Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Blowout: Rhamondre Stevenson & Patriots Run Over Miami, Win 38-10

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pats close out the 2025 regular season in style by blowing out the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium. Let's discuss it and let's celebrate. This is Locked-on Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network, your team every day. What's happening? And I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, been covering the paths for the past 16 years. Also, the co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels on a sports radio veteran. Welcome to Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:49 On today's show, in the third segment, the defense will have plenty of things to fix from this film. But inevitably, they got the job done. And the second segment, the run game has come to life at the perfect time for this football team. But first, just an astounding turnaround from this franchise. Today's episode is sponsored by prize picks. Download the prize picks at Today and use code Lockdown NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. From four wins to three losses, that's what we have witnessed. from the 4 and 13, 2024 season to a 14 and 3, 20, 25 regular season.

Starting point is 00:01:37 From navigating the NFL Tankathon website to see where the Patriots will land, will they get the top pick, will they get a top three pick, from navigating the NFL tankathon site to watching the seating play out in the AFC post season during today's game. The Patriots, it's official. They are the number two seed in the AFC, which means this team will have the opportunity to host at least two playoff games.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Not too shabby. Who thought we would be here? This is a spectacular, unreal turnaround. Led by Mike Vrable. I mean, this has just been amazing. Drake May, in the MVP conversation, Mike Vrable absolutely deserves, serves to be in the coach of the year conversation. Again, just think about this. You had

Starting point is 00:02:31 eight wins combined the last two seasons and you finished this year with 14 wins in the regular season. And you end it in style. You end it convincingly a statement in the second half. This was a close game at halftime. And the Patriots needed to be aggressive at the end of the first half, and thankfully they were, they end up kicking a field goal, 59-yard field goal from your rookie kicker, Andy Boragallis, you get that field goal, you go up a touchdown. You're up 17-10 going into halftime. And trust me, I was sitting there going, man, oh man, this might be tougher than we all anticipated. What will happen in this second half?

Starting point is 00:03:13 What happened in the second half was that the Patriots went out there on the field and said, enough is enough with a better football team we are closing this game out strong we are going to show the effort and we are going to show the finish and the Patriots turned a one possession game into an absolute blowout and that's the type of finish that you wanted to see if the Patriots limped towards the finish line today I don't think any of us would have been freaked out by that but if you win this game by a field goal if you win this game by a touchdown if the second half looks a lot like the first half. You go into the postseason going,

Starting point is 00:03:51 all right, what's really going on here? Because Miami did not play a number of their best players, right? Devon A. Chan was out. Jalen Waddle was out. Chop Robinson was out. Minka Fitzpatrick was out. If you won this game by a touchdown, I think a lot of people would have walked away and said,

Starting point is 00:04:08 okay, it was a win, and maybe they could have overlooked the dolphins with all those guys out. but how confident are we going into the postseason? You walk away from this second half, you walk away from this blowout, feeling like you're ready. You're ready. I'm not going to sit here and guarantee a championship.

Starting point is 00:04:27 I'm not even going to guarantee a deep run in the playoffs. We'll see. It's wide open the AFC. I will tell you the Patriots have absolutely a chance, a shot at getting to the Super Bowl. In this particular year, with this particular postseason, no Joe Burrow, no Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, of course, is going to be in the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:04:48 The Buffalo Bills are the sixth seed, so the Patriots will play the Chargers. That is official. But you walk away from this second half and you walk away from this football game saying, all right, they went out there and they put their foot on the throat of the dolphins in that second half.

Starting point is 00:05:06 Everyone pretty much played in this game today. Everybody that wasn't hurt for the Patriots, they went out there and played. Drake May played three quarters, but you also had Milton Williams out there playing deep into the second half. You had Will Campbell out there playing. You had Kishon Booty who also returned. You had your two 30 plus year old tight ends playing into the third quarter and through three quarters in this game. So you look at it, and this was Mike Rable telling his team, we're going to finish. We're going to finish this regular season. We're going to play our guys. We're not going to sit

Starting point is 00:05:43 here and play games. That's not what we're going to do. That's not what this organization is about. And the way that Mike Vrable has consistently preached to this roster about the effort and the finish, you knew that they were going to run through strong here. You knew that they were going to play their guys. It wasn't if it was for how long. And as the Patriots got to a three touchdown lead, you felt like, okay, this one's wrapped up. Let's get these guys out. Now, they played a little bit more, and they got up by the four touchdowns. But I thought that Mike Vrable handled the management of his team as well as you could. Because meanwhile, in Denver, the Chargers were only down by a possession.

