Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Fumbled: Patriots Critical Mistakes Cost Them Against Steelers

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pats fumble, stumble, and bumble their way to a brutal loss, At Gillette against the Steelers. It's autopsy time. This is Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening? I'm your host, Nick Cattos, born and

Starting point is 00:00:30 raised in New England. I've been covering the Patriots for the past 16 years. I'm also co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports talk show host veteran. On this live post game with all of you, we'll get to some of the biggest decisions made by the coaching staff in a wild game between the Steelers and the Patriots at Gillette. Also, some of these smaller details that we might overlook after all the big mistakes by the paths today. But first, let's get to those mistakes and talk about an infuriating loss. We appreciate you. joining this live stream in the show, making us your first listen for being an every day or Lockdown Patriots podcast, a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:01:09 And this episode is brought to by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week's moving the game forward. Mazda move and B-Moo. Mike Vrable said quite a ways back when he became the Patriots head coach. There is good football, there is bad football, and there is bleep that get you beat. The number one reason why the Patriots lost this game against the Steelers today

Starting point is 00:01:39 is because they had way too much bleep that gets you beat. Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five freaking turnovers by the Patriots offense. It was borderline comical the way this football team could not take care of the football. Let's run through the turnovers. Turnover one on the very first drive of the game. You got a third and seven shotgun formation, a legal contact on the defense. You get gifted a first down. Right after that call, first and 10, under center, seven, eight-yard gain from Armandre

Starting point is 00:02:16 Stevenson until he fumbles the football. Steelers recover. Turnover one. Turnover two, the fourth drive. And I think this was the most painful. This had to be the most painful. Because it's at the end of the half, you have a tremendous drive going. I mean, you're converting fourth downs.

Starting point is 00:02:35 You're converting third downs, 90 plus yard drive. You're inside the three-yard line. And on third and goal, Drake May has one of his passes tipped at the line of scrimmage by Cam Hayward. Ends up an interception in the end zone. That's turnover two. Turn over three. Fifth drive. first drive of the second half i mean think about the haymakers the patriots took here at the end of

Starting point is 00:03:02 the first half you have a fantastic drive ends with an interception in the end zone then you come out of the locker room your defense shows up robert spilane comes up with an interception arin rogers inexplicably throws it right to spilane you get a huge turnover to start your third quarter in what do you do you give them the football right back second and one under center handoff to ramandre stevens who fumbles the football at the half yard line. That is a kick in the groin. Turn over four, six drive. So the very next drive.

Starting point is 00:03:37 Of course, Ramandre Stevenson doesn't start this drive because he's now fumbled twice in this game, including once at the half yard line on the prior drive. So Antonio Gibson is in. First and 10, under center. Gibson gets nine yards. Second and one, under center. Quarterback sneak by May. First down Patriots.

Starting point is 00:03:53 First and 10. Gun run. Gibson fumbles. Pittsburgh recovers. Turnover five. The eighth drive. Second and four under center. Henderson, three yards. Third and about a yard and a half or so. Under center, one yard. Fourth in inches. Drake May. Nice play action, rollout. Scrambles for seven yards. Get you a first down. Matt Collins gets away with a hole on T.J. Watt, which J.J. Watt would cry about for the next 10 minutes watching this football game, even though J.J. Watt would not cry about. any of the other calls that were missed when the Patriots were getting hosed on a couple of occasions. Maybe just maybe it's because JJ's brother, TJ, was the one that was the victim of this penalty that wasn't called. But I digress. Scramble for seven yards by Drake May. First and 10. You got momentum. You're moving the football once again. And then Drake May runs all over the place forever, scrambling, trying to do way too much, holding the football like a loaf of

Starting point is 00:04:56 bread, get stripped, fumbles, turnover number five, absolutely unequivocally inexcusable by any offense. I couldn't care less about our expectations for this football team. You cannot turn the ball over five times at home against a team that was incredibly beatable. The only reason why the Steelers win this game is because you gifted them this game. This was somehow tied 14, 14 in the fourth quarter, even though you kept giving up the football. The only reason you lose today is because of you. Not because of the Steelers, but because of

Starting point is 00:05:33 you. Because you failed to operate at any kind of professional level with the football. A bad operation, an undisciplined operation. I expected more from a Mike Vrable football team. There's good football, there's bad football, and there's bleep that gets you beat. Way too much bleep that gut you beat. You had some backbreaking penalties, and I think some of them were soft. The one that I didn't think was soft was the Alex Austin defensive pass interference in the end zone against Washington. He hugs them. That's going to be a call every time. When you wrap your arms around the receiver, you're going to get called for a penalty. So that was a legitimate penalty. But I thought the hold on Alex Austin, which was a gigantic call because Aaron Rogers

Starting point is 00:06:23 get strip sacked, he hits the ground. The Steelers would be punting from just about their own end zone. But you get a soft call on Alex Austin on that hold. I hated that call. That was a gift to the Steelers. And then on the very next play, you get the Marcus Jones low block call, which was ridiculous. Marcus Jones was literally trying to tackle the receiver. And he gets this low block personal foul call.

