Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills Crossover: Josh Allen for MVP, Drake Maye is the Future?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Bills, Patriots, meeting for the first time in 2024 in week 16. We're getting ready for the game today on the Locked On Podcast Network. You are locked on NFL crossover, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome into this Crossover Thursday episode of Locked On Bills and Locked On Patriots. We are proud members of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day, and we're thankful for our everydayers, those of you who make us your first listen every single day and never miss a single episode. Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePix.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Go to prizepix.com or download the app and use code LOCKEDONNFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. I'm Joe Marino, host of Locked On Bills, joined by Mike DeBate, the host of Locked On Patriots. We're here to get you ready for Week 16's matchup Sunday, 425 p.m. Eastern time. Adjust accordingly between the Bills and the Patriots. We're going to give you the path to victory for both sides of the equation. We're going to talk Bills storylines, but we start by focusing in on the visiting New England Patriots. And Mike, I can't believe it's week 16 and you and I are doing a crossover for the first

Starting point is 00:01:25 time in 2024. Welcome in my friend. Always an honor and a privilege to join you on the microphone, Joe. Truly one of the best in the business professionally and personally, folks, I kid you not. Yeah, a little too late in the season to be getting our first one in, but you know what? The schedule makers made the decision. We roll with it and i'm definitely happy to be here crossing the streams with you today bud well i know it's late but i gotta ask you this life without bill belichick it's here and the season is coming to an end how are things different how are they the same because obviously gerard mayo a long time under study of bill belichick and then phase three of the question, what's the vibe? What does everyone think about Bill Belichick being the head ball coach

Starting point is 00:02:09 at the University of North Carolina? Well, to answer your question about Bill, I'll go from Bill's perspective. Bill's got to be loving it. I mean, he's got to be Thornton Mellon down there in University of North Carolina. You're going to see him walking through the streets of Chapel Hill wearing a robe. I mean, you know, this is really, I think, a good fit for Bill Belichick.

Starting point is 00:02:27 Look, bottom line, I know there is a definite part of him that would love to be back in the NFL coaching next year, but football coaches love to coach Joe. And I think that's exactly what he's going to get a chance to do at North Carolina. People are worried about what he's going to do with mill money, what he's going to do with the transfer portal. Look, Bill Belichick managed multimillion dollar salary caps and had to deal with free agency for 20 years as GM here in New England. I think he's going to be able to figure it out. And I think he'll have people in place to help him. So from that perspective, it's a good fit

Starting point is 00:02:58 for Bill in North Carolina. Now here in New England, there are a lot of fans that are starting to miss Bill a little bit. They're starting to miss that hard edge that he gave. The vibe around New England right now is that maybe this team's a little softer than it needs to be at 3-11. Maybe there needs to be a little bit more gumption in the way this team operates to try to help salvage this season down the stretch. Got two games coming up against the Buffalo Bills, one of them coming up this Sunday, where Patriots fans would normally be looking at this and saying this is a perfect opportunity for us to really spoil a special season in Buffalo. There's no vibe to that right now. A big portion of that is the lack of talent. We'll get to that, I'm sure, in a moment, but there also is, I think, that malaise that didn't exist here under Bill Belichick.

Starting point is 00:03:45 So that is different. There's no question about it. What things that are the same, though, is I think the approach to how this team does business on the field, that do-your-job mentality, that team-first concept that you see is still pretty much intact here in New England under Gerard Mayo. I think he's done a good job of relating to the players maybe a little bit better of a job in relating to the individual players than Bill did for the last couple of years that he was here because of his youth his vibrance and his ability to put the finger on the pulse of young America so there is a lot of changes when it comes to the New England Patriots but ultimately that core value still stays the same, comes from ownership at the top, and it still remains intact on the coach's bench. Yeah, I think you listened to

Starting point is 00:04:31 the very first press conference with Gerard Mayo and realized that things were going to be very different, at least from the media perspective and how he interacted and commented. I think from that perspective, while I think there's been some hits and misses along the way, it's, well, I think there's been some hits and misses along the way. It's been interesting to at least have some like personality and some clues that you can glean from speaking to the head coach of the New England Patriots. But obviously very different in a lot of different ways. And, you know, in some ways the Patriots are meeting the expectation that a lot of people had, right? I mean, the over-under for wins this season, I think, was set around four.

