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The worlds of vegetal podcasts welcome to Patriots Unfiltered.

I expect them, like Evan said, to be overly aggressive.

What the hell prime time it's all about me?

Let's go defensively.

Do we need to worry about pressure?

Yeah, please stop Paul shows from grinding my gears suggesting to you.

My advice is don't worry about it.

Just don't worry about it.

Don't let them bother you.

No, I don't know a lot of people my age better anyway.

I could say something, but I don't want to insult a generation.

It's okay, this is one that I'm leading into, So, I mean, it might not be Jamis, but that feels like Chane is the style to you.

We won't play, but I always just enjoy his pre postgame.

My favorite one is, like I pray to God that I can stop throwing big six.

You read stable coaching for his job or is it pretty much all already?

That's right?

What am I talking about?

He's done?

Evan was kind of just lurking.

People weren't going up and shaking his hand for Brabel mentioning him by name.

This is the real.

This is Patriots Unfiltered, presented by Toyota's official website for deals by a Toyota dot com.

All right, welcome the Patriot's Unfiltered.

It is Wednesday here at Jill's Stadium, and uh, it's kind of a weird Wednesday for our show because we're not turning the page.

Oh no, nothing to turn the page too, except the bye week, which very welcome.

Here in the building.

Players are already gone.

Right.

It's like NASCAR just coming out of the parking.

Couldn't get out of here quick enough.

And I don't blame them, but we've got a lot to talk about.

Do a little bit of an announcement today, A couple announcements?

Yeah, So, who wants to be the bearer of good news to start it off?

This is your job.

I'll give you that.

Well, I will start with the first news of the day, which was that Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft are finalists in their respective category.

So what does that Pro Football Hall of Fame?

So I think there were six coaches and they were narrowed down now to one, which is Bill Belichick, and then there are a handful of owners or contributors as well.

Robert Craft was nearrow down to that one.

So they will enter the point with the modern era players as well as there will be the alumni, the older guys.

Three seniors who were also announced, unfortunately not Stanley Morgan.

So I don't know.

This process seems to get more complicated every year to me.

But they are the finalists in their category, so Bill Belichick is the.

But just because of the finalists in their category doesn't mean they're.

In, doesn't right, I don't know the exact number off the top of my head.

And three, it could be up to three out of what out of those five?

Yeah, there's three.

So it's Belichick, mister Kraft, Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and Elsie Greenwood are the five.

The three seniors, one coach and one contract.

And up to three.

But now you don't that's the maximum.

You don't need to put anybody in.

And they'll be in a group with the twenty six I believe, yes, finalists, and.

They have to get in order to get in, you need eighty percent of the vote.

Yes, and whose vote are we talking?

Now?

We're talking about the body at large.

I believe.

Oh really, so the same people who are voting on.

I believe the other people are because these committees are the separate committees are the ones that are putting in I see, you know, for to nominate Bill Belichick and Robert the.

Bill Pollians of the World and the Vic Carucis the World and the South Platonios.

They're voting on this group as well as the current players, or I should say that.

Peter King and okay, Peter what there's what their cigars.

And Dutch it and writer and we will know the results when.

I don't think we'll know it's till like Super Bowl, Yeah, NFL honors, Okay, yeah, okay, So it's all clear to the news, right, Evan's excited about It's Greenwood and Pittsburgh Steeler.

Right, there'll be there anyway when we find out.

I love inducing Man's plains to me the Hall of Fame process.

So that was great.

I didn't Man splain anything I asked him to explain it.

I know, it's just great.

I'm sincere.

I really enjoyed that.

No.

I just pointed out that another Pittsburgh Steeler, which Evan is.

I don't want to talk about it.

I miss what's going to happen.

The ten Patriots that are then they're still letting sere gonna let the Steeler in, but they're not going to let any of the Patriots.

And that's exactly what's and a half and I know it.

And there you go, and oh God, and the last news of the day, which I could let Evan do if you want, but Drake, Drake may may officially your AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

First time in his this last time in his career.

Here.

You know, it's crazy.

I had to go back, you know, the last time a Patriot won this award, you know, all the way that to twenty seventeen.

Tom Brady wont it three times and Gronk won it once and otherwise there's been no offensive Patriots to win it him.

Maybe not all that surprising, but I would have thought maybe eighteen nineteen Brady got something in there, but no, he didn't.

So congratulations Drake.

I mean, Drake had a good game to eighty two or something like that to touchdown.

Yeah, it's interesting.

I can see where the furrow brow You're like, But what kind of is it like for him?

It's been an average games.

I thought that was one of his better games.

Yeah, well he played with one of his best games, But I thought that they were with Fred.

I think that like there wasn't.

Like a statistically oh my god, this was the game.

Like it's kind of like you've been doing this kid, Now you.

Get statistically that's about I mean to eighty it was like five yards off his career high ten yards office.

I think.

But usually when you think of offensive player of the week, you think of running back with two hundred yards or quarterback with three fifty.

I'm sorry, I thought you meant in relation to May.

Oh no, no, no, no, no.

Two touchdowns.

I even got in relations to May like I think I think that, like he didn't win it against Buffalo when they beat.

Buffalo, But who was the up against that week?

I don't know how you could play they.

I was trying to get to, Yeah, he played great game against Buffalo too.

The point I was trying to get to is it probably wasn't a huge offensive.

Week downplaying Drake May awards.

I hear what he's saying, though, I was a little surprised to like, no, it's just good, it's deserved.

But it wasn't like, you know, if he had three twenty four touchdowns there, you know, it's a good look, respectable.

And I think the thing about Drake may too is that this is like his consistent performance.

It's not literally wavering from this.

He's kind of you know, two fifty plus a couple of touchdowns and you know the note turnovers was big too.

Yeah, so I think he's third in passing yards per game, but he still doesn't have a three hundred yard game, right, which tells you that every single week he's just at like two eighty.

Yeah, every week, And I give it.

You know, they did a little bit in this game, like that last drive in the fourth quarter, they were throwing down near the goal line.

I think we talked about it during the game.

But he's very ethical, like he doesn't go out there in stat pad a whole lot.

So you know, some of these fourth quarters, like they could, let you know, he could go and rack up eighty yards on a touchdown, drive up three scores in the fourth quarter, and they don't really do that.

Do you agree with that?

I think they've been in i mean, not in control, but they've had the lead in virtually every one of these games, and that's going to lead to lower totals at the end.

Yeah, you take your foot off.

That's what kind of stood out to me in this game because I agree with Evan.

I think in general, they've been very smart about the way that they've handled the end of the game.

And Mike Rabel has mentioned many times after these games, it's always good to end in victory formation with the ball in your hand, with the ball and yeah, that's that's the.

Phrase big on the five minute offense, the.

Ball in your hands.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know.

Bill used to have those little quirks too, where people would call it the red zone.

He always called it the red area.

You know, everybody calls it the full minute offense.

Verb calls the five minute offense.

It's like these little we call it the green zone, which it means go as coaches they do that too.

Yeah, all right, So that's the news and it's all good.

It is good.

Drake is also leading in Pro Bowl voting, so he's you know, Drake's having a moment.

Well deserved.

It's uh.

I continue now just not getting right back into the grind of another game this weekend and doing everything that we have to do to get ready for that.

I hope I hope May doesn't go to the Pro Bowl.

No, No, he went last year, you know, because I hope we're in the super Bowl.

Well, do you hope that he doesn't win MVP, because the winner of MVP never wins the super Bowl.

But that's broken my homes did it?

So?

Oh right?

That didn't go It did go back a long way in the last Yeah, But I want him to win the m v P.

I do me too.

I don't care, I really don't.

I'm very adults.

I want to win the super Bowl, win the m v P.

I'm losing sleepover.

This is so insane.

I literally was shook after that Raiders game in Week one, and now we're talking about Drake Bay like leading the league and probo voting and being and did have.

To have a pep talk with Mike and.

Ring your hand if you were shook after the after the after week one, and you know, I mean it was like, in.

My position, behind ahead, we have we have hands in the air behind the glass.

In my position, I have to plan ahead.

And it's not unrealistic to think on the week of Super Bowl we might have to cover Yes, Coach of the Year, yes, m v P, Assistant Coach of the Year, come back players, and several people in the Pro Bowl, and Evan probably will be at the Shrine Bowls.

Come Back Player of the Year Stefan Diggs, yeah, I think that will be not nominated.

That's also an award NFL honors obviously.

The Hall of Fame announcement is that.

Nice, yep.

So when you've unpacked this, it could be all those awards that you just named and the Super Bowl mister Craft, Bill Belichick, Adam Vini, Terry Rodney Harrison, and potentially the Patriots might be there in the Super Bowl in Santa Clara as well.

I mean we're talking.

I love it for you and for us though.

That's gonna awards again, that's so m v P.

Yes, Coach of the Year, Assistant Coach of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year absolutely in play.

What else nic people in the Pro Bowl?

That's it.

Yeah, that's it.

I mean I don't know if like Drake would be nominated for Offensive Player of the Year and m v P, but it usually that doesn't go to the same person, you know.

I think like Jonathan Taylor might or Pooka might win Player of the Year and the MVP will go to the quarterback.

But it is, you know a little bit of a sneaky down here to the you know player of the Week thing.

Sneaky that like last year Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson had like fifty total touchdowns and they were the nominees for MVP.

You know, this isn't Stafford and Drake aren't quite having those types of seasons.

But it's maybe that's just maybe the league is down.

I don't know, maybe even like.

Looking back through the AFC Offensive Players a Week answer, it's like Josh Allen, Lamar, like those guys have cleaned up that award since like twenty twenty.

It's like two three of them every single year.

Yea.

So it's it's it's just a sign of him, you know, continuing to earn that recognition that he definitely deserves.

Right now, all right, anything else we need to get on the table.

I have a question for everybody.

Oh oh, I like when you bring a show prep oh questions to the table.

I have the question, but I don't have the answer.

So that's why I answer.

Yeah, that's why we're here.

It a little less, but that's okay.

No, I just want to know, like, what are you most interested this weekend when when it comes to the games.

Oh maybe maybe we should pull up the schedule.

Yeah, I would say, as you guys are looking at the continuing to see how good he plays.

I'm watching Denver because of the number one is not because I'm terrified.

So scared that altitude is horrible.

Sorry, okay, just for anybody wandering out there, you know, all four members of this show are very happily married.

So I haven't lived in a basement since college.

Didn't grow up and hang them.

I haven't lived in a basement, very happily married for a long time now.

Even kids don't do the math.

Yeah, I'm interested in Denver, but I think the games of formality because they think they're going to kill the Raid.

Well, Joe Burrow at Buffalo, that's the game, just to me, just you know, like playing a little Devil's Advocate.

They did beat the Raiders ten to seven.

I know it was.

It was a Thursday night game, which I think always as a mitigating factor, but they did only win that game tend to.

And their offense was they kind of had bo Nixon.

Hell in that game he had they had like ten first downs offense defense, but very hard, right, like like shutting down, you know, in order.

To follow the rules.

I do understand that too far, I do, you know, in order to follow the rules, I do understand that the Raiders had to make all the tickets available just to Broncos fans for this game.

I'll make it as much a home game for the Broncos as possible.

Yeah, it's unbelievable, really, yeah, yeah.

It feels like on the road.

Yeah, really trying to you know, challenge them maybe a little bit for I don't know what.

I'll be interested in that game for the number one seed obviously.

Bill's Bengals.

Bill's Bengals is a is a game because I think there's a chance that Cincinnati gets it going like they did around this time last year, and it's probably too little, too late for them.

But if they do and then they beat Buffalo, you know, it's it's over.

I mean, the division's over.

