Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Crossover Thursday: New England Patriots vs. Cleveland Browns in Week 6

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

It’s Crossover Thursday on the Locked On Podcast Network. Join hosts Mike D’Abate of Locked On Patriots and Jeff Lloyd of Locked On Browns as they preview this Sunday’s showdown between the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns from FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio at 1 p.m. ET in Week 6 of the 2022 NFL Season.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BetterHelpIt’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners: get 10% off your first month at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cleveland Browns fans, New England Patriots fans, it is week six and it is time for Crossover Thursday here on the Locked On Podcast Network. It's time to cross the streams between Locked On Browns and Locked On Patriots. And of course, Crossover Thursday is presented by our friends over at PrizePix. PrizePix is so much fun and it's easy to play. No competing with other players, just you versus the projections available. Pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their prize picks projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. It can literally take less than 60 seconds to enter.

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the day. I'm Mike DeBate. I host Locked On Patriots, and joining me here today to help cross the screens on this Browns-Patriots crossover is my good friend and colleague, Jeff Lloyd, a host of Locked On Browns. Jeff, always an honor, always a pleasure to share the microphone with you, my friend. You as well, Mike. Obviously, we got to sit down here and do this last year.

Browns-Patriots didn't face each other in 20. It was a game in 2019. For the Browns, last year was a really, really difficult game. Not only did they lose a game, they basically got beat up by the bully, got the lunch money taken, got the wedgie, and right after that game is basically when, you know, all the stuff that was kind of simmering underneath the surface basically just came to a head and obviously led to some massive, massive changes for the Cleveland Browns in the 2021 and the 2022 offseason.

Absolutely, without any question. And, you know, I mean, we were definitely on the delivering end of that here in New England. So I'm not going to say that i have too much sympathy there but i got a funny feeling this is going to be a little bit of a different contest simply because of the prowess that the cleveland browns have on the ground game england patriots have some difficulty defending it we're going to talk about the matchups because the build-up to the action is fun folks but it all comes down to the matchups on the field.

We're going to get to those in just a bit, but Jeff, first, for the benefit of my listeners on Locked On Patriots, I was wondering if you might mind filling us in on the biggest, the most important storylines surrounding the Cleveland Browns as they prepare for this week six matchup. And incidentally, my friend, I'd be happy to return the favor when you're done. Well, I think where this team is sitting right now at two and three I don't think that necessarily surprises a lot of people um you know as far as the Browns you know we're maybe gonna go here early in the year I think the biggest thing and for me I mean I literally pound my head here every day you know up until this point of the season is is how disappointing

the defense has been if you had told me that between David Njoku, Nick Chubb, and Amari Cooper, the three players were on pace to put up 4,000 yards this season, which Jacoby Percent's quarterback position, everybody would have thought, wow, man, Browns must be humming. You know, the defense, which was, you know, however you want to put it, top three, top five, top seven last year, whatever, you know, outlet you want to use as far as, you know, stacking a defense. This year has not been the case. Early in the year, it was the issue of the secondary, and they were kind of sending in two defensive calls at the same time.

And there was like some late communication that maybe wasn't always heard, leading to some gaffes in coverage, some big, big blown cuts. As they started to get that figured out and basically, you know, taken out of the system, going into week four in Atlanta, and basically defense coordinator Joe Woods said, all right, we're just not going to do that anymore if it's causing too many issues. Like, you know, we're good enough. We're just going to play what we call.

But that was also the first game in Atlanta week four where you had lost Anthony Walker. Jacob Phillips steps into the Mike starting position, and all of a sudden the Browns. And we knew the defensive tackle position wasn't great. We certainly thought the linebackers were better than they were. Atlanta just had their way with them running the football. In the NFL, when you see a team run the ball 11 straight times in a row, you basically know it's a sign of weakness.

And you know what? If you can't stop it, why should we do anything else? Why should we even show anything else? Then you got into it last week with the Chargers. And here it is again. Brown's offense played well. Jacoby Brissett, for the most part, played well. You got things cooking.

