Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Crossover Thursday: New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons in Week Eleven — 11/18/2021

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

It’s Crossover Thursday heading into Week Eleven of the the 2021 NFL Season. Join hosts Mike D’Abate of Locked On Patriots and Aaron Freeman of Locked On Falcons as they preview this matchup between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, November 18th.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.GetupsideJust download the FREE GetUpside App and use promo code TOUCHDOWN to get up to 50¢/gallon cash back on your first tank.  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. Patriots fans and Falcons fans, Thursday night football is almost upon us. Almost ready for kickoff here on the Locked On Podcast Network. It is Crossover Thursday all across the network. And we thank you for making the Locked On Podcast family a daily part of your NFL coverage and your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Podcasts are always free and available on all platforms. And Thursday night football this week, 11 weeks into the NFL season, Atlanta Falcons host the New England Patriots at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

8-20 kickoff. The Patriots and the Falcons getting set to do battle. Patriots coming into this one at 6-4. Falcons coming in here at 4-5. And here today to break down all of the action on Crossover Thursday, I am your host, Mike DeBate, host of the Locked On Patriots podcast. And it is my esteemed honor to be joined by my co-host today, host of Locked On Falcons, the great Aaron Freeman. Aaron, always an honor and a pleasure to do these crossovers.

Been looking forward to this one for a while, bud. Yeah, it's Falcons Patriots. Brings a whole lot of old memories, right? Well, you know, I'm going to try to get through today without any type of final score jokes. So at that point, we'll try to focus on the present and I'll try to endear myself a little more to your fan base because I know that New England Patriots logo is not very well beloved down in Atlanta. And believe me, if the situation were reversed, I could definitely understand it. It still hurts to see a blue helmet with an ny on the side of it it's it's tough it really is I agree but uh this one

is going to be a very interesting game on Thursday night Aaron uh the Falcons I know are coming in after a very tough loss the Cowboys in week 10 the Patriots coming in after their hottest victory of the season 45 to 7 beatdown of the Cleveland Browns. But every game, every day is a new day, and Bill Belichick has been preaching that to the fan base, to his team, most importantly, all week long, that this Falcons team is very much capable of causing difficulty and problems. So when we look at this matchup now and we look at these two teams,

obviously the first name that Patriots fans are going to think of when it comes to the Atlanta Falcons is quarterback Matt Ryan. And for obvious reasons, Matt is still one of the most revered and one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the NFL. This season, coming into this game at 4-5, you know that Atlanta is not where it wanted to be, but there have been some reasons for that. They've had some difficulty in terms of personnel and some injury hard luck.

Matt is having his issues with being able to find open receivers, things of that nature. Kind of walk us through, for the benefit of our Patriots fans listening, how the season has gone for Matt Ryan and how he may look to attack this Patriots defense Thursday night. Well, if the Patriots fans were listening to Lockdown Falcons the first couple of weeks of the season, they heard me constantly complaining about the fact that the Falcons refused to play their starters in the preseason because it felt like with a new offense, they need to get these guys ready to play in as many reps as possible. And it looked like the Falcons, at least offensively coming out of the gates for those first three games of

the regular season, were sort of still in preseason mode. You know, there were some positive moments during those weeks, but it was mostly just kind of lackluster and certainly not the start of the 2021 season. I think a lot of folks were hoping for under new head coach, Arthur Smith and bringing some of that success that he had in Tennessee offensively. So it was a little bit of a slow start for Matt Ryan and there were starting to be a lot more concerns and buzz about, oh, did the

Falcons keep Matt Ryan past his expiration date? Is that fast approaching? But then, you know, sort of starting in that week four game against Washington, unfortunately, the Falcons defense kind of let them down at the end of that game. But Matt Ryan played exceptionally well. And for the most part, since then, the Dallas game being an exception, Carolina a couple of weeks ago, not another great game. But outside of that, he's been outstanding and looking much more natural in this Arthur Smith offense and producing at the level that, you know, a lot of people thought he still had a lot more good football left in the tank for him. And for the most part this season, outside of those first three games, he has shown that. And some of that is owed to the emergence of Kyle Pitts, their rookie tight end.

