Patriots Insider: Patriots’ close win over Falcons more evidence that they’re a ‘GOOD TEAM’ 😮‍💨

Patriots Insider: Patriots’ close win over Falcons more evidence that they’re a ‘GOOD TEAM’ 😮‍💨

Yeah, exhale after that one. Welcome into our Bella Early Edition. I’m Trey Casey alongside our two Patriots insiders, Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry. Curran, what was your number one takeaway from the game yesterday? Resilience. That the Patriots were able to survive mistakes and that there is always that niggling little opportunity that can flip a game that was on the cusp of being 35 to7 really was that turned into a nailbiter. So that that’s there. The opportunity to make a tiny mistake that they could still be prone to making could result in a loss. But to me, that’s just a lesson learned. It’s not like, oh my god. Yeah. To me, it’s just another bit of evidence that this team is a good team and that they can win despite playing relatively poorly for a relatively long stretch of time. They were resilient. I agree with Tom, to a degree, but a lot of that second half was just kind of hanging on. And really the the one winning play I felt like they made in the second half was that last play of the game to Hunter Henry. So they didn’t have to do all that much, but it’s because they were good enough early to build the kind of lead that good teams build and they end up winning the thing. And sometimes guys, you just get lucky. They got lucky yesterday. If Parker Romo hits that extra point, then it’s a tie game and you have no idea how this one ends, which is okay. That doesn’t make them a bad team. Good teams find a way, Tom, to make their luck as well. Yeah. And I’m I’m actually just writing this ringing my hand sitting over the keyboard and that they got lucky though. I have two reactions to no poop. A and B, do you hear yourselves? Because this is a team that cobbled together eight wins in the previous two years. And you’re worried about whether that luck’s going to run out or they’re going to learn from it in January. And they’re that bad. But now you’re concerned about January. Not to blame you. You’re exactly right. But that we’re in a conversation now about, hey, they can’t play like that in January. and expect to get themselves to San Francisco for the Super Bowl. No, they they they can’t. But reality check, that kind of win was something that people would have fallen over themselves to see, right, a little while ago. And it’s just the nature of the league, too. Just look at some of the games yesterday. The the Packers, everybody thinks that’s a good team. They are a good team. They lose at home to the Panthers who are suddenly are they a good fill looking like a competent football team? That win against the Panthers for the Patriots looks better and better it feels like every single week. How about even that Bills Chiefs game? That that Bills team lost to that Falcons team. They lost to the New England Patriots. And then for large portions of that game against the team that everybody going into week nine said was the best team in the conference. It looks like they’re, you know, playing out of their league for portions. So it’s just the nature of the league. You get a win like that one, you take it. It is pretty crazy how up and down the league is and how any in any given week a team you think is a shoe in to win loses or vice versa which to me makes it all the more astounding that the Patriots have won six in a row. It’s a great point because I I guess I assumed that in this stretch here they would have one where they would go, “Oh, that’s going to be an easy win.” And then they lose. But they haven’t lost any of them. And that’s what’s really a testimony testament to how well Drake May has played because each turnover is pulling the pin on a grenade and just laying there and seeing how much damage that turnover is going to do. In this case, it did massive damage. And the second one didn’t help a hell of a lot either, but the first one was so drastically important, but you’re going to have turnovers every single week on weird plays. And I still think that that was a sneak attack, Phil, that uh that Drake May got snapped on. He didn’t see the guy sacked on. He didn’t see the guy. Um he tried, you know, in a rushed haste, in his haste to make a quick play, but he knew it was the wrong thing to do. Well, and and he noted that after the fact himself. He he said, “I should have pulled that to my chest and gone down and you live to see another day.” And so this is just again, it’s another example. As well as he’s been playing, even in his better games, and he’s obviously had much better games in this one. There’s been meat on the bone for him. There have been throws that he’s left out there. Remember that game he completed over 90% of his passes in his first reaction gets to the podium and said, “Yeah, I