I mean not officially, but yeah, I know practically, well.

I mean it's if they had Patriots beat the Bills and anyway.

It's over.

If the Patriots win the game, if the Bills lose to the Bengals, like they have to start thinking about the playoffs, let alone winning the division.

So you know that that's definitely in play.

You know, the AFC is not exactly top heavy this year, but there's a lot of teams that are like scrunched up in that like five to ten range right now, that are all like, you know, eight and four, seven and five, you know, right in that range.

But Bills Bengals for obvious reasons, like obviously the Patriots are going to play the Bills the next week and all that.

But also I really think the Bengals have a puncher's chance in that game.

You know, their defense is starting to play a lot better.

Burrows back.

If the team that played the Ravens on Thanksgiving plays Bills on Sunday, I think they might win.

Is very limited offensively right now with all the guys that they're missing.

I don't know who's coming back.

Maybe Kincaid and Dawkins and Brown, all these guys.

Like Dawkes will probably be back because he's just a concussion protocol, but I don't know about uh Brown because that that injury looked bad.

I mean the first third down of the game against Pittsburgh for Buffalo, Josh Allen's with the ball of Brandon Cooks, who's been on the team for twenty minutes.

Yeah, like they're in a they're not Evan's right, they're not guaranteed to make the playoffs.

There's a bit of them, man, that is I mean, it's such it's you get on one thing.

Sometimes it feel like it because you put the cart before the horse and you say, oh, they can't throw the ball down the field, but like they really can't throw the ball down the field, like they just think everything is underneath, and you can tell that it's just different.

They're struggling and that when they signed Cooks that was like that makes total sense.

That's it.

I mean it's it's a good signing, but it just speaks to how desperate.

This and gave Davis too, just got Davis before.

He's also getting targeted, yeah, you know, reasonably frequently.

Yeah, I mean outside of Shakir, they they just don't really have anything consistent.

And I think that like you see the difference between a team like the Patriots that's been building since training camp and how they have the same core group of guys with around Drake since training camp and how advanced they can get from a passing game perspective.

And then you watch Buffalo and it's like the same five plays because they only they Brandon Cooks only knows five plays.

So, like, you know, it's not like any knock on their talent necessarily, it's just like they literally haven't had enough time on task to build an offense.

Like, I wouldn't dismiss their chances.

You know, with all that said and their inability to throw the ball downfield and I think it was the lowest you know, average depth of target of his career.

From that game, they still blew out a team at home.

Yeah, they blew.

Out Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh that game wasn't competitive.

So even with all of that going wrong, they still found a way to win a game that they had to win.

So I wouldn't dismiss their chances.

The other game I'll be interested is at one o'clock Indian Jackson.

I was just gonna say that one Fred, Yeah, I mean, is Indy bounced back?

Where are they right now?

You've got a Jacksonville team that's been up and down, but surgeon.

A little bit.

And I mean they have a real chance to get back on top of that.

I've seen Jacksonville a little bit and I can't think.

Of a team can't put my finger on that team.

Yeah, I mean maybe Mike's Carolina Panthers, But I can't think of a team that looks better and worse at different times.

They've taken Maybe Carolina.

They've taken the game kind of out at Trevor Lawrence's hands.

Like they're run first offense.

Now.

Absolutely, their run game is good.

And there are times that Lawrence just like gets in a groove and it's like that's the number one and then you watch them and he's like wildly inaccurate and Liam Cohen yelling at him on the sideline and.

It's a bizarre It's it's a bizarre team.

And like Brian Thomas has kind of had a down year, Travis Hunters hurt, so they're not even like getting the production out of those guys that you were expecting.

And they're eight and four.

You know who's been big for him is the acquisition of Jacobe Myers.

Yeah, he's played well for him and the kid Parker Washington.

Mister Myers, how you doing?

He doesn't listen.

Probably doesn't.

Well, if we played the Jaguars in the playoffs, yeah, yeah, he'll be back, even Texans at Chiefs.

The eight twenty games some night, I mean that's a defense against and the Thursday night games Agown to Detroit Dallas.

Yeah, I just those schedules.

I know, I don't want to go down that rabbit hole that.

We did yesterday.

But Detroit Thursday night against Dallas, like it's amazing.

Yeah, but I guess you'd rather do that, you know, than that.

A few years ago, like towards the end of Thursday Thursday.

Yeah, I think three in a row, three prime time games in a row, and it was like one of them was like Thursday Thursday.

Yeah.

So so some good games, some real stinkers, you know, Tennessee Cleveland.

I don't think I'll be tuning into that one.

No, you know, Watson window open.

I forgot, that's miles out at watch game right there on game.

That's what I'm saying.

Cam Woard leads the league in getting sacked.

There you go, sacks taken.

I think he only needs like three.

Right, what is the record, like twenty twenty three something like that.

Yeah, it's something like that.

Yeah, all right, we can look so just you know, i'd ask what people are going to be paying attention to this weekend.

And you saying all those games that we mentioned.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm looking for out of the ordinary.

Yeah, it's a decent, decent slate.

Yeah, that's a good slights much better than last week twenty two and a half, straight hand and watt TJT.

So I knew the players I was watching last weekend, and we kind of redid our Infinity lineup and kind of carved out some stuff that we didn't want and we didn't know it.

But doing that, we didn't get the We got an NFL network, but we didn't get the NFL Round Zone anymore.

But from what I understand, it's now littered with ads.

Yeah, just screen exaggeration, is okay, I saw that same thing that you saw today.

They do periodically pop up, but you don't ever lose.

The Oh okay, it's just the commercial mind that you barely don't mind that.

Yeah, and I agree with Mike at this point, you've seen it enough that doesn't you don't really even notice it.

There are dead points in red zone for everybody.

You know, there are points where like we got to just go right now to the.

Less time for Scott Hansen to be misidentifying people in situations.

This last Sunday, like the one pm window was not great anyway, and so they you could tell that they just loaded up all the ads in the one pm windows so that once they got to the better games at four they could have didn't have to throw to the comer.

It's not that bad.

It's the way you read it.

It was like they were going away.

Yeah, people are outraged about it, and that's one I don't really get out.

I am not necessarily saying it's not going to be an issue down the road like when ESPN fully you know, takes it over.

And I do want to if they'll make any changes.

Yeah, you know that commercial two box and keep the keep the stream up of.

Red Zone annoying, but you can live with it.

Yeah, it's no more annoying than when they do that regularly.

You know, they go to the squad box.

You know what I was thinking watching Red Zone this week was like Scott Hansen on a long time without talking, and I was like, I wonder if he's like on a bathroom break, like what is you know, sometimes the guys, I gotta I just I gotta go, like you have to run off the stage.

Really, he might have one of those things.

Hour starts.

I think I worked with him at NFL Network and might worked like.

His piss boy.

Yes, I mean like I'm not going, I'm not gonna lie.

Yeah, like you know, rich Eyes and waters and stuff like that.

You know, but it was I did like two or three Red Zone Sundays.

He doesn't move.

No, he doesn't move.

There's a bathroom behind him, behind the wall.

It's a lot like Paul on Red Stones.

I don't move either, bike he I mean maybe maybe once maybe, but yeah, he does the same thing.

He comes in on the mornings, he eats breakfast, and he has his binder, research binder, so he.

Does he does research and still makes all those mistakes.

I'm sure.

I'm he's fine.

I think he does a good shit.

Say this all the time.

It's absolutely a me issue, just and it's I think you're just jealous you want to do that.

It's the thing that Mike always says, like he Mike just has this look that he looks at me and just shakes his head as if to say, how on earth do you know that, and I it's a me thing.

It's just there, random things that are Like when a guy's makes a play and it's a number for a team, I almost almost immediately know who it is, and he almost never seems to know who it is.

He just misidentifies the guy so much.

Well, you spoiled it now for me when I watch it, because every mistake is.

Again, come on, he's one of the one.

If you're a fantasy player, that man has been all I care about his seeing the highlight.

It's also the excitement of the mundane, you know, the over the top enthusiasm for like a third and six completion.

Very upset by.

This, God forbid.

Out of all the people that I worked, he was one of the best.

He's at the top of the list.

No, it's better than Colleen.

This is not about personal Like I've never met Scott.

I know I have, and I like which that's all.

So your other guy that used to get waterspo.

Oh, yeah yeah, waters coffees.

Pens.

Pens was always big, like you always had in my pockets.

I would just have like ten pens because these guys, you know, they they'd never have a pen, so they're like you have a you have a pen like, Yeah, seventeen of them.

I've done that.

Just it was the best awesome two years.

All right.

We had a lot of emails coming in.

Wow, it's really it's it's crazy.

I love this show and I love our listeners.

They were always ready to engage good stuff.

Thanks for keeping us at the top of those rankings.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, right, appreciate all the with the Spotify's that would This is where.

I needed you and Evan to sort of fill in the gaps.

You know me, I just know randomness.

I don't know the specifics you got.

You got a couple of tweets at you of people sharing their top listened episodes.

Yes, Todd and Rochester, says Fred.

I'm surprised you've not mentioned the timing of the Patriots by coming at a Monday night game, meaning players are finishing the game at midnight instead of say Sunday evening for a one pm game, one less day almost two before playing Buffalo next.

I say this with your Patriots versus everybody talk and the NFL hates the Patriots had on I listen to snarky Paul's response.

No, I don't know them yea, other than the Giants had the Giants.

Yeah, this is they hate the Giants too, So there it is.

It's a little snark.

Okay, that's right.

Oh.

Spotify just released their yearly wrap up today.

Yeah, we get those this time of year.

They just wanted to share the time I've spent with the crew.

I've never emailed, nor have I called, but I love the new crew nonetheless.

Thank you for carrying the fan base through the Mac Jones era and being the highlight of my Tuesdays through Thursdays.

So this is Patrick and he spent ten four hundred and fifty seven minutes on Spotify listening to our podcast.

I'm sorry, top three percent fan.

So I've gotten a lot of those and I appreciate next year.

I guess if you listen to Spotify, you get an email at the end of the year about how many minutes you've spent.

How many over ten thousand minutes you're an expert on this, Yes, yes, thank you, that's ten thousand.

Doing the math, so it's uh one hundred.

I started to do it and then I was like, wait, what minutes.

Three d and sixty minutes a week time?

Hey, francessa let's go one two all right anyway, free.

So good stuff.

Always always like to get those emails from people.

Eight five to five past five hundred is the hotline.

Let's go to Dan, who's at exit one forty five off the Garden State Parkway.

What's up Dan?

Thanks Red, this is kind of a Wednesday before the buy topic.

I'll let our his thoughts to well deserve bouquets around this scene in this season, I've listed you so great job with episode one on the eighty five teams.

Thank you enjoyed it.

Looking forward to.

Episode two Monday, coming Monday.

Okay, great.

I know you couldn't go into with any death, but you didn't touch on it.

And I've done some research into you know, football, both football especially never took off at Boston before the Patriots and the reason those three NFL teams and there was actually a couple of AFL teams too mixed in there.

The reason they didn't stick.

And even then after the Patriots came and it took a little while, even after they moved to Foxborough's shadow of the Bruins and the Sock, there was really kind of a saturation point we reached here with kind of damp in the markets for both football even you know, even pro basketball didn't take root in Boston really until you couldn't ignore the Celtics anymore.

And of course if you like both football, you always had the Giants.

But even beyond that, going back to the thirties, you had good football being played here on Saturday, usually one school, whether it was b C.

Harbord, Northeastern, even Paul and my Terriers ranked sometimes.

Yeah.

Well, and there are other factors like this thing the Globe had for pro football in the thirties and forties.

But I think it's between the Red Sox, the Bruins and Eastern college football.