Starting point is 00:06:26 You go to the half in that Denver Chargers game, and that's a football game. So the Patriots can't sit there guys. They've got to continue to play their guys because you're still gunning for the one seed. And if there was an upset in Denver, which didn't happen. But if there's the upset in Denver, you want to make sure you run through the tape. You finish this thing off and you get the one seed and you get that by week. Now, that's not what happened. But the Patriots finished strong.

Starting point is 00:06:52 They played their guys. The Chargers are going to be the matchup. The Chargers lost to Denver in Denver without Justin Herbert, who was dealing with a broken hand, dealing with his two starting tackles being out. They're not going to be back, but I will say the Chargers today. They were competitive against the Broncos, and that Chargers defense showed up, and they played hard for Jim Harbaugh. But that's the matchup.

Starting point is 00:07:21 Now, of course, we'll have all of this week to break down Chargers Patriots, but it will be the Patriots as the two seed, finishing 14 and 3 from four wins a year ago to three total losses this year. an amazing, amazing turnaround. We have a lot to get to on this live stream. We've got to pour through this football game. Ramandre Stevenson keeps cooking defenses. He keeps eviscerating defenses.

Starting point is 00:07:52 We'll talk about that and more next. As we continue with today's lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. Kicking off the year feeling good is the goal, right? And honestly, hydration is the easy. to win. When I stay on top of it, my energy, focus, and mood all level up. But let's be real. Plain water doesn't always cut it, especially when you're grinding through long days, hitting the gym, or just trying to stay consistent with your health goals. That's where drip drop

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Starting point is 00:08:57 Stock up now at dripdrop.com and use promo code lockdown. NFL. This episode is brought to you by prize picks. Whether you're starting a new routine or jumping into player projections for the first time, trying something new can feel like a challenge. But with prize picks, it always feels good to be right. With high pressure football matchups every weekend, an elite hoops action almost every night, the action never slows down. And prize picks lets you stay in control. Prize picks is the daily fantasy app that makes watching sports even more exciting by letting you build lineups based on player projections, no drafts, no weight, just pick more or less and play your way.

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Starting point is 00:09:59 after your first $5 lineup. prize picks it's good to be right you already live your team every day now take it up a level and go ad free join the everyday or club today get locked down patriots with no interruptions members only discord access and more all for just five dollars a month or 50 bucks for the year go to lockdown patriots dot supercast dot com or check the link in the show notes to learn more and don't forget as you watch here on youtube whether you're watching live or you watch demand click that thumbs up give us a like that helps us with the algorithm that will bring more people into this community don't forget to throw your comments in as well how do you feel

Starting point is 00:10:40 patriots 14 and three my guy marcus jumps in and says lfg we are so back nick it feels that way doesn't it it feels that way how do you feel don't forget to like don't forget the comment and don't forget to subscribe i also love patriots fans because we've got jared saying i'm not worried about the chargers so that's jared and then leo jumps in and says says, great year, but let's see if they can win a playoff game. That just feels like so much like New England to me. Anonymous says, what a great ending to the season. Yeah, a blowout is always nice.

Starting point is 00:11:16 Always nice. I see some people talking about the MVP. Look, Drake May should be the MVP. He's still my MVP. I don't care how many touchdowns that Matthew Stafford is going to throw from the one yard line. You know, the Rams were up by double digits against the Cardinals late in the fourth quarter and Sean McVeigh is calling passes from like the one so Matthew Stafford can, you know, pad the stats and get another short touchdown throw. Zippity do do do. Wippity do. Don't care.

