Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots September 5, 2018 - Crossover Edition with Locked On Texans

Episode Date: September 5, 2018

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Welcome everybody to a Locked Over crossover event. This is Mark Schofield, the host of Locked On Patriots. I'm joined by Robert Land from Houston Sports Talk and the host, the co-host of the Locked On Texans podcast for this Wednesday installment of Locked On Patriots and Locked On Texans. Robert, how are you doing, my friend? I'm doing good. It's always fun to start off with the Patriots to start the season. Yeah, I mean, here we are. Just almost a year between the last time these two teams met.

Obviously a thrilling conclusion last year out in Foxborough. Before we dive into what our expectations are when both teams have the football as well as what to expect on Sunday, I just want to remind everybody you can follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. You can check out work at places like InsideThePylon.com where I'm one of the head writers. Pro Football Weekly, The Score NFL where I'm a featured NFL contributor. Matt Waldwin's RSP and Big Blue View, part of the SB Nation Network.

Robert, why don't you remind all the Texans fans out there, as well as let all the Patriots fans know where they can find your work. Yeah, I've got the Houston Sports Talk podcast. We do about a weekly show over there. Five years now for us doing that Talking Rockets, Astros Still a little bit of Texans But mostly, of course, Texans on Locked on Texans

And on Twitter I'm at HST Podcast And at Locked on Texans, of course Please do check out Robert's work All you Patriots fans that are out there Listening to this crossover event And Robert, let's dive right into it Let's not keep the good people waiting We're going to start when the new england patriots have the ball and i kind of teed up with this

obviously new england patriots fans and new england patriots organization themselves one of their major concerns right now is protecting tom brady obviously just turned 41 you do wonder about the health of longevity longevity of tom Brady. So a lot of Patriots fans are wondering, how is that Houston pass rush going to attack Tom Brady on Sunday? I'm wondering who's protecting Tom Brady because we know you guys lost Nate Solder and, of course, your first-round pick injured Isaiah Wynn. So who have you got out there?

Trent Brown and Marcus Cannon, it looks like, are starting for you guys. What do those guys look like? Yeah, I mean, that is kind of a million-dollar question here for Patriots fans. And, you know, they do acquire Trent Brown from the San Francisco 49ers in that trade. Big-bodied left tackle type who has pretty much locked down

that left tackle spot. Now the issue with him is he has shown throughout this preseason that he can be beaten, particularly on speed-type moves with quickness. And so that's going to be an issue. Obviously, when you look at this Houston Texans defense, you might see him, you know, matched up with guys like J.J. Watt at times, perhaps, you know, with a Jadeveon Clowny coming off the edge and so that's certainly something to watch and as you mentioned marcus cannon robert he is the right tackle but he has been basically out of action all pre-season is battling back from injuries and so we've seen a lot of adrian wattle at that right tackle spot and as you said you know they lost isaiah win their you know first round pick um lose himor's season-ending Achilles injury.

So it's a big question mark. This Patriots team has a lot of question marks, particularly on the offensive side of the ball between the offensive line and the wide receiver position being first and foremost in most people's minds. So like you said, there are some question marks up front for this Patriots offense. Yeah, it seems like every year you're kind of wondering, when is this going to fall off the map?

When is Tom Brady going to have that year that all of a sudden he looks like his age and when is Belichick, you know, he's going to run out of Band-Aids and bailing wire to piece the team around Tom Brady with. And, you know, it looks like it's another one of those years where you go, well, they lost all these wide receivers. They've done a whole makeover over there. You know, there's all kinds of question marks on the offensive line. The defense looked pretty pathetic in the Super Bowl, to be honest with you.

So do you guys feel like from a Patriots, that this team's a little bit of trouble? Because as a Texans fan, you think, well, if we can't do it this year, we're going into the game with a healthy Genevieve Clowney that Bill O'Brien says he looks like 2015, or J.J. Watt looks like 2015 J.J. Watt, and you got Clowney is back and healthy, and Whitney Merciless is back from missing most of last year. So you've got all these guys that can come at Brady.

