Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Grading the New England Patriots Offense, Defense and Coaching from Week Six — 10/19/21

Episode Date: October 20, 2021

As the New England Patriots attempt to build on their Week Six loss to the Dallas Cowboys, a great deal of self-evaluation will be made as the team prepares for this Sunday’s matchup with the New York Jets on Sunday. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com, as the duo critique the Patriots’ offensive, defensive and coaching performances from Sunday’s matchup.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. You are now locked in to the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Tuesday, October 19th, 2021, and it is time for a visit from our resident voice of reason here on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. And all of you Locked on Patriots listeners out there, thank you so much for making Locked on Patriots your first listen each and every day.

Remember, Locked on Patriots is always free and available on all platforms. And this episode of Locked on Patriots is brought to you by McDonald's, proudly serving communities since 1965. And McDonald's has always been more than just a place to get tasty, affordable food. It's a place where friends and family from the community can come together. A big thank you to our friends at McDonald's for always being there. I'm loving it. And speaking of loving it, greetings and salutations, Pats fans,

and thank you for joining me here on this Tuesday episode of Locked On Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated, and I'm also your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed, very much appreciated. So share that feedback, send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there doing some Tuesday traveling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots.

Pats fans, as I said yesterday here on the pod, as we continue to digest the Patriots' Week 6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, we start to take a look ahead to Week 7 and the New York Jets. However, there's still plenty to break down. Even though there were some good moments for the Patriots on Sunday, ultimately, they didn't finish the job, dropping an overtime thriller 35-29 to the Dallas Cowboys. So who needs to be held a little more accountable than not? Well, luckily for us here today on the pod, we are welcoming our resident voice of reason

to lend his wisdom, his counsel, and his grades on the New England Patriots' performance from Sunday. Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com rejoins the pod on his traditional day of scheduling. And of course, we will be breaking down the Patriots performance on offense, on defense. We'll talk a little bit about the coaching staff, and Steve and I will start to take a brief look ahead at those J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets, coming to town here this Sunday as the two divisional rivals get set to meet for the second and final time here in 2021. The Pats, of course, getting the win in the first matchup

between these two teams last month in East Rutherford. An action-packed agenda, tons to get to on the pod today, so without much further ado, Steve Balistrieri, our resident voice of reason, will join me here on the hot seat when this Tuesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Once again, Locked On listeners, this episode of Locked On Patriots is brought to you by McDonald's, proudly serving communities since 1965. And McDonald's has always been more than just a place to get tasty, affordable food.

It's a place where friends and family can come to reconnect. It's a place where classmates can meet up for a study group, knowing not only that they'll have dependable Wi-Fi, but also an endless supply of french fries and McFlurries. Win or lose, it's a place where teammates, competitors, the home team, the away team, even

coming together, can come to recharge. McDonald's is the place you always look forward to stopping on a long road trip to rest your legs and refuel. We're all sports fans here, Locked On listeners. Whenever forward to stopping on a long road trip to rest your legs and refuel. We're all sports fans here, Locked On listeners. Whenever you're heading on a long road trip to your favorite stadium or deep into enemy territory, is there a more welcome sight than those golden arches? For me, that was as much of a highlight as the game itself.

Maybe even more. Let McDonald's help you to live in the moment by recapturing the comfort and fun of old memories and making some new ones. Head to your local McDonald's to refuel and reconnect. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba! I'm loving it! Patriots fans, we continue to sift through the rubble of the Patriots' 35-29 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 of the 2021 NFL season. And here today to help us metabolize that loss a little bit better is our resident voice of reason. For the second time in three shows, the reason, the wisdom, and the counsel of my good friend, my Patriots bison, joins us here on the airwaves. One of the best and most knowledgeable columnists that you will find in Patriots media anywhere, you know his great work from patsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of two amazing podcasts, Patriots 4th & 2, and One Patriots Place.

