Patriots Postgame Show 11/23: Immediate Reaction to Patriots-Bengals Game
podcast at patriots.com 15 back in the end zone. It’s Marcus Jones. Another pick six. Live from our studio inside Gillette Stadium. This is the Patriots postgame show presented by DraftKings. 2620 the final score in Cincinnati. The Patriots taking another win in this one. Welcome in to the Patriots postgame show presented by DraftKings. Paul Pavillo is here. Mike Ducel is here. I don’t have my mic by my mouth. And now we’re rolling. I’m the only one ready. Yeah, he was the only one prepared. As you can, you probably felt the same way. We were literally at the edge of our seat, stressed out the entire time. But again, the Patriots come out with a W in this one. Yeah. First reactions. Uh sloppy game. Felt like they escaped. Feels like this is a team that’s uh been playing for whatever it is 12 straight weeks now. Uh not a great start. You know, got stopped in the red zone a couple of times, a bunch of injuries. I mean, that’s probably what’s going to be the biggest takeaway from this game is is the number of injuries that they had starting with with Will Campbell uh and Jared Wilson on the left side of the line. But, you know, give them credit. They they they stayed hung in there and they fought and they and they sealed up the win. But, you know, there’s definitely a lot of uh lot of issues to point out with this game, but I think they pulled out enough plays to get the win and that’s, you know, what counts right now. Yeah, just check it off, survive, and advance. Uh nothing great about this one. I mean, this is probably the worst offensive game they’ve had in a while. Um, but defensively I thought they did some nice things in this game. So, it wasn’t all bad. Um, and like Mike said, you just find a way to check it off. Kind of looked like a tired team today. Did not play well, but they got the win. Yeah, maybe a little bit uh rusty, too, from the extended week off or something. But, you know, whatever way it was, it’s just, you know, didn’t come out great and certainly the Drake May looked a little bit off, but, you know, again, I give him a little bit of credit. I thought after that really sloppy start where we’re kind of sitting here evaluating how he’s holding the ball. Uh he did find a little bit of a stride. It wasn’t a straight line perfect to the end. Um but again did enough and I I always am appreciative when he’s able to overcome some of the bad starts because a lot of quarterbacks they start to spiral, they get sped up and you know you’ve got a game long of bad performance. But you know not Drake’s best game for sure but they got the win. Exactly. And I and that’s what we will talk about. So let’s get into the good, the bad, and the injured. Now it’s time for the good. Pretty good. Pretty pretty good. The bad. Hey, what happened? And the injured. You are a gay. All right, Patriots fans. 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Um you know, kind of a quiet day for Stefon Diggs except for maybe down the end, but otherwise it was Hunter Henry was the the strawster in the drink and as Paul Paul pointed out, we heard from Mike Petraia in in the opening saying, you know, Hunter Henry, big game for him today. Uh and he sure did. A lot of those throws felt like, you know, we may had a little bit of time uh that it was, you know, kind of pitch and catch with Hunter Henry as you’re seeing the touchdown here for those watching uh the video of it. So, great great play from Connor Henry. This is what we’ve kind of gotten used to with him being being May’s favorite receiving target and you know, critical guy today. Yeah, he was my first guy on the list. Um stood out by far from the rest today. And what I thought was particularly important um Mike mentioned sort of the the erratic start for May. I thought this one went on a little longer than they normally do. Um, and there was a a throw that he made to to uh Henry that I thought was uh really big. Just a little uh one of those where Henry just presents himself just beyond the sticks on a third down. I think it was third and four. He got about six. Um and then he kems wide open on the touchdown. um where May um May probably made his really I think his one of the very few plus plays for Drake May today was that skipp and rip as uh as Ted Johnson calls it on we keep it where you know um you know he just I I think that Hunter Henry got Drake May going and so it wasn’t just the seven for 115 and a touchdown. It was when he got the first couple that I thought he got Drake May to settle down. So uh hats off to to Hunter Henry today. I thought he was instrumental in turning things around in the first half. Um on your list my first guy after that that was like I said I was with Mike um Carlton Davis I thought was really really good in this game. Um, I thought he had a number of um, instances where he was very tight and I know that the, you know, there might be some mocking T because, you know, let’s, let’s face it, the, you know, the what they who they were asked to cover wasn’t necessarily uh, you know, what you would think going into a a game against Cincinnati. But, you know, I thought he, you know, he does a good job right here on on U Jones on a deep ball. I thought he had a couple of other instances where he was able to dive and knock down some uh some out patterns uh that that Joe Flacco likes to throw. I thought he was really tight at the end of the game. Made some difficult windows for Flacco and um there was a play early in the game where I I was it Yoshi Vas who had the the end round that looked like it could spring for a decent gain or it might have been a a sprint out to Chase Brown. Um he was like the only guy there and good short tackle in the in the open field. I thought this was Carlton Davis’s best game. Yeah, showed up a little bit for sure today. I was thinking, you know, same thing. Um, but overall, you know, I I trying to think how to phrase this because initially I I I didn’t really have the defense on there. I mean, I thought the pick six uh in the first quarter uh in the first half there was was obviously a great play. Terrible throw by Joe Flacco. Was it really saying like but I I had down second half defense where you came out, you forced three straight punts. Um really it should have given the Patriots offense all they needed to pull away and seal this game out. Uh but they couldn’t and then they came through. He gave up a touchdown. That drive was really quick. Um you do get the final stop there. Uh maybe a little bit more interesting um than it should have been. So I I don’t know. This is like one of those ones where I write it down after three straight punts and then I’m kind of like that was a bad touchdown. I thought the defense was real because I think Cincinnati has a pretty good offense. I thought the defense was really good really pretty much throughout the game. I I don’t know how much to credit the Pages defense just because of all the guys that were hurt. I mean, even T. Higgins ends up going out. Yoshibas goes out, he comes back in. Gaseki goes out, he comes back in. I mean, I get it, but you can only cover who you who you’re going against. Um, but the Bengals only had 300 yards of offense. I thought the the defense was pretty good today. Yeah. Um, Carlton Davis to me, I mean, something they were doing in the secondary was pretty good because Flaco couldn’t really find any opening. He only threw for 183 yards. Um, you know, so I mean, let’s call it 200 yards cuz Flaco had to leave the game. Um, at one point I I thought the defense was pretty good. I would, this is not necessarily the the highowered Bengals offense that you, you know, were buil as cuz none of those guys played by the end of the game. None of those guys were alive. I mean, I I mean, no, I think Burrow’s just gonna walk right out and be like, you know what? I’m good. I’m good. And you know what the funny thing is? It had really nothing to do with like the pass r like like it’s everybody talks about the offensive line. It was just guys getting hurt like just every few minutes banging their heads on the turf and and whatnot. But you know Davis I thought I thought he was really really good in this game. So I I that’s why I singled him out. Yeah. I had Hunter Henry as well. Carton Davis at the top. But I went straight to Bora Gallas in third because he scored the most points for this team. 14 total. Obviously that 52 yard field goal four for four with his kicks today. And you know every week we talk about the kick game but this was one game where you needed him to be accurate and he was able to pull through. I had Boralis on my list. You know he was perfect today in a day where points were hard to come by. You wouldn’t have expected them to be hard to come by but they were and you know he he came up big. Yeah. Look at that 52 yard right there. Yeah. Last one uh the last one I had of of the people we discussed was just Marcus Jones. Um you know I I like the pick six again. I mean, I think it was a terrible throw by Flat. I mean, I, you know, I could see it coming, but also getting, you know, the final pass defense there. Um, and and also, uh, you know, I just think he was generally pretty active and, you know, I just, I don’t know. I struggled with the goods in this one because it was it was not uh not a lot of consistent performances. There were some flashes, but Exactly. Like when Landry got the sack when we had talked about him in pregame, I was hoping that we’d see more from him, but every a lot of people that were on the that could have been on the good list were just like sparks of Yeah. I had Austin Cooper also. Hooper. I thought, you know, again, going back to tracks, got to give him a shout out cuz he he nailed it. Tight ends have been a problem for the Bengals. I thought Henry and Hooper early on um kind of got Drake May going a little bit. Unfortunately, May wasn’t really able to sustain that little groove that he got in sort of late in the second quarter, I think. Um but, you know, three for 39, good return from him. Um you know, after missing the last game with a concussion. So I I I hit, you know, not quite like Henry in the impact that Henry had, but I thought the two tight ends were good. Well, also the irony for the Bengals in the end of the game, losing all the receivers, they have to have three tight ends and still can’t figure out how to score. So just very bad football overall. Yeah, a lot of I mean, just a lot of sloppiness overall. And I mean, there’s really just, you know, they won the game, but I feel like there’s a lot more to dig into with the bats. So, which is where we’ll go to next. I don’t know if you guys want I I’ll just start off from the top. the, you know, offensive start just felt like they were off, you know, and that was disappointing to see to only really score one offensive touchdown against which people were telling us might be one of the worst defenses in NFL history. Um, you know, May didn’t look right. Uh, lucky that that other one that he totally sky didn’t get picked off, you know, just not a great start for him. Um, you know, and again, he did pull it together enough to make some plays, but it just it never felt like you really got into that like May and Fuego part of the of the show where it’s like, oh, he’s dealing now. I mean, there were certainly moments where he had time and you felt like, oh, here we go. But it just wasn’t consistent enough today. And uh, you know, and it and he didn’t really have anything else to to help him with with the running game either. Yeah, I I agree with you about May and even, you know, kind of this is the first time since last year that it was kind of beginning to end. Like the last throw he makes is really ill advised. Um, you know, you got a three-point lead. You you you’re in field goal range. It’s third down. You’re off your back foot facing a blitz right down your face. You just let one fly off your back foot. You don’t know that that’s not getting picked. There were two Bengals there. They one of them I think 35 broke on the ball, had a chance to make a play. That’s kind of the only way you’re going to really lose. Um is if is if you do it, you know, in other words, you throw a pick there or you miss that field goal there and then you make a couple of bad plays. Um the Bengals were hardressed to move the ball with without all the personnel they had that that they had missing today. Um so yeah, I I thought May May struggled early in this game. Um I I missed it. I thought this was going to be sort of a coming out party for him. And you know, you look at the numbers at the end, they don’t look horrible. 22 for 35 for 294. Career high. Uh 294. I just don’t think it Can you think of like a throw that he made today that you said, “Wow, what a throw.” I mean, he had a number of throws to tight ends that were wide open. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I really can’t think of, you know, one of those tight window throws or one. There was one dropping one in the bucket down the sideline up the left seam. It might have been Hunter Henry. There were like four or five guys around. It was in the first half, but I I know what you’re trying to say. Yeah, I didn’t see too many. Um, and you know, I I give Josh McDaniel some credit for making sure that that didn’t have to happen. You know, they they saw what the the problems were with the uh the Bengals defense, the ones that that Trags told us about pregame, and they they exploited them. I thought the tight ends were were open, and you know, they had they targeted them 14 times for 10 catches. Um, you know, what 154 yards. You know, that’s taking what they give you, as they say. So, a smart game, I thought, by Josh McDaniels and the Patriots offense. Let’s make sure we don’t make any more mistakes that keep Cincinnati in the game. Like that. Overall, my frustration was Yeah, that was a good one. Oh, yeah. Yeah, right. There we go. They found one for us. That was That was a pretty good one. I mean, I don’t know. He looks pretty open to me, but that’s a good throw. This is a good Yeah, he’s less less open than I thought the first time. 49 kind of ran by him. That’s a good throw, but that was those were few and far between. Um, you know, this is just pitching catch. Yeah. Um, he was, like I said, 22 for 35, 294. It’s not like it was a train wreck, right? Um, just maybe not as good as he’s been, which shows you how good he’s been. Yeah, for sure. And somehow the Chiefs survive in overtime. Um, Colts are going to kill themselves, but it’s a good outcome for the Patriots. More good news for New England because that’s one less team with two losses in the conference. Exactly. Along the lines do of your offense. I was just mostly frustrated with the red zone offense, especially them goal line stand from Cincinnati at one point. It drive after drive cannot get into the end zone. I don’t understand what was going on on that drive specifically, but just yeah, I mean very frustrated or field goals they were stop and not all these are technically red zone. I I agree with your point though. I mean you were stopped on the 23 for a field goal, you were stopped on the one for downs, you were stopped on the 27 for a field goal, the one for a field goal, and the 33 for a field goal. So you’re right though and that’s just again they lost not only were they down Cam Taylor Brit they brought in old friend Marco Wilson who was here all summer and then he goes down fifth and sixth corners make play you know someone explain that one to me how they’re on their like seventh corner and you know and we’re you know still unable in the red zone to to dial it up against this defense that I mean to me that was the most frustrating part of the whole game that was where the the game was essentially you know made close because they were stopped twice on the one yard line. um just not something you expect from this from this team. They’ve been pretty good inside the red zone. Uh not great, but you’d think against this defense with what they have, they had everybody back. They got Raandre back. I thought we’ve got some power on the goal line. Um and then since just to piggyback off that, they couldn’t run the ball. I mean, they couldn’t run the ball at all today. You know, there was there was just nothing going on on the ground. It was technically 0 for two in the red zone for the Patriots. But but it all comes down, let’s call it like it was the way we were talking about it while we were watching. Like that was just a unbelievably poor execution um on that drive. When they get down there, they get the penalties. They still can’t get it in. They have to take two timeouts on that drive because they they took all three timeouts in the second half because they had to avoid delay of game penalties, you know? So like across the board, this was just a little bit of a sloppy performance. This is why like I don’t know you might remember this Mike because you remember the the odd nonsensical things that I do during the course of the week. We’re friends. I sort of get I sort of get annoyed every week when everybody’s like well the Patriots didn’t play their best but there you know. I’m like no today when you don’t play well you know it that that was you don’t tell me there was a difference between that game and Thursday night last Thursday night. Mhm. Do you know what I mean? Like I I think every time the Patriots don’t win by 50 points, everybody wants to say, “Well, they won the game, but they didn’t play really well.” Like, suddenly they’ve morphed into the 2007 version of the Patriots. Today was a day they didn’t play well and they found a way to win. This was sloppiness. Like self-inflicted wounds all over the place. Like I said, three timeouts. You had to burn three separate timeouts because you didn’t have your personnel ready to to avoid a delay a game penalty. So, I give them a lot of credit for finding a way to win the game because it’s not easy to to win when you don’t play well, even when the other team doesn’t play well either, because Cincinnati played wretchedly bad in this game. Uh, and by the way, if I was a Cincinnati fan, I would want Zack Taylor’s job right now. Right now, I mean, I don’t know how many fourth and ones you’re going to punt on when you when you have the worst defense in football. He’s leaning on his defense like he’s got the 20,000 Ravens, you know? Let’s let’s back him up. Let’s back him up. We’ll make a stop. You’re not making a stop. You made them punt a couple of times. You had a pick in this game. How many times did you think you were going to stop them? Yeah. Yeah. Like that’s a wretchedly bad defense. How many times did you think you were going to stop them? Yeah. And like they’re down four points. No, three points. What? Whatever it was. They were down I think they were down four uh late in the game in the fourth quarter. And it’s fourth and less than one. A third and less than one. He throws it which tells me you’re taking a shot to try to make some some yards, but you’re going to go for it on fourth down. Nope. He comes out and he’s trying to draw him offside. He ends up intentionally taking a delay a game. I’ I’d fire him now. Like that was that was just really really uh I thought chicken bleep coaching like afraid afraid like Vel wouldn’t have done that. Vable would have gone for those. And another thing that I’ll give Rabel credit for I probably should have brought it up on the the good list. I love when the analytic guys don’t just go by analytics, they go by the game. game situation was important today and he he showed you that, you know, end of the first half, 30 seconds left, fourth and two, that’s that’s a time that he’s been going for it left and right all year. Now, we’re going to kick the field goal and take the points here. We’re a little sporadic offensively today. Yeah. Uh you know, late in the game, we’re not going to push it. We’re going to take the field goal, make it a six-point game. I thought he a couple of times he had opportunities to go for fourth downs today and he said, “No, we’re going to take the points.” So, it’s not all or nothing. And I think that’s the difference between Vrabel and a lot of these other guys. A lot of these other guys are I’m not saying Vable is the only one that does it. Don’t It’s not like I’m not trying to be the obnoxious Patriots guy. But Vable showed me that he’s willing to take the game situation into account and a lot of these guys just do what they do because it says it on my chart. This is what I’m supposed to do. Um so I think that was a big difference in this game today. You win the game by six points because you were willing to take some points at times. You know, I think Mike Rael was a big part of this game. Yeah, big part in a positive way. Yeah. Uh, we we still got they got Yeah, I had the the late clock stuff. Um, yeah, I mean, short yardage. Short yardage off. I mean, everything that, you know, my clock late in the half, I didn’t like them sort of running the ball in that first down. They looked like they were trying to milk the clock instead of trying to score a touchdown. Um but um the run defense today, like something totally separate from the the execution of the offense. Um it’s the first game without Milton Williams. Now, I’m going to hesitate to say this was Milton Williams related because I think there’s been signs of this. The last two weeks, this was coming. And today, the difference was they gave one guy the carries. So instead of 50 yards, it was 100 yards. But they had a hard time with Chase Brown today. They did up front. They did. Yeah. Just I mean, I’m not sure how to phrase this exactly. Um but the drive right before halftime, yeah, three plays, 37 yards, you give up a field goal. Uh and then the drive, their last touchdown drive, four plays, 44 yards. I mean, it’s just you can’t you can’t do that in clutch time. I mean, they’ve been really good most of this season, uh you know, and here we’re seeing the kickoff return. I mean, lucky lucky that, you know, that they weren’t already starting about their field goal drive that you’re talking about, Mike, was really two plays 37 play. That can’t happen. No, can’t happen. They’ve been really good around the half. Uh, you know, last week it was it was not so great. They missed the field goal. Um, you know, against the Jets. Just bad execution. And those those are the kind of drives that scare the hell out of me. You know, especially coming down the end when you know that they, you know, this isn’t the most high power passing attack, especially down the end. They couldn’t really push the ball down the field all that much and then all of a sudden, you know, it just takes a couple plays and all they’re in field goal range. So, you know, just some some situational football where the defense was was not as tight. And you know, again, I just I go back to, you know, is this a tired team? Is this a, you know, a team that is a little rusty because they had a week off and, you know, or is this, you know, a sign that this is teams start to become who they are around this time of year? And I mean, I, you know, I don’t I Paul mentioned the ‘ 07 Patriots, but I just, you know, not not completely apples to apples, but I remember in December that was a different team. That was a team that was kind of holding on by the skin of their teeth, grinding wins out. And if you really looked, you said, you know what, this isn’t the high-flying team that it was earlier in this in the season. And, you know, this Patriots team’s a young team. They have a lot to figure out. And and it’s hard for a young team like that to establish consistency. Um, but I just hope that they’re able to get right over this next Monday Night Football and the by-week, which is kind of a weird schedule now. They have a little bit of an extended week now and then they’ll have a full week off. Uh, so can they get a little bit more healthy? Can they get a little bit more sharp? Can they get back to the way they were playing? Because I feel like the last few weeks it’s been good enough to get wins. But if you’re really paying attention and you really want this team to make some noise in the playoffs, I think that there’s some things that you can poke. And it’s funny because when we talked about the good list, we had a hard time coming up with a lot of different things. And I’m the same with the bad list like with specific things. I mean, I had like early in the game, you know, Chason goes offside on, you know, on on a fourth, you know, on a fourth and five. um you know, not an easy conversion. Make them get it. They they draw you offside. That can’t happen. Now, they ended up getting the stop because they ended up getting uh I think a drop pass and they got off the field anyway. Then they got the a sack. Um but these are the kinds of things that and I know people are going to laugh like but these are the kinds of things that get you beat. You’re playing against the worst teams in the league. And I know everybody hates to hear that, but you are playing a steady stream of the worst teams in the league. And it’s good enough to win by six points against one of the worst teams in the league. But it ain’t good enough to beat good teams. And you know, hopefully they can clean these things up and we won’t have to find that out if this kind of a performance is good enough to beat a good team. Um, but my guess is we all know the answer to that. Like you can’t jump offside on fourth and five. Yeah. No, it’s it’s stupid. I mean, there’s no other way. And we have Caleb Mason. We going to play or anything? Oh, I know. I I I’m holding my breath as we’re on the bat. Maybe we won’t get one today. I don’t know. Maybe they’ll We will Maybe they’ll be uh All right, we’ll talk to Hunter. Maybe they’ll be they’ll be pouting because they didn’t play as well. Oh, yeah. Um yeah, it was it was an interesting game. I mean, like I said, when you don’t play really well and you find a way to win the game, there’s something to be said for that. And I don’t want to dismiss it. I think Mike Vrabel, you know, for the most part made really good decisions um at critical times today. Uh and they were Mike critical critical um stress to the win. How we did uh gez I don’t even I mean probably the worst part of the whole thing is having to talk about these injuries injury list we’ve talked the most significant injury list that we’ve had. So Jared Wilson, your rookie starting left guard, was carted off. Looked like ankle the first drive. Morgos is a little sick. He came out, but he returned. I think he played the rest of the game. He didn’t miss much. Brennan Schooler out, ankle injury. Uh Kyus Tonga, I don’t believe we saw him return. No, but that was a chest injury. And then the worst one was uh was Will Campbell. Kind of saw it as it was happening. Um you know, the camera cut away, but that one looked bad to me. I thought they were doing the ACL test on the field. He’s carded off. He’s got the cover and it came up for a second and it looked like he may have been show we don’t want to see it again. I know you’re doing your job though. You know the I think that you know I mean clearly there’s something you know accumulated here. Yeah, you could see the reaction around him. Um you know maybe maybe this is a sprained MCL or something like that. Watch the power. No, but it might have him on the shelf for you know a month or so but maybe not season ending. I I fear the worst because that’s what I do. Yeah know me too. Um, I’ve seen enough of these that I kind of feel like I know the that’s in the Wes Welker one that comes to mind in 09. And I do think that’s a significant one because, you know, I I like you can make an argument. I know some of