There just wasn't much need for a pro football team here until you got to the late fifties, when you know, the NFL really took off.

Anyway, That's that's how I.

Had Thank you very much, all right, thanks Dan.

I'm not sure the point of that, but no, I mean, you look at places like Cleveland, all right, they love their Browns, the Browns they used to be good before the NFL.

But the reason why those fans are so hard it's a tradition that your father brought you into and Boston never really had that tradition except for the Red Sox, you know, and that's you know, the Patriots weren't even on every Sunday because they were blacked out, and so everybody watched Giants game and everybody became Giants fans.

You didn't have those traditions in other sports like you do in Ohio in Texas.

But once they started getting good, like in the seventies, they built hockey rinks because of Bobby Orr and the Bruins, yep.

And then Bird came around in the eighties.

And now things have changed because we've had a history of some good, good teams.

But back then, like like he's right, there was really no need for a pro sports interest because there wasn't a tradition like your dad wasn't watching, so you didn't watch.

Well, it's really the Celtics that what was your guy Bob Cooseys them drafting Bob Coozy and him being a Holy Cross guy and you know, being a local kid like him, and Bill Sharmon like basically put the Celtics on the map, and then they got Bill Russell and then it really took off in the sixties.

But it was really the fact that Kozi was a local kid and went to holy Cross and holy Cross is a wagon back then in basketball.

And then you know, he went to the Celtics and and that was kind of what started the Celtics history.

I've watched like way too many Celtics documents.

But yeah, that's right.

That was pretty much what the Celtics would happen.

And then obviously Bill Russell comes and they turned into the best team of the sixties.

And yeah, it's interesting because that's what happened with the Patriots and Brady like, even though they had some success the Patriots seventy six, seventy eight, eighty five, it was isolated and it wasn't a star superstar players.

I mean, they had some superstars, but you know, like you said, you're pointing out the players like Bobby Yore and Koozi and Russell, and it seems like you really need those superstar players and some sustained success to really get the Claws in fans.

Yeah.

And I think the other problem with the Patriots was, like you said, sustained, but the ownership was always never solid and people really didn't like, am I really going to get behind this team?

Yeah?

And then when Robert when they brought in parcels in ninety three that really helped, and then Kraft bought it local guy, so people are like, Okay, I'll buy those season tickets.

They're not going anywhere, let's support them now, and you know the rest is history.

As they said, I mean, Robert gets so much mileage out of being a former season ticket holder, Like just that, I think, just make connect with the real fans, and especially like you said, I was like the crappy fan experience that everybody had in the eighties, I think was for me like, well, this guy knows what it's like to sit on those ice coool bleachers and you know all that, and he has the fans in mind when he's starting to build the team, so he's it's been such a key part of his ownership.

I feel like yep.

Steve writes in Hey Fred, not difficult to notice that you read emails from the same people all the time.

Sick of listening to the same moron's opinions.

Mix it up a little.

I don't have the memory Paul does or the talent you induce do, but trust me, I could give you all a run for your money talking sports.

Here's an idea one hour a week.

You should have a guest fan appear on the show, battling Paul for a Patriot's trivia show.

Alex could host lots of fun Steve in the North Country.

I try it, no, I honestly, I try to mix it up.

But if the email's not good, I'm not going to read it, just because it's somebody I haven't read an email from.

You know.

So there's certain people I guess that seem to know what to write that gets my interest.

I also like during the show, if we're having a conversation, I try to scan if someone's emailing in about what we're talking about.

I try to get that in there.

But yeah, I try to get new people in.

But write something good and I'll read it with good grammar.

It's really hard.

It's really hard to do it.

It's really hard to host the show and mondumails emails at the same time.

Well, if it's just two of us, I couldn't do it.

Be really hard.

But I can.

While you guys are talking, I can be scanned.

That's what I always tease you.

When we're talking about something and they just say, whatever it is that we just talked about, and I make fun of you.

But I know why you didn't hear it.

It's because you're reading four or five emails trying to figure out what's relevant to our conversation, right, I think not an easy thing to let me.

Think we've all done both these roles.

But it's like, it's so different than to just sit here and be like, yeah, see us up, Fred, what do you got?

You know, rather than like, all right, I gotta get the phones.

I gotta make sure there's no Dalai and then all of a sudden there's dead air and.

You're like, it's it's not as fun.

So Steve, it's not.

I'm not trying to favor anyone, just so you know.

It's just it's just the way it is.

Herms in DC, what's up?

Herm Hey, what's going on?

Gentlemen?

How you doing all right?

Hearm?

So two quick questions.

But before I asked my questions, I did want to give you guys some props, right, because I think nowadays with sports content is people just.

They make it obvious, right and just chase it clicks and just.

Saying outrageous stuff.

I never do that.

Please, please do not change the tecreator show just stated where you are, and just keep them what you're doing.

The first question is, and I Apolgast talk about it in a show, but why is it that Robert Kraft is now getting I guess close to being more into the Hall of Fame?

I mean he had what tension, bold appearances.

It wasn't say.

Well, he's come close before.

Okay, I guess that's moves to me done.

Yeah, No, he's come close before.

They just keep changing the criteria and how they're doing it.

And for a while he had no chance because they mixed in coaches would seem you know, so it was all mixed up.

Now they've separated again, so now he's got a you know, a chance to get in again.

But I agree herm when you look at the other owners that have gone in, he should have been long before this, Pat Bowling, I mean, come on, yeah, it's it is And I don't know, but hopefully he gets in this time.

Second quick question, and obviously I don't want to keep bragging on Tom Kurrm, but if you got to help me understand why he would have traded down from picking Drake freaking May intellect.

J J.

McCarthy, Minnesota, Yeahcary nine and that goes back to my point I made earlier right chasing, just like clicks and takes right.

That's one of the reasons why I got a.

Chance to amend that.

Well, I would just say, and I didn't agree with him at the time.

I don't agree with him now, but the logic behind it totally sounds there.

It was an argument that we were having at a time like the Patriots had a ton of holes on their roster.

They needed a lot of different things.

So if you could have added like two first round picks and the eighth overall pick and then just drafted JJ McCarthy or Pennix or something like that and get the capital on top of it, I wouldn't have done it, But I it wasn't totally would.

Have done it because I didn't really like JJ McCarthy right exactly.

But if JJ McCarthy was what he was supposed to be, like kind of like a Tom Brady NFL ready guy who played for Harbaugh in Michigan and it has a pro background, you know, then it's an argument.

It's a discussion.

I liked Drake May from the start, so I could be like Evan and and Mike and we could the three of us could go around and you didn't like we could wait, Yeah, we could wait about Drake and everybody's face and safe.

We were right, you were right.

No, that's not right.

At the time, I can understand the argument.

Absolutely, he's still saying that he would have done that.

No, okay, that's all I care about.

No, No, and I mean it's.

And it's worth saying.

At the beginning of the season, he did say he would take JJ.

After the Raiders game, After the after the first game, when McCarthy was terrible the whole night and then had a great fourth quarter, everybody started saying, well, this is the kind of stuff that McCarthy showed, and blah blah blah blah blah.

And no, obviously he hasn't done that since, and he's been hurt.

His availabilities is in question.

I just I think too often we look at these now.

Is Drake made the MVP candidate, How could anybody have thought about trading down from him?

I think it was a rational option at that time.

At the time, the guy who's never played a snap, I didn't I didn't want to trade down.

Evan didn't want to trade down.

Mike didn't want to trade down.

We all liked Drake Man.

And most importantly neither de Delliot Wolf and Right And for all the things that went wrong in the twenty twenty four season, I don't think he ever wavered from from sticking and picking Drake May.

And I think that it's easy to sit there and say, and my boys do it all the time, like we all was an easy call.

He was that they you know, the third quarterback on the board was available at number three, you take them.

And I would agree with the identify the identification of May, I would agree with that was kind of easy and fell in his lap.

The question would have been if May had gone in the top two, would he have taken one of the other two or not?

Right, But there is definitely a question that Evan just mapped out, are you better off taking uh, you know, multiple draft picks and taking one of the other quarterbacks?

You know, what would the Patriots record be if it was if it was bow knicks?

Oh?

And no, I think I think you can make an argument that you you would have won you know, seven or eight games with bow Knicks.

I mean the rosters not well.

All apologies to our Denver listeners.

Denver has also one of the easiest schedules in football, which is the point I was trying to make yesterday.

There's a reason that those teams win so many games.

When you play against a lot of middling teams to bad teams, you're gonna win more often than not if you play with good coaching and uh, you know, you find a way to take advantage of bad football.

Yeah, I mean, I mean wrong opinions.

Now that there were guys like Orlofsky who weren't as high on May and thought he was going to need time to develop.

And if he really was a guy that was going to need two years to develop, and I'm hearing that, then I'm seriously considering.

And Tom Current in particular, again not to you know, like HERM said, not to make this a Tom Current bashing session, because I think Tom does a really good job.

Plus I'm a little afraid of him, and I don't want the head buddy.

But with Tom, like he was a big advocate of they're not ready to take a quarterback.

The roster's not ready, not talented enough around him to take a quarterback, which I don't another argument that friend, and I think all of us were against, but there's logic to that argument.

It doesn't mean just because we don't agree with it doesn't make it wrong.

It's a different way of looking at it.

I feel like the quarterback is the hardest thing to get, it's wrong, and when you have an opportunity to get it like you did in that class, I think passing up one of those six guys, to me, would have been reckless.

To draft Marvin Harrison junr, which a lot of people wanted to do.

You know, Joe Alt another one tremendous player, Joe Walt, Yeah, right, you know a lot of people wanted a lot of people do the draft before the quarterback right where you drafted, draft the players, then get the quarterback later.

Right, draft Joe Wall, draft this guy, and then in twenty twenty five, draft the quarterback.

And I think there's a lot of examples of teams that have tried to do it that way that are still looking for the quarterback.

Yeah, and I'm not saying this to like Victory Lap, but I think that the it was very clear to a lot of people that that quarterback class was really, really good, and you don't get that every year where there's three legitimate Like I think that Drake May, Jayden Daniels, and Caleb would have gone number one overall if they were in separate drafts, right, Like, if they each were in three separate drafts, they're probably all three of them were number one overall pick caliber prospects.

And we see that, you know, last year, I didn't.

It wasn't really a you know, cam Ward goes one overall, but cam Moore would have been the fourth rated quarterback out of those three guys.

So when you had that opportunity, you just you had to take it.

And I think that was really the consensus that in the end.

But that's why I want him to win MVP so bad guys much as I want him to win a Super Bowl too.

Like when you when you evaluate the player, you know he's good.

There wasn't a it wasn't one hundred percent for everybody that not everybody thought that he was good, and then he goes and wins an MVP in his second season, Like that's.

Yeah, all the tools.

I mean, he had all the tools, you know, and there were some inconsistencies in his game, and I just think he deserves so much credit for cleaning that stuff up and you know, not having those game changing turnovers that the brain farts, and again going back to the beginning of the season and was like is he progressing?

But then all of a sudden after that loss to to you know, the week three.

Even fixing the sacks, Like even though the sack.

Rate is going down, it's definitely gone down.

So like now, like first it was turnovers, he has the Pittsburgh game, gets that out of his system.

Then we make a big deal for a couple of weeks about how many sacks he's taking, and now all of a sudden it's been like one or two the last like two or.

Three Rember, they keeping the eyes downfield game.

Yeah.

Well, I mean early in the season too.

I think I remember watching J.

T.

O'Sullivan and just you know, talking about his pocket awareness and movement, and I remember in the early part of this season thinking, is he can be able to get this right?

You know, it's it's not something that's easy.

