Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Back On Top - New England Patriots Take AFC East Lead heading into Week Twelve — 11/22/21

Episode Date: November 23, 2021

For the first time since taking home the division title in 2019, the New England Patriots are once again in sole possession of the top spot in the AFC East. Following an impressive 25-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday (their fifth-consecutive win) the Patriots positioned themselves to enter Week Twelve of the 2021 NFL season, with a record of 7-4, and in prime position to contend for a spot in the postseason. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy as the duo discuss the Pats push for the playoffs and take an early look ahead to the Tennessee Titans.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.StatHeroStatHero is the first of its kind Daily Fantasy Sports platform where it’s YOU vs. the HOUSE in head to head fantasy matchups - winner take all. Sign up for FREE - RIGHT NOW - at StatHero.com/LOCKEDON and use promo code LOCKEDON for a One Hundred Percent Deposit Match. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. You are now locked into the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Monday, November 22nd, 2021, and it is kicking off Thanksgiving week with a little hashtag Lockdown Murph Monday right here on your daily home for news, notes, and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. And as always, Locked on listeners,

thank you for making Locked on Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, Locked on Patriots is free and available on all platforms. Greetings and salutations, Patriots Nation, and thank you for kicking off your week here on the pod with me. My name is Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated. I am also your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which, of course, is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

your team every day. And, folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, your feedback, they're always welcomed, very much appreciated. So share that feedback. Send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATENFL. While you're out there doing some Monday meddling through that Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, for the first time since 2019, your New England Patriots sit atop the AFC East division

after the Buffalo Bills dropped their Week 11 contest to the Indianapolis Colts in a big way. Buffalo getting beat down by the Colts, 45-15. And in the process, your New England Patriots have ascended to the top spot in the division. And who would have thought this just a few short weeks ago? Two and four, everyone was sure that this team was headed for mediocrity. And now the Patriots are winners of five straight. 25-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday. And right now new england

patriots currently sit at third place in the conference overall with a chance this weekend to be able to take the top spot in the conference the baltimore ravens would have to fall to the cleveland browns and not to mention that the tennessee titans who also lost yesterday dropping their week 11 contest to the Houston Texans. The Patriots and those Tennessee Titans are set for a matchup this Sunday, November 28th, 1 p.m., Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts. And there's a lot to talk about in Patriots Nation today, starting with their push for a playoff spot.

Which team should the Patriots be keeping a sharp eye on as they head into the home stretch of the season and starting to take a look ahead at the Tennessee Titans? Folks, there's always a lot to talk about on Monday. It's a monster day here on Locked On Patriots, and luckily, it's also hashtag Locked On Murph Monday. And as always, our good green friend, the Count of Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy joins us here today on the hot seat. And Murph and I will talk about the Patriots playoff push. We'll talk a little bit about the teams that the Patriots should be keeping their sharp

eye on. And last but certainly not least, we'll take a quick look ahead at the Tennessee Titans game coming up on Sunday. Kicking off the holiday week with a little hashtag Locked on Murphay when this Monday episode of the LockedOn Patriots podcast continues. LockedOn listeners, does this sound familiar? You've got one device that lets you catch the game live, another device that lets you stream your favorite shows, you're watching sports highlights on your phone,

and you've got your neighbor's best friend's login for the good stuff. Well, I want to tell you about a simple way to get all that entertainment you love without the hassle, and a great way to finally get your TV together. It's called Direct TV Stream, and it brings your live TV and on-demand favorites together like never before, so you can watch your favorite sports, movies, and shows all in one place. That means no more juggling remotes and no need to buy another device ever again. And the best part? There's no annual contract.

So get rid of the clutter and the confusion and get your TV together with DirecTV Stream. You can learn more at directtv.com. That's D-I-R-E-C-T-V dot com. Compatible device required. Content varies by package. Patriots fans, for the first time since 2019, your New England Patriots sit atop the AFC East after a Buffalo Bills loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Of course, a Tennessee Titans loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. And let's not forget a Patriots shutout victory of the Atlanta Falcons 25-0 on Thursday. Your New England Patriots are not just in the driver's seat for the division. They're making a challenge for the top spot in the AFC. And here today to break it all down is a voice and a man you know and love. The green wisdom and counsel that we need to kick off Thanksgiving week here in style on Locked On Patriots. That is right, folks.