our listeners have Jared Wilson, Ben Brown. I’m not sure there’s an enormous difference there. I do think there’s a difference between anybody else you have at tackle um, you know, and Campbell, but we’ll see. I thought Vidderian Low did a fine job, by the way, when he went in. Yeah, he did. I mean, it’s going to thinking the worst. I mean, that’s going to test this team for sure. This is, you know, that’s how the season suddenly can go sideways and be a completely different season uh in one game. And, you know, I think this is a good coaching staff. And I I mean, part of me, I can’t lie, is interested to see how this O line coaching staff that has been revamped. You know, what they’re able to do if they have to, you know, go some time with a new left side of the line. But I agree with Paul about Ben Brown. I’ve always kind of liked him. I just think he’s a goodiz player and, you know, got some good experience last year. But, you know, just it’s not even just losing Will Campbell at left tackle. It’s just it’s a little bit of an emotional blow cuz that kid was really, you know, a rookie. The kids were rallying around and then him and Drake’s relationship, one of Drake’s best friends. And, you know, so it’s just look, it’s, you know, no one’s going to feel sorry. This is every team in the league deals with this. You just hate when this game suddenly arrives. And, you know, in 2008, it was game number one about a minute, you know, five minutes in and you’re like, what’s going to be a different like with the three of us were sitting here like the Bengals? Bengals had oh the Bengals had to lose at least a half dozen plays just as long and and and there like it was it was comical at the beginning of the game it was play injury play out Patriot down Bengal down Bengal down Patriot down it’s and I do think part of it is what Mike’s talking about like you now it’s week 12 you know for the Patriots they haven’t had a by-week yet that you know it’s starting to you know it’s starting to pile up the the wear and tear is starting to pile up I always used to say like you know it’s it stinks when you go into the season bang hanged up because you don’t get healthier as as an NFL season progresses. So hopefully these these don’t all turn out to be significant. Um but you’re starting to see what the rest of the league is going through because this is what everybody else is dealing with every week. And I’d say I mean I don’t you know I we’ll see with schooler too but I don’t think that that’s insignificant as you know leader on special teams a guy who can haul ass and get downfield and he had an you know so that’s that’s that ain’t great either. That ain’t great either. And Tonga, I mean, you know, they already lost Milt Williams. We talked a lot about Tonga being a guy to step up. Well, you know, to get back-to-back losses of two of your top three rotational defensive tackles in two weeks, that ain’t easy either. So, you know, look, let’s cross our fingers and hope that you get, look, Monday’s a long week, maybe, but even then, three weeks maybe before you can get some of these guys back. Hopefully, that that that time gives them enough time to to get healthy. And these aren’t all critical season ending injuries. Yeah. And that’s on a day where you allow, you know, your first 100redyard rusher of the year, 19 for 107. I mean, maybe that’s the better thing to point out with Tonga is, you know, Tonga and Williams, you know, that, you know, significant significant getting Eric Gregory in there, you know, young kid. I mean, it’s just, you know, it’s not easy not easy to manage this many injuries, but yeah, especially because earlier in the pregame, we talked about letting the depth get reps, but unfortunately it was because Yeah. But because we needed to make a stop. Yeah. And everything else you said ended up being right. Hey Jeep Brownie got in. I was like, “No, but you were right about I mean Flaco clearly was not help. I mean, you were right. Um I did not need to see his finger either.” Um and yeah, it had nothing to do with the the finger. It was more the shoulder like he wasn’t throwing the ball at all um early in the game. And you guys were right. I mean, it’s funny like all the numbers that we pick are really good. Like you know, we’re looking for a 37 and a half yard completion for Drake May. He has one for 37. Joe Flacco’s attempts were 38 and a half. attempts 37. Oh, and by the way, Jake Browning comes in for one. Yep. So that’s 38. You know, so the numbers are right there. Um but but you guys were right. I thought I mean if you had told me 1913 this game was going to be, you know, take away the two pick sixes, uh I would have said there’s no way. No way. But that’s what we saw. Two pick sixes, 25 injuries, and no red zone offense. Yeah, pretty much. Exactly. Sum up. All right. Well, while we wait for a turnary, let’s see what Christian Allet has to say. Christian, hey you guys. How’s it going? So, a a win is a win as they say, but you know, some wins don’t feel like uh like victories. They feel like you got a W in the column. I was when I called Thursday, I said I was pretty worried about our interior um run defense and who would step up. And I got my answer and I’m not happy about that. I said I was worried about the ability to get an interior pass rush also. And again, I I’m not happy about that. We made Joe Flacko look serviceable instead of old and and and and immobile. And now with the the injuries to the offensive line, this team is at a crossroads in my opinion. And the way we go into next week against the Giants is going to be a very interesting game. And then how we come out of that buy is going to determine if this team is going to make some noise in the playoffs or if we as fans are going to settle with a better thanex expected season. Uh how do you guys feel about the rest of the season, our ability to hold on to that number one seed with uh that change with the the the uh Colts and the um Chiefs today. And I’ll take it off the air. Thanks, Christian. I mean, I mean, looking ahead to I think that’s I mean, I I I like to tease Christian a lot. I think that’s one of Christian’s better calls right there because I do think looking today in the micro is not necessarily relevant. It’s the macro. Like, do these two injuries on the left side of your offensive line, are they first a are they both significant, which we kind of think they are? Um, and do they have an impact? You see, I’m just looking at Twitter a little bit, Drake May talking about, you know, guys that obviously mean a lot to him. Yep. Um so mentally and you made that comment Mike early does that affect them mentally um missing those guys potentially and which direction does the team go? Um I think that Giants game is shaping up in my view to be a very difficult game. The Giants have played everybody pretty much toughly. Um they had another uh just bittered loss today and they’ve been able to step up against the better teams in the league. They went to Denver and had the game in hand in the fourth quarter. today. They go to Detroit and they had the game in hand in the fourth quarter, end up losing in overtime. Um, so I don’t think that’s going to be an easy game uh come Monday night and then they’ll have a buy and then you find out maybe a little bit more when you get Buffalo Baltimore back. I think Christian’s on that and I think it could go either way. Is it going to be a season that you’re happy just because you’ve turned it around and you’ve become good or is it could be a special season that you can do some damage in the playoffs? I think the the story is still to be written. That’s that’s what I was feeling too is are you going to hold up the team that you know has gotten to this point, won nine straight games, but then injuries happened and we weren’t that team and we didn’t and we fizzled out at the end and you know but next year we’re going to get back to that team that we were you know and that’s I don’t really want to be there. I think if you if you took a poll of most Patriots fans heading into the season and you know idiots like us what was the biggest fear that we had? What was the biggest concern heading into the year? Depth. Yeah, everybody across the board said depth and we haven’t really had to see it for 12 weeks. I think I think we’re going to have to see it in week 13. Offensive defensive line, too. I mean, these are positions every down impacted by these guys. You can make an argument that the defensive line has been the strength of the team. Um, beyond, you know, the obvious of Drake May. Um but you just wonder you just wonder if these stuck cuz you they can’t run the ball and it’s not going to get better when you’re losing your linemen. Yeah. No, they I mean really it’s becoming a seasonl long thing. Couple long runs the last few weeks offset some of that. You know, you can look at like a number, but there were no big plays today. I mean, I thought Henderson was actually better today than he was last week. I know everybody will be fixated because he didn’t have three touchdowns this week, but I thought he actually ran hard. Um you know, the numbers aren’t any different. He was 3.7 today. He was 3.3 last week. Um, again, the touchdowns are all anybody’s going to say, “Wow, he was disappointing today.” Even Trent Trent Green made the comment like he didn’t he’s been hot and they were he was bottled up today. I was like, “We bottled up last week, too.” Yeah. Um, so I This is when you your your metal’s going to be tested. I think that that to me in my view is beyond reproach. I think they’ve sort of proven themselves mentally being mentally tough. Now, physically, can you continue to make plays with who’s, you know, can Marcus Bryant if he has to play? Very low if he has to play. I have more faith in Ben Brown because he’s played more. Um, but yeah, I mean, that defensive line that you talk about, Mike, all of this is going to start to add up. Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to lose sight of the fact, too, that it’s pretty impressive to come to a point now where we were the last two years where if the Patriots played a bad game in the last two years, they weren’t winning that game. and and they would be lucky to be in a one or two score game in that game, you know, right? Even against a bad team, this game would have came down to the wire and the other team would have made and it still kind of did. But, you know, but I just I I think that there is, you know, still signs of progress when you look at it from the view of what this team has been and to come into a game on the road, you don’t have your best, you lose some of your better players over the course of it to injury, you know, it’s still a sign, I think, of of a team that’s pretty mentally tough. Um, and they’re just, it’s great that they were able to win the game because if they can continue to win games and get a home playoff game and play here, I think it’ll it’ll make a big difference for them. Uh, you just don’t want to see a team that now at the end injuries, they start to lose it and, you know, they kind of fall apart. But they’ve shown remarkable mental toughness in-game over the course of the season, but you know, as Paul kind of said, they haven’t had a lot of real adversity yet and and having to overcome things that, you know, some teams do. I mean, sometimes injuries happen to teams and overcoming them becomes, you know, the the identity of the team. Now, I don’t know if that’s going to happen for the Patriots, but I mean, I think there’s a very good chance that they’re going to need Varian Low to to finish out this season and and protect that left side for Drake May. And, you know, how does it look this year? I know he was he got a lot of crap the last couple years, but he’s in a better system now. I think I think he has better coaching and he’s had a chance to kind of rest and get healthy. Wasn’t healthy this summer. uh came off of IR, you know, into camp at one point. So, uh you know, there’s part of me that wants to see him go out and do well after the amount of of criticism that he took. And, you know, some of the better support that he has around him now, but big challenge for Drake May, too. Big challenge for young Drake May in his second year to work around this stuff. But, get used to a kid. This is how the NFL goes. I want to go back to what you said about the adversity because they haven’t had it in the sense of strength of schedule as everyone has either complained or bragged or whatever about. But when you think about today’s game, I feel like that was adversity being able to win in a game where one you were supposed to mentally come back physically, you lose players and still find a way to get a W, which is I think maybe the biggest struggles they’ve had all season. Yeah. And I mean it’s but it’s one thing to have like a 10-point deficit in the first quarter versus let’s see what it looks like a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, you know, like that. That’s a real one. You know what I mean? This was like an adversity game period for everybody that played in it. There were no And I’m serious. Even for some people watching it, I guys dropping. They were guys dropping in this game left and right. This was one of those games that both sides sort of probably felt like, geez, everything’s working against us today. Um, but I will say they were down two scores today and they found a way to win. Yeah. First time. First time they’ve done that. There you go. There you go. First Drake main pick six. Bunch of firsts going on. Good. Some good, some bad, some indifferent. Exactly. All right, let’s head to Orlando and see what Chris has to say. Chris, how are you feeling? Doing all right. Gez, just scraped out of there. Um, touch on a couple things. I think Drake looked as bad as he ever did look early. I don’t think we’re talented enough