Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals Takeaways: Jacoby Brissett, Rhamondre Stevenson, O-Line

Starting point is 00:00:00 The New England Patriots pulled off the upset victory in week one for one simple reason. They turned the monster keys to victory. 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. And thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen each and every day.

Starting point is 00:00:39 Remember, Locked On Patriots is not only a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day, but we are also free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button, download and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you're getting the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New england patriots for patriots country of athlon sports reach out to me let me know what's on your mind on x at mdavate nfl while you're out there showing some love to locked on patriots social media style please be sure to follow our account there as well at lo underscore patriots and patsats fans, it is Victory Monday. We continue to bask in the glow of the

Starting point is 00:01:27 Patriots' 16-10 upset victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycourt Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Pats currently sit at 1-0, and they'd like to make that 2-0 with their home opener this coming Sunday against the Seahawks. Well, we're not going to get

Starting point is 00:01:43 into that matchup quite just yet here on Locked On Patriots because there is still plenty to break down, including the number one reason why your New England Patriots were victorious over the Bengals this week. Yeah, that's right, folks. They turned the monster keys to victory.

Starting point is 00:01:59 And who else has the monster keys to victory but our good friend, the legend himself, the very Don of Locked On Patriots, my good friend Thomas Murphy. Thank you for joining me today and for bringing those monster keys that you carry in your pocket like so many nickels and dimes, Don Murphy. Well, thank you, Michael. Thank you. You're a man I was told that should be treated with respect and and i do that and that's why i bring the keys here and nowhere else you know nowhere else yeah keys returned weren't

Starting point is 00:02:31 they it was it was it was it was a nice afternoon um we didn't we didn't uh need to get to the 24 points that that i was uh that i predicted the patriots did, but thank God, you know, and we came away with a 16-point victory. That doesn't happen very often in the NFL, and that's just a testament to Covington and his group. Keon White had a monster afternoon, three sacks. It was incredible. It was a great day for him. Yeah, Keon absolutely showing that he

Starting point is 00:03:05 can not only be a force in this defense, but a force when it comes to grass rush throughout the NFL. Really, I think a star is born moment for him, and I think you're going to continue to see moments like this from Keon White. I chose him as my defensive player of the week during my postgame

Starting point is 00:03:21 episode here on Locked On Patriots. The best is yet to come for young Keon. And I think Patriots fans are going to be very happy with what they see from him moving forward. Murph, you always cast a very clear path to victory for the New England Patriots each and every week. Those monster keys provide, I think, a solid blueprint for the Patriots to get the victory. This week, you particularly focused on establishing the run. You focused on utilizing your strengths, utilizing the Patriots' strengths on offense and on defense, not reinventing the wheel, but doing what they do best. When you go

Starting point is 00:03:59 back and you look at the monster keys that you crafted for this game and what the Patriots actually did on the field against the Bengals, how excited were you to see those keys being turned and which to your estimation and to your satisfaction were turned at the highest levels? Yeah, well, you know, just to start off, you know, the running game in this offensive line and and the game plan that they put together, I expected to see a lot of 12 personnel this week. We did see that. We saw a lot of two tight end sets. Um, but I, I did not see the jumbo packages that were coming. Okay. And I thought that was a fantastic call by, uh, by Alex Van Pelt and working out this game, in knowing the limitations of this offensive line. Now, while everybody is touting how great they were, a lot of the work was, well, most of the work was done by Ramondre Stevenson.

Starting point is 00:04:57 He did. You know, the yards after contact that he was able to put together on Sunday afternoon was just phenomenal. I had to go back and watch a second and a third time, you know, just to soak it all in. But the rub is that, yes, they were doing this out of 12 personnel. They were doing this with an extra tackle on the field. Things are going to have to change because you're not going to be able to live by that sword every single week. But it was good enough for week one. And they do need to diversify just a little bit more. And this is going to happen. I understand that week one, folks.

