Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots from a National Perspective: Drake Maye, Jacoby Brissett, Win vs. Dolphins?

Episode Date: October 5, 2024

The New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins are set for their first of two matchups in Week 5 of the 2024 NFL season. The Pats will host the Fins this Sunday, October 6 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Will quarterback Jacoby Brissett find a way to lead New England to victory? Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Tanya Ray Fox of FS1 to discuss the state of the Patriots through the season’s first four games, the brewing quarterback debate surrounding Brissett and Drake Maye and to provide their predictions for this Sunday’s game. #nfl #newenglandpatriots  Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFm... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-... And follow host Mike D’Abate on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest ne ws about the New England Patriots and talking with fans — @mdabateNFL Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! PrizePicksDownload the app  or click HERE and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelPlace your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Can the New England Patriots overcome external and internal obstacles to grab a victory in week five over the Miami Dolphins? 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.

I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Athlon Sports. 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 their account as well at L-O underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, on today's show we're taking a pulse check at the

national level for your New England Patriots. A lot of stories, a lot of opinions floating around on the Pats, and we have one of the best in the business to help us sort it all out today. My good friend, you know her great work from FS1, and of course, you also know her from the Almost Shameless podcast. A great colleague and even more valued friend, Tanya Rae Fox is back to bring Fox on Friday

back here to Locked On Patriots. Tanya, thank you so much for joining me today and welcome back to the pod. Thank you so much for having me. It's exciting to be back. Fox on Friday, long overdue. We were just chatting about that, catching up on the summer. It's been great to see your face. So I'm glad to be here.

You know I love, you know I love Friday mornings, talking pats. Still morning here on the West Coast. So I say it every time. I wouldn't want to start my day any other way. I already had to make my way to LAX. So this is actually my downtime now. Now I can really settle in and chill. I also, we call it Fox on Fridays.

And it's funny because I recently discovered that a lot of people on social media, especially on TikTok, because I have a newer following on TikTok, they all think that my name is like a reference to where I work. So like when they see Tanya Ray Fox, they're like, oh, like Tanya Ray, she works at Fox. And like, it takes people a while to figure out that that's my actual last name, which is so fair. So if anybody was out there wondering what the Fox is, it can stand for all of it, but it is actually, it is my real last

name. Absolutely. I can attest to that folks. I've known Tanya for a number of years, Fox on Fox, Fox on Fridays. It's all alliterative and we love it. I am the admiral of alliteration after all, our good friend, Claire Cooper dubbed me with that moniker. You so are. You are. So, yeah, I take that with great pride. So, in any case, it's always an honor to share the microphone with you. Glad to see you back here on Locked On, Patriots. And we've got a lot to talk about, Tanya, and we're going to break it all down for you in just a minute, folks. But we also want to remind you that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Place your first $5 bet and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets

guaranteed. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. And Tanya, the Patriots sit at one in three through the first four games of the NFL season, riding what I've been calling a steady descent down the hill since their week one victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Obviously this team has been decimated by injuries not only to talented players but to vital team captains who are typically responsible for cultivating that team morale that's so important for teams that are trying to find their identity and also help to facilitate on-field communication. Patriots are missing a number of those guys, and it's showing on the field and in the locker room.

The fan base is frustrated. The rumors of tension now existing between the players and, as I like to say from Ghostbusters, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. That really is the reality for the New England Patriots right now. It does not sound pretty, Tanya, but you're in the unique position to lend some national perspective on all of this for us. You're on the West Coast.

You follow the Patriots with a sharp eye from afar. When you look at this team for the first four games, new regime, new quarterback, new era, what are your thoughts on the 2024 New England Patriots to this point? Well, normally when I come on here and I kind of give you the national narrative, it's a different perspective, right? It's, hey, this is how people are talking about the team. This is how we're viewing it at Fox. This is how the team's being discussed. It's not great. I am not here to level out the hysteria quite.