I just some part of it feels innate to me.

I think Brady was innate on just knowing where one little step to the left.

And I'm sure we talked about it on the show, but that to me it's just been remarkable, the stepping up in the pocket, the little step to the left and then still firing it, you know, and you still see moments of little inconsistent but it's not game changing inconsistency.

It's like, oh he had a guy or you know, if he just stopped, you know, but just so small.

It's it's it's hard to even pick.

The economy of his footwork compared to when he first started, i mean, the number of steps he has to take to get out of trouble and just make that move, compared to last year, where you know.

Remember last year we talked about all the time his footwork.

That was like, i mean a weekly topic on the Drake May footwork.

You know, just he would drift in the pressure a lot.

Yeah, even drifting the pressure that was the quote.

That was the Yeah.

Now he like he would hitch up into the pocket too much, so he'd be hitchit chit chit right, is somebody's lap right.

And now he's just you know, really good at staying back in the pocket.

And when you have that kind of arm talent, you don't need to like get all the momentum moving forward.

You can sit back a little bit, and he's got that rip through move now at the ball that is like kind of become his sickness, skipping.

Ripe, skipping ripe.

I like that came up with that, right, and I think it perfectly describes what he does.

He did it.

He did it in the Cincinnati game for Hunter Henry's stay.

Yeah.

One one quick thing, you know, talking about the footwork, Go back and look at week one, his first touchdown pass of the season to to Mario Douglas in the end zone and watch his footwork on that play and see how bad it is.

Yeah, and then watch some of the throws that he's made since.

Like something changed, he just got it.

Evan, will you down playing playing at Denver?

How important it is?

I never do that.

Oh now, Neil and Utah thinks you were.

Evan is underestimating the impact of playing at altitude without proper acclimatization.

I think the Patriots should practice on the top of Mount Washington.

Yeah, pretty cool, not high enough and the deafening crowd noise.

Alex tried to set him straight with the home slash road splits, but sounds like Evan is not convinced.

I'm not talking about our history there.

My first Denver nightmare was eighty four to two per Flumbo.

I'm just looking at six fact loss.

I'm just looking at facts along with Seattle that is the loudest stadium in the league.

Measurable fact, no incorrect, just forcing fact, just forcing silent counts is a victory for the Denver pass rush, and they're almost guaranteed a couple of false starts each game.

And while I understand Evan's confidence and Vrabel to prepare the team, Vrabel can't change the baron metric pressure.

And you can't acclimatize with an extra day at altitude.

For acclimatization takes weeks, not a day or two.

Crowd noise like crowd noise and altitude measurable advantages.

Denver's talent doesn't scare me, but that environment does.

Okay, So here here's here's a couple of things, and I guess we're gonna do this, So we'll do it, okay.

Uh.

What I was trying to talk to Alex about, because you know he he's with the emailer, and what I was trying to tell Alex was like, maybe you guys disagree like he did, is Denver's record at home really good because Denver's had some really good runs as a team.

Or is it really good because they're they play at five and eighty feet?

Like were they hard to play because John Elway was their quarterback and Peyton Manning was their quarterback for a period of time?

Or were about or were they?

And maybe Danny canell is at your larger point because when you look at like the Paige the home records in the NFL since two thousand, the New England Patriots have the number one record in the league since two thousand because Tom Brady played here for twenty years.

I love ji Lett Stadium.

Is it this great home field advantage?

Not a tough place to play?

Right, It's just because the team was really good?

And me, I'm not saying that I necessarily like, I'm not trying to say that it has zero impact.

I'm just saying, is this like it's a correlation versus causation thing, Like is it hard to play in Denver because of the altitude?

Or is it hard to play in Denver because Denver's had some good teams and a great quarterbacks.

I would agree with your Lodger point, And I think Belichick used to spout that a lot, like, you know, what makes them tough to play?

There is and he would rattle off the names at the time.

Whatever they were.

I would say that, would you admit that Denver is a you know, maybe they're a good team right now?

Like I'm not calling them great, I'm just saying, you know, they've won a lot of games, they're good.

So I do think that that environment and that oddity of their altitude makes them a little better in that building.

It helps.

I would also it makes a good team, maybe very good.

The other thing that I would just say, like to me, altitude is an element.

Right, It's like coming here in January and it's snowing Miami early in the season.

It's Miami early in the season, so to me, and this happened for twenty years where a Chargers team would come here and they'd freeze their butts off.

What was is they couldn't play in the col So if the Patriots go to Denver and they lose and the excuse is that they couldn't breathe because of the altitude, I'm going to say that's an excuse.

Oh yeah, I don't right like that, that's not, but it's a reason.

But it is just a little thing in their favor.

I mean, like, sure, you know Miami wears white when they play down there because of the sun.

Sam, is that what you do that?

Because okay, why not do it?

Exactly?

Why not?

But my point is that it's nothing more than just that.

Yeah, right, you know, it's Miami's heat in September, it's our winters.

It's Buffalo's wind in winter, right, like it's not.

It's an element.

Winter has helped us win even in the heart of like like the Brady dominance.

Putting, the putting the temperature up, you know, like that stuff like ac game against Peyton Manning when he's you know, in d coming here as a weather team was a factor.

It's a factor.

I'm just saying that.

I think that the players in the and the the teams on the field and who had who's better that day at football is more of a factor than than mile hot.

Yeah.

The Patriots are.

Three and oh in Denver since the twenty fifteen AFC Championship Game.

So okay, now they both started four and seven with Brady and Belichick.

Yeah, well, without Brady they're one and one.

No, they're one and ow yeah, they'd they'd bed the Chad Ryland field goal.

That everybody is still pissing.

So that's the other element to this that I'm not gonna lie to you like I was at that game run when Bailey ZAPPI beat Denver.

Bailey Zappy can beat Denver in Denver, and he can and he can survive the altitude, and.

I want to you that was a terrible Denver team and a terrible Patriots totally right.

All right, we're gonna take a break.

Lots of emails, lots of calls coming in.

We'll get to them right after this.

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Christian, how good was it to start the way you guys started?

How much talk was that going into this game about getting off to a fast star You just certainly showed a lot of energy from the beginning of the game.

Yeah, it was.

It was.

It was good to get out there and get a get ahead of them quick and then be able to play from from ahead.

I mean that's always good.

You know, Shout out to the offense, Shout out to Marcus.

You know that that always sparks a lot of momentum.

I think each game he's he's returned to touchdown.

That sparked, you know, offense and defense.

So that's that's a big part of a weapon we have.

So I mean, as a defense is always either get the ball to Drake or get the ball to to Marcus.

So you know, it was it was a good win, good good way to come out fast.

And finish the game.

Christian, how would you describe the impact that Marcus has on the team.

I mean we saw it out on the field, but even going into the locker.

Room as well.

Yeah, for sure, he was voted captain for a reason.

He has a voice and he uses it.

You know, everybody, you know, we look to him, you know, especially in the secondary, we're kind of all, you know, we're real close in the secondary.

So he plays a big role.

Being Nickel, He's got to travel around, he's got to do a lot of things.

A lot of things are are you know, on your plate while you're playing Nickels.

So but I mean he handles it amazing.

And you know, being in the locker room, he's one of the most energetic guys in there.

At eight in the morning, he's in there smiling, laughing, joking.

Sometimes I gotta tell him, all right, Mark, you got to calm down a little bit.

But no, he's he's amazing.

So it's awesome, you know, him being in the in the back seven for sure, hand on the team.

Hey, Christian, you guys established a physical tone right from the outset of the game, but there was a period of time when emotions started to spill over a little bit, some extra pushing and shoving.

There was personal fall in the giants still on the sideline.

What was Mike Vrabel's message to you guys in those moments tonight or the or the message in general in terms of keeping your composure as opposed to losing it?

Yeah, for sure.

I mean it's football.

Things like that are going to happen.

You know, everybody on the field is super competitive at what we do, and like I said, things like that are going to happen.

And it's just you know, if if they get you, you know, you feel like it's late.

Just you know, he always tells us, don't retaliate, then just get them the next play, you know, take.

It out on them when you it's legal and you're able to do it.

So I mean he's got they've got as well coached too to play within the white and the whistles.

So yeah, Christian, Mike has been wanting his quarterbacks to be careful going out, you know, along the sideline there because you're in play.

What did that hit from Christian do for you guys as far as emotion goes to get you guys?

Kind of going a little bit more Oh yeah, that that sparks some energy, especially on their sideline.

It was it was a good hit, clean legal hit.

So I mean, you know, we just can never relax on the football field.

So but Ellis was able to you know, go over there and make a play and you know, they retaliated and it helped us even more so spark momentum.

And it's always fun, you know, being on defense that that you know, you got linebackers that are going to go up and hit like that.

Just after what you went through the last two seasons wins and losses wise, how what is this experience like and and why like why is it happening from your view that the team has happened so much success.

Yeah, I mean I think a lot of it goes to just this.

This team is so close.

I mean I've spoke about it from the time Phrase came in and sat us down in here and told us he's going to build a you know, we're gonna build a connection.

We're gonna build connections and you know, get close as a team.

You know, we we got real close.

And I mean it's just able to help us out on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays whenever it is and our identity just being out there, go play physical and just as a team, go out there have fun.

I mean, at the end of the day, you know, we get to.

Play a kids game for for work, so just you know, going out there with that joy.

You know, he always preaches go play with that joy and that that you know, that fun you had as a little kid.

So it's been amazing, but you know, we gotta keep going.

Appreciate you.

And now great moments in.

History.

I'd rather be Damien Harris than Jake Bailey.

Damien Harris are barely dressed for games.

I'd rather be Haave.

He's a player, he's a football player, but he doesn't play.

I don't care.

I'm not a punter.

I'm not the you know, everybody a ring.

But he asked me which one i'd rather be.

I would take you one.

If I had, you know, to choose between what I'm doing now with you morons, I'd be the punter.

But if I choose between being a real player and a specialist.

Plus being the running back for even just ten plays hurts a lot more.

Oh yeah, what do you want?

What do you.

No sacrifice?

No pain?

Oh yeah, you're just playing.

All the sudden Son Paul's newt Rockney over here with the sacrifice.

That's another great moment, all.

Right back here and Patriots Unfilterday five to five past five hundred is the hotline podcast at Patriots dot com is the email address.

Speaking of emails, Ramon and Tampa says, I've been wanting to say this a while, but it's really hard to write emails.

I've learned a lot and improved my writing based on my own and other person's email experience.

I've seen emails fail because there wasn't a clear subject without muddled interpretation.

Then there is grammatical eras, bad subjects, inappropriate lengths, plus many other factors.

So thanks for helping us improve our writing.

For those that still feel intimidated, just take the cruise chiding as positive coaching, good friends, and I'm glad we could help.

I think like stops mid email with exasperation about I don't know what he's saying punctuation please, Like, I'm trying to reward you for emailing and then you know I didn't have a chance to prove for it it ahead of time and you screwed me.

Well, that goes back to the that goes back to the hosting thing when you hit like a lull and you're like, oh crap, and I'm just going to jump in on an email and then you realize you're on like a total turn of an email.

I can't believe that.

So help me out, help me help you.

Dominic's in New York on the hotline.

What's up, Dominic?

Dominic?

Oh, I know I'm holding on for a while, but you know that's the way it is.

You must persevere.

Jason's in Canada, what's up, Jason?

Hi, guys, thanks for taking my call.

Sure, first time, long time.

I have a little pretend kind of question for everyone except.

For having Could.

Michael want you, guys to pretend that you're the owner of the Patriots and you're very hands off the team.

You're just the money.

And Mike Frabele comes up to you and says, I need thirty plus million dollars to sign Christian Gunzalis.