But here it is again. Now the Chargers. I know a lot of people say, oh, the Chargers really the team that couldn't run the ball. The Chargers don't necessarily have to run the ball. When you have Justin Herbert, you kind of do what you want as a team. But they made a point of it and said, look, we're going to see if you fix this. And right off the bat, Austin Eckler, early in the game, 71 yards. In the Browns, again, it was there all day. Look, whether it's the communication and the gap filling, gap responsibility, gap integrity from the

linebackers, that's certainly an issue. And I think part of the issue is when these guys are getting beaten up a little bit in the running game i think they're going off script just trying to blow a play up to say oh well we got it to second and 12 so maybe now they'll throw the ball basically trying to basically buy that you know sell out to you steal one um it also doesn't help though when your defensive tackles are getting pushed four five you know six yards off the line of scrimmage it disrupts the defensive flow for the linebackers and for the safeties to be there in run support, to maintain their lanes. You know, the whole adage of keep them clean. Well, it's kind of hard.

Yeah, maybe they're keeping them clean, but you got to run around, you know, 720 pounds of a defensive tackle and a guard engaged five, six yards down the line, you know, passing the line of scrimmage. So it's been difficult that way. Deion Jones is here for this week. We're going to – it looks, for all intents and purposes, he was probably ready to go a while ago, scrimmage so it's been difficult that way Deion Jones is here for this week we're gonna uh it looks for all intents and purposes he was probably ready to go a while ago but uh it seemed like the Falcons and Deion Jones had a plan in place that they were you know gonna part ways Browns before

we're in Atlanta I'm sure there's probably some talk why they were in town hey he's available if you're interested I think they said all right we're gonna give it the Charger game soon we were at and I mean it wasn't even I don't even think it was an hour old before the game was over on Sunday against the Chargers and the Browns had already made the trade for Deion Jones. So, obviously, guys are hoping to come in here, bring a little bit of veteran leadership here, make sure everybody's on the same page, still runs well.

So, what he's coming back from, it's a shoulder. So, I mean, it's not something you're so concerned about, like he's coming back from a knee, an ankle, any of those things. So, they're hoping they can get a little return here and they can get a big difference maker as far as getting this run game contained because New England is going to come in here and New England is going to come in here and just say, yeah, we're going to run the ball.

It wasn't going to be like the Chargers last week where it was like, we do a little bit of everything. Oh, well, you're not stopping the run, so you know what? We're just going to run it on you all day long. New England is going to come in here with the onus of basically telling the Browns they're going to run the ball because it better be fixed, which leads to where I want to go with you. And, you know, Browns fans, until Friday,

don't bother looking at the injury report because Bill is always going to be Bill. The injury report, anybody who may or may not have practiced today is limited, is where the Patriots injury report is, which includes, most importantly, quarterback Mac Jones. Next up would be third stringer rookie Bailey Zappi. So we'll see how this all works out. But, Mike, in your heart of heart, you know, what are some of the biggest storylines, you know,

currently going on with New England and, of course, starting with Mr. McCorkle Jones? Well, Jeff, you hit the nail right on the head I mean it's going to be Mac Jones status for this week coming up against the Cleveland Browns and right up until Wednesday morning it looked like maybe the Patriots had a little comfort room in order to give Bailey Zappi another start under center give Mac the chance to rest, rehab, do what he needs to do, get better, and make sure that he is ready for the stretch run. But Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported early Wednesday morning that not only was Mac exceeding expectations when it came to his recovery, but also that he was trying to get out on the field as quickly as possible and actually came very close to suiting

up for Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions at home at Gillette Stadium. So that kind of gave Patriots fans a little bit of a spark to say, okay, well, our starter might be back under center. Mack hasn't taken a snap since hobbling off the field against the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau. He was in a lot of pain. You know, excuse me, I'm sorry. Bailey came on the field with the Green Bay Packers. See, folks, this is not good when you get your lines crossed. But in all actuality, he hobbled off the field against Gillette, against the Baltimore Ravens, did not suit up against the Green Bay Packers. Bailey had to come in after only two offensive series to spell Ryan Hoyer, and he did a very