They are viewed as one of the worst teams in the league, if not the worst team in the league. That is the words that are coming out in production meetings. They are not being taken seriously in any way, shape, or form. I think that it's not so much a question of dysfunction as much as it is what's happening in Boston right now. There's a lot of conversation in the New England area about the dysfunction and what may or may not be happening. And we'll talk about that, but it's more just, this is a team that was transitioning, that's transitioning away from the greatest coach

in the history of their franchise and maybe in the history of the league. Things were acrimonious. There was a lot going on during that transition. And because the hiring of Elliot Wolfe and how he was going to work in the organization. And it was a while until we figured out exactly who the GM was going to be, how that was going to function. We have a rookie head coach who by head coach standards is less qualified for that job than a lot of people who end up getting it. It doesn't say he's not qualified, but he is real rookie in terms of ascending to that head coach spot so quickly as going from player to the years that he was coaching with Belichick to head coach. It was a pretty quick ascension and he is a defensive coach

in a league that is increasingly offensive. So there's questions about kind of organizationally what exactly their plan is and why the team doesn't look any meaningfully different than it did under Belichick, who was obviously always going to be a better coach than whoever they replaced him with. So, okay, you know you're going to replace a head coach who whoever they replaced him with. So, okay, you know, you're going to replace a head coach who is somewhat irreplaceable, uh, because of organizational differences, different goals for the future, whatever you want to believe it was. And then you bring in this, you bring in, you know, the, uh, the new head coach, the up and comer, bring in an offensive coordinator. You have his defensive coordinator also promoted from within. You have this And the new head coach, the up-and-comer, you bring in an offensive coordinator,

you have his defensive coordinator also promoted from within, you have this new GM comes over, and we're seeing what is looking like an even worse version than what we had last year. And so the national conversation around the Patriots is like, you guys had no plan. All you wanted to do was move on from Belichick. That was apparently your plan, no Belichick. And everything was just going to fix itself, which is an insane thing to think. So, you know,

and it's hard for me to disagree at this point. Obviously we're going to get further into it, but there is a real, uh, there is a real frustration that's being felt from new England that I think people across the league are sort of like, yeah, you don't, you know, as well as Belichick's been doing in the media and rehabbing his image, um, he is winning that war. He's winning that battle just like Brady did when he moved on. It seems like people leave New England and continue to thrive. Not a great look for the Patriots and Robert Kraft. That's not what you want. There are going to be teams vying for Belichick.

It seems almost impossible that he will not have a job next season when he wants one. He has done an excellent job getting you know, getting people to know who he is and exactly how much he loves football and exactly, you know, how he can evolve as a person, even in his early seventies and the Patriots are not evolving. And that doesn't mean that they can't or won't, but currently they are on a backslide and that's just it's just not good news bottom line there is an erosion amongst the fan base of the confidence that a lot of them had going into week one I alluded to this earlier Tanya about the Patriots being decimated by injuries and I think that may have been an understatement with the exception of Matthew Judon was traded away, the Patriots have lost due to injury, unexpected injury.

Players they expected to have in there, guys like Christian Barmore, Juwan Bentley, David Andrews, Kyle Duggar has now not practiced all week. Rookie left tackle slash right tackle Caden Wallace is going on IR. There's a chance he may come back, but no one is absolutely certain. How big of an impact do you think injuries have had on this team and will it affect how this team is perceived when all is said and done this season? You know, the funny thing about injuries is they are so obvious to the fan base and the local media and the team cover, you know, when the people who are watching the team day in and day out, but when you pull back, when a team is playing in a way that matches the expectations of that team

prior to the season and even early in the season, it starts to get left behind in the narrative. I don't think the Patriots are going to be given as much, as much leeway. You know, I said this, you know, the loss of Juwan Bentley on the defense had an immediate impact that I, even I didn't expect. I, I, you could see that it took a toll as soon as they got back out on the field, uh, how much much he means to not just the locker room, but the actual presence and cohesion that the defense has on the field

is so obvious to anybody who watches the team regularly and pays close attention. I don't think those comments from Godshaw happen if Juwan Bentley is actively playing, because I think he is one of the people who keeps that team together in that way. I think he's the kind of guy who understands how to get a team, a unit not to play selfishly,