I mean, the front seven looks as deep as it's ever been, but the question is, is this the year that the Patriots kind of fall off the map? Yeah, Robert, and it's a great question and one that I get asked a ton that Patriots fans are wondering. You know, any anytime a team loses a Super Bowl you do sort of wonder about that post Super Bowl loss handover we've seen historically teams that lose a Super Bowl often it's tougher for them to get back to the playoffs to get back even to a Super Bowl than it is for the team that won and so there is that concern obviously

there's a lot of shall we say off the field concerns with the Wickersham story late last year now this booklet's coming out let's sort of get into some of the relationships and you know perhaps i'll use the phrase power struggle between brady and balachek and craft and so there is this sense of uneasiness in patriots nation right now that won't be quelled until this team gets back on the field and starts winning games. And when you add to that the fact that we are talking about a team with a 41-year-old quarterback, and we've seen quarterbacks that age historically, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, obviously those guys battle with injuries and stuff, but there can be a rapid decline. And so you put all of this together, and there is that sense that this could be a year where the window closes. This could be a year where there's finally that drop-off

or, as other people have said, Tom Brady falling off that cliff. And so there is that uncertainty. But what I think most Patriots fans are on it right now, Robert, is Tom Brady still looks like Tom Brady right now. We've seen him play in the preseason. He still seems like he has it. We've got Gronkowski. He gives that Patriots offense a certain element

that it's tough for defenses to match up with. They'll get Edelman back after that four-game suspension. If they can sort of ride out that first four games without Edelman, then we'll get back to the offense people are expecting. And then, as we'll talk about in the next segment, the defense seems to be pretty improved over what they had last year, which, as you said, a defense that got carved up in Super Bowl LII. And so that's kind of the state of where Patriots fans are.

And I'll kind of turn the question back to you. I know we're talking about the Texans' defense right now, but obviously you're getting J.J. Watt back, the addition of Tyron Matthew. How do Texans fans feel about this defense right now? You mentioned that front seven looks great. Could this be a really good defense this year? Well, if J.J. Watt's back to the old J.J. Watt, or to me, if he's anything close, if he's 80% of it,

and you put him with Whitney Merciless and Jadavion Clowney, and we've never seen all three of them go through a season healthy as a group, I mean, that right there is super dangerous. But the linebacking core in general, when you look at the inside linebackers that they've got, Zach Cunningham, Bernard McKinney, Dylan Cole backing those guys, and Dylan Cole might be the best of the bunch. The front seven is ridiculous. DJ Reader nobody talks about, but the nose tackle, he's really good,

and he's just going to keep getting better. He's still early in his career and still got room for growth. The only real concern is the cornerback situation because Jonathan Joseph is old. Kevin Johnson was terrible last year. He gets hurt every single year. Aaron Colvin's more of a slot guy. And then they just brought in Tavon Webster and he's

on the depth chart he's considered their number one backup at cornerback right now he's somebody that was still available as of a week or two ago and is coming off an ACL injury so you've got a lot of questions at cornerback but the safety position is the best that it's ever been with Ty Matthew and they moved Kareem Jackson over which everybody in Houston wanted that to happen long ago uh just remember that last year the game would have ended on a Corey Moore interception the Texans safety but he dropped it and Corey Moore this weekend uh got his walking papers so that's how deep the safety core is Corey Moore played a lot over the last couple of years for the Texans. He's gone.

A couple guys that they've had play a lot, Andre Howell, dealing with cancer, so he's not there, but you don't feel like you're missing these guys as much because you've got Ty Matthew and Kareem Jackson, and they just got a third-round pick, Justin Reed, that they're really high on.

Somebody that a lot of people thought was a first or second-round pick that they snuck in there in the third round. He's the brother of Eric Reed. Everybody knows about Eric Reed and that situation sort of blackballed, but really good safety as well. So this defense, you know, to me, could be the best defense in the NFL this year. It has potential.