Starting point is 00:05:49 I'm not saying that this can't happen or this won't happen. They just can't lean on this wall the entire season and expect this kind of an outcome. So that being said, yeah, the first key that was turned and I loved was establish the run. Peters did a fantastic job, you know, aligning his guys and, and getting them in to position to to do well with, with one exception,

Starting point is 00:06:14 Chooks or Cora for who I believe played 12 snaps, 12 snaps. Very good. Mr. Wolf. Fantastic. But other than that, this, the offensive line did well. Early on, they were able to stretch it out into that stretch zone. Later on, the Bengals seemed to catch up to what was happening. And that's when the Patriots did another thing that I was expecting them to do, was get up the middle, go off center, off guard, and let Ramondre eat in that fashion. Yeah, he absolutely did eat in that fashion.

Starting point is 00:06:52 You look at what Ramondre did on the field on Sunday, 118 yards after contact, forcing 10 missed tackles. This is one of those games where you look at a young back that really is coming into his own. Now he's a franchise back, and we're going to get into, I think, a little bit more of what it means for Ramondre to be a franchise back because not only was he leading by example on the field, he was also leading in the locker room and was one very influential voice

Starting point is 00:07:22 when it came to a lot of the Patriots game planning for this game. I thought that was very interesting. We'll get into that in our takeaway segment folks in a bit. So stick around. You do not want to miss a single second of the action. Settle in the lockdown Patriots because we got a good one on tap for you. And we already have absorbed some of the great wisdom in council of Murph. Don't worry.

Starting point is 00:07:41 He's got plenty more coming, but bottom line, the new England Patriots right now, I think are looking at establishing the run as something that they will continue to do as much as they can. It's the strength of an Alex Manfeld offense. You mentioned the scheming of Scott Peters. I think that also deserves a lot of credit. Before we get back into the offense, because the O-line was surprising, but I know you have some insight that you want to share with us in just a moment on that. So I'm not going to steal your thunder.

Starting point is 00:08:09 I'm going to actually switch over to the opposite side of the ball and the defense. You mentioned Keon White earlier, but one of the things that I loved about the New England Patriots defense and what they did on Sunday is they played to their strengths. They didn't try to reinvent the wheel. Demarcus Covington had his unit ready. They played a mixture of different coverages.

Starting point is 00:08:29 So they tried to cause a little bit of confusion when it came to the Bengals. But I thought it was brilliant that Demarcus went back to what makes this defense good. Lean into your zone structure. Limit the big play. And that really, I think, allowed this defense to come alive. From a defensive standpoint, with the monster keys in check, what do you think are the biggest takeaways when it comes to the Patriots' performance on that side of the ball? That the linebackers and the defensive backs are still the strength of this team.

Starting point is 00:09:01 Okay. What he's able to do in the defensive backfield and coverages is you don't find around the league everywhere. The safety play, the fact that so many different players can cover so many different types of offensive players, it's going to make things extremely difficult for any opponent week in and week out. I thought the defensive backfield and the pass rush was in perfect sync in not allowing Burroughs to establish himself in any way, shape, or form. They weren't really able to get much going through the air. They held the Cincinnati Bengals to zero first downs

Starting point is 00:09:53 through almost a quarter and a half of football, and that was fantastic. That is remarkable. It really is. And I think just a testament to what this team can do when all cylinders are firing on defense. And, you know, you're looking at guys that are still coming into their own in a lot of ways. Christian Gonzalez, I thought was phenomenal on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:10:13 I thought his performance against Jamar Chase definitely deserves a great amount of credit. And he continues to be a guy that can shut down and take away your top option if he continues to do that and gets more comfortable doing that as he kind of comes into his pro level readiness it's going to make life very difficult for a lot of opposing offenses that want to try to shake free their biggest weapon knowing that someone like a Christian Gonzalez is there to be able to put a stifle on it and I thought the safeties played well as well. Always aware, always honest, and always knowing what's going on. We were wondering what the identity of this team is going to be, and it's a football game. And it was a beautiful thing, whether it was Duggar or Peppers or Jalen Hawkins or anybody on that side of the ball, it was, you knew that they were there. They made their presence felt and you knew you were going to get hit.