He is here. He is ready to roll. Your favorite and mine, my benefactor in this business and the only guest past, present and future with his very own branded hashtag here on the pod. The Count of Murphy, Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy is back for his weekly appearance here on the pod. The Count of Murphy, Pisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy,

is back for his weekly appearance here on Locked On Patriots. Thank you for coming to me in friendship. Thank you for joining me today, Don Murphy. Always my pleasure, Michael. Always my pleasure. And I'm going to ask the first question of the day, if you don't mind. By all means. Patriots Nation, are you not entertained?

Are you not entertained? As Murph says that with his battle gear on, holding the sword and ready to roll. That's right. How about kicking off today's episode with a little gladiator? I love it. It's absolutely great. I used the Back to the Future part to Jifile yesterday to describe it. Something very familiar about all this.

It really does feel like the planets have aligned. Things are back in the position they should be. We've returned natural order to the world and that the New England Patriots are atop the division right now. And look, look, no one is getting ahead of themselves here. There's still a lot of football to be played. The Patriots have four very tough games coming up two of them against the division rival in the Buffalo Bills which say what you will about the Bills maybe the bloom is coming off the rose a little bit but that's still a team that is to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball

they can still make things happen Tennessee looking good right now although they didn't yesterday but you know we'll take a look and uh you know delve into that a little bit as well and of course the wild card and all this Indianapolis playing very hot football right now, the Patriots have them coming up in a couple of weeks, but, um, Murph, we usually get a chance to break down games immediately following. That's why it's hashtag locked on Murph Monday here on locked on Patriots. We love to give our listeners an opportunity to hear your thoughts on postgame. And Steve Balistrieri joined me here on Friday, our good mutual friend. It was great to have Steve back on the airwaves.

For the record, that was Murph, not me, folks. But anyway, no, it's okay. No, no, that was great. I thought that was good. No, that's pretty good. That's okay. You know, they hear worse than that on national television. And Steve will be here tomorrow to retort.

But in any case, I wanted to give our listeners an opportunity for you to give your thoughts on Thursday's game. Because this was a game that was a little odd when it came to Patriots Nation. You look at the 25-0 score and you say, wow, dominant on both sides of the ball. The defense was truly dominant. Offensively, you know, there were some cracks, some fissures on the foundation Murph, when you look back now, having had a couple of days to, you know, digest what we watched on Thursday night, what were your thoughts? What were your major takeaways from the Patriots victory over the Falcons on Thursday night. What were your thoughts? What were your major takeaways from the Patriots victory over

the Falcons on Thursday night? Well, after I took a shower and then another shower and then a third shower, um, uh, to, to try to wipe the smile off my face, it did not work. Um, I, I was, I was thrilled with, with the, um, the effort that was put in by the Patriots' defense, as you reiterate. You know, the offense, yeah, there's a few, you know, things that we could talk about and get on and drag this team down by that Bill rightfully talked about in his press conference after the game. I haven't caught this morning's as of yet, but there are a few things to go over, things that need to be tightened up. But

what are you going to do? You went in there and you beat a quality opponent. Once again, I don't want to hear that they were short at running back or anything. You beat a NFL MVP quarterback on Sunday, and you did it with defense. And what I really liked about it was the fact that Bill knew going in that this is not a man that you are going to confuse and confound and confuddle with, with different, with different defensive alignments, with different, with different looks, with disguising anything that, that wasn't going to happen. They got into, into zone. They stayed there and they let the men up front and do their job.

Yeah. Without any question. I think that's excellent. And that's exactly what the Patriots need to do. They play to the quality of their opponent and the Atlanta Falcons do have quality players on both sides of the ball. I know that's the common knock right now. We're hearing that coming from FS1 or whatever, you know, whatever's coming from that side of the alphabet in terms of what the Patriots are doing in that regard, particularly a source that has his head stuck in Kansas City. But in any case, I'm not going to digress there. Bottom line, the Patriots offensively, defensively, again, they're doing what they need to do in order to be able to beat their opponent. Throughout this current streak of five straight wins that they have, Murph, the Patriots are outscoring their opponents by a margin of 175 to 50.

