Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Belichick Becomes Chapel Bill; Pats React, Focus on Arizona Cardinals

Starting point is 00:00:00 You can put Bill Belichick in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but guess what, folks? You can't take Bill Belichick out of New England. 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. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate.

Starting point is 00:00:38 I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country. Reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. I'm also available where the skies are blue over on Blue Sky at MDABATENFL.BSKY.SOCIAL. And if you're showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, follow our X account at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. You can start the season with a big return on FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:01:08 New customers can place a $5 bet, and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. And Pats fans, normally here on a Friday episode, we'd be getting you ready for kickoff 4.15 p.m. this Sunday. The New England Patriots traveling to Glendale, Arizona in State Farm Stadium, taking on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season. That's coming off a bye. What are we looking for for your New England Patriots? What type of effort can we expect from a team that's already been eliminated from postseason contention? Well, that's a big enough story on its own, but guess

Starting point is 00:01:50 what, folks? It is not the biggest story in Patriots Nation right now. That's right. The hoodie has landed. And a year ago at this time, if we told you where, you probably would think we were a crew full of liars. But is where we are today and here today to break it all down including a preview of Pat's Cardinals is a guest that needs no introduction but guess what I'm going to give her one anyway because she is just that good you know her great work from platforms such as NBC Sports Boston she is currently doing amazing work for FS1 she is the incomparable Tanya Rae Fox thank you so much for joining me here today on Fox on Friday, my friend. Been too long since the last time we spoke here on the microphone,

Starting point is 00:02:31 but glad to have you back. Pleasure to be back, obviously, always is. I feel like this is at least, I don't know, maybe the third time that I've come on for like a specific Bill Belichick Newsweek. I was thinking about this. I'm like, I'm pretty sure we've done this a couple of times where it's like, we either have this planned already. And then the bill Belichick, something bill Belichick news drops,

Starting point is 00:02:54 or you're like, Hey, I think this is the week or whatever. So I think I'm the breaking bill Belichick news guest officially. No, I think that's great. And you're absolutely right. You seem to have that knack to come on our show whenever there is some sort of big breaking

Starting point is 00:03:10 Belichick News. Our former host here on Locked On Patriots, my predecessor and my good friend, Mark Schofield, always seemed to come on when there was some sort of legal trouble in the NFL or legal trouble when it came to a New England Patriot. And his background as a lawyer actually worked out very well. So usually I would want to come on just to hear him talk for a half hour about quarterbacks because he is the best in the business. But usually I had to pull on that legal background.

Starting point is 00:03:34 So Tanya, I'm going to pull upon your national background here because we all know that Bill Belichick has now been officially introduced as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, a five-year deal that's guaranteed for the first three years and then becomes non-guaranteed in years four or five. Bill's saying all the right things. He looks to be excited about coaching in the college ranks, but as I said just a few moments ago, I don't think anyone saw this coming. We figured if Bill was going to return to the sidelines, it would probably be an NFL team. Didn't happen this time around. So Bill is now, according to his own words, living out a dream and coaching college football. Tanya, you followed the Patriots and covered them for as long

Starting point is 00:04:15 as I have, if not longer. What was your initial reaction when you heard Bill Belichick to North Carolina? I think that, so it started to get to the point where it was clear that he was taking the opportunity seriously. And when the reports came out that they were really going through the idea of how he was going to do staff and how they were going to handle recruiting and that kind of stuff, they're getting into those sort of details. Then it comes down to just, are we going to be able to agree? So it got to a point where I wasn't surprised. It took me about 24 hours to get excited about it because I was just trying to figure out like, what exactly is this going to be? Now I'm starting to get excited about it, if only because we're going to have Bill Belichick coaching football again.

Starting point is 00:05:00 And I think that that's good for football. You know, I just, obviously when you're in the media, it's great for football, but I mean, even as a fan and it's fascinating to see a coach in his early seventies, go to college for the first time. Um, let alone a coach who is, uh, most likely, you know, the goat, right. Some people will argue someone else, but, um, the, the broad, broadly considered the goat and now going to coach college kids in his early 70s. It's a really fascinating thing. I love when we get unprecedented opportunities like this to talk about sports in a new way. And we just saw what Deion Sanders going to Colorado did for Colorado did for, um, well, you know, the, the PAC 12 becomes, you know, then they became the, the big 12, although whatever the school,