good job. He has a lot of poise and a lot of confidence for a young quarterback, and that type of confidence and that type of pressure situation allowed him to become the quarterback that we saw on the field for the Patriots on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. Cool, calm, and collected, running the offense the way the Patriots like the offense to be run. He's completed 27 of 36 pass attempts, 287 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, seven quarters, and one overtime period. Those are not going to illuminate any

normal stat sheet, but when you look at the circumstances under which Bailey Zappi has had to come on and do what he needed to do, it does look all that impressive. So it's not necessarily a foregone conclusion that Bailey Zappi is not going to be the quarterback under center on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, but it's also not written in stone either that Mac Jones is ready to come back and ready to put on the shoulder pads. So I think that you're going to need to look and see what these two teams do or what this team does as the week progresses in training in practice and see how he looks Mac Jones was on the field today looked notably more mobile than he has in

the last couple of weeks throwing passes running some drills he was a limited participant obviously on the injury report on Wednesday I'm sure he'll continue to be limited throughout the week Bill Belichick will probably milk this right up until the last moment possible on Sunday before they're ready to take snaps. But my gut reaction tells me it's still going to be the Zappi show on Sunday. But I think if Mack is close, then there's a very good possibility he starts on Sunday. So that right now is the big storyline for the New England Patriots. Another one to watch if you're a Browns fan, Damian Harris left Sunday's game against the Lions in the second half, did not return, hamstring injury. He was present today, but severely limited, not completely sure he's

going to be able to give it a go on Sunday. If that's the case, you mentioned the run game and the run defense earlier for the Cleveland Browns. They're going to be dealing with a heavy dose of second-year running back Ramondre Stevenson, who looked very good in his outing on Sunday. Stevenson was good against them last year. And certainly, you know, big load. You know, he's bigger than the linebackers. There's no way around it. The Browns play basically, you know, puffed-up safeties at the linebacker positions.

We're talking about guys who are 6'0", maybe 225, you know, puffed up safeties at the linebacker positions. We're talking about guys who are six foot, you know, maybe 225, you know, across the board. Other than seeing only Taki Taki, that is basically the size, you know, of these guys. And Bill, forever the greatest game player in the book. I mean, I am sure we're not going to have any idea. I mean, it wouldn't, you know, we'll know at 1130 whether or not Mac Jones is going to dress. We might not know till 101 or 111, whenever the Patriots take their first position you know if Mack Jones even ends up starting the one thing that I think Bill may have to deal with as far as maybe some pause and hesitation is putting a guy out there limited mobility wise against Miles

Garrett, Jadavion Clowney it's probably something you know you definitely have to give some deep deep consideration to because you certainly want to give the young the ability to defend himself absolutely and the pass rush is definitely something that the patriots will have to contend to and something that mac jones had his difficulties with prior to his injury in week three that comes down to the matchups and once again folks jeff lloyd and i will discuss those matchups in just a moment when this Crossover Thursday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, Jeff, I'm going to give you a sports analogy here for you.

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There's no safe like simply safe. Patriots fans and Browns fans, thank you once again for making the Locked On Podcast Network's crossover Thursday a part of your NFL coverage. Pats and Browns ready to hook up this Sunday, October 16th, First Energy Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio, kickoff set for 1 p.m. Eastern. Jeff Lloyd, host of Locked On Browns. I'm Mike DeBate, host of Locked On Patriots.

And Jeff, as I said in the previous segment, crossing the streams is fun. Storylines can be fun. But again, this game comes down to the matchups on the field. We hinted at some of what we might be watching on Sunday in the previous segment, but let's get right down to it. From a Browns perspective, what are the key matchups that you're going to be watching? Could be a single matchup as well. What's going to have your attention on Sunday? I'm going to go one on the east side of the ball here. Look, the Browns cannot come out