think I actually left a few out there.” and it sounded like he was just being humble or, you know, he he was just trying to figure figure out how to handle that question and handle that moment. But you go back and you watch the tape, there actually were a handful of throws that he could have made that he didn’t make because he was leaving the pocket. So, there’s always something for him to learn. And I think to this point in his career, he he’s done a pretty good job of learning week to week. So, I’m interested to see how he plays against the Bucks. You remember uh when Tiger Woods was coming up and he sat in an interview with Curtis Strange and he said, you know, I uh something about his B game and Curtis Strange said, “You’ll find out, you know, playing with your B game is, you know, you’re not going to win.” And I’m not saying Drake May is playing with his B or his C game and still winning, but I’m saying yesterday. He did yesterday. His B game is still 102.8 passer rating. It’s nuts. Do you take more good or bad out of yesterday’s game from Drake May because there were times um you know for me when you said resiliency that’s what I’ve thought of with Drake May like he can make a mistake he can get sacked or have an incomplete pass and then the next pass he throws is 58 yards. Well I mean 30 of those are because Pop Douglas was like a little ping pong ball all over the place. But he is so good Phil at not being rattled when things go wrong. But you could also look at the flip side of this and say why are you not holding the ball to your chest? Why are you still fumb I mean he had two fumbles yesterday. He just managed to to recover one of them on his own. Yeah, the second one was a little mystifying because it wasn’t like it was a hit that knocked it out. He just was trying to scramble, tripped and the thing slips out of his palm. So, yeah, I think that the ball security stuff is certainly uh worthy of note and something that he knows he needs to try to get fixed. But I do like the fact that even after a disastrous turnover like that one right before the half, he doesn’t completely melt down. like even though they only scored three points in the second half, they did have an 8minute drive where he made a couple of big key completions there and then he makes the play at the end of the game, Tom, that they needed to win the game and put it away. So, I like that aspect of his game. It doesn’t feel like any one mistake even within a drive. How many third longs did they face? Because he’s either taken a sack or there’s a penalty and he’s still able to execute. His ability to bounce back and bounce back quickly, I think, is one of his greatest strengths. and I continue to grade on a curve. And maybe there’s a lot of people out there are bottom line people and say, “Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s his second year in 20 starts or however many he’s made so far. We’re going to still hold him to the level of expectation that was earned by him being an MVP candidate.” I still grade him on a curve and realize that through the first three games of the season, we were seeing a guy who could frequently melt down, frequently get too juiced up at the beginning of games, who last year was frequently making mistakes on final drives when he had opportunities to bring the team back. And now we’re looking at it and you’re mentioning, you know, the poise that he shows despite the mistakes. I mean, it’s it’s just such a sea change that I’m kind of like he’s playing with house money. If he makes a mistake, you’re like, well, he was due. Moving on to the next one. He’s also playing behind a line that has not protected him all that well as of late. It is time now for the Ford big board. Kind of uh crazy to think about, but Drake May’s actually the second most sacked quarterback in the NFL this season. He’s gone down 34 times so far. Only Cam Ward and Tennessee has more with 38. Here’s a look at what the Patriots have allowed in each game this season those last two games. Browns and Falcons two very good defenses. We want to make sure that we we recognize that. But he’s been sacked six times in each of those games. Phil Perry, how much of a concern is how often Drake May is getting sacked? And are they his fault? Is he not reading things right or do you put it solely on the offensive line? No, there’s a mixture for sure. And I asked Garrett Bradberry, their center today, about whether or not he views all sacks as as being equal. You know, you look at that bottom line number, those six sacks each of the last two weeks. If you do look at it as an offensive lineman, he explained it this way, like you get sick to your stomach almost. You just hate to see that number and you want to knock it down however you can. But Tom, when we watch the game or you rewatch it on Monday morning, you look at it and you say, “Okay, how many of