as Devon put it. You know, the offensive line for sure is drawing a lot of attention. It's so bad. It is so bad before they lost David Andrews, who is name recognizable to NFL fans across the country, right? People know who David Andrews is. There are not a lot of super recognizable names on the team right now for a national audience, but David Andrews is one of them. And so, you know, uh, Jacoby Brissett,

likable guy, people know who he is. They know he's struggling behind a really tough offensive line. He's supposed to be this guy who's carrying them through until Drake May is ready to go out there. So I think that there's a sense of, you know, giving the Patriots a little bit of slack, right? But how devastating these injuries really are is going to get lost in the fact that nobody expected the Patriots to be any good this year.

They really didn't. Nobody had high expectations for them, not only because they have an unproven head coach, a rookie head coach, and they are, you know, going to be start either starting a rookie or starting a backup quarterback. That there was always going to be this idea that they were going to be,

they were predicted to be at the bottom of the AFC East, regardless, who knows how that's going to go. Obviously the dolphins are going to, they're going to have a say in that. If they, if they keep going the way they're going to, but you know, so it sucks because, you know, bar more Bentley and Andrews, you couldn't, you really, you really couldn't, I don't want to, you know, bar more Bentley and Andrews, you couldn't, you really, you really couldn't. I don't want to, you know, I can't, I don't have anything to knock on wood. So I'm not going to say, but you guys know what it can get.

It can hard to get worse than these types of injuries. And, um, and, uh, you know, and that's the problem though, is that you cannot go into a season expecting that you're going to stay healthy. You always have to be ready. You always have to understand where people are going to plug in and those people have to be ready. And you're, and you know, um, Jabril Peppers and these other captains on the team are having a lot put on their shoulders because of that. I mean, Jabril has played excellently. He is, he is a captain on the field in the way that he plays. I think that he is absolutely somebody that can continue to try to grow into that role. But, you know, the, these things have to be able to come together really quickly when you deal,

when you're dealt with these types of injuries and you are already a team sort of rebuilding. And, you know, I, I don't like the idea that, you know, you let, you let Judon go. Okay. All right. He didn't want to go. Like he didn't want to go, but okay. Would be nice to have him right now. Uh, not only just on the field playing the way that he plays, but in that locker room, right. Um, you do that under the guise of like, well, we have the next group of guys that are going to come up and step up and we're, we're going to build this a different way. Okay. But when you have Jacoby Brissett, you have Drake May, you're trying to figure out how you're going to make it through offensively. You're letting guys go on defense

that you need and your defensive head coach. And you've got a defensive coordinator, you know, that knows these players and the defense starts to fall apart immediately upon like, I mean, total, like looking like a totally different unit in coverage, looking like a totally different unit in, in run defense. That is, that's a locker room problem. And, and people that, and people can see that outside of new England as well. people that and people can see that outside of new england as well yeah they absolutely can and it comes down to the patriots having to play through adversity and one of the biggest parts of playing through adversity this year for the patriots has been inconsistencies and poor play in the passing game it has led a lot of patriots fans to clamor for the rookie Drake May to get in the game.

Tanya is going to weigh in with the national perspective on whether Drake should be starting the New England Patriots. I'm even going to put her on the hot seat and ask her personal opinion on the subject. And of course, folks, stay tuned because we will be breaking down and predicting the outcome of this Sunday's game when the Patriots take on the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m. on October 6th. All this and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Listen up, Locked On listeners.

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Locked on Patriots. Joining me to help break down the state of the New England Patriots to the first four games from a national perspective is my good friend Tanya Ray Fox of FS1 and the Almost Shameless podcast and Tanya in the previous segment we talked a lot about the national pulse of the New England Patriots what people are saying beyond the borders of New England and for the first time in a long while the local perception I think is matching the national perspective I think a lot

of people are looking at this team right now as a team that didn't have a whole lot of expectations decimated by injury but needs to start showing something on the field show their fan base something that allows some level of optimism to start creeping back through the doors at one Patriots place in Foxborough one of the things that I think a lot of fans believe could be a cure-all here is implementing Drake May as the starting quarterback. Through the first four games, Jacoby Brissett has been pressured on over 50% of his dropbacks. That is a far too high number for any quarterback to overcome,