Well, I mean, it does certainly right now, you know, given the additions, given some of the upgrades that Houston has made on that side of the ball it certainly looks like Patriots and that offense are going to be in for a tough challenge when we get to stud get to Sunday and before we move on to the other side of the ball when the Houston Texans have the ball I do want to Richard ask you a question from one of my listeners Stephen Thompson who submitted it via our Locked On Patriots Slack channel.

Again, if you're a Patriots fan or a football fan in general, you want to be part of the conversation over at our Locked on Patriots Slack channel, you can hit me up for an invite at Mark Schofield on Twitter. And Stephen Thompson wants me to ask you, Robert, how will this Texans defense attack the Patriots offense? And you may have just answered it right there, given all the guys they have up front. They better get to them quickly, because if the cornerbacks have a say in this game,

then it could be a mountain of trouble. I mean, that's the big thing. If Brady gets time, yeah, he could pick apart the cornerbacks a little bit, but I don't think the middle of the field that Tom Brady likes to work a lot is going to be as open as it has been in the past for this matchup between the Patriots and the Texans. Mark Schofield, Robert Land doing a little crossover action here on this double edition of Locked on Patriots, Locked on Texans.

And I'm sure Robert will attest, you know, hosting a Patriots podcast, hosting a football podcast, it opens you up to a lot of questions from family members, from friends, from people you'd even just bump into on the street. And one of the questions that I get, obviously, actually the most, is who's going to win, whether it's Thursday night, who's going to win that Eagles-Falcons rematch, whether it's Sunday, who's going to win that Houston-New England matchup that we're talking about here today.

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MyBookie. You play, you win, you get paid. Robert, let's flip the script a bit and talk about when the Houston Texans have the ball. And as I indicated earlier, I put out the call for LockedOn Patriots Slack channel members and listeners to give me some questions to ask you. And I got to say, the question I got most of all for Andy Likens from Hytham Winterbottom, you know, some great listeners over at Locked On Patriots and the Locked On Patriots Slack channel. How is the health of Deshaun Watson? How has he looked running?

How has he progressed from last year? So that's the question that we all want to know. How does Deshaun Watson look right now? Yeah, Deshaun was looking good. I mean, he looks like he's moving around pretty well. I mean, everything that I've seen, both in training camp and the games, he looks just fine. I mean, the only concern really is, you know, we want to see,

can he match what he did last year? Does he still have that, you know, was that an anomaly or was, you know, the other teams haven't figured him out yet? Or can he continue this? But the main question with the Texans fans is the offensive line. I mean, it was the worst in the NFL last year. I think that's pretty safe to say. And you look at the offensive line this year, just about changed everybody out except the center. So we'll see if that helps out or not.

I mean, there's a ton of question marks. The Texans went after Nate Solder. They got outbid by the Giants. So they didn't really get that big name offensive line guy to protect Deshaun Watson. And there's a lot of question marks. You know, we're going to see what Belichick has got, you know, what he's got sized up for this offensive line because they're new. I don't know how well the communication is going to be. I don't know if they're going to be able to handle some of the stunts and some of the

tricks that Belichick's got up his sleeve, but that is the concern. Yeah, and that was actually going to be proper. My next question was that offensive line because, you know, that's one of the things at least over the past couple of years, sort of the Matt Patricia era of this, you know, defense, you know, the Patriots haven't had pure pass rushers. So they've had to do things like twists and stunts to sort of generate pass rush. Now, we've seen, and it's not clear yet, whether it's just a preseason install type stuff

or whether they are going to maintain this. But at least so far in the preseason, Brian Flores, their new quote-unquote defensive coordinator, he doesn't fully have the title, but he's their linebackers coach. He's calling the defensive plays. He doesn't fully have the title, but he's their linebackers coach. He's calling the defensive plays. He has seemed more aggressive. So to build off of that point, what about the running backs? What about tight end Ryan Griffin?