We know that when Matt Ryan is surrounded by playmakers, whether you go back to the days of Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez or the last decade of Julio Jones, if he has weapons to throw to, he will find ways to get the ball into those playmakers hands. And we saw that over the last couple of weeks with their rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, who's been one of the more productive tight ends in the NFL. So it looks like Matt Ryan has still got a lot of good football left in him. We wish it was a little bit more consistent week to week because it's kind of been up and down at least over these last couple of games. But certainly, I think Matt Ryan is still looking like one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. Yeah, without any question. And I'm glad you mentioned that when he does have a good amount of weapons or competent weapons at his disposal, he will find ways to be able to do that. Of course, all our thoughts are with Calvin Ridley

right now. Of course, his absence has definitely helped to contribute to that. You mentioned Kyle Pitts, and that has been a very hot topic of conversation here in New England. The prolific tight end that can really do it all, really that can't miss prospect coming out of the draft this year was really going to be one of the highlights in terms of offensive production, especially at the tight end position. And he's looked to be everything is advertised and more. When you look and cover Kyle on a regular basis, Aaron, I know you see that dual threat capability, the guy that can line up as a receiver and can be so effective in that role, but also someone that knows his responsibilities in terms of blocking and in terms of positioning himself to be able to be a full, well-rounded player.

How much of a difficulty is it for teams to try to contain him? Because Bill Belichick has been preaching that all week long, and you know that he's hard at work developing defensive game plans and schemes to try to take him out of the game. Kyle Pitts has been the Falcons' most consistent offensive weapon. I don't think that's been a surprise to anybody this season. A lot of the Falcons' success with Kyle Pitts coming in is not utilizing him as a pure tight end. It's a lot more essentially using him as a big slot receiver, as well as lining him out wide as sort of that big wide out that the Falcons are now lacking with Julio Jones, you know, departed to Tennessee. And what you're seeing from Kyle Pitts, you know, it's funny because like for many, many years, people joked and certainly fantasy folks

joked that, you know, Julio Jones puts up all these yards and all these catches, but never scores touchdowns. And Kyle Pitts was expected to come into atlanta and and sort of nip that in the bud and score a bunch of touchdowns and so far this easy to win there's one touchdown uh so it just feels like there's something hanging around the city of atlanta where their number one wide receiver just for some reason does not seem to score a lot of touchdowns but uh like julio jones kyle pitts does seem to catch a lot of footballs and make a number of plays and has been their go-to playmaker. And when the Falcons are getting the ball into the hands of Kyle Pitts, this offense looks good. We saw this last week.

Even though the Falcons only scored three points in that game, Kyle Pitts started to get going on the first couple of drives, and it looked like, okay, this offense is going to be cooking. And then after that point, he wasn't really a big part of the team's offense for the rest of the game. And I think that was a big reason why the Falcons weren't able to move the ball consistently and put any points on the board. And so because of the absence of Calvin Ridley, a lot of this Falcons offense is geared around Kyle Pitts. The secondary weapon for this team has been these last couple of weeks with Cordero Patterson, and he may miss this game. He's considered a game-time decision on Thursday night. So it's going to be important for the Falcons to get Kyle Pitts involved because right now the other weapons with Ridley out of the

lineup, Russell Gage has had three games this season where he has had zero catches this year, and he's supposed to be the team's number two pass catcher, and that's just not production that you can rely on. So if Bill Belichick can do the thing that he often is revered for doing, which is taking away your best weapon, it's going to be hard-pressed for the Falcons to produce offense if some of these other playmakers don't step up. But taking Kyle Pitts out of the equation can be easier said than done. And he's been very effective outside of a handful of games when he's faced guys like Stephon Gilmore, who you're very familiar with, and Marshawn Lattimore.

But outside of those two games where those guys were kind of shadowing him and responsible for slowing him down, he's been really effective going up against teams that play a lot of man coverage. And I know that's something that the Patriots pride themselves on. So I feel like this is an opportunity that, that he can really show what his skillset is going up against his Patriots team.