Starting point is 00:11:43 Drake May to me is still the MVP of the league this year. I don't know if that's what the vote's going to be, but it is what it is. I think May should be the MVP. But today's story, today's story was not Drake May. Today's story was the run game. The run game for the Patriots took over. And I've been saying from the very beginning of the season, you do not want to be pass only, right? You don't only want to be able to have an offense that throws the football but can't run the football. You want an offense that can be balanced. You want an offense that can have Drake May cooking and have your running backs being incredibly effective. You don't want to have a one note offense. And today, today you saw the run game and the run game has started to take

Starting point is 00:12:32 on some life. Josh McDaniels talked about it last week. He talked about how he thought the run game continued to get better as the season came to a close. And if you go into the playoffs, you get ready for the Chargers next weekend and you have Drake May putting together this MVP season to go along with that type of run game that we saw today, that offense is devastating. That offense is a handful. I would make the argument that right now, Ramandre Stevenson is the second best offensive player on this team. He has certainly been the second best offensive player on this team for the past four or five weeks. Remandre Stevenson has found another gear. He has been simply terrific. Seven carries, 131 yards and two touchdown runs. Seven for a buck 31 with two

Starting point is 00:13:25 touchdowns. He also sprinkled in two catches for 22 yards in a touchdown. And we saw it again. How about Ramandre Stevenson, the route runner? How about spreading your running back out at the line of scrimmage, lining him up, getting him lined up against the linebacker, and Drake May knowing that we can eat. And that's precisely what happened. Drake May looked over at Ramandre Stevenson, saw the matchup against the linebacker and said, oh, we're going to eat. This is a touchdown, easy, peasy, no big deal. And Ramadre Stevenson runs a slant and go.

Starting point is 00:14:04 He runs a slug-o route against the linebacker and torches him. Daryl Dotson had no chance, absolutely zero chance against Ramandre Stevenson. Three total touchdowns on the day. Remandre Stevenson was a superstar today, running with strong finish the yards after the contact the guy just continues to have tacklers bounce off him the contact balance is ridiculous i mean just absolutely ridiculous contact balance getting hit by two or three guys staying on his feet somehow rumbling and stumbling

Starting point is 00:14:45 and bumbling all the way down right the the strong finish the contact balance the good vision being a passing game mismatch against linebackers and I think he's going to be a mismatch even against some safeties. Remandre Stevenson has been absolutely stellar the last month or so. This is his best stretch, I think, of football that we've ever seen from him. I think this is the best Remandre Stevenson we have seen in a Patriots uniform. I'm not hearing people wanting to cut him anymore. I'm not hearing people complain about his contract. I'm not seeing people on Twitter posting about, oh, how much money did they give Ramandre Stevenson? Nobody. Nobody cares about that stuff anymore.

Starting point is 00:15:27 And I couldn't care less because Ramandre Stevenson has been a nightmare for defenses. Ever since he's come back and he's gotten healthier with that toe issue, he has been outstanding. And don't overlook Trayvion Henderson. Trayvion Henderson also has been good. You know, you look at Trayvion and he hasn't been as good. as Ramadre Stevenson has been. But I think that's more to do with Ramadre Stevenson than it is Trayvion Henderson. He finished Trayvon Henderson finished with 13 carries, 53 yards, over four yards a carry,

Starting point is 00:16:02 had two touchdowns, showed some good elusiveness in the backfield. And he also, I think, is running very strong. How many times have we seen Trayvion Henderson the past couple of weeks? It looks like he's going to get stopped. And somehow some way he just keeps his feet and his legs moving and he gets two, four extra yards. We see it consistently from him over the past few weeks, which is a fantastic thing to watch play out.

Starting point is 00:16:28 Trayvion Henderson consistently getting extra yards at the end of runs. And I still think, you know, it's his rookie season. I don't think Josh McDaniels wants to put a ton on his plate. He doesn't want to put too much on the plate and overwhelm the rookie running back. I still think that Trayvion Henderson has a heck of a lot more left in the tank when it comes to being a wide receiver within this offense. And I think we're going to see more of that in 2026. And we might see some of it in the postseason.

Starting point is 00:16:58 Don't fool yourselves. Josh McDaniels, he has kept a few things in the back pocket. There's no doubt. There's no doubt about that. Remember the low red zone runs by Drake May right after the buy against Buffalo in that first half? We haven't seen that since. But Josh McDaniels put it on the film. there are still a number of things

Starting point is 00:17:18 that Josh McDaniels can do with this offense and it should have you excited. It has me excited. In the two-headed backfield that we were hoping, the thunder and the lightning, Ramandre Stevenson, Trevionn Henderson, that's precisely what we have seen over the past few weeks.

