Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Crossover Wednesday with Locked On Chiefs - 12/4/19

Episode Date: December 4, 2019

It’s Crossover Wednesday! Join host Mike D’Abate as he breaks down Sunday’s matchup between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. He and Chris Clark of Locked On Chiefs discuss the game from a Pats perspective and a Chiefs perspective. Finally, the duo offer their predictions for this battle in Foxboro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all you Foxborough faithful, and welcome to your Crossover Wednesday episode of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, analysis, and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate, and I am your host of Locked On Patriots, which of course is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC, and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots. A loss is a loss, of course, of course, and the Pats will move on from this loss, of course, and that's, of course, because their next opponent is the Kansas City Chiefs.

And folks, I really hope I haven't lost you of that poor spoken rendition of the theme from Mr. Ed. But that's just my way of saying that it's time to move on. Patriots must put Sunday's loss to the Texans in the rearview mirror and turn their attention to the Chiefs. And there is a lot to watch with this team. Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, LaShawn McCoy, Damian Williams, and the high-powered Kansas City offense. And a defense that should not be ignored.

They have not been stat darlings this year, folks, but they are playing better as of late. And what better way to kick off some Chiefs talk this week than with Crossover Wednesday. And Wednesday is always a big day for all of us across the Locked On Podcast network, especially for the NFL shows. The mantra of your team every day is so important to us here at the network because in addition to bringing you the very latest and most up-to-date coverage you will find in your favorite NFL team anywhere, it gives you the crossovers,

and they provide such valuable insight on that given week's opponent from those that cover the team and know it well. And as the Patriots prepare to host the Kansas City Chiefs at 425 p.m. on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, it's my pleasure to share the stage today with Chris Clark of Locked On Chiefs. Chris, along with Ryan Tracy, puts on an amazing show for Chiefs fans, and this will be a fun one as well. We will discuss this matchup from a Chiefs perspective and a Patriots perspective, and hopefully we'll give both fan bases something to watch for in this one.

So sit tight, folks. I hope you enjoyed today's crossover show, and I will be providing some background on the history of this budding rivalry and also what's at stake for the Pats and the Chiefs this week. However, before I proceed with that, I wanted to take a minute to address all of you guys out there. And ladies, you'll appreciate this too. Now, this is a topic that is often taboo, but always commands your attention,

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But as you know, the New England Patriots return home this week to take on the AFC West leading Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. This is the third consecutive year that the Chiefs and the Patriots will do battle in the regular season. Back in 2017 the season opener the Kansas City Chiefs ran over the Patriots pretty well and they ruined the banner raising ceremony which at the time was celebrating the Patriots fifth Super Bowl championship after a victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51. But in 2018 the Patri Patriots won a 43-40 decision at home, and that was a real shootout, big regular season matchup between Brady and Mahomes, and that set the table for the 2018

AFC Championship game in Kansas City. And the Patriots came away with a 37-31 overtime win en route to Super Bowl 53 and their sixth Super Bowl title. Now, Kansas City does hold the wins lead over New England in the all-time regular season series, 18-14. There were actually three ties mixed in there as well. New England has won both postseason matchups, though. Patriots also have a 5-1 record when playing the Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. That's a mark that includes one playoff victory in Foxborough. And speaking of the playoffs, folks, there are playoff implications for this game as well. The Patriots have to keep pressure on the Baltimore Ravens. They currently hold the top spot in the conference by virtue of the Pat Sunday loss to the Texans. Now that's also in part to the Ravens' victory

over the Niners, and most notably, Baltimore's win over the Patriots on November 3rd. And those very Ravens will be facing the Patriots' divisional rival Buffalo Bills this Sunday. And that's significant as well, because the Patriots don't have quite as easy of a path to the AFC East crown this year as they have in many years past. Buffalo is 9-3, and they're playing very well right now. So, no hat and t-shirt game for the Patriots just yet, but they can clinch a playoff spot with a win and that's just it. They win and they're in the playoffs. However, there are also scenarios

in which the Patriots could clinch a playoff spot if they tie with the Chiefs or even if they lose this game. Quite simply, if New England ties with the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, they would need one of three teams to lose. The Pittsburgh Steelers, the Houston Texans, or the Tennessee Titans. The only way that they would be able to make the playoffs and lose this game is if Houston loses, plus the Indianapolis Colts would have to lose or tie, and then Oakland and Tennessee would have to battle to a tie. But ultimately, the easiest pathway would be to win, and that's exactly what the Patriots are trying to do.

