Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Defeated By Buffalo Bills: Special Teams Breakdowns, Costly INTs Sink Pats Playoff Hopes

Starting point is 00:00:00 Another New England Patriots season in the books. Let the questions begin. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:51 Thank you once again for making Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button, download, subscribe to follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. Today's episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. It's not a crisis line. It's not self-help. It's professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for our listeners. Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com slash Locked On.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Patriots fans, thank you for taking time out of your Monday morning, afternoon, evening, whenever you happen to be consuming Locked On Patriots today to spend time here and part of your Patriots coverage with us. I am your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for

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Starting point is 00:01:57 The season is through for your New England Patriots. And it's going to be a hashtag MonsterMad Monday. Definitely not a victory Monday. It's a melancholy Monday here on Locked On Patriots. Joining us today is columnist extraordinaire from E2GSports.com, the legendary Connor Murphy Pisto himself. Thomas Murphy going to hop in here in just a moment. Murph, with their postseason hopes hinging largely on a week 18 victory New England

Starting point is 00:02:27 Patriots put forth a gallant effort in their season finale but ultimately miscues in special teams coverage overwhelming emotional just toll of celebrating the perseverance of injured Bill safety DeMar Hamlin just too much for the Patriots to handle. As a result, the Patriots fall 35-23 in Western New York, finishing the season with a record of 8-9 on the outside of the AFC playoff window for the second time in three years. Murph, this was a tough one from the get-go. All week long, everybody caught up in the emotion of DeMar Hamlin.

Starting point is 00:03:03 Tremendous tremendous tremendous story he continues to get better no question about it that is ultimately the great news all across the board here right um logistically for the new england patriots though this was going to be a tough matchup regardless of the emotional toll this one was going to take on both teams so we always like to end on a high note my friend let. Let's talk about the lowlights first. And there were a few of them here. What went wrong for the Patriots? Why are they heading home instead of to the playoffs?

Starting point is 00:03:31 You know, honestly, Michael, I'm a little dumbfounded at the keys that have been cut turned in the first half of a football game and completely, you know, removed from the ignition and tossed out the passenger side window in the second. It started out with a, you know, we've got to start with the special teams. They were just awful. You know, you can put everybody on this list on special teams except for Mr. Slater. Poor tackling. Angles were terrible. That's exactly what allowed Naheem Hines to run back. Not one, but two kickoffs for touchdowns today, including 101 yards on the second one.

Starting point is 00:04:34 Special teams coach, coordinator, hanger on Cam Accord, needs to walk home from Buffalo today. Yeah, I mean, in the interest of being diplomatic, let's just say New England is in great need of improvement and the game's third phase. There were a lot of problems with special teams this year. And yes, they did rear their ugly head in the worst possible moment. When you allow a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to kick off the game 14 seconds in the game, you're already down 7-0. Give the Patriots credit.

Starting point is 00:05:05 I mean, I think they hung in there very well. could have gotten out of hand very very quickly this was a highly charged emotional crowd rightfully so everybody into it and you know it just it takes the air right out of your sails right if you're the new england patriots but then you allow another one 101 yards the full length of a football field. And then some, uh, that's unacceptable. It really is unacceptable. Punting was poor this year. Coverage was poor on both units. Um, save for Nick Folk.

Starting point is 00:05:32 Uh, you know, I think having a very good year. Yeah. There were a few misses here and there, but I still, you know, consider Nick having a good year. You know, I went to high school with Nick Folk. You know, what, what do you want? You know, what do you want from the poor guy? You know, another problem Another problem that nobody is

Starting point is 00:05:47 talking about is the fact that there was nobody on this roster today that could boom a kick out of the end zone, out through the end zone. They ended up trying to squib kick one at the end of the game and it just didn't work. It ended up going out of bounds. It was awful. You know, this Bill's team and Josh Allen, they don't need the help. And the special teams unit just gave them the help that, you know, was not needed. Yeah. 14 points on the board through basically two impressive runs by Hines. I'm not going to take anything away from him. He was impressive, but it makes it a lot easier when your team is not able to block the way