But it's going to be an interesting battle to see what Bill Belichick can scheme up to stop him. Yeah, it will be interesting. And one thing that the Patriots have had their share of difficulties with this year is covering prolific tight ends. Dalton Schultz was able to really give this team difficulties when the Cowboys came into town and played the Patriots back in week six. So it's going to be very interesting to see how Bill Belichick may choose to match up.

Does he throw JC Jackson on him and cover him like a receiver? Does he use a tandem of a guy like Adrian Phillips and Kyle Duggar to try to take away what he does best? Because those guys are their tight end erasers. And I say that tongue in cheek. It's really not an easy task to erase a tight end especially one as prolific as Kyle Pitts but the Patriots are going to try to get creative on this that's a matchup I'm really looking forward to seeing before I ask you a final question on the Falcons defense before

we turn this over and make this an official crossover and put myself on the hot seat you did mention Cordero Patterson and that's a name that Patriots fans know very well from his time here in New England really has emerged I think as one of the more versatile offensive weapons in all of football. Someone who can carry the ball out of the backfield, but also be a very adept wide receiver. You mentioned his presence as being a very key part in the Falcons being able to move the ball. What are you hearing on his status? We know that Coach Smith has said that it's probably going to be a game time decision. If you had to give it a percentage, what percentage would you say that we see Cordero Patterson suit up on Thursday night? Well, Mike, I'm reputed to be

a pessimist, so take that, I guess, with a, maybe take this with a grain of salt, but I have the feeling that the Falcons are saying the things to make sure that the Patriots spend their time this week on this short week preparing for Cordero Patterson. But I do not personally expect him to play. I just feel like this is what the Falcons are saying to make it seem like he's going to play. But we'll just sort of have to see. He has gone through some drills and warmups throughout the week. So I won't sit here and say there's a 0% chance, but I would probably say it's less than 50% if I was going to put a number on it. But then again, I'm sure my listeners know how bad I am when it comes to picking games and making these bets. So maybe it's not necessarily something that you should put

a whole lot of stock in. Yeah. At the same time, I think I'm always equally as the same way. I had a three-player panel of players to watch and wasn't even activated a couple of weeks ago. So yeah, you know, folks, that's why they have inactive lists when these games are played and keep a sharp eye on those heading into this contest on Thursday night. But thank you for your candor on that. Patriots fans, take that for what you will. Again, before we turn this into a true crossover, I did have one final question because we haven't

talked much about the Falcons defense, which is a kind of an enigmatic defense where they can provide difficulty in the front seven. They also can provide some very stout coverage in the secondary. And a guy that really I'd like to zero in on, this cornerback, A.J. Terrell. He really stands out as that smart, instinctual player that you want covering your defensive backfield. He hasn't allowed more than 30 yards in coverage a game this season. That's pretty good in terms of being able to control any type of offensive rhythm that the Patriots may try to find. How will the Falcons attempt to utilize Terrell this week? Do you think that they try to put him on maybe a Hunter Henry, who's been one of their red zone targets, the Patriots, that means? Or do you think they may be better off suited to have him covering one of their

receivers like a Nelson Aguilar or maybe a Kendrick Bourne or possibly even a Jacoby Myers? How do you see Terrell being able to pace this defense this week? Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what the Falcons do moving forward because it's very clear that A.J. Terrell is one of their best players. And while the rest of the secondary isn't bad, it certainly isn't good. And it seems like there's a no-fly zone around the area of the field where A.J. Terrell is. And then teams just basically go after the other players. And we saw CeeDee Lamb really feast on the Falcons slot receiver. And since

the season-ending injury to Isaiah Oliver back in week four, the Falcons have really struggled there in that slot corner position. And we'll see what the Patriots do with Jacoby Myers, who I understand is their primary slot receiver. And so he's their primary pass catcher as well. So that seems like another sort of tough matchup. But getting to AJ Terrell, the Falcons have not necessarily been a team that has asked AJ Terrell to move around. They basically park him on the left side of that defense and he's going to face whichever wide receiver lines up on that side of the ball. And sometimes that's opposing teams. Number one, sometimes it's not like last week it was Amari Cooper, but that allowed CD Lamb to feast on the other side of the field in that Dallas game. And so, you know, I think part