They're only yielding just 13 points in their last three games. this type of defense that they're putting out there is truly amazing when it comes to the level of prowess that these guys are showing. And bottom line, they're solid at all three levels. That's exactly what Bill Belichick loves to do with a defense like this. He loves to be able to be able to clog the middle, utilize the interior of that defensive line to be able to stop the run. They're solid in the linebacking core, and they're getting great play out of their defensive backfield. J.C. Jackson has been a great corner, a shutdown corner, really rounding into that role. And then you've got that three-headed monster at safety with Devin McCourty, who I thought

played a textbook field on Thursday night. If there was a game ball to be sent out, as much as I love the game that Kyle Van Noy put out there, and he did, he deserves an awful lot of credit. If you want to play defensive backfield in this league, take a look at Thursday night and zero the camera in on Devin McCourty. He was all over the field, breaking up passes, getting into coverage, dictating the flow.

I just thought he was phenomenal. And I can't say enough good things about Devin. And of course, Kyle Duggar, Adrian Phillips doing a great job. Duggar is rounding into that type of defensive back. And you heard Bill Belichick actually say on Monday morning just how much prowess Adrian has been showing in this defense. Had glowing things to say about and went on for over 600 words this morning just on what Adrian brings to the table.

Credit Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal for asking a great question that really sent everyone home in a good mood when it came to Bill's Monday morning press conference. But I agree with you, Bud. I mean, this is an opportunity for the Patriots to build, and they've got quite a formidable appointment coming up here on Sunday night, and we'll talk about that in just a moment. But right now, as we live and breathe, Murph, this team is in first place in the AFC East,

and it has been a long journey, it feels like, since the Patriots have been in this position. But when you look at it at the same time, they're also in a position because of the way that they've been able to play. Smart football on both sides of the ball and great coaching. And now the New England Patriots not only have a chance to make this a strong

division race and try to stay atop this division, but they also have a chance to be able to contend for a playoff spot. Murph, first of all, is this where you believe that the Patriots would be at this stage in the season? Is this a realistic expectation for those of us back in, I don't know, August, September, when we were trying to prognosticate what this team might look like. And do you believe that their path to the playoffs is going to be one that's going to lead them to the playoffs? Or is the jury still out on this team a little bit based on what you've seen?

Record-wise, yes. I do believe that this is where they were going to be at this point in the time. The rub is, the difference is, I didn't think it was beating these teams. The teams that they've been able to shut down and score on over the past five weeks over this winning streak have been amazing. You brought it up a bit earlier with a different number. The last five games, the Patriots are averaging 35 points a game and their opponents are scoring 10. And while I thought that this was going to be always going to be a run first defensive type ball club, I was a little taken aback at how they started out the year, but as we said last week, things took a little bit longer for all these new faces on the defensive side of the ball

to really gel and come together. In trading Stephon Gilmore, it helped to give the remaining guys that are in the defensive backfield, one, a sense that this organization, that Bill trusted them to do what he wants. and two, to set up their identity as more of a zone read and react type defense than it was a man-on-man job. It also, as I said before, allowed what he's done to put together a front seven that is just a bunch of bullies and allow them to maybe overcome some of the shortcomings that that we see in the defensive backfield has has just been phenomenal yeah it really really has it's been a thing of joy to watch and i for one have really enjoyed watching guys like jalen mills emerge. Some coverage issues early on alongside someone like a J.C. Jackson, but he's been more solid lately. There's still issues there, and I'm not saying that Jalen's been perfect, folks,

but take a look at where he was at the beginning of the season as opposed to where he is now, really grown by leaps and bounds, and it shows the dedication that guys like this have. Someone I've been very critical of here on the pod and in my writing is joan williams um i never thought that he really rounded into that second round form that the patriots believed they were getting a couple of years ago when they drafted him out of vanderbilt i was in uh the media room when the patriots drafted him and there was a buzz throughout the media room maybe even more so than when they had drafted nikhil harry the night before saying that, oh, here we go.