Starting point is 00:05:53 the program itself, the players, right. Um, some of the most notable college football players in the country are Buffaloes. And this is not a conversation we would have been having a couple of years ago. It's just crazy. And if Deion a conversation we would have been having a couple of years ago. It's just crazy. And if Deion Sanders can have that kind of impact in his own way in Colorado, the idea of having Bill Belichick coaching college football at UNC in the ACC, it's just really, really fascinating. And in the NIL era where players can get paid, where playing for a coach, the greatest coach of all time, in my opinion, and certainly the most notable, most successful,

Starting point is 00:06:33 most famous football coach of the 21st century, bar none, the opportunity to do that as a college kid is now on the table. I mean, we're talking about a real paradigm shift in some ways. So I'm, I don't know. I'm excited about it. I, I am,

Starting point is 00:06:52 I'm shocked. He's not going into the NFL that there is still that shock. Uh, you know, the reports on that are so varied as to what that's about, where G GMs and executives and owners and owners are with Bill Belichick. I have yet to read something so convincing that I feel like it's the official story. But the reality is that this is obviously the opportunity he felt would give him the

Starting point is 00:07:20 best chance to coach and coach the way he wants to and to prove by the way that he can work with a gm and scouts and everything else who are where he is not the main focus of that operation where he is coaching he's focusing specifically on the coaching and the scheming and the team building on that front and i i don't think that's an accident. I don't think it's an accident that the current setup is sort of going to prove if he can work in a situation where he is removing himself a little bit from the process outside of the actual coaching and the scheming and the designing and all the things that we know he's actually really dying to get back to. Yeah, without any doubt. And I want to get into in a little while what this means from a Patriots perspective, because there are so many different ways that you can

Starting point is 00:08:14 dissect this move from either a current Pats perspective with the current head coach and the current players or former players or ownership who have yet to weigh in on this. I think that's fascinating. So you know what? I think we're going to save a segment for that, folks. Keep it right here. You're not going to want to miss that because we will talk about in depth what this means for the Patriots and from the Patriots, but purely from Bill Belichick's standpoint, Tanya, we've been hearing about Bill Belichick's legacy. What will define his legacy? I happen to believe his ticket's been punched to Canton a long time ago. You mentioned the word GOAT. I have no hesitation in calling him the greatest coach of

Starting point is 00:08:51 all time. Six Super Bowl wins as a head coach, eight total, two as a coordinator, holds numerous coaching records, 15 wins away from taking the official record away from Don Shula. That seemed to be a primary motivational factor, at least in the minds of most media and most football fans, that Bill Belichick wanted to retire with the most wins in NFL history. Unless he makes a move back to the NFL, he will fall short of that goal. A lot of people wonder whether or not this will cheapen his legacy. I'm of the school and I'm of the ilk that doing what he's doing in North Carolina may actually enhance his legacy even further and make him even more of a mythic figure. If you go to North Carolina and you turn that program into a major player in college football, which right now they

Starting point is 00:09:42 are kind of teetering on the brink, but Bill Belichick clearly puts them over the top. If he brings them the type of success that he had in the NFL, or at least a fraction of that, that's something Don Shula did not do. That's a line item on his resume that he has that's his and his alone in terms of being able to be successful, both at a professional level and a college level. I think that's what's motivating Bill. That's why this move is so fascinating to me. I don't think it cheapens his legacy. I think this has the opportunity to only enhance it moving forward. Yeah. And the Don Shula record is a funny one because people do focus on it a lot. And I am positive that Belichick has his eye on it as he should. However, Don Shula holding the record specifically, I think, gives Belichick a little bit of leeway because Don Shula is not considered

Starting point is 00:10:33 one of the great all-time NFL coaches in the same way. He is an all-time head coach. No question about it. You do not have that many wins without being an incredible head coach having super bowl wins everything else but don schula is not bill walsh or some of these dudes who kind of are talked about in the same way that bill belichick has talked about as a one of the great minds one of the great schemers of you know and um and i think that if someone else held that record it might mean a little bit more to Belichick, but, uh, you go

Starting point is 00:11:05 long enough without winning a ring with Dan Marino. I don't know if he feels that big of a threat from Don Shula as, as people might think he does, you know, we know how Belichick is a little bit dismissive of this kind of stuff. And, um, I'm not saying I've heard things exactly, but there is not a fear that he is not perceived as a better coach than Don Shula specifically. Let's just leave it at that. Very well put, very diplomatically put. And I like that because there are those that may believe, and I'm not pointing any fingers, that believe that Don Shula's record may be as much tied to longevity as it is tied to prowess on the bench. And again, I'm not taking anything away from what the man has done. He is a Hall of Famer. He absolutely deserves all of the accolades he's gotten as a head coach. But