Have you seen those guys able to help in pass protection, or will that certainly be an issue as well on Sunday beyond the offensive linemen sort of helping that pass protection stuff if the Patriots do get aggressive, if they do try to blitz Deshaun Watson? Ryan Griffin's not exactly known for his blocking. I mean, he will help out, though. But Lamar Miller, you know, he's solid. I mean, he does a good job with pass protection.

That's why they like him so much, and he gets a lot of playing time at running back. Alfred blue, the backup, maybe he's not quite as good at that, but I mean, the, the bigger question to me is just the offensive line and how it's going to

hold out. And, and when you look at the offensive line, you can say that they've gotten better because everybody was terrible. And, and you know, you add Zach Fulton who was playing with the Chiefs last year and he isn't as known as a mediocre offensive lineman and the Texans will take mediocre at

this point I think Julio and Davenport left tackle is going to be a big improvement and they went through tons of left tackles last year and Davenport looked halfway decent when he played last year in his rookie year as a fourth round pick out of Bucknell. Never played big competition. And, you know, he got thrown in last year for a few games this year. They're going to be depending on him. They also drafted Martinez Rankin in the third round. They're looking at him as a possible future tackle of the future.

But he's not ready because he was injured most of the training camp and preseason. So those are all the major question marks. And but the thing about it, Mark, is that Deshaun Watson, he makes bad offensive lines look good. I mean, that's the great thing about having a Deshaun Watson or, you know, he's kind of like a Russell Wilson type quarterback that can make those guys look good because you don't know, is he going to take off with the ball? So, you know, there's always that threat. And as a defense, you have to hold for a second. Where's Deshaun going? Is he going to run with the ball this play? So that's going to be interesting. I want to know, how have the Patriots gotten better defensively? Because I think that the Texans certainly have gotten better offensively. They've made a couple of moves, you know, adding a couple of players. Have the Patriots gotten better defensively?

I think so. I'm, you know, Robert sitting here right now. And again, we've just seen preseason stuff. You know, the real games haven't started yet. But I think when you look at this Patriots defense, some of the additions they've made, there weren't big splash type moves. But when you look at, say, up front, they add Danny Shelton, which gives you between Malcolm Brown and Danny Shelton. Now you have two interior defensive linemen that are stout against the run. When they go with a more pass rushing

base package, they've got two guys inside that can really sort of plug gaps, that can occupy blockers, that can keep guards from getting up to the second level and getting onto linebackers. They add Adrian Claiborne, who we all know had that five- or six-sack game against Chaz Green, the backup tackle for the Dallas Cowboys last year. But he's been good with his hands and his ability to get moves and strength moves together off the edge and get after the quarterback. So that's somebody they didn't have last year.

They get Derek Rivers back, who they drafted in the third round two years ago. They really liked him, but they lost him. He lost his rookie season due to injury. So they get him back coming off the edge. And so that gives them an additional pass rush boost off the edge because last year it was Dietrich Reis and Trey Flowers, two relatively young and inexperienced guys that were giving them the bulk of the pass rush.

So now they've got two more guys, so they're a little deeper off the edge and they really like Keontae Davis who was a player that wasn't drafted last year coming out of University of Tennessee Chattanooga but he got a you know day three grade from a lot of people and probably would have gotten drafted sometime either early day three maybe even late day two but they discovered a bulging disc at his neck that caused him to go undrafted the Patriots signed him as an undrafted free agent. He missed the entire season, but he made this team, and they've used him on a lot of those third and, you know, pass him down, third and long type situations to actually kick him inside

so they can use more of a speed package up front. So they've got some new guys up front that are giving them a boost on the pass rushing side of the ball. When you get to that second level, a lot of Patriots fans were really worried about the athleticism of the linebacker you get to that second level, a lot of Patriots fans were really worried about the athleticism of the linebacker spot because we saw in Super Bowl LII running backs running all over the field, crossing routes, giving the Patriots fits.