Starting point is 00:05:07 So it's not that it's out of the realm of possibilities that this team is where they are. But you mentioned some of the talent issues. And, man, there's been so many injuries, which gets us to the Drake May conversation. What have you seen from Drake May? What's going well? And what are the biggest areas for growth? And are you really getting a chance to assess him? As I studied New England in preparation for this conversation today, and of course, keeping up with them throughout the course of the season,

Starting point is 00:05:33 they've used so many different players on the offensive line. There's been a lot of different players in and out of the lineup in terms of skill players. Is this really a fair opportunity to assess Drake May? But through that, I still feel like there's a lot of positivity. Yeah, there is a lot of positivity when it comes to Drake May, Joe. And I think it's all in due time. And I think it definitely is all well-deserved. Look, Drake came in knowing that he was going to end up taking the reins of this team at

Starting point is 00:06:01 some point this season. He definitely wasn't going to have a red shirt or a clipboard season all year long. Jacoby Brissett was always meant to hand the keys of the kingdom off to him. When he came in, a lot of fans were worried that we were going to see completely the Drake May that we saw in North Carolina. We knew the arm was going to be great. We knew the athleticism was going to be impressive. We knew he could roll out, make things happen, go off script. He's doing all that. But something that I think a lot of Patriots fans are pleasantly surprised to see is a poise, a wisdom beyond his years, an ability to take the game over when he needs to, or

Starting point is 00:06:37 show a little bit of temperance in that gumption to always gun the ball down the field or take that big play. We're seeing him take the check play. We're seeing him take the check down. We're seeing him be a lot more cerebral than I think a lot of Patriots fans believe. Now, when it comes to fundamentals and you talk about where there is room for improvement, yeah, I think you can definitely look at his fundamentals and say that his footwork still needs a little bit of work. There are times where his feet are not completely aligning with his eyes or his throwing motion. There are still opportunities for him to be able to grow into using the intermediate areas

Starting point is 00:07:10 of the field and the short passing game. These are things that are all going to come with coaching and discipline. But in terms of his buy-in and in terms of his ability to be a strong leader on this team, Drake is already showing a wisdom beyond his years. So Patriots fans are excited about Drake May and him coming in. There's a good reason for it. Evaluation, very tough this year because he doesn't have a great supporting cast around him. The offensive line has been a mess, for lack of a better term. I'll be very diplomatic and try to keep it because it is a family show, Joe, but they haven't been a pretty sight. The pass catchers around him have not shown prowess.

Starting point is 00:07:48 His two best offensive weapons have been his tight ends, Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, who have played well, but at the same time, you need guys to be able to help him out. And the running game has not got on track the way Patriots fans had hoped either. So all of this together does meld itself into a three and 11 football team. But again, Drake May's progression does give them hope for the future. Maybe not the immediate future, but maybe the distant future. Well, you mentioned Drake May part of the reasons for hope. I think the resources that exist for this operation moving forward with a ton of cap space at their disposal with a ton of cap space at their disposal

Starting point is 00:08:26 with a lot of good draft capital they're going to be picking early they have the falcons third round pick you know they're going to have potentially five picks within the top 100 or so you know very close to it in this coming draft and you look at drake may as a building block i think you look at keon white what he's done this year you look at christian gonzalez who are some of the other names here as you start to think about the path forward? What is the nucleus? Who are those players maybe outside of the obvious May, White, Gonzalez that fans from the Bills side of things should be aware of?

Starting point is 00:08:56 Well, a guy that I always look to in terms of having a lot of potential, but again, not a great opportunity to showcase his skill set this year is a slot receiver. DeMario Douglas. DeMario is a very shifty, very smart cerebral player in the short to intermediate areas of the field. He's not someone that's going to stretch it, but you know, the Patriots have always loved to employ solid slot receivers. They've done so pretty much throughout the entirety of Bill Belichick's tenure here. So DiMario is someone I would keep a sharp eye on. He can be a player to build on for the future. On the defensive side of the ball, cornerback Marcus Jones continues to be a guy that I think is a work in progress. I still believe he