But the Kansas City Chiefs are trying to do that as well. They can clinch the AFC West Division title this weekend if they win, and that's exactly what the Patriots are trying to do. But the Kansas City Chiefs are trying to do that as well. They can clinch the AFC West Division title this weekend if they win and the Oakland Raiders lose to the Tennessee Titans. So a lot at stake for both teams this weekend. And we've reached the point in the season, folks, where we all will be doing a lot of scoreboard watching. Keep a particular close eye on the Ravens and Bills, which I alluded to earlier. Whichever team loses creates a favorable scenario for the Patriots.

A win by the Buffalo Bills would weaken Baltimore's grip on that top spot in the AFC. But a Baltimore win would give the Patriots more breathing room in the AFC East. So Pats fans, you'll be picking your poison this week. Will it be the Ravens or the Bills you're rooting on in addition to the Patriots? Well, that's a discussion for another day. But in just a moment, Chris and I will begin this crossover. But first, I have a question for you. Yes, you, listening out there.

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you get paid. Welcome back to another crossover episode. My name is Chris Clark and I have with me tonight Mike DeBate from LockedOn Patriots. We're going to be talking about this Patriots Chiefs game that is upcoming on Sunday. Mike, how's it

going? It's going great, Chris. Thank yous game that is upcoming on Sunday. Mike, how's it going? It's going great, Chris. Thank you very much for having me on today. Much appreciated. Always look forward to the crossover Wednesdays here on the Locked On Podcast Network. This is one I've been looking forward to for quite a while, and I know you probably have been too. Game of the schedule, perhaps.

This is one that I know both fan bases are really looking forward to. Yeah, absolutely. Chiefs fans are definitely looking forward to this game, and I know that the Chiefs are probably really looking forward to this game. It's always a trick to get over the Patriots, and that's the big thing is just finding a way to get past the Patriots. I do have a couple of questions for you as we get into this crossover episode. So you look at what the Patriots have gone up against the past couple of weeks, and they've got two losses in, I believe, the last four games. And honestly, I've watched a couple of their games, and even the wins, their offense didn't look really that

great. What are you seeing? What has really changed over the course of the season? Well, in terms of the season, I would say from this season to last season, the Patriots are definitely missing Rob Gronkowski. There's no question about it. You don't lose a player of Rob's magnitude of his ability and not suffer some difficulties in the passing game and in the offensive scheme. So that's definitely a concern. And the Patriots know they're not getting that production out of the tight end position. Matt Lacoste has been a serviceable fill-in, but he's been injured for a good portion of the season. Ryan Izzo has not lived up to the expectations that they would have hoped.

They tried to go a little bit in a different direction in the offseason, tried to bring in Austin Safarian Jenkins. That did not work. Benjamin Watson has been pretty good since coming back. But again, he missed the first four games of the year with the suspension. And then there were some difficulties in bringing him back. He was released and then resigned. So they haven't had that same production out of the tight end position. That is a concern for the New England Patriots.

On the receiver side, Julian Edelman is still solid. He's still putting up great numbers. And he is still by far Tom Brady's most reliable target on Sunday night against the Houston Texans when all was said and done and they needed a big play Julian Edelman was the guy that they went to he'll continue to be but right now there's a lot of upheaval this is a wide receiver core that don't forget at the beginning of the season or close to it had both Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon penciled in there either one of them are in New England any longer.

So he's relying on a lot of guys like a rookie in the keel, Harry, who's talented, but still coming along. We saw him have some hiccups in both games that he's played against the Cowboys and now against the Texans on Sunday. And he's also playing with an undrafted rookie free agent and Jacoby Myers. So these have all been difficulties. Couple that in with the injuries that Tom Brady has had to deal with on the offensive line, and he hasn't had much time to throw the ball. Isaiah Wynn is their top offensive lineman, their top left tackle. He is back in the lineup and his impact has been very

good. He's been giving Tom a little bit more time to throw the football on Sunday night. He actually had over three seconds to throw, which is really remarkable considering that he hasn't had that time all season long. Another thing, Chris, is the running game has not been as prolific as the Patriots have been used to. Sonny Michelle has had up and down moments this season, but he hasn't been the same consistent back that he's been. James White is typically covered now by a defensive back every single game. They're either throwing a corner or a safety on him. It's been difficult for him to get open and to get catches out of the backfield. Rex Burkett hasn't been utilized all that much. That would probably be to some injuries he's had. So there's not a lot of productivity that's been happening at the three key positions