Starting point is 00:11:34 If you were catching the ball on Sunday afternoon and a lot of, quite frankly, the Bengals stopped wanting to catch the football. Yeah, exactly. You know, you hit them hard enough and you hit them often enough. It gets to the point where they just don't want the ball anymore. And maybe there was a little element of that on Sunday. And you have to credit the Patriots defensive coaching staff and those players on the field for making life difficult for what I described last night as still a very talented offense in Cincinnati. I know they were missing T. Higgins. I know that Jamar Chase was kind of a fraction of what he usually is. Joe Burrow looked like someone that was still shaking off some of the cobwebs from the injuries he's had. Exactly. And at one point, you know, you wondered whether or not he had re-injured it.

Starting point is 00:12:15 I know at one point they were paying close attention to that on the CBS broadcast, but at the same time, you also look at the talent level that they have on that team. And there's still guys like Mike Gusecki, the newcomer, Jocevich, all of these players. Zach Moss, who got the only touchdown for the Cincinnati Bengals. There's still a lot of offensive talent. So for the Patriots to hold them to 10 points, even with the problems that they had, is still very, very impressive. So they deserve a lot of credit for that. Murph, before we take our leave of the monster keys, I know a lot of Patriots fans were really impressed by the special teams

Starting point is 00:12:50 performance on Sunday for the first time in a long while, it felt like Patriots special teams again, knowing where to be when it comes to special teams, tackling everybody, playing their assignments, kickers, hitting their field calls. Uh, These are really like very basic rudimentary things. But for a Patriots team that finished at the bottom or near the bottom in DBOA on special teams the last couple of seasons, it was a breath of fresh air. How impressed were you with Jeremy Springer's new unit? And what do you think that means for the Patriots moving forward? Moving forward, I think it gives this team hope.

Starting point is 00:13:30 You know, there were so many special teams snafus, as you said, over the last couple of years. And after the opening kickoff, okay, it was really a clean, clean effort by those guys. They went out and they did their job. And, you know, going back to the keys and limiting the laundry, which is, you know, one of the weekly keys that the Patriots were able to do this week. What they were able to do on special teams was kind of special. Absolutely. Especially when you take a look at someone like Brendan Schooler, who now has the spotlight squarely on him when it comes to being the main cog in that special teams unit, goes out and sets a career high

Starting point is 00:14:12 with three special teams tackles. This kid absolutely is ready to rise to that occasion. So the special teams came up big. You look at the turnovers that the Patriots were able to force. I made it a point last night to mention that this is not an easy team folks to force turnovers on. The Cincinnati Bengals were the best team when it came to not turning the ball over in 2023. Patriots forced two and they were two big turnovers. Joe Cardona. Exactly. Joe Cardona getting his first forced fumble of his career. These are the little things that teams

Starting point is 00:14:45 build upon. And when you're a team like the New England Patriots, that's still searching for an identity. It's so important. Exactly. His name is Bryce Barringer. He averaged 50 yards per kick. He is tremendous. Bryce is absolutely a weapon and he continues to be an amazing punter for this team. Joey Sly kicking three field goals that veteran presence i think is solid for the pats so all in all a good day for the new england patriots and murph it was a surprise i think to a lot of patriots fans that they looked good in all three phases of the game look this is not a perfect effort and it will not be a perfect effort anytime the patriots go out there on the field but as long as they play their brand of football, they're going to have a puncher's chance.