Starting point is 00:06:28 they're supposed to, to make these stops. It really does. And there's no hang time. There's no way to get down the field to get to those blocks. They were already out of position by the time they were there. And it was just ungodly. And when you look at the final score of this, this football game, you can point directly to those two kicks as to why this team didn't win. Now you can't say, I can't say for certain that, that the bills wouldn't have scored

Starting point is 00:06:57 anyway, if they had been, you know, uh, started from the 25 yard line or the 20-yard line or even the three. But I know for certain that this game would have turned out much differently if somebody had been able to get that young man down onto the ground. Yeah, no question about it. And unfortunately, it just dug the Patriots into a hole that I don't think they were able to come out of. And we are going to get to the positives today, folks. And believe me, there actually are quite a few to talk about. You know, maybe a little bit rose-colored glasses.

Starting point is 00:07:32 But we're going to try to do that here on Locked On Patriots today to bring things through and into perspective. But going to be a little bit of a tale of two Macs today. I thought Mac was masterful in the first half without any question. But second half showing, I'm not going to call it a disaster because it certainly wasn't that by any stretch of the imagination. But when you throw a pair of late game interceptions, you're going to come under the microscope. You're going to be scrutinized. I thought the throw to Henry, third and 19 from the Buffalo 22, I thought that was just beyond his reach. I thought that was an ill-advised pass. I didn't agree with that one. I put that one on Mack. Matt Milano able to be in the position to be able to pick it off. The second one against that he tried to look for the check

Starting point is 00:08:14 down on Damian Harris. That was deflected. I don't put that so much on Mack's shoulders, but bottom line, I mean, that's not the way you want to end your season. Patriots have to clean this up, Murph. Three picks. You just can't do it. You can't do it. It's, it's why I, it's there every week. It's why it's in the weeklies. You have to win the turnover battle and the bills handed it to you. They literally handed it to you. You know, the defense played fantastic. But once again, you know, Allen, who believes his press like absolutely nobody else on the planet, ended up screwing up. He did. And Devin McCourty had a, we'll get to it later. But you just can't, you can't turn the ball over like that. You can't give these guys extra shots. And they did.

Starting point is 00:09:07 They did. It's true. No, you're absolutely right. And you do not have to hold yourself back when it comes to Devin McCourty. There are three guys on this pod that you do not have to hold yourself back from when talking about or singing their praises. One no longer plays here. He's playing quarterback down in South Florida or mid-Florida or wherever you want to call it. Well, Brandon Bolden is definitely on there. He's at another level, Murph. He's on deity level as far as I'm concerned and you're concerned. But two of those gentlemen may have taken their final

Starting point is 00:09:35 snaps in the NFL today. I don't want to talk about that. Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater sing their praises every day of the week, twice on Sunday. You'll never get an argument from me. But folks, like we said, there are some silver linings. We're going to continue to talk about those in just a moment when we break down the Patriots 35 to 23 loss to the Buffalo Bills, ending their season at eight and nine outside of the playoff window looking in. But again, we're going to try to bring some positivity back to that when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. but again we're going to try to bring some positivity back to that when this episode of

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Starting point is 00:13:08 in terms of a tale of two halves, a tale of two types of teams, really I think everything coming together. And ultimately it was an emotional day with the situation with DeMar Hamlin, both teams feeling the emotions right from the get-go, but ultimately there was still a game to be played on the field and the Patriots just did not do enough to be able to pull this one out. But there were some highlights from the New England Patriots on the field. Not everything was a negative, and I'll leave it to you, my friend. When you look back on this game, what are some of the positive takeaways that the Patriots can hang their hat on going into 2023 saying, you know, we did that pretty well in our season finale, despite the loss.