Starting point is 00:17:36 And when you get those two running backs going and your quarterback is playing at the level he's been playing at, that is a deadly offense. And by the way, you get Stefan Diggs who finishes with more than a thousand. thousand yards receiving this year, which is just bananas. And it's the variety of looks. It's the variety of looks that this offense can, you know, push onto front sevens in their run game.

Starting point is 00:18:00 They go jumbo. They go six offensive linemen. They can run duo and downhill. They throw pony formation out there at some of these defensive fronts. They mix in some end around, some jet sweeps. Oh, and by the way, your quarterback is also deadly. when it comes to running with the football. Drake May had 41 yards on the ground today.

Starting point is 00:18:21 He had that huge scramble at the end of the first half. Not only was it a big scramble, but also smart football from Drake May, getting out of bounds, saving the time on the clock, which allowed you to have your rookie kicker go out there and drill a 59-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

Starting point is 00:18:40 So when you start to look, you can even call it a three-headed monster, frankly, because I am pretty confident Josh McDaniels is going to use Drake May's legs more when we talk about the red zone, when we talk about short yardage. And if you're a defense and you've got to deal with Trayvion Henderson, Ramandre Stevenson, and Drake May, and all three of those guys can hurt you on the ground. And you've got to deal with them, that's a tough assignment. That is a tough assignment.

Starting point is 00:19:09 And I can't wait to watch this film. I want to see the offensive lines effort. I want to see the wide receivers. How did they do blocking in the run game? But for me, this blowout of the dolphins to finish the regular season at 14 and 3 was all about your run game. Drake May has carried you to this point, but today he did not have to carry you because the running game was so, so deadly. Absolutely fantastic stuff from the run game. And now you go into the playoffs feeling pretty, pretty, pretty.

Starting point is 00:19:42 T good about your ability to not be a one-trick pony and put it all on your quarterback. All right. The defense could have been better. The defense could have been better in some crucial spots, but there were some silver linings to take from today's game. We'll talk about all that coming up next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is sponsored by Better Health.

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Starting point is 00:22:28 two seed in the AFC. They will host the Los Angeles Chargers next weekend. And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe to Lockdown Patriots. we are going to break down this matchup, Chargers, Patriots, better than anyone, right here, all week long. You don't want to miss it. Like, comment, and subscribe. All right, defensively, let's get through the bad stuff first. Okay, we'll quickly get through the bad stuff because I need to acknowledge it.

Starting point is 00:22:58 We try to be fair. We try to be objective. We give you the truth, right? And so when the defense doesn't necessarily step up at times, we're going to talk about it. When Drake May might make a few mistakes. We're going to talk about it. That's what we do. So the bad first, there were a couple of third in longs, very longs,

Starting point is 00:23:16 that the Patriots defense just failed, failed to stop the screen game. There was the third and 17 in the second half in the third quarter. Third and 17, you give up 20 yards. That's inexcusable. Right before the half, the dolphins, third and 17, they get 14 yards. They get 14 yards in a third and 17, which puts them in field goal range. You just can't have it. You have that offense in Quinn Ewers exactly where you want them.

Starting point is 00:23:49 Third and incredibly long. You can't be giving up chunk plays in that situation. You just can't. I thought Carlton Davis had a pretty tough day today. And again, I'll see it better watching the All-22, but it felt like Carlton Davis got beat two or three times. and the Dolphins did not have Jalen Waddle. So getting beat multiple times is not the greatest of looks.

Starting point is 00:24:14 You had the defensive pass interference call on Carlton Davis, which I thought was the right call. And that was right out of the gates in the second half, start the third quarter. You just gift him a chunk play with defensive pass interference. I thought early in this game, a lot of mistackles, way too many mistackles. Craig Woodson missed tackles on back-to-back plays.

Starting point is 00:24:35 He fires through the hole. misses the tackle. And then on the edge, Mrs. A tackle gives up a 15-yard run. Carlton Davis missed a tackle. He had a tackle for loss lined up. He's in the backfield. misses a tackle.