So you go back and watch the film this year.

What's your response there?

You go, I think I would do it.

Yeah, Well, why can't I answer because I'm caring that you know too much?

Somehow he's managed to cover every receiver on every play.

All the time.

Oh okay, yeah, seemed like a shot.

I didn't really understand that, but okay, So.

Jason, is there a sort of reason why you're asking because you thought that maybe we would say no, don't do it, or do you not think you should do it?

Just watching more games this year, he doesn't strike me as a top tier thirty million dollar corner.

He's making all the tackles, but he's also letting them catch every pass first every pass.

Well, I think.

That's that's good this year.

I find that he has been in years prior.

I think you've been a little I think you're being a little hard on Gonzales.

And I would probably say on this show, I'm probably the least enthusiastic when it comes to Gonzales, and I would say he's a terrific player.

But to say that he gives up and catch every time it just makes the tackle, I don't think that that's accurate.

And then how many times the quarterbacks not throw his way because he's gone.

I think he gets targeted really infrequently, and I have to think that's at least part of what Fred's talking about.

So what if I told you that I told you I'm not supposed to answer, but thirty what if I told you that his completion rate into his coverage is lower this year than it was last year.

Yeah.

I don't think that they've thrown at him a tremendous amount this year.

Yeah, you know, just volume wise.

I don't see him around the ball a lot this year.

I do think that the system adjustment has been an adjustment, and I would agree with Jason that they play a lot more zone now than they have in the past.

And I don't know if he's a great.

Okay, okay, sung a play a little devil's advocate here?

Do you play somebody?

Do you pay somebody over thirty million dollars based on that?

Yeah?

I would so.

I think he's one of the best corners in football.

I agree, and but I think that the tiny weeny bit concern is if this is the system that they're going to play, and you want zone corners that have instincts in ballhawking ability, that tackle, well, like, it's just not it's not exactly his style of play now.

I do think he's at a tackling I think.

To its repertoire, he seems to be catching on to Paul he's been really good tackling.

This one specific tackle that he he's excellent.

Ad we saw it Monday night when the guy catches the ball and he's not and no one knows he's there and boom.

I disagree.

Marcus Jones is a really good tackle, right, that's a defensive back.

Can be true.

Both can be true.

They're both good tacklers.

I don't think that Gonzales is a really tackle.

I think he dives at ankles and uses and rolls his shoulder over backwards.

I don't care how he does it.

He gets them down, not generally the guy for the touchdown he was involved in that the other day.

I think that that's the question, is you know he's an excellent player?

I agree?

Is he this style of corner that they truly in their heart of hearts want And if he's not, are you going to still pay that guy thirty million dollars a year to be a little bit of a round peg in a square hole.

You can play zone and still have you can play what they call man zone.

You can have a guy I like this, you know, taking taking on their best receiver and still play zone.

So nowadays in the league, you don't see a whole lot of spot drop zone because quarterbacks are there too good, So you don't see a whole lot of just we're taking an area, country, spot drop, whatever you want to call it.

Traditional zone coverage.

Most coverages in zone now has some sort of match principles because it's just these offenses and these quarterbacks are just too sophisticated and they're too good to just play traditional zone.

So there is that element like when you're on the outside, like it might be Cover three and it might be zone, but you're man to man on your guy, right.

But I think the difference with this defense is it's a lot more a disguised zone, like they like to spin the dial in zone coverage, mix up one high, two high looks, things like that.

And I could see between that and the fact that I agree with Paul he's not the most physical corner.

That's the devil's advocate, you know.

Argument.

Yeah, you know, I would say, and if we can go back to and I know you'll remember when Stefan Gilmore first got here.

Yes, yep, I've talked about this a lot on cakeshwink.

Oh okay, yeah, so yeah, I don't I don't have to repeat it, just I think they played a lot of zones early on and he didn't look great, and they sort of got back to I kind of in the back of my mind think there's going to be some changes defensively, you know, more consistently when these games become more and more important as we get down the stretch.

Yeah.

So the Buffalo game in we five, I'm sorry.

So they played forty percent man against Buffalo in Week five, and that was the first kind of like, Okay, what's your playoff game plan?

Like this is a big game.

It's Sunday night football against the division rival, Like what are you going to do?

And what they did was they manned up right, they played man to man and that Gonzales was back.

And was that also to make sure they had the run taken care of?

Maybe, but I think it was more that they knew that Buffalo's receivers were limited and they thought they had a clear advantage with their their corners are better than Buffalo's receivers because it.

Can be a little counterintuitive to pay a lot of man against Josh Allen.

So they obviously felt coverage wise, I agree with with Evan.

I think they felt like that was a big game and they used kind of a different wrinkle.

Yeah, I enjoyed listening Evan talking because I think this is a point, a debate point that's coming and I've been wondering about it, and you know, I would also clear it up for you now, not cleared up, but there the tip of the is he the aggressive, you know, like does his personality work against him?

And like I still err on the side of what Evan got.

The point I was going to make was when you get to the like caller, wait until you get into the good games and the teams that you need to be able to man up.

You're gonna want a guy with elite athletic talent that can man up guys.

But I do think that this is like a debate that we're going to talk about, are you going to fork over a boatload if there are some things that you don't love it?

And also are we seeing Gonzales said is one hundred percent right now?

Like is this hamstring kind of nagging him?

I mean I've seen no sign to say that is the case.

But I think everything evn't said with the more zone, you know, the just the playing temperament, and I do think he's improved his tackling, But at the same time, I just don't think that.

I don't think that you don't sign a guy that you think is one of the better players in his position.

Yeah, I just don't think that's good practice.

I also think that you land on an elite corner, and you know, I would like to think that in the off season and this season, I think it's obviously gone way better than anybody could have expected.

But this is more about like setting the foundation of the program and getting this thing up and running.

I think that they could probably be more man heavy and be better in man coverage with Davis and Gonzo and Marcus Jones.

So I wonder if in the off season, you know, does Zach Korr get in the lab with somebody that's really a man background, and like, do they try to find ways better ways to cover in man to man Because I've had my gripes with the way that they've done it, and so I wonder if maybe they you know, get better at it, you know, in the off season and they kind of I mean, it's schooled a little bit.

What are we talking about, like just you know, off the top of our head, there's no research here.

But like you know, Ctan Stingly, you know, I don't know if Sauce is still in that echelon.

I think he's kind of slipped, you know, recently.

I don't know Terrell in Atlanta, AJ Terrell J C.

Horns pretty good in Carolina.

Like where else are we looking like for a guy that that you think you feel better about that guy than Gonzales.

I think you're the only two that have the case.

Are Stingly in certain is the best corner.

So I don't.

I don't, and I'll never understand this.

For as long as I do this, I'll never understand why fans ever look at it from a money perspective.

I understand obviously why teams do, but I never understand why fans will look at it and say, I don't want to pay that guy thirty million.

Why you think he's one of the best five players in the league at his position?

And I think five is conservative.

As Evan just said, He's goingly get two, right, So one of the five best players in the position, you got to pay him the going rate.

That's the going rate.

Now, I can understand.

I don't want to pay just to throw a guy out there toua as a top ten quarterback in the league, because I don't think he's a top ten quarterback.

You know, it's not about the money, it's I don't think he's that good.

I do think Gonzalez is that good.

I think he's one of the best in the game at his spot.

So I'm going to pay for that.

I want to pay for that.

Yeah, So I'd also highlight two thousand and eight to midway through twenty twelve is a cautionary tale.

When this was the approach was, let's focus on the front seven.

We can just get guys like Tyrone Wheatley to play zone corner.

And you know those I could player that hits at corner right and you and will hire and so then in what happens in twenty twelve, they say, hey, we got to be able to manage Julian Edelmans go and get a keep to leave, and then it's to leap leaves, you go get revis.

They went from Salem to t Leab with a black hole of wasted possibilities at cornerback, yep, because they didn't have anybody who could cover the bottomatic.

No matter how great Brady was at some point the other team outscored them and they went home.

Yeah, that that's I mean, when you play the league quarterbacks, you can't just sit in zone coverage there.

And if you try to play a league quarterbacks in disguise, like they don't care about the disguises, the disguises isn't going to throw off Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen in a playoff game, It's not gonna matter.

Yeah, So, like if you're gonna you have to play man to man because usually with man like it's more about can the receivers get open at that point than it is about like can the quarterback read it out and like find the open guy.

Yeah, So I mean that that's we'll see.

That wait on the playoffs.

Like it's it's a really good I mean, I'm glad, great, great, great question, Jason.

This is something I've been thinking about.

But let's wait till after playoffs and see how they use Gonzalez and what Gonzalez does in the playoffs, because.

I think that's where it might have a difference.

You see his true value.

And I would say to Jason, I'm not blind.

I think there's a chance that they don't resign them portrade them.

Yeah, yeah, I mean I think that.

Yeah, like he doesn't get the extension that he's going to be eligible for for the first time, will be in this offseason, and I wouldn't be and it is I think I'd be disappointed, but I wouldn't be stunned by it.

It's just the fifth year option, year two they got to decide on.

Ye.

Yeah, but it just it does seem like their defense is built from the inside out.

Like it feels like they they like, what's more d line, you know, linebacker, Like that's really where they want to build it in the front.

What's more likely they pay him probably at that time the most any corner makes in the NFL, or they franchise him.

Oh ah.

I mean it's interesting.

It's just how does this regime approach those kind of things, you know.

I Mean there's part of me they've been very aggressive with, you know, trying to sign big name, talented guys to big deals.

So I wouldn't be surprised if they did the connect cash.

Yeah, the extension would be the more likely thing they ain't going to get to franchise because he'll if they don't sign him for three years.

Like he's out.

It's Michael Parsons.

Yeah, he's out.

He's not going to sit around for two full seasons and then get franchised in the third season.

He's not going to do that quiet I mean he'll do it quietly, Yeah, but he'll be bitching about it.

But is there any I mean, this is a money question, but is there consideration?

You got Drake coming up too, and he's probably gonna be the highest paid quarterback in the league.

It's all part of it.

But like I think he can have both.

Yeah, thanks Fred, you know, see that's one thing that we've come to I think he can have come to agree.

To wear that.

You can definitely have balls.

But it is part of it.

As Felger says, give me a nap and I'll show you how.

I mean, I'm talking about a sixty million dollars a year quarterback.

Yeah, he's going to be he's going to be one one of the Yeah, he's going to be one of the highest paid quarterbacks.

And Gonzale is gonna be one of the highest paid cornerbacks.

So that's why I will not be stunned.

Who is amazing agent.

We know.

I do, but I do you know you're not telling no, you can't think of it.

Yeah, I can't think of it because I can hear you know Lass down well, you know when Tom bra stopped.

Stop.

We're not taking that deal.

U.

Let's go back to the phones.

Christians in l A.

What's up Christian?

Hey you guys happy Wednesday?

Wednesday?

Yeah?

Like everybody else?

No, not like I never like anybody else.

Drake A sorry Christian.

That's my faulty.

I could be I got I got to two points, and then I want to play a roundup group and try to get.

Paul on three stumped the stumped the grump.

Hey, I'm in okay, So first first before stuffed the grump to two points, I think we have to get some sort of delated flowers to Gerard Mayo.

And and Milt Milton.

What what was our Joe Milton last year?

I think if g Mayo does not decide to go for the win and Joe Milton does not decide to play his best game and and win, we get the number one pick.

And I just do not think we would have picked Drake may at the number one spot.

Ruminate on that.

May did not get drafted in that draft.

Will Campbell did Will Campbell?

I'm sorry, I mean, if we get the number one pick.

