Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Defeat Pittsburgh Steelers: Bailey Zappe, Hunter Henry, Ezekiel Elliott

Starting point is 00:00:00 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 Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. And while you're out there showing some social media love to Lockdown Patriots be sure to follow the account there

Starting point is 00:00:49 as well at L-O underscore Patriots and Pats fans today's episode is brought to you by DoorDash and Murph just a couple of minutes ago I placed my very own DoorDash order to get my favorite Friday fish and chips lunch from Cello's hometownometown Bar and Grill right

Starting point is 00:01:06 here in Rhode Island. You can do so all over New England. It should be here before the show is over, so a big thank you to DoorDash for lunch. Folks, place your order today using promo code LOCKED23 and stay tuned later in the episode to hear more from

Starting point is 00:01:21 our friends at DoorDash. Patriots fans, we continue to bask in the glow. That's right, folks. I said it. Bask in the episode, to hear more from our friends at DoorDash. Patriots fans, we continue to bask in the glow. That's right, folks. I said it. Bask in the glow of the Patriots' third win of the season. Yeah, it hasn't happened all too often in 2023, so we're going to enjoy it while we can. A 21-18 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Accrishire Stadium on Thursday night. And as you can see, here to help me break it all down is the counter,

Starting point is 00:01:47 Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy. Thank you for joining me today in friendship and victory, most importantly today, Thorn Murph. Oh, it's a pleasure, Michael. It's a pleasure. You know, with a little bookend Murph action, you know, you had the keys spelled out for everybody this week. They were turned and what do you know? Victory Friday.

Starting point is 00:02:09 It's amazing, isn't it? It really does brighten your weekend. When you can head into the weekend with a victory, it's always a good thing. And folks, again, Murph and I are going to tell you that a victory is not a bad thing here today on Lockdown Patriots. Don't buy into all the excess hype surrounding this team right now. This team needed a win, and they got one, and that is a good thing for the Pats moving forward

Starting point is 00:02:31 and even into their future. We'll explain that in just a minute, but Murph, the Patriots had totaled 13 points scored in their previous three games. They exceeded that total in the first half with three scoring strikes from Bailey Zappi, including their first opening drive touchdown of the season. It was a dominant first half for the New England Patriots. Not a perfect game because their performance did regress into some rough terrain in the second half, including right up to the game's final moments. But once again, folks,

Starting point is 00:03:03 this win brings the Patriots to 3-10 on the season. Let's start on the offense, my friend. Your monster keys were finally turned. I found myself checking off each of the keys as the New England Patriots were marching down the field at times, especially in the first half last night. Murph, explain to us, enlighten us. What was the difference this time around for Bailey, Zappi, and company? Yeah, aggression.

Starting point is 00:03:27 They came out aggressive. My first key on my ring this week, not to pat myself on the back, was to set up the run with the pass to throw over the top of these Steelers linebackers, the Steelers linebacking corps. That's where they're at their weakest. Hit them up the seams, and it worked. All right? People have been stacking boxes against the Patriots, knowing that they're a run first, or thinking that they're a run first team.

Starting point is 00:03:58 And that's been detrimental to the running game for a great portion of this season. I knew that being aggressive in the middle of the field up the seams was going to set up the run game. It was definitely a set up the run with the pass situation this week. Bill O'Brien took that key and turned it really quick and it worked. And giving credit where credit is due to Bill O'Brien's game planning. The Patriots, I thought, did a much better job of protecting on the O-line this time around. Actually getting complimentary football played by their skill positions, meaning the receivers, Juju Smith-Schuster, had his best game as a Patriot by far in this matchup.

Starting point is 00:04:44 A little extra motivation against this former team. That happens from time to time. These guys come in. They really want to play for a little extra something in front of their former home crowd. But at the same time, you want to give credit where credit is due to the guy under center. Look, I've been critical of Bailey Zappi. Maybe a little overcritical of him at times. More so than I have been with Mac Jones.