He is, again, my Patriots bison, and despite what he'll tell you, worthy of all the praise he gets, and then some, Steve Balistrieri joins me here today on the pod. Welcome back to Locked On, Patriots, my friend. Oh, as always, thanks for having me, my friend. Oh, as always, thanks for having me, my friend, and I miss you. You know, it's always good to catch up, at least on the podcast,

and we need to reciprocate have you back on One Patriot Place when you can spare some time. Well, believe me when I tell you, it is always my honor, always my privilege to join you on One Patriot's Place. You, Steve and Claire, every time I join you guys

on the microphone, it honestly feels like a homecoming, and I truly mean that. So whenever the call is put out there, whenever you'd like to have me back on One Patriot's Place, I will be there, and I will do so enthusiastically,

and I'm looking forward to it, my friend. So thank you very much for saying that. And we feel the same way about you here on Locked on Patriots. You're our resident voice of reason for a reason, my friend. And before we invoke that voice of reason, Patriots lost to the Cowboys, such as the one that they suffered on Sunday. Not totally unexpected, but disappointing because of the way it ended. Patriots had several chances to take advantage of this and come away with a victory, but unfortunately they just didn't do enough to win.

And some of that is being placed on the shoulders of the coaching staff and maybe conservative play calling or lack of preparation. We're going to get to the coaching staff folks in just a minute, but I thought I'd get your overall thoughts here first Steve because ultimately you were right I was wrong the Patriots did almost pull this one out but again at the end of the day it was just too much Dak Prescott too much CeeDee Lamb too much Cowboys offense and the Patriots just unable to execute when they needed to do so Steve before we get into grading the performances on Sunday,

what was your overall opinion of this Patriots matchup with the Cowboys in week six? Yeah, you know, I didn't think they matched up well, which, you know, they probably really didn't. But, you know, they hung tough and, you know, they hung in there, and they actually had several chances to pull this game out. And, you know, I was thinking, like, hey, Mike was right. They're going to win this game. I mean, there were several times when I was like, all I need is one more play, and they got this. And, you know, I thought that they showed a lot of resiliency there, especially after Mack throws the pick six

and then he comes back and throws that touchdown. I was like, you know, when any quarterback makes a mistake like that, that's the kind of reaction you want to see from them. And I just thought that was great. But at the same time, it's like, you know, they they seem to this year to be, you know, playing just well enough not to win the football game. And that was kind of tough to watch because it's like we're used to seeing them do these games and pull them out. Absolutely. So well said. So well said. Because anyone who's followed the Patriots for the past two decades now in the Brady Belichick era, they usually come out on top in games like this where both teams seesaw match up back and forth. all this football up here in Foxborough. I know a lot of national pundits would like you to believe that, that all of a sudden this team just completely fell apart after never doing anything wrong for 20 years. But there were moments where the Patriots did make questionable decisions,

where they did make bonehead moves at times, but usually they were able to right the ship and they were able to get done what they needed to get done at the most opportune time. And now they find themselves on the opposite end of that spectrum. And it is difficult to watch. It is difficult to take as a Patriots fan. And unfortunately, it's going to continue until these matters start to rectify themselves. And folks, one of the ways in which they will need to rectify themselves is through coaching. And Steve and I are going to get to coaching in a little bit. But one of the best report cards, I think, in all of NFL media

when it comes to grading performances, Sunday performances or game day performances, is the one that you put out each and every week for patsfans.com. Just a masterful job, and I always love to read it. It's one of my must-reads of the week. Most of your stuff that is out there, as a matter of fact, all of your stuff really is must read for me. But this is particularly one of my favorites because I love the way you're able to break down the performances in a realistic and

reasonable manner. So let's not waste any more time. But on the offensive side of the ball, Patriots right now are getting, I would say, mixed reviews. There are some people out there that are saying they liked the sense of urgency that Mac Jones showed toward the end of the game giving that obviously the 75 yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne one of the big you know highlights positive highlights for the Patriots in this one Damian Harris ran the football effectively from Andre Stevenson looks like he's starting to get his footing, but there are still some question marks on this team. Nelson Aguilar, huge drop in overtime. You look at the aerial footage of that. I mean, he had one defender to beat, and you have to wonder if he holds on to that football and really turns the juice on, will Mac Jones have been responsible

for two back-to-back long yardage touchdowns, one that would have won him the game? There's a lot of what-ifs. And was Jonu Smith utilized properly? I know a lot of people are wondering that. Steve, when you look at the Patriots on the offensive side of the ball, what would you say your overall offensive grade would be? And which one of the units really deserves most of the credit

for keeping this one as close as it was? Well, you know, it was a strange game to try to degrade, and we'll get into that in a minute. But overall, I liked what I saw from the offense in the first and fourth quarters. I thought, and we'll get into this as well with the play calling, they got very conservative in the second and third. But, you know, when you look at the offense, they came out like a house on fire.