Starting point is 00:15:28 And that puncher's chance stems from solid play along the offensive line. The line is getting a lot of credit for being a lot better than people expected. But are we raising our expectations a bit too high when it comes to next week and beyond. Our resident O-line expert is chomping at the bit to be able to give his wisdom and counsel on this subject. We're going to talk O-line with Murph when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues in just a moment here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Listen up, men. When we leave the house each and every day,

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Starting point is 00:19:38 And of course, we continue to break down the Pats' victory over the Bengals on Sunday in week one. Murph, in the previous segment, we talked a lot about the monster keys being turned. And as I always say each and every week, you turn the keys, you go to the top. You don't turn the keys, you're never heard from again. Well, the Patriots turned the keys, and they turned pretty much every single one of them, including one that I don't think even Murph himself thought they were going to be able to turn. And that was get solid contributions along the offensive line.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Right. Look, Murph, this is not a perfect line. It never will be. It's not even close to it. No, but I think we can agree that the Patriots O-line blocked a little better than we thought, showed a little more cohesion than we thought, and I think had a more solid game plan than any one of us believed heading into this matchup. But you see things us mere mortals don't see when it comes to the offensive line. Before we either canonize or condemn this offensive line, when you look at their performance on Sunday, how much credit do they deserve for the game plan, for the Patriots offense, and what impressed you about this line on Sunday? How well they work together, especially the rookies that came out.

Starting point is 00:20:51 Wallace was a definite contributor. And of course, you know, we even had some Michael Jordan action in there. Vidarian Lowe was able to step in for Chooks for Chooks when Chooks just was, was gagging all over himself in the first quarter. Uh, it was, it was a, it was a great day, but you know, um, I've really got to take my hat off to Leighton Robinson and what he's been able to do. Um, I, I give Wolf a lot of, uh, grief, but he found himself a ball player there in the fourth round. Absolutely. And Layton continues to surprise.

Starting point is 00:21:27 And we started to see the emergence of Layton Robinson late in training camp and into the preseason. And you started to be able to see seedlings of what this kid could be if given the opportunity. Obviously now he's going to be thrust, I think, a little bit more into the spotlight because of the Patriots' thinness in the interior of the offensive line. Cole Strange out indefinitely. We're still waiting for clarification on when City So may suit up, if he's going to be a part of the game plan this week, or if we're looking at the second straight week where he won't be. So there's a lot right now that is in flux for

Starting point is 00:22:00 the New England Patriots' offensive line line and when you can get reliable contributions from a rookie yeah you know you're doing something right so Layden I think deserves an awful lot of credit obviously Murph left tackle is a tough situation right now uh you saw Chuksa Koropor you mentioned that struggled early on gave way to Vardarian low and Vardarian I think looked a little bit better looked more comfortable I think provided some stability to the new england patriots because where they were i think most impressive with this line was the interior double team right to reset the line of scrimmage um gerard mayo talked about this ad nauseum last week um i for one and i know a lot of my colleagues believe that a lot of it was lip service and trying to talk up the unit that he had. But these guys, I will give them a lot of credit.

Starting point is 00:22:47 They knew exactly what they wanted to do, and they went out and they executed it. But when it comes to the tackle position, and especially Lowe, and you mentioned Caden Wallace, we even saw Austin Hooper play a little bit toward the scene and try to throw some blocks, which I was a little bit surprised on. He did a pretty good job of helping to move the line. When you look at the tackle position now and you look at the flux there, is this something that still causes you concern? Yeah, it does.

Starting point is 00:23:15 It really does. Because once the cat's out of the bag, once defensive coordinators are going to be able to plan for these types of things, they're going to be able to dissect and see where the Patriots are going to go and how they can counter that. And the left side is just still a mess right now. What Andrews is able to do in there as a leader to anchor this unit has been fantastic. At least it was through four quarters. We did see that Cincinnati catching up to what the Patriots were doing in the first quarter, but we were also able to see the Patriots counter that

Starting point is 00:23:59 with some good counter blocking, some good two-team blocking, and able to take advantage of Cincinnati where they weren't expecting it. And I liked that a lot. But just, just to bring it full circle, you can't live in 12 and be as diverse as you need to be. You can't live in jumbo packages with, with extra, with extra offensive linemen, no matter how many times you want to declare that you're self-eligible, that this is going to work out in a way that we're going to see anything really explosive. What I saw on Sunday basically was a Bill Belichick style offense, was the style of offense that has been played here for quite some time. It was not very diverse.