for the Patriots. It's no wonder that there's been a little bit of a decline this year. Well, and if you look at what the offense has done, that's really been a story over the past couple of weeks. The story for the Patriots when the season started, though, however, was their defense and how well they were playing. And you look at what has been going on the past couple of weeks, you know, they let, what, 37 points be scored on them against

the Ravens. I realize that that's a completely different type of offense to deal with. And then another 28 points scored against them against the Texans. What have you really seen from this Patriots defense and how has that changed throughout the season well the Patriots defense is still a very very elite unit I wouldn't say necessarily that they're the defensive juggernaut that a lot of people were making them out to be early on in the season I think we've started to see them level out in terms of what they are and what they are is very good look the Patriots definitely allowed some points against the Baltimore Ravens and you hit the nail right on the head. That is a different type of

offense than they're used to seeing. It's very similar to the offense that we're going to be seeing this week in New England. When your Kansas City Chiefs come to town, they're high flying, they're capable of scoring. They have a dynamic quarterback that can beat you in so many different ways. Great wide receivers, good, strong running game. So the whole nine yards, the Patriots defense is going to need to be on their A game, their A plus game in order to hope to even contain the Chiefs, let alone stop them. But with the Patriots defense, they're at their best when they're in that three, four set.

They love to show the zero blitz. They love to have the linebackers be able to come rush the passer run free and get after the quarterback that allows a linebacker like a Jamie Collins who's been such a great addition re-edition I should say to this team where he can drop back into coverage and actually be a coverage linebacker or when the Patriots want to show blitz they can do that again they can bring him back into coverage and have him assist in the secondary and secondary has been excellent Stefan Gilmore is playing at an extremely high level I still think he is right now in the discussion or maybe even

in the driver's seat for defensive player of the year their secondary in terms of the safeties and the complementary cornerbacks have been pretty good as well. So the Patriots defense right now, I think, is still capable of stringing together great games. They're very good at forcing turnovers. They tend to be able to read offenses very well. And that's something that you have to give Bill Belichick credit for, as well as Gerard Mayo, who's one of their defensive coaches, along with Steve Belichick, Bill's son, also a big part of that defensive strategy as well. So that's a very big key. And the reason why they're able to have such success is the way they can read defenses.

But ultimately, I think if they're going to have any success against the Chiefs this weekend, what you're going to have to see is a very strong game from the Patriots front seven. That's been their Achilles heel is their ability to stop the run. We've seen a lot of running backs come in and run for big yardage against the Patriots. That's something that they actually did a little bit better of a job on on Sunday night against the Houston Texans. They were able to contain Deshaun Watson in terms of running, and the Houston running game really didn't get too much on track. The problem was, as they suffered in the passing game, a lot of that was due to some of the illness that was going around in Foxborough, a really bad flu bug that just completely

decimated the locker room. As a matter of fact, the Patriots locker room early on in Thanksgiving week looked like an infirmary. It was really amazing. They had, you know, hand sanitizer all over the place and they were constantly reminding people to wash their hands. And it was pretty ugly. But at that point for this defense, that's going to be the key. It's going to be staying healthy, getting healthy. And it's actually going to be whether or not they can get into their scheme, play the 3-4, and be able to show the zero blitz a lot.

That's something I know they'd love to do against that Kansas City offense. One last real quick question. I'm just curious. Against the Baltimore Ravens, one thing that the Patriots really seemed to struggle with was the pistol offense, and you saw a little bit against Houston of that same type of offense. Is that something that you think that I understand it's a completely different type of offense? Is that something that you think the Patriots can adapt to and stop?