Starting point is 00:05:05 So I will take me a culpa on that, but I thought Zappi exuded a cool confidence throughout the game that his teammates picked up on. You heard Zeke Elliott and you heard Hunter Henry after the game talk about how he just exuded that confidence all week into the huddle. And that really, I think, spread to the rest of the team you saw him make improvement in his reads that was something he had difficulty with right against chargers last week he came in a short week of preparation and was able to improve those he did a much better job in making his reads and his decision making right much quicker was much more crisp and when you have that you lead to drives like that eight place 75 yard drive to open the game.

Starting point is 00:05:45 This is something that Patriots have not done in a while. They put the all year. Yeah, exactly. It was a beautiful thing. What, what a lot of people don't realize is that even though it was a short week, it was, uh, it was Zappy second week working with the number ones in practice and it, and it really showed, uh, last week was a little iffy probably had in the back of his head, you know, if, am I on a short leash? If I screw up, am I going to get the, uh, the

Starting point is 00:06:11 start the weekend on, on the Thursday after? And, um, but he knew it says he knows that it's his job. It's his job now for the rest of the year, Bill painted it out after, um, after the loss to the Chargers that he came out and said that Mac has had his shot. We've given him every opportunity. And even though Mac shows himself to be a much better practice player than Bailey Zappi, Zappi's getting it done when the lights are on. And that's what really counts at the end of the day. Yeah, exactly. And again, it's that confidence. It's that ability to rise above the nerves, to rise above the mistakes that are made. We saw Bailey make a few mistakes last night. It was not a perfect game.

Starting point is 00:06:58 You've got to give a tip of the cap to Alandon Roberts, who still continues to do what he does in the middle of that field, Murph. I know you and I both chuckled at that because Landon did it up here for so many years as a member of the New England Patriots. Getting your hands on the ball, deflecting. Kyle Walker gets the tip. He intercepts it. I thought Landon was there a little early. I thought he was turning that inside shoulder just a little bit. Just a little bit. That's true. If Hunterry can get called for those push-offs then i i thought a flag should have been thrown there but but i'm

Starting point is 00:07:30 not gonna i'm not gonna berate it i'm not gonna beat that uh that that dead horse with a stick because the at the end of the day the patriots came out on top um but i mean hats off to ezekiel elliott for being so on point right, not losing his head and going and making a stop that would have been a sure six points in a very different game. Yeah, without any question. And, you know, it's that type of heads up play that you saw from the Patriots on Thursday that we haven't seen recently. It's been a long time since we've seen the Patriots with their head in the game. And that was really true of all of the Patriots last night, whether it be on offense, defense, special teams.

Starting point is 00:08:11 Well, you know, we'll talk about that in a little bit. You know, not so fast, because it wasn't exactly the trifecta we were all hoping for, but much better showing from the offense. And you mentioned Zeke Elliott. Zeke continues to just do what Patriots expect him to do 68 rushing yards 22 attempts 72 receiving yards right an 11 yard touchdown over the right pylon on the flat that was a huge uh you know game for the New England Patriots there really set the tone 140 scrimmage yards uh for Zeke um continues to be a solid contributor. And really,

Starting point is 00:08:45 I think playing himself into a pretty lucrative contract in the off season, whether it be here or whether it be elsewhere, Zeke continues to keep the running game going. And they needed to see that with from Andre Stevenson out for at least a couple of games with a high ankle sprain. That is that that's true. I was a little upset at the, the fact that Zeke didn't get more of a blow in this game.

Starting point is 00:09:07 A little more a little more, you know, handoff action to to some of the other backs that were active for this game. So one for the first time this season. And but but you can't argue that the heart is still there. The wheels are still there. And and the the experience that he brings that we talked about when he was signed to come in here, knowing his role, being able to accept his role and bringing his knowledge of over a decade's worth of time in this league, it was all on display last night. It absolutely was. And it couldn't happen to a better guy. In my opinion, he came in here with a good amount of star power and he could have come in

