What is the Patriots ceiling? | The NFL Today

What is the Patriots ceiling? | The NFL Today

Welcome inside our CBS Sports studios. I’m Adam Shine alongside my guy, the great Kyle Long. And how about these New England Patriots? And I love the Patriots today, Kyle, with obviously Mike Frabel going back to Tennessee. And normally there’s the interim head coach, coach, get fired bump. I didn’t think that was applicable for the Patriots because somehow the Tennessee Titans fired Mike Vrabel, which we went nuts when they did that a few years ago. And all Mike Greybel did in Tennessee was lead that team to victory after victory. A one seed with Ryan Tanahill as his quarterback. Buttoned up, achieved, overachieved. Should have never canned him. They bring in coach Callahan. He was awful. They fired Coach Callahan because he was awful. Vrabable turned the Patriots around. They are in first place in the AFC East. Drake May looks amazing. The defense is achieving and overachieving. We’re at a stage right now with the New England Patriots. I just expect them to win every time they play. They have been a lot of fun to watch. And we knew that when Mike Greybel took over as the head coach in New England that there was going to be a harsh shift in culture, toughness, and obviously you get a guy like Drake May and you get to blend a lot of skill with that toughness. And I think they have a really healthy blend of that. I mean, like you said, outright lead in the AFC East. You got to keep in mind the Bills are on a buy and they needed it after two losses the last two weeks. And I don’t think the Bills are not going to be the Bills when it comes time uh for crunch time. You know, meaningful football. They’re all meaningful games. But you know what I’m talking about. This Patriots team has needed to prove it to themselves and to the league, particularly the AFC East, that they ain’t playing around. And this guy, Drake May, is not playing around. And I think I’ll start with him. 75 and a half completion percentage this year. My goodness. You got to keep in mind this is a 23y old 23y old in his second year on a on a roster that last year fans were saying don’t put him in there. We’re not good enough to protect our number one pick. Well, I’ll tell you what, he’s good enough no matter the situation. And it’s just situations have been really good for Drake May. 90% completion percentage today. Fantastic. And you know what I always say? Stats are like bikinis. They’ll show you a little bit. They don’t show you everything. But if you watch the tape, you’ll see everything. Hey, no laughing back there. That guy Drake May is tough as nails. I saw him go whiplash style, head on the turf today, shook his head a little bit, went in the blue tent, came back out. I don’t support guys going in and out of the game that way, but it tells me a lot as an offensive lineman to see that young man step back in, perform the way he did. New England, six takeaways in their last three games. It feels like a Mike Vrabel football team, doesn’t it? Raandre Stevenson, the way he just hammers home like a shark, you know, three, four yards a carry, he’ll make the linebackers feel him. Drake May is throwing the deep ball as well as anybody in the National Football League. They’ve got a number of guys who can catch the football. This stands out to me. So, 300 plus passing yards each to Stefon Diggs, Hunter Henry, and Kahan Bouty this season. A number of guys can go ham for Drake May. And he’s that guy who’s like, “Whatever situation, wherever you are on the field, I can get you the football.” And oh yeah, he can run like a deer. That’s what you need when you got a dragon there in Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. You need to fight fire with fire. They got their own dragon now in Drake May. It’s up for grabs in the AFC East. Listen, I I love what you’re saying about stats and bikinis. And the Patriots are sexy. There’s no other way to frame it. You watch Drake May, you look at this completion percentage. Look what he did today. 91% completion percentage against Tennessee. I mean, that’s that’s gorgeous any way you want to frame it, Kyle. And when I say at this stage they can beat anyone. And look, I thought that they would grossly and vastly improve because I think Mike Frabel is unbelievable as a head coach, top five, top four, five coach in the NFL. His teams are buckled up, buttoned up, knows the rules, great ingame, maximize his talent. But I do think they’re a year away from the playoffs. I think we have to take preseason picks, stick them where the sun don’t shine. Y and I picked the Bills to win the division and win the AFC and win the Super Bowl. The two losses for New England this year, the Raiders and the Steelers, both are one games. They’re just beating everybody else. That victory against Buffalo was unbelievable. The way they followed that up with a taking care of business win against New Orleans didn’t get too high in a horrible place to play. Absolutely tough place. The dome, the crowd. Kell Moore’s got that team at least, you know, playing hard and then to absolutely bludgeon Tennessee. By the way, Browns are next. Like, if you’re a Bills fan, this is hell. This is a nightmare. This was supposed to be your year, your time to shine. Right now, forget preseason picks. I look at the AFC East and I don’t think that New England’s going to blow it. I think as we speak, the team to beat in the division, Mike Vrabel, Drake May, and the New England Patriots. Easiest schedule remaining in the National Football League. I mean, you have to really think about that. the way they have overachieved early going to Buffalo, getting that win, which was, you know, a passing of the torch in New England as it pertains to the quarterback position. And we know that for a very long time, there was one guy who was the quarterback. And seemingly now, and I think you can tattoo it, Drake May is going to be the guy for the next 15 years. Yeah. For the New England Patriots. But let’s