Because I think that teams are going to start using that against them a little bit more. That's going to be the key. And right now they have shown signs of being able to defend against it. I don't necessarily know if they're going to be able to stop it. I think right now what's the problem is with the Patriots on that is they have difficulty with the speed and the athleticism of their linebacking crew to be able to defend against that type of pistol offense. Like you said, those run pass

options, the RPOs that have given them such difficulty throughout the course of this year. And even in the past, it's really been a stalemate of the Patriots, uh, you know, uh, defenses, uh, as a whole and being able to stop, uh, offenses like that. So I'm concerned if, uh, to be, uh, to be quite frank and quite honest, simply because I think the way the Patriots are constituted, it's not a great fit when they go up against a very quick, very strong offense like the one that you saw in Baltimore, like the Houston Texans, and very much like the Kansas City Chiefs offense that's extremely quick. You have two of the fastest wide receivers I've ever seen, let alone in the league right now. Patrick Mahomes is so deadly in terms of being able to beat you in so many ways. And we saw LaShawn McCoy get his running game

going a little bit. Damian Williams can run the ball as well. So they do present some matchup problems for the Patriots. That's going to be the key is whether or not Bill Belichick can game plan for something that might be able to slow them down. We saw them do it a little bit last year in the AFC championship game, but this is a different defense and a little bit of a different offense with Casey as well. So that's a matchup I'm looking forward to, but right now I would say the Patriots definitely can scheme to be able to defend. It's a question as to whether or not the personnel is going to be able to

keep up with their quickness. Well, there you have it. And when we come back, we're going to switch places and Mike is going to be able to keep up with their quickness. Well, there you have it. And when we come back, we're going to switch places, and Mike is going to be asking me questions about this Kansas City team. And we are back here on Crossover Wednesday. I am Mike DeBate, host of Locked On Patriots. It's my honor to be joined on the other side of the microphone tonight by Chris Clark of Locked On Patriots. It's my honor to be joined on the other side of the microphone tonight by Chris Clark of Locked On Chiefs. And Chris, the Patriots and the Chiefs have a history. There's no

question about it, dating back to last season and, of course, the AFC Championship game, which I know is a touchy subject for Chiefs fans. It would be for Patriots fans if it were the opposite side. I can guarantee you that as well. But one thing that I did want to ask you is the growth and the development of Patrick Mahomes. We know that he suffered the injury earlier on this year, and it looked like at one point people were questioning whether or not Patrick Mahomes might touch the football field again. Not only is he out there, but he is looking pretty good. We saw the Kansas City Chiefs put a beatdown on the Oakland Raiders this past Sunday, 40-6. Mahomes wasn't at his best in this game, but the Chiefs were still able to put up a ton of points. How has Mahomes adapted to maybe a new style of play with being limited, with maybe his knee and his ankle injuries catching up with him a little bit? And if he has adapted, do you think that's made him a more effective or a more dangerous player? Well, I definitely think he's a more dangerous player than he was

when you guys saw him in the postseason. I think that there's a lot of things that he worked on in the offseason that really helped him. And injuries really have hurt this Chiefs team. You look at, I think think a couple of weeks ago, Mitch Holtus was talking before the game about how Kansas City had missed like 140 quarters of players that would start on offense had missed 140 quarters in the first eight games.

And you're talking about your starting left tackle, your starting wide, your number one wide receiver, Patrick Mahomes obviously at that point had missed some time as well. Those are three really big pieces in this offense, and Eric Fisher's not given enough credit when it comes to offensive linemen, in my opinion, for the Kansas City Chiefs. He's very important, and it's really hard to replace a good left tackle, as you well know, trying to replace Isaiah Wynn.

Really what I think it comes down to for Patrick Mahomes and how he's improved this year, I think his footwork's got better, has gotten a lot better. I think that he is making better decisions, and I think you're starting to see, especially maybe after the Chargers game, that he's not necessarily, I'm not going to say he's not taking shots, but I think he's taking better care of the football in the sense that he – or not even necessarily better care of the football near as much as he's just not trying to waste drives by taking shots down the field that aren't necessarily there.

He's taking better shots. He's making sure that when he does take the shots, he's going to hit them. He hasn't played two games in a row very good. His completion percentage is hovering around 50%, which is very low for him. So I expect that he's going to be in for a game that is going to be very good this weekend. The big question to me when it comes to this game is how is he really going to play? Because he does seem to have his moments of, you know, maybe the spotlight is, I'm not going to say it's too big for him, but he comes out a little bit hotter than normal.

And I think that's really cost Kansas City at different times, even though he is a fantastic player. Yeah, that's interesting that you bring that up. And I'm glad that you brought up the point of him taking shots a little bit better. Sometimes an injury like that can almost be a blessing in disguise. And look, no one is ever advocating injury by any stretch of the imagination. But sometimes it forces a player to be a little bit more aware and maybe a little bit smarter when they take hits and when they have to, you know, go into coverage.

