- 2 minutes ago
Rich, Ken, and Ted discuss with whom the blame lies for last night’s loss to the Bears in Chicago. Even though there’s plenty to go around, they all seem to agree the play calling on offense early in the game was a major issue.
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00:00If you could pinpoint one thing that you believe was the main reason
00:04that this Patriots team lost yesterday, what would it be?
00:08And I'll be happy to start if you'd like me to.
00:10Yeah, go ahead.
00:10Okay.
00:11I believe the main reason that the Patriots lost last night.
00:14Ditka Knight, you already said that.
00:15No, I mean, that's definitely a big part of it.
00:17He's watching from above.
00:18By the way, I love the thing they did beforehand where they did the history
00:22of the Super Bowl, the Superfans with the Ditka guys on SNL.
00:27Well, I didn't realize that skip was originally done by Smigel, Bob Odenkirk,
00:31and Conan O'Brien.
00:32That's cool.
00:33They were the first three people to ever do that skip before.
00:36It wasn't even on SNL.
00:37It was before SNL.
00:38So that was kind of cool.
00:39I thought that that was nice.
00:40All right.
00:41The main reason I think that the Patriots lost last night was Josh McDaniels' slow start.
00:47I've got a question for Josh McDaniels.
00:48Why are we making life so difficult for Drake May?
00:51HB dive.
00:52HB dive.
00:52Dude, you've got one of the most talented quarterbacks in football at your disposal.
00:55A guy can make every throw.
00:56He can extend plays.
00:57He can do it with his legs.
00:58And somehow, he's obsessed with establishing a running game that isn't working.
01:04I mean, last night on the opening possession, it's third and six.
01:07What do you do?
01:07Hand it to Ramondre Stevenson for one yard and then may get sacked on fourth down.
01:11Which, by the way, he joined Jones and Keefe and admitted he knew they were going to go for it.
01:14So that was his brilliant plan was to run it for a yard on third and six.
01:18I mean, come on.
01:19And the next two possessions, run on first down, run on second down,
01:22and then put May in this obvious passing situation.
01:25Punt, punt.
01:27And man, that is a game last night where you were going against one of the most dangerous offenses in
01:31the NFL.
01:33Every possession matters.
01:35And you blew it.
01:36You had three wasted.
01:38At the very beginning of the game, when it really would have helped you go out to a hot start,
01:41you wasted three possessions.
01:44And just, it was like, it was the worst play calling I've seen.
01:46Now, thank goodness, because I was wondering for a second, Ted and Ken,
01:50is he going to continue to do this the whole game?
01:52Is this going to feel like weeks one through three?
01:54And then finally he got smart.
01:56But it was infuriating that you just threw away essentially the first quarter of the game with bad play calling.
02:03I like this.
02:03Welcome to the dark side.
02:04Blaming McDaniels for everything and anything.
02:05But listen, he ended up, like, fixed.
02:07But you got your...
02:09You make a good point.
02:10You fell behind.
02:11And you can't start like that.
02:12You want to get to a hot start.
02:14Okay, so that's my number one reason why I think they lost last night.
02:17All right, Ted, you want me to go?
02:17No, I want you to go, Ken.
02:19I'm looking for something up to bolster Rich's point.
02:22So this is kind of lame and cliche.
02:23But I think turnover margin is...
02:26People always say that's going to decide games.
02:28But not only did Drake's pick, really, in the end, in a close game, make the difference.
02:32I mean, it took points off the board in a game that was decided by six points.
02:34But I do think the lack of takeaways from the defense, if I can throw it into one...
02:39Yeah.
02:39They did not have a takeaway against Seattle.
02:41They did not have a takeaway in this game.
02:43They've come up empty in two of their three losses.
02:45And it's killing them.
02:46Like, Bayard's the guy you brought in for the big pick.
02:49And instead, on that third and 11 and the fourth, the ball goes right over his outstretched hand.
02:53Yeah.
02:53Obviously, a great throw.
02:54An elite throw from Caleb.
02:56But, you know, that's why your guys are supposed to make a play here or there.