let alone a veteran that's trying to navigate through a makeshift offensive line. You do that to a rookie, it could be a recipe for disaster. But Drake has the ability to kind of go off script, extend plays, make things happen with his legs and with his judgment. And a lot of people believe it could mask some of what's going on with this offensive line. From a national perspective, first, before I get your personal thoughts on the subject, what are people saying at the national level from a Fox perspective, from an FS1 perspective, what seems to be the pulse check when it comes to the Patriots quarterback situation? Are they doing the

right thing by sticking with Jacoby or should they be giving the kid a chance? In general, the consensus, as far as I've gathered it is just that this is a team that is not going to be successful this season. And how do you get yourself, how do you get the team and the offense to get to a point where it's functioning enough that you're hanging in games, right? Like that's the best that you can do. This team is still viewed as a defensive team. And so the defense is the unit that's always going to get the most attention right now. Obviously there's more attention on the offense purely because of the

quarterback situation, because they have a rookie quarterback, a very high pick rookie quarterback sitting, waiting in the wings while Jacoby starts. But the view, the view on the team is essentially like this offense is not going, it's not going to turn into anything interesting or worth talking about, regardless of who's behind center, uh, and whoever that center is apparently, um, you know, this is

a defensive team with a defensive head coach and they've maintained that identity. And, uh, and that's, if there is going to be any sort of silver lining to the season, it, uh, where they get national credit for something that they've done, it would be a turnaround on defense, a return to form the way that they looked, you know, earlier on in the idea that they would go and start Drake May sometime soon is the thing that most bad teams who are desperate for some sort of change do. So the national perspective, the national media is waiting to see what kind of team are the Patriots? What have they become? Right. Are they the Browns, you know, of, of 20 plus years? Are they the Jaguars? Are they these teams who have just tried to get by for so long and then then they find their quarterback. And everybody is just finally like, this is going to be the savior. Is this the kind of, are they a downtrodden, low-end franchise? Desperate.

Or is there a plan? Is there a way to start to salvage this team and also continue to continue to develop your backup quarterback is he or it to to develop your rookie quarterback and is he ready if you know the problem with trying to talk about drake may is that people don't really have a great sense of how drake may is going to work in the nfl he is an enigma for a reason. He did. He was not like, this is not, you know, a situation where you're getting a Baker Mayfield or a Trevor Lawrence. That's, these are not the kind, that's not who Drake may was in college. Great college quarterback, obviously was always projected to go high, but like, as far as how he can function,

he's much more on the side of like a Josh Allen where people are like, Oh no, he could be amazing. He's got the athleticism. He's got more on the side of like a Josh Allen where people are like, Oh no, he could be amazing. He's got the athleticism. He's got all of these measurables that would, but like, we don't, the expectation isn't necessarily there. And so the curiosity I think about Drake may,

isn't quite there nationally quite yet. People that are not curious quite yet. They don't, because what are you going to see? What are you going to see from a guy behind this offensive line? That's generally what people are saying is like, I don't even, even if he was great, I'm not a hundred percent sure we'd see what Drake may is capable of in

2024. And so there's kind of a disinterest in it in a way that, that completely opposite from obviously new England. Yeah, without question. I mean, it's the hot button issue and the big topic here in new England, as much as, you know, I know true fans really want to drill deep and say that, you know, the running game woes right now are a little bit more concerning. The offensive line, the defense, those are equally as potent when it comes to reasons for the Patriots struggles as

the quarterback play. Naturally, quarterbacks are going to get the headlines, and that's exactly how it is in any type of national media coverage of any football team. Look, the argument for putting Drake May in the lineup is looking at the Patriots' offensive rankings right now. They're averaging 238.8 yards of offense each game with four offensive touchdowns total. That's dead last in the NFL. That's 32nd. They also rank 32nd in the passing game. They're only averaging 112.3 yards per game. Once again, dead last and two passing touchdowns, each of which came in the red zone.