I'm going back to the injury to Tom Brady back in 2008 when he missed the entire season with a with a torn ACL. He has, by his own admission, said that that injury helped him to know exactly what his body could do, what it couldn't do, and really, I think, was the evolution of this TB12 method that he seems to be using. So while I'm not suggesting that Mahomes do the same thing by any stretch of the imagination, it is interesting that you make that point on him being a little bit better in terms of taking hits.

And I agree with you. I think that does make him a more dangerous quarterback. And I still love what I see from him week in and week out. He's one of my favorite players to watch. And I know this is going to be a good one. And in Foxborough, maybe the New England fans may not want to admit it, but it's always fun when you see Mahomes take snaps under center just to see what he can do, as long as he doesn't hurt us too much in New England.

Keeping on the offensive side of the ball, one thing I did want to pick your brain about was Nicole Hardman. And Hardman, to me, has been a very pleasant surprise in terms of the impact he's had right away as a rookie. Hardman was someone that I actually scouted for the Patriots as a potential draft pick. As a matter of fact, they had him in for a very, very late workout just prior to the draft,

and I actually mocked him to go to the New England Patriots. When the Kansas City Chiefs picked him up, I said, wow, that is going to be a hell of a tandem between he and Tyreek Hill. And it really has. How much has he been an addition to this offense? And do you believe he's helped to make guys around him like Hill and maybe even the running backs like Williams and McCoy a little bit better, knowing that you have a speed threat like that down the field? You know, I think he's definitely helped the offense. The question I really have is, you know, are they going to start using him a little bit more?

Because, you know, he's not really getting a lot of snaps in this offense. And part of that is Kansas City's offense is very difficult to pick up. It's going to take some time. And receivers have one of the hardest jobs in any read schemes because he likes to have receivers that can play any of the receiving positions on the field. So, you know, I think he's really helped. I think he adds a different element to this game.

Obviously, he has elite speed. He's not as fast as Tyree Kill, but he is very fast regardless. And to have both of those guys on the field, I think, is a fantastic thing for Kansas City. The real interesting thing to me is going to be how they're going to get on the ball the rest of the season, because I think he's finally to a point where I think Andy Reid knows what he has.

And I think that Andy Reid knows that what he can do with Hardman and how to use him. It's just a question of whether or not he's ready to break that out yet. I do think that it's possible that this could be, you know, maybe this game or maybe the last four games of the season, we see a little bit more from Nicole Hardman because at this point in the season, you've seen just about everything that you think you would see from a team, but I think Hardman's ready to show a little bit more. Yeah, and I agree with you. I think that I'm glad you put the insight about the snaps and whatnot

because you see highlights from afar and sometimes it's difficult to know exactly which guys are getting the snaps week in and week out. So that is great insight and I appreciate that from you. But second, I agree with you. The speed, I think, does add a dimension to that. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Chiefs maybe use him a little bit more knowing

how difficult the Patriots have the difficulties that the Patriots have had defensively defending against a speedy receiver like a Nicole Hardman definitely like Tyreek Hill and we look for them to have probably big impacts on this game and it'll be interesting to see how they match up with that New England secondary that's been so great. On the defensive side of the ball for the Kansas City Chiefs, Chris, before I segue into my final question here, the Chiefs have been maligned a little bit on defense. But the last couple of games, I think they've played very well. And they look to be finding their niche, so to speak, when it comes to their defensive prowess. And I think a big key for that is the fact that Frank Clark has really emerged as that

threat that they expected him to be when they acquired him from Seattle. When you look at Clark the last couple of games, what's he doing differently now as opposed to what happened in the early part of the season that's helped to make him more effective? And my second part of that is the secondary has been playing very well lately for the Kansas City Chiefs too what can they do to keep Tom Brady at bay if Clark is able to have the impact he's been having lately well I think I will say to begin with the big thing about Frank Clark is we found out a couple weeks ago that he was dealing with a neck injury most of actually since training camp uh he had a pinched nerve and really

wasn't able to use his hands the way he normally would and I really think what you've seen is that that really hampered what he was able to do and he's not able to be the same player that he was in Seattle because he doesn't have the strength and the ability to use his hand fighting uh like he was as a defensive end trying to get after the quarterback. So I think that's a big thing for him. And honestly, when you find out that he's been playing injured, it makes a lot more sense. It's not that he's taking plays off.

