Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: 2023 Schedule Takeaways — Toughest Stretch? Most Important Games?

Episode Date: May 13, 2023

For those hoping that the New England Patriots 2023 NFL schedule would provide some solace for a team hoping to re-establish itself as a postseason contender, the upcoming season slate might be worrisome. The Patriots face a gauntlet to open the season, en route to compiling one of the toughest schedules in the NFL. Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy to discuss the Pats 2023 schedule, including their toughest stretch and most important games.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriotsAnd follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG(CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat(CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New England Patriots face a gauntlet to open the 2023 NFL season, but is it their toughest stretch on the schedule? Stick around. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. 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. Welcome to the Lockdown Patriots podcast,

a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts to get the latest episode as soon as it's available. I am your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me.

Let me know what's on your mind on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some much-deserved love to the Twitterverse, let's be fair, please follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. That's fans, of course.

Thank you for joining me here today on Locked On Patriots. And a special shout out to all of you Locked On everydayers out there. Those of you who make Locked On Patriots possible, my unending appreciation to you. As always, honored, humbled by your support. And the 2023 NFL schedule is out. We're here today to break it all down. And I say we, because as you can see here on the screen,

when you need the hard hitting analysis, when you need the whole truth, the nothing but the truth, you go to the click. And that's my good friend, Thomas Murphy of E2G Sports joining me today. Thank you for coming to me in friendship, Don Murph. Oh, always my pleasure, Michael. Always my pleasure.

You call and I am here. I live always my pleasure, Michael. Always my pleasure. You call, and I am here. I live but to serve my liege. And the feeling is mutual in return, my friend. We don't call you the Don of Lockdown Patriots for no reason. Definitely, that chair is yours, and it always will be. It's embroidered,

actually, folks. It actually has his name on it. So, we really couldn't do anything about it, even if we wanted to, but who wants to? We open the week in style we close the week in style with our good each and every single week so for those of us smurf and patriots nation that we're hoping that this patriot season slate was going to provide a little solace for a team that's hoping to re-establish itself maybe as a postseason contender. Nah, not even close. Nah, the schedule might be a bit worrisome. A little bit.

Now we'll get into that, folks. The Patriots tied with both the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants for having the third toughest schedule,.549 strength of schedule percentage according to the metric they use. New England's opponents in 2023, Murphph just to give you a background 127 107 and three that's a 53.5 winning percentage from last season nine time 19s had a record of 500 or better so for anyone calling this road ahead a how shall i say i i really don't even know how to put this delicately. This is, I opened the show to say it was a gauntlet,

and I'm going to stick with that. When you look at the Patriots schedule, Murph, and we actually do have some visual aid for us today, and we will get the Patriots schedule up there. Look at that. Courtesy of our good friends here at Patriots.com, Murph and I peering around the side. We kind of look like the Three Stooges doing that, don't we?

I like it. I absolutely like it. See, folks, it's Flush the Format Friday here. We're not following any conventional rules. So Murph and I are going to continue to play, you know, play things, you know, the way we like to play them, but there you go. A lot of line here.

Our good friends over at Patriots.com have put up a phenomenal graphic. And as you can see on the screen, this is going to be a tough one. Murph, just off the bat, when you look at the schedule, what jumps out at you immediately? What would you say is a cumbersome for the new England Patriots?

Well, I'll tell you what, Michael. I tweeted out yesterday before the schedule came out because we knew who the Patriots were playing. We just didn't know where and when. The Pats have, according to myself and a few others, including Sharps football, have the toughest schedule in the NFL this year. The AFC East really got screwed this year.

I think it's, it works out to four, all four teams in the AFC East are within the bottom from, from 31 to I think 24 where the Jets are. The Pats this year are going to play nine teams with a record of 500 or better. Five teams with double-digit wins. Seven playoff teams on this schedule. Three division winners. And guess what? Just for giggles, okay, the Patriots get to play both the participants in last year's Super Bowl. Okay?

I don't know what metric anybody else is using. Tell me where the break is in this schedule. And I will. Okay. The only break the Patriots get this year is they don't face a single team that's coming off a bye week. That's it. Very good point. No teams that are coming off a bye.