Starting point is 00:09:49 demanding a certain amount of calories, a certain amount of catches, a certain amount of spotlight. He understood this was Ramond Ray's running back core. And I think playing complimentary football has served him so well. It's good to see him get the opportunity to be the lead. Obviously you want to see Ramond Ray out there if you're a Patriots fan, but bottom line, I think the Patriots running game is going to continue to go at a pretty good clip here, folks,

Starting point is 00:10:12 with Ezekiel Elliott leading the way. And again, I also want to give a special birthday tip of the cap to Hunter Henry. It was nice to see him get back into the groove when it comes to the Patriots offense. 29th birthday, catches three passes for 40 yards. Two of them went for touchdowns, folks. An eight-yarder and then, of course, a 24-yarder. This is his third multiple touchdown game as a member of the Patriots. Right. But he also became the first Patriots player to score a touchdown on his birthday since running back Deion Lewis did it.

Starting point is 00:10:44 He found the end zone on his 25th birthday, September 27th, 2015. You got to go back a little ways for that. It was a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Again, if you're Bailey Zappi, you're coming into this game, you're down. Keishon Butte, you're down to Mario Douglas. You're down to Devontae Parker. Again, Juju stepping up was good. We saw Tyquan Thornton get into the mix at times,

Starting point is 00:11:06 but it was good to have that veteran presence. The veterans were so big in this game, especially Hunter Henry, especially Ezekiel Elliott. I think that contributed to seeing a calm, cool, and collected Bailey Zappi out on the field last night. It did. It allowed him to get into a rhythm with these guys. So often people look at quarterbacks like Tom Brady who completely spread the ball around everywhere and they lose focus.

Starting point is 00:11:34 And sometimes you can get too focused on a passer. That happens with Mack quite often. But what Zappi was able to do last night was go through his progressions because tip of the hat to the offensive line who did a fantastic job in the first half of this game. And he was able to read through his progressions, actually get back to number one after getting to number three and finding the open man and hitting him. progressions actually get back to number one after getting to number three and, you know, finding the open man and hitting him.

Starting point is 00:12:11 You know, Hunter Henry probably should have had a much better game than he even had last night because I thought I did. I thought the push off calls were just a little bit ticky tack. I didn't see an extended arm there at all. And they had definitely been let go on calls like that or had definitely been let go multiple times during the season, both against the Patriots and for the Patriots. I think one of the big reasons why Patriots fans were so excited about what they saw about Bailey Zappi and the first half performance that he put on last night

Starting point is 00:12:41 is it's been a long time since a Patriots quarterback has performed that well in a half in a football game go all the way back to the Tom Brady days 2018 against the New York Jets in December of 2018 that was the last time that a Patriots player had three touchdown passes in the first half and of course Bailey setting his own personal career highs so you got to give a tip of the cap to the kid. It wasn't a perfect outing, but it was pretty damn good in that first half. And that set the tone for the game, allowed the New England Patriots to play their game. And also what it allowed the Pats to do, get a little complimentary football for that defense,

Starting point is 00:13:20 which continues to dominate, folks. That defense is worthy of all the praise it's going to get, and then some. Murph and I are going to heap some on the Pats defense in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. A proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

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Starting point is 00:15:05 Remember, Locked On Patriots is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team, we're going to break down your team's victory, the New England Patriots' 21-18 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Steel City on Thursday night football. Murph, the offense is going to get a lot of the credit for what we saw last night, and justifiably so. It's been a long time since we had any offensive highlights to really get excited about as

Starting point is 00:15:34 an England Patriots fan. But those in the know, and those even that are on the periphery of being in the know, realize that this Patriots defense has probably not received the credit it's deserved all season long because of the 3-10 record. This New England Patriots run defense especially is performing at a historic level. We've seen guys step up and play outstanding football. Jabril Peppers really, I think, has been one of their best defenders all season long you can make the argument between he and Christian Barmore core members of this defense that have held this

Starting point is 00:16:11 together after the injuries to Judon to Christian Gonzalez to Marcus Jones this is a unit that's been decimated by injury but keeps plugging along right as a solid savvy veteran play there were some guys that stood out last night. And again, monster keys were turned, folks. We keep saying it. You turn the keys, you go to the top. You don't turn the keys, you're never heard from again. Murph, as you're watching this game last night

Starting point is 00:16:36 and you're watching your monster keys get turned on the defensive side of the ball, what stood out to you, my friend, in this game? They set the edge. Since their bye week, since their change at offensive coordinator, the Steelers have been trying more and more to get to that outside zone, and you need to set the edge to stop that. And when you look at a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers that likes to run the ball the way the Pittsburgh Steelers do, and their leading rusher has 30 yards, you've had a really good day.