It's just he can't get – he's been slow to get home is, I guess, really what you would say. And a part of that is just not being able to use, like I said, his hands and be able to use the normal moves he would he just looked a lot more limited in what he can do i think what you're seeing though at this point is he's starting to get healthy again uh you know the last two games he has been healthy he was taken out in the raiders game at this point when we're recording we don't have any information on whether or not he's going to be available for the patriots game

but what i will say is that when they took him out in the second half, when we found out he wasn't going to be playing the rest of the game, they were up four scores. So at that point, you know, I think we would have gotten some kind of indication of whether or not the injury was that severe that he would miss this week. I think it's more of a precautionary thing where they just let him not play the rest of the game because they didn't think that they needed him, which makes a lot more sense to me than anything else. When you start looking at what the secondary has done in Kansas City, I think, you know,

you have to be a little surprised because before the season and even up to the trade deadline, everybody was saying Kansas City needs a corner. Kansas City needs a corner. Kansas City needs a corner. Their corners have played very well. You start looking at their corners. Their corners are played very well. Their safeties are playing very well.

Tyron Matthews has a pick in the last two games that Kansas City has played. Juan Thornhill got his first interception, and it was a pick six on Sunday against Derek Carr. He has played very well this season. He doesn't necessarily have the stats because he's playing at the back of the defense and he's not really been getting his hands on the balls. But in training camp, Juan Thornhill was getting a pick almost kind of like Marcus Peters was his rookie year almost every day in camp. It just hasn't been there so far this season. I think what you're going to see is he's going to

be coming on the second half of the season and I think that's really going to help. And let's not forget this defense still has Chris Jones, and I think Chris Jones is somebody that's going to make a big impact in this game because if there's anything that can wreck an offense and a quarterback, and even Tom Brady, and I'm not trying to say he's not a good QB because he is he's fantastic but pressure in his face up the middle is going to be something that's going to hamper him and I think that Chris Jones has the ability to do that he does it every single week he puts linemen in the QB's face and that will cause issues down in the second that will cause issues trying to throw the ball down the field yeah i think you're absolutely right and i'm glad you made the point on jones it is definitely the kryptonite of the patriots offense and look we've started out the show talking about how the

patriots offense has not been as prolific as it has been in years past one of the big reasons why is because of the fact that if you do provide pressure to brady especially pressure up front we saw the texans do that sunday the tex, especially pressure up front, we saw the Texans do that Sunday. The Texans brought pressure up front on Brady, and it forced him to make difficult throws. Even though he had a lot of time in the pocket, it forced him to make difficult throws. And to me, I think that's what Jones does so well,

and that may be a really X factor in this game, and I'm glad that you brought that up. And thank you for the insight on Clark and as well as the secondary. secondary you know there definitely has been an improvement in the way they've played and I think the Kansas City defense is starting to play much better right at the right time so this team is peaking at the right time New England looks like they're sputtering a little bit but there's one thing about going back home to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough when it comes to the New England Patriots late in the season it tends to bring out the best in them. So I really don't lose there.

You don't lose. It's just the reality. They just don't lose in December in New England. So yeah, they really and truly don't. But you know what? That's what they play the games for on the field and not on paper. They always want to make sure that they're maximizing everything they can. And I think this is going to be a great one in Foxborough on Sunday night.

Chris, thank you for your time, your insight. And it was an absolute honor for me to share the microphone with you today on the Locked On Crossover. We look forward to the game on Sunday. And the Chiefs and the Patriots is always, always an interesting one. And I look for a great one in Foxborough on Sunday. It's great talking to you, Mike. Thanks a lot.

I appreciate it. Absolutely. Thank you, Chris. And I hope that you have enjoyed today's Crossover Wednesday episode here with Locked On Patriots and Locked On Chiefs. As for me, I will be back tomorrow to continue to bring you the latest news, notes, and analysis from Patriots Nation, and also continue to break down the Patriots matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs this Sunday in Foxborough. As always, please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast

and subscribe and download via your favorite podcast provider. For Chris Clark of Locked On Chiefs, I'm Mike DeBate of Locked On Patriots. Thank you all so much for listening today and staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great day everyone.