They ran seven snaps offensively, and then they scored two touchdowns. And, you know, you're talking about, wow, you know, Dallas is supposed to be the explosive team, and here are the Patriots scoring two touchdowns and seven snaps. So, you know, I was really pleased at the way they were running the football, and then, you know, I'm sitting there watching the game, and I was like, this two-tied-end offense is starting to click because, you know, the Cowboys are – they're not the biggest defense,

but they're fast. They flow to the ball real well. And, you know, when the Patriots lined up with that two tight end offense, I kind of figured that's what, you know, they were going to plan to do. They started Nikhil Harry, you know, the bigger wide receiver, use him in the blocking in the running game, as a blocker in the running game, excuse me. I was really pleased with the way that started out.

And I thought, you know, they were really starting to click. And then, you know, Matt Jones only attempted two passes over 20 yards, but both of them went for touchdowns. So you have to look at that and say, you know, things are starting to come together there. And, you know, for all of the, I guess, criticism that John O. Smith is getting from some of the fan base, the one thing you've got to remember is he's trying to learn a new offense as well. And not only that, now he has to try to learn a new offense

at the same time a rookie quarterback is learning it. And then, you know, a third whammy is they try to find some kind of chemistry. It seems Jones and Hunter Henry's chemistry is coming together. I think Smith, I think he is underutilized. They really need to get him the ball more. But I really liked what I saw with this offense, especially late in the game. You know, they took the shackles off Jones a little bit. They were letting him throw the football.

He made some really nice throws to Jacoby Myers. And, again, they had a perfect play call for Nelson Aguilar. You know, he might have gone the distance on that one yeah i think there's a chance that he might have again folks if you haven't had a chance evan lazar of clns media has an amazing aerial shot of this and he tweeted this out yesterday and said imagine if he caught this ball and really i mean you look at it and yeah there's one defender back there's a lone safety back there but nelson aguilar has got tremendous speed. And if he's going into his break, it's hard to imagine that he couldn't have at least had a very good shot to be able to take it to the house.

That could have been back-to-back touchdown passes for Mac Jones to win the game. And just what if is, I think, a very common theme with this New England Patriots team. But I like what you said on Jono Smith. I think that absolutely they have to find a way to get these two tight end sets involved and get them involved in a very robust fashion. Bill Belichick talked about this when he talked to the media on Monday, saying that essentially they had run a lot of the plays that they have designed, quote unquote, for the big guys, meaning the two tight ends, John O. Smith and Hunter Henry.

And when you look at the breakdown, the Patriots used that multiple tight end set. 85% of the offensive snaps that they utilized, they scored 14 points through the 10-minute mark of the second quarter. That shows you that that 12-man or that 22-man personnel, when you have the two tight end sets, was working. The Patriots were making that offense run. From that moment on, the Patriots moved away from that multiple tight end set. They employed them only 35% of the time the rest of the way,

and you saw what happened. The Patriots really had a very big offensive lull there for a little bit. So I agree, maybe getting Jonu a little bit more involved, employing those two tight end packages. Patriots can do great things. when they did share the field together. Patriots were averaging 5.8 yards per play. So that, in my opinion, is something that we need to see a little bit more of. I agree with you on the runners.

I thought the runners were effective. I thought Damian Harris had a couple of nice runs. And I was impressed by what I saw from Ramondre Stevenson. And Josh McDaniels alluded to this talking to the media on Tuesday, stating that Ramondre is someone that can catch the ball out of the backfield very well. Steve, we've talked about this several times. We've seen him do it at Oklahoma. He's really putting that into effect now in New England, and he's doing it very well.