Starting point is 00:09:35 has an opportunity to be a solid slot corner in this league. He is a dynamic weapon when it comes to the return game. So these are guys that the Patriots can try to build upon. But again, the regression that you've seen from New England this year, Joe, is very disheartening. And guys like Anthony Jennings and Jelani Tavai and Kyle Duggar, players that were supposed to be cornerstone players on this defense this year that have been healthy but have not been able to, or at least overtly healthy, but haven't been able to really break through and have the type of season they need when guys like Christian Barmore and Jabril Peppers and Juwan Bentley are unavailable. So yeah, there's a lot to go on. There's a lot to be able to build on. Obviously, Barmore is one of those guys that you're going to rely on, but his season sample

Starting point is 00:10:21 is not exactly fair because of all the time he lost. Just a bad combination of the Patriots this year of guys that are either not playing up to potential or players that just have not been able to because of injury. All right. We've covered some of the top storylines with the Patriots. On the other side of it, we're getting into the Bills side of things. Folks, be sure to stick with us. It's that time of year the college football playoffs are back and with the newly expanded 12-team format, it's guaranteed to be bigger

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Starting point is 00:12:02 Go right now to hillsdale.edu slash locked on to enroll. There's no cost and it's easy to get started. That's hillsdale.edu slash locked on to register. Hillsdale.edu slash locked on. All right, Mike, debate. Your turn. What do you have? What are you curious about as it relates to the Buffalo Bills?

Starting point is 00:12:23 Josh Allen, Joe. I mean mean let's start off with the obvious i mean you lose arguably your top two offensive weapons this offseason in stefan diggs and in gabe davis and everyone predicts that there's going to be a regression for the buffalo bills this year myself included i'm ashamed to admit that i did believe there would be a slight regression i also did did believe that the Bills would repeat as AFC East champions this year when we crossed the streams with John Butchko and Kyle Krebs way back before the season started. But at the same time, I did believe that it would be a little bit more of a growth pattern. But arguably, I think Josh Allen has been even better

Starting point is 00:13:00 this year without obviously his top two weapons from a previous season. Josh is playing at such a high level. He's elevated his ability to not only go off script and make plays with his legs, which is something he's always had the ability to do, but I think he's become, in my opinion, one of the best, if not the best, pure pocket passer in the league and also just one of the best cerebral quarterbacks in terms of decision making. What has the evolution of Josh Allen been like to cover for you and for Buffalo Bills fans to see for the benefit of Pats fans

Starting point is 00:13:31 that haven't had a whole lot to smile about when it comes to quarterback play until the second half of this season for the Pats? Well, Josh is having a great year, there's no question. I would argue it's his best year, and he's just been really, really efficient. The efficiency uptick has been really pleasant to watch, and of course, there's not really any turnovers. I mean, the turnovers are gone. Even the times he turned over the football this year,

Starting point is 00:13:57 it was like somebody fell down or it tipped off of a receiver's hands and into the hands of somebody else. He's really taking care of the football. And when you listen to Sean McDermott talk about the reasons why, you know, he leans into, you know, Josh is very deliberate about some goals that he set up for himself and he's worked really hard to achieve them. When you ask some of the players, they'll say, look, things are right for Josh Allen in his personal life. And, you know, he's had some turnover with some of his own personal circumstances. but I think the thing

Starting point is 00:14:26 that people need to be willing to acknowledge is that this football team this offense Josh Allen is better because Stephon Diggs isn't there and Stephon Diggs is a great player he really is the production was outstanding but there's a freedom that exists with Josh Allen to simply run the play just run the play it's no no longer wondering if Stefan Diggs is getting his targets or if he's happy or how he's going to react to something. It's just run the play. Go to the guy that's open. And when you look at the Bills passing distribution, it's crazy.

Starting point is 00:14:57 I mean, it's like eight different players with 20-something catches, right? Shakir certainly has his. He's kind of the go-to guy, but kind of the go-to guy, right? This is legitimately an everybody-eats offense. It's not about any one player outside of Josh Allen. Of course, the whole thing's about Josh Allen. But, you know, Bill Belichick said for 100 million years, how do you make an offense worse?