Starting point is 00:17:11 When their leading rusher has 30 yards and he's the quarterback, you've had a really, really, really good day. They shut down Najee Harris. Jalen Warren was just so ineffective. It was unreal. These guys set the edge. They filled gaps up the middle and they did not give them a chance to to move the chains. They put it all on Mitch Trubisky's arm. And and, you know, if it wasn't for a couple of breaks that that were given up, we'll we'll get to that in a little bit. This the Patriots defense might have been close to pitching another shutout. Yeah, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:17:49 An eight-point swing that really was not the fault of the defense in the long run. We're going to get to why that eight-point swing happened the way it did, but I'm so glad that you mentioned the run defense. What they're doing has the ability to make team history and even NFL history the New England Patriots allowed 2.9 yards per carry and zero conversions to running backs on the ground last night you talk about guys like Devon Godchow Anthony Jennings stepping up oh my god that's run defense I've seen an edge guy play in a long time in New England um Lawrence Guy Christian Barmore these guys deserve an awful lot of credit

Starting point is 00:18:26 for being the line that they've been I think Dietrich Wise has also been excellent in run defense as well and aiding in that area um the Pats are allowing just 3.2 yards per carry this season right now that's the best mark in the NFL if it holds it's going to be the lowest by any team since the 2014 Detroit Lions did so. Great pull there, thanks to Zach Cox of Nessun. Only six teams in the last 20 seasons were at 3.2 or lower.

Starting point is 00:18:55 If the New England Patriots do this, their franchise record is 3.0. That was set back in 1961, so you want to go back to real historic levels, folks. Patriots taking it all the way back to the Boston Patriots days almost. Bill Belichick as head coach of the New England Patriots, the best run defensive effort is 3.6 back in 2003. That was a historically great defense as well for the New England Patriots. So that's how rarefied air this

Starting point is 00:19:25 New England Patriots run defense is right now. They're doing great stuff. And it really, really is, I think, imperative to give these guys the credit that they deserve. This run defense has been phenomenal and it's opening up so much to defend against the pass and allow secondary to be able to make plays. You saw Jonathan Jones make a play in the clutch last night. Right, Galen Mills had himself one hell of a night. Absolutely. Kyle Duggar had a half a sack and, you know, four solo tackles. It was just great across the board.

Starting point is 00:19:55 Juwan Bentley, Jonathan Jones, you know, these guys were all able to come up and support the run last night. Miles Bryant, another fantastic day for Miles. Yeah, you want to talk about a guy that's working his way into a locked-up contract, folks? Lock in Anthony Jennings. And you heard it here on Locked On Patriots. The endorsement comes from myself and Murph.

Starting point is 00:20:15 We definitely would love to see him remain an New England Patriot for a good long while. But it has been. It's been a phenomenal effort for this defense. And it's a good thing this defense has been excellent because far too often Murph there have been special team snafus that have cost this team points and I hate to say it but that eight point swing that made this a 21 to 18 game as opposed to a 21 to 10 game right really I think falls on the shoulders of the special teams

Starting point is 00:20:44 unit um heading into the fourth quarter i referred to this last night when i wrote for sports illustrated a downward reversal of fortune and i think that's a good way to put it um miles killabrew coming in easily bypassing time montgomery en route to blocking a punt attempt by bryce beringer that block moved pittsburgh back only 11 yards the steelers offense took the field for a four-play 26-yard drive and you know trubisky gets the one-yard touchdown that includes a two-point conversion to pat fryermouth you know claire was excited to see that she was the only one in patriots nation that was excited to see it but i know she loves her some bat um bottom line

Starting point is 00:21:24 that made it a 21 to 18 game and it kept things razor thin right up until the last possession i continue to struggle murph to find reasons why this special teams unit struggles the way it does last night it looked like just a breakdown in coverage you saw ty montgomery get pulled off of that coverage very quickly kyle duggar replaced him you know that's not something that made the coaching staff happy. This is a unit that looks like it needs to be overhauled in the offseason. It really does. We've talked about this ad nauseum at this point.