Starting point is 00:13:49 Well, we're not, we're not sure what's going to happen in 2023 with Devin McCourty and his career. He might've played his last game, but if this was his last game to play, and I'm sure he would trade his fantastic play today for a W and a trip to the playoffs. He was amazing. He had two takeaways. An easy interception that was gifted to him by the pressure that was generated up front by Christian Barmore and the guys. It was just a fantastic day for him personally, but professionally it certainly wasn't. And, you know, then, you know, let's get to Matthew Judon,

Starting point is 00:14:31 who was, you know, just everywhere today. He finished with a quarterback hit. He had three total tackles. His pressure off the edge was a huge factor in McCourty's interception that we were just talking about. He entered Sunday, I think, third or fourth in the league in sacks. He's had a fantastic year and we know that he'll be back next year. And, you know, we, we can't,

Starting point is 00:14:56 I can't talk well enough about Christian Barmore and what he brings to this Patriots defense. What he's been able to do since he came back from injury just gives you pause as to thinking what he would have done all year. Because the beginning of the year, folks, you don't know. He played hurt until he went out. Almost from the get-go, almost from camp, this man was hurt. He made life really difficult for Josh Allen up the middle. I forget who got the sack.

Starting point is 00:15:34 Iquale? Iquale? Yeah. The reason he was able to grab that sack was because two guys were holding Christian Barmore. That's why he got to that's why he got to the, to that spot. I'm sorry. I blanked on the name, but it was fantastic. It really was what the defense has been,

Starting point is 00:15:55 was able to do today was everything that you, I or or Gerard Mayo had wanted him to do. And you you know, that's another downer for the day. I think we might have seen Gerard Mayo's last game coaching on the sidelines of the New England Patriots because somebody's going to come call him. Yeah, you have to think that someone is going to come calling. He's been close before, interviewed with teams like the Raiders, the Broncos, the Texans. But there is someone that's going to ring this guy and grab him in terms of

Starting point is 00:16:30 what he's able to do, not just X's and O's, but the ability he has of being able to just keep his team, yeah, his teammates, everything, just the players that play for him, love to play for Gerard Mayo, and that is going to be a big loss for the New England Patriots, but definitely a positive when it comes to what they had this season and a lot to build on with a very good pass rush for the New England Patriots, led by Matthew Judon, Josh Uche in there as well, Christian Barmore setting the pace, like you said. How many times have we said on these airwaves, if Barmore is occupying two linemen, that frees up the pass rush to do so much,

Starting point is 00:17:03 and you saw that in the interception and the sacks that we were able to get on Allen. Definitely a good move for the Patriots there. At times, the Patriots were short showing cover zero in this game and then fell all the way back into cover three. They did. They had the Bills' offensive weapons, some of the best weapons in the NFL, wondering what the heck to do because, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:35 what these guys are able to do up front. And it allows Bill to, or Gerard, the freedom to drop those guys back into coverage. What Matthew Judon has done over the past four or five games, and this is all since Christian Barmore has been back on the field, is be able to drop into coverage and allow other people to get home. And he has been fantastic. He's truly been fantastic in coverage.

Starting point is 00:18:03 Now people are going to say that once again, that, that his, his pressures dropped off his, his sacks dropped off from what he did earlier in the year before the buy. It was, this was all scheme. It was not, if, if you would let Judon just pin his ears back and go at it, there, there would have been more. And unfortunately, when he was able to do that, this man was held on every single snap of every single down of every single game this year. Yeah, without any question. And they were able to get through things like that just really gives you a testament to how well conditioned these guys are, how well prepared they are, and the skill level that they bring to the

Starting point is 00:18:44 table. So without question, Patriots pass pass rush definitely a positive that you can hang your hat on I also want to take a moment to give some love to a guy that doesn't get a whole lot of pressure you don't see him in a whole lot of post-game highlights a whole lot of post-game press conference highlights but Juwan Bentley uh just I think one of the better more complete seasons of any player at his position. Seven total tackles today. Finished the year with 122. Folks, he becomes the 13th New England Patriot player to reach at least 120 total tackles in a season. First Patriots player to do so since Gerard Mayo did it with 147 in 2012.