Starting point is 00:15:19 Well, you figure out what the thing they do best is and take it away and make them play, you know, left-handed. There's nothing in this offense that is so important that if you take it away, they can't function. It's not about one guy. And not only structurally how that's been beneficial to Josh Allen, but again, the addition by subtraction, I'm not taking away anything from Stephon Diggs. I've said repeatedly, he gave the Buffalo Bills the greatest four-year stretch of receiving production the organization's ever seen. But the offense is better without him. And it's better without Gabe Davis because I think there was this false belief that Gabe Davis was an actual number two

Starting point is 00:15:56 receiver in the NFL. Had the big game against Kansas City in the playoffs, broke all the playoff records, and everybody said, that's the number two receiver. Well, not really. If you really watch him play, you can understand that he's a very limited football player that pretty much just wins with size and ball skills down the field he's an incomplete route runner can't really quickly separate doesn't give you anything after the catch and when you're trying to force that guy in as your number two receiver that can't take advantage of whatever digs commands you're better because of tooth you're better because those players are gone. And it's more of this cerebral approach of, hey, you got nine, 10 players that you like

Starting point is 00:16:29 to involve, get them going, play good offense and keep 17 upright because he's the straw that stirs the drink. Very well said. And again, I think you're seeing such a diversity in the Bills offense that we haven't seen in a number of years. I always love to evaluate tight endage and tight ends and look at the job that guys like, you know, Kincaid and guys like Knox are being able to do in tandem with each other. And that leads me quite nicely into my other question for you on the offensive side of the ball is this was always

Starting point is 00:16:59 a team that looked at the run game as potentially either a liability or something that was kind of an afterthought. That is certainly not the case this year. James Cook has been phenomenal, and the impression that Joe Brady has put on this offense in terms of being able to balance not just the passing game, but balance it with a run game has really made this Bills offense so effective. How important has it been for Cook to step up and for Brady's type of play calling and play selection in terms of what this team does offensively?

Starting point is 00:17:32 Certainly taken a lot off of Josh Allen as the sole catalyst for the offense. And, you know, James Cook has been really productive. He scored a lot of touchdowns. He's had like 13 rushing touchdowns this year. And it's nice for Josh Allen not to have to be the one plowing through everyone to score a touchdown i mean josh has got his touchdowns that's part of the deal but 13 for james cook that was the whole conversation with james cook is well yeah he'll catch the ball a little bit he'll have some production but the touchdown production won't be there well okay here it is it's definitely there

Starting point is 00:18:02 the bills are i think touchdown, one rushing touchdown away from tying their franchise record for rushing touchdowns in a season. So the run game has been important. The Bills run the ball. They're a pretty run-aggressive team. And I think for so long under Brian Dayball, this offense, when it came to the run, was, well, we have Josh Allen as our quarterback.

Starting point is 00:18:21 We're going to spread the football out, and we're going to have good numbers, and we're just going to run the ball when we need to. And that's fine, and running the football is oftentimes about math, right? How many players do you have blocking versus how many players they have in the box? But the reality is the offensive rushing attack took off when Aaron Comer came in and actually added some schematical elements to what they do, right? They're very multiple. They run gap schemes.

Starting point is 00:18:44 They run zone schemes. They run zone schemes. They love split zone cutback. They have pullers all the time. They pull everybody. And so when you are no longer just, hey, we

Starting point is 00:18:53 have good numbers. Let's just run the ball, right? Like zone left, zone right. And you actually have some scheme and purpose behind it.

Starting point is 00:19:00 It's amazing what can happen when you couple that with good box counts, right? And that's been a big reason why the Bills have been able to run the ball as efficiently as they have to complement what Josh Allen gives them in the passing game. Yeah, it could be a problem for New England, who is not as formidable against the run this season as they were last year.

Starting point is 00:19:18 Once again, a regression on the Patriots' defense. And that leads me quite nicely into my final question for you today, Joe, when we flip over to the defensive side of the ball for Buffalo. New England is kept up at night when they hear the word pressure, especially when it comes to quarterback pressure. And the Bills are capable of applying pressure, whether it be Greg Rousseau, whether it be A.J. Epinesa. Von Miller has emerged again as someone who can apply pressure to quarterbacks. Drake May and that offensive line are going to have their hands full this weekend. So for the benefit of Patriots fans, are those three the names that Pats fans should be zeroing in on when it comes to potential game wreckers for Drake May?

Starting point is 00:19:57 Or are there other elements of this defense that you believe can give New England fits on Sunday? Well, I think Ed Oliver's a worthy name to invoke there as well as part of their rush plan. I think the Bills are probably very average when it comes to rushing the passer, and I think that's when I get concerned about, all right, how far can this team really go? Obviously pretty far when you have Josh Allen, but what's the limiting part of it?