Starting point is 00:22:00 Far too much money is spent on special teams in New England for them to play this badly. Okay, not just one year, but two years in a row. I'm sorry, but, you know, there really needs to be a change. You know, Cam Accord has to go. If Joe Judge's fingerprints are on this, I'm not seeing it because it's definitely not the special teams unit that it was under him before. I see Joe Judge sitting there, standing next to Bill Belichick, looking like the assistant head coach as often as he possibly can. If that's the case, he needs to spend more time down there

Starting point is 00:22:40 on the field with the special teams guys and talking to them because this is just awful. You know, this has just been awful. And it was an eight point swing, as Michael said, that just should not have happened. And there were there were other instances that there were there were penalties on Brandon Schooler had had another another stupid penalty on on special teams this week. You can't have it. You just can't, and it's really ticking me off. I don't blame you, and I think it's really upsetting an awful lot of Patriots fans as well, because you look at a solid effort from the offense, another great effort from the defense. You put all these together, all of a sudden special teams just does its job. You're holding the opposing team to at least single digits digits maybe 10 if you want to give them the full 10 at that point but just these

Starting point is 00:23:30 breakdowns continue to happen folks and again Murph said it the accountability needs to start at the top with the coaching staff if Joe Judge is not responsible for special teams and ultimately Cam Accord is the coordinator folks yeah his name is there it's Cam Accord is the coordinator, folks. His name is there. It's Cam Accord. And he has had ample time to fix this, to work with these guys, to get the people in there that he wants. And, you know, for everybody talking about how the Patriots cheap out everywhere, they don't cheap out here. No, they don't. They go out. They spend the draft capital.

Starting point is 00:24:03 All right. They spend the money to bring in the best special teams players in the league because Bill knows how important special teams are. You can go back and ask, ask Tom Brady tomorrow, how important special teams were to his success while he was here in New England. It was a heck of a lot of victories to that third phase and that third phase has been non-existent for going on um uh 29 games now yeah i think that's what's so surprising about all this is the patriots invested in special teams in the offseason um matthew slater coming back for his final season cody davis is back in the uh in the fall Chris Bullard was brought in specifically for special teams prowess, folks. And these are dedicated special teamers.

Starting point is 00:24:48 These are not guys that play at a high level either on offense or defense and they contribute to special teams. These guys are brought in specifically for the third phase of the game and we're not seeing the execution. And we're not talking a ton of money compared to the cap. We're talking to a minuscule amount of cap space, you know, 3%. Right. But that's 3% more than other teams are putting out there.

Starting point is 00:25:13 Absolutely. Everybody on special teams at 30 other teams in this league, all right, they've got a punter, a kicker, and a long snapper. And that's it. Those are the people that are dedicated to special teams. Everybody else is your depth. So you're playing special teams or, you know, our best players play special teams. Maybe we need to go get Gronk out, you know, ask him to come back and get out there and block. Okay.

Starting point is 00:25:36 For, for punts, because what's, what's going on now is not happening. You know, bring, if you want to bring somebody back bring back brandon bold and uh you know his special teams prowess is is unbelievable and would have been worth the extra money as opposed to the people that they've brought in and the product that we're seeing every sunday you know what bottom line folks whether there are items to be nitpicked things of that nature the new england patriots are enjoying this win you saw a much lighter mood in the locker room last night bill belichick was in a much better mood even bill o'brien cracked a few smiles our video conferences with the coaches on friday