get back to the Patriots as a whole. $300 million roughly, okay, spent on offseason acquisitions. What do we complain a lot about in this league? Because when guys are able to hit the street and go check out another team, usually there’s a reason for that. If you’re a good player, you stay where you were. Um the Patriots were able to identify winners. Okay, they went and got culture guys. There are three sack leaders on defense. Harold Landrew the third has five and a half. Kavon Chaon, we saw him have a huge play today. Um I just think you know guys like Milton Williams, Super Bowl champion, they brought the right guys in there. or they were willing to pay them and they are reaping the rewards of investing in the right guys. Having a head coach who’s a culture setter and oh yeah in a quarterback driven league a freak at the quarterback position in Drake May that’s the formula for winning. I’m not that surprised that the Patriots are doing well. No, I’m not surprised they’re doing well. I am surprised they’re playing this great and when you start taking a look at teams that have the formula for success and that Bills game to me that that was the eye opener that they’re ahead of the curve but then the way they’ve handled success and prosperity for a young team that’s Vrabel and and I’ll take you a step further Mike Vrabel is the coach of the year right now it’s early and that award more than any other it’s okay week to week resultsoriented right you how to keep the train on the tracks to ultimately be the coach of the year. But that’s what we’re talking about here for Mike Vrabel. And it’s it’s amazing to watch. Shows you how bad the infrastructure was last year and what a mess the Patriots were for so many different reasons a year ago. Mike Vrabel has changed everything here for New England. I don’t think this is just a, you know, beginning of the season, you know, facade. I think this team is for real. Absolutely. And it beginning it begins and ends with the quarterback and the head coach. The culture setter and the guy who can get you out of any stick sticky situation. That’s Drake May. It’s an unbelievable combo with Vel and and May. Quarterback and head coach. Feel like it’s another combo that’s going to be there for another decade or two in New England. Patriots quarterback Drake May. You know, Rael was kind of downplaying his return here this week. You said there might be a little something extra. How does it feel to get this commanding win? It feels great. Feels great to get a road win. Um, it means a little more for coach obviously, you know, coming back here a place he was so successful. U, but great team win. We got some stuff to clean up, but that was fun. You were surgical at times with 16 straight completions at one point. Raandre Stevenson balled out on the ground. How would you say this offense is executing at this point? We’re continue to get better and better each week. Uh, we got stuff to clean up. Ran the ball. Uh, the guys played great up front and uh, we got some juice, so we got to keep going. Marcus Jones had a huge interception there to end it. How would you describe how this defense is complimenting that? and defense defense once again, you know, shut out in the second half. Um, they’re playing their their butts off and u, you know, I experienced in training camp. They do a lot of different stuff and uh, you know, they’re great. It’s great having them. Congratulations. Thank you. Go pass. Drake May. Drake May’s playing good. I mean, really good completion percentage. The most efficient in the history of the New England Patriots. 91.3. Wait, say what? That’s the most efficient in the history of the New England Patriots. New England Patriots. Who played for them? Yeah, Tom Brady. Well, he only did 88.5% which is pretty good in my opinion. But Drake Mays out here. I mean, look at the ball, too. This ball’s spinning. Crosses over the middle. Stefon Dixs getting him involved right there. We saw the deep shots down the field. I think his ability to layer the ball and to to to throw effortlessly down the field. And they’re getting people open. Josh McDaniel is getting guys wide open, uncovered down there. And Drake May’s hitting it right now. But you look at the numbers, they’re outstanding. 21 of 23, 222, two touchdowns, 62 rushing yards. Drake May’s playing really good football right now. You know what? Uh, all of us know that Mike Greybel was trying to downplay going back to play against his old team. His players would not allow that. This is Mike Vrabel in the locker room with his squad. Okay. So, there’s there there’s things of complimentary football that we have to continue. Just felt a little disjointed early on. Okay. Felt a little disjointed. I got to do a better job of bringing us together early in the football game. Going to break down. Hey, one sec. One sec. Hello. [Applause] You know, Mike is Mike is a players coach from the standpoint is he played the game at a high level. He holds everybody accountable himself. As he said before, we didn’t start off the way we should. There he is right now. You can see him right now. They all they all know what this meant to him. And so, you know, listen, Mike Vrabel is a football coach made to be in that football with that team. He does that after every game. Yeah, he does. Yes, he does. Absolutely. That’s what I used to do every game when he was a rookie. I shook everyone’s hand when I came in the locker room. Really? So, did he learn that from you? I don’t know if he did or not, but I I did after every game sit there and make sure I shook everyone’s hand. And why did you do that, coach? Because I wanted to make sure that everyone understood I appreciated their efforts for that particular day. Hey, but doesn’t he shake your hand after the show? Where’s my handshake after the show, man? Not if I win a debate. He won’t shake my hand. You guys are out here so fast. You’re trying to catch up flights and get out of here. But, you know, I mean, I think Mike Vrabel is, again, I