Starting point is 00:20:22 It's probably their pass rush. It's probably the consistency of their defensive line. And I think that's been exactly the same answer for five years now. You know, the Bills have won a playoff game every year since 2020, but the reason that they haven't knocked off Burrow or Mahomes in the playoffs is because they haven't been consistent enough affecting them, those quarterbacks, with their pass rush. So I'm very interested in seeing how things can heat up the rest of the way. They were really good against the Lions. Can that continue?

Starting point is 00:20:49 Obviously, three games left in the regular season to maximize your rush plan. But I think they're just average. They're not terrible. They're not great. They're just average. And so against a Pats team that candidly has not done well to protect their quarterback, I think the Bills' pass rush will probably look a little better than it really is, but that is definitely a storyline. And they're

Starting point is 00:21:09 a little bit more multiple lately with their coverage. They've run a little bit more man, which is quite the shift, right? A very zone-heavy team. So kind of coupling, and I'm sure with Drake May at quarterback, they'll have their own stuff for him, right? First meeting between McDermott and May. I'm sure you will see a good variety of looks, but man coverage, daring those receivers to win, coupled with, okay, we might be a little aggressive with our rush plan to kind of take advantage. I think that's the recipe for the Bills on Sunday, and it may be effective, but the translatability of that into the postseason, I think, is something to watch for the Bills the rest of the way. All right, folks, we're getting into the path to victory for both sides of the equation. And I have a very important question for Mike that he doesn't know about coming up here in just a moment.

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Starting point is 00:22:32 taken a look at some of the lines for Bills Patriots. The Bills, as things currently stand, as of the recording of this podcast, the Bills are 14-point home favorites the over under for this game set at 46 and a half the bills team over under this is where i've i've done well here on on uh fan duel with betting the over for the bills team points as they've scored 30 or more in in the last eight they have it at 30 and a half so if they get to number nine which would be a new nfl record on Sunday, then the over would hit, and I'm going to ride that. So never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. I'm Joe Marino, host of Locked On Bills, joined by Mike DeBate,

Starting point is 00:23:19 the host of Locked On Patriots, here for a Crossover Thursday preview of Bills, Patriots, and Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePix. Download the app and use code LOCKEDONNFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. It's time to talk path to victory, but Mike, I teased that I had a very important question for you, and it's time for me to ask that question. I'm not sure if you saw this, but the Bills have announced that they are debuting a new uniform combination for this game. And it's not anything that's never been seen before, but it is a combination that we have. And it's the same white helmet that you typically see. It's their

Starting point is 00:23:57 red color rush jersey. So just imagine a regular Bills jersey, instead of it being blue, it's red, but it's with white pants, the typical white pants that they would normally wear. So white hat, red jersey, white pants. A lot of Bills fans are saying, you know what? That looks to me like the old Patriots uniforms. And my question for you is, like, do you, does your mind go there when you see, I don't know if you've seen them or not, but does your mind go there? I'm a big uniform guy, so I'm sorry if I'm dragging you into this.

Starting point is 00:24:26 So welcome to this conversation. But I'll answer this for myself, because when I think about my early Patriots memories, I think about Drew Bledsoe in a silver helmet and kind of a royal blue jersey. You know what I'm talking about? That's what I think. I don't think about Andre Tippett and whatever those. I like seeing the throwbacks. I think they're good good but i don't associate the two i'm curious for your take on this yeah i think patriots fans notice that right away as a matter of fact my good friend

Starting point is 00:24:53 nick fitzy stevens over at weei said that uh uh did uh you know pat patriot know that his wardrobe was raided uh over the course of the last week no look yeah there are similarities there's no question about it especially with the white pants with with the red, white, and blue stripe. It is very reminiscent of the old Patriots uniforms. Those uniforms are revered up here in New England. They are goaded, for lack of a better term. Whenever there's a throwback, there's a different buzz, a different vibe when it comes to this New England team. And I, for one, am always surprised by it. First of all, I do think it's an amazing look. I really wish the Patriots would return to it because I think it's just the cleanest look and really such a great logo. Everything about it, I love from an aesthetic purpose,

Starting point is 00:25:34 what that logo brings, but not so many great memories in that uniform. Other than a trip to the Super Bowl in 1986 that ended with a drubbing from the Chicago bears, 46 to 10 Patriots. Didn't really start to form their image as the new England Patriots until that flying Elvis logo and that silver helmet and those blue jerseys. And then of course the iconic Brady era, Belichick era jerseys that I know Bill's fans know very well. Yeah, exactly. You want to see that?