of the reason why is Dean Pease, another coach that's familiar to Patriots fans, basically he's explained it as if he moves A.J. Terrell, that means he has to move everybody else. And I don't know if he's comfortable given in this first year and still it feels like the Falcons are still kind of learning this defense of basically having all these moving parts. And so I feel like the Falcons are going to probably continue to be what they have been this season, which is conservative with A.J. Terrell, and just basically say, okay, park him on that side of the field. We're not going to give up a whole lot of completions to that side.

And so that at least theoretically allows us to maybe scheme ways to mask issues on the opposite side of the field, although that hasn't been particularly effective for this secondary and defense this season. So I don't expect to see AJ Terrell travel with anybody. I don't expect him to do anything different than what he has done this season.

So essentially my expectations are whoever the Patriots receiver that lines up on that right side of the offense against the left side of defense probably will not have a particularly productive day, but it will give a lot of opportunities for the other receivers on the opposite side of the offense against the left side of defense probably will not have a particularly productive day, but it will give a lot of opportunities for the other receivers on the opposite side of the field to produce against the weakest part of the Falcon secondary. Patriots fans, he is Aaron Freeman. Excellent Falcons coverage and a wealth of knowledge. Aaron, thank you so much for sharing that with our listener base at Locked On Patriots.

And Patriots fans fans be sure to follow him on Twitter at Falcfans F-A-L-C-F-A-N-S great Falcons coverage from top to bottom all throughout the season we know there's still a lot of Matt Ryan fans up in Boston from his time at BC so be sure to give him a follow and keep a close eye on the great work that he does each and every day but it is Locked On Crossover Thursday here on the network, and we are going to make this an official crossover in just a moment. Crossing the streams, Patriots Falcon style, Aaron Freeman puts me on the hot seat when Locked On Crossover Thursday continues.

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Bet online, your online sportsbook experts. So we're continuing Crossover Thursday here. Aaron Freeman of Locked On Falcons, Mike DeBate of Locked On Patriots. A lot of memories in this game. We're switching gears, talking a little bit more about this Patriots team that is coming off a very impressive four-game win streak, has won five out of the last six games, been putting up a high degree of offensive production. We talked a little bit about the Patriots matchup against Kyle Pitts, and I feel like, as you discussed earlier, Mike,

that Patriots have a wealth of options to try to limit Kyle Pitts, and we'll see if they can succeed. But I want to talk a little bit more about one of the standout players on that Patriots defense, Matt Judon. I remember tweeting this offseason looking at Matt Judon and thinking, oh, this is a buyer's beware and free agency. A lot of his production in Baltimore is probably owed to that scheme, that aggressive blitz heavy scheme that they have under Wink Markendale. he's going to get paid by some team and he's going to be a letdown and i guess matt jadon read all those tweets and has been inspired and played with a chip on the shoulder because he is out here you know killing teams nine and a half sacks halfway through the season i think the first on you know assuming that he's going to continue that streak uh be the first double-digit sack player for the Patriots since Chandler Jones,

and it's been a couple of years since then, if I'm not mistaken there. So talk a little bit about Matt Jadon and what he has done to this Patriots defense that, you know, for these last couple of years has not been known to do a lot, to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback. Yeah, I think you hit the nail right on the head, Aaron. Basically what he's done is he's transformed the way this defense is capable of playing. And I wasn't aware of some of those tweets. I'm going to have to bring those to his attention when we see Matt postgame this week. You know, I'm sure he'll love to hear it. No, just kidding, folks. Bottom line, Matt Judon has really been a breath of fresh air in this defense. What he's done is be able to not only bring pressure