Starting point is 00:06:47 So you had some backbreaking penalties. And I thought, really, a. microcosm of this entire game was the final play offensively. You know, we talked about Mike Vrable leading into the season. We expected a cleaner operation. We expected this team to take care of the football. We expected them to make sure they knew the details. And on the final play for this offense, it's fourth in about one, one and a half yards.

Starting point is 00:07:17 Shotgun formation for Drake May. pop Douglas sits right there catches the football but guess what he ran his route just a little bit short you should go beyond the sticks if not right out the sticks a little bit beyond the sticks just in case you have to come back and catch the football because this would be the final play of the game for your offense this is it this is fourth down games hanging in the balance but you don't get deep enough on the route you're just a little bit shy on the route and then when you catch the ball, you go backwards. Now, I don't know if Pop Douglas would have gotten a first down.

Starting point is 00:07:56 I saw people say, well, he would have gotten a first down if he went right up the field. He would have gotten a first down if he, you know, turned to the outside instead of turning to the inside. But this is a lack of execution. A must have it play. And I know Drake May told the media just a few moments ago that, you know, that's on him. That plays on him. He should have told his receivers to get up field.

Starting point is 00:08:15 Yeah, you could help by telling your receivers to get up field. but your receivers should know to get upfield and get a first down because it is the end of the game if they don't get that first down. So that final play for the offense was really a microcosm for this entire game. It was a perfect finish to this football game to complete a pass, but somehow, some way, pop doesn't get past the sticks, whether he ran the route past the sticks or catch the football, make a move and get up field and get beyond the sticks. He fails to do that. Patriots, turn it over on downs and lose the football game. But the Patriots did not deserve to win this football game.

Starting point is 00:08:54 If you watched today and you thought this team deserved to win the game, I don't know how you feel that. This was a comedy of errors from the offense. From the very first drive to the very final drive, the first drive ends on the Ramandre Stevenson fumbles, on the remandre Stevenson fumble. and then you have this Pop Douglas play to finish the game out. First drive, last drive, mistakes.

Starting point is 00:09:23 Cost you a football game. You should be two and one getting ready to host the Panthers next week, but instead you're one and two because you had way too much bleep that gets you beat. I know this team's not great, but I expected better execution. I expected the operation to be cleaner. I expected them to take care of the football. But it was a mess. It was a mess.

Starting point is 00:09:49 All right, we've got more to talk about. Mike Vrable made some huge decisions during this game, some that I agreed with, one that I didn't. We'll talk about that and much more. Coming up next, this is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to by Prize Picks, the Daily Fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off. make decisions every day, but on prize picks, being right means cashing in. And with football back, prize picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections, and you can turn your takes into

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Starting point is 00:10:55 throwing for more than a half a passing yard. It's really that easy and that much fun. Download the prize picks at today and use code Lockdown NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code Lockdown NFL for $50 in lineups after your first. first five dollar play prize picks it's good to be right there were plenty of game shifting decisions by the patriots coaches today and mike vrable led the charge i have been talking about this for the last few years if you have followed any of my work outside of lockdown i've been

Starting point is 00:11:33 talking about patriots coaches not being aggressive enough patriots coaches that will not go for it on fourth down not understanding where the game is in 2025 in 2020 25, you've got to be aggressive. If you're in plus territory, it's fourth down, you go for it. Sometimes you go for it in your own territory. That's the way the NFL works nowadays. And if you're punting at the 50 when it's fourth and one, you're playing losing football. I've said this time and again, if you're punting from plus territory, you're definitely playing

Starting point is 00:12:01 losing football. And Mike Vrable has been incredibly aggressive this year. and he is not afraid to go for it on fourth down and he proved it today time and time and time again second quarter end of the half drive fourth and inches from your own 15 Patriots are down and they're at their own 15 yard line and Vrable goes forward Mike Vrable sends it into Josh McDaniels and says we're going for it on this fourth and very short, even though it's our own 15-yard line. Pitch play, which, by the way, I don't love it, worked out, don't love pitch plays on fourth and short, but a pitch play to all people, Ramandre Stevenson, pitch play to Ramandre Stevenson, he gets eight yards, you move the chains, you should have eventually scored a touchdown at the end of the half or put some points up on the board.