Starting point is 00:26:02 You want to see that? Get them out of here. Yeah. There's Mike, but bottom line. Yeah. I don't like those ones. You want to see them? You want to see them? Get them out of here. Nightmares. Nightmares, Mike. But bottom line, yeah, I think there are definite similarities. And, you know, the Bills right now are the kings of the mountain. They have a right to troll the Patriots if they want to do it. We've certainly done our share in the past.

Starting point is 00:26:18 So you can dish it out. We can take it. But it'll be good to see that uniform combination. It's just good that the Patriots didn't zero in taking those with them on the road because that could have been a little difficult to see both teams in red jerseys. Yeah, it'd be tough to see. So they do this every December. They wear the reds every December for, I think, the game that's closest to Christmas.

Starting point is 00:26:37 So I don't know if it's a true troll job or whatever. You said flying Elvis? I've never heard this phrase is that what we call patriots fans will tell you that that logo right now that is on the patriots helmet currently is affectionately known as the flying elvis uh the designer the graphic designer that designed the logo uh apparently had the image of elvis presley in his head when he designed the face really for that patriot minute man that flying uh image of the Minuteman hat. So yeah, that's what it's called here in New England.

Starting point is 00:27:08 Buffalo fans, some Buffalo fans may know that, but may have just given your listeners a little wisdom and counsel they didn't have before. Well, listen, I can hear Ross Jackson in my ears right now saying you're supposed to do keys to victory in segment three. So Mike DeBate, let's do keys to victory here. When you think about the Patriots on the road, 14-point dogs, what's got to go right here for them to pull off an upset? Besides praying for a blizzard, I mean, right now at this point, no, I'm kidding. Look, bottom line, if the Patriots want to be competitive in this game, they have

Starting point is 00:27:40 to come out and they have to establish the run first. This is a team that is predicated on running the ball to try to open up things for Drake May in play action. If there is a situation where the Patriots can take advantage of some of the deficiencies the Bills have had when it comes to defending the run, they've got a shot. But see, the problem is, Joe, is that the Bills are always so far ahead. No team really gets a chance to try to exploit this. If the Patriots can keep it close early, they have a puncher's chance to maybe keep this one close and hang around a little bit. So get Ramondre Stephenson the ball, get Antonio Gibson the ball, try to make things happen for Drake May and see what happens. The second step to that is give the ball to Drake May and let him

Starting point is 00:28:19 try to put the game in his own hands. Give him the opportunity to make plays. If the Bills are going to try to use zone to try to keep him from testing the deep ball, give him the opportunity to try to test the intermediate areas of the field. See what the kid can do. If they're going to play him in man, Drake has already proven on more than one occasion you need to account for his whereabouts

Starting point is 00:28:41 when you're playing man-to-man. It's not all about covering the receivers. Drake can tuck the ball and run for big yardage. A couple of weeks ago, he had a 41-yard run against man coverage. So this is a kid that can make things happen in that open field. Not going to be easy because the Buffalo Bills are as fundamentally sound as any team in the league. And you mentioned the turnover differential,

Starting point is 00:29:01 and you mentioned their inability or their lack of ability right now to turn the football over, which is a great thing for them to have. Patriots have to try to adopt a little bit of that. That's my last key to victory. Don't turn the ball over, protect the football, and stop being penalized in key moments of the game. The Patriots have hurt themselves far too much with penalties on key offensive drives that could have resulted in surefire points, but then again have to be backed up because of inexperience and bad coaching in those situations. The Pats have to clean that up. If they hit all three of those, they might be able to keep this one within swinging distance. If they fail at any one of those three, the Bills are off to the races.

Starting point is 00:29:45 I think you got the right idea, Mike, especially coming in with a run-heavy approach, shorten the game, keep Josh on the sideline. And the Bills are not a team that I think is very consistent with their run defense. So that I think is the right formula. For the Buffalo side of things, I think number one is not taking anything for granted.