defensively the way they had the last two weeks. Whether it's Bailey Zappi or whether it's going to be a Mac Jones, and I think we all agree, even if Mac Jones plays on Sunday, he's going to be limited, obviously. So what you're going to look at, and I go back to there's a game in 2020. Browns went down to Nashville to play the Titans. It was an important road game for the Browns. They needed it badly. Browns at the time were struggling against the run. They knew to have any opportunity in that game, basically had to make sure Derrick Henry wasn't a factor. Browns went with a bare front, played five defensive linemen across the board, basically just tried to create a wall of human beings and mass. So somebody like Derrick Henry

was unable to find daylight. It worked. They brought a lot of three and outs, bought them an early turnover. They were able to build a big lead, held off towards the end to win a big game in Tennessee that they absolutely needed. This has to be first and foremost, the priority for this team this week is making sure that they do not just get eaten alive again here for a third week in a row, because if they do, most likely their defensive coordinator will not be here on Monday morning to tell the tale of what happened. You cannot give up 600, 650 yards in three straight games in the NFL rushing and expect to keep your job. It's just not going to work out that way. The offensive side of the ball here and the Browns offensive line. And this is the thing that this is kind of like

the death taxes, things that will not change with the way the Cleveland Browns currently are. It's the offensive line. Some things changed. You know, Jedrick Wills on his third year, full health. we're starting to see what the Browns thought of this young man that they drafted out of Alabama and even said we're going to put him on the left side even understanding he is a right tackle you're starting to see it all come to fruition Browns thought they were going to start the year with Nick Harris at center third year guy was JC Treaders uh basically protege for two years first snap of the preseason knees gone blown out Browns at the time had had a guy in here low key kind of quiet siding almost

for veteran minimum and Ethan Posick Ethan Posick's been fantastic I mean even to the point now where he's basically here on a one-year vet minimum deal and the Browns I it's gonna be time where maybe they want to be stoked to fire and see if they want to go a little bit longer term with that jack conklin has returned healthy uh betonio and teller they're just an absolute beast these guys like the legion of doom the warriors they were just an absolute monster unit together key for me is going to be taking care of matthew judon guy can move around but the thing with judon and look the browns know him well obviously you know came from baltimore this is now year two in new england they know the guy well But the thing with Judon, and look, the Browns know him well, obviously. Came from Baltimore.

This is now year two in New England. They know the guy well. But he's just a fantastic player. And even if there's any hiccups or parts of his game where you say, oh, he's not in the top three, the guy doesn't stop. His motor is incredible. And the thing is, you see plays where he gets pushed out and you're like, all right, non-factor.

Next thing you know, finds his way back. I mean, he just doesn't stop. May not be the greatest, most gifted athlete who plays this position in the league, but he's got that heart. He's got that motor that you wish you could put sometimes into the upper echelon players. And then, of course, it's going to be interesting as far as just what the Patriots do with a player like David Njoku, who's really started to come into his own here in year six Browns really played the long patient game with it he started his NFL career at 20 years old it's all come together now he's a blocker he's a receiver he's a mismatched nightmare just these are for me some of the biggest things

going into this one yeah definitely and without any, I know Patriots fans are going to have their sharp eye fixated on a lot of what you mentioned. And look, I think in return, it's things that you've mentioned as well that are the big storylines and the key matchups for the New England Patriots in this game. Naturally, I think there is some curiosity on behalf of all Patriots fans to see how Bill Belichick game plans for old friend Jacoby Brissett. Jacoby did a very good job while he was up here in New England, still considered a fan favorite. And I think a lot of Patriots fans will be excited to see him on the field on Sunday. But Bill Belichick has a penchant to make his former quarterbacks,

look, how shall we say, a little bit more mortal than most men. So I think that could be an intriguing matchup, probably one that will catch the eye of the fan base. What's going to have my attention, my primary sharp eye, as I like to say on Locked On Patriots, is the Browns running game against the Patriots run defense, because this is an elite rushing attack that Cleveland has, whether it be Nick Chubb, obviously one of the best in the business, and also Kareem Hunt, who is not a bad second option, also one of the best in the business at what he does. These guys can really change the complexity of a game.