on the quarterback, but he's also very adept at playing in the middle part of that linebacking core to be able to facilitate strong run defense. And he has worked so well in tandem with rookie defensive tackle Christian Barmore. These two are really becoming a pass rush tandem to be feared in the AFC simply because they complement each other's style so well. Barmore has the ability to push the pocket, keep after, get that clogging-type middle defense that you need in order to be able to stop the run. But Judon is someone that is capable of moving all over the field. He can drop back into coverage. He can hit and get after the passer, and he's done that so well. But one thing that he really has done also that is a little bit away

from the field, not so much what he does in game, is be able to bring levity back to that locker room. There's a little bit more of a swagger now in the Patriots locker room when it comes to that defense. And guys like Matt Judon and someone like Kyle Van Noy, who's a returning player after spending a year in Miami, they're bringing that swagger, they're bringing that confidence back to that defense that they didn't have last year. And I think in a lot of ways that becomes infectious. Players feed off of that. They feed off of the confidence and they feed off of the swagger that a lot of these players bring to the table. It allows them to do great things. And having someone like a Matt Judon who has to be accounted for on every snap, every single play.

It allows other guys to be able to free up. I mentioned Barmore, but it goes beyond that. Devon Godchild in the middle part of that defense and that interior of the defensive line, along with Lawrence Guy. Dietrich Wise is having one of the best seasons he's had here in New England simply because he's able to focus as a true 3-4 defensive end and get after the quarterback. He led the team last week in quarterback carries, quarterback pressures, and sacks.

So it really is a ripple effect, but it really does all begin with Judon's impact and what he's meant for this team. I can't say enough good about him because he really has transformed the way they play defense. Now, the Patriots were known a couple of years ago with Stephon Gilmore, who we touched upon earlier in the episode when he was defensive player of the year for having a really outstanding secondary. But these last couple of years, they've seemingly felt like they can survive in a post-Stephon Gilmore world, and it seems like Bill Pelichek's assessment of that has been accurate, in part due to the emergence of a player like JC Jackson.

We already talked a little bit about this Patriots team relying a lot on their man coverage and in relation to their ability to match up with a playmaker like Kyle Pitts. Talk a little bit about that Patriots secondary and whether or not, you know, that is sort of the key to their success. We talked a little bit about their front already, but, you know, sort of where is this Patriots defense built? Is it one of these teams that relies on the back end to sort of build, you know, back to front? Or is this a team that now with the presence of

players like Barmore and Judon, those guys are sort of doing a little bit more of the heavy lifting for this defense? Yeah, the front seven is the gem of this defense without question. And it's because of guys that we've talked about, like Matt Judon, like Christian Barmore, that really provide that presence up front, and it allows them to be so versatile, but this is still a better secondary than I think they get credit for. Do they miss Stephon Gilmore? Yeah, I'm going to come right out and say it. They definitely do miss Stephon Gilmore. You don't get rid of a player like that and not feel some sort of step back or feel some sort of a void when he's not on the field.

But that being said, JC Jackson has emerged into a true number one corner on this team. One of the top ball hawking cornerbacks in the NFL calls himself now Mr. I.N.T. And a lot of people may see that as a little bit, maybe a little bravado on that. But he's backing it up. He's really he's playing well in that regard and he has been someone that can erase your top target so one of the things that i'll be watching very closely on thursday is to see if he aligns on kyle pitts most of the night if he does you know that bill belichick has devised that scheme to say okay we're going to play man and we're going to have jc go

ahead and take away your top option which he's done several times but the secondary goes beyond just jc jackson there are players that are making contributions jalen mills struggled a little this year as a newcomer coming on and playing the second outside corner role he's come on a little bit lately and he's been able to settle into that role a little bit better. They lost their top slot cornerback, Jonathan Jones, at the end of October. He's out for the year with shoulder surgery. Patriots plugged in Miles Bryan, who was a practice squatter earlier this year. Second year rookie free agent that they brought in last year. Miles has been pretty good in that role as well. And even someone like a Juwan Williams,

who was a second round pick in 2019, hasn't really emerged into that threat that the Patriots thought he would be. He's been solid, giving them some contributions on the outside. So that secondary, that cornerback room has kind of had to backfill for a lot of difficulty and they're playing with a lot of uncertainty. They've done relatively well. And one of the things that's helped them to do it is that they have three strong safeties behind them. Devin McCourty, the captain, he continues to be the pace setter in that defense and the guy that makes it all happen.