Starting point is 00:26:14 morning it's an era of good feelings in new england right now it still baffles me the amount of people that will look to pigeonhole this win or look to find a negative spin to place on the Patriots getting the win. Folks, Murph and I are going to try to unspin that for you. I understand we all want the top draft pick possible and the best draft positioning for the Patriots to be able to go out and get that franchise difference-making player. Last night's win did not preclude the Patriots from being able to do that. Murph and I are going to talk about why winning is a good thing. It's amazing we even have to preface that,

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Starting point is 00:28:49 Pass fans, thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Hopefully your first listen each and every day. And don't forget, Locked On Patriots is available on all platforms, including YouTube. So download, subscribe to, follow wherever you get your podcasts to ensure that you get the latest episode of Locked on Patriots as soon as it's available.

Starting point is 00:29:09 I am joined by the legendary Thomas Murphy of E2G Sports today. A little Victory Friday, a little hashtag Locked on Murph Friday for all of your listening and viewing pleasure. And folks, don't forget, even though there's no Patriots football this coming Sunday, hashtag Mailbag Monday is in full effect.

Starting point is 00:29:27 If you're watching this right now, the mailbag is open. Get your questions in. Tag Murph at TeamMurph207. Tag me at MDABATENFL or tag the Locked On Patriots account directly at LO underscore Patriots. If you're a listener or a viewer on YouTube, put your question in the comments section below. Just make sure to put hashtag Mailbag Monday so we know that you're submitting that question for use here on Monday.

Starting point is 00:29:53 And folks, we're going to get to as many questions as possible on Monday. A full mailbag is expected, and we can't wait to share our wisdom and counsel with all of your great insights. So don't forget, tune in on Monday for hashtag LockedOnMurfMonday and Mailbag Monday as well. Murph, it is a victory Friday.

Starting point is 00:30:13 We're all in a good mood. Heading into the weekend feeling pretty good. There's still going to be an aura of negativity that's going to surround everything the Patriots do. If they go out and win, it's a bad thing because they ruin their draft position. If they go out there and play well, well, that's not good because all you're doing is confusing the team and wondering whether or not they have their quarterback of the future. You gave Ezekiel Elliott a chance to showcase himself. Congratulations. He's going to leave now. We're going to start

Starting point is 00:30:40 hearing all of this for the next few days. You know it's coming. Probably has already started. Murph, why is winning considered such a bad thing when you're a 2-10 team and need a victory desperately? Why does this narrative continue to persist? Because it's something to talk about on sports talk radio. Okay? That's why. It lights up the phone lines.

Starting point is 00:31:03 Okay? So now the 2-6 guys can sit there and drag this team for another reason. It's terrible and you suck if you don't win. Another nail in the coffin of Bill Belichick and his era here in New England, in Foxborough. And if you go out and win, well, Bill is just trying to, you know, this team is just screwing themselves out of one of the two top quarterbacks in the draft this year. I don't want a quarterback in the draft this year in the first round. Anyway, so I don't care.

Starting point is 00:31:40 I'll go to my grave, man. Alt is the pick, all right? Trade down, trade back go to my grave, man. Alt is the pick. All right. I trade, trade down, trade back, get, get, get my offensive line before you put a, a new quarterback into a meat grinder. And that's not even saying that, that one of the quarterbacks that's on this team right now is going to be that guy. You know, we have no idea what's going to happen between, between the end of the season and draft day. There's an entire three months worth of free agency and trade opportunities that could bring in a quarterback that could be a stopgap here.

Starting point is 00:32:19 But no, that's the thing. What people don't get is if you have to wonder why this is a good thing, go back and watch David Andrews at the podium last night. Who's been run out there and run out there for eight straight weeks. How many how many losses in a row were we at? Six? Five. Five. Sorry. And it's just been so long that that that I lost count there. But no, a lot of people have. You're not alone. Yeah, it's it's been it's been terrible for these guys that have to go up to the podium and explain how difficult it is to lose week after week. It's been difficult for these guys on defense when they keep getting asked,