Starting point is 00:19:20 So he's a team captain for a reason, folks. I want to give a little love to Bentley. You don't hear his name a lot, again again in a lot of the highlight reels but it doesn't mean he's not everywhere he's always everywhere on the field and I thought he had a very good season so tip of the cap to Juwan Bentley I also want to give a tip of the cap on the offensive side of the ball my friend to Ramon Dre who I thought once again looked fantastic I know there were some snafus toward the end of the season, and he will work on that.

Starting point is 00:19:47 Keep in mind, folks, this is a second year running back, but 1,000-yard rushing mark, he makes it. Needed 14 coming into this game to do it. Gets it on an 18-yard run in the second quarter. First 1,000-yard rusher for the New England Patriots, as LeGarrette Blount did it in 2016. So he also finished. Yeah, exactly.

Starting point is 00:20:07 It was fantastic. They had 107 yards against a pretty good defense up front. And no, Romandre was just, you know, he was everything that you would expect and more, especially with the workload that he had to put on his shoulders with Damian Harris as often as he was. Yeah, absolutely. Without any question. And also, you want to give a little love to Stevenson being a dual threat. Led the team 69 receptions, fourth most by a running back in team history. So this guy definitely can do it in dual threat capabilities and dual threat situations.

Starting point is 00:20:48 The New England Patriots have their feature back next year without any question. And that's in no way any disrespect to Damian Harris, who post game when he spoke to the media said he'd love to be back next year. I don't know how possible that's going to be. That's going to be up to the New England Patriots and Damian. But I thought he showed me something in the second half of the season when he started to get healthy a little bit. There are a lot of different circumstances there, but this is a guy that can be a solid contributor, whether it's here or in New England. You still think he has a good future ahead of him

Starting point is 00:21:17 as well, and just a great guy to be around. Without a doubt, and there are some other things to look forward to, not just Ramon Dre next year, but Devonta Parker will be back. Kendrick Bourne hopefully will be back. Hunter Henry had a had a nice game today. You have to wonder how good Devonta Parker could be if he could just stay healthy. This was the knock on him coming in when the Patriots traded for him. They had a great game today, two touchdowns, 79 yards. Jacoby Myers, hopefully he will be back next year. And Tyquan Thornton, hopefully, you know, he's utilized a bit more and a bit better. I thought at the beginning of the game, when we saw him

Starting point is 00:22:05 running those slants, we talked about it last week, um, moving him around in the alignment more often, um, almost using him like a stretched out, uh, Danny Amendola. And, you know, I thought I was going to get that today, but I didn't, I can't even truly get down on Matt Patricia today. I thought Matt had a very good game plan coming out. It's just, it was one thing after another game after another, where this team just could not put four quarters of football together in all three phases. One phase would let the other two down and they're just not talented enough. When you don't have a man like Tom Brady under center, you can't overcome these kind of mistakes that happen time and time again,

Starting point is 00:22:54 whether it was on the offensive line, whether it was on special teams, whether it was on play calling. It just never came together for this team. At the beginning of the year, I looked at this group, and I thought it was going to be a 10-7 team, maybe an 11-6 team, and they end up finishing under.500 and out of the playoffs. Yeah, and unfortunately, a lot of Patriots fans disappointed. Some are taking this a little bit more reasonable than others, but folks, the season is in the

Starting point is 00:23:23 books, and now that means we are on to 2023 here on Lockdown Patriots. Where do we go from here? Well, Murph and I are going to get a jumpstart on that question that we're going to be talking about off-season, all off-season long, so don't go anywhere, folks. When this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast concludes, Murph and I will be talking about the next steps for your New England Patriots podcast concludes. Murph and I will be talking about the next steps for your New England Patriots. But first, Murph, I continue to be geeked out by our new partner and sponsor here.