02:59They just were unable to come up with a takeaway.
03:01All right, TJ?
03:03All right, TJ?
03:03All right.
03:03So, I mean, for me, if it's one thing, gosh, it probably has to be that interception that Drake threw.
03:14Because it's just...
03:17Here's some things that led to points.
03:20One was the turnover on downs.
03:22The opening drive.
03:24What did you guys think about them going for it on fourth down on their opening drive?
03:28I liked it, but I didn't like it.
03:29I didn't like the third down call to your point, Rich.
03:31I think you laid it out perfectly.
03:32If you're going to go for it, come up with something more creative than the gun run.
03:35Yeah.
03:36All right.
03:36Right.
03:36Right.
03:36To get them...
03:37Because it was like fourth and five.
03:38Fourth and five.
03:39Yeah.
03:39Yeah.
03:40All right.
03:40So, you have turnover on downs, cost them three points.
03:43The special teams gaff.
03:45The kick return they allowed.
03:46Yeah.
03:47Yeah.
03:47That led to three points.
03:48And then Drake May's interception.
03:51They go all the way from the 20-yard line to score a touchdown.
03:55So, that's 13 points on things that the Patriots had control over.
04:03So, if you had to pick one, to me, that was a costly mistake.
04:08I mean, you can almost say that was a 14-point swing, right?
04:11I mean, the Patriots should have gotten seven there, and the Chicago got seven.
04:15So, to me, that was the biggest play of the game.
04:18Stiz, you want to jump in, huh?
04:19Yeah.
04:19For me...
04:20Stiz blames Tatum.
04:21It's A.J. Brown.
04:22It is A.J. Brown.
04:23We spent six months talking about this guy like he was going to be the second coming of Jesus Christ.
04:29We were saying all last year, man, if we just had a number one wide receiver, that would get us
04:34over the hump.
04:35That would have made the difference in the Super Bowl.
04:37And we have it.
04:38And we spent a lot to get him.
04:40And not one time have I been impressed with this guy.
04:43Not one.
04:43He's not right.
04:44He's not ready yet.
04:45Well, listen, he's not...
04:47Or maybe he doesn't have it anymore.
04:48No.
04:49Well, listen, how about this?
04:51How about the receivers combined were practically invisible last night?
04:55Yeah.
04:55I mean, Kyle Williams had zero catches.
04:57A.J. Brown, three catches, including that late 14-yarder.
05:00So, they give him that.
05:03Ramondre Stevenson, he had five catches.
05:05He led all receivers in receptions last night.
05:10A running back.
05:11A running back.
05:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:13So, that's...
05:14I mean, there needs to be some sort of way that you can shake things up.
05:18The wide receivers have been somewhat disappointing as far as just their usage.
05:22Yesterday was odd.
05:23And the A.J. Brown thing, do you blame him for that one-drop pass that was...
05:28No, it should have been a P.I.
05:29No.
05:29Yeah, he needs to catch that.
05:31Come on.
05:31Both can be true.
05:32It can be P.I.
05:33But would A.J. Brown five years ago have caught that?
05:36Probably.
05:37It is interesting.
05:38I mean, it's hard to...
05:39Stiz has kind of got a point.
05:40You know, it was weird.
05:42It was...
05:42I mean, the ball was hanging up.
05:44Remember, if you remember the play, he's kind of looking back at the ball for, like, forever.
05:48Yeah.
05:48And he's kind of slowing down.
05:50He's trying to find it.
05:51And it's...
05:51Like, and then when the ball hits his hands, you know, the guy...
05:55Defender did a great job.
05:57He put his hands right where he needed to, which is between the receiver's hands, to knock it down.
06:01But jump...
06:02How about jump up?
06:03How about, you know, fight?
06:05How about box out?
06:06How about just something other than, oh, you know, it just...
06:10The guy knocked it down.
06:12There's a...
06:14When I see him play, I just feel like he's not fully engaged.
06:18He's not, like, playing physical.
06:21You know, like, a receiver like that, you got to get guys' hands off of you.
06:24You got to fight.
06:25You got to scratch.