So naturally, you're looking at that and saying the Patriots have nowhere to go but up. You want the kid to learn. Get him out there. Show him how to play behind a makeshift offensive line let him make this line be better let him get battle tested and let's see what he can do it'll spark the team it'll give them some enthusiasm and maybe that change is what the Patriots need to kick things into gear but it's been argued by me the defense and Vincent LaGuardia Gambini mode is you look and you put him out there behind this offensive line without the navigational skills of someone like a David Andrews, who is so vital in

the way that offensive line is constituted, said many times here on Locked On Patriots, a line is not just about getting the best players out there at the given positions they play. It's about getting five guys that can work together as a unit that know each other's tendencies, that know which way the ball is going to be snapped and how things need to work. If your offensive line is not even sure which players are going to be starting from one week to the next because of injury concerns and because of some deficiencies when it comes to playing style to put a quarterback behind that line, in my opinion, anyway, is going to cause more harm than good in the short term and in the long term. So that's my opinion. I'm going to put you on the hot seat, my friend,

which is the Patriots most prudent course of action in this situation. In your estimation, I am of the opinion that there is a lot of assumption that you put Drake May in, it sparks the offense, right? A lot of people say that that is only if it works, right? If you put Drake May in and things go horribly wrong,

we are now way worse off than we were before as a fandom, as a fan base, things are scary. So you made the point about the offensive line. That is the point that everybody's making, whether it's new England and elsewhere. Alex van pelt is not an experienced play caller. He came in as a former colleague of Elliot Wolf. He isn't, he has had almost, he did not call plays under seven kevin stefanski he is not experienced in that role and that is showing through okay so until he can get a hold of exactly how he wants to run this offense

and call this offense i don't think that it's a good idea to throw a rookie quarterback in there the run game has to come together remandre you have to figure out what you're doing with remandre and gibson who gibson's been pretty good leading receiver i mean that when you've got your you know antonio gibson as a leading receiver okay he's he's stepping up he's doing the godshot thing he's doing what he needs to do for the team right so uh but until you get that run game going in a season where run games are popping off we've seen a resurgence of the run against these nfl defenses um the last 15 years, we haven't seen anything like this from running backs to start a season. In September, Derrick Henry, Jordan Mason, Saquon Barkley,

Alvin Kamara, all 1, 2, 3, and 10 in terms of rushing yards through September over the last 10 years, since 2015. We hadn't seen any running back run for more than 420 yards in September over the first four games since Zeke Elliott in 2018 running games are picking up. This is, we see this year in year out. There are shifts. I mean, we've had the whole, you know, cover to safety conversation all season. It's ruining these guys' ability to have these big downfield plays. And the passing game isn't there this season.

Okay, well, right now teams are able to run the ball. And the Patriots need to get to a place where they are running the ball effectively. Because as you've pointed out, no matter who's behind center, they don't have time and running the ball effectively is going to help you get time. The, the yards per attempt, Brissette's yards per attempts have been horrific. He has no time to throw the ball and he is not able to get it downfield. And part of that is, is not only the fact that the wide receivers have simply not been able to get on the same page and be where they need to be.

I mean, once again, it looks a lot like the last couple of years where it's, it's the tight ends that are stepping up. Well, I mean, I feel like I've talked to you about tight ends being the cornerstone of this offense for like years now, even though they're not even that great. They're just the best thing that they got going in the receiving game. And until the run game can really start to be relied on, not only just on the field, the players stepping up, Ramondre getting his fumbles together, being able to hold onto the ball and starting to get back to the player that we know he can be, but also schematically,

knowing exactly what you want to do with this offense, there is no point in putting Drake May in there. I am not against seeing May start this season. I am not here telling you that it is easy to watch what's been going on offensively here, but I think there's a massive overreaction to what everybody is seeing. People really underestimate the emotional toll it takes on a rookie quarterback

who does not know how to handle NFL circumstances and NFL defenses out there being relied on behind a run game that's not working, an offensive line that's not working, and play calling that is inconsistent. This is a guy who is not capable of overcoming that. Patrick Mahomes wouldn't have been capable of overcoming something like that in his rookie year. This is not Drake May. I think Drake May has a great head on his shoulders and is perfectly capable of stepping in and doing what's asked of him. The offense also is going to need things. And if you want to demoralize an offense even further, throw in a rookie quarterback

who has none of the leadership skills, none of the ability to adjust on the fly, none of the things that you learn just being a quarterback in the NFL, he has none of that. Jacoby Brissett is a steady hand. It has not been impressive. You are not getting the downfield throws.