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Starting point is 00:25:21 Murph a tumultuous week without any question. The games are in the books. One thing that will definitely continue, our best wishes, our thoughts, our prayers, everything that we've been talking about all week long will not lessen folks for one second. We continue to think of the recovery of DeMar Hamlin and wish him the very best. All the positive information that's coming from his camp is certainly bringing a smile to all of our faces here in Patriots Nation. So if you are a part of Bills Mafia listening to this show today, definitely consider our support

Starting point is 00:25:56 unwavering and continuing for the duration on that without any question. But we do turn our attention to the New England Patriots, Murph, and at eight and nine, the Pats wrap up the season. A lot of questions are going to be abound this offseason. I set it to open the show today. Murph, in your infinite wisdom, your expert, professional opinion, where do we go from here? Alabama.

Starting point is 00:26:23 Well said. We're on to Alabama. Yeah. You know, back the, back the brink struck up. Um, please come home. Bill O'Brien, please come home. We've missed you all night long. You know, it's, uh, that's where, that's where this has to start.

Starting point is 00:26:42 Uh, give O'Brien the keys to, uh keys to the city and allow him to run this offense and straighten Mac Jones out. Mac Jones, this poor kid, had worked his ass off the entire offseason and then had the rug pulled out from under him when he got back saying, you know, you're not good enough to do what we need you to do. So we're going to have to change the scheme and go at this way. He was good enough to do what they needed to do. He's shown it on many occasions. He showed it last year. He showed it today. Okay. Even with the three, even with the three, he showed it today. Uh, he needs a, um, he needs an offensive

Starting point is 00:27:22 coordinator and a quarterback's coach and O'Brien's the guy to do it. I'm not sure what they're going to do at other positions, but there needs to be a revamping of this coaching staff before we think about anything else. Yeah, without question. So well said. And Bill Belichick needs to get his banjo, and he needs to start playing.

Starting point is 00:27:43 Bill O'Brien, won't you please come home? Not Bill Bailey, Bill O'Brien. Sub that in. Google it, folks. YouTube it if you want to. Really good folk song, bold folk song. But those of you out there that get that will understand that reference. Those of you that don't, yeah, you probably don't want to.

Starting point is 00:27:58 But bottom line, no, they really do. It was a mess for them to get it. They really do need it. The coaching staff was in over their heads. They were spread too thin. They need an offensive line coach because it's not the same. It's not the same when you flip over. And I know I'm going to upset a few people that know a great deal more about this game of football than I do.

Starting point is 00:28:23 Professionals that have played it. You're talking to a guy who played in high school, you know, that that's it. And I've coached and, and that's about, you know, as far as I go, but I don't think that this club is in his bag. They, they honestly, they need a offensive coordinator, a quarterbacks coach, and an offensive line coach. And most of the problems this year can be traced to that. Yeah, without question. I agree with what you said on Mac, and I think that a lot of people are going to be looking at him and looking at the interceptions, especially late game, and you're going to hear chatter about moving on, making the quarterback switch in the offseason. Folks, I think that's a futile enterprise. I think it's ridiculous.

Starting point is 00:29:08 Look at all the teams that have chased quarterbacks throughout the years instead of getting them the help they need. They need to go out and they need to find a number one corner so that they can play Bill Belichick's style of defense, which is man defense, not what they're doing now. These Smurfs are fantastic. I love them, but they can't do it. He needs a number one quarter, whether it's in free agency, I haven't looked at the lists yet, or in the draft. I love the kid from Georgia. I can't think of his freaking name off the top of my head. Keely Ringo, that's him. I love him.