You look at two guys like Adrian Phillips and Kyle Duggar who complement each other so well. Phillips playing that star role of a guy that can switch up, play a little bit linebacker, and then come back in and play the free or the strong safety. Duggar has really been like that thumper in the backfield. He's had a couple of interceptions in the last few games. So the Patriots are doing the best they can to backfill.

But if there is a spot to be had in this Patriots defense, it's outside corner. If I'm Matt Ryan, that's what I'm studying, because that's where you can make things happen against this defense. Now, switching gears to the Patriots offense, it's seemingly all about Mac Jones and his emergence. And to my eye, it seemed like a lot of his early success was built mainly off of quick game and short throws. But really over the last month, it seems like the Patriots are opening up their offense and being a little bit more comfortable with him taking more shots on the field. And he's been very productive doing that. Is that a fair assessment? And sort of what are your thoughts on Mac Jones's comfort level within the Patriots offense at this point in time, his development so far this season? And what do you sort of expect from him this week going on the road against a team like the Falcons?

Yeah, I think that's a very good assessment, Aaron. I think you hit the nail going on the road against a team like the Falcons. Yeah, I think that's a very good assessment, Aaron. I think you hit the nail right on the head. It's comfort. And the Patriots have more comfort in being able to let Mac control the tempo, control the things at the line of scrimmage that quarterbacks do. And I don't want to say they didn't have confidence in him at the beginning part of the season, but a lot of people forget that Mac is a rookie. I think that's well known throughout the league.

That's not really well-known in Foxborough. People are coming in, seeing the similarities of the way he kind of looks and throwing motion like Tom and things of that nature, and they automatically start having those types of flashbacks from 20 years ago of a young Tom Brady emerging into what he would become in this league. That's a little bit unfair to put on Mack's shoulders. It's unfair to put on anybody's shoulders. But Mac is forging his own identity because he is the type of quarterback

that runs the Patriots offense exactly how they love it to be run. You mentioned that predicated on timing-based, quick, accurate throws where only the receiver can get it. This time now what he's doing is he's not only throwing it where only the receiver can get it, but time now what he's doing is he's not only throwing it where only the receiver can get it, but he's also throwing it into areas where they can make things happen with the ball. That's been the biggest difference in Mac Jones. He's allowing guys to get yards after the catch. He's throwing into tighter windows. He's not afraid to take a few more shots down

the field. These are things that he didn't do early on in the season. And a lot of that is because of Mac's maturity. Some of that is because of Mac's maturity. Some of that is because of Josh McDaniels, the offensive coordinator, having more confidence in Mac's ability to be able to do it. That blend has really worked out well. And because of that, Mac is developing such a great synergy with receivers like Kendrick Bourne and Jacoby Myers and a tight end like Hunter Henry, who's been his best red zone target. If Mac can continue to utilize these skills and hone them in, the Patriots are going to be bright

at the quarterback position for a number of years. Now, as much of it pains me to say, the Patriots seem to know how to do this stuff right, right? They know how to develop quarterbacks. I've heard that their head coach is pretty good at his job. And it seems like part of the strategy with Mac Jones being a rookie quarterback is to run the football. That takes a lot more pressure off of your quarterback to have to get back there and throw the ball 35, 40 times a game in order to win. They've been very successful running the football with three headed backfield. I know they've had guys in and out of the lineup, much to the chagrin of my fantasy team damian harris missing a game here or there um but uh remandre sieverson's doing some good work there uh talk about this patriots running game are they going to be a team

now that mac jones is getting a little bit more comfortable are they going to be a team that's going to be as committed moving forward uh to this run game do you think going into this game against the falcons they're going to we're going to pound the ball down the throat of this Falcons defense? We saw Carolina put 200 yards on the ground against this Falcon team, and that's something we're going to exploit. Or is this because they're a little bit more comfortable with Matt Jones, given some of the concerns we've already talked about with the Falcon secondary? They'll go into this game feeling like they can pick apart the secondary

and sort of let the ball fly through the air. I still think they're going to be a run first option team, Aaron. And I think that's how this team is built. And that's how they're predicated, especially if Damian Harris returns to the lineup. He's been practicing. Wednesday's injury report is going to be telltale in terms of what we believe his status will be for this game. There's optimism throughout the building that he'll be able to go.