Starting point is 00:32:58 how hard is it for you to keep your spirits up when you're playing so well and the offense can't carry their water? And you go back and you look at these same guys last night and just the look of relief on their face, just to remember what it's like to win, to go out there, work hard all week long and come out with a win because all of these guys, as so many said last night, we go out there and bust our butt every single day in practice. And it's fabulous. From Bill Belichick on down, you could just see the weight of the world come off their shoulders for a simple victory down there in Pittsburgh. And it's just, I mean, nobody but Rob Gronkowski likes beating Pittsburgh

Starting point is 00:33:47 more than I do. But you could say last night a lot of other guys joined that club just because they got a win and they were able to go up there and smile at the podium instead of hanging their heads and say, guys, we're trying. We're working our butts off. They have been doing that and last night it showed and it really showed most of all at the podium afterwards in the locker room afterwards even coming off the field afterwards you you saw reports from guys like chris gasper and and um phil perry

Starting point is 00:34:21 uh just you know it was it was almost like watching a bunch of kids come off the field after a win. Yeah, exactly. So well said and piggybacking off of what Murph just had to say, folks, a morale boosting victory, like you saw last night on the field has a ripple effect on everybody in that locker room. Right. Talking about long-term because that's the common argument against a win last night is that it's not good for the Patriots long term yeah I assure you folks it is

Starting point is 00:34:50 not every player on this team is going to be cleared out at the end of the season you have a lot of guys coming back that are looking to build on something and you need a win like this to prove to yourselves that you're capable of taking that next step. Exactly. Free agents you want to bring back. Free agents you want to attract into New England that you want to come here to show that there is a building block. Any true Patriots fan had to love the embrace between David Andrews and Matthew Slater last night after the game. That's the image that right now is in my mental camera roll and will continue to be and may

Starting point is 00:35:23 actually be the lasting image for this season for me folks take a look at two team captains probably the two most revered guys in this locker room on this roster embracing each other and enjoying a moment that really i think is going to be a good thing for the new england patriots moving forward you saw guys like bailey zappy and hunter henry and ezekiel elliel Elliott after the game talk about camaraderie and players coming together for a common goal and helping them be able to achieve victory it's so important it really and truly is right and anybody that's downplaying that right now I don't think truly gets how important it is for a New England Patriots team that was two and ten to be able to

Starting point is 00:36:04 show that they can go out there and they can take it to a team that most people thought was going to win last night because of their playoff standing, because of the fact that they were a winning team, a 7-5 team. Patriots didn't fold. They took it to them on their home field and were able to play a solid game. And the other side to this, Murph, obviously is hurting your draft capital hurting your draft position we're hearing that an awful lot yeah look folks I understand that long-term success again is what matters when it comes to this New England Patriots team but I think it's important to point out that even with the win last night the New England Patriots still own the number two overall pick they still have the second best odds

Starting point is 00:36:46 at a top two pick right now and with how bad carolina has been uh several uh you know patriots reporters several patriots fans are really acknowledging the fact that you're probably not catching them anyway for the number one pick so no in that regard, you almost have to look at this win as a positive in every stretch of the imagination. The Patriots didn't hurt their draft position last night. And Evan Lazar of Patriots.com,

Starting point is 00:37:13 I thought, put this eloquently on social media, handling a few of the trolls that were attacking him for saying, having the audacity to say that the New England Patriots winning a game is a good thing. I mean, what do

Starting point is 00:37:25 you want these players to do? Do you want Haley Zappi to go out there and intentionally throw interceptions because it's good for the future of the team? He's not going to do that. And that's never been the plan. That's not going to be the plan. You heard Jabril Pepper say at the tail end of that game last night, we won this one for Bill. There's a lot of pride in that locker room right now. And they're not going to tank simply because it's in the best interest of getting a top draft pick. It's never been a strategy that I believe works, and it's never going to be a strategy that works,

Starting point is 00:37:55 especially here in New England. Tanking is for loser franchises, and this is not a loser franchise. This is a team that's gone out there, busted its butt, and tried to win every week. It hasn't happened by hook or by crook, but you can go back to, you know, moves that weren't made in April, May and June and moves that weren't made when guys went down during the season. Um, you know, players, talented players that, that were shipped off for attitude reasons. These guys, like you said, go out there and bust their butt. And like Pepper said, standing in front of his locker room, his locker last night was, you know,