Nobody will have two weeks to prepare for New England. But what we're looking at here, as you said, to start the season is a gauntlet. Okay. It is a straight gauntlet. And it is the toughest part of this schedule is right out of the gate. They get the Eagles, the Dolphins, they get a discount, double choke jets, and then at the Cowboys. And so to me, that is the most important part of every year is getting out to a good start. We know that Bill often goes into a season using the first month as an extended spring, you know, trying to work out the bugs, trying to eat. Can't afford to do that this year. You can't got two division games in the first four and you get to play the Eagles coming out of the gate and then go down to Texas and take on the Cowboys, which I'm a little upset about. And I was, I was hoping that that would be the Thanksgiving day game, but we didn't get

it. Yeah. We're not going to get Thanksgiving two years in a row. I was hoping that that would be the Thanksgiving Day game, but we didn't get it. Yeah, unfortunately. We're not going to get Thanksgiving two years in a row. Get over here. Two years in a row. Not going to happen. Yeah, very, very true. It would have been nice.

Yeah, it would have been. It definitely would have been a nice way to wrap things up. Of course, we got the Broncos on Christmas Eve. We got the Bills on New Year's Eve. So, you know, bringing in the Christmas holiday with the the broncos bringing in the new year in buffalo uh no oh god man couldn't think of a worse way to spend new years and i was oh my god i just just painful i've had some painful new years in my but this i wouldn't wish on my worst enemy win Winters in Buffalo can be unforgiving. Those of us that have come from western New York and have been there,

we know what that could be like. So that could be an interesting and fun one here for the New England Patriots to say sayonara to the 2023 NFL season. But bottom line, I think you're right. I think this is their toughest stretch of the schedule to open the season. The Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning NFC champions, this is a defense that loves to get after the quarterback. They can do it as well as anyone.

Seven sacks last year. Sixteen of them alone came from Hassan Reddick. They've got a lot of Georgia guys that are eager to play together and really come together. Kobe Dean, Jordan Davis going to take on major roles now in this defense. And, of course, you know, we have guys like Nolan Smith coming in as well. They really, really stacked this defense with a lot of former Bulldogs and a lot of cohesion. And the way they played last year, they have really, I think, strengthened what was their core last year they have really uh i think strengthened what was their right their core

last year but you know it's not going to be an easy game either on the offensive side of the ball you add deandre swift into the mix that already has guys like aj brown davante smith dallas goddard by the way we haven't even mentioned the name jalen hurts yet who's capable of beating you in so many ways just with his own ingenuity yeah Yeah, this is going to be a tough one. You can see, you know, it's almost like Bill had the crystal ball and seeing as, you know, like I said, we knew who was coming to town. We just didn't know where. We knew we were going to go on vacation.

We just didn't know when. And you could see why Bill went so defensive heavy in this, uh, in this last draft where he, where he concentrated on speed and athleticism on that side of the ball. It shows up perfectly right here in the first four or five weeks of the season. Yeah. Without any question. And I think you brought up a very, very good point in terms of kind of nursing this season along and bringing it along it's like an extended um you know I don't think you can do that you really absolutely cannot the Miami Dolphins the New York Jets you drop those games

you're owing to in the division right now right you drop the games against the Eagles and the Cowboys all of a sudden now you're owing for looking at the Saints coming, the Raiders. I mean, we saw last year that's far from being a guaranteed win. The Raiders, I think, even got better over the offseason. So it's going to be a real difficult time. You cannot drop these four games and have to turn around and go 10-3 on the rest of the season, not with this schedule. Yeah, without question.

It's not happening. The good news is for the New England Patriots that I do believe they are capable of winning a couple of these games, and I think they will. We're going to refrain from game-by-game predictions, overall predictions, because guess what, folks? We're going to be opening up the Locked On Patriots Monday mailbag here. Stay tuned.

Keep an eye on Twitter and the Lockdown Patriots account. Actually, always ourselves as well. MDAB, ATE, NFL, and TeamRF207. Because we'll be tweeting out the solicitation for questions all week long. But we'll save you the trouble. The first question we're going to answer on Monday, Murph, game-by-game predictions. No cap questions. I'm not paying those union dues.

You send the cap questions to Pat's cap. Absolutely. And Miguel is the best in the business and all we need. The plaque for the alternates doesn't exist for him because there is no legal. So in that case, yes, all the cap questions will definitely still go to Miguel. But all the rest of your questions can come here to New England. And Murph, bottom line, we're all excited to see what the Patriots schedule looks like, what the season is going to look like.

But what dates do you have circled on your calendar? Which matchups are you looking most forward to? Well, yesterday we found out that in week one, not only are the Patriots hosting the reigning NFC champions, but they're also going to be honoring legendary quarterback Tom Brady. Is that Murph's most important game of the season Brady. Is that my most important game of the season? Was it my most important game of the season? We'll tell you in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, today's episode brought to you by our good friends over at Built.com.