Starting point is 00:13:01 But as we know, by now, the pick by Drake May in the end zone ended up killing that drive. but that was a very gutsy. Let's just clean it up for the young people out there. That was a gutsy call by Mike Frable to go for it on fourth and short from your own 15-yard line. Third quarter, seventh drive of the game, fourth and inches. Again, Josh McDaniels calls up a play under center for Drake May. They fake the jet sweep to, I believe, Pop Douglas. Another pitch play to Trayvion Henderson.

Starting point is 00:13:33 Henderson gets three yards. Would have been a first down. there was an illegal hands to the face penalty called anyway. So again, Mike Vrable says, let's go for it on fourth and short, and they convert. Third quarter, same drive. They went for it not once but twice on fourth down during that seventh drive of the game, fourth and two. Now, I would have taken the point.

Starting point is 00:13:55 I disagreed with Mike Vrable on this. Even though I love coaches being aggressive and I think you should be aggressive more times than not, I disagreed with Mike Vrable on this decision because you just had. You just had not one but two drives that were inside the three-yard line, and you failed to get any points. I'm telling you right now, I'm transparent. If I get it wrong, I tell you I got it wrong. And I thought the Patriots should have kicked the field goal. Get some points on the board.

Starting point is 00:14:22 Get to 14.10. Take a deep breath. Your defense is playing very well at that point. But Mike Vrable disagreed. Fourth and two, down 14 to 7 in the third quarter, instead of 10. taking the points. He goes for it. He goes for it. Hunter Henry ends up catching a touchdown up the seam for the game tying touchdown after Andy Borogales, who made both extra points, which was nice to see, ties it up 14-14. So I disagreed with that call by Vrable. He went for it.

Starting point is 00:14:55 It worked. You give the flowers to the head coach. Great job by Vrable. And then, of course, you had fourth quarter, fourth and inches, play action rollout. Drake May scrambled for seven yards. and then the next play may fumbled. So unfortunately, that fourth down decision and conversion didn't necessarily get you the momentum that you were hoping for. And then you had the final play of the game, which you have to go for it. So the Patriots went for it on fourth down five times today, five times. And the only time they were stopped was because of the play we just talked about last

Starting point is 00:15:28 segment with Pop, not necessarily running beyond the sticks or making sure he's right at the sticks or catching it at the sticks and making a move forward or lunging forward. That's the only reason. That's the only reason you didn't go five for five on fourth down. You should have had a clean sheet on fourth down. But you didn't. It happens. Let's talk about Josh McDaniels because he also had a couple of decisions that made my head spin.

Starting point is 00:15:52 I thought he had a couple of really good play calls. First touchdown to Hunter Henry was a fantastic call, play action. You know, you move the pocket just a little bit and you get Hunter Henry wide open. Steelers were thinking run, run, run, run. you took advantage of that and you end up with the play action and you hit Henry for a touchdown. That was a very good call. There was a third and long call where you had a pick play with Stefan Diggs that sprung Ramandre Stevenson Open who caught the ball in the flat. That was a very good play call by Josh McDaniels. But I'll tell you what, the end of the

Starting point is 00:16:25 half was atrocious by McDaniels and Mike Vrable because it's Mike Vrable's responsibility to make sure that the game is being handled correctly. And I thought Josh McDaniels at the end of that first half, the series of calls that he made inside the five were absolutely brutal. Before I get to that, don't forget to hit that thumbs up as you watch us here on YouTube. Help us with the algorithm. Like, throw your comments in. How do you feel about this crazy game?

Starting point is 00:16:55 Five turnovers from the Patriots. They just handed the Steelers the game today at Gillette. Don't forget to like. Don't forget to comment. And don't forget to subscribe. We're trying to get to 7,000 subscribers. There are other locked on podcasts across the NFL. They have 30,000 subscribers.

Starting point is 00:17:10 Let's represent Patriots Nation with this podcast. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Let's get to Josh McDaniels at the end of the first half. This stunk out loud. It infuriated me. I borderline moved furniture in my house at halftime because of the decision-making here. First and goal, under center, you get an encroachment call in the Steelers defense. sets up the Patriots at about the two and a half yard line.

Starting point is 00:17:36 First and goal under center. T.J. Watt blows by Hunter Henry. Nick Herbig gets a quick pressure. You try the play action fake. It's a throwaway. I get it. Play action fake. First down.