And that's something to me that if the Patriots struggle, and they have struggled by and large against the run, yes, they did do a better job against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Devon Godchow, Carl Davis, Dietrich Wise were able to right some of the wrongs that they've had in the previous couple of games. It really saw them gashed for significant yardage against a lot of different runners, whether it be mobile quarterbacks or traditional running backs. Patriots had difficulty doing that.

Pats did shore up their defense a little bit in short yardage situations. That's going to have to continue. It wouldn't hurt for them to get Lawrence Guy back this week either he's missed the last couple of weeks with a shoulder injury Lawrence is truly one of their run defensive stalwarts in that lineup and you put him back in there and then all of a sudden it frees up guys like Christian Barmore to take on a double team on the offensive line free up someone like a Matthew Judon to get after the quarterback and keep pressure on Jacoby Brissett that's how important it is for the New England Patriots to be able to control the tempo up front. That being said, it is not easy to do against this

Browns team. They're averaging 5.3 yards on 180 calories, 180 carries. So it's no surprise that they're going to utilize this run game and the Patriots know it. The Browns know it. It's no surprise that they're going to utilize this run game. And the Patriots know it. The Browns know it. It's a matter of whether or not you can stop it. And that physical front on that Cleveland offensive line is something that the Patriots will have difficulty with. You mentioned Ethan Pochek. You mentioned Joel Batonio, Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin, Jedrick Willis. These guys know how to keep their team running on the ground.

And that's something to me that the Patriots have to try to marginally disrupt. They're not going to stop Nick Chubb. They're not going to stop Kareem Hunt completely, but they have to be able to contain or marginally disrupt their game in order to be successful. So that's the matchup that's going to have my sharp eye on Sunday. And the one thing, and for anybody who does not remember last year's game, remember the Browns last year did not have Nick Chubb or Kareem Hunt. So that is something from that game to take away.

2019 is the furthest you go back. Nick Chubb had 20 for 131 that day. Obviously a lot of teams and a lot of changes in that type of timeframe, but the Bill Belichick mold still there. So I think for the Browns, that's an advantage. The other thing that I take away from it also is the Browns could do without this game being in Foxborough and maybe being in Cleveland. 19, obviously, in New England last year and New England as well.

They get to host this one at home. And for the Browns, it's key because you could be looking at 1-3 home already this early in the season and a lot more bigger games a lot more talented teams to come to town so it's going to be a you know a tough pill to swallow to start one and three at home absolutely without any question and this is going to be an interesting matchup teams that are two and three are usually not locked in key matchups for the weekend but that's the exactly how it's going to be for the new england patriots and the cleveland browns because 500 is hanging right over the top of both of these teams heads will they be able to make it jeff and i are going to discuss that in just a moment because it is

time for us or nearly time for us my friend to give our game predictions and let everyone know what we think will happen on the first energy stadium field when it comes to Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Pats and the Browns hook it up. But first, Jeff, I know you're dying to tell our listeners, our adoring public, about our good friends over at prizepicks.com. No question about it. And this is, for me, one of the joy or the beauty of PrizePicks. Look, if you're just a fan of certain teams, prize picks works that way. If you're just a fan of primetime games, you want to sit out, watch a game that you basically have a game that you don't have much skin in. Well, you can find a way to do that.

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You deposit $100, they give you $100. You deposit $50, they give you $50. So on, so on. Don't forget to enter the promo code LOCKEDON, all caps, no space, and sign up for an instant deposit match up to $100. Pats fans and Browns fans, welcome back to our NFL crossover here on Thursday, crossing the streams between Locked On Browns and Locked On Patriots. My good friend and colleague, Jeff Lloyd, the host of Locked On Browns.

Folks, always check him out on Twitter at Jeff underscore LJ underscore Lloyd. And as you can see, you can find me on Twitter as well at MDABATENFL, hosting Locked On Patriots each and every day here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Cats fans and Browns fans, it is our team on Sunday, doing battle in week six, battle of two. Two and three teams trying to get to 500 for the first time in, or at least for the Patriots, it will be the first time in 2022 that they are 500.