They couldn't cover them. Now I think with a healthy Dante Hightower, they get him back. They draft Juwan Bentley, a player nobody saw coming except for, I guess, the New England Patriots because he was at the Senior Bowl, Robert. I barely even thought about this guy. They drafted him in the fifth round. Everybody thought this kid out of Purdue was just sort of your throwback,

dinosaur-type linebacker that would just play on first and second downs and you'd get a burn off the field on third down. He's been much more athletic and covered guys all over the field, and so he's provided a nice boost to that linebacker spot. And then when you get into the secondary, there is sort of a question mark about the slot corner position I think that looking at Eric Rowe and Stephon Gilmore on the outside being okay they love their safety so they sometimes use a lot of three safety looks it's that slot corner whether we see a Jonathan Jones whether we see Duke Dawson who they drafted in the second round out of the University of Florida

you know that rookie he's been kind of absent this preseason due to injury. So that's going to be something to watch. But I think when you look at the additions, not a lot of big names, not a lot of splash-type names, but they've gotten better. It's just a question of have they gotten better enough to take the kind of leap people are expecting. Right, right. And the thing with the Texans is if deshaun uh is got a little bit

better pass protection this year and you throw in uh the fact that you know obviously you have deandre hopkins but will fuller uh who you know was just a nothing when deshaun was not quarterbacking the texans but they've got br Ellington. They've got Kiki Cutie, who they added in the draft that we really didn't see in the preseason because he had some hamstring issues. But he's somebody that I saw in OTAs and training camp. And boy, he was catching everything. He was wide open every time. If he does some things for him, and I don't know if he's going to be ready for this game, but if he can do some things, I mean, the Texans offense, they've got some stuff there. And Ryan Griffin is an OK tight end.

But the guy that we're really excited about is the guy that they drafted named Jordan Akins. And he showed some ability definitely in the preseason, caught a couple of touchdowns. He looked really good. So they have a lot more depth, I think, both at the wide receiving core and the tight end core. I mean, just from the eye test so far that I've seen with the Texans in the past,

this offense could be really, really good. It's just, it's about the offensive line. And if it's good enough, it doesn't have to be great. It's just got to be okay. Robert, I wanted to ask you about the Texans run game. What are your expectations for when they put the ball on the ground? Obviously, you've still got the X factor as well with Deshaun Watson. What are your expectations for when this team decides to pound it on the ground?

Well, the numbers when they were running the football last year with Deshaun Watson were pretty good because Deshaun Watson would pick right these big chunks of yards i mean lamar miller um he looks he lost about 20 pounds uh decided to lose a bunch of weight in the offseason felt like that was slowing him down he looks a lot quicker i don't know if the holes are going to be there for him but deshaun is such an exceptional talent that when he runs with the football, that's the guy you got to be scared of. But that's the running game is Deshaun Watson. You know, that's that's the deal. They don't have any extraordinary running backs.

I think their running back group is average at best. Outside of Lamar Miller, it's very below average. Alfred Blue is OK. But it's again, it's nothing special, but it's all about Deshaun Watson and what he gives the running game. And that's really what it's about. Mark Schofield, Robert Land, going to close out this crossover edition of Locked on Patriots and Locked on

Texans with our expectations for Sunday. And Robert, let's just get to it. You know, obviously a rematch of what was a thrill and one of the better games of the last year's regular season I'd say overall a game that you know Deshaun Watson's second start and he comes into Foxborough and you know basically punches the defending Super Bowl champions right in the mouth that's a game that you know were it not for heroics from Brady and Brandon Cooks at the end that's a game that Houston comes in and win and wins and you can imagine what that Houston-Texans season might have looked like if they had come in and won that game.