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You can thank me later, folks. Don't delay. Do it today. Get all of your Built Bars at either walmart sam's club or traditionally at built.com built you gotta try this patriots fans the legendary thomas murphy of e2g sports.com is joining me here today we're breaking down the new england patriots 2023 season schedule obviously murph we established in the first segment this is not going to be an easy stretch the patriots are facing a number of quality teams

both participants in the super bowl last year uh this is not going to be an easy matchup but we all come into schedule day looking forward to finding out when the patriots are going to be playing certain opponents obviously folks were coming into this looking to see what the home opener is going to be. What's the season closer? When's Aaron Rodgers coming to town? When do we get the builds? All of these things weigh on the minds of Patriots fans. But when we take a look at it, we don't only have to take a look at it through fan lens, but we also have to take a look at it through analysis. Which games are going to be the most compelling?

I'm going to start with you, my friend, because the floor is yours and you are my guest today. When you look at this season slate from top to bottom, which games or which game do you have circled on your calendar? Which ones are the standouts to you in terms of New England Patriots football this year, whether you mean logistically, whether it just means aesthetically, really whatever's on your mind on Fletch the Format Friday. Yeah, a lot of people are going to come out and say the Raiders game where they're going to honor Tom Brady. And I agree.

I don't want to say it can't be long past due, but but you knew that this had to happen. I didn't think that we were going to get teased with this so early in Tom's retirement. But, you know, I'm really looking forward to that night and seeing what the Patriots have in store for the fans, for Tom and and, you know, the NFL. For 20-plus years, we were privy to watch the greatest football player to ever strap on a helmet, come out, and sling it for the fans of New England. And I'm really looking forward to that. But after that, okay, we got that out of the way. I'm really looking forward to the trip down to Dallas. I love games down in, in Cowboys land. That that's going to be a good

one. Going out to face Josh McDaniels and the Bills of, I mean, the Raiders, of course. And then when you get down to the bottom, you get it to the nitty gritty, when the Patriots should really be hitting their stride, the Chiefs come to town. I want this game something awful. I really do. You know, they just – this would signal Mac Jones' coming of age if he's able to go in there and shut down Patty Mahomes. I will be in attendance that night. I've already been able to go in there and shut down Patty Mahomes. I will be in attendance that night.

I've already been asked to go. Well, there's no question about it, folks. Excitement's going to be high when you have Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on the schedule, whether they're defending Super Bowl champions or not. It's just a heightened alert for New England Patriots fans. It started out with Colts fans. It went to Packers fans.

It's kind of circled around. So Chiefs fans and Patriots fans are now the ones going at it. It's like Pats fans invite these fan bases to the dance at least once or twice every couple of years because they're the only constant. They're the ones that are sitting there with the six rings in the last two decades. Steelers can enter that conversation whenever they want to. They also have the right to be able to brag a little bit, but until you're in that rarefied air, it's probably best to lead

the discussions to the big boys. And I'm just saying that, but look, the Patriots last faced Kansas City. This is hard to believe. Really, you think that these teams face each other all the time. Last matchup,ober 2020 uh that's when the chiefs uh defeated the brian hoyer jared stidham led patriots 26 to 10 uh they were without the services of uh who is now in las vegas um and uh no excuse me no that's uh keel harry was robbed of a touchdown yeah browning home at new england i know i know when you think of the twist of fate that could have produced but you know what folks no we're not going to go there we're not going to do that of course we all remember cam newton was forced to miss that game he was in covet 19

protocol um so mahomes and the chiefs are still going to be one of the toughest tests on this schedule for the pats in 2023 but they could find a silver lining in facing Kansas City following their week 14 contest against, ironically, a team we just mentioned, the Steelers. Belichick and company are going to have 11 days to prepare for the defending world champions coming in. That has got to be a little bit of a gift to Bill Belichick. When you give him that much time, he's going to be able to use it, and I think he's going to use it to his advantage. I know it makes it less than ideal for the patriots to turn around on short rest and face the denver broncos but as our good mutual friend mike giardi said yesterday on twitter the chiefs of the defense champions the broncos are so at this point you want to take the extra time to be

able to take it to champs if the patriotsots can grab this one, I agree with you. That is a huge feather in the cap of Max Jones, huge feather in the cap of Bill Belichick, and I think it's going to go a long way to really cementing this team as either a contender, if they're still in contention at this point, or at least a team that you're going to have to reckon with in the course of the next couple of years. The Patriots are building something here, folks. So maintain maintain patience throughout the season that's all i'm going to say