to consistently overcome slow starts. Think that’s going to build up. Paul brought up this being uh Milton Williams related. I was thinking that the entire game. This team is going to need to get healthy down the stretch. I think these games for us mean everything. I think we need the number one seed. I think we need that buy. That homefield advantage will be ginormous uh to make a serious run. Although you could also say we’re six and0 on the road. So, I don’t know. Um this team just it gives me too much mixed messages. We end up winning, but we’re not good enough to overcome slow starts. I think that’s that’s what we’re, you know, learning, especially with our injuries, right? Yeah. I mean, they have been so far, but I actually said the opposite about Milton Williams. I’m not sure this was specific to Milton Williams because I think it’s sort of been coming on the last few weeks. I I’ve seen a little bit less stout play up front. Um, now maybe it’s Milton Williams. I don’t know. Maybe it is. I look at him as more of a pass game player than a run game player, but um, yeah, I mean I I I don’t it’s certainly not helping to be missing him and and I think Tonga as well. I think he’s been a he’s been a really good run force player uh for them. This picks away and what this does is it puts guys that are in small roles and it and it increases that role and can that guy um handle that. You know, can a guy who plays really well for 10 snaps play really well for 25? Right. So, we’re actually going to switch. We’re not getting Hunter Henry. We’re getting Carlson Davis who joins us right now. Welcome in and congrats on the win. Hey, how you doing? Good. Hey Carl, I just, you know, big win. you guys were able to hang on there. Uh some big pass defenses from you down the stretch though. Just what was the mindset going into that final drive and trying to close those guys out? Uh man, it was really important for us to to win it on defense. Um and come through for our guys, man. Uh coach talk about it all the time that we got to show our identity in these moments and we just wanted to go out there and show why um you know, we we’re the defense who we are. Uh, and it was honestly just being a dog and understanding that the game is on us and that, you know, it’s it’s make or break time. So, we went out there with that mindset and got the job done. Eight tackles, three passes defense today for you, uh, Carlton, but I want to talk about one play that I’m sure that you weren’t as happy about, and that was the the go route down the sideline to T. Higgins. I see the look I could see the look on your face right now. Just I don’t even have a question. I just want you to talk about it. Talk about it. bro. Um, so you know, T. Higgins is a great player. Uh, and just studying his film, he’s gotten a lot of go balls and, you know, one thing that he does well at the top of the route, uh, is he creates space with his hands. He’s he’s a physical receiver, big receiver with a big catch radius. So, um, I’ve seen guys try to look back for the ball and get lost just with him giving him a nudge. And, you know, I wanted to be stout in coverage and I wanted to, uh, eliminate that, uh, separation. So, I was playing him. I was playing him tough and uh I went in, stabbed in the pock stop, stabbed through the pocket and uh I look up, I’m celebrating, I just see like two flags and I’m so confused. Um you know, sorry that he got hurt on the play. Uh but, you know, for me, man, I’m just competing at the highest level, man. just, you know, trying to get the job done for my team. And for them to throw that flag and put them in position to get a touchdown, that it really just messed me up and it it kind of made me uh it definitely made you mad going into that next possession. Yeah, Carlton, obviously a win is a win, but this one was a physical and mental fight. So, what’s the feeling in the locker room right now after that one? I mean, you know, it’s week 12, so guys are tired. We haven’t had a bye yet. Um, and we, you know, we really fought hard through that to get that win. Um, so we are really happy, really relieved that we get a longer week this week to recover and uh, you know, have Thanksgiving with our family because we play on Monday. But, uh, you know, we’re we’re happy that we were able to show our identity uh, through everything that happened being down 10 zip, uh, not playing the way we wanted to early on, but ultimately getting the win. Yeah. What does it say, Colin? You’ve been around a little bit. What does it say about your team? You guys can maybe not have your best game, but still come away with a win. You’re ninth in a row. You guys are streaking right now. Uh it just shows our resilience. It shows uh you know what we’re made of. It shows our identity and uh you know honestly I’m I’m proud of our guys man because you know a lot of people can say you know whatever they want to say about us being 10 and two but you know we fight hard for every win and we put in the work and it shows up on Sundays. It does and have a congratulations. Have a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for your time. Thanks Colin. Thank you. Safe travels Colton. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah, I could just, you know, I see the look on his face like, you know, I could see the look on his face and and and just to let everybody know we I don’t think we ever actually got it was the pass interference call. Um, and I thought it was a tough call. I mean, to be completely honest, I thought it was the right call. I thought he got there early and I thought he had I thought he restricted Higgins’s ability to make the catch. Um, but I don’t think it was bad coverage. And I think that’s probably what really frustrated uh Davis is because that’s a that’s a big ask um on the sideline on a play like this. And you could see him. He’s kind of playing right through, you know, I don’t know. I I I know why the flag came out on this play. Let’s put it that way. Um but again, something happened. How do you respond to it? And he said it made him mad as hell. Didn’t use the word hell. Um, and he came up with a couple of pass breakups on the on the final drive. Um, diving, you know, to deflect the ball. Um, I thought, like I said, that’s why he was he got a a big spot on my my good list. I thought this was the best game he’s had. Thought he was really good in this game. Really physical, really tough. Physical. It’s funny cuz I talked to him on Friday in the locker room. We did a little, you know, we were talking to him and I asked him the same thing about T. Higgins. said the same thing to me on Friday and you know it’s just funny when talked to a guy two days ago and then here the game comes down to you know one of those exact plays that we talked about. So no great to see him him coming on and I mean his just veteran leadership there in the secondary. I think they’re going to need to lean into some of those guys as these injuries pile up on defense. Like you said they’re just tired. I get it. I’m tired. Yeah, me too. Everyone’s tired. you just feel like you’re on the you’re on the treadmill right now and it’s and I don’t even know if the buy makes all that much of a difference but uh you know it just be good for these guys to finally get a break I’ll tell you you know and I didn’t even think of it in this way that extra day is going to help them a little bit for the Monday night and then they get the buy maybe they will be able to catch up a little bit because you can see it they’re like they’re taking on taking on water a little bit and I think they need they need the buy yeah they sure do they need the buy and uh you know if you can get there at 11 and you know, you got a lot to accomplish there down the stretch, even if you slip up once once or twice. You know, I know there’s a lot of talk about the the first round buy. I you know, obviously that’s enormous, but um to me, the bigger thing is just make sure you find a way to win the division and you are in control of the division. Now, we didn’t talk about this at all in the pregame show, but Buffalo losing Thursday. Um, the tiebreaker, forget the head-to-head. The tiebreaker that the Patriots are in control of right now is division record. So, don’t lose to the Jets or the Dolphins. Mhm. And you’re almost guaranteed to win the division. Even if you lose to Buffalo and Baltimore, if you beat the Giants, Miami, and um the Jets, you will win the division. And that to me is vital, vital to have that division round uh that you know a wild card game at home or a division round game at home, whatever it uh happens to be. That’s what the focus should be. If you can get the number one seed overall, excellent. That’s gravy. Feels like you’re going to really have to thread the needle though. And that’s maybe maybe you can lose one game and get that maybe to buy. Yeah. Well, I don’t know if you I don’t know if you can I mean you I mean sure, but now you have to hope other teams. I know. I know it’s it’s going to be tough, you know, but but that’s the way you know the way you’re looking at it right now. Um you know, you have a a halfame lead because you and again I don’t when teams haven’t played the same amount of games like don’t tell me about the tiebreakers. Um but the division is different because the division is a division record and that is in firmly right now in the Patriots favor. Yeah, I 100% that should um agree that should be the goal. But what do you make of the fact that they are still a good team on the road looking at the rest of the schedule where they play? Yeah, they are a good team. I mean, and that’s and that does that gives me a little bit of uh, you know, hope and that’s something that will be talked about. I mean, they have, you know, some more road games to go. They got to go to Baltimore and they still got to go to New York. Um, but going into the playoffs, if they do have to travel, this will be what, oh, they went seven and one on the road. you know, that’ll be that’ll be how they how they hype them up and how you know, you convince yourself that that they’re going to have a chance. But, you know, just you’re going to have to play some good teams on the road and that’s that’s probably the biggest difference. You’re going to have to play different caliber teams. I mean, they have I mean, they have in my my opinion, they have they have two very good road wins in Buffalo and Tampa. Um, so it’s not like they don’t think they can do it. To Quan’s point though, they know they can have s they know they don’t have to be home to win cuz they cuz they’ve done it six and0 on the road. They know that they can win on the road. Exactly. All right. Don’t go anywhere. We still have a lot to talk about. We’re taking your phone calls here on the Patriots Postgame Show presented by DraftKings. This Patriots Postgame Show is brought to you by Massachusetts 250 campaign commemorating a history of possibility. Plan your revolutionary weekend at massach250.org. And by Brunt Workware. They make work boots and apparel that are built for the job site. Their gear is comfortable, durable, and named after the real workers in the trades that helped design it. Save $10 on your first order at bruntworkwear.com/pats or with coupon code psoom. [Music] [Applause] [Music] The future with AI will twist and turn. Cisco is the critical infrastructure for the AI era. Clearing your path to wide open possibility. Cisco. It ain’t my dad’s razor, Dad. Hey, watch it. It’s from Gillette Labs. This green bar releases trapped hairs from my face. Game changer. While the flex, this contours to it so the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke for the ultimate Gillette shaving experience. The best America could get is Gillette Labs. 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All right, because it is time now for building the next legacy presented by Autodesk, the official design and make platform for the New England Patriots. Autodesk Construction Cloud is a platform trusted by contractors, owners, and our New England Patriots to design and build the next legacy. And guys, it pains me a little bit to make this the next legacy today. But guess what it is? Offensive line depth. Oh, yeah. That’s a good Ben Brown came in uh earlier, but Darien Low came in a little bit later. I thought they did all right. Uh and unfortunately, I think we’re going to need those guys to continue to play at least all right, maybe better uh to continue this Patriots team win streak, playing well. Uh injuries part of the season every year. Patriots have been really lucky to this point, especially on the off offensive side of the ball. Um talked a lot about depth on the offensive line. Team retained Vidarian Low. Um still got Morgan Moses on the right side, but I think this is something if the Patriots are going to continue to build on this season, they’re going to need those two guys particularly probably to step up for at least a few weeks, maybe longer. So Vidian Low, Ben Brown, you are the big parts of continuing to build the next legacy here this week. So, sorry folks, not what I wanted to be delivering, but that’s the NFL and you at some point you’re going to have to rely on your depth and it looks like the Patriots are going to have to do it on the left side of their line. Build a depth to build the legacy. All right, don’t go anywhere. Your calls are still waiting. So, we’ll get to those right after the break. This Patriots postgame show is brought to you by Pepsi. Game day is here, so stock up now. Grab a refreshing Pepsi Zero Sugar 12-pack now because tailgating deserves better. And by Tostitos. Football fans know traditions matter. 