06:26And I don't see A.J. Brown doing that.
06:28Maybe that's not fair because of his injury.
06:30But I almost feel like Stiz does, to some degree, that that could have been caught.
06:36I really do.
06:37And then his excuse after the game.
06:40I thought his post-game was good.
06:41He was measured.
06:42He controlled himself.
06:42Let's hear what he had to say.
06:44Were they defending you in a way that took you by surprise at all tonight?
06:47Or was it just a matter of the ball not coming to work?
06:50I think they did a really good job.
06:52You know, early on, Josh tried to do a really good job of getting me involved.
06:59You know, and Dre just took what they gave him.
07:01They was trying to take me away early on.
07:03And that's just kind of how the game played.
07:05Oh, I may have dropped 50% of the balls that you threw me.
07:08But, hey, I'm distracting the other players.
07:10Well, he was.
07:11He got tight ends loose, just as Rich and Ted expected.
07:15Let's go to Tim in Hanover on line one.
07:17Tim, what's up, buddy?
07:17How you doing?
07:18Hey, Tim.
07:19Hey, guys.
07:20Love you as always.
07:21Thanks, bud.
07:21I want to say, you know, Ted is 100% right.
07:25I believe it's me.
07:27I'm not a May basher.
07:28I'm not a quarterback basher.
07:30But let me tell you, whoever quarterback is on their A game is going to win.
07:36You can't make mistakes because it's so even across the NFL.
07:39I've been saying that.
07:41These teams are real equal.
07:42And the thing is, our offensive line, if we don't have an offensive line, man,
07:47that's killing us because, you know what, it's like opening up a dam.
07:50You open the valves, and that's it.
07:53You need a line to do the same thing, man, so our backs can run through.
07:57And we just don't have the line, and it's killing us.
08:00There's no question, Tim.
08:01You're right.
08:01I mean, Drake May doesn't throw that interception.
08:03It's a completely different game.
08:04But the one thing that, you know, it's weird.
08:06I looked at the way that they both played, Caleb Williams and Drake May,
08:09and it's like both had very good games and both made one very stupid mistake.
08:14Unfortunately, Drake's pretty essentially cost them.
08:16Because to me, Caleb Williams taking that sack at the end of the game.
08:20Oh, my God.
08:21We'd be crushing them today if they lost that game.
08:23Totally.
08:23Like, that would be more egregious than what Drake did,
08:27because if they ended up going down and scoring and winning the game,
08:30it would have been over.
08:31But, dude, that is a ballsy move by Ben Johnson to kick that field goal.
08:36Dude, that was clankers.
08:39And the fact that he made it, too, that was, you know, as I said,
08:43it's like if you lose that way, if, like, that's the way you end up losing,
08:46that's why I guess I don't feel so awful.
08:49There's a million things that were wrong about that game last night.
08:51As a matter of fact, Ted, I wanted to ask you, you know,
08:55I said Josh McDaniel's slow start at the beginning was the main reason.
08:58But right behind that is the tackling.
09:01I mean, the tackling was atrocious.
09:03They missed 16 tackles.
09:05Is that all?
09:05Yeah, I know.
09:06It seemed like a million.
09:07They're most in a game this season.
09:09Unfortunately, our guy Marcus missed five.
09:10By the numbers, Marcus Jones was having a tough night.
09:13But I go back to now making an excuse,
09:15and Carlton Davis could have made a big difference in this game.
09:18Oh, huge.
09:18You missed him bad.
09:20Huge.
09:21I mean, there's – and then there were moments like, boy,
09:23Christian Ellis who had Caleb in the end zone.
09:27That's so true.
09:27And he was right there.
09:29But I want to ask you, Ted, you know,
09:31is the bad tackling and the penalties, which were also atrocious last night.
09:36Yeah, 10 penalties, yeah.
09:37Was that a result in your mind of chalk it up to it's a Thursday night game,
09:42or is this a real problem?
09:44Yeah.
09:45No, it's a Thursday night game.
09:47If I had to pick one or the other, it's probably a little bit of both.