He is not getting the ball off. I understand that. But for a player on the field, who as a part of that unit, one of the other 10 guys on the field as a part of that unit, he knows what's happening. He understands he is not super mistake prone, by the way, which rookie quarterbacks are across the board. They just are. Young quarterbacks are, just in general. So I feel like there's this very frustrating idea that it's just about who has more talent, who has a higher ceiling.

None of us are under the impression that Drake May doesn't have a higher talent ceiling than Jacoby Brissett. That's the whole point. The whole point is they drafted him because they need a quarterback better than Jacoby Brissett. That's the whole point. The whole point is they drafted him because they need a quarterback better than Jacoby Brissett. That is not the issue right now. The issue is you, we look around the league all the time at extremely talented quarterbacks who cannot get it together because they don't know what they're doing. Number one, they don't know what they're doing.

It takes a minute to figure this stuff out, to learn how to be on the field, to learn how to adjust to defenses on the fly, to learn how to get to, we've seen issues with guys communicating in the huddle. Just have you seen the thing of Caleb Williams? His whole team had no idea what Caleb was even doing in the huddle because he didn't know it wasn't his fault. This is what you're dealing with, with rookie quarterbacks. If we

get to the halfway mark and of the season, and it is looking like, okay, we've still got one win on one win on the season. And, um, but the running game's picking up. Uh, we seem to have figured out at least a steady offensive line in terms of who's going to be in there personnel-wise, what's going to work. These are the players that are going to play there. And there's a little bit of momentum, whether it's with the tight ends or with the wide receivers

in terms of starting to be able to get open. The scheme starts to be gelling together and we get to week nine, 10. And the issue, the issue, the biggest issue on the field is Jacoby Brissett. Okay. Okay. Then we started talking about Drake May, but when you, I don't know how you can look at that unit and say the biggest issue on the field with an inexperienced play caller at offensive coordinator, a bad run game, a truly historically bad offensive line,

and wide receivers that can't get anything going and say, you know what would fix this? A rookie quarterback. And again, I think it feeds into all of the problems that the Patriots have on offense that go deeper than just the quarterback position. And you're looking at a team in the Miami Dolphins that's coming in right now that may be suffering some of the same effects. Their offense has looked completely out of sorts without their main man under center or taking snaps at quarterback. And that's Tua Tagovailoa. How are the Patriots matching up with the Dolphins?

The Dolphins also sit at one and three, and they're reeling right now. Is this an opportunity for the Patriots to get right? Tanya and I are going to give our predictions on what it means for the Pats-Dolphins matchup this Sunday at Gillette Stadium when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Hey, NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets, guaranteed

when you place your first $5 bet. So if you're feeling pretty good about the chances of your favorite New England sports team, you can test your intuition and make the most of it with Fanduel.com. That's Fanduel.com. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots, making

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platforms. Folks, we continue to break down your favorite team in Foxborough as they look to try to get back into the win column in a matchup with the Miami Dolphins this Sunday, October 6th. Gillette Stadium, breaking it all down here with me is my good friend, Tanya Ray Fox of FS1 and the Almost Shameless podcast. Tanya, both teams sitting at one and three on the season, the Patriots and the Dolphins. And as I said earlier this week, a lot of people expected that record from the Patriots. You said that eloquently yourself just a few moments ago. Not many expected this from the Dolphins, but the major reason that the Dolphins are

struggling is the ongoing health concerns surrounding quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Tyler Huntley, Snoop Huntley going to get the start for the Dolphins this Sunday, but the Dolphins running game, the Dolphins pass catchers have looked out of sorts without their star throwing them passes, handing the ball off without their star at the quarterback position. And both teams are banged up. They're struggling offensively, even defensively. When you look at this matchup, who do you believe has the upper hand going into Sunday? Is this a game that the Patriots could steal? Yeah, I do think it's a game that Patriots could steal.