Here's that bumper type of corner that they can put alongside Stefan Gilmore. He can be the Brandon Browner to what Darrell Rivas was in the 2014 team that ended up winning a Super Bowl. They thought that was the type of guy that they were getting. And it hasn't worked out like that up until this point. But Williams is starting to come into his own a little bit again not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but he's been better and i think miles bryan has done a very good job uh in the middle of the field in terms of trying to uh replicate uh i guess is the best term for me i sound like i'm at a loss of

words but um trying to replicate what Jonathan Jones gives you in the slot. It really makes you appreciate what that guy can do. And I think Miles has tried to do the best he could, but again, strong play out of the defensive backfield is something that doesn't get quite enough credit from the fans, the media, because this front seven is so formidable and they deserve all the credit they're getting, but give a little love to that secondary as well, who I think have made the best of a rough situation and they deserve all the credit they're getting, but give a little love to that secondary as well, who I think have made the best of a rough situation and they've done it well. And again,

that's why the new England Patriots sit with the chance to advance here into maybe even the top spot in the AFC. As soon as this weekend, if the Patriots beat the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and we'll get into the Titans in just a moment, folks, Cleveland Browns need to defeat the Ravens. We thought we were going to need help from the Steelers. Don't need that anymore.

They lost last night, and that really puts them now into – Yeah, I'm just pissed off at the Bears right now. Yeah, exactly. That would have been nice. Yeah, that would have been nice if they could have hold on to win that, but we'll save the naggy bashing, you know, for later in the week. It's Thanksgiving, Murph. That's another show.

For all of the great things that we've got going. Exactly. That's a special edition of Locked On. Duh, Bears. But in any case, week 12 is going to be a big one for the New England Patriots. And if they can get some help here, that's maybe in the driver's seat and back in control of the conference. And who would have thought that? Just a few short weeks ago, life comes at you fast, and so does the NFL season.

Yeah, we were a miserable group. We were. We absolutely were. We were, you know, Mondays were not as fun as they should be. But Murph and I are bringing fun back to Monday. And don't worry, folks, because we are not done yet. In just a moment, the great Thomas Murphy and I will talk about the New England Patriots opponents coming up, what their path to the playoffs might mean, and also who the Patriots should be concerned about as they head toward the home stretch.

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Bet online, your online sportsbook experts. Patriots fans, they're great. Thomas Murphy is here for his weekly appearance on the pod. Hashtag LockedOnMurphMonday. We're talking some Victory Monday stuff. We're talking some playoffs. And now we're going to get into, I think, what is on the hearts and minds of most Patriots fans right now.

And that is, as they head to the postseason Murph, which teams are poised to give them the most difficulty. Now we've heard coaches like Bill Belichick say several times, all you can do is focus on the team that's squarely in front of you. And we're going to get to those Tennessee Titans in a moment, folks. But there are teams right now that are on the periphery that the Patriots will be competing with for that top spot in the conference. And we mentioned a couple of them to open up the show today. Not just the Titans, but the Kansas City Chiefs are making a run now. They're starting to round into maybe what we thought they were early on in the season.

And they're starting to play their best football heading into the home stretch. The Indianapolis Colts right now at dark horse, when it comes to what, you know, they can do, they're playing very well on both sides of the ball, running the ball so efficiently. Jonathan Taylor has really become arguably the best runner in the league right now. The Baltimore Ravens are still a team that always has to be reckoned with. So when you look at these teams, other than the New England Patriots right now, in terms of the Pats' biggest competition in the AFC,

is there a team right now that worries you? Or do you look at it and say, Patriots can hang with any one of these guys? I think the Patriots can hang with any one of these guys. But the team that still worries me is Buffalo. Buffalo could wreck this season quite quickly, even more quickly than the Patriots jumped back into this and climbed up to their rightful spot at the top of the AFC East. A bad day, a bad game plan,

one turnover too many, and the Patriots could end up going 0-2 against this team and basically steal their fate in not only the AFC East, but in the AFC playoff picture. Yeah, without any question. I'm so glad that you mentioned Buffalo, and I did not mean to slight them. And the teams that I was mentioning,