Starting point is 00:24:48 It was not very exciting. The defense allowed them to get the job done. But the reason that it worked was there was no laundry. The laundry was limited, which was another key, which is an every week key. And when you don't make those false starts, when you don't have those holding penalties, when you don't have, when you, when you have people lined up correctly, things tend to work more often. Yeah, absolutely. Very, very well said. And it's very rare that a team will play a clean game the way the England Patriots played on Sunday and really kind of helped everything to click on all cylinders. Because if I'm the Seattle Seahawks and I'm jumping ahead

Starting point is 00:25:29 here to week two, I'm going to be looking at this tape and I'm going to be looking at what the left tackles yielded and the Patriots difficulty in being able to protect. Look, Trey Hendrickson is one of the best pass rushers in the league. All six pressures that were allowed on Jacoby Brissett came from Trey Hendrickson, and they came from the left side. When you look at Okorafor and then obviously Vardarian Lowe, they were the ones that allowed those six total pressures, and they also allowed two hits on the quarterback as well. In all, 46.2% of the total pressure on the quarterback came from the left tackle spot.

Starting point is 00:26:04 The left tackles have to be better. And again, if they're not going to be playing clean and you're going to get erroneous penalties, which every team falls victim to, that only magnifies that problem. And it definitely makes it something that the New England Patriots are going to have to fix. And they're going to have to shore it up this week. And I think that's going to be the main focus for the New England Patriots this week at practice is trying to help solidify that left side of the offensive line, particularly the tackles to keep Jacoby Brissett a little more upright when it comes to what they're going

Starting point is 00:26:37 to be facing, not just from the Seattle Seahawks, but then on short rest and Thursday night football in week three against the New York Jets. And you know that Jets' fearsome defensive front is going to be aching to get after the Patriots quarterback, whoever it may be. Most likely it will be Jacoby Brissett. But that's something to keep an eye on as well. So a lot of things to be proud of, a lot of things to be happy about in New England. Patriots had a good win and no one's taken away from it. But there are reasons to also keep your feet on the ground and realize that this team is still forging its own identity.

Starting point is 00:27:11 What did the Patriots do on the field, however, on Sunday to make people believe that this may be a better team than we originally had given it credit for? Murph and I are going to get into the biggest takeaways from the Paycourse Stadium field in the Queen City in just a moment when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. us talk a lot about FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. And with the NFL season, I know you

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Starting point is 00:28:25 fanduel.com slash locked on to download America's number one sports book. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. Pat's sit at 1-0 after a 16-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium.

Starting point is 00:28:46 Joining me to break it all down and to lend his wisdom counsel. And of course, each and every week is Monster Keys to Victory, for which we are honored and grateful. Don Murph is our good friend, the legend himself, the Count of Murphy, Fisto Thomas Murphy. And Murph, we've talked about the monster keys to victory on offense, on defense. We've even dabbled a little into special teams. Spent an entire segment talking about the O-line and what to expect and what the Patriots still need to do to move that line forward. But as we start to look ahead to week two and the Seattle Seahawks and the home opener this Sunday at Gillette Stadium, before we get into the ins and outs of what Seattle is bringing to the table,

Starting point is 00:29:28 when you look at the Patriots' performance, when you look at their expectations up and down, what do you believe is the biggest takeaway or the biggest takeaways from this team heading into Week 2 from their victory in Week 1? This is a smart, disciplined football team. Something that we haven't seen for the past couple of years, especially when it comes to, you know, the little things, the intangibles and playing within themselves. That's the biggest takeaway that I took from four quarters of football.