He's got very good hands. He's got a good break on the ball, and he had 23 yards, one touchdown on the ground, but 39 receiving yards from a, a back that was not your starting back or is not your feature back. That's pretty good. And I think he's stepping into that third down roll quite nicely and maybe helping to alleviate the loss of James White, which I still think is hurting this team offensively as well. They're really trying to find their identity without James. James seemed to be a really big glue for Mac Jones in this offense, and we'll continue to see it go from there. But overall, I agree with your assessment on the offense. It wasn't so much what they did was bad, far from it. It's just I think we needed to see more of what they're doing well.

Flip it over to the defensive side of the ball, my friend, and I thought the defense overall played very well against one of the most explosive and prolific offenses that they're going to see all year. The Dallas Cowboys are stacked in every fashion. They have very good tight ends. They have an excellent receiving core. They have two capable running backs that can really take you apart in so many different ways, and Dak Prescott is playing at such a high level this year. It's hard to imagine any team really stopping them, but the Patriots had a pretty good game plan involved. JC Jackson did have the pass interference call. That was difficult, but overall, I thought he played well. I thought the safeties played effectively, flooding the field, trying to take away Dak's passing lanes. There were a couple of breakdowns in coverage. Obviously, everyone's going to point to the Jalen Mills breakdown in coverage. Obviously, the game winner was CeeDee Lamb, but third and 25 is continuing to be a head scratcher for everyone

involved here. Steve, overall, what do you think was the most effective unit for the Patriots defensively on Sunday and what concerned you about this defense moving forward was this just a situation where they ran into a juggernaut of a tremendous Dallas Cowboys aerial attack or is giving up 445 yards passing a real concern for this team moving forward well to answer that I, I thought their most effective unit was the run defense. And we've been, you know, talking about the run defenses. That's been kind of an Achilles heel for them, you know, going back to last year. You know, I thought they did a tremendous job against Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard.

I mean, you look at Dallas in their four-game winning streak coming into this game, they were averaging 201 yards a game on the ground. And for the Patriots, the way they did, you know, that initial fourth down stop was huge for them. And then they had the goal line stop of four chances from the one-yard line, and Dallas ran every single time from the one-yard line, and Dallas ran every single time from the one-yard line, and they stopped all four of those. It wasn't until those guys, after being on the field for almost 40 minutes, they started to wear down.

And that's when the Cowboys started getting some chunky outage on the ground. So Pollard and Elliott ended up averaging over four yards a carry, but for most of that game, they did not. I was very, very impressed with the run defense. But, you know, coming into the game, you know, you and I talked about that last week. I just didn't think they matched up well with Dallas' receivers. And,

you know, to make things worse, they were hurting. They had guys that were banged up all game long. They were playing hurt. And, you know, that Dallas offensive line is incredible. And they virtually had no pass rush. I mean, Prescott passed 51 times and he wasn't sacked once. That makes things incredibly difficult on already what I considered, you know, overmatched secondary. I mean, there was times there we had five and six seconds to throw. And I don't care if you have three Darryl Rebuses out there. If somebody has six seconds, someone's going to get open. And, you know, it was disappointing. And especially, you know, they went the zero blitz on that last play.

So, you know, Lamb catches the quick slant, and he has that speed, and, you know, he beat Mills. Just like we said, the play to Aguilar, it was almost the exact same thing, except the Patriots got caught in that zero blitz and, you know, Lamb ended up catching the football and that's what, you know, could happen. Yeah, it could definitely happen. And unfortunately it just seemed to happen at the worst possible time for the Pats, but I'm glad you mentioned the run defense being the gem of what we saw on Sunday, because I don't think the run defense being the gem of what we saw on Sunday, because

I don't think the run defense got enough love in this game. And I'll be the first to admit I'm as guilty of it as anybody. I barely mentioned it yesterday in my recap here on Locked On Patriots. But when you hold Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard to an average of 3.9 yards per carry on the game, that's pretty good. That's pretty good because you know that you're giving yourself an opportunity to keep those runners in check and daring the Dallas passing game to beat you through the air. Now, unfortunately, they have more than enough resources to be complete passes is a, it's just paramount. It's just a big time need for this team. And the pass rush has been, you know, fairly, fairly good this year. When you talk about, you know, guys like Matt Judon and, you know, getting after the,

the quarterback, I'm still, I'm so impressed with what Christian Barmore continues to do in pushing the pocket. You know, it's, it's just, it's just one of those things where you look at the Patriots and you look at their prowess and you, you seem to think that the defense is right on the cusp of it. And I believe they are, but you know, you just need to see more of it. And I think again, that really becomes the theme of these past couple of games for the new England Patriots. It's flashes of good,

but just not consistent enough and not enough of the good that we're seeing in order to pull these games out. Steve, it's always, always fun breaking these things down with you, and thank you for helping us to make sense of the offensive and defensive performances on Sunday. But what everyone in Patriots Nation is talking about is the coaching staff. And for the first time in a long while, the New England Patriots don't look like a very solidly coached football team. Does it start at the top? Is it more of a coordinator issue?