So what are your expectations for Sunday? What's the fan base thinking about Sunday? Who do you think ends up winning this game? I don't know what the fan base thinks, but I've got high expectations for this team this year. And if they can't beat the Patriots this time, I don't know when they're going to beat them. I mean, you know, Mark, the Patriots usually start off the season not fast they're not fast on the block

typically right right no I mean you we remember last year where they got you know blown out basically by Kansas City on opening night that Thursday night game and you know they started slow last year I mean they were two and two at the start there was a lot of concern about how this team was going to end up. There was concerns about the defense. You know, they had games against both Cam Newton and Deshaun Watson, that first four, that really gave them trouble. And historically, you know, something we haven't talked about is mobile quarterbacks give the Patriots fits.

I mean, you look at guys like, you know, Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton, obviously Deshaun and what he did last year. They've had their way with this Patriots defense from time to time. And so, you know, there is, you know, I don't think any Patriots fan is looking at this game like, oh, this is going to be an easy walk in the park. I mean, I've been reading stories and, you know, reports out of the locker room that, you know, Patriots fans now, they understand that, look, this is a Houston Texans team that, you know, they're going to come in. And this team has all the hallmarks of a team that's going to can easily come in and beat you on your own place yeah i'm not a big score predictor but yeah i do think the texans will win this game and the texans are just a way better team i think everywhere uh this year than they were last year

i think cornerback uh again they added aaron colvin maybe that helps but you know romeo's back in charge of the defense he wasn back in charge of the defense. He wasn't in charge of the defense last year when teams were going up and down the field. I mean, yes, they had some injuries, but it didn't look the same without Romeo in charge of the defense. Vrabel just, you know, he wasn't as good a defensive coordinator as Romeo was and is. So when I look at that, when I look at I think there's so much more depth in the front seven. I think the safety position is so much better. Deshaun's got another year of experience. The offensive line, I don't think can be worse. We'll see. But I don't think it can be worse. So when I look at all those factors put together, I think the Texans should win the game because I

also think the Patriots, you know, I don't know how much better they are this year than last year. I mean, you tell me. It looks like they didn't have any huge additions and with injuries to some of your key draft choices, I don't know how you get a ton better and lose somebody, you know, lose some of the guys that they lost, whether it was De Dion Lewis or Nate Solder and some of those players and still think that you might be a little bit better of a team. Now, they might not be worse, but I just don't know if they're they're better. Whereas I think the Texans are and they should have won the game last year in New England.

Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, the Texans obviously have made some improvements on both sides of the ball. I think when you look at, you know, what the Patriots are going to look like over this first four games, with that Edelman suspension, I think you're going to see a Patriots offense in these first four games that we're not going to see basically near the end of the year. You're going to see a lot more multiple tight end looks. They really like this kid, this second year player, Jacob Hollister, who made this team.

I think you're going to see a lot of both Heming, Robert Gronkowski, and two tight end formations. You're going to see a lot of both Rex Burkhead and James White on the field with a lot of two running back formations. They all even work in fullback James Devlin. So I think it's going to be not the wide open Patriots offense we've seen in years past.

And I think a lot of Patriots fans and even the Patriots coaches would tell you, look, we got number 12, we got number 87. That gives us a shot. And so I think the lot of Patriots fans and even the Patriots coaches would tell you, look, we got number 12, we got number 87. That gives us a shot. And so I think the expectations are that, look, this is a team that they're going to hope that gets through that first four games, and then they're going to see where they are at that sort of quarter pool. That's how Belichick always tries to coach each season.

He wants to see how you get at each four-game stretch. And so this might be a feeling out game for the New England Patriots. I am the host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, so I will say that I expect New England to win this game. But I think it's going to be, if they do win it, it's going to be similar to last year where it's coming down to the final minutes, maybe even the final seconds yet again. Two questions for you.