But my friend, we are at that point. It is time to make our selections. And as the late great gorilla monsoon would say, and this is a very good thing for me, folks, the time for the talk has just about ended. New England Patriots, cleveland browns week six battle of the two and threes who you got jeff and why this is a key key game for the cleveland browns and maybe it shouldn't have gotten at this point um you know you could have won atlanta game certainly could have won the jets game um

but now here it is you're just going to try to stay as close to 100 as possible, treading water until Deshaun Watson comes back in week 12. For me, there's a lot to this game. It's a lot of what happened last year. Look, you were embarrassed last year. You physically were embarrassed by this New England Patriots team last year. So you kind of got to tighten things up as far as within the brotherhood of that room. Look, you understand every now and then you're going to get your butt kicked. But when you see those guys again, you basically need to reverse the course, so to speak, here. The Browns know what the strength of this team is.

They know it's Nick Chubb. They know it's Kareem Hunt. I think they're going to be even more cautious in this game with Jacoby Brissett than they have been. And, Mike, you basically said why. Look, if you played for Bill for five minutes, five seasons or 15, Bill knows you inside and out and knows everything there is to know about you. And most of the time, it seems like he gets that out of a handshake with somebody, like

a microchip is in your hand and he just absorbs everything that there is to know. So they have to know that this game is crucial because not only did Bill was Bill two, 10 steps ahead of him last year, you know, now this year you're playing it with Jacoby Brissett, which gives Bill an advantage because he knows him. The Browns do have an advantage of Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, which Bill did not get to see last year, but you know, just fire up some tape. Bill ain't no idiot. We all know that. Um, and I just think it's the key for what the Browns need and they know they need to get this to three and three because you go from there to Baltimore. Then all of a sudden Cincinnati's creeping around the corner

and this thing can get out of hand real, real quick. I think the Browns will be able to right the ship this one, whether it's an injured Mack Jones, which I think is probably not going to happen. I think Bill is a lot smarter than that. But you get a guy like Bailey Zappi. Look, he hung and he played well in Lambeau. He certainly did. So, I mean, there is no more difficult, you know, road place than Lambeau field. Uh, but now you get in another situation

like this and with it, you know, with a young kid, third, third string rookie, you get to the point of, you know, and this is probably why Mac Jones is practicing. You don't want to be playing Bailey's happy right now. You know, he's probably not ready for it. You know, there's a question of, you know, want to play somebody or have to play somebody. And I think the Patriots are in the position where they have to play him. And I think the Browns, you know, if they can't stop the run, then there's going to be a lot of issues. It's going to get really ugly here in the 24 hours after that game ends. So I do believe the Browns are going to put out every effort they possibly can to make sure that if they're going to lose, it's going to be on the right arm of whatever quarterback is playing.

Because they're both righties, I heard. They are indeed righties. And you know your history very good. You know your Bill Belichick very well. Yeah, Bill was not exactly forthcoming with a lot of details when we spoke with him in the media on Wednesday afternoon. I love that they still like because there's got to be like a hundred like you got to sit in the room and be like why he's not going to what do you think he's going to tell you yeah exactly exactly I thought the same thing

myself when the question was asked but you know what bottom line my friend it makes things interesting and it gives us stuff to write about and to talk about here on this podcast um all kidding aside when it comes to the matchup, when it comes to predictions this weekend, I think this has the chance to be a razor thin matchup. And I say that quite often, but when you look at the way these two teams are constituted, difficulty stopping the run, definitely on both sides. Prowess in running the football, definitely on both sides. I give the slight edge to the Cleveland Browns there, obviously, because they have a two-headed monster coming into this with Kareem Hunt and with Nick Chubb. And I think you made an excellent

point that last year's matchup, Patriots didn't have to deal with either one of those running backs. They do this year and they're clicking along on full cylinders. So the Patriots are going to have to be very diligent about trying to run the ball and be creative with Ramondre Stevenson. That being said, you know that Cleveland is going to sell out to try to stop the run. It's the smart thing to do. It really is probably their only choice to do that. So what does that mean for the Patriots quarterbacks, whether it be Mac Jones or whether it be Bailey Zappi? That means trying to utilize play action, opening things up in that regard. And that's not been a Patriots strong suit so far in 2022 so I'm going to be very intrigued