Starting point is 00:17:50 That was a good call earlier that got you your first touchdown. So I can understand that. But then you've got second in goal. Shotgun formation. Incomplete pass. More pressure on Drake May. Third in goal, shotgun formation, ends up an interception in the end zone. The play tip by Cam Hayward, the Steelers end up creating the turnover, and you get zero points.

Starting point is 00:18:16 This is bad coaching, and this is deplorable play calling. You have the football inside the three-yard line on a first down. You have all three timeouts. you just put together an absolutely brilliant, an absolutely brilliant drive of 90 plus yards. You've got to finish this thing, baby. And you've got a first and goal from inside the five, all three of your timeouts, and you don't call for a single run. That's atrocious.

Starting point is 00:18:53 I think it's malpractice from a play calling standpoint. to not try to at least run the football once from inside the three yard line is abominable decision making inside the three three timeouts oh and by the way your quarterback took a serious hit and his head bounced off the turf on first and goal to not run the ball there was terrible And I could not believe Josh McDaniels went past, pass, pass, and two of the three shotgun formation from inside the three-yard line. Just absolutely brutal. I will give Zach Corr credit.

Starting point is 00:19:43 We'll talk about this a little bit more. I thought Zach Corr, who was, you know, once again, in the spot of Terrell Williams, as Terrell Williams was not calling the plays today, I thought Zach Corr called the game that should have resulted in a win. Patriots defense, they got off to a terrible start. First quarter was an abomination. And then the Patriots defense shut down Pittsburgh from the beginning of the second quarter,

Starting point is 00:20:08 pretty much all the way through to the middle of the fourth quarter, middle late fourth quarter. So shout out to Zach Corr. All right, we have a lot more thoughts on this game, including a defense, as I just mentioned, that stepped up when we all thought they were. dead in the water. Talk about that next, as long as well as some other things that we, I've got to get off my chest as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to by Mazda's moving the game forward for those who believe it's

Starting point is 00:20:40 not just about playing the game. It's about redefining it. There are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, move culture, and keep moving the game forward. And this week's moment that moved the game forward, I'm going with the entire defense. After a dreadful first quarter, they kept forcing three and outs, as well as came up with a big time Robert Spillane interception of Aaron Rogers that allowed the paths to move the game forward, giving them a chance to try to come back and win this one at Gillette. Also, let's give some love to Hunter Henry, who had two touchdowns, including the one that tied it up at 14 apiece. Henry tried to keep the game moving forward in a positive direction. When you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only. at the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight, there's more to a Mazda vehicle.

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Starting point is 00:22:11 bet just $5. And if that bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets to bet across the app. So are you ready to play. Download the Fandul app now by visiting Fanduil.com to get started. That's Fanduil.com to place your first $5 bet. Brutal loss. Brutal loss of a game that should have been a win. The only reason you lose this game is because you have five turnovers, yet you have some backbreaking penalties. You just shot yourself in the foot over and over and over again. And I will say this. we expect it up and down from this offensive line, especially the young guys on the left.

Starting point is 00:22:51 And we'll get more numbers when we start looking at everything across the board on Monday and in the afternoon on Monday. You get some initial numbers and then the pressure numbers change and all of that. But I will tell you, you know, the early numbers for this offensive line, they're not great. They gave up a lot of pressure today.

Starting point is 00:23:09 And we talked about it on the preview on Friday's show, getting ready for this game. The Steelers blitz a lot, and they get a lot of pressure. And they got a lot of pressure today. And Jared Wilson, Will Campbell gave up a good amount of pressure. Morgan Moses gave up some pressure with T.J. Watt, which is somewhat expected because T.J. Watt is so good. But the offensive line had some issues with some pressure looks.

Starting point is 00:23:34 And this is a big challenge. They were very good against Miami. They were not as good against the Steelers. I did feel like they got a little bit better as the game went on. I felt like a lot of the pressure. And I'll rewatch the game again, as I always do on Monday morning. But it felt to me watching it live that there was more pressure early in the game. So there were some pressure issues there, especially early.

Starting point is 00:23:59 Steelers had five or six sacks in this game. So the Steelers were aggressive. They went after Drake May. They created a lot of turnovers, a handful of turnovers, and they created that pressure on the quarterback, which made life uneasy for him. What also hurt was, again, the running game for the Patriots wasn't very good. And a lot of people will look at the final rushing yards numbers because the Patriots ran for over 100 yards today. But don't forget that Drake May had a number of those yards.

Starting point is 00:24:33 If you break it down by position, running backs today, they had 22 carries between Ramandre Stevenson, Trayvion Henderson, and Antonio Gibson. you had 22 carries for only 74 yards. The Patriots averaged less than three and a half yards a carry. So the running backs, you had three fumbles, two from Stevenson, one from Gibson. You average less than three and a half yards per carry from your backs. And this is the second game out of three that when you don't get your running backs going, the offense isn't quite the same.