Starting point is 00:38:35 they're really tired of Bill taking the blame for everything, for the vitriol that is coming at Bill Belichick. I'm telling you right now, if you go into that locker room, there may be two or three guys that wouldn't lie down in front of a bus for Bill Belichick and wouldn't say that he is the greatest coach that they have ever played for. One of the Patriots' most prominent ex-players

Starting point is 00:38:57 went out on a limb and said, Bill Belichick is one of the reasons why I am the player I am today. He's one of the reasons why I was so dedicated to my craft. He's one of the reasons why I was so dedicated to my craft. He worked with me, nurtured me, got me to where I need to be. That guy is Rob Gronkowski, who shared those sentiments on Friday morning. Someone who we were led to believe had an awful lot of animosity toward Bill Belichick. But it's funny how this animosity kind of dripped away. Yeah, exactly.

Starting point is 00:39:23 When the narrative is no longer sticking folks, that narrative disappears. That's when you know that it wasn't a true narrative to begin with. And believe me, when I tell you these players are enjoying this win, they're moving forward and they should. And if you're a Patriots fan, you should as well.

Starting point is 00:39:38 It doesn't make you less of one to enjoy what the Pats did on Thursday night. And again, folks look at the folks, look at the evidence. Look at the empirical evidence. They didn't hurt themselves in the draft, if that's what you're concerned about. So folks, enjoy the weekend. It's been a long time since Patriots fans have been able to enjoy the weekend. The Pats are going to enjoy a little bit of an extended break before turning their attention

Starting point is 00:40:01 to the Kansas City Chiefs in a matchup on Sunday, December 17th at 1 p.m. from Gillette Stadium. Not a Monday nighter anymore, Murph, but you know what? The late nights are not exactly things that we enjoy covering here. So you know what? Embrace the 1 p.m. Sunday game at Gillette Stadium coming up against the defending champions. But one thing we always embrace is having this guy here on the show each and every week twice a week Murph thank you so much for your wisdom your counsel your friendship most of all your monster keys please let everyone know what they can expect from you over the weekend heading into next week as we uh turn our attention now to the Kansas City Chiefs well Well, you know, of course, returning our attention to Patty Mahomes and that crew, it's going to be a rough week of keys cut, but I will have them out well before the game and I'll

Starting point is 00:40:54 get them back up to Bill O'Brien and maybe he'll actually use them for an entire game this week. It's, other than that, the winter meetings are shutting down for baseball. So I'm taking a little bit of a break because I'm not expecting the Red Sox to do much of anything between now and whenever Shohei Ohtani signs in Dodger land. He's going to be a Dodger, people. Just stop. Just stop with everything else. He's going to be a Dodger. And, of course, you can follow me on the former

Starting point is 00:41:27 Bird app on Zitter at TeamMurf207 because you just never know what might tickle my fancy and I feel like putting pen to paper on. That's it, folks. And again, anytime Murph puts pen to paper, he puts voice to microphone, it is appointment listening, it's appointment viewing.

Starting point is 00:41:44 Definitely check it out. You'll be more informed. You'll be entertained. But most of all, it makes you a better football or a baseball fan, and you can't ask for anything more. And don't forget, folks, get those questions in for hashtag Mailbag Monday. We expect a full mailbag on Monday, and we can't wait to share all of your great insight in Patriots Nation and hopefully lend a little wisdom and counsel in the process on it ourselves. So on behalf of my good friend, Thomas Murphy of E2G Sports, I am Mike DeBate reminding you all to stay safe and to stay well and to be the change you wish to see in the world.

Starting point is 00:42:17 Thank you for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you back here again on Monday for Hashtag Mailbag Monday on Locked on Patriots. Have a great weekend and we'll see you back here again on Monday for hashtag mailbag Monday on locked on Patriots.

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