Starting point is 00:30:02 This might be the best four quarters of defensive football that I've seen in a very long time. The other thing that I took away from this is that this team needs to be just a tad bit more explosive. My man Tyquan Thornton had a fantastic game. The commentators even mentioned it. It's not necessarily, I said it in my keys, that it's not necessarily something that's going to show up in the stat line, but what he's able to do with his speed and dragging coverages all over this field is going to open up so much more for this team going forward. And I think that's going to have to happen for them to continue to be successful. Yeah. I mean, it's almost a foregone conclusion that this team is going to need to be disciplined.

Starting point is 00:30:49 It's going to be a requirement for them not to beat themselves because plenty of other teams that are either going to be coming here to Gillette or where the Patriots are going to be traveling to play in their home stadium are going to have more talent, possibly on both sides of the ball. So the Patriots owe it to themselves to play clean games, play smart, and play as much mistake-free football as possible. Do not give the other team any opportunity to capitalize or limit those opportunities to razor-thin margins. That's going to give you that puncher's chance. So I think that's an excellent point, Murph, and I absolutely love how you said that. One of the biggest takeaways for me has been Romandre Stevenson, obviously. I mean, we're looking at a guy now, Murph, that is emerging into, I believe, a top 10

Starting point is 00:31:34 back in the NFL. And the fact that he's not ranked there yet still to me is egregious. But I think Romandre is actually liking it a little bit. We can pump it up now because he's under contract. It's true. Yeah. One of my old, my old bill isms is the fact that when,

Starting point is 00:31:51 when once, once they sign, once they sign the new contract, it's when they start getting the ball more and being used more. It's, it's in contract years that you see that stuff dwindle down. So yeah, now he's,

Starting point is 00:32:03 now he's under contract so we can ride him definitely without question so yeah absolutely give remandre some credit give the drummer some as uh the late great james brown would say but bottom line i think you're looking at a guy that is emerging into top back territory and i don't just mean on the field because this kid we know has the ability he has the skill set to be a solid runner a solid top runner not only in this offense but I think in any offense I think he's on the verge of becoming a star in this league and rightfully so but what impressed me most about what I heard from Ramondre this week was the respect that he's commanding in the locker room

Starting point is 00:32:42 not just from his teammates but from his coaches And I thought it was interesting that Ramondre was the one that really went to Alex Van Pelt and lobbied hard for the Patriots to run more downhill schemes. And I thought that that was very gutsy, uh, for lack of a better term, considering what Van Pelt is wanting to do downhill is something that is very much Belichickian from what this team has done for a number of years and he knew it was a comfort he knew it was the best way to attack this Cincinnati defense and Van Pelt listened to him he didn't act like I know more than you I have to establish myself as the alpha in the room uh you do what you're told and I'll tell you where to go and how to get there. He didn't pull that rank.

Starting point is 00:33:25 He listened to Ramondre. That speaks volumes about the level of respect this kid commands in the locker room. You're looking at a kid right now that's growing into his own in terms of confidence, but you're also looking at someone that is demanding the respect and the confidence of his teammates and his coaches. That tells me right there, Ramondre Stevenson is a force on this team. Maybe their most important offensive player right now. Oh, without a doubt.

Starting point is 00:33:49 If for some reason, knock wood, that Ramondre Stevenson goes down, this team is in a heck of a lot of trouble. We talked about the lack of depth in that running back room. And Mike quelled some of that a couple of times because he was happy with it. But no, Ramondre is the man. Right now, he's the most talented player on that side of the ball. And the Patriots are going to need to ride him for as long as they can until they can figure out

Starting point is 00:34:22 how to get some of these new pieces involved even more. I expected to see a lot more of Jalen Polk in the first week, but they're taking a patient approach with him as well. You know, we talked about a patient approach with Drake May. They're taking a patient approach with him. I thought, you know, Hunter Henry had a fantastic game on Sunday and not a lot of people are talking about it because it's a game that didn't show up in the stat sheets. But, you know, what he was able to do out there, I expect to see him more involved, even though, you know,