that's all murph we have everybody else a five-year plan why not the patriots that's it absolutely yeah let's do it i agree and we haven't mentioned the trip to germany just yet either i think this is going to be an exciting one that's's a trip I'd love to make. Absolutely. These moments are actually team bonding experiences as well. And I actually wrote about this a little bit for Sports Illustrated on Thursday night when I had my initial reaction to the Patriots schedule. And Patriots obviously traveling overseas. Bill Belichick and company have done a pretty good job of preparing their teams for these games. Back to 2012 when they first visited Europe, beat the St. Louis Rams back then. 45-7, that was at London's Wembley Stadium.

Great atmosphere. I can't say you can't, but you don't find stadiums that are as electric and as great of a sports environment as London's Wembley Stadium. If you've been there, you know. If you've seen it, you even know. And it doesn't even have to be the fans. It really isn't. It isn't fans of the two teams that are there.

You see jerseys from every team across the NFL. These guys just want to get to a game. They need to get to a game. They pay through the nose to get to these games. And, you know, there's no home field advantage. Everybody is just having a great time. It's fantastic to hear the songs and everything else that comes out of the stands. I really love the European football.

And pretty soon, pretty soon, I can tell you can tell you, I feel it in my bones. The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to be playing in London. Yeah, I mean, they're going to be playing a couple of games there this year. They've got to be there this year. Yeah, it's hard to ignore the handwriting on the wall here, folks. But, I mean, we'll see how everything plays out. But bottom line, Bill Belichick again. The Patriots, they won their previous matchup in 2009.

I believe I said their first one was in 2012. That is inaccurate. But 2009, the Patriots, a 35-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And then 2017, their last trip overseas to Mexico. Estadio Azteca beating the Raiders. And that was a 33-8 victory. Ending Derek Carr. the study os deck of beating the raiders um and that was a 33 to 8 victory so ending derrick cars murph is endearing himself to every fan base absolutely equal you know equal opportunity right now the whole season before that it was all about

what derrick cars coming into his own derrick car yep Carr Derek Carter yep have me Tom Brady and Tom and Gronk feasted on that day as did the rest of the New England Patriots and uh you know if Belichick can continue that type of preparation and keep his team on the same page and keep his team uh you know ready for these types of games and keep them focused uh they can serve as a big-time team-building exercise. I think it will. Germany is among one of the best places that you can play a sporting event. The fans are extremely passionate.

They're really looking forward to this. If anybody saw the draft and saw some of the announcements that were being made from some of the German fans that are looking forward to seeing this, they're ready. And I think this is going to be a fun one. And it's going to be a fun game, too.

Gardner Minshew in the mix, possibly getting the start here. Maybe Anthony Richardson by then has the ball. The Colts history with the Patriots is going to be a fun one in Germany. I'm looking forward to it. It is, man. I'm really looking forward to that one. We'll have a nice breakfast spread going that day and just enjoy a good game. And, you know, I hate to get down on my man Gardner Minshew, but, you know,

the Patriots are coming and they're going to take your mustache too. And on that note, folks, we definitely are looking forward to all of the moments in New England, good, bad, or indifferent, because regardless of what, it all helps the team to build towards something bigger in the future, whether that's the immediate future and a playoff spot in 2023, or if the Patriots have to look a little bit beyond 2023 in order to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But now that the schedule is out, Murph and I are going to be sharing with you in just a moment what our biggest takeaway is from this 2023 season slate is it the nfc east coming up folks is that going to be tough to get through as a non-normal schedule

opponents uh group that the patriots have to face this time around is it the game against the champs what is the biggest takeaway to be gleaned from this schedule? Murph and I are going to share that with you in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up. Patriots fans, thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Thank you for closing the week in style with us here. And also a big shout out, a huge shout out to all of you everydayers out there. Couldn't do this show without you.

I appreciate you. I know Murph appreciates you always. And thank you for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your Pats routine. Don't forget, keep a sharp eye out on the weekend, folks. Because as I've teased several times here on the pod this week, former Patriot is going to be joining me in the hot seat. We're going to discuss Bill Belichick. We're going to discuss Tom Brady.