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Cisco is the critical infrastructure for the AI era. Clearing your path to wide open possibility. Cisco. It ain’t my dad’s razor, Dad. Hey, watch it. It’s from Gillette Labs. This green bar releases trapped hairs from my face. Game changer. While the flex this contours to it so the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke for the ultimate Gillette shaving experience. The best the man can get is Gillette Labs. Let there be ideas too big to stay ideas and the software to make them soar. Let there be anything. Autodesk. [Music] Boom basoom. [Applause] [Music] The future with AI will twist and turn. Cisco is the critical infrastructure for the AI era. Clearing your path to wide open possibility. Cisco, it ain’t my We want to hear from you. So, call the hotline at 855 pats 500 or email the show at podcastpatriots.com. Now, back to the Patriots Postgame Show presented by DraftKings. Back into the Patriots postgame show presented by DraftKings after a win in Cincinnati. Full house finally at this point in the show. Matt Smith, Paul Pillo, Mike Dusso. I’m Quani Lunis. Thanks for sticking with us. And Matt, you usually come bearing sound. So, what’s the feel right now? Well, I want to get the feel from you guys first. What’s the feel in this room? It’s It’s highs and lows. We’re happy they won, but not in the fashion that they won. Yeah. In devastating injuries, probably. I mean, that’s it’s hard it’s hard not to think about the injuries. Is that what you’re predicting? But yeah, it seemed like it seemed like it. Yeah. A lot of guy a lot of guys left this game, right? Yeah. But, you know, you had to be double digits in terms of the two teams today. Yeah. Had to be a half dozen each side. Added a good hour to the game. Seriously, brutal. It’s I mean, like I I hate that the cliche. It’s just like it’s a brutal game. And you This is one of those games. It’s like today was brutal. It was brutal. Yep. Guys were going down every other play. About 10 injuries from my notes. Right. 10 and two. Right. So, and I would say this as we start maybe with some sound. Um, we’re going to hear from the head coach first who didn’t want to comment on the injuries. Did not have any updates as far as the injuries are concerned, but started out talking about the field goal operation in Andy Borgalis. Huge th those are those are great and uh appreciate what he’s done and I think he’s, you know, a lot of confidence there. And then the operation, you know, we had, I don’t know, I went through four or five different combinations on a field goal. I mean, you lose linemen and now you got Farms and, you know, Duran and Morgan’s the win. You know what I mean? It’s just like a lot of moving parts. So, give those guys credit um for for being able to jump in there and and help us. Didn’t score and they you know, again, you got to you got to score with your man, whatever you call. you know, it’ll be a good learning opportunity for us uh in a lot of phases and and just how important and how critical the week of practices and being ready to go. Um because you never know when your opportunity is going to come and making sure that everybody’s on the same page and you a lot of moving parts today. you know, give them credit. And uh, you know, I think he, you know, he came up big with some with some good throws and, uh, you know, I’m sure there’s a couple that he’d like to have back. On Friday, you had talked about the speed in which the team recovers from a good play or a bad play. We need some work at that. Everybody, me included, starting with me. I mean, that’s just, you know, I’m proud to, you know, keep coaching these guys and and we’ll respond, but I think, you know, we can focus on that, you know, just the speed in which we recover and and just the um these are long games, long games and, you know, they’re decided by a few plays. So, uh in the end, we made a couple more than they did. That’s it. That’s it. Yeah. Uh, a couple interesting nuggets I thought there. One that probably most people I put myself at the top of the list. Don’t uh factor in, but when everybody’s going down in droves, you got to mix and match on the field goal operation unit. And I thought that that was pretty interesting uh to point that out. You know, four or five different combinations. You don’t usually think about the special teams. You just think about offense, defense, and then you forget. Well, also, you just think about long snapper, holder, kicker. Well, those guys are there. It should be fine. Right. If they’re wheeling guys in in and out that they proves that. I’m one of those guys. That wouldn’t have thought about that. Right. Right. Same here. Right. I wouldn’t have I understand that Mike has to. I It’s his job. The coach, right? He doesn’t who will like I I think I don’t think Mike is like overstating anything right there, but you know, he’s he’s the coach, but I think we take it for granted. But lineman should block, right? You know, if you have if your kicker’s not there and someone else has to kick, now that’s different. Yeah. Yeah. I felt uh could kind of feel the weight of the game on Vrabel there a little bit and just you know question probably part of the injuries probably part of just the you know the long grind that they’ve been on but uh you know the interesting thing to me too and the Giants have it the same but like this is the as late as you can possibly have a buy they have it on the Monday night of the last byee you know Giants too but it’s uh it’s been a grind for these guys right and the other thing that you know caught my ear a little bit we was talking about you know good good opportunity to learn you know as far as practice is concerned and being ready knowing that you need to be ready to play. I think today was a great example of that. Like you never know when your number is going to come up. So I wonder if what he’s talking about and not trying to put words in his mouth. Um just like there was a lot of hey we’re not Patriots are really good this week you know around here like oh Stephen H. Smith yelling at Levi quarterback. You know what? Just take a step back, focus the whole interesting and important thing that Mike had like a month and a half ago. It’s interesting. It’s not necessarily important. Why don’t you keep that stuff in the back burner and let’s let’s be ready to go at the start of the game. I wonder if that’s sort of what Mike is talking about. Opportunity to learn here, right? You know, we need to be f we’re good. We’re very good. We’re 10 and two, but we got to be 10 and two because most of the time detail we’ve been ready to go. And today you can make an argument that they weren’t ready to go. Yeah, really good point there, Paul. Really good point. Okay, as for the players, um, a bunch of them and I think they sort of said the same thing. It’s the National Football League, but let’s kick things off with the quarterback, Drake May. You know, battling adversity. Um, shoot, I gave him one earlier in the game just battling back that next drive and I’m just trying to be that next play mentality. You know, that’s what coach is preaching all the time. All the time is, you know, battling back from good plays, batting back from bad plays. And um, you know, proud of our defense for stepping They stepped up big time and like I said, it’s next men up. We got a lot of guys, you know, come in and play, make plays and and help us out. So, just proud of them and um you just good to get a win and and good to get that 10th win. It’s the NFL. Um teams are good. I mean, it’s you know, it’s going to come down to the wire. Um games can come down to the wire. Um and I mean, props to to them. They they did, you know, they came out and fought and I mean it’s hard to get wins in this league. So, it was a good win. Um, I love those guys, you know. Uh, you know, Will and Jerry, they’ve been they’ve meant a lot meant a lot to me. Um, I’ve got to know them in different ways and um, yeah, it hurts. It’s disappointing, man. Um, but, uh, that’s that’s this game. That’s, you know, that’s life and, uh, they’ll bounce back and, um, you know, help us down the road. It was a battle. It was a tough one for sure. And, um, I try to just expect that going into each week. Uh, not looking at the record. I don’t I don’t really pay too much attention to the records of the team because I know in the NFL every week is always going to be a dog fight. And so, you know, thank God we got through that and came out came out with the win. All the guys are are are not satisfied with it, too. Um, we we know there’s a lot more ahead of us and we know that we need to play better, too. I think that we we take a lot of pride in that too, that we need to play better. Um, and you know, the real the real games are coming down here down the stretch and uh we got to, you know, continue to improve and continue to get better. I gotta be better. Gotta be better at the line of scrimmage. got to be better. Um, you know, credit to them for for catching us some and and like I said, I think um I got to do my part and help us play cleaner football and and punched it down there in the red zone and um you know, I take that to heart and I’m going to be better. Thought that was good to hear from the quarterback who, you know, takes some ownership of his play today and and from Hunter Henry, veteran captain, saying there’s bigger games coming down the road. You know, I thought I like to hear that. Like to hear that. And I would also say that um there was a lot of people who were asked about um the two offensive linemen that went down in Galani Tavi. That sounds like that’s something that uh doesn’t sound great that uh he and his family are going through and there was a lot of talk from the players that you know they want to make sure that they know that they’re with him in spirit. I understand that he’s with them in spirit. They’re thinking about him. So it sounds like he and his family might be going through a tough time which why he was uh didn’t make the trip. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t like hearing that. Uh, just also to someone I’ve seen from the locker room, Brennan Schooler and Jared Wilson spotted in walking boots. Uh, Jared Wilson with a cane as well kind of helping him walk. So, not sure what that means, but take it for what it’s worth. I think Trent Green is the only one on the back. Didn’t think that that one was serious. He’s going to take a couple plays out. I know I usually save this from Mondays with you. Yeah, let’s do it. That was an exceptionally bad call today by CBS. Okay. Um I lost track at at about two dozen just flatout errors um by the play by Justin Hooper that was the start Justin Hooper. Um when Quani’s jumping on the pile, you know, I know my plays at one point cuz Mike is a little like me. It’s kind of white noise for us. It was so bad today. It was hard to ignore. I kept hearing stuff and I’m like Justin Hooper. Who? It’s Matt Hooper. Sorry, Justin Hooper. Well done. So, was the two plays for Wilson like the most egregious when he s I’m saying the guy can be he’s he’s hunched over. He couldn’t get off the field under his own like whatever. I mean, I don’t want No, there was nothing worse than than watching them go those guys go off. The the Drake May um line that he said, “I got to be better at the line of scrimmage.” Um I think was really interesting because I think for one of the few times this year, the opponent got the better of the Patriots offense today schematically. That’s a terrible defense. And they caught him a few times. Same blitz, right? A couple times. Same blitz was consistent. Uh, one early in the game where they moved Stevenson up into the A gap, which is something they’ve done periodically during the year. As soon as that happened, the whole Bengals defensive line shifted over, got a guy come clean. Will Campbell executed his block perfectly and the blitz came because there was no one to get him. Later in the game when Varian Lo was in there, same thing. Varian Low blocks his guy perfectly one-on-one and a guy comes unaccounted for. So, I think that’s some of the things that maybe Drake May is talking about. They beat him at the line of scrimmage a little bit today. And Trent Green did a good job on a couple of those, by the way, in bringing that out. So, that we’re just not killing. He did. My my criticism is more with the play-by-play guy who couldn’t identify a player. I mean, that’s kind of what you’re there for. If you had asked me in training camp, what do you think it’s going to look like for Drake May this year? That that was the game. That was kind of what I was expecting from him. His raw ability will get him through. Yeah. But he’s going to look overwhelmed at times. Today’s the first time since week one that he he looked overwhelmed at times, I thought. Yep. Yep. And so going forward, I think um is it safe to say that what we saw how they ended the game on the left side of the offensive line, that’s what it’s going to look like for the Giants game. And maybe I think there’s a good chance of that. Yeah, I’m bracing myself. It’s going to be Verian Lo and Ben Brown on the left side of this line here on out. Um maybe I have a little bit of hope in Wilson. We’ll see. Maybe that’s a high ankle sprain few weeks, something like that. Um, but the way he was limping, I don’t I don’t I don’t feel good. And just the look of Will Campbell putting the towel over his head. You I don’t know. You just get a vibe. You know, the dreaded ACL um when that comes, you know, and that that was the vibe I got there. So, I you know, definitely Will Campbell in my thoughts. He’s, you know, great guy. He’s been awesome as a rookie and it’s just you hate to see you hate to see this go completely sideways just in, you know, one play, but again, it’s what happens. for the game. Unfortunately, sounds cliche, but that’s what the NFL is all about. I know. You just never know who they’re going to take. You know, you never know who the football gods are going to decide to sacrifice in this one. I