Or is the personnel simply just not grasping what this coaching staff needs them to do? Steve and I will talk about this and take an early look ahead to the JETS JETS JETS when this Tuesday episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, in life, we're all bound for different things. With beachbound.com vacations, you could be bound for adventure, bound for passion, maybe you're bound for discovery, or bound for togetherness, perhaps even bound for immersion, bound for rejuvenation, or you may just be bound for encountering the unexpected.

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Patriots' performance on the offensive side of the ball, on the defensive side of the ball. And we're pretty much in agreement that there were a lot of good to take away from the physical performances from the players on the field, but we just need to see more of what this team does well. And part of that is, I hate to say this, but it's on the coaching staff and they're coming under a lot of fire this week. Particularly the very conservative way in which they seem to be calling their offense. Josh McDaniel's coming under a lot of fire.

Folks, if you don't take our word for it, just go ahead and take a look through the various Twitter feeds of a lot of Patriots media out there, Patriots fan groupings. They just don't seem to be happy with the way Josh is calling games lately. And I can't say I really blame them in a lot of respects. I think they make some good points, although there are two – there is two sides to every story, folks. So I caution you to, you know, take a look at the whole picture before making an informed – or I guess before forming an informed opinion.

But at the same time, the defensive staff is starting to come under a little bit of fire as well. Steve Belichick primarily for, you know, calling plays and breakdowns and missed assignments. Third and 25, like we talked about in the last segment, is getting a lot of criticism because of the poor way the Patriots were positioned to be able to make that play. While a lot of people want to just lay it on the doorstep of Jalen Mills, there was a lot that broke down in that play.

And Mills was expecting help. And you could see both he and Devin McCourty jawing at each other right after the play happened. They were clearly having some communication issues. Steve, when you look at the way this team right now is coached and some of the mistakes that they're making, not just in offense and defense, but special teams as well. I mean, this is the second time Jake Paley has had a blocked punt in a game,

and I don't recall the last time we've seen the Patriots break down like that. Jelani Tavai had a huge breakdown in punt coverage, and that caused the block. What do you think is going on with this team right now in terms of coaching? Is this just poor preparation? Is this just not allowing, you know, the coaches to do what they need to do? Are they to support game planning? Or is this more about the personnel that they have on the field? You know, that's a great question. I think it's a little bit of all of those. I mean, you have a lot of new faces on this team. And, you know,

there's not a lot of guys who, you know, are established that are playing key roles. Now, one of them, Matt Judon, is, I think we can all agree, probably the best player, you know, game in and game out every week on this team. But there's a lot of new faces. There's a lot of turnover this year. There's going to be problems. They've had some miscommunication problems, there's no doubt. I think the biggest issue that people have, and I think with the coaching staff, is that, you know, Bill Belichick,

Patriots always had, you know, the team toick, Patriots always had, you know, the team to beat. Patriots were always up on the pedestal. And, you know, they always played it close to the vest because they were going to wait for you to make that mistake. Well, they're no longer that team. They're the team that's trying to scratch and claw their way, you know, back into relevance, I guess you could say here. So they don't have that, you know, that built-in cushion to, you know,

wait for the other team to make the mistakes. And invariably, they're the ones making it. I think they need to be more aggressive. If you're going to lose, at least lose, as I put it on Sunday, trying to win the football game rather than not lose the game. And, you know, you look at all those fourth and shorts, you know, you're playing an explosive Dallas football team. I mean, did you really think you were going to win 14 to 10? I mean, you know, I go back to the, just before the half, they had a minute and a half. They could have tried to double dip.