We're going to discuss future endeavors. A lot coming up. Keep an eye on that one. You are not going to want to miss this. And of course, if you're on Twitter, do not miss the opportunity to send in your questions for Mailbag Monday here on Locked On Patriots, because my good friend, the Conor Murphy Fisto, is going to be back here with me,

and we're going to answer all of your questions and hopefully solve all your problems. That's all I can tell you about my business right now. Bottom line, Murph, it's been fun discussing the schedule. We're holding back our game-by-game predictions until Monday, but that doesn't mean that we can't share our greatest takeaway. When you look at this schedule, we've talked about the gauntlet that the Patriots have to face. We've talked about the matchups that are circled,

but what's your biggest takeaway as a whole when you look at the Patriots 2023 season slate? When I look at this slate, the thing that I take away the most is the division schedule, the AFC East division schedule that they're facing this year is going to determine who wins this division like it top five, top seven strength of schedule going into it. And it could come down to whatever team beats up somebody else twice, okay, be it the Jets, the Bills, the Dolphins, or the Patriots, whoever's able to sweep a season series from somebody may end up winning this division okay because everybody is going to be knocked down drag out

every single week against one another and that's why these early home games for the patriots against these these other teams is going to be so paramount take care of take care of business at home yeah without question that's my biggest takeaway as well big shock there folks we are like is going to be so paramount. Take care of business at home. Yeah, without question. That's my biggest takeaway as well. Big shock there, folks. We are like-minded, but in all actuality, it really is. I mean, I don't think it can be stated enough, and I don't think it can be overstated as to how important

this divisional set of the schedule is going to be for the New England Patriots. This is a division that in the not-so-dph was called the AFC least really derisively while Tom Brady was, you know, hate it. Yeah. And I don't think it ever deserved that because there were quality teams in here that the New England Patriots made look like unquality teams, but you take some of those teams and put them in different divisions. I think they would have been contenders i i wrote four five seasons ago when um a certain somebody came out again with his his parade of the tomato cans and i completely debunked this it was it was ridiculous the the winning percentages for first, second, third, and fourth place in the AFC East were practically identical to every other winning percentage in the NFL. The only outlier was, I think, the AFC North,

where it was a little bit tougher. But the winning percentages are exactly the same, and that's what you have to look at. The winning percentage of the first place team, the second place team, the third place team, and the fourth place team, and how many times each, each one of those divisions sent people to the post season, whether it be a division winner or a wild card. And it was a wash folks. The only thing that was different was the fact that the patriots finished first every single year okay that's that's the only difference okay the second place's winning percentage was exactly the same the third place in the fourth place exactly the same every single year going through

it for 20 years i didn't go back and do this for five years i did it from the date Tom Brady took the field until the day that he left it. Um, and it was just, it was just on guy. It is, it, there was never an AFC least. Yeah. I'm glad that you mentioned that. I really, really am glad that you mentioned that because I'm not sure where you were going. Yeah, no, that's exactly where I was going because I think in a lot of ways it really devalued what winning this division actually meant for many years for the new england patriots but even if you want to buy into the hype folks if you want to play devil's advocate fine that's no longer the case here in new england um the tables have turned you look at all of these national pundits um pundits is the word well

you will stick with that we're trying to be more uh you know a little more inclusive here folks but um they're all considering new england the most inferior team in this league the jets are better the miami dolphins are better the buffalo bills are better it's just it's the way it's being portrayed right now so when you look at this roster and you look at this schedule all of a sudden you're saying well all right the Patriots have to face you know Miami twice and you know we don't know what two is going to look like but boy do they have a great running game they've got Tyree Gill and that defense has improved and all of a sudden you're looking at those two games and going wow that might be a little bit difficult Patriots don't have to make a late December run to Miami this year that may work to their advantage

October 29th I don't think the heat is going to be as much of a shot for the system as if you come from a cold weather environment like you do here in New England and then go down in Miami in late December. It's a little bit better to be able to test that. So that may be a good thing for the Pats. Obviously, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills last couple of years, they had their numbers. So, you know, that's going to be tough, whether it's in Orchard Park, whether it's in Foxborough, those games are going to be difficult. And Patriots, yeah, and the Patriots, they very well might have. And lastly, Aaron Rodgers changes the complexity of the Jets

and the way that game is viewed. Patriots have a 14-game winning streak against the Jets and the way that game is viewed. Patriots have a 14-game winning streak against the Jets. I still think the Patriots can game plan well for Rodgers. I think Belichick has done that. But bottom line, I mean, you've got to give credit where credit is due. And with the weapons he has around him, Aaron is a little more resurgent and maybe playing with a little more of a chip on his shoulder. So does that elevate his game?