But ultimately, with a head injury and concussion protocol, you can never be too careful. So it'll be interesting to see how he's able to go through the progressions. If he clears protocol, if he's in there, that gives the Patriots a two headed monster at the running back position. That really is going to be tough for any team to defend. That's not a knock on the Falcons at all.

That's simply just the way this team is built, and that's exactly how they wanted to be built coming out of training camp. Run the ball first, use the run to open up and facilitate play action, and allow Mack to be able to hit his targets in short yardage. That being said, that's going to be the game plan for the Patriots moving forward for most games. They may look to test the secondary a little bit, but look, there are secondary guys back there. We mentioned AJ Terrell the last time. He can make plays happen, so I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see Mack a little bit more conservative. A guy we haven't mentioned, former Patriot Deron Harmon at Strong Safety. He knows this offense. He knows what the Patriots do, studied under Bill Belichick and knows how to

take plays away, and he's more than capable of being able to cover some of the tight endage that they use, also being able to cover some of the wide receivers that they have. So this could be an opportunity for Mack to test the secondary a little bit. But if I'm Josh McDaniels and Mack Jones, I'm not getting too cute. There are players in that Falcons defense that can make them pay for that if they try to get a little overaggressive or maybe push the envelope a little bit. Yeah, I think for the Falcons, they're looking at turnovers as a key to victory for them. If they can take the ball away, that's going to be a big shot in the arm for this defense. That's something that this team has not consistently done this season. I know that's something that

the Patriots defense has consistently done. I think it was, what, five straight games with a turnover, with a takeaway, or whatever the case may be. So if the Falcons secondary gets tested, hopefully they will show up and maybe make the Patriots pay. So we'll sort of see what that game plan is, and we'll get into looking at the potential line for this game on Thursday night, as well as some keys to victory as we continue today's crossover Thursday. So we're continuing crossover Thursday here with myself, Aaron Freeman and Mike debate of lockdown Falcons and lockdown Patriots, respectively. And looking at this bet online line, let me check it one last time to make sure it didn't change in the last couple of minutes.

Oh, yeah, okay. Patriots still favored by more than a touchdown, seven and a half points. Mike, do you feel good about this line? These last couple of weeks with the Falcons, I can say, with the six and a half point line against the Saints, it was like, okay, the Falcons may keep this close as divisional game. The nine point line against the Cowboys last week, it was like, oh, this feels like too much of a line. But no, it was not too much of a line with the Cowboys favored by nine winning by 40 in that game. Where are you sort of looking at this line with this Patriots team on the road being favored by

a touchdown? Favored by a touchdown is a little bit of a slippery slope here. Do I think the Patriots deserve to be favored in this game? Absolutely. Judging by how the Pats played on Sunday in Week 10, judging by how the Falcons played on Sunday in Week 10, yeah, the Patriots are going to come in. They're probably going to be favored. But this is a quick turnaround for both teams, and anything can happen, especially when you're looking at the Falcons as a home team, as a team that can be explosive and can make plays when they're locked in and they're able to find their rhythm. It feels like maybe a touchdown might be a little bit much here, believe it or not,

in terms of how I'm thinking. My thought process is, is I am, you know, favoring the Patriots in this, no question. But to say that a touchdown is a really, you know, small or accurate line, I'm probably going to say that I would err on the side of caution when it comes to that, because there are going to be issues on both sides of the ball for both teams coming off of, you know, short turnaround. Thursday night football is always a toss up when it comes to what you can expect to see. I think the Patriots, especially with a rookie quarterback, and I think people are forgetting that Matt's not playing like a rookie the last couple of weeks, but that can change