go back to the same thing. Mike Mike Mike’s got a bigger vision. He understands it there. He didn’t There wasn’t a whole lot like let’s not be surprised by winning. Um, it’s a game that we should have won. We were we were we were better football team than they were today. Yeah. And, you know, again, for the Tennessee Titans, it’s tough. You know, I go I matter of fact looked this up. The last 10 times that a head coach was fired in the season, the following game with the interim coach, teams were three and seven. So, it’s hard. It’s hard for players to come back when you just you’re going down the the depth of any organization and I wasn’t a part of it but I’ve seen it is your head coach gets fired in the middle of a season and you guys I don’t if you’ve been a part of that there’s a lot of soularching that’s being done not just by the players it’s being done by the head assistant coaches it’s being done by the new guy coming over trying to figure out what his message is for that particular day I know it’s on the upcoming game that’s just not let’s be real about there’s a lot of other outside things that are fluttering around in people’s mind for sure and so It’s a very hard thing to to walk into. I I I mean, I’ve been through that. Uh and it is difficult where, you know, you’ve got other coaches that, you know, maybe not week one, but as the year goes on, you’re trying to navigate where you’re going to be in the future. You got players who are doing the same. But I I look at New England on on the positive side of this and think about their last three weeks going on the road three games in a row, finding a way to get it done. It started with that big win against Buffalo. the response of going down to New Orleans, which is not an easy place to play and a team that I know their record is what it is, but they play tough. Kell Moore has them playing tough. And then they come out today in a game that could be a trap game, right? Where you have a head coach that’s fired. You’ve got a storyline of Mike Vrabel going back there. We kind we we saw they were sleepwalking a little bit and Mike referenced that. We were disjointed uh early on in that in in that ball game, but good teams find a way to get it going in the right direction. And they did that midway through the game. Nate, you said it in the pregame show. You you felt like they’ve got a legitimate chance to win the AFC East. And they do. I mean, they they they really do because I I think you talk about going on the road three in a row, finding ways to win. You got a young quarterback who’s playing really well. We’re seeing emerging stars at the wide receiver position, explosive plays down the field, physicality with how they play on both offense and defense. It’s a recipe for success, you know, and in the midst of them finding themselves, it seems like they’re finding their dogs. You mentioned that Bills game. Who was it that stepped up? Stefon Diggs. Sure. You know, he he kind of introduced himself to everybody in New England said, “All right, I know I’m older. I’m coming off of an injury, but I still got the juice and you can count on me when you need a big play.” And over the last couple of weeks, Booty has been unbelievable. Uh, and I just feel like when you find guys over a course of a few weeks, now we know who we could lean on in November, December when we have some very clutch games and I need some guys to step up in clutch moments. But getting back to Drake Mayo, I have to admit I did not know he was this good of a passer. You know, something I learned from Matt is he said that when there’s quarterbacks that you look at and you evaluate them, you can really put them into two categories. There’s passers of the football and then throwers of the football. The throwers of the football can grab it, they can grip it, and they can let it go. passers of the football. And these are guys that can grip it, rip it, nice spirals. They know how to throw different types of balls on different types of routes. But even when it comes to passers, there’s guys like Matt Stafford, a young Matt Stafford felt like he could throw through a brick wall. And then over the course of his career, he started to figure out how to put certain touch on certain balls. And there’s levels to it. Drake. I’m not saying he’s on Matt Stafford’s level, but what I am saying is he throws certain fade routes and it looks like one of the most catchable balls in the NFL. The way that he has his trajectory on the ball and how it comes down. And I know our our football fans are smart that watch the show. I know you have a high football IQ, but I’m just telling you from a perspective of a wide receiver. When we see a ball go up and down and it’s easy to track and it can fall right into my hands, no matter where it is in my radius or in the proximity of where I may be, it’s a easier ball to catch. And I’m noticing that with Drake May. So passes that might seem difficult because of the distance from where he’s throwing, they’re easier to catch on the other side of the ball where the receivers are. And if I may in this educational process after this, I want you to go to the update. But you talked about Drake May and maybe it’s what Nate is saying, layering. Layering layering. What does that mean? Yeah. There I what Nate is referencing. I used to say that ball hugs the ceiling. Yeah. Right. The ball hugs the ceiling. So it’s thrown with enough touch, but it kind of just hugs the top of the ceiling. Doesn’t tick it and then just comes down right over the top. And I think you see that on routes over the middle. We’ve seen that on crossing routes where JB it might go over a linebacker, layered over a linebacker, but just high enough to be able to get back down and right into the receivers’s hands. He does an excellent job of

Kyle Long, Matt Ryan, Nate Burleson, and Bill Cowher discuss Drake Maye and the Patriots following their huge win over the Titans and hot start to the season.

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