Let your quarterback learn. He might make a mistake, sure, you know, but at the same time, that's a great way for him to get some confidence and get some chemistry with these guys. The fourth and three at the end of the game, yeah, if you don't make it, then they have one first down away from being in field goal range. But at that point, did you really think the Patriots defense, as gassed as they were, was going to stop Dallas? I didn't think so. So I really thought that, you thought that they need to start playing a little bit more aggressively, and that

goes with Josh McDaniels. As we said at the outset of the podcast, everything was going well early. Then they had that big sack by Randy Gregory, and it kind of knocked the wind right out of their sails. They're play-calling at an ultra-conservative

at that point. I think you're putting your quarterback in a bad position. And we always talk about the Patriots putting, you know, their players in the best position to be successful. I really don't think they're putting their quarterback in that position. I'm not advocating, you know, caution to the wind and airing it out 60 times a game, but let him make some plays.

Let him make mistakes. Let him learn and find a way to win because they do have some talented players. Are they the most talented offensive team? I don't think so. I don't think anyone would make that assumption. But at the same time, these guys have shown they can play the game and they have some intriguing parts. And I think that's where everyone's frustrated, myself included.

I think this was a winnable football game that they let slip away once again. Yeah, I mean, in a lot of ways, I think you echo a lot of the sentiments of Patriots fans all over the place right now. And Josh was asked about this when media would talk to him on Tuesday, and he was asked very plainly and very bluntly about their decisions to not be aggressive at the end of the quarter, like you mentioned, excuse me, the end of the half and going for it and trying to at least get points on the board with about 90 seconds to spare before the end of the first half. And, you know, Josh basically said, you know, I don't second guess those decisions. What that did was it kind of told everyone, look, bottom line, this is Bill's call.

You know, it's Bill's call to be able to say, hey, we're going to go. We're going to move forward. We're going to do this. Bill has been very adamant, but also very evasive in the way he's answered that question and essentially telling everyone, well, we had the ball in the second half but the patriots have been known in the past to love that ability to be able to double dip they love to try to get points on the board take the ball back take you out of your offensive game plan and defensive game plan by putting you on your heels and that's exactly what i think this team is doing you put

that very eloquently and very well instead Instead of playing to win, they're playing not to lose. And there's a big difference between that, folks. It sounds very similar. It sounds cliched, but there is a very big difference between playing for the win and playing essentially not to shoot yourself in the foot and let yourself lose. And it really is a changing of, I don't want to say a changing of the guard, but it is a complete change in philosophy for the Patriots, who for a number of years were that team that played to win. Of course, they had the cachet to be able to do that, to force teams into making mistakes

or waiting for them to make their own mistakes. They're not at that level now. And you put that very eloquently as well. They're now playing from a position of, you know, not weakness, but they're playing from a behind situation where, and you know, in years past, they've always played from a position of, you know, not weakness, but they're playing from a behind situation where, you know, in years past they've always played from a position of strength. So Steve, hopefully we'll see some differences. Maybe we'll see some differences in philosophy.

Maybe what we saw from Mac Jones in the closing moments of Sunday's game will allow the Patriots to take the training wheels off the offense a little bit, start to broaden their horizons a little, not just with taking deep shots down the field, but just opening up their repertoire a little bit and maybe making things a little bit more universal on the offense. That leads me quite nicely into my last question for you today, Bud. And the New York Jets are coming in at 1-4.

As bad as the Patriots' season has been, according to the fan base, the Patriots still at 2-4, in at 1-4. As bad as the Patriots season has been, according to the fan base, the Patriots still at 2-4, not at 1-4. So you look at this team now coming in, and it's one of those things where you never really know what you're going to get with the Jets. It's a divisional opponent. These two teams do know each other well. Yes, it's a new coaching staff with Robert Sala, but at the same time, the Patriots did see them earlier this year. So there's familiarity there. And Bill Belichick is well versed in knowing the type of offense and defense that they employ on a daily basis. When you start looking ahead to the Jets, what's something that you think Patriots fans should feel confident about? And what should they be leery about as they head into Sunday's Week 7 matchup? Yeah, you know, when you look at

the Jets, the one thing you have to remember is they've had two weeks to prepare for this game, so they have a lot of prep time. They saw the mistakes they made, you know, in the first matchup, and they're going to try to rectify those. I'm sure we're going to see them throw the kitchen sink at New England coming into Foxborough. I mean, you know, that's one of those things that you have to expect from a 1-4 team. And, you know, they're trying to get off the schneid themselves.