When do we get to switch places with the Patriots and be in the AFC East? Because, hey, that sounds like a great, great idea. Yeah, there you go. Because the AFC South is all of a sudden getting pretty hard. Right. But the other question I have for you is, you know, following the Patriots, the people in New England, what is the team in the AFC that scares you the most this season? What is the team that could keep the Patriots

from the Super Bowl this year? Well, to answer the first question, Robert, no, you can't. Okay, we're staying in the AFC East as long as we can. And I think if you ask most Patriots fans, we do recognize that, look, especially this year when you've got two teams breaking in what look to be rookie quarterbacks,

we imagine at some point Buffalo is going to turn to Josh Allen. Yeah, that's, you know, six games against the dolphins the bills and the jets combined it is somewhat nice to have that as a little bit of a cushion as to the other question you know i do think that it you know it is a fascinating one and you know i think i i don't know i don't know. I don't know. Let me turn it on you. How would you answer that one?

Well, the Jags, I don't think they can be as healthy as they were last year. I keep saying that. We'll see what happens. But they had so much fortune from a health standpoint, whereas the Texans were the total opposite. I think the Texans, if Deshaun is healthy in the playoffs, you know, they can beat anybody. I absolutely believe that. They're going to be dangerous.

You know, every year everybody says the Pittsburgh Steelers, but I don't know what's happened, but the Steelers just can't seem to put it together in the playoffs. You guys have their number. So I don't know. Outside of the Texansans i don't know i am not gonna pick though blake bordles to go to a super bowl until he does it i mean i'm just not gonna do it and i look at the other divisions in the afc and nobody gets me all that you know pumped up as to oh that's somebody to look out for. I mean, am I going to pick Andy Dalton?

I'm going to pick a quarterback that's taking his first snaps this year in Patrick Mahomes, even though he's got a great supporting cast. Am I picking Case Keenum in the Bronx? There's just nobody out there outside of the – I feel like the Texans have got as much talent as anybody. I mean, I feel like if, if, if you are going to pick a team with that type of potential with Superbowl potential, uh, Houston is the most dangerous and, you know, we, there, there has to be a point where the Texans figure out the

Patriots. We keep running into the brick wall and we we've gotten every, you know, brain out of the Patriots organization that we could get pretty much over the last few years. So at some point you figure somebody's going to go, Hey, yeah, I remember something that Belichick would probably do here. Yeah. I mean, you know, I, I think when I kind of sit back and look at the landscape of the AFC right now, I think, okay, obviously we'll put new England in there, but give me three out of the four teams from that AFC South. I mean, whether it's Houston, whether it's even Tennessee, whether it's Jacksonville, all three of those teams kind of scam me to some level.

And then I guess if you look at Pittsburgh as probably the de facto favorite in that AFC North, maybe. But like you mentioned, Robert, I mean, this is a team that, for whatever reason, the Patriots have always had some level of success against. And then you look at West, and other than the Chargers, I'm not so sure about any of those teams. So I really look at that AFC South, and like you said, that looks to be quickly becoming one of the best divisions in football.

And if you're a fan of just good football, and perhaps the new wave, the new era of quarterback play after the Bradys and the Roethlisberger's and the Rivers move on. I mean, Bortles, Watson, Mariota, you know, if Andrew Luck is back healthy, that could be a really fun division to watch for the next four years or beyond. I'm hoping people look back at this game that is going to be on Sunday as maybe, hey, we got to look back at this one from early in the year, the first game of the season, because, uh, here we are in the AFC championship game.

It's the Patriots and the Texans. I mean, we, we would love to see that because, you know, we haven't seen an AFC championship game in Houston. I keep reminding our listeners. It's been now 39 years.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, Robert, that was fantastic stuff. Before we go remind everybody, all the Patriots fans out there listening who don't know you or your work, where they can find you.

Yeah, at LockedOnTexans on Twitter, at HST Podcast. Of course, LockedOnTexans.com is our website. So, yeah, we look forward to this one. Can't wait for Sunday. Fantastic stuff, Robert. Everybody out there, you can follow me, Mark Schofield, at Mark Schofield on Twitter. Check out the work at inside the pylon and other places such as Matt

Walton's rookie scout and portfolio, Matt Waldman, rsp.com pro football weekly, the score and a host of other places until next time, everybody keep it locked right here to locked on Patriots and locked on Texas.