Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - September 26, 2019: Setting the Table in Buffalo

Episode Date: September 26, 2019

As the New England Patriots march toward their Week Four ‘Battle Of the Unbeaten’ in Orchard Park on Sunday, host Mike D’Abate is joined by Brandon Ray Of Full Press Coverage to help ‘set the table’ for this AFC-East divisional showdown.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all you Foxborough faithful and welcome to your Thursday edition 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. Locked On Patriots, as always, is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network. I am your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover the Patriots for FullPressCoverage.com, which is where you can always find my written work, and you can also reach out to me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC, and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots.

There's a great show on tap for you today. As we all know, the Patriots are preparing to travel north to take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at 1 p.m. And seeing that it's Buffalo Bills week here on Locked On Patriots are preparing to travel north to take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at 1 p.m. And seeing that it's Buffalo Bills week here on Locked on Patriots, I will be welcoming in my colleague at FullPressCoverage.com. Brandon Ray of Full Press Bills will join me today. Should be a fun, informative show. Brandon's always a great source of knowledge when it comes to all things Buffalo Bills,

so stay tuned for that, folks. This is going to be a fun one. But before we get started, I just wanted to take a moment to let you know about the exciting offers from Vivid Seats. Nothing beats the excitement of a live event. Am I right? I'm right. Whether it's a concert, a sporting event, the adrenaline rush of seeing your favorites in the world of sports and entertainment is second to none. And thanks to Vivid Seats, getting there is no longer a hassle. With the Vivid Seats, getting there is no longer a hassle. With the Vivid Seats Rewards loyalty program, you can attend the concert or show of your choice and earn credit toward your next live event. Vivid Seats is the top source for tickets and

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make a memory that lasts a lifetime and let the vivid seats app help you to get to your favorite live event enter promo code kickoff at checkout to receive a discount of up to 100 download the vivid seats app today and we thank them for sponsoring the podcast. Before I bring in Brandon, I start briefly with the news of the day, and to the surprise of many, the New England Patriots have filled their open roster spot by signing a quarterback. That's right, they signed quarterback Cody Kessler yesterday on Wednesday. Now, Kessler is going to occupy the spot vacated by James Devlin's move to injured reserve. He was placed on injured reserve earlier this week due to a neck injury.

Now, the signing was first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter. And no surprising, Kessler does bring some pedigree to the Patriots. He was a third-round draft pick in 2016. He started eight games for the Cleveland Browns as a rookie and four for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season in 2018. This year, he spent the preseason with the Philadelphia Eagles, competing for the backup job behind starter Carson Wentz. He was eventually released during the final roster cuts.

But the former USC Trojan has seen action in 17 total games over his first three NFL seasons. He's completed 64.1% of his passes, averaging 6.3 yards per attempt, and throwing eight touchdown passes with five interceptions. Of course, he joins Tom Brady and Jarrett Stidham on New England's quarterback depth chart. Now, Stidham had beat out veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer for the top backup job this summer. Stidham made his NFL debut in Sunday's 30-14 victory over the New York Jets. He replaced Brady with the game well in hand midway through the fourth quarter, but he

was benched after throwing a pick six in his first series. Now, carrying a third quarterback is going to provide additional insurance in the event of a minor injury like the calf injury that has limited Brady in two practices last week. Now, don't panic here, folks. Brady is more than likely to play in Sunday's game, but Kessler is an athletic quarterback. He can take some of the pressure off of Stidham, allow Brady to rest the injury a bit, but most importantly, he can give the Patriots defense a look at the type of quarterback they will be facing in Josh Allen, which has much more of a mobile presence.

So Kessler, by most accounts, isn't being brought in to push Stidham. He's not going to push Tom Brady for sure, but his scout team acumen and his athleticism is most likely the reason he's here. So that being said, welcome to New England, Cody Kessler. By the way, he will be wearing number six. That number was vacated by former punter Ryan Allen. And we'll look to see what Kessler can bring to the table in practices this week. But don't look for him to see any in-game action,

hopefully against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Again, Brandon Ray of Full Press Coverage will be joining me in just a moment. But first, I have a question for you. Yes, you, listening out there. Do your weekend plans involve watching football? What a ridiculous question, right? Of course they do. At the end of a hard week, it's great to sit down, take some time off, and watch some football.

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offer. That's promo code LOCKEDON. Visit MyBookie.ag today. You play, you win, you get paid with MyBookie. My guest today not only covers the Buffalo Bills for FullPressCoverage.com, he is also the managing editor for Full Press Bills. You can find his great work at fullpresscoverage.com, and you can also find some of his great work on Pro Football Guru, Fan Sighted. This guy's done it a lot, and he's done it very well. And also, I happen to know his ambition is to someday be put through a table by the Bills Mafia.