So this one I think is going to be closer than the first one I do. You know, I think Zach Wilson is starting to get his act together a little bit more. And, you know, he has an incredible arm. They have some weapons in their passing game. So we'll see how it all plays out. But I look for the Patriots. You know, I'm worried that this game might have taken some of the wind out of their sails. I know they put a lot of effort into this one.

They all have to be very frustrated. And you worry about not so much a letdown, but, you know, it's like, yeah, I guess it's a letdown. After that big game, you know, they had so many chances to knock off the Cowboys, and you worry about the team's psyche at this point. Yeah, you do have to worry about the team's psyche a little bit, although resilience is something that I think Mac Jones is adding to his resume. And I wrote about this for Sports Illustrated shortly after the game had concluded on Sunday,

and some of my lessons learned and reflective thoughts, he did show a lot of resilience, I thought, on Sunday. And that's something that can be infectious with a team if they buy into their abilities and they buy into the confidence of their quarterback and team leader. And I know Mac is technically not a team captain, but when you're the guy taking snaps under center, you're the one that those players, especially on the offensive side of the ball, they're looking to you for guidance.

They're looking to you for inspiration. And Mac is starting to inspire his teammates. And you hear it every week in guys like Kendrick Bourne or somebody like a Hunter Henry or a John Smith, people that talk about him and even guys that have been around this team for a long time, like a Devin McCourty or Matthew Slater, they talk about that resilience, that confidence that Mac Jones has each and every week and that he continues to exude in practice. And we continue to see that on the field, but it goes deeper than Mac folks. It's not just on Jones's shoulders. It's all of the complementary pieces, whether it be the offensive skill position

players like the wide receivers and the tight ends to a certain extent, the running backs taking a greater amount. And then on the defensive side of the ball, it's about getting stops and having the confidence to be able to shut down any type of offensive attack that they're going to see. And we see the Patriots getting better and better at that each week. Hopefully that'll continue to trend in the right direction. So is this matchup with the Jets what the doctor ordered for the Patriots to get them back in the win column? Well, time will tell. We'll find out on Sunday. But in the meantime, Bud, thank you so much for coming by to lending your wisdom and counsel today here to Locked On Patriots.

And most importantly, lending your voice of of reason which we look forward to hearing each and every week folks you should be following steve valistrieri on twitter and you should be following the great work that this man does but for the benefit of our new listeners my friend please let everyone know where they can find you your great work and what you have coming on the horizon in the coming days and weeks from the great pen and the great voice of Steve Balistrieri. Thanks again for having me. You know, it's always a pleasure talking football with you. You can find me on Twitter at SteveB7SFG at PatsFans.com.

We have a podcast coming up later with Derek Havens and I. Russ is on the road this week, so he won't be able to join us, but we'll, we'll be talking about this Dallas game again and looking forward to the Jets. And we're, you know, later on this week, we'll be taking a look at the Jets game and you know, how everything's going to match up this time around. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, can the Patriots do what they did last time to Zach Wilson, continue to give a young quarterback some real difficult times. Although Davis Mills

looked pretty good a couple of weeks ago for a little while, but the Patriots were able to write that ship a little. Can that continue against Zach Wilson this time? Can the Patriots continue their mastery over the New York jets? We'll see. And again, time will tell, but we'll find out this Sunday in Foxborough when the Jets come here to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots. We'll break it all down with you again next week, my friend. In the meantime, continue to stay safe, stay well, and thanks again for joining me here today on Locked on Patriots. Just like that, Patriots fans, we are almost halfway through your work week,

but there is still plenty more coverage left to come here on Locked on Patriots. So to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked on Patriots podcast on platforms such as the Odyssey app, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. And once again, Locked On listeners, thank you so much for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day.

Now make your second listen, the Peacock and Williamson NFL show. Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson give you the expert NFL analysis in less than 30 minutes. It's free and available on all platforms. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Steve Balistrieri for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to

see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.