Starting point is 00:11:56 Bill Belichick is one of those very few innovative minds. You put him up there with the Halases, and you put him up there with the Walshes, the Lombardis, and these types of names that you hear that revolutionize the way not only the game is played on the field, but also the nuances of the game surrounding it. Belichick is in that rarefied air. So I agree with you. I think maybe the record may mean a little bit more in terms of news stories than it does to Bill Belichick himself. But one thing that really comes back to me, and I think North Carolina is a perfect place for him to be able to exercise these types of skills, is great coaches love to coach. They just love to coach the game of football. He goes to North Carolina. He has unilateral control. I know Michael Lombardi is coming in. He's going to be his GM. He's got his athletic director. I'm sure he'll have minds in there that are going to help him with NIL and these matters and things like that. So those are all

Starting point is 00:12:50 going to be challenges for Bill, but ultimately the X's and O's on the field and where he really shines is being able to take players, recruit players in and say, you have an amazing amount of talent. I can harness that talent. I can show you how to succeed in the NFL and make your time in college football an opportunity to grow your talent into being the type of player you'd want to be at the pro level. Who better than Bill Belichick to be able to give that information? Imagine Bill Belichick calling you on a recruiting mission. If you're a young athlete or a parent sitting there and knowing that Bill Belichick is going to come to visit your son and want him to play for him at North Carolina, the possibilities are endless. So for North Carolina, this was a no-brainer, and I do think it's a great fit for Bill Belichick as well.

Starting point is 00:13:36 Yeah, I mean, I said it at TikTok yesterday. idea of being able to play college football for bill belichick uh especially if you're a defensive player you know um you get to play safety linebacker cornerback for bill belichick you're talking about an opportunity to increase your draft stock immediately um these are not this is not trivial uh regardless of how the media discuss bill belichick or how some salty uh gms and executives feel about bill belichick, the people who recognize the kind of knowledge that these kids are going to come out of college with, that's going to affect their ability to make a, you know, if they're really league bound, this is, we've never really seen anything like this. We've never seen a situation where

Starting point is 00:14:22 college kids are going to get this level of knowledge at a program like that. You know, you've had kids play for Nick Saban in Alabama and a brilliant offensive mind, a brilliant defensive mind, a brilliant coach, a brilliant all of these things. Right. But it's not Bill Belichick. It's not pro football. It's not what he means to the sport across the board. And these kids were born into a world where Bill Belichick was the figure. He is the essential football coach. He is the guy. And you can say that he's not going to be able to relate to young players and everything else. And he's so old and whatever else. And my counterpoint to that is, have you met a high level high school football coach anywhere in

Starting point is 00:15:10 Western Pennsylvania or South Carolina or Texas or Florida or anywhere? Have you met them? They're some of the most intense, crazy people on planet earth. These kids will be fine. I promise you they will be fine. Especially when all of a sudden they are playing at the team, at the school and ACC with the most attention. I can't wait for Davos. We need to react to that part. You know,

Starting point is 00:15:35 it's just, there there's, this is an opportunity that you don't, that you don't take lightly to play college football for Bill Belichick. And just so we're clear, Bill Belichick was still scheming the hell out of NFL defenses when he last coached. That was something he never fell off on. And now there are going to be college quarterbacks going up against somebody who was shutting

Starting point is 00:15:58 down Patrick Mahomes. So I'm excited. And if I was a defensive player, I would be stoked. I would be, I'd be looking at that very, very closely. Oh, absolutely. Without any question. And you need not look much further than the New England Patriots current defense that is struggling without Bill Belichick right now.

Starting point is 00:16:18 This team has definitely regressed defensively and that lack of having Belichick on the sidelines and his defensive prowess is definitely something that this team misses. I think it leads us quite nicely into what we will discuss in just a moment, Tanya, and that is what does all of this mean from a Patriots perspective? Well, a lot of Patriots have been weighing in both current and former. Tanya and I are going to discuss that in just a moment and we're also going to preview Pat's cards. A lot still to come here on Locked On Patriots. Keep it right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, today's episode is sponsored by PrizePix.

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Starting point is 00:19:17 Patriots coverage. Joining me here today is my good friend, the incomparable Tanya Ray Fox of FS1. Tanya, we've been breaking down the news of the week when it comes to not only the New England Patriots, but really in the NFL and also in NCAA football, and that is the hiring of Bill Belichick as the new coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels football program. On its face, this is a big story. It's a big move for North Carolina. It's a big move for Bill.