I know that from personal experience. My good friend Ian Glendon and I have offered to help him out with this several times, but I'm honored this personal experience, my good friend Ian Glendon and I have offered to help him out with this several times, but I'm honored this morning to welcome my guest and my good friend Brandon Ray to the show. Thank you for joining me, Brandon. Welcome to Locked On, Patriots. Mike, it's great to be here. I got my cable all set for Sunday, and you better believe that if the bills could pull the upset, I'm going right through it. I'm going to send it straight to you just so you can put it up on the air. Absolutely, and we look forward to

that. We can break news right on the Locked On Podcast Network here, and we can see Brandon get put through the table. I know you all want to do that. Brandon, we'll get right into it, and the Bills definitely have a daunting task of facing a defense that has not allowed a touchdown in three games so far.

However, this, I believe, firmly is going to be the Pats defense's tough task of the year. When the Bills have the ball, what do you believe is the best way for them to attack the Patriots' defense and try to get some points on the board against what has been a very stingy unit so far? It's pretty simple. They just have to convert on third downs,

something that I've seen Josh Allen progress from last year to this year. He's utilizing all of his weapons, the weapons that they brought in with Cole Beasley, John Brown, the emergence of who I call the next baby Rob Gronkowski, after his monstrous run last week. I think that Allen is going to have a lot of valuable weapons around him. I think if he utilizes them correctly on third down specifically, he's going to be able to move the chains and move the ball down the field

to get some points, hopefully get it in the end zone. Yeah, I do. I absolutely agree with you. I think conversion on third down is huge because the Patriots have been essentially stifling on third down. If the Bills can manage to do that and they can manage to push the envelope a little bit, get Josh Allen comfortable, then they possibly might be able to give the Patriots all they can handle on Sunday. And I think this is going to be, again, their toughest task of the 2019 season without any question.

Brandon, I'm going to flip the coin a little bit right now. And when the Patriots do have the football, how can the Bills get pressure on Tom Brady to slow his production? It comes down to three different things. First of all, they have to get interior pressure. So what I mean is when Brady steps back in the pocket, Jerry Hughes and Trent Murphy have no problem getting the outside pressure because Brady can just step in and chuck the ball.

If Ed Oliver and company, so him and Starla Tulloy, can get that interior pressure and get into Brady's face, cause him to throw those balls just out of bounds for an incompletion, that is what's going to stop Brady and the offense overall. They also have to learn to contain the running backs who can catch on passes, so specifically James White. He is, I believe, going to play a big, big-time role against the Bills defense. I think if the defense can contain White and get into Brady's face consistently on a constant basis,

you'll see that the Bills defense means business, and this is where Allen and offense can capitalize off of the defense performance that's led by that front four in Buffalo. Yeah, and I do agree with you again. I think that's their best method, and really it's their only way to make sure that this is competitive. Look, if there do agree with you again. I think that's their best method, and really it's their only way to make sure that this is competitive. Look, if there is an Achilles heel of the Patriots game right now, it is the running game. They've been very slow to establish the running game.

Sonny Michel has looked up and down at times. They are catching the ball out of the backfield pretty well. The Patriots are doing quite well with play action, despite the fact that they've had difficulty running the ball. If the Bulls can completely take that and shut that off off then all of a sudden it just opens up for the passing game and the patriots are very prolific in the passing game they do have some weapons josh gordon philip dorsett they are able to uh to do that however if they have to rely solely on

the passing game to do that it makes their game one dimensional and then all of a sudden putting pressure on brady you mentioned Jerry Smith and the edge rushers, they can definitely get after him, make Tom uncomfortable in the pocket. And we've seen time and time again how this is the method and the preferred method to attack Tom Brady. Get him uncomfortable, throw him off his game, force him out of the pocket, and then you can try to implement your own game plan. I think that's exactly what the Bills are going to going to do but again it's easier said than done if the patriots

offensive line holds up and that's another big x factor i think with this as well patriots have a very makeshift offensive line that might be the bills key to being able to get after the quarterback but if these guys come to play and brady has to pick it apart, even though the Bills, I think, boast one of the best secondaries in the league without question, Brady has a knack for being able to pick these teams apart. And even against an amazing secondary, he's second to none at being able to do that. Brandon Ray has been gracious enough to join me today on Locked On Patriots, and I'm going to put Brandon on the hot seat in just a moment with some predictions. And everybody loves some game predictions, right?

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Once again, I'm honored to have been joined this morning by Brandon Ray of Full Press Coverage. And Brandon, before you vacate that seat today, I'm going to turn the heat up on it just a little bit right now, my friend. As you look into Sunday's game, who is your X factor for the Bills in this game? And what is your game prediction as to how everything's going to shake out on Sunday in Orchard Park? It's quite simple. The guy who they drafted to be the supposed upcoming next Jim Kelly.