to see how either Jones or Zappi under center is going to be able to respond to that and be able to try to test the Cleveland secondary test those linebackers that love to come up and get into coverage or drop back into coverage that's going to be a key matchup for me as well ultimately I'm going to ride the red wave here when it comes to the New England Patriots. They're still going to have some of that throwback spirit in them. I like them in this matchup. I like them by a razor thin matchup. And I think the Patriots take it by a field goal in Cleveland, probably going with my heart more than my head here, folks. But I think that the Patriots edge this one, but it's going to be a tough, tough matchup and one

that could possibly go either way. I think the interesting part of this game is if you do end up with it being Bailey's happy, I mean, we could be talking about, you know, uh, the combination of, you know, 75 to 80 running plays between both teams in a game that could be over by three 35. It is true. It is absolutely true. It has the chance to be an instant classic or to get that ugly that quickly, folks. And we will continue to break down the game on Locked On Browns as Jeff will. I'll continue to do it on Locked On Patriots. But folks, we thank you each and every day for making not only Locked On Browns, but also Locked On Patriots a daily part of your weekly coverage when it comes to your favorite NFL team.

And now that you've made us your first listen, please make your second listen. Our good friends over at Peacock and Williamson, our good friend and colleague, Brian Peacock and former NFL scout, Matt Williamson continue to bring you all the latest stories, everything up to date on the NFL. So download,

subscribe to and follow wherever you get your podcasts and everything up to date on the nfl so download subscribe to and follow wherever you get your podcasts and smash that subscribe button on youtube jeff it is always an honor always a pleasure to join you on the microphone before i let you go my friend any parting thoughts any more uh belichickian osmosis that you'd like to ask me about or anything you'd like to let our public know about before we take our leave of this week six crossover thursday uh you know just one final thing here um and a pretty cool opportunity here for us on the cleveland end of things locked on wise um you go to roku roku app uh you put in locked on cleveland sports so you'll find locked on browns you'll find locked on guardians you'll find locked on calves Cavs. Of course, the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, my co-host Garrett Bush,

a huge part of that over there. It's great to see the development. And, Mike, I know you've been here for a while with Locked On, just like I have. And I still go back to maybe we're a month into the pandemic, and David Locke sent out this mass email. This is going to da-da-da-da-da-da. And your listenership is going to grow 150%.

And I think all of us were like, dude, what are you talking about? Like, we don't even know the next time we're going to see a live sport, let alone anything. And I mean, and damn,

if the man wasn't 110% spot on, I think there were difficult time. We found a way to coexist with even the listeners who disliked us or disliked what we felt about certain things. I think we all just were able to find a certain level of loyalty with our listeners. You know we'll be here, and you can count on it five, six days a week. Whether it's good, whether it's bad, whether it's ugly, whether it's tragic, we're going to bring here to bring you the best Patriots, best Browns coverage we possibly can. Absolutely. And so well said, David's vision and his, just his undying spirit and his, really his amazing work ethic really inspire the entire network. And the way that we're able to do this in the platform that we have is obviously thanks

to our friends at Tegna and thanks to David's vision, but it's also thanks to being able to share the microphone with great colleagues. The Lockdown Crossovers are always some of my favorite episodes of the week, and there's a reason for that. Anytime you get to share the microphone with knowledgeable, great colleagues like yourself and like all of our hosts here across all of the sport platforms, not just the NFL folks, all over the place. Jeff, I definitely can tell you that Locked On Cleveland Sports

will be getting probably a few eyes up here because in case you haven't noticed, I think up here in the New England region, you're going to have yourself a lot of Guardians fans for the next few games while they take on those pinstripes. No question. So in any case, folks, thank you once again for joining us here on Locked On Crossover Thursday. Patriots-Browns this Sunday, October 16th, First Energy Stadium, 1 p.m. kickoff. Be sure to check out Jeff on Locked On Browns.

You can check out me on Locked On Patriots. Until then, folks, continue to stay safe, stay well. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.