I don't think we picked Will Campbell as the.

Number one pick, but I think we have a full different sort of lineup on the team.

I don't think they would have picked number one overall.

I mean that that's possible.

You would have traded.

They might have and they might have been able to trade down get more picks and gotten Will Campbell.

Yep and others.

That's what I'm saying, got more picks and Will Campbell or like, I mean, you could have picked somebody else.

Yeah, maybe you got on Membu later on down the road.

And so what are we saying here?

So now, I just wanted to get the mails some flowers for trying to win and not giving us that number one pick.

But Will Campbell, who knows that you would have picked them?

Drum mail?

The number one pick would have been valuable.

It's not a good thing.

It's not a good thing that they didn't get the number one pick.

Well, it never is, all right, So we agree on that, all right, stump the group.

Sorry, but I'm sorry.

Saying Drake may the wrong draft.

People complain.

Christian remains one of those things that's inexplicable.

How many people you know, I'm not This is not picking up Christian because he's one of a lot who have confused those two years.

I don't know how.

Because we blurred them all out.

Yeah, ms in North Carolina, Hey, Sammy.

Yesterday was a good stuff.

Edmond came in.

He made it a great show.

He really got me fired up.

Passion yesterday.

You know what I mean, don't We don't make the schedule right now.

I can tell you the fourteen games we're going to play next year, and then the rest of them fall in place.

We earned this last place schedule and we're kicking everybody's boat.

Milton game away from the noteboin n next year, we're playing the e f C West in the NFC North.

I can guarantee you can go boot that.

And then we played six games in the AFC East.

Obviously, like it's it's not our fault, but the silver linings in it is.

We didn't just go blow everybody out.

There was actually some games in there.

They got a little bat assisted.

When we played the big dogs, they showed up, they grabbed their balls and they went home.

You know what I mean.

On the road like, I mean, this team is for real.

I don't care what anybody say.

Don't tell me that the Giant said multiple double digit leads in the fourth quarter and lost them and then say, oh, well it was the Giant.

I don't want to hear it.

You told me they had multiple double digit leads.

You know what I mean?

The Giants think I told you that before the game.

That's why I picked the Pages to win by two touchdowns.

Yeah, I did three tags.

I'm just saying.

Everybody was like, you can't say one thing, and anybody lets the Giants.

I know it was the Giants, but we didn't we didn't make the schedule and we were going into the batle on a Monday night like that's the that's the place to lay down.

But now they grabbed their balls, they knocked the end off their helmet and make them the Food York Giants.

And you know what I mean.

I know what you mean.

Sam.

I'm with you, Hey, and I just.

Watching the shows names with games.

What if we call them games incomplete?

Key?

I take it.

I hold on, Sam, No, I didn't hear the question anding about the Chief.

Great.

I didn't get the Chief.

I was coughing, and I didn't hear the question.

Joseph Pennsylvania, Hey, Joe.

Hey, guys, love the show.

My question is dis about the can't do that and mental All Pro?

Yeah, selections, and like Drake May that we're talking about him m VP.

He's number one in Pro Bowl voting, but so is he almost like a shoot in them for All Pro?

I would think, But I would think he's got a really good shot for All Pro.

But Stafford could get it.

That's an ap thing, right, like one I believe.

So I believe last year Lamar Jackson was the All Pro in John And yeah, why can I not think of Josh Allen MVP?

Yeah, it is possible.

That was the first time in a while that they haven't been in lockstep.

Usually it's the same voters, so it really doesn't make any sense.

It's almost like they wanted to get Josh Allen on m v P and then they said, but really Jackson had a Betty.

Yeah, Well, I like maybe in the spirit of what an MVP is, you can make the argument.

Yeah, I don't think it's that iological.

I don't think it's that illogical, but yes, I would if May wins m VP.

I would expect him to be the first team All Pro, but.

At least be first or second team.

It's not a lock.

Yeah, and to me, first team is the only team.

But the other day I saw like with top ten voting for cornerbacks for a f T wise it team, Marcus Jones was the second a f T and Gonzalez was number three.

Do you think do you think Marcus Jones is going to make it as a corner for AFT.

As a corner?

Yeah, so I was trying to I don't think the Pro Bowl does is I AP might do slot corner, so they might differentiate outside corners and slot corners because I think they do the same with receivers too.

Now there's three receivers instead of two the receivers, so if I'm right about that, then Marcus Jones says the FOT corner specifically definitely has a case to be an All Pro.

Yeah goodner.

Yeah, yeah, I mean I think he's an All Pro punt returner.

So just like do you make can he make All Pro at jet.

Two spots on the same side of the ball, like they put him as defensive end and that linebacker and he makes the All Pro team in spots.

Yeah, you have to be pretty good to do that.

Thanks.

Joe was like Khalil Mack and his Prime or something like that.

Mike and Florida.

He says, why fans worry about money?

You know, we say, well, what are you worried about it?

At your money?

He says, And it's not because they care about the money, but because they consider a big expenditure on the wrong guy slash overall scheme versus other guys out there that might be better for the team.

So so you don't want the player, right, Yeah, that's not why.

I that makes total sense to me.

I that email makes total sense to me.

I think he might not be a scheme fit or you know, that's why we walk away from Kyle Duggar because we didn't think he was necessarily the right fit the scheme.

Yep.

I worry about money because I understand that everything has a budget.

Sure, so like if you're a given.

That means you can't get something else you have to consider it.

I don't worry about the money for any other reason.

Besides, it's a business.

And like you realize that someday you wake up and realize, like this isn't a never ending piggy bank here that just keeps going and going.

No, but that's like we're talking like the cash out kind of thing.

Yeah, in a particular time, like they they put out a lot of cash this particular off season they have they did.

Yeah, you know, I know, you know, the narrative is how cheap everybody is around here.

But they the Patriots spent a lot of cash this off season on a lot of free agents.

I don't think it's probably likely that they do it again this coming off season because of what Evan's talking about.

Everybody has budgets.

Yeah, that's cash out.

That is not like it's not like, oh, we can't sign him to a you know, a five year deal because our cap is going to be in a bad situation.

No, it's this one particular year.

It might stop you from getting three other guys that you might have wanted to get because I don't have the cash to lay out as signing bonuses which are going to entice a free agent.

That is different.

Scares me.

Scares me because I think looking at the schedule next year and how the team will be viewed by the rest of the NFL, I think you need to take a big step forward this offseason.

I think you cannot think, oh, we got from the super Bowl.

Yeah, from the super Bowl.

It's like oh three where you went and got Corey Dillon and I know, and maybe not a money, but you continue to evolve and change the equation.

Whereas if I think, if this team tries to stay pat and you know, and they have a lot of these guys coming and they have holes, but you have to you have to improve, I think in the spring with the roster because teams are gonna be gunning for you next year.

The schedules tougher.

You're gonna have to play betters.

Yeah, and I'm not suggesting they're not going to.

But you're right, you're right.

And I think that it puts some pressure on guys like Ellio Wolf and Ryan Cowden into identify good players like they did this year.

Weren't going to make Williams like twenty six million a year like Milton Williams.

Yeah, I'm not expecting that.

Yeah, I do what I mean, I'm not expecting they're going to set the market out of that.

He was the highest paid defensive tackle in trade.

Agent.

I do wonder though, if it is like one splash like, do they make that one trade or that's a J.

Brown?

Yeah, a J Brown, you know something like that.

I would not rule that out.

Yeah, I would not rule something like that.

It's funny you read my mind, Paul.

If I had to pay it, put a guess on who it would be, it would be him.

Yeah.

I like the trade.

I like the trade.

Thing.

I'm not saying I'm eliminating departability of them improving because I think that they're I don't want to go down this rabbit hole again, Okay, but I think Mike is trying to say, and I'll say, get harder because because you're nicer than me, I'll just say it.

Okay.

I don't think that they look at this team as being as talented as some of the other teams, and they think if they just sit tight and stand pat that won't be good enough next year when the the level of competition increases, so they're going to need to get better.

Yeah.

And then there's also think that they know that the thing working in their favor is you have Drake may.

Now you have some reasons for people to want to come here, so maybe that can help grease the wheels a little bit.

But because they get better.

They could have been thirteen and oh this two, but.

Drake May and you know that's why like A.

J.

Brown comes up right and they lost to the Raiders.

You don't think they could have been better than eleven and two.

You can't win them all.

I understand seven, And I'm just saying they lost to like one really bad team and one really mid team.

But I just I think I need to say it right now.

And this is somebody probably they could very likely have a worse record next year, but be a.

Better team, no doubt.

We say that all the time.

Yep.

Zach and Sinsey wanted to highlight the fact that with Gonzales playing, the team is not lost, not that he gets all the credit because over all the defenses performing well as a unit.

Runde missus Milt.

Looking at the rest of the season, including playoffs, it seems that Christian has a clear advantage on other teams wide receiver ones.

We could go on a stretch where the best wide receiver we face is Courtland Sutton.

What wide receiver matchup scares you, guys?

The inevitable Super Bowl matchup against the Rams.

Yeah, yeah, that's right though, I mean, but I just think Gonzales generally is an awesome athlete.

And whether you're asking him to man up one of the best wide receivers in the game or an average wide receiver, He's going to do a pretty good job.

And you know, I got a lot of confidence.

I like, I don't worry about him.

I worry about how they use him, like I do.

And I'm not saying that in like, no, I guess every run of the mill coordinator.

But like he brings up Pooka in the Rams in the super Bowl.

Like Devant Adams.

Sean McVay against Zach Korr in the Super Bowl is politely.

You know, he can't change to all his owness, So so like you know, like what what he's really the way you switch it up?

What is it look like if he goes up against Sean McVay, if he goes up against Andy Reid, if he goes up against Ben Johnson.

You know, like.

The pregame might have Zach Korr going up to Sean mcface.

Where do you have guys in motion?

Three tight ends?

Awesome?

Those three tight end look.

Through the sea gas.

You should have had like Bill on the inside with fit what you store for you tonight.

We changed our whole defense going into this game.

You have no idea.

Joby writes in uh back to the Denver Conversation.

I moved from Boston to Boulder, Colorado in the late nineties and stayed a few years before departing to California.

I was a bike racer, and when I first got to Cali, I crushed other writers in my category.

I think the Bronco players may have an aerobic advantage over sea level players that may come into play at times.

So we're saying that, like the Olympic teams train there right, Like that's where the West Olympic headquarters systems.

Yeah, there's a reason why I will tell you my story about going to Colorado and biking and no, oh should I tell this biking?

Why not?

No?

So back in the nineties, I was working on this other project.

We wanted to start this business for getting all the national governing bodies of Olympic sports onto one website so fans could go and blah blah.

So myself an Olympic silver medalist named Eric Flame.

He was a silver medalist in long and short form speed skating.

Only guy to ever do that.

And this other guy, Rob Kramer, who raced bikes.

You know.

So the three of us went out.

We met all day in Colorado Springs with the different national governing bodies, and at the end of the day, I said, you know, we had a good day.

Let's go rent some bikes and we'll go out, you know, biking in these mouth boys.

Boy, fifteen minutes in, I've already gone over the hand handle bars.

My my my chest felt like it was going to come out of my body.

And I was just like you guys, just go.

I just couldn't do it.

I couldn't breathe.

That was blood everywhere.

Man, It was just like, go just go flip the handlebars.

Yeah right anything?

No, No, I just my face and my knuckles.

What was the name of that, Eric Flame?

No, but the company that is not the U cast on US Teams, US teams.

People called the Musty, but it was called US Teams and Brian Moore used to go US it was US Teams.

Yeah, so we were trying to do it was but the burn is real and fact then this this is you know, like thirty years ago.