these were actually on the line?” Because a handful of them, he’s scrambling. A couple, it looked like he had completions to be made there. He just holds on to it for a beat too long, pats it for an extra minute, and he ends up going down. So, to me, it’s it’s definitely not all on the offensive line. They can play better, but this is a a teamwide stat. That sack stat, it is teamwide, and some of them, I don’t care. They’re minus one, they’re minus two, and Vel made that point today. You know, some sacks, if you’re sitting there, and a lot of the sacks against Miles Garrett were just straight beats, seven yard losses. Three of the sacks yesterday were minus two or less losses. Excuse me. Which meant he was trying to climb the pocket. Said I don’t see anything. And you could say, well, he should have gotten rid of it earlier. But what kind of chaos was he throwing into? If he didn’t like what he saw, I’m at a point now where I trust him. And if he has a two- yard loss and it’s a sack and they end up with six of them. It’s they’re not all created equal. Sometimes with M. Jones, I mean, the pressure was on him. He never even got to his second read and he was getting blasted and he’d have a four sack day that looked a hell of a lot worse than that six sack day did. Yeah, there was a sack yesterday in the early in the first quarter maybe midway through the first quarter. He just like stepped into it. I think he only lost a yard or two and it was really that one for sure I feel like was on him. All right, Demario Douglas led the Patriots with uh 100 a career-high 100 receiving yards on four catches yesterday. Of course, had a big 58 y. The Pats have had six different receivers lead the team in receiving this year this season. In fact, the Patriots are the only team in the NFL to have that many pass catchers lead them in receiving through the first nine games of the season. But Tom, let’s talk specifically about Pop Douglas. He said that, you know, he he said, I think in essence after the game, you have to trust the process. Um, he has at beginning of the year we were talking about, is he not going to be a big part of this offense? Why has he been so good? And can he be a mainstay? or is this an offense where one week it’s going to be Pop, the next week it’s going to be Steph Diggs, the next week it’s going to be Hunter Henry, and so on and so why why things have changed, I think, is, you know, you look at the stuff that you have, the the pieces of tools you have to make whatever it is you’re trying to make, and then you try and use them to the best extent. You could have used him in a slot all year and bang it to him 110 times like I said they were going to, but they found a different way to do it. But they still found a use for that piece which is as a downfield um piece who can run long developing crossers because he can run away from people. So those are the two main reasons I don’t he can continue in that role field. Yeah, I think so too. I think they might need him to if Quaan Booty ends up missing time he’s been their primary deep threat. I think just for him as an individual why he’s been able to sort of grow from week one to now is a change in mindset. He was very open talking to me just a couple of weeks ago about how, you know, maybe his first couple years in the league, it was about what am I getting, what am I getting, what do my numbers look like. And now this year with Mike Vrabel, who he credits um I think a lot for this change in mindset, he has really grown into the type of player who takes pride in things like his blocking. And so if he’s not getting the ball, he’s had a couple of big blocks this year that have sprung teammates for touchdowns. And that buys him more time on the field and then eventually you can have a game like this one. So I I think he’s really matured in 2025 here. I think Vrabel has absolutely put a turbocharge into guys being selfless. He has stressed that as being the number one attribute. Put the team first, protect the team, um, find a way to fit in. And I think that his bedside manner has been so authentically true that whether it’s Raandre Stevenson or Andy Boragales or Steph Diggs or we could go on. Yeah. Deario Douglas being yet another example of someone who, you know, okay, it’s not exactly what I thought it was going to be, but I trust them. And they’re going to they they have my best interest at

Phil Perry and Tom E. Curran join Trenni Casey on Arbella Early Edition to discuss the New England Patriots’ 24-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9 to improve to 7-2 on the season. The guys break down what the game means as New England continues its push to an improbable high playoff seeding in the AFC and share what stills concerns them about the team long-term as the trade deadline looms on Tuesday afternoon.

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