because the Patriots' ultimate competition in trying to make the playoffs and trying to be a division champion is the Buffalo Bills. And with two games remaining on this schedule, especially the first one being up in Buffalo, it's definitely a concern because this is a team that,

like we said before, Murph is very capable of beating you on both sides of the ball. Josh Allen has had some hiccups lately, but he up until a couple of weeks ago, really arguably until yesterday was playing at an MVP caliber level. He's still capable of putting that type of performance together. If the Buffalo bills can run the football effectively, which has been a

challenge for them. That's an Achilles heel. So you know Bill Belichick is looking at that very closely, but also if he can get his receivers going, get his tight ends going, and then that defense can start to make plays, all of a sudden you're looking at a very tough matchup. So December 6th, the Patriots are going to have their hands full on Monday night football. 20 days, the day after Christmas later, Patriots are going to come and host the Buffalo Bills here in Foxborough. And that could be the one to decide all the marbles. The Pats still have two games left on the schedule after that. The Jags and, of course, the Dolphins. That's always a tough matchup for the New England Patriots down in Miami in the late part of the season.

And, you know in December, January. Those are always going to be tough matchups, but Patriots definitely have to have a very sharp eye on the Buffalo Bills when it comes to their hopes of contending for a playoff spot and maybe for a division title. But that said, they can't look ahead. They can't as a team, and Bill won't allow them to look ahead from the next game against the Titans.

Win the game in front of you, and this game is going to be no easy task to take in hand. Absolutely, absolutely. And that does lead me quite nicely into my final question for you today bud and that is the team in the immediate future for the new england patriots staring them squarely in the face right after thanksgiving dinner is done the patriots are going to have both sharp eyes if they don't already on mike drable's tennessee titans coming to town titans currently still holding on to the top spot in the AFC, but a loss to the Houston Texans yesterday was very surprising.

Uncharacteristically, Tennessee turning the ball over, not able to capitalize on moments that normally they're able to capitalize on. No Derrick Henry in this game. Ryan Tannehill has had his difficulties spreading the ball around. If you force the ball into his hands in obvious passing situations, that seems to be the modus operandi of being able to stifle this team. But don't lose sight of the fact that Tennessee is a very formidable team on defense, one of the better defenses in the league.

And if Adrian Peterson can get going, he can still run the football effectively. We have seen that. Murph, when you look at the Titans this weekend, aside from the fact that this is a big game for the Patriots, they're going to have to be clicking on all cylinders. Is there something about Tennessee right now that Patriots fans should be watching early this week, knowing that this is going to be a difficulty for this team down the stretch? Well, the health and well-being of their wide receiver core is going to be paramount, and we're going to all be watching that coming up to this game.

The key to this game is almost going back into the wayback machine as to how we viewed Ryan Tannehill when he was in Miami, when he did not have this juggernaut of a running back to lean on, to set up his play action, to basically take apart anybody and everybody that he's come up against. Get them into down and distance and put it in Tannehill's hands, allow the front seven to get into his face and make those beautiful, beautiful Ryan Tannehill turnovers and interceptions that we all grew accustomed to love when he was down there in Miami.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And thanks to our good friend, Evan Lazar at CLNS Media, who's provided amazing nuggets of information this week, folks. I try to stay up on as much as I possibly could, but Evan is a true machine. He's a great friend of our program. I do encourage you to follow him on Twitter if you're not doing it already, because Evan is just great. Ryan Tannehill off a play action this season, Murph, with Hunter Henry in the lineup, 10.2 yards per attempt. Without Hunter Henry, 7.5 yards per attempt. So not as much of a drop-off as a lot of people would expect, but it's still significant enough, almost a three-point drop-off.

