 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.160 think that there are going to be moments where this 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:38.400 coverage is going to get exposed. I'm less worried at 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:41.520 this point. I know this is crazy because I'll Belichick 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.640 always got problems with mobile quarterbacks. YadA, YadA, YadA. But 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:46.960 I am a little bit less worried about that now 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:50.800 than I am about them just holding up in the 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.680 back end. If that pass rush goes cold, like if 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.440 the pass rush does not have a good game against 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.880 the Bills, then I don't think that they can just 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.960 dominate with coverage anymore. But I mean, that's just football. 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.720 That's not unique to the Patriots. Every team is built 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.640 around its strengths and weaknesses. Right, Teams that pass rush 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.160 like that generally play a little more aggressive in the 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.600 secondary because they know the quarterback has less time. It 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:18.240 was the opposite here for the last couple of years, 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:21.440 where they had that dominant secondary, so the pass rush 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:25.200 was a little more conservative because if the quarterback extended 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.080 the play, so be it, he still probably wasn't gonna 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.800 find anybody. I think some of what we're seeing in 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.080 coverage is just they're trying to capitalize on this pass rush, 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.040 and if something happens where the pass rush goes cold, 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:38.160 I think they can make adjustments, and maybe it won't 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.160 be perfect on the back end, but I think they 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:42.680 can make adjustments where it doesn't need to look like that. Right. 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.640 I think that's trying to take your strength and capitalize 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.360 on it versus right, because you're gonna try if you 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.160 know the quarterback doesn't have time for routes that develop 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.280 at the second level, you're gonna jump those routes at 0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:57.240 the first level. You Also, I think the other thing 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.640 that I'm still holding on to at this defense is 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.680 that against Wilson, they were using their safeties to jump 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.000 some of those intermediate routes because I think they knew 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:07.320 that they were going to try to get the ball 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:10.120 out of his hands and not have him just sit 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:12.679 there and pat the baby and throw interceptions like he 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:18.000 did last time. So you're gonna play Buffalo completely exactly, Yeah, exactly. 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.120 That's why I look at some of the coverage stuff 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.600 like you're talking about. And remember, earlier in the year, 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:24.600 before the pass rush really got going, we were talking 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:27.480 about how good this secondary was and Jack Jones and 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:29.720 Jonathan Jones, and that was actually against them good. I 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:31.720 know they lost the game, but we were talking about 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.600 how well they looked against Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.120 in that passing attack. That's really come on now, right, 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.280 So I'm not the pass rush needs to play at 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.560 a high level for them to be competitive against the 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.359 team like Buffalo, against team like Cincinnati. Certainly, I'm not 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.280 saying that the pass rush can afford to go cold 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.840 in those games. But I'm not super worried about the 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:55.320 secondary right now. I think that they have enough back there. 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.840 So we'll get to Minnesota here by the end of 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:00.920 the show, I promised. But this is a really good 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:06.959 appetizer because the Vikings have some things in the passing 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:08.840 game that can that can scare you, right, I mean, 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:13.639 Justin Johnson's might be the best. We'll get there. But 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:15.919 the point that I'm getting at is that this is 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:19.240 a step up in competition, certainly from what they played 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:23.400 against Sam Ellender or against Zach Wilson over the last 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:25.240 couple of weeks. So this is a step up. So 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.040 we'll see what this defense looks like on Thursday night. 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.560 The other thing that I liked, and I'm gonna I'm 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.000 gonna start maybe this will be like a compliments sandwich. 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:36.400 All right, I'm gonna start with some compliments for the offense, 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.399 because you know, we are Patriots dot Com, so we 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.000 can't We're not gonna just be completely negative, all right, Well, 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:44.160 we're not making stuff up either. I think there was stuff, 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:46.919 and we're gonna then we're gonna certainly get to some 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.160 of the things that really bugged me, like really really 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.480 bugged me about the way this game was called by 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:55.760 Matt Patricia. Now what I did like, and I'm on 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.480 the record in multiple places saying that I would like 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:01.440 them to be a spread offense. I would like them 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:03.040 to spread the field. And I think people when they 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.200 hear spread, they think I'm saying a vertical offense. I'm 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:08.600 not necessarily saying that spread it out and spread it 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:12.960 out space of formation. Right. I want them to be RPOs. 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:15.160 I want them to be quick game. I want them 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.800 to be in third and six and hit intermediate routes 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:21.159 on third down, right, Like, that's what my dream is. 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:24.280 My fever dream about the Patriots is that they come 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.080 out and they got all sorts of crazy RPOs like 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.520 they're Miami and we're having fun with it. Like that's 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:33.120 that's what I want. With that being said, I think 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:35.920 we've gotten to the point now this season seeing it 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.800 both ways, seeing it with Zappy, seeing it with Max, 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.160 seeing it with Mac, and Gunn seeing it with Mac 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:46.600 under center that the stuff that they did was zappy, 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:48.560 And now the stuff that they did on Sunday with 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.320 Mac from under center is their best option. It's just 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:56.040 what they're best at when they executed properly. Now in 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.280 this game, what I because it's something that they execute 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.640 much more consist instantly than it so in this game, 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.080 what I really liked about some of the things that 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.439 they did. They had some of those zappy play action 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:11.439 passes into this script right where they had seven guys 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:13.680 or eight if you want to count. The running back 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:17.399 is kind of scanning for blitzes and penetrators as well, 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.320 and they're just running two guys into the route. You know, 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:23.199 it's a vertical clear out for Parker or Thornton or 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:25.800