did I uh and you guys would know cuz you follow this a little bit more closely than I do. Did Did somebody come out this week and write a column about how great their health has been and everything like that? I don’t know. But whoever it is, we better string them up. I do believe I do believe the head coach did get a little jab at the meeting. He goes, “Thanks for pointing out the health during the week. Really appreciate that.” Yeah. Yay. Wow. Well, you guys, you know, I mean, I think of like uh, you know, in 2011 when Andre Carter was like going off and having a great year and everything and then he got lost, you know, I don’t know, I think it was in Denver, you know, down the stretch. And, you know, it’s just those things happen and you don’t know if it’s going to be the first game of the season or one of the last games of the season that your team dynamic gets kind of changed. And the truly great teams are the teams that pull together and figure out how to overcome these things. But Darian Lo’s been here for a reason and now it’s an opportunity for him to get in there and and play some solid games. And I got to tell you, I I think that the biggest factor in pass protection has been Drake May. I think that will continue to be the case. I I’m not It ain’t great. I’m not going to just sugarcoat it, but I’m not overly concerned about the offensive ones. I think the defensive attrition is starting to pile up a little bit. That’s more concerning to me. But the offensive line, they’ll get by. They’ll figure it out. That being said, how do you all want them to regroup offensively for the Giants, knowing the Giants have had an inconsistent season, too? They were They went to overtime today. Yeah, they went to over and then they lost. They’ve seem to play the same game every week. We’re going to be up by two scores in the fourth quarter and we’re going to lose. Yeah, try not to do that. But, I mean, I think you know what Trayvon Henderson said, I thought it rang true to me. It’s just I don’t really try to look at teams records. This is the NFL. Every game’s going to be a fight. And after this game against this team and this defense, how can you not? And how can you not look at what the Giants have done and not think you’re going to come in here on Monday night and be ready for an absolute war again that you know you don’t know some guys who are going to be in certain positions like you don’t even know what the composition of your team is going to really be at this point. Uh and the Giants are just going to let it rip. They don’t really care. They’re you know Jameus Winston I love him. I mean we know we’ll see if Jackson Dart gets back but you know even still this is a team that that’s going to let it rip and they got some pass rushers that can disrupt things. Absolutely. And this team isn’t any worse. The Giants aren’t any worse than the team you played today. No, not at all. I mean, you better be ready to go. I mean, Abdul Carter, like they don’t got an Abdul Carter on Cincinnati, let me tell you. They need that. Well, they do. He’s just He wasn’t playing. Just like everybody else. Can you give Cincinnati a little credit today for not packing it in and playing hard or I think they needed to win every game. I think they they did. They emptied the bucket. Too bad their coach didn’t. Yeah. The coach coach very afraid. Going for field goals. Going for punts. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. On fourth and inches twice. All right, let’s take it back out to the phone lines. Ivan is in California. Hey gang, how we doing? Hey, Ivan. Good. Boy, that was rough. Thank god Burroughs and uh Jamar weren’t playing and the coach is an idiot. That helped us out tremendously. Very true. I believe that last part was instrumental. That’s ridiculous really. But, you know, but that’s why we have, you know, 10 wins, right? I mean, that’s that’s the deal. We have a we have a really good coach. We can beat bad football and as we see there’s a tremendous amount of it. But it just really sucks because you know the the one guy we could least afford to lose on the offensive line and I feel bad because that guy he’s such a great guy and also our best offensive lineman right and this team like listen I’ve been saying before we can you know enjoy the ride you know um you know this this team has taken on water and and we talked you know you guys have made mention of it as well. there’s not a lot of depth. And um I think that uh I don’t know if the I don’t know if the number one seed was ever really like I think to me uh u realistic in a sense because a really good team is is going to take us down just based on where we’re at. But at the end of the day, you know, we’re still having a great season. It’s just that just try to hang in there. To me, I look at as we can get a playoff game in Gillette regardless of what happens. you know, the the the arrow is still pointing up and uh you know, we keep going. So, yeah, tell me what that game looks like and who the opponent is. I don’t know. I mean, I’m at the point now where I don’t want to lose to Jacksonville. Like, tell me what the game looks like. I think you make a great point, Mike. It’s just everybody wanted to do this before the season started and we kept saying, “Can we see how it plays out?” Like, right now, yes, I I’m not dumb. If you would said all of this stuff was going to happen before the season, I would have said yes. I’d be thrilled. But I want to see how it unfolds. Sure. Like, are you going to tell me you’re going to be okay now if they like lose the rest of their games? No way. You’re going to be okay with that. Expectations have changed, right? And I don’t know why the number one seed is not realistic. You have it right now. You’re tied with Denver, you know, with two losses. You’re at the top of the conference. It’s right there for you to take if if you can take care of business. opportunity. Is that the tenor of the and the tone of the calls and the emails? Like Ivan down and out. Yeah. Yeah. I think Well, I haven’t got any emails actually. So, if you have any, you send some in, but yeah, it feels as though from even looking on Twitter, the reaction that fans are putting out is kind of Yeah. I mean, it’s up and down. Talked all week about how bad this team was, right? Hey, score, score, and score some more. Like, they scored one offensive touchdown the whole game. So, you know, it’s it’s just is this a tired team that needs a break and then can get them back on track? Is it a team that can pick itself up and just get back on track within this week and, you know, kind of get back on the upswing? Because, you know, to me, the last few weeks it’s been good. They’ve been getting wins, but it also feels like there are some cracks popping in and the caller said is that there’s some water coming on in some areas and then you add in some injuries and it’s all right. Is this team going to turn around and rally around each other and and maybe even find I don’t want to say a new identity, but it’s something to that effect where you’re going to have some new players that are going to have to step into roles and and maybe step into, you know, do things that you didn’t necessarily expect two weeks ago. So, you know, they’re going to have to adjust on the fly like like all these other NFL teams do. And, you know, it’s a big challenge for Mike Vrabel to like you said, get, you know, put this behind us, good, bad, whatever it is. Let’s get back to back to neutral. And I think that’s that’s the biggest challenge for this team right now, getting off of this. And you know, it’s it’s hard because you’re winning games. You know, you don’t want to say like, “Oh my god, we’re going down the the drain.” But I think if you watch these games closely, you listen to the players, you see the injuries that are adding up, you know, you know that they’re they’re kind of up against it right now. And this is this is the adversity they’re going to have to push through if they want to be a team that gets to January and make some noise. This is a team that looks like they could desperately use a second wind, don’t they? Look like they could just give me a second win, you know? Yeah. like they’re just they’re still trying to grind them out and you know they’re but it’s like a fight every week. The lack of the offensive run game, the way the defensive run game is starting to open up a little bit. Uh you know, some of these drives where it’s just all too easy for another team to go down. You know, it’s it’s just these little things and if you’re paying attention, you see those things and you say, “I don’t like it.” Like, you got to get rid of that stuff, right? All right, let’s see. We’re going to head to Virginia. Hi, Emory. Are you underwater? Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening. Uh, good teams find a way to win football games and it’s hard to win in the NFL. Everything I’m hearing from the players and from Coach Babel and his staff. I don’t know. Have y’all been watching the NFL this season? It’s been a lot of bad football, but I I Coach Bab is building an identity here and I’m real encouraged by it. This organization won a total of eight games this past two seasons. So there’s no no doom and gloom energy here. A win is a win and all wins are good. We’re on to the giant. Go Pats. Great call, Emry. Yeah. Yeah, it’s true. I mean, you know, it is it is really hard to win in this league, but you know, at a certain point, you go from I’m gonna be satisfied with just nine wins. We had a winning season to hey, it’s lining up this year. We’ve had good injury luck. quarterback’s playing like an MVP. Make the most of your chances cuz you just you never know when these things are going to line up. And I don’t think it’s the kind of thing. Stop jumping offside on fourth and five, right? I’m not asking for a lot. Yeah, I’m not asking for a lot. Don’t beat yourself. But yeah, they I think they have an opportunity to not just get into the playoffs, but but win a game if they play the way they’re capable of, but if they continue to There’s no reason for them to not think that they can beat anybody. Correct. There’s nothing that’s happened in this league to tell them that they can’t compete with anybody. So, I’m not satisfied with this. That’s becoming one of my um top five cliches that I hate. Hard to win in this league. 16 teams do it every week. Like, don’t jump offside on fourth and five. You know, the other team made more mistakes than you and they they lost the game, but like you can do better than this. They can they can play better than they played today. If this was week one and they found a way to win the game, I’d probably be sitting here whistling Dixie saying how ecstatic I am. But now I’m 10 and two and I have aspirations for more. Mhm. Yeah. So true. Okay. Frank in San Diego. How are you feeling? Hello. Hey, Frank. Hey. Hey guys. Great show. Paul, Mike, and Quanie. Great. Great show. I’m a first-time caller. I’m from sunny San Diego. Thanks. Only in New England only in New England are we so pessimistic. There’s not a single team in the NFL that would not like to be 10 and two, have nine straight wins in a row, and that are six and0 undefeated on the road. There’s not a single NF NFL team that would like to change places with us. Remember when coach Bellich used to say, “We are on to Cincinnati.” Well, we are on to New York. That was a tough game today, but there’s still nine straight wins. Stop being so pessimistic. I mean, is the glass half? The only pessimism is about injuries. In fairness, no one’s pessimistic about winning nine in a row. The pessimism is being disappointed that they lost potentially three starters today. Yeah. Yeah. You know what? But nothing’s happened. We We continue to win. We’re going to beat New York. We’re going to get healthy in our buy. Okay. Well, you know more than I do. I can’t see the future. Yeah. I don’t I don’t know that. I mean, I think Will Campbell in and Jared Wilson have significant injuries. So, I don’t know that they’re going to be okay, but I guess you you know, so I don’t know. No, no, no. I don’t I don’t You just said it. They’re going to be healthy of everything. Winning. Winning takes care of everything. And we are winning. Good. Nine straight win. Good life lesson, Mike. Learn learn from that one. Hey, here’s my last question to you guys. See if you can answer this. See if you can figure this out. It’s more of a coaching question. Why? When we know that we’re going to run the ball, when we know it’s going to be a running play and the defense knows because they’re stacking uh the uh the uh defense, why don’t we spread out? Why don’t we spread out so everyone is not right there when we try to do a run play for one yard? Hey, thank you so much. Thanks, Frank. Thanks, Frank. Frank is very optimistic. I don’t know. Oh, are you saying that you didn’t love the short yardage running situation, which we talked about, you weren’t happy with the Reds? Did they run it for today? They didn’t, did they? Uh, no. The the Patriots. Yeah. Yeah. No, Patriots. Uh, but I mean, to Paul’s point, and I was, you know, just kind of looking at the the thing. I mean, Paul was Paul was right. I mean, you know, as they graded, Henderson had 10 successful runs. I mean, it wasn’t overly productive. 