So it was I didn't I wasn't like I am now.

I was in decent shape, and my lungs were burning burning.

What about the Olympic guys where they they were like, you know, so I so.

I was just kind of like after they left, I was just kind of pedaling along on the flat lands and I see them up on the cliffs and they're like jumping from one thing to it, like they're doing all this stuff, no problem.

I don't know.

I walked around Denver and I felt I walked start out.

Okay, yeah, I walked around.

I I literally remember walking around Denver on Christmas Eve morning on the phone with Jess being like, it's not that bad.

I don't know what everybody's talking the same thing that she's talking about.

The first time I was in Denver, I walked.

I was like, I'm so rated.

What are they?

I never I never even jogged, let alone run.

It's making me think though, how high?

But I was joking Air Force Academy.

Is that in Colorado Springs?

Colorado Springs?

So is that also a mile high or is it not?

Quite?

Like?

I don't know, Yeah, it's up there.

We're all so worried about this that I think we should go early.

Fred.

I think the team should fly out on on like Wednesday.

It takes more than that.

Oh god, we're never going to win in Denver.

Cursed wow, it's six thousand.

Oh my god, how do they.

Even breathe up there?

It's unbelievable because his life pilots well air Force like their football records.

Really closer to the sky is what the thinking is.

But I mean I.

Pregame skate and my feet hurt.

I had to get up there.

But but we played two games then the next day.

In the day after that, I didn't really notice any Oh yeah, I was an e leade athlete though, of course, well especially.

My point manning p P too.

But Mason Lay wonder, I'm just wondering.

You know, in hockey you do shifts, so maybe because you do shifts, you have that chance to recover where.

It's the key.

It's it's get that rotation.

You're out here, get this off.

I'm sorry, well too.

I watched nikolay Yok run down that floor in Denver, all very fast, and he's very out of shape, and he still manages to do it.

Basketball players are weird.

It doesn't even jump.

Come on, he doesn't exert any He's.

The best player player of all the time.

All right, let's go back to the phone.

We'll go into Mark in Connecticut.

Hey, Mark, Hey everyone, happy bye week.

Yes Mark, oh HIV.

And I tried to catch you on the catch twenty two.

But everybody else can chime in on.

This as well.

You know, it would be awesome to have a number one receiver, But do you think that it would mess with the chemistry in the locker room, because right now we have a really good abundance of a whole bunch of twos and threes I call them for receivers, and they met really well chemistry wise with Drake may do you think by bringing in a pre Madonna that that would mess with it?

I think if they did it this now, like in season, like if they've done this at like the deadline, yeah, then I think that would be different.

But mid season, not the off season.

I think you've established some culture now that if you were to bring a guy in that you have the foundation to support it well.

Plus just don't fall into the trap of what happened this year or so that that will be the case next year.

Yeah, you know what I mean.

Like, right now that room has been tremendous.

And Diggs came in with the reputation for that, and it hasn't been that at all.

Winning well, it can, but it can lead to the other way too, Like, yeah, no, I was I was really important.

They wouldn't have won without me.

I need more Like that happens.

That's a natural athletic Uh, you know phenomenon.

It happens all the time.

All these guys that were subjugating their egos in their minds, like, well, yeah, I did that last year, we had success doing it.

Now I want mine.

So next year you might not have this, You might not have the same things.

Yeah.

I appreciate, all right, something the balance, but.

Yeah, I would agree that if they had put someone, if they could have gotten the aj Brown thing this year, and I still would have done it.

But if they could have done that this year or the deadline, that would have been part of the cons Like does this disrupt everybody?

You know, how is this how is this perceived in you know, within that room, within the the office, the locker room in general.

You know, Diggs is the undisputed leader of that group.

The leader of the team.

Does he does he get does he take any offense to that?

Like mid season?

You know, we'll never know happened.

He might be like towards the bottom now at this point of his career, I think Digs is number one wide receiver.

I think he has been, and I would kind of agree with Mark that.

Like heading into the season, I was like, no, he's the best they have, but he's not really a number one.

He's played well enough to be a number one.

Yeah, he just catches.

Everything like that, but at one point five, But is he a weapon?

I think a third down he is.

Yeah.

I was gonna say when when Drake really needs it, he's been a weapon.

I with that third and fourth downs a problem with moving the sticks.

I'm just asking the question.

Sounds like you got a problem with it.

Does it sound like that, Sebasti.

He's on exit one point fifty three in New Jersey.

Paulie yesterday, Sabby boy, you disagreed with me that the team let the foot off the gas in the second half.

Maybe my writing skills need refinement.

But to be clear, I think this was the best version of the team we've seen in all three phases, but they didn't play at that level all game.

I don't think it was a conscious decision on the part of the team, but it was a lack of execution.

I want to see them play like they did in the first half the entire game.

Now, do you still disagree with me?

I do.

I think they played an exceptionally good second half as well as first half.

Now, if you want to get nitpicky execution wise, yeah, Borgalis misses a field goal like that's poor execution.

Like, So to your point, I guess I agree with you.

They didn't execute quite as well in the second half.

But I think that they did everything that they wanted to do in the second half.

I think they accomplished their players and executed the Now they were different plays.

We weren't throwing bombs all over the place in the second half because they didn't need to.

But I think that they executed and chewed I think there was a possession in the fourth quarter that they went like forty yards and chewed up like seven minutes of clock, six and a half minutes like clock.

That's exactly what.

I want to do.

Like that to me is executing.

I don't care if I score, you know, thirty in the first half.

I don't need thirty in the second half.

Let's you know, read the room.

Rabel could have said, you know, we expended a lot of energy in that first half, energy that you know, we probably had to find somewhere because we're running out of gas here getting into the buy.

I'm I'm factoring that into how we did the second half, and if I have the opportunity like I did, like Paul said to kind of milk clock, I'm gonna take it rather than ask these guys to be, you know, all out like they were in the first half.

I think the one of the most like sneaky good things about Mike Rabel is understanding like how to choke out a team and like how to like truly end the game, because I think what the emailer is saying, I think a lot of teams fall into that trap and they start throwing.

They keep throwing like crazy, and they keep going bombs away and it's either turnovers or quick three and outs, and all of a sudden, you got a game on your hands.

Like it's just there's been more blown leads this year than any other year in like the last like decade.

So I'm just looking at the drive chart the second half drives.

They really had three drives in the second half.

They chewed up six thirty six, four oh eight and five twenty seven.

They had the ball for seventeen minutes of the second half.

That's dominance, like, they did exactly what they wanted to do.

They didn't need to score thirty more points.

They needed to run the clock out, which is kind of why I was a little critical of them throwing the ball at the very end, trying like, in my view, trying to get another touchdown that didn't need to be scored.

I don't care that they only scored whatever points in the second half.

Through they scored three points.

I don't feel like they didn't need any points.

Now again from an exit, you know, strictly semantics.

From Sebastian's email, they didn't execute quite as well because they missed the field goal and they didn't get a touchdown.

They got a penalty, then got a touchdown call back, So that's not as good of executions in the first half.

But I think what they wanted to do.

I don't think they let their foot off the gas.

I think they wanted to choke him out and they did.

Sebastian also has a hot take, I don't want Campbell to return after he's eligible to return.

I would sit him until the AFC Championship game to make sure it's worth bringing him back and potentially making his injury regress or make it worse.

And yes, he can get worse if his whole knee buckles on the field.

I want him to return when he's healthy enough to return.

I don't know that that's what can be saved, Chip, I don't know that that's going to be this year.

Music doctors.

Yeah, if the doctor says he's he's healthy enough to play, then I want him to play, even if that's the Miami game, the meaningless Week eighteen game.

Yeah, I think it'd be good to get him if he's healthy.

I don't think that he's going to be able to play in that game, and I'm not sure he's going to be able to play in the playoffs.

But if the doctors clear him, I want him playing, right, doesn't everybody else?

Yeah?

Absolutely.

I was just happy to see him in the locker room yesterday that Mike Mike came in after.

The locker room.

Have you seen him since?

Maybe Evans Damn.

I saw him on Friday when we all walked said, but maybe it was in one of those other rooms that we're not supposed to look into.

Yeah, yeah, you're just walking through pipe and drape and going in the back door.

I didn't walk through.

Pipe and drape, Mike.

I stay on the other side.

I do want to remind myself every once in a while that, like if we see them like on the plane or like on the buses or whatever, that like.

Oh yeah I saw him.

Like people will ask me like, oh, is he a cast or whatever, and I'm like, nope, I can't tell you.

Sign an NBA smart man.

I always had a rule smart and actually anything that I saw, it was myself imposed with anything that I saw strictly because I worked here.

It was off right.

That's not a rule, that's a mandate that it's interesting.

It was mighty interesting email from Carol and Georgia.

First of all, she says, I use grammarly to write this email same, so thank you.

It's not just the greatest he said.

According to the soccer teams in Brazil, that's very high altitude.

The best strategy is to arrive to play just before the game.

The body takes some hours to feel the altitude, so you must use this interval to play.

I don't know what will happen after But the players in Brazil are alive and fine.

I don't know, so I have.

Heard that now you do have to be there the day like it's an NFL rule that you have to be there the day before, right, So there's nothing that you can You can't fly in the day of the game.

Not that you would want to, but you can't.

So yeah, especially a.

Bad length of a trip.

Yeah, we're got to save this altitude talk like they're not playing Denver anytime soon.

No, I you know, I started, but I'm saying the whole like, you know, how to deal with it.

This is if they're playing Denver in the playoffs.

This is what the whole week is going to be.

But also to save some of this good stuff.

I think the other thing too for me with this is like it's gonna be the AFC Championship game, and like at that point you're gonna have be It's gonna.

Be hard, you know, like it's not according to you yesterday.

You're gonna be playing a good team.

It's gonna be high stakes, it's gonna be hard.

So like wherever you're playing it, it's you're in the a FC championship game, like that's where he lost all them weights.

Yeah yeah, really quick bone to pick with the referees, which I know that, Like I don't know the email before this made me think this.

Uh.

They kept on calling penalties and assigning the penalty to the wrong player.

They did several times.

They did it.

I've never seen seventy almost like Scott Hansen was doing that.

I haven't seen anything like that before.

So they called a hold on Bradbury when the hold was actually on bet Brown, and then they called the illegal motion that wiped out was because they were talking about the Henry points.

They called it on seventy five.

Yeah, I think it was Ben Brown again, I know it was.

It was Hunter Henry.

It was Hunter.

Yeah, he did.

Happened so fast Hunter Henry didn't come set before they snapped the ball.

So the penalty of twenty twenty five, the penalty of twenty four was the tackle being in the backfield that got called like fifteen times a game.

This is the penalty this year.

It drives me insane.

I don't understand why it's even illegal to go in motion and not you know, recess stuff.

Well, it depends on if it's motion or a shift correct, because if your in motion, if you're off the line of scrimmage in motion, you can be in motion, but once you go to set back onto the line of scrimmage, you have to come to a full set.

And I understand the whole two guys in motion thing.

I just like, that's not confusing anybody, Like the whole Miami Dolphins thing isn't.

That's not like, oh he was he was moving, like, That's not what the problem was.

The problem was they were like lightning.

That was the hord thing about Miami when they were rolling and when McDaniel first got there.

But it was on it was on the it was it was called an illegal shift, yeah, and they assigned it to like seventy five, And I was like that player does not like what are we talking about?

But really small thing like that, that illegal motion penalty is on Drake, like the it's on the quarterback, the tie up the cadence with the with the shift and make sure that hunter Henry does get set before they snapped the ball.

But I just you know, I know that was up.

He also he also used an incorrect signal on a penalty.