And I think it's a real opportunity to write some of the narratives around this team. When you go up against the Dolphins any season, it's just, you might as well just toss a coin in the air, the Patriots and the dolphins have the most bizarre games year in, year out. Right. So they they're, they've lost Jalen Phillips. Suddenly, suddenly you've caught like an, an, I buy it no means, and this is a horrific injury, but that is a lucky, that is a lucky moment for this offensive line to not be dealing with Jalen Phillips. So take advantage of that. Okay. Right. So this is an opportunity for you there, obviously. Um, you know, I want to see a little

bit of what the cornerbacks and, and that just the secondary in general can do in terms of stepping up their coverage issues that they've had, especially over the last couple of weeks against those wide receivers. It's not just about whether Tyler Huntley can get them the ball, but also how are you guys operating in order to stop that? Right. It's, it's, you know, I do think that this is a chance because they don't have to a behind center because it is Tyler Huntley that this,

this is a big defensive opportunity in general for the team to get back on track, for them to gel, for them to play unselfishly and go up against an offense that's been struggling. Mike McDaniels is a really good offensive mind. They can get things going at any moment in time. I would never write them off offensively, even without their number one, number two options at quarterback. But realistically you should absolutely, this is a unit that is struggling to gel and you should absolutely take advantage of that on the other side of the ball. Like I said, now would be a good time without one of the better pass rushers that you could have faced to get, to get that run game going.

Their run defense isn't as good as it was last year, and now they've lost their pass rusher. So let's start figuring that out, right? And I do think, again, that Jacoby Brissett, as just a person on the field who understands what's happening and can judge exactly what needs to be done in whether whether or not he's able to make the play all the time, not making mistakes is a big thing. And I do think that that is an edge that he is going to have over the opposing team's quarterback that we're not going to see very frequently, right? You're just not going to see someone on the other side of the ball that is, uh, as limited as Jacoby has looked over the last couple of weeks. That is we've even the plant now, Tyler Huntley, I'm not saying he's not a good quarterback and then he can't, you know, come out and do what he, but realistically, Jacoby Brissett is a,

as a more seasoned professional at the position with a lot more experience under his belt and I think that that's an opportunity to show that regardless of where the offensive line is at those the when you have it when you have a unit that is struggling the way that the offensive line is you adjust for that in practice for that in the scheme you you make the adjustments you have to make in order to like Jacoby canoby can still roll out. He can still move. There are things that can be done with Jacoby Brissett that they have not been doing, and I would like to see those adjustments made.

And if those adjustments are made, is it going to be a pretty game? I would say that that's not a fair expectation to put on either of these teams right now. You know, it may be a 13-10 situation, okay? But a win is a win. And, uh, I think that where that team is at right now, where the dolphins are at right now, um, a loss at this point would be, I think that that's where you start saying, okay, if you cannot beat a team that's reeling in this way, you can't, there's really no one in the league that you can beat,

constituted as you are right now. So it's really honestly, Mike, about the kind of difference, the adjustments that are made from what we've been seeing over the last few weeks. There need to be massive. And if we see those, even if they lose, let's say the run game picks up. We've got a couple of like great

plays downfield. The defense starts to look like they're gelling. It's just a, a fluke play. You miss a field goal, whatever happens happens. As long as the adjustments that we're, we've talked about throughout this podcast are made and we see that progress rolling in the right, right direction, I'll at least feel okay. But if we see the same team over the last couple of weeks that we've seen and they lose to the Dolphins, that's inexcusable. And I can't imagine that the locker room vibe is going to be any better after something like that. So I think it's a winnable game, and that is massive, massive pressure

on the Patriots. It's one thing to have to go to San Francisco and try to win a game. Getting blown out in San Francisco, not exactly super shocking. But I think the Patriots are favored in this game. They are. You've got to win it. You've got to go out and win it. And it is genuinely winnable for them.