That's why a lot of people believe that this is not as big of a factor without Henry in the lineup. But it's interesting to see. You have to be able to make the throws when you need to make them. And if the Patriots are going to be able to do that, they need to control that, you know, at the line of scrimmage. And, you know, the defense is going to be looking for ways to be able to keep things out of out of their hands on offense. It's going to be difficult. You know Tennessee is going to be looking to bring the blitz. That's something that Matt Jones and the offensive line had a little

difficulty picking up last week against the Atlanta Falcons. Very similar to what we saw on Thursday, I think is going to be Mike Rabel's approach. Don't forget, Dean Pease has his hands in both of these defenses. There's still a lot of Dean's influence in that defense that the Tennessee Titans are deploying out in Tennessee. So they're going to take a page out of that book. They're going to try to go heavy. They're going to try to use the blitz. And I think at that point, it's going to be up to Josh. It's going to be up to Mac and it's going to be up to that offensive line to be able to pick it up, be able to help shed the ball quickly, utilize play action, power run the way out of the blitz, I think is maybe one of the best ways for them to try to counteract it early on. You use that power run game, get

Damian Harris going, get Ramondre Stevenson going. That'll put them back on their heels. Get Michael Onweu, a tight end jersey. Absolutely. I'm all for that. And I think Mike is somebody that could definitely line up in those situations. And then if all else fails, they could do no huddle. But I mean, to me, the best way to counteract the type of blitz that teams like Atlanta and teams like Tennessee love to deploy is that power run game. That ends up being the case on Sunday afternoon in Foxborough when the Tennessee Titans come to town. Murph, what can I say? Your family here on Locked On Patriots. We start Thanksgiving week off with the Don and give him the opportunity to enlighten all of us on your wisdom, your counsel. You bring it the way only you can, my friend and again that's why we love you here and that's why i uh you know i'm so grateful that you take the time out each and every week to come and lend your wisdom and counsel here and

your friendship and everything that comes along with it uh thanksgiving is truly a time to uh count your blessings uh and uh having you uh as as a friend and as a colleague here in this business and in any walk of life is truly one of my blessings and it always will be folks you should already be following you're very welcome you should already be following this man for any of our new listeners please follow my good friend the count of murphy fisto himself on twitter at teamwork 207 again i say it each and every week the content that this man puts out on e2g sports is always point, click, learn material. Tremendous. The monster keys that he publishes each and every week are essentials to Patriots victories.

You know they're being read up at the front offices in One Patriots Place in Foxborough, and there's a reason for that. It's because the man is never wrong. So please never miss the monster keys or any of the great content at E2GSports.com. And of course, never miss an episode of One Patriot's Place with Murph, our great mutual friend Steve Balistrieri back here on his weekly Tuesday spot, and of course, the Countess of Clas herself, Miss Claire Clasie Claire Cooper, who will be joining us here on Wednesday. It's all about thanks for the family this week,

and we're starting it off with three of our most valued family members. But again, happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for your time, your insight. Honored and humbled as always by your presence. Always my pleasure, Michael. It is not Monday if I don't get to sit down here and talk some Patriots with you. A little ticked off at Steve at stealing all the fire on Friday. But no, it is locked on Murph Monday for a reason. And I will be back here every single week that, that you can, you know, see it in your, your giant heart to have me back. Yeah. We, we had a great one Patriots place this morning. Matt Chatham joined us. Thank you. E2G. And that'll be a lot of fun. It's coming out a bit later. And of course,

yeah, I've got some Patriots and Red Sox content over there at E2G right now. Don't miss it. Definitely do not miss it. And especially when Patriots plays, Matt Chatham, also a good friend of our program, joined us here on the airwave several times. We look forward to having him back here soon as well. But in the meantime, my friend, you and yours have a very, very happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for joining me here today, and we look forward to talking ball with you again here next week post-game to talk Pats Titans,

and it should be a fun one. It always is when you join me here on the pod, bud. Thank you, my friend. I'll be here. And just like that, Patriots Nation, we are one day through your work week, but there's still a whole lot to come, including a Thanksgiving special edition of Crossover

Thursday with myself and Tyler Rowland of Locked on Titans. So keep a sharp eye on that, folks. And of course, a lot of action in between. Steve Balistrieri joining us this week, the Countess of Clas herself joining us this week. And, of course, to bring it all home, a special guest to close out our week. So, to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action,

download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate, and I thank my good friend Thomas Murphy for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's pod, but most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots

a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.