09:50But if you're making me pick one or the other, it's a short week.
09:54You're on the road.
09:55You know, if Chicago came to New England, I bet you it's a different story.
10:00It's just, you know, the last game they played, you know,
10:04obviously it's going to take something out of you.
10:07And so to travel like they did, be shorthanded like they were,
10:12you're on their home field.
10:14Those are big backs, man.
10:16I mean, dude, those guys run hard.
10:18I mean, I was kind of shocked.
10:20I'll be honest.
10:21Luther Burden, I haven't watched a ton of his film.
10:26That man is – that's a man right there.
10:29He is a thoroughbred.
10:31And they're just – and they did.
10:34They stressed our corners all night long.
10:36A lot of perimeter runs or runs that bounced out to the perimeter.
10:40And you got – there was just mismatches.
10:42Loveland on Marcus Jones.
10:45Chris – Craig Woods or Chris Woods.
10:49What am I saying?
10:50Charles Woods.
10:50Charles Woods.
10:51He was outmatched too.
10:53There was just – they were bigger.
10:55They were a little bit stronger when it comes to our skill position, guys.
10:58And they had a difficult time getting their receivers,
11:02their skill players, down on the ground.
11:04Yeah.
11:04It was interesting.
11:06I mean, there was a lot of different stuff that I watched last night.
11:08And I wanted to ask you this morning.
11:09It was one of the main things – or this afternoon, rather –
11:11that, you know, how much of this is the slop of a Thursday
11:13and how much should we really be concerned about?
11:15Yeah.
11:16And if I'm not mistaken, four of those penalties were from your rookie guards
11:19or your backup guards who were in there.
11:21There were some false starts and some problems in there.
11:22You know what the worst penalty was?
11:24Gabe Ackes, unfortunately.
11:25Yeah, unfortunately.
11:26Like, that roughing the passer was a good game.
11:28He had a good game except for that.
11:29Yeah.
11:30Yeah.
11:31He was an idiot.
11:32Idiot.
11:32Dude, I don't care if you're a rookie.
11:34Come on.
11:35One, two, three, hit the quarterback.
11:37Like, have you ever not watched NFL games before?
11:40Yeah.
11:40Like, dude, you take one half a step and hit the quarterback late,
11:43you're getting penalty, let alone three full steps.
11:47Yeah.
11:47That was an awful – and I believe after that, it's funny,
11:50because I just started writing stuff down, like the butterfly effect after that.
11:54Oh, yeah.
11:55So, it started off with the Drake interception, and then the next drive,
11:58it was a terrible hold by Woods.
12:00They ended up getting that.
12:01And then Gabe Ackes, the awful roughing the passer,
12:03before the two-minute warning, which led to a touchdown.
12:05But the Woods, you're saying terrible.
12:07Like, it was backside of the play and didn't even factor into the play at all.
12:10It didn't even factor in at all.
12:11That was crushing.
12:12That third and four there.
12:13You see that, though.
12:14You do see that call, that penalty called, though.
12:17Yeah, it's rare, but you do see it.
12:19It's mind-boggling that he's not even in the play, yet they still call that.
12:23I've seen them do that before, Ken.
12:26Yeah, they should have called it.
12:27I'm not saying terrible that they shouldn't have called it.
12:29They should have called that.
12:29That was really dumb.
12:31That was awful.
12:32Yeah.
12:32So, there you go.
12:33That was – I mean, there were a lot of things that you wish you could go back in time
12:36and you could switch, but it was indeed a great game.
12:39I mean, two very good teams.
12:40So much for the SI coverage.
12:42I was hoping Williams would just, like, melt down, you know, right at the end.
12:45I came away more impressed with Caleb than I ever had before.
12:48Do you guys agree?
12:49Absolutely.
12:50Absolutely.
12:50He was great last time.
12:51Now, the only thing is he's going to be blown up.
12:53This is the type of game that people are now going to just start blowing smoke up his arse for
12:56weeks.
12:57You know what I mean?
12:58They're still playing to rip on the whole humming between some nerdy stuff in there.
13:04Yeah, without a question.