16 carries for 66 yards, but you know, did have some situations where, you know, gain more than four yards or whatever the, you know, the criteria is per down. So, traditional runs, they had 20 24 carries for 71 yards. So, May and sorry, 28 25 carries for 71 yards. So, the May scrambles and the ender round to Douglas, those were only and even then there was 3.5 a carry counting that, right? Yeah, those are only the only 10 plus yard runs in the game. There’s nothing from the running backs. But I mean, when you’re on the goal line, you’re inside the one yard line, like they know you’re running. You know you’re running. Your job is to get the yard. I actually hate when teams get tricky down there and try to finesse it in like you need to run it. Now, last week they gave the ball to Trevian Henderson twice in those situations and you got two seven yard touchdown runs. Um because you you were able to physically push the Jets into the end zone today. They weren’t able to do it. I mean, I’m not going to lose, you know, my faith in the team because they weren’t able to get a yard. It was bad execution down there. No two ways about it. But you got to get a yard. You had how many, Mike? Five. Five plays from the one yard line. Six if you count the penalty. Yeah. I mean I mean that one drive they had nine plays nine plays total from the five and in from the five and in. And you you got to score there, you know, but give give the Bengals credit. They they I thought they got aggressive down there. I thought they were tight with their coverage. Um they they made them work for it. Uh even the the the hold on Booty, you know, it was a good call. He got held, but it was good coverage. It was good coverage. The guy didn’t get fooled. You know, we’ve seen guys get fooled on those where like M. Collins just slips out uncovered or someone else does. They they did a good job. Um sometimes the other team’s going to going to win those battles. I really like that play though. That shovel passion. Little shovel pass. Shovel pass to Hunter Henry which man stop a yard short. You’re like oh this is that’s a good hard run right there by Stevenson. He just got he got stacked up and they kept him out. Two guys in the back field. Like you can’t like you got to be better than that down there. No. And it goes to like what you said about last year where Stevenson was able to break some tackles and those, you know, those tackles getting hit in the back field. He slip out and, you know, pick up some yardage. No, not today. Not today. They had at least three tackles for a loss. I’m probably low on that. The red the red zone offense is a concern. Um, but it’s a minor concern for me because I don’t think it’s been that bad. Today it was. Yeah. Now, you know, whatever the numbers are, nine nine plays from the five yard line, that’s inexcusable. But I don’t think that’s been a huge problem this year and it certainly wasn’t a problem last week when they were running it in. So to the question on the from the caller, what would you have liked to see them do in the how would you have liked to see them regroup in that instance? I would like to see them block better and and just run it in from inside the one yard execution said. I mean all these highlights that were shown of the game. I mean it’s just the the common theme to me looks like you’re getting overwhelmed at the line of scrimmage and you’re just you’re losing the battle in the trenches. But I didn’t like I didn’t want to do anything different. I had no problem with the only play call I didn’t like was the one the the sneak to May um somewhere there was a fourth and a third and inches. Was that the alleged tush push? May does not run quarterback sneak well. Yeah, he turns his back. Yeah. Um and that puts the ball behind you know like you know where he was you know this is like you’re just losing the battle with the line of scrimmage like Mike said. Look where the guy’s making the tackles in the back field. This is a tush push. This is you know like I don’t like the way he turned. I don’t think he like I don’t like the way he turns his back. Yeah. Now the ball has no chance. But you know, for the most part, we have to do better. I don’t really have any I don’t have any problems with the play calls themselves for the most part that the execution was not good today. Yeah. Yeah. Understood. Okay, let’s take it to the Poconos. I used to summer there at my family. Ron, how are you? How Poconos are you? Well, no, but we like it was I used to summer in Malden. Story Hassel. I think it was the most affordable trip we could go on. Were you in Dirty Dancing? I thought you put in awesome. Well done, Ron. How you doing? Yeah. Hello to you all. Thank you for everything that you do. I just want to say um I agree with everything that everybody’s been saying. You know, the uh the late buy, the tiredness, the injuries, all of it. I think it’s down to the coaches now to keep everybody focused and going forward in the right way. And I believe in the coaching staff, Rael, you know, I believe in him. So, um, we’ll see what happens. We don’t know where it’s going to go, but I I wouldn’t trade our staff for anybody. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a fair point. I’ I’d agree with him there. And I think another one of the challenges that they have is uh and people mentioned a couple weeks ago, they got a weird week again this week. You know, there’s a holiday coming up on Thursday and with as close as this team appears to be and I think everybody’s commented it’s very close. You want to give them that time to be with their families and everything like that. Then you got to get them to rip it back up and you’re going to have to have a, you know, like a practice on Saturday, which is not part of what your routine has been to play on Monday night with a carrot hanging in front of you after that Monday night game knowing there’s more time to be had after that. So, there’s some scheduling quirks. It’s one of the few things though that benefits them is that like they get and you heard Carlton Davis say it like they get to spend the Thanksgiving with their families. Yeah. Otherwise, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday because it’s a Monday night game or they’d have been practicing on Saturday. They had been practicing. They’re practicing Saturday because you practice Saturday when you have a Monday night game. Saturday is Friday. Yeah. Yeah. Um so that’s that’s a like a quirk in the schedule that is highly beneficial. I’m sure every one of those players is very excited about the fact that a Monday night game fell on Thanksgiving week and they get to enjoy the the holiday with their families. We need to check on the healing powers of mashed potatoes. Seriously, all the potatoes on Will Campbell’s leg and Wilson’s ankle. Drake May’s wife baking, you know, all the family cooking where Drake’s wife’s got to bake something. Get these guys healthy. Yeah. But hopefully it is a reset that they need mentally too of just like taking a break and then getting back into it knowing that they have to finish off the rest of the season stronger. You know, it’s funny though because it’s like you say that but then at the same time it’s like they’ve been on the schedule where it’s like my routine and I’m down and then Monday I go to this and it’s a young team and so some of these guys it’s such a common refrain you hear from young players when they come into the league in my experience of oh you know I talked to this vet and he told me get your routine down you know this is when you get your massage and this is when you go and do workouts get your body get your body right so now you’re knocked off that for a little bit right so now it’s a challenge for I usually I get my massage on this day you know and that sounds kind Maybe like I mean maybe massage is the bad example. When do I get my massage? M like excuse me. You know when do I get all my cupping stuff? You know these guys walk out and you’re just like my god and there’s just these like lines up their back like you can tell all the things that that they have to go through just to get ready to play. But you know I do think even though it’s challenging to do it every Sunday at one there’s also just I mean I felt it when we were doing our show. you know, you just get into the rhythm and all right and yeah, it’s maybe hard to get better on a short week. And so, you know, we’ll see how they manage it because now it’s you have one game in the next like basically three weeks that you know, you got to get healthy, but at the same time, you can’t lose the edge, right? All right. Cindy in Mass, how are you? Hi. How you doing? Hey, Cindy. Hey, first of all, thanks for doing what you guys do. Um, short short call. Um, a win is a win, right? Yeah. Yep. Okay. So, I’m going to be like Bellich. Uh, well, we’re moving forward to uh a week from tomorrow. We have to focus on the Giants, right? Good impression. So, question. Um, I I looked up their record. Are they two and 10? Correct. The Giants. Yeah. Okay. So, question. Is this going to be a trap game? said, “Yeah, with that being said, I wish you guys the best. You take care, too, Cindy.” I mean, I think that’s kind of what we’re just talking about, like So, I think it is a trap game. Oh, really? I think this week was more the buy. You mean you’re looking forward to the buy and you have No, I I think when you Yeah. When you have something that you’re looking ahead to and you’re playing someone inferior, that’s a that’s to me the definition of a trap. You’re playing a bad team when you’re looking forward to a buy. Now, I I think that I I don’t have any data on this. I’d like like to see it. Teams that are heading into the buy, but the Giants are heading into the buy, too. But the Giants two buys. The Giants are two and 10. The Giants are just playing the string out. They want to play golf. They’re just trying to be villains at this point. Like Matt came in and he made the comment about like, were you surprised that the Bengals played like a little bit? Yeah. And I was especially with how badly they played. I thought if they played well, maybe they, you know, you know, you you kick it up. But they played so poorly at times in this game. But they just kept fighting. They kept scrapping. Well, that was to me winning the line of scrimmage. I mean, that’s where you see whether or not a team came into play or not. Like whether or not a cornerback is like ready to run. Like your guys in the trenches are ready to get into a street fight tonight and they were ready to get into a street fight. Well, you were surprised by Cincinnati. You’re not surprised by the Giants because of the way they have been fight quote fighting over the last I was surprised that the Giants kept I mean the the Bengals kept playing you know like I I would have thought for sure when Flaco threw the the inexplicable handoff to Marcus Jones that that would be game you know and it wasn’t like they they able they were able to stop them and force a field goal at the end of the half and stop them at the beginning of the third quarter you know you know after they had uh you know had to go three and out to punt. I I was surprised. I was so The Patriots gave them opportunities to stay in the game by not cashing in at the goal line. I was surprised. I I am like I You asked that question right off the top and my answer is yes. I knew that this was like a desperation game for the Bengals because they looked at it as if we can somehow win. I mean, you know who’s in first place in that division now, right? Baltimore. Yeah. You know, like then that’s the way the Bengals looked at this is that team stinks, right? And we’re going to catch them because they’re going to come back to us, right? If we can win out, we can catch Pittsburgh. Correct. Now, that’s probably out the window for Cincinnati, but you know, Baltimore’s right there. Six and five, first place. All right, Jake, how’s South Beach looking right now? I could use that weather. Johnny South Beach, bro. What’s up? Howdy, everyone. Um, just calling in for a tiny bit of uh sort of what I would call like taller uncaller crime. Um, not going to tell anybody else how to feel about a victory. I generally feel okay, but what I will say is that um the Bengals were down like their four best offensive players and almost scored a touchdown on us with seconds waning. Um we lost potentially three excellent players. So, I’m just kind of like I don’t know why people would be confused as to why some folks might feel a little less than psyched about the way this victory happened. Yes, a W is fantastic, but they are not all created equal in my opinion. So that’s that. Yeah, well said. Thank you, Johnny. I guess as a head coach would disagree with him on that. Yeah, I guess as a head coach would disagree with the feric victory phrase. Hard to win. I know Paul loves that line. No, I just my thing is today like I understand why fans are a little bit disappointed. I get it. But but not because of the game, but because of the injuries like that to me like what what can derail you? What is one of the biggest in my view anyway, one of the biggest things that’s been on their side is they’re playing against a lot of teams that are coming in at well below full full strength. You’re not one of them now. The next game that you play, you’re going to be at less than full strength. That’s sort of worrisome. Sure. And also Mike Re, I’m just looking at this tweet from Mike Reese, he said, “Mike Rael, as we know, usually waits outside the locker room and greets every single player post game, but this one it looks like he went straight to the locker room possibly to check on Will Campbell.” Of course, the first reply saying there are three guys hurt, but he’s only checking on Campbell. But I I again, Ree just kind of reporting he went in there most likely to check on all of the players that were injured in this one. That’s really interesting. And don’t you find that significant? Yes, because it’s been their routine over the last That’s my point. and and what Mike’s done, which I agree with 100%. If after, you know, every game hasn’t been a laring, you know, where they, you know, just come out, put the pedal to the metal and win. Most of them haven’t been. And he sits there and he goes, “Hey, be happy. We won. You, you know, you got to win in the National Football League. It’s okay to be happy. We can celebrate this for a couple