Starting point is 00:24:47 So way too many missed tackles early on. The screen games absolutely killed your defense in third and long scenarios. Carlton Davis was not necessarily great. Miami's first half touchdown, their only touchdown of the game was bad defense, Bad eyes, being undisciplined. We talked about it in the crossover with Kyle Crabs last week.

Starting point is 00:25:10 When you're going against Miami, you've got to be disciplined. You can't get fooled by all the motion and misdirection before the snap. They're going to play a lot of games with you pre-snap. And I thought that both Craig Woodson and Christian Gonzalez, they had bad eyes on that touchdown. Bad eyes, undisciplined, leave a receiver wide open for a TD. So there's going to be plenty. There is plenty on this tape that the Patriots,

Starting point is 00:25:35 It's defense, we'll put it up there in the meetings and say, we've got to clean this stuff up, fellas. Because some of that is just not nearly good enough. If you want to go on a deep playoff run, you can't be giving up 20 yards on a third and 17 or whatever. If it's the end of a half, you can't be giving up 14 yards on a third and 17, setting up a field goal. Every point matters. You're not going to go against the dolphins in the playoffs. So there are a number of things where the defense needs to tighten up. However, there was some good from the defense.

Starting point is 00:26:08 Let's start with Milton Williams. He was back. He was back. And I thought Milton Williams made three or four impact plays. He had the six or seven yard loss on the toss play where he just blew it up and got into the backfield shooting the gap. He had another play where he jumps up and Quinn Ewers is forced to pull the football down. It ends up in a sack.

Starting point is 00:26:33 That was a Milton Williams. impact play. Milton Williams, before his injury was the second best player on this football team this season. And I thought you saw the immediate impact with him on the field against the run, no doubt, against the run and also creating some interior pressure. It was awesome to see Milton Williams back out there on the football field making plays. He had three or four impact plays, looked a lot like himself. And now you and I, we should all. all be excited that Milton Williams is back, and he is going to be someone that the Los Angeles chargers are going to have to deal with consistently next weekend.

Starting point is 00:27:16 The pass rush, the Patriots, had four or five sacks in this game. I thought there were at least one, if not a couple of sacks thanks to it felt like good coverage. You had a Marcus Jones Blitz, which ended up being a sack as well. Kalevon Chase on in the fourth quarter picked up a sack. and picked up, apparently, an extra $500,000 with that sack. So Caleb-on-Chayson gets on the board. I thought Christian Barmore made a couple of plays.

Starting point is 00:27:45 And he made an impact. So it's nice to see Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, back together again on the inside of that defensive line, causing some havoc. You look at the Red Zone. Patriots did a good job in the Red Zone. Miami was one for three in the Red Zone. And of course, the Patriots had the interception.

Starting point is 00:28:07 Jalen Hawkins had the pick in the end zone. I don't know what Quinn Ewers was doing on that play, but the Patriots were better in the red zone defensively. And the Patriots offense was terrific in the red zone. They were four for five in the red zone as an offense today. And that's what you get when the run game is going. The run game is going. You know, you can really.

Starting point is 00:28:32 put some pressure on defenses and so four for five in the red zone offensively one for three in the red zone defensively all in all a good day in the red area and that's my biggest concern i've been talking about it as we get ready for the playoffs can you score can you be efficient offensively in the red zone especially the low red zone area and defensively can you be better than you've been because they've been awful this year and today they were better. Not perfect, but better. And I'll take it. I'll also take 14 and 3. I will take the number two seat in the AFC, the opportunity to host two playoff games. If you take care of business, and who knows, if Denver gets knocked off, if Denver gets upset early in the playoffs, maybe just maybe,

Starting point is 00:29:23 you will have a chance to host the AFC championship game. But let's not get too far ahead. 14 and 3, an amazing turnaround, no doubt, an amazing turnaround for this program. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listening for being an everydayer. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. And don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Hit that like button. Give us a thumbs up.

Starting point is 00:29:47 Help a brother out and subscribe. And if you're looking for a gift for someone, make it easy. Ask for the Everydayer Club. Add free episodes of this show, exclusive Discord server access, and more. subscriptions can be gifted through lockdown patriots.supercast.com. Have a great rest of your Sunday, and we will see you next time.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Blowout: Rhamondre Stevenson & Patriots Run Over Miami, Win 38-10

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