Starting point is 00:25:08 Now, I will say the Patriots move the ball. they had almost 370 total yards today. But I would like to see more from the run game. 3.3 yards per carry is not going to get it done. It's just not going to get it done. You need to be better. You need to be more productive with your backs. And now who knows how Ramandre Stevenson is going to be handled after his two fumbles today.

Starting point is 00:25:34 He got another couple of snaps after the second fumble. One of them was on a third down. And I think that's because Mike Vrable, and the coaching staff doesn't necessarily trust Trayvion Henderson at all times on third down because again, in this game, Travion Henderson missed a block on a Patrick Queen Blitz and it blew up the play. But how do you divvy it up now? You don't want Trayvion Henderson being out there a ton. We've talked about it. Less is more with Trayvon Henderson. And he proved that at Ohio State. When you use him too much, he gets banged up and he's not the same kind of

Starting point is 00:26:11 of back. So what do you do now? Gipson gets a fumble as soon as you go to him. But the running backs need to be much, much better. The running backs I thought were going to be a strong point of this offense, and they just have not gotten the job done two out of the first three games. You need more than 3.3 a carry. I will give some love to Hunter Henry, who was pretty good. Now, in past protection, he missed a couple. He missed a couple of blitzers. He didn't get great chips. He was responsible for one of the sacks. But Hunter Henry had eight catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns. He continues to be Mr. Dependable. I was freaking out when he was injured in the third quarter. I'm telling you, the Patriots offense cannot, cannot lose Hunter Henry.

Starting point is 00:27:03 So as far as a pass receiver, he was the ultimate weapon today. Eight catches, 90 yards, two touchdowns again, your wide receivers were pretty quiet. Kisham Booty had a big third down and long conversion with a dig route, which was nice to see. Stefan Diggs had a big conversion as well, but you're not getting a ton of production from your wide receivers right now. Henry's been this offense, and so eight catches, 90 yards, two touchdowns nice to see from Hunter Henry.

Starting point is 00:27:32 The defense. I got to give credit to the defense. I mean, in the first quarter, I tweeted out. and I'm sure many people were feeling this way. You can follow me at Nick C Radio, by the way. I tweeted out, this defense stinks. And in that moment, up until that moment, what we've seen from this defense through this season,

Starting point is 00:27:52 they had stunk. But I'll give credit to the defense. And I'll give credit to Mike Vrable. I'll give credit to Zach Corr. They made some adjustments. They took out Christian Ellis. They put in Jack Gibbons. They also played Marte Mapu more on third down today for Ellis.

Starting point is 00:28:07 They took Alex Austin out. they put Charles Woods in so they did make some changes they didn't sit on their hands and just watch this game so they made some adjustments and it feels like it's every week that they get off to a slow start against the run game but then they get to become a very good run defending team and that happened again today that first quarter Steelers are running the football and then the Patriots defense shut it down so I give credit to the defense they kept the team in the game five turnovers and you know you're looking at a tie game late in the fourth quarter. And that's because the defense continued to force three and outs.

Starting point is 00:28:43 And then they got the pick from Spalane. I thought Kyrie's Tonga got major push up front. I thought Harold Landry showed up a number of times yet again. So great job by the defense after that first quarter. If the defense was as bad as they were against Miami in this game, this could have been 45 to 7. But the defense after a bad first, quarter you don't want to see that but after that bad first quarter they got their issue straight and they they played some really good football and they gave Aaron rogers headaches the Patriots had 369 yards Pittsburgh only had 203 yards total yards just over 200 yards Patriots were 10 for 18 on third and fourth down Pittsburgh was four for nine on third down so

Starting point is 00:29:33 less than 50 percent Pittsburgh only had 64 rushing yards and it feels like 40 or 50 of those were in the first quarter. And now the question is, how does this football team respond next week hosting Carolina? Now one and two. They need to play better at home. They need to win at home. And by the way, Carolina blew out the Atlanta Falcons today, 30 to nothing. So they're coming into Gillette riding on a high. Rough one. All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen for being an every day. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel, don't forget to hit that like button, help us build momentum. And don't forget to subscribe for your second listen. Get a double dose of the

Starting point is 00:30:18 Lockdown NFL podcast with Tyler the Madman Roland and Tony Wiggins. Find Lockdown NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. Tough way to lose a football game. We'll see you all tomorrow. Thank you.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Fumbled: Patriots Critical Mistakes Cost Them Against Steelers

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