Josh Allen is the biggest X factor. He's going to make or break this Bill's offense. Coming in as a second-year quarterback, Allen's rookie year started out pretty low, and then it slowly progressed, and then in Week 12 to 17, he showed lots of improvement. In the last three weeks, Allen's done very well, not just through the air, but with his legs, too. You and I both know that a 6'5", 240-pound man should not move like that, but he does. So I think Allen is going to have to throw the ball in tight windows,

and he's going to have to run. He's going to have to run. He's going to have to run for those yards. He's going to have to run for those extra yards, especially if you don't have Devin Singletary, who is still battling hamstring injury. He suffered in week two. And I think that another person you're going to see very well involved is wide receiver Cole Beasley.

I expected to see Beasley a little bit more the last three weeks, but I think now with my prediction that the Bills have to give her on third downs, Cole Beasley is the Julian element of this offense. He's going to be the go-to guy in the most crucial situations. Cole Beasley has dropped very, very, very low percentage of passes in his entire career. I think Beasley and Allen are going to be best friends this Sunday against the Patriots.

Yeah, I absolutely agree with Beasley being a big part of the offensive game plan. And look, it was very impressive the way Josh Allen was able to lead his team down the field, game-winning drive, beating the Bengals. Almost looked like it was going to be a difficult situation for the Bills, but they came back. They really did a great job and ended up pulling out the victory. And you also saw Allen be able to pull his team back in week one against the New York Jets. I think that was very, very impressive as well. And look, Beasley is someone that the Patriots are going to key in on. They're going to have their eyes sharply focused.

He's also a target that a lot of people had thought about possibly being a fit in New England before he made the decision to sign with Buffalo as a free agent. So they're well aware of what this team brings to the table, and I'm looking forward to a great, great one coming up in Sunday. I don't want to put you too much on the hot seat, Brandon, but do we have a final score prediction from you, or are you saving that for fullpresscoverage.com? Mike, it's 3-0 versus 3-0.

A's, East Division rivals. Let's face it, these two right now are going to be battling for the division, as weird as that may sound. But right now, neither team has lost. Neither team has faced tough competition. And in the end, Tom Brady's going to come in. He's going to light it up. But it doesn't matter because the Bill defense is going to shut him down,

and Buffalo takes the win 17-14. Buffalo starts out 4-0 and takes the lead in the AFC East division. All right, you heard it. You heard it here, folks. Brandon Ray just predicted a 17-14 victory for the Buffalo Bills this Sunday. Please direct all of your negative – no, I'm only kidding. I'm kidding, my friend. I don't want to do that.

No, but seriously, Pats Nation will let you know it. They will let you hear it if that does not come true. But look, again, I completely agree with you. This is going to be Tom Brady's toughest test

so far this year. It's going to be the Patriots' toughest test both on offense and on defense so far. Neither team, you're correct, has faced the competition up to the level that they will be facing as the season progresses and on defense so far. Neither team, you're correct, has faced the competition up to the level

that they will be facing as the season progresses and also in the playoffs. I think these are two very evenly matched teams, and I'm looking forward to a great game. Of course, because this is Locked On Patriots, I offer my final score prediction tomorrow on Locked On, and I'm going to probably differ a little bit with what Brandon had to say here, but he is as good as it gets when it comes to covering the bills, folks. I would definitely take his analysis very, very seriously.

I always do, and I'm thrilled that he joined me today. Brandon, before I let you go, can you just let our listeners know where they can find you on social media and also where they can find your great work on a daily basis because you've been putting out some great content, my friend, this week. Thank you, Ron. Yeah, absolutely. So I can be followed on Twitter.

It's at Brandon underscore Ray79. And then you can also follow at FPC underscore Bill. That's where I post all of the full press coverage build content that I put out. I've been trying to get up the page a little bit. I've been trying to get the work out there. So definitely take a look at it. I want to hear the feedback, positive, negative. If you want to start a debate, I am all for it.

I'm here to talk football 24-7. So I would definitely be interested in anyone who wants to challenge anything that I have to say. Excellent. And we always look forward to that, and Brandon, again, you take a level-headed approach, a very objective approach, and I know that the 17-14 prediction is definitely coming from a place of groundedness, and again, like I said, it's hard to argue with taking the Bills in this one as well. It's hard to argue with taking the Pats as well. But there are a lot of reasons to feel optimistic

for Buffalo this weekend, and I, for one, cannot wait for this matchup on Sunday. As for me, I will be back with one last look with the Patriots for Week 4 matchup against Buffalo on Sunday in Orchard Park. I sincerely thank Brandon Ray for joining me today. It's been a lot of fun, and we

look forward to having him back here on Locked On Patriots, perhaps during the next Bills meeting. We definitely will keep a sharp eye out for that. It will be the battle of the unbeaten again, and I will offer my prediction along with the help of a special guest tomorrow, so keep a shy out for that as well. As always, make sure to join me each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast and subscribe to Locked On Patriots via your favorite podcast provider.

Once again, I am Mike DeBate. I thank you so much for listening today. Have a great day, everybody.