Starting point is 00:19:45 A lot of people are excited, but it's bittersweet here in New England for a lot of people. There is still a section of the fan base that misses Bill Belichick here in New England, which is he was still the head coach and got a chance to write his own exit from the organization he helped nurture for the last 20 years. There are a section of fans as well that believe it was time to move on from Bill and that he had essentially run his course here in New England, but still wish him very well. There's a small group that were ready to see him leave and probably don't wish him well,

Starting point is 00:20:19 but we'll focus on the positive for the time being here, Tanya. Yeah. The New England patriots right now are a three and ten football team trying to find their identity trying to use these last four games as an opportunity to show the rest of the nfl most importantly to show the guys in that locker room that they're ready to move forward and take a major step forward into 2025 but that specter of Bill Belichick still hangs over this locker room still hangs over this team naturally anytime a former legend moves to a different location there are always going to be reactions and there have been reactions from

Starting point is 00:20:59 former players current players uh the current head coach of the New England Patriots was one of the first to weigh in, and we had a chance to speak with him on Friday morning. Gerard Mayo saying, quote, I'm happy for Bill. He's a great coach, should be coaching. I'm sure he's going to do a good job out there. I wish him nothing but the best. That seems to be the prevailing theme throughout the locker room, but the players that have played for him and the coaches that have coached alongside him are probably best equipped to determine how exactly Bill Belichick is either going to succeed or fail in his next endeavor. How much weight do you think it carries in North Carolina when you have Tar Heel fans that maybe aren't as familiar with Bill Belichick, the man, just basically a legacy or the record or the

Starting point is 00:21:46 resume. How much do you think they're going to focus in on what the current and former Patriots are saying about their former coach? I think that it matters, you know, how players feel about Bill Belichick, especially players who were successful with him, who won with him, because the end game with Belichick was always, you put up with a lot of really difficult, uh, and hardcore work environment in order to achieve the final goal. And, you know, a lot of the dynasty Patriots would tell you the winning was the fun, the winning was the fun the winning was the fun and there was a lot of benefit to being winners not just on the field it was off the field there are players who are very famous with very successful careers outside of football now because they were part of a winning program and a program

Starting point is 00:22:37 that was you know an organization that was the most successful in all of sports for a long time. And that has benefited them immensely. And the players who recognize how Bill Belichick was able to bring that out in them and talk about that, that's what I feel like if you're a fan of college football, you want to hear. Because if grown men with big salaries can feel like Bill Belichick was bringing something special out in them, even when it was difficult, then that's what you want to hear for, for young players who are still figuring out who they're going to be in their

Starting point is 00:23:15 lives and in their careers. You know, like I said, I think we underestimate how hardcore a lot of football coaches are in general. I think we really hone in on Bill Belichick as some unique hard-ass, right? He's not in the way that people think.

Starting point is 00:23:36 You know who's incredibly hardcore, who runs some of the toughest practices in the NFL, who is absolutely not an easy person to work for in terms of being practices in the NFL who is absolutely not an easy person to work for in terms of being elite in the NFL is Andy Reed. Andy Reed is an incredibly hardcore football coach. He has, he runs those guys ragged and you see the results. But because he gets in front of the,

Starting point is 00:24:01 you know, microphone with a Hawaiian shirt on and is congenial, people forget that right it's not easy to play for a lot of these and that does not mean you have to be like that i'm just saying there are a ton of football coaches at every single level who are far more like bill belichick than we talk about and i think we do a disservice to the conversation to fans like you're saying tar hills fans who might be like what is this guy's deal i think we do a disservice to them by acting like uh this is something that's going to be so foreign to these kids that or to to this program that they're not going to don't worry i mean yes he's old and he's been like this for a long time and he's not going to change

Starting point is 00:24:43 but um we've also gotten to see i I think, honestly, beyond the players, I think his ability to communicate and show his personality in the media has softened a little bit of people's fear that this is sort of a Darth Vader figure. And he actually is a human being with a sense of humor and an ability to communicate and make relationships with people that it's not exactly what people always envisioned it to be beforehand. I think he's done himself a lot of good on that front. And I think that's doing the most work for people who might be wondering who Bill Belichick is and what he's going to do for their organization more than anything. I think what it comes back to with Bill is a situation where he's looking for not necessarily the best players in the country. I think he's looking for