Starting point is 00:29:43 He might be there in the first round for them, but they also need tackle help. There's a tackle at Georgia. There's a tackle at Northwestern that I really like that they could bring in with first round picks. Unfortunately, they didn't get the first round pick that Miami had to forfeit, you know, for tampering, which should have happened. It should have gone to the Patriots, and it didn't happen. And if it happened to any other team, it would have. And Bill's got his work cut out for him, both in free agency and in the draft. There are holes to fill. First, he's got to figure out who he's going to bring back. I would bring back Jacoby Myers on a team-friendly deal, for lack of a better word.

Starting point is 00:30:26 I think somebody's probably going to pay him more than Bill will be able to. I'm not sure. We'll probably have Miguel Benzan on this show and my show over the next couple of weeks telling us exactly how much money Bill has to spend and where he can spend it best. Yeah, folks, for all of you Miguel fans out there, and I know you are, I had the privilege of going back and forth with him a little bit today. Did you? Yeah, Miguel is definitely chomping at the bit to set the record straight, folks. So stay tuned for that because there will be a lot of financial analysis and breakdown from the truly best in the business. And just selfishly,

Starting point is 00:31:00 I just love talking to Miguel. Whenever I get the opportunity to do so, it just makes you smile, makes you happy. Just that's exactly what it is. When he laughed, you can't help but be happy. Oh, my God. It really is. Really is the best laugh in the business, the most infectious laugh in the business without any question.

Starting point is 00:31:16 But agreed with you on all parts. Boundary corner, a huge need for this team. Tackle, a huge need for this team. Quarterback is not a huge need for this team, folks. Max showed, I think, in the first half today what type of quarterback he's capable of being tackle a huge need for this team quarterback is not a huge need for this team folks max showed i think in the first half today what type of quarterback he's capable of being when he's playing from a position of strength and yeah there are measures that he needs to take in order to improve by no means am i saying he had a perfect season and that everything else around him was the

Starting point is 00:31:41 reason for his regression in year two. He's got a shoulder, a good portion of the blame for that. But there are more positives than negatives when it comes to his style of play and how he can lead this team with a proper offensive coordinator. And again, I don't want to take too much away from that, Patricia, because I thought he called a decent game today. I thought the game plan was relatively solid, but just too many mistakes, like you said today, Murph.

Starting point is 00:32:05 And, you know, when you look at the opportunities that the Patriots left on the board, it's a tough one. It's a bitter pill to swallow without any question. But there are some positives to build on. So we will continue to talk about all of the positives, all of the negatives, and all the moves that the Patriots should make right up to the date where they start making them. There's draft, there's free agency, there is so much to digest, and we're going to continue here on Locked On Patriots to bring it to you each and every day.

Starting point is 00:32:36 If you think the end of the regular season brings an end to our coverage here, no, not even close. We got mock draft Monday coming. Absolutely. We got mock draft Monday. We are just getting warmed up, as Colonel Slade would say. So on that note, my good friend, thank you so much for coming along on this ride with me all throughout the 2022 season.

Starting point is 00:32:55 Locked on Murph Monday is going nowhere, folks. Might not be a victory Monday for a while, but Locked on Murph Monday is going nowhere. So on behalf of my good friend, Thomas Murphy, I am Mike DeBate. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to make Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. And we hope that you'll continue to do so even in the end of the regular season. Because again, folks, we're just getting started and a lot of exciting stuff to come here on the pod.

Starting point is 00:33:22 In the meantime, please make sure to download, subscribe to follow lockdown Patriots, wherever you get your podcasts and smash that subscribe button to YouTube. Now that you've made us your first listen, please make your second listen. Our good friends over at lockdown sports today, all the sports takes you need all the major sports can ask for more than that. Definitely download, subscribe to follow lockdown sports today,

Starting point is 00:33:44 wherever you get your podcasts, notably on the Odyssey app or on YouTube. For the legendary Count of Murphy Fisto, the Green King of Sting, the Monster Master of Disaster, the great Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate. Stay safe. Stay well. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.

Starting point is 00:34:05 Deuce Vaughn. Deuce Vaughn. You want good grades? Draft Deuce Vaughn.

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