minutes. Yep. Let’s be joyous about this.” That didn’t happen today. I they they just the the Patriots just posted the Mike Greyel um sideline or the locker room greeting guys and also looks like he did it. In my in my opinion the vibe is very much like what you’re saying Matt. It looks like a lot of guys who are exhausted and not celebratory and you know it just you know people can watch it and have their own opinion of what they think but it’s definitely not the I mean we’ve seen in the past you know even last week I felt like I went win over the Jets even though it wasn’t but you could feel like it’s the excitedness these ones look like a lot of tired guys who just fought a battle that that you know because they did because they did. But Matt, when you came in and one of the things that you said was that um Mike didn’t get into the injuries, said he didn’t have any injuries. I don’t have an update on anything. That in itself to me told told me that it was serious a b different than what normally happens. Correct. You know, I’m not telling you he comes in and says, “Well, you know, he’s like Mike Tomlin. He’s got a grade three sprain.” Like he doesn’t do that, but he’s usually pretty forthcoming, you know, with what’s going on. and he’s very forthcoming on Fridays ruling guys out but even after the games he’s generally telling yeah you know that one we’ll have to look at uh you know we’ll see he had no updates on this one and that tells me that there’s concern at the very least this concern yeah Hunter Henry a little bit of a smirk but otherwise guys look like man they are exhausted and just beat so it’s you know yeah and again I like me personally I can’t tell fans how they they should feel this has got a lot less has to do with how I feel about how they played. I don’t think they played exceptionally well today. I I’ve been pushing back every week when people have been saying, “Well, geez, they’re play they’re winning well. They’re not even playing their best.” I think they’ve played pretty good for most of these games. Today, they didn’t And they found a way to win. That’s impressive. That is impressive. That’s impressive to find a way. I know the other team played worse. I’m not saying that you played, you know, again, the ‘ 07 Patriots today. You didn’t. You played a terrible team who was missing most of their good players, but you did what you had to do to find a way to win while guys were dropping like flies. That’s impressive to me. And and you know what, Paul, you mentioned that. It was something I was thinking about earlier today. Again, say what you want about it, but 10ame winning streaks don’t happen very often in the National Football League. And I was thinking about this for Mike Vrael, the coach. It’s a 10-ame winning streak. As a player, he was on a team that won 18 games in a row. like those things don’t happen very often. You know, that’s that’s pretty interesting that, you know, he’s been able to do that. I don’t I don’t know. Maybe they’re maybe 10 winning streaks are common, but it doesn’t seem like I don’t I don’t think it’s common. I mean, there’s two teams that have won nine in a row. Well, eight in a row, whatever right right now. Um, but I to me I’m far more impressed just like Vrabel just his ability to get this team focused. Like I think he’s done a fant and I like I made Matt before you came in just some little things that he did in the game today that were sort of broke from the norm of what we’ve been seeing most weeks. Kick some field goals today because it was apparent that points were hard to come by today. Your coach has got something going on. Your coach is in tune with what’s going on. He’s in tune with his team. He knows his team. He knows the situations. Yeah, you know, I I’m not saying I I don’t go as far as these other guys like teams would no one would want to switch play. Yeah, I think there there’s plenty of teams that like their situations too, but if I were the Patriots, I’d be very happy with the situation. They’re 10 and two with a coach who has his finger on the pulse of everything that’s going on in that locker room. He cares deeply about every guy on the roster. I think I think that they’ve shown the ability to win um in some different ways and and he’s shown the ability to do it in different ways, which I I I think it’s impressive. Yeah. And I I mean I get look I feel the same way the fans calling in. You feel overwhelmingly positive about the season right now, but but please don’t look at us taking apart their games to say that we we feel negative about this team. But I’m looking at the number one seed. I’m not looking at like oh they’ve won. I don’t care about the out. I’ll be happy with 10 wins. Like you care about the what? I don’t care about the SID stuff. The notes don’t do anything for me. But you get the number one seed, you win the AFC East, you get home playoff games. That does something for me. That gives me some juice heading into the playoffs knowing that I I can be at home. I can win a game and be in the AFC Championship game, you know, like that’s that’s big stuff. No one no one really expected that. And so those goals right now, those achievements, those are on the table. Yes, they’re on the table with five games left. You could argue that they’d have to blow it to not get some of those things. I’m not saying the number one seed, but to win the AFC East, that’s in your hands. Like I said earlier, just don’t lose to the Jets or Dolphins and you’re going to win the AFC. Yeah. But that’s what’s a little intriguing to me of of what you have the opportunity to do. But it feels like, you know, to get the number one seed, I feel like they’re going to have to like reassert themselves maybe with a little bit of a new identity to, you know, win out or potentially maybe just lose one more game to get to that point. I mean, I like what Paul’s saying. They can probably play a faximile to what these games have been and beat the Jets and the Dolphins at the end of the season, but I don’t know if those are good enough to win on the road in B in in Baltimore. And if you lose to Buffalo and Baltimore, you’re still forcing Denver to win games. You’re still forcing Indie to win games, you know, and that’s not like you guys keep telling me how hard it is to win games. So, it ain’t going to be easy for them to win either. Didn’t you say, Mike, did I hear you say in the pregame show that you’ve got to you got to make sure that the champ is dead. Like, you got to stab them seven times. They were on the ropes and they found a way to win. You know, it was a big game for the Patriots. I’ll be interested to go back and uh check out that positive. Yes, that’s what I mean. I don’t know about the rooting for Kansas. I just watched the recap of it. But I think to the point even the caller that said New England is very much known for being negative after a win and I don’t from San Diego by Exactly. irony was not lost by I don’t see that and I don’t really think I don’t think our fans I don’t think that’s a a correct that’s what I was going to say I don’t agree with it because No but I don’t think even today I don’t think that’s a correct assessment of the way the fans have been the fans are a little worried about the health I don’t think they’re worried about being 10 and two right no and that’s the point I was going to make just overall I think with you have the building the legacy segment for a reason with every win you still want to know what can this team do to get better and that’s why shows like this exist because you want to talk through it see what can be improved upon that’s what the coaches do on a basis football game. There’s no perfect win, you know. I mean, there’s but that, you know, everybody’s right like you won nine in a row. You’ve got 10 wins on the season on a season that many people said, “Ah, if they get six or seven, I’ll be thrilled, you know.” So, you you give them a ton of credit. But again, as I would have thought nine was above the ceiling to be honest. I’ll I’ll call myself I’ll call myself out. If everything went well, I would have said nine would have been No one would have judged you. That’s what I said. Nine and eight. I mean, and I’m a pretty optimistic guy. And it’s nine wins in a row, not 10 wins in a row. 10 wins total. Yeah. And I thought you were just teen it up, Matt, for Monday Night Football. I mean, no, cuz I I I think that that game’s going to be a dog fight. I think I think they’re now at a point in time where you can’t expect them to just they’re not going to cruise right now with what’s going on. I don’t think they’re going to be able to. So, it’s how do you handle adversity? How do you grind your way through it? That’s what they’re going to have to try to figure out. be a amazing cap to the pre-by part of this season to go out on a Monday Night Football on a national stage. I don’t care who the Giants are, go out there and get another win. Get to 11 wins before your by-week and then get a break. See who can get healthy. See how you can regroup mentally and what team are you to come out of that bye-week and say we got four games right now. It’s everything’s on the plate for us. every we we put ourselves in position to achieve any goal we want as far as getting into the playoffs, playoff seedings, all that thing. It’s all right there. I just it’ll be great to finish it off with a win here at home in front of a national audience. We know the juice that comes with that. All the, you know, all the postgame conversations, you know, the videos that go out, everything, you know, it’s a much bigger audience. People here are going to be psyched. I mean, it’s it’s been a while since you’ve had some a Monday night game with some juice here. So, you know, I I’m not going to try to get too carried away thinking about Baltimore and Buffalo and the division and the conference and all those things. Let’s just focus on finishing up this part of the schedule, right? Get that 10th straight win. Perfect. Nice little round number. Get to 11 and two. We’ll see what happens week to week. That’s what we like to hear. Any final thoughts, prayers? Concerns. That was that was a good party. Very very nice. That was a good bow. We just summation. I think it did. Well, that does it for this week’s edition of the Patriots Postgame Show presented by DraftKings. From Matt Matt Smith, Paul Pillo, Mike Ducel, and myself, Quani Lunis, thank you for watching and have a great Thanksgiving. Hey, this is Alex. Thanks for tuning in to the show. If you really want to help us, make sure you like us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Also, make sure you follow us on the New England Patriots YouTube channel to see this show and everything else we do here at the Patriots. Thanks a lot. [Music]
Watch as host Kwani Lunis, along with Mike Dussault and Paul Perillo recap the Patriots-Bengals game in Week 12. Plus, we replay postgame press conference highlights from HC Mike Vrabel and QB Drake Maye.
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15 comments
This was an ugly win. A win that that I really thought was going to be a 1 point loss right up to the end. 9 plays with 8 of the 9 on their goal line and got no points? The injuries suffered which may cost the pats any shot at winning a playoff game and some sustained poor throws from Maye at the start of the game that looked like he has a broken hand. It was simply a terrible game. Will take the win but there is NO way they beat a good opponent in this condition
Injuries are sucky.
welp that is the season GG the LG is done and so are the pats
This was a win that definitely feels like a loss. But a win is a win.
The 32nd,,, easiest schedule in nfl is showing up. Would not be surprised to see losses to Bills, Ravens and possibly another Giants
Let's Go Pats Great team Win today đđâ¤ď¸
Yâall YAP abiut VIBES wayyyyy too much can we talk about the Special teams being GARBAGE and the NONEXISTENT PASSRUSH and MARCUS JONES getting beat and GONZO letting up a TD I mean cmon guys thereâs a lot of gameplay to breakdown âa wins a winâ No Dip guys cmon
Bad teams lose ugly games like this. Good teams win them. You're good. Took the lead midway through Q2 and didn't trail against a team that has shown an ability to put up 30+. You gave up 13 points on defense. Solid ugly road win.
No days off! HORRIBLE performance
Vederian Lowe for Will Campbell….we're done! That clown is a bum
I agree we didnât play well. But this isnât a world beater roster. No one thought this roster was good before the year and we are playing above our means on offense. That offensive line has no push in the run game. Going to the playoffs is enough with this roster and the 1 seed is even better with this schedule
That win was awful
Day 77 of asking for a new host
When it matters we show up and that being said as fan we need to be more understanding amd supportive. Our guys have exceeded expectations tenfold. We're going to the playoffs and all this turbulence is gonna really light a fire in our guys, that's the cloth we're cut from.
Itâs the cold, Iâm telling ya. Our team is so southern and a lot of rookies, like under 25 years old at least. If your from the south and your young or a rookie in the NFL, you very well might of played your whole football career in the warm or hot weather. Cold football and hot football are different, so if youâve played at Miami high school, then Georgia state, and now you play for the patriots and your 21, you may of never ever played football in the cold. And if youâve not spent time in the cold naturally then you donât have as much brown body fat that keeps you warm, you also, have tendons that retract much faster and stiffer in temperatures below 40° which increased the risk of non contact tears. Coach Belicheck used to do cold camps, which were meant to get the players acclimated to the cold come like December.