Starting point is 00:34:57 Claire was probably a little bit happy with all the tight endage that was going on. Check Claire out on Zitter, at Classy Claire, and have some good times. But no, this is a team that right now I'm stuck in between just feeling good about this game one victory, about this week one victory, because we haven't had one here in a while and um and uh and tempering that into expectations that are uh are um more in line with the way i felt a couple of

Starting point is 00:35:38 weeks ago or even a week ago or even on thursday as i was cutting the final keys to my ring last week. I still believe that this is at best a six-win team. They're going to face tougher competition going ahead. The more you put on film, the more that other teams have to study and are going to be able to counter that. Will Mayo, Van Pelt, Covington, and company be able to keep up what they did so well on Sunday over the next 16 weeks? Very good point. Very, very good point. And again, I think it speaks to the level of competition now that the Patriots are going to be facing.

Starting point is 00:36:17 I think maybe they've woken the sleeping giant, proverbial sleeping giant when it comes to the NFL. Teams are not going to look past the Patriots any longer because I think they saw what we saw yesterday, Murph. This is a disciplined team. It's a smart football team. It's a team capable of making plays, and it's not a team that's going to make things easy on their opponents. So based on that, if you are the Seattle Seahawks or the New York Jets or whoever the Patriots have on their schedule in the subsequent weeks. They're going to be looking at this team now and saying, OK, well, we need to play our top game in order to be able to beat them. Maybe they have more talent. Maybe if both sides are clicking on all cylinders, the Patriots come out on the short end more often than not.

Starting point is 00:37:00 But at the same time, I think what we're seeing from these guys is a desire to fight. And not only that, but I think a rejuvenated effort to be the best they possibly can be. They've bought in. And at the end of the day, a team that is cohesive, like the team we saw yesterday, always has that shot. And at that point, anything is possible. So let us know your thoughts on the Patriots' victory. What impressed you the most? What still concerns you about this team what are your thoughts about the remainder

Starting point is 00:37:29 of the season drop a comment in the notes section below on YouTube or reach out to myself at mdabate NFL or my good friend Murph at team Murph 207 on Twitter zitter x whatever you want to call it these days and we'd be happy to include your comments on the next mailbag segment, because who knows, folks? Murph may be back before the end of the week to do a Monster Keys mailbag mashup show. Yeah, that's right. Monster

Starting point is 00:37:56 Keys mailbag mashup. Murph, Mike, we love. The alliteration is off the charts, and as someone that was once dubbed the Admiral of Alliteration by our good friend, Claire Clazzy, Claire Cooper, it's bringing a smile to my face. No question about it. But folks, bottom line, we are honored, humbled, and grateful for the service provided to us

Starting point is 00:38:16 today by our good friend, Thomas Murphy. Always bringing the monster keys each and every week. We're the only ones that got them here on Locked On Patriots. And we, for one, could not be happier or more honored to welcome you each and every week here to turn those monster keys, my good friend Murph. Before I let you go, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you, interact with you, and what you got marinating in Murph's kitchen for the rest of the week. Yeah, you can check me out on Zitter at TeamMurph207. I got a couple of Red Sox pieces going up this week. And of course, you know, the Monster Keys will be out on Friday morning.

Starting point is 00:38:50 You can check them out at DieHardBostonSportsFans.com along with all my other stuff that I'm doing right now. Yeah, stop by Twitter, say hello. In the meantime, I thank my good friend Thomas Murphy for his wisdom, his counsel, his Monster Keys, and for the Anizet that he left on my doorstep today. But most of all, we thank each and every one of you, all of our everydayers, our casual listeners, and if you're a first-timer, a special tip of the cap, thank you for making

Starting point is 00:39:16 us a part of your New England Patriots coverage. On behalf of Murph, I'm Mike DeBate, reminding you all to stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.

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