Starting point is 00:30:02 I know that this is 3-11 versus 11- and three these teams certainly have different fates this year but it's still a divisional game and i'm old enough to remember the patriots last year beating the bills and i saw i mean i think about it all the time mac jones at a game-winning drive against the bills it happened all right and and the results were not all that different with the patriots you know having a poor record the bills being the two seed in the AFC. One of their losses was to this Patriots team. And look at the AFC North. The Browns not having a great year. They have two wins this year against division rivals in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, right? Like division games are just different. It's true. And I know that it's not Bill Belichick, but Gerard Mayo's been

Starting point is 00:30:40 part of this for a long time. He knows McDermott. He knows the Buffalo Bills. So I don't think you can come into this game and take a single thing for granted. I think a champion's mindset is 1-0 and focus on the challenge that's ahead of you. The Bills are certainly in contention for the one seed. They have big-time aspirations. The only thing you can affect right now is this game on Sunday against New England Patriots.

Starting point is 00:31:01 So take nothing for granted. I think number two is to continue to take advantage of your full slate of weapons. And you have a three game runway right now, two against the Patriots, one against the Jets before the postseason and making sure that you are established with how you want to move the football, right? Again, you're not coming in. This isn't a scrimmage. This isn't seven on seven. You're not trying things out, but this is your tune-up opportunity, if you will, to make sure that your offensive balance, and I don't mean run to pass ratio or target. I mean, just the balance of how you want to be is leveled out. Right. And I think you have an opportunity to make sure,

Starting point is 00:31:41 okay, this is how we want to deploy Keon Coleman with Amari Cooper, with Dalton Kincaid, with Dawson Knox, with Kulshakir, with Curtis Samuel. They really haven't. There's a lot of players. There hasn't been a lot of games where they're all together at the same time and they're all healthy. Finally, this is your runway to get it all clicking at its highest level going into the postseason. And then number three, I think the Bills have to figure some things out on defense and whether that's whether they want to use three linebackers. You know, the Bills are very much a nickel defense that sometimes runs dime, right? Like 20% dime, 1% three linebackers, and the rest is nickel. And they showed last week against Detroit that they will run some three linebackers. You know, if you're going to, if that's a part of your mix and you're thinking

Starting point is 00:32:24 about future dates with Kansas City or Baltimore or Pittsburgh, other heavy personnel teams, Lions again down the road maybe. Get your three linebacker stuff figured out. This is your chance to rep it. Are you still going to want to work on your dime? Is Cam Lewis your best dime back? Figure that out.

Starting point is 00:32:38 And then the Bills, I think, have been just mediocre on third downs. I think they're around 20th in third down stop percentage on defense. And I think Drake May's best stuff, when I'm most impressed with Drake May, is like, oh my God, some of his best moments come on high leverage downs, like third downs. And that goes back to North Carolina. In the preseason, it stood out to me. It stood out to me at times watching him this year,

Starting point is 00:32:59 where the Bills sometimes like third and 11 is like the worst down they could possibly be in. So I think figuring some of this stuff out and how you want to play in these situations so that you're optimized going into the postseason is absolutely critical. So take nothing for granted. Continue to use your full slate of weapons in the past in the offense and then kind of fine tune your defensive philosophy. Very well said, and one thing that I will piggyback on when you mention efficiency on third down, you're absolutely right. The Patriots can make things happen on third down when they give Drake May the opportunity to do so. They did not do so at any point in the game last week, and they were 0-6 on third down. If Buffalo's smart, they try to

Starting point is 00:33:39 contain that, try to confuse the New England Patriots, keep them off balance, and if that happens, then it takes away a lot of Drake's ability to go off script. So there could be some inside information there that might help Buffalo on Sunday. Not that they need any more of it. All right, Mike, the good news is we get to do this again in two weeks. Absolutely. This conversation is over, but we have another one to come, obviously, in a couple of weeks and certainly plenty more coverage coming both on Locked On Bills and Locked On Patriots.

Starting point is 00:34:06 So make sure you're dialed in to both shows before and after the game. We'll make sure that you are covered. As always, we kindly ask that you share, subscribe, rate, and review. Have a great rest of your day, and we look forward to catching up with you again real soon.

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