All of a sudden, these six games end up elevate his game all of a sudden these six games end up being some of the toughest you'll face all season long so those divisional matchups folks are going to be pivotal in the way we view the patriots and whether or not they're going to be able to contend and i'm talking one you know this this division is going to beat up on each other yeah okay so you could end up with a game over 500 in the division and winning the division yeah absolutely really could yeah it really could and believe me folks when i tell you the new england patriots are not the forgotten about team in this division they're still very much in this race terrible coaching last year and difficulties all throughout the roster and the patriots were

still within an eyelash of making the playoffs. You improve the coaching. I know they've done that with Bill O'Brien, Adrian Clem, and really upgrading. I like some of the moves that they've made in the draft and in free agency. I think this team's going to be better than people think. So if anyone's thinking that the Patriots are just going to kind of lay down in the AFC East, they will not. Not as long as Bill Belichick is on the sidelines. Bill has built a

bully of a defense, people. And they may end up winning a lot of games, 21-24 to 17, 24 to 21. All right. This is a bully of a defense. I really wish that McCourty had stuck around for one more year. But other than that, I think this defense is better than it was last year. Absolutely. I completely agree with you. And if there's one piece of solace maybe that you want to take away from our discussion today or from any of your scheduled discussions over the weekend, folks, here's something I think you might enjoy.

I think the Patriots' defense can keep them in every single one of these games on their schedule i don't see an offense that they're not capable of containing in some way shape or form does that mean they will absolutely not it doesn't always mean that does that mean that offenses can come in and score a bunch on this defense yeah anything absolutely is possible but on paper i don't see one that scares me to the point that makes me believe that the Patriots can't hang in any of these games. As long as you give Bill Belichick a puncher's chance, he's going to take that chance every single time.

So maybe that translates to some wins in 2023. Maybe it doesn't. Murph and I are going to give you our thoughts, but don't forget to send in your questions for Mailbag Monday here on Locked On Patriots. I can't wait. And I know my good friend here, Adam Murphy, can't wait either. But what can I say? We open the week in style.

We close the week in style. It's always fun. We went from talking draft to immediately coming in and talking schedule. It started to feel real. It's starting to look a lot like 2023, buddy. It really is. It really is. I'm itching to get out there and watch some practices.

I'm itching to hear some commentary from some of our good friends like Phil Perry and Tom Curran. And it's just there. It's so right there. I haven't been this distracted from baseball by football in a very, very long time. And the Sox are winning. Absolutely, folks. And we're in the midst of a big playoff run for the Celtics as well.

So all of those things coming together. But bottom line, the one thing you can count on that's always constant here is my good friend joining me on Mondays and most of the time on Fridays as well. And we really have a ball every time we hit the microphone together before you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can catch all of the great work that you'll be doing over the weekend. Whether you're putting pen to paper, voice to microphone floor is yours, my friend. What can we look forward to from Thomas Merck? Well, Corey, you know, I've got some, a couple of Red Sox pieces coming out this weekend.

You'll see them over at E2GSports.com. How this team could be even better if we had just a bit better of a GM and an owner that wanted to spend a couple of bucks. And, of course, I was on Giants Rush this past week. You can still catch that here on their YouTube channel. And, of course, we'll be back next week with another One Patriots Place with Klazzy Clare. And our very special guest, Alex Barth, is going to stop by this week. Oh, excellent. Alex is always great. Always one of the best in the

business, and you definitely look forward to that, folks. And as always, you can look forward to seeing my good friend, the Count of Murphy Fisto, each and every Monday here on Locked On Patriots. And always check out to see if he joined us on Fridays. It's pretty safe bet that he'll be doing that as well. But bottom line, but thank you for always being there.

Check's in the mail. Yes, it is. Absolutely. It is in the mail and you will be receiving it. No question. No, no, no. I'm sending it to you. Hey, it doesn't work that way here.

There's no payola going on. No, I'm kidding. Folks, bottom line, thank you most of all for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. You everydayers out there, thank you for all of your support, for all of you first-timers, all of you casual listeners. We appreciate each and every one of you as well. And we hope you've heard at least a little something this week that helps you keep sticking around as listeners of Locked on Patriots. But in the meantime, please continue to stay safe and stay well and be the change that you wish to see in the world.

Get the questions in for Monday's mailbag, folks. Until then, on behalf of the great Count of Murphy, Fisto himself, Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBake. Have a great weekend, everyone, and we'll see you next Monday here on Locked on Patriots. Hello, Newman.