I forget what it was.

It was brutal.

I think it was an illegal man downfield and he did the wrong signal.

But I forget Amir has a good billboard of case the Patriots whin the AFCI.

Yeah, it's also it's just say we'll take it from here.

I like that.

That's good.

I like that.

That's great good and mirror good.

We're gonna we're going to start a gofund me for this.

I know.

I remember some guy like trolling bill with billboards along Route one.

One of the sports hub call her personality people, But I why doesn't he call they better do that the buffalo too.

If mister Kraft wants to fund it, he can be like a silent like, we won't tell anybody the money is from him.

Well, I might have.

Done that a few times.

Reno writes in I'm not seeing this overly scary defense from the Broncos.

Either they're really good, but they're not unstoppable or shut down people like people want to believe their offense is mid at best, with wild inconsistencies because of Nicks.

So yeah, I agree with Evan.

I'd be fine seeing them in the playoffs home or away.

Let's not forget we're undefeated in away games at this moment.

By the way, I love that Evan has become a mixture of Eric in big Head.

He gets very palady like Eric and hot headed like any Paul, please keep starting starting the arguments with everyone and Fred, please continue to instigate ps not saying we can't lose to the Broncos, just saying we can.

Win two and not scared to know why I win.

My only feeling on this is like I would just kind of prefer not to play in Denver, but I don't really care.

And otherwise there's no teams that I really don't think the Patriots have a chance against in the AFC.

They don't even have the best defense in the conference.

Jeremiah is also with Evan.

I'm with Evan.

I'm so tired of hearing everyone's nightmares about Denver.

I don't think our fan base just has to stare at the Broncos logo and clinch their fists as they yell I'm not afraid of you anymore.

Home games in general have benefits, especially Denver's, but I don't think that team is good enough to have those factors sway the game.

Yeah, I agree, I.

Mean you could say, I'd prefer not to play on the road generally, you know what I mean, It's just much rather be just make sure.

Too to have anything sweat like that they would benefit from being at home?

Sure, I don't, So why wouldn't you think that, Denver?

Would I think to only rewigh the Patriots if it from playing at home as if?

Like but the question they draw, like the Chargers or the Jaguars.

Teams or more importantly, our team's fan base is scared of playing the Patriots in Jillette.

I don't think that anybody in the AFC should be afraid of anybody.

Yeah, I don't think any fan base in the AFC should be afraid of playing anywhere against anything established.

It's a completely flat conference, that's all it has been the whole year.

No one's really been able to, you know, dominate.

And a lot of the parts we're talking about are unproven teams, Like if it was Tom Brady and that old Patriots team, Like, yeah, I don't want to go to Foxboro, But what do you know about Bonnicks in the playoffs?

You know, what do you know about Tom Brady.

And in the playoffs?

But you know, they didn't really I mean, he threw a bomb for a touchdown on the first drive, and I think he did nothing the whole rest of the game.

I just am And this is not even a Denver thing, It's just an overall thing.

I just think that the home field advantage thing is becoming really overrated across the NFL.

It just for the past like five to ten years, there really is in the huge discrepancy home road splits and things like that.

I just think that it's become a little bit overrated in terms of a talking point.

And I don't think anybody was necessarily worried about playing here.

I think they were worried about playing Tom Brady.

H So the elements, I mean, I would say the elements like ideally Peyton Manning doesn't want to come here when a snowstorm, I mean.

Ideally swirling winds.

Yeah no, no, But I mean I think everywhere there's something.

I think Mike is right.

I think if you if you were going to play Tom Brady, you want to play him in like hot weather.

You don't want to play him in the snow.

He never lost in those conditions, Like that's that was part of it.

Now, you don't want to play Brady anywhere, because Brady's you know, we used to joke about this.

Brady's record indoors, Brady's record out doors, Brady's record when it's under thirty degree, Brady dominated, no matter what the conditions were.

Down by a touchdown going into the fourth quarter, dominates.

But I would rather play Brady if I'm an opponent in conditions that I like.

Yeah, I know Brady's going to be great regardless of conditions, so if I can match him, I need my conditions.

Yeah, And that's why I like playing in January here was that's you know, for Peyton Manning, that's not not deal.

Like Evan's point of the Chargers or the Jaguars, you know, having to come up here in January not ideal.

But but Baltimore they don't care because they like those conditions Like.

A honey badger.

They don't care.

Zach from doesn't say where Eric wouldn't like that has a little would you rather think?

Okay, would you rather option a Patriots win their remaining four games with resounding wins over the Bills and Ravens and get the number one overall seed after first round bye.

They lose to the Chiefs in the divisional round Option B.

Patriots go two and two in their final four games, losing to the Bills and the Ravens.

They beat a middling team like the Jaguars in the wild round card Wildcard round, then lose a game to the Chiefs in the divisional round.

Win a playoff game, So I'll play game both ways.

You're winning the AFC East, which the.

Ways in the division around to Kansas City.

Yeah, so when one of them you have a playoff game, win Drake may won a playoff game.

Yeah yeah, okay, yeah, all right, get the division.

That's my first goal.

Get the division.

Like decision's over, you know, I know it's aficial till it's over.

Right.

Also, the Patriots are back to their winning ways, and I love to bring back the tradition of buying you guys lunch.

We as listeners can't forget tradition as it hearkens back to the days when Zolac would stop by, and even back to the original Patriots Cafe shows.

Wow, you remember those?

What's that back in the day.

I'll shall tell you in a second.

If the new studio isn't conducive to eating food, I'm happy to buy lunch on an off day.

No.

So back back in the day OG listening, when the World Wide Web first started in the old Stadium, they had the Club which doubled as where the Patriots ate their lunch.

So during lunch we'd set up and do a live show with Don Lowry, who was Stacy James before Stacy James actually he was his boss at the time, and we would drag guys from lunch and interview them during their life.

That's great.

Yeah, sandwiches, yep.

So he had relaxed over a meal, you know, hanging.

Would they be eating one there or he just grab them like after they.

Yeah, yeah, when they're done.

It's a shame that we don't have those tapes.

Oh yeah, you know, I don't know where they would be.

I don't know.

It's funny.

I just quick story.

Had the chance to interview Nancy Meyer for the eighty five project and she had a funny story.

She was saying how different things were, you know, she said, players.

Back then they had other jobs.

Like the season went in, they would go to like their other job, and then they work and then the season they come back.

But she said that you know, they never got swagged they never had.

She's like, if players had like two T shirts that said Patriots on them, they were doing well well here.

That was definitely the case.

I know that they didn't have to work second jobs.

No, no, I'm telling you, if a guy needed another jersey, they'd have to buy it.

I'm serious, really, I'm serious crazy.

But she said one of her best memories from that eighty five season and then going to the Super Bowl was that her and all the admin staff all got outfitted and jumpsuits and sneakers from Rebok, which at the time, my dad was working at Rebok, And she said, you know what sparked my memory was like, there's that there's a picture somewhere of all of us in our rebox stuff.

And I was so excited, And I've looked everywhere for that picture and I don't know where it is.

So somewhere around here, there's got to be some kind of archive with all this stuff.

And yeah, I'm sure a lot of people like to get their hands on.

So yeah, no it it used to be bad.

And they used to accuse the old equipment manager before Donnie Brocher, this guy Longo of you know, having like an underground economy where he would like, you know, sell extra guys, keep the money and everything.

Stick would never Yeah.

Well now it's like he like, it's those new T shirts and new sweatshirts and they're like randomly getting sweatshirts and T shirts made with sayings on them, and you, I mean, you can't escape.

I know elders in North Carolina on the hotline, what's up eld.

Woa?

Whoa sut though?

That guy that just swerved into the guard rail here you great?

No, I ain't nobody here.

Everyone out of your change, bro.

I'm wanting them one.

Like I said, it's the greatest one eleven Ford for the s up there.

I don't want to play there.

But because but if you listen to David Andrews and I think him in the whole Your.

Pet Chat My Dad podcast, Yeah, can you tell you why and why he was sick for two weeks after going up there, and it's it's that but fear.

Yeah, but that had nothing to do with it.

No, Andrews had a bug.

Yeah, he was really set.

Oh yeah, yeah, But I don't think it was altitude related.

Uh he said his attitude something telling you it's not a factor I'm just telling you that it's not impossible.

I remember that we spent yeah, we spent a week out there nineteen you know, yeah, this was we had a weekend.

Yeah, I'm sorry, No, we had a week out then.

I remember he got really sick.

Yeah, couldn't make the second leg of the game.

Yeah, exactly.

And there I love, I love.

I don't want to play that come down down.

I want to play him here and would I well everybody would rather play him here, all right, thanks Aldred, Yeah I did.

And I think it's Paul said, like, we'll get to it when we get to it, which he's right.

But if you look at Denver's last four games of their schedule, it's Packers, Chiefs, Chargers, Jaguars or their last four games, like the way that they get the number one seed, other than like they have the tie breakers over the Patriots.

So both teams went out and Denver is going to be the number one seed.

But I don't think Denver's winning out.

So but winning out, But what if both teams go too and two or in Denver's case three, It depends on this breaker.

Why I always say, like, don't just blanket tie breaker?

They have the tiebreaker, So I believe Now.

If it's AC, I believe it Chargers.

Well, I but I believe it would it would.

It wouldn't matter because as long as they beat the Raiders, they'll have the common opponent tiebreaker.

And then the Patriots last four games are all against the a f C.

So if the Patriots not common that makes sense, but they're all but it's conference records is more important.

Okay.

So if they go like two and two and in the last four games of the season, then Denver is gonna it's gonna it's gonna be Denver with the tiebreakers.

So that's the So it's the would you say the Chargers, Chiefs, the Chiefs, Jackson, Patriots didn't play any of those teams.

So it's about the a f C.

It will be about the conference record.

Yeah.

Yeah, Mike's in New York.

What's up, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike Wednesday, hump Day?

Where are you?

He's gone home?

All right, that's okay, Mike, get another chance.

I just do a lot of different topics today.

It is interesting, though, Kathy, like all the odds that it really seems, based on what I've seen, it's Patriots are Broncos.

That's the one seed, right, It's the Patriots.

Those are the biggest team I think that has a minute chance, and I think it's less than five percent is Buffalo because Buffalo could conceivably, you know, steal the division and then you know, you get into all the different stuff if that tough schedule that Evan talked about with the Broncos comes into play.

But I think it's just yeah, yeah, the Patriots right now are slave favorites to be the one seed in most places.

But it's because they're back end of their schedules easier than Denvers.

So not by much, honestly, because you have Baltimore and Buffalo, but they have the Jets and the Dolphins, and.

They have they're easier than the Chargers and the Jets.

Yeah.

Right, teams who are in playoffs still in the playoff mix.

Trying to make it do one more emails Travis and West Virginia.

We're talking about me reading emails, he says, uh, And and you know, reading favorites.

He says, nonsense, Fred, My emails are always good, and you only read about one out of every five I sent.

Also, Kwannie doesn't read emails either, The only difference is that she pretends she didn't get any emails, while you pretend.

You got a lot.

It's not pretending we get a lot.

You can't really read them all.

All right, all right, there's a lot more emails.

I'm sorry I didn't get to all of them.

But anyway, we'll be back tomorrow, so you'll have another chance to email or call in.

The gang will be all here because Evan won't have a locker room to go to.

Deuce won't have a locker room to go to.

Live picks from Evan, Live picks from Evan, Second time, any four like any teaser.

I had?

I had a really good week with a spread.

Okay, that's kind of average otherwise.

Okay, all right, well we'll get to that tomorrow.

Thanks for watching today.

Hey this is Alex.

Thanks for tuning into the show.

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