Starting point is 00:25:36 the right players for his system. And I don't think that philosophy has changed all that much from when he was here in New England. That's exactly what he looked for. He didn't always go for the shiny, bright toy at the top of the free agency wish list or the draft. He always went for players that he believed could succeed in his system. And Bill Belichick is certainly someone that will continue to do that at the collegiate level. And two quotes that really stood out to me from former Patriots, two guys that know him as well as anyone, Julian Edelman and Devin McCourty. Edelman saying about how Bill Belichick is a true football coach on the field, and you won't find anybody finer that can teach the nuances and can teach the intricacies of the game like Bill Belichick. If you're a student of the game, this is the guy you want to play for. And again, McCourty coming back to a point that I made earlier, this is a guy that will say, come to North Carolina. If you're an outside linebacker,

Starting point is 00:26:30 you're a middle linebacker, you're a defensive back, and you want to know what's going to translate well into the NFL game, you come and learn from me and I will teach you that. I will prepare you for that. So when you're entering the NFL draft, you're going to have a leg up on the competition. You're going to be NFL ready day one when you step out there on the field. I believe that's the selling point right now. And I think that's why if there is any apprehension, and I think you make great points about some players that may not want to deal with it.

Starting point is 00:26:59 It's not for everyone. That's certainly okay. But it wasn't for everyone in the NFL. Absolutely. There were a lot of NFL players who couldn't play for Bill Belichick. And we'll say after incredible coach wasn't for me or did have no good feelings for Bill Belichick. And then there are the ones that we're talking about now who were able to get something out of it. That's okay.

Starting point is 00:27:20 They're both valid, right? Absolutely. I think that's an excellent point to make and now they're free to really be able to move forward and that's exactly what the new england patriots are doing folks moving forward and you know what exactly what we're going to do here we're going to leave bill behind and we're going to focus on what the patriots need to do to beat the arizona cardinals and come out of the bye week strong in week 15. Tanya and I are going to preview Pat's cards when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

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Starting point is 00:28:46 an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. Joining me is the incomparable Tanya Rae Fox of FS1. My friend, we've talked a lot about Bill Belichick. We've talked about it from a Patriots perspective. We've talked about it from a Bill perspective. Bill is now the head coach in North Carolina, and the New England Patriots' reality is that they are 3-10 under a first-year head coach in Gerard Mayo, coming out of their bye week, looking to try to make improvements on this team that give not only the fan base, but also the players in that locker

Starting point is 00:29:25 room optimism for 2025. Arizona Cardinals have had an up and down season. They're coming into this matchup having lost three in a row. They're reeling a little bit, but they realize that this is a must win. If they want to try to continue to compete in that division and they want to try to move forward, they know they need this game. How much attention are you going to be paying the Patriots this weekend when it comes to their motivation and it comes to their ability to play on the field? Because I think that's much more important than getting a win or loss here. Yeah, I think it has to be more important at this point in the season. The Cardinals have a lot to play for that the Patriots

Starting point is 00:30:05 don't. The Cardinals are an established roster that's trying to finally have Kyler Murray make the playoffs. They've got their own coach trying to prove himself, and they are in a situation that Patriots aren't. So it's not a situation where I'm looking for a Patriots win per se, and that doesn't mean they can't pull it out because the Cardinals, like you mentioned, have been going through their own struggles. But I think that, you know, there is definitely a weird sort of up and down conversation being had from the players in terms of just like how they're able to find not only motivation but the communication with each other the gelling the the the actual cohesiveness of an entire roster of players working together as one because it is you know it is a new coach who is trying really hard to coach a very specific way.

Starting point is 00:31:06 And Gerard Mayo coaches as a player. And he's coaching player forward. I personally find his approach to be flawed on that front. Because I think the players themselves are looking for a coach. And when he says things like, once they're out there, it's on them to perform, you know, and I can only do so much in game and things like that. I think it leaves the players wondering what, where exactly they are supposed to find the, their North star. No, you're absolutely right. And look, I think in a lot of ways, Patriots fans may be looking

Starting point is 00:31:41 at this game as a winnable game because of Arizona's recent struggles. I happen to think it is a winnable game for them. I'm not saying it's going to be an easy one, but there is a blueprint to being able to contain Arizona. One of the big ways that they're going to be able to win this game is if they contain Kyler Murray. And the best way to contain Kyler Murray is to go at it what I'm calling the Glendale Blitz. Send six at him at once. This is the best way to be able to contain him because you're going to take away his escape route. You're going to have defensive backs blitzing, and it's going to give him a little bit more problem to be able to run and try to beat the pass rush. If they can do that, Kyler right now ranks 34 out of 34