at any time. So I would look for that to be a little bit different. I'm a little leery right now on going the full gamut with a seven-point line like that. I think that might be a little overaggressive on the Patriots end. Yeah, I understand that. And I think for a lot of Falcon fans listening after that bitter taste of a 40 40 point beat down by the Cowboys, they're hoping to see the Falcons sort of bounce back and play with, you know, a little bit of a chip on their shoulder at home against a team like the Patriots. Obviously, this coaching staff doesn't necessarily have the storied history with this Patriots team in terms of the last couple of years. But certainly, I think the Falcons have every reason to get up to this game. So hopefully, they will get a much better and much stronger

performance from this Falcon team going into this weekend. As you said, Thursday night games tend to be very weird. I know personally, I tend to not put any money on these games because they just are so unpredictable. We saw that last week with the Baltimore Raven Dolphins game where I don't think anybody saw that sort of result coming in that game. So I tend to stay away from this, but for anybody out there that is feeling a little bit more frisky in that, so I certainly think the Falcons can give you a lot of reasons that maybe they will cover.

But the last time I said that, they got blown up by 40 points. So, Mike, what is sort of a key to victory? I already mentioned sort of the turnovers, maybe being a key for the Falcons. What's something that you're looking at in this game that could help determine the success or failure of the Patriots? Yeah, for New England, it's basically protecting the football, protecting your quarterback when he has it, getting solid blocking out of the offensive line. That's been a problem in the first part of the season for the Patriots, but they've really shored that up the last couple of weeks especially with the return of Trent Brown last week this line looked completely different and much more formidable when you do have the ball and you're carrying the ball

protect it whether it's a wide receiver carrying the ball on a jet sweep a tight end doing the same or your running backs just protect the football do not give the home team especially a chance to be able to make you pay for any type of either uh you know lack of discipline in terms of losing the football or a lack in lack of discipline in terms of unnecessary penalties so to me that's the key if the patriots can do that and they can control the tempo control the the clock at the line of scrimmage they They have, I think, a very good chance to be able to play their game. But again, you're going into enemy territory. You're going into a hostile environment.

Atlanta's going to be ready for this game. They want to erase the bad taste that they have in their mouth from Sunday. So the Patriots are going to have to be ready. This is going to be a tough game for them. Yeah, definitely. I think the battle in the trenches is always something that's critical in any matchup with the Falcons. They have a history of losing those battles in the trenches. And so we'll sort of have to see if the Falcons can sort of rise up and go toe to toe with the Patriots offensive and defensive line, as you've touched upon, is very good. They're very good at their jobs and certainly will challenge the Falcons there. And looking at the Falcons, if they lose that battle in the trenches, it doesn't seem that they're going to have the playmakers, especially if Cordero Patterson is out of the lineup. And we know Calvin Ridley is not going to be there and relying entirely on Kyle Pitts.

While certainly has the potential and capability of being a one-man wrecking crew against any defense, we know Bill Belichick is certainly going to pride himself on not allowing that to happen. That's the one thing you know he's going to key on, that you can't let that guy beat us. So we'll see what the Falcons can do in the trenches to see if they can sort of tip the scales in their direction because if they lose that battle, it's going to be hard-pressed for this team to win this week.

So that is probably going to do it for us here on crossover thursday mike i once again appreciate you joining me here and and talking about falcons patriots without going too too far down memory lane uh the last couple of times the falcons have paid matt ryan has yet to beat the patriots in his nfl career maybe thursday night will be uh him that streak. It's possible. Anything is possible. And yeah, in terms of moving forward, I mean, yeah, whatever's in the past is in the past. We look forward. I'm looking forward to a great game on Thursday night.

I think it's going to be a fun one between two teams that can make things happen. And, you know, we'll see. But thank you to everyone out there that's joined us today here on the Lockdown Crossover Thursday, crossing the streams, Falcons Patriot style. Aaron, this has been a blast. Thank you so much for your professionalism. One we've been looking forward to for a while. Our first crossover together and hopefully many more to come, bud.

Absolutely.