Starting point is 00:32:21 when it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL right now and expected points added when defenses blitz six or more so that's the key to trying to contain him not going to be very easy the Patriots have not been a very good blitzing team this year it's going to take a lot more effort but I think it comes back to coming out of the bye and do they come out of the bye motivated heavily ready to employ a game plan that will work? On the offensive side of the ball, if I'm the New England Patriots, I'm trying to keep Drake May aware of Buda Baker on the field at all times. This is a dynamic safety who's capable of really causing havoc in the passing game.

Starting point is 00:32:59 He can blitz. He can get after the quarterback. Always have to be aware of where he is on the field. That's the guy that's really worrying me right now if i'm the new england patriots offense and trying to neutralize always got to be aware of where baker is going to be on the field this weekend so i love watching i i love i drew really love watching um drake may you know figure things out week to week it It's actually really fun. And if he, if he is, if he is terrorized by Buddha Baker,

Starting point is 00:33:30 the best thing about Drake may is that you, I truly believe he's learning something every single time he makes, you know, a bad mistake or he throws, you know, a late pick a working mistakes. It truly always looks to me and feels to me, especially the way he talks about it as if he's taking away every single lesson he possibly can from that, which is why I, uh, I have faith in him and in terms of being a team leader and a North star for them moving forward. So, you know what, um, if Baker's going to, if a Buddha Baker is going to Buddha Baker, then, um, at least we know our little Drakey is going to take something away from that. And that's a little silver lining you can take

Starting point is 00:34:03 away in case, in case the Patriots do lose to the Cardinals this weekend guys there you go yeah absolutely it'll be a trial by fire without any question you want to talk about some of the stats that Buda Baker brings to the table he's had 10 pressures already this season that places him third among defensive backs in the NFL and nine tackles for loss this season so if he's getting after Drake May folks it will be a lesson that Drake learns hard. But if Drake is eluding him and he's neutralizing him, that says a lot about your quarterback in New England. I think he's up for it. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. And I, for one, cannot wait to watch this matchup. Tanya,

Starting point is 00:34:37 before we take our lead from it, I'm going to put you on the hot seat just as we do every Friday here on Locked On Patriots. Your final score prediction for this one. Do the Patriots win in Glendale this weekend? I think they lose. I do think they lose this time. And that's okay. I have to be honest at this point where I'm looking for different things. I'm looking for different things from the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:34:59 Would I love to see them score points? Yes. I would love to see them score points. If they could score some points, even if they don't win, I'll be happy. So I think they're going to lose. I'm going to, I'm going to give you a, um, you know what? I'm going to give them, I think Kyler's going to, I think Kyler's going to run on them. I'm not going to lie. I think we're going to have an issue with Kyler in the running game. So let's go, uh, 24, 17. Yeah, I think so. I think, uh, that's actually a little bit more in terms of points that I believe

Starting point is 00:35:25 this game is going to be put on. I like the Cardinals in this one, 20 to 17. I agree with you. I think the Patriots will try to blitz Kyler Murray, but I do think he's savvy enough to be able to beat it. And I think he is going to have some success because I think he's going to try to incorporate more of his passing game. He does and starts neutralizing that. Then all of a sudden, some of that blitzing could be problematic because you're leaving an awful lot of guys open to be able to wreak havoc in the open field. So in the meantime, I cannot give a big enough thank you to my good friend, Tanya Ray Fox,

Starting point is 00:35:58 for taking time out of her busy schedule for joining me here today on Locked On Patriots. It's always an honor to talk Bill Belichick with you, Tanya. Always an honor to revisit the old days, but it was great to be able to preview this week's game with you again. Don't forget the New England Patriots postcast on Sunday. My good friend Cam Stewart bringing you immediate game reaction as soon as the final whistle blows at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

Starting point is 00:36:22 And of course, Monday morning, bright and early, Murph and I will be back here to break down all of the action you see on the field. In the meantime, folks, I want to thank Tanya Rae Fox once again for her time, her insight, and her appearance today. But most of all, thank all of you, all of you everydayers of Locked On Patriots that continue to make this pod possible. Tip of the cap and much appreciation. And in that vein, in the meantime,

Starting point is 00:36:46 I am Mike DeBate, and I encourage you all to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again Monday on Locked on Patriots.

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