Our good friends over at FanDuel have the Patriots favored by a point and a half, and it's going to be interesting to see if that continues to hold going into this weekend. We're already hearing that guys like the Darian Lowe, Michael Jordan, may get a chance to get back into the lineup and maybe help shore up that offensive line a little bit. Demontre Jacobs last week I think did everything he could, but he was still getting his feet wet proverbially when it comes to the NFL. Maybe having a game under his belt and getting back under a home crowd may help this line a little bit, but ultimately, Tanya, I agree with you. I think the Patriots have a chance to win this game, but to do so,

they're going to have to take a page out of the Cobra Kai book, and we like to talk about that offline a lot. They got to strike first. They got to strike hard. They got to strike early. They have to be the team that hits first. One of the main reasons why Gerard Mayo has said that he may be entertaining the idea of starting Antonio Gibson over Ramondre Stevenson is the fact that you don't want to cough up

a ball early. Ramondre has a target on his back. It't want to cough up a ball early. Ramondre has a target on his back. It's been very difficult for him to secure the football. If you're going and you're sustaining a drive and Ramondre coughs it up and all of a sudden you give the ball back to the Miami Dolphins with great field position, they score, you're on your heels early and this team is not constituted to come from behind in any way, shape, or form. So you need to be the team that's going out and scoring first. The Patriots have also struggled to move the ball effectively in the run, especially the last couple of games.

They only averaged 3.3 yards per carry in the loss to the Niners, and that was squarely on the shoulders of Ramondre Stevenson. Ramondre can look fantastic when he runs the football, but we need to see more of that, and we need to see it early. And if they do that, it can open up that play-action passing game, and the Patriots can take deep shots down the field, get the passing game involved, maybe see more Javon Baker, maybe see more Keyshawn Booty. Activate these guys. Put them out there. Let Demario Douglas get his looks in the open field. And then you can kind of pick and choose your targets of when you want to go to guys like Jalen Polk and Hunter Henry, who are really stout red zone targets. Even Austin Hooper can prove that he can get the ball in the open field.

Utilize these guys. But it all starts with the run and trying to get the blocking up front. If they can do all of those, I think New England has a puncher's chance in this one. But in my humble opinion, do not expect a track meet on the field on Sunday at Gillette. I could be dead wrong on this. I don't know. I mean, listen, you never know. We did watch Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins last night play like prime Brady.

It's true. Anything can happen. Beautiful time. Beautiful time for the quarterback renaissance this season. I, you know, so you never, you never know. I do hope that they have a plan. I want to see what their plan is to, um, to help Jacoby against the blitz. He's just been so bad against the blitz all season. And so again, that goes back to scheme. It goes back to play calling.

It goes back to how do you, how do you work in, um, you know, what's not been working. How do you adjust for that? You know teams, if you've been watching any tape on the Patriots, you're going to blitz the hell out of them. Okay, what's your counterpunch for that? So that's definitely something else I want to be looking for too from the Patriots offense in terms of adjustments this week. Absolutely.

So well said, and I'm glad that you mentioned that because eliminating those types of plays, if you're the Patriots defense, is going to be key. Those types of home run passes that Kyle Krebs and I talked about earlier this week on the crossover show, I think it's going to be paramount to getting this team ready to go. So a lot of what the Patriots need to do is fundamentally sound. Can they do it against this Dolphins team and eke out a win. I'm going to be optimistic here, folks. And my game prediction for the Patriots is I think they take this one 21-17 over the Miami Dolphins. Not a low-scoring game, but not a dangerously high-scoring game either. But I think the Patriots find their rhythm a little bit with this hometown crowd this Sunday. And hopefully they can ride it to a 2-3 record.

But, Tanya, what can I say? I thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join me here on Lockdown Patriots, breaking down everything from the national perspective to your thoughts on Patriots Dolphins. Before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can reach out to you, interact with you and what they can expect from the great pen, the great voice of Tanya Ray Fox in the coming weeks. Yeah, you can find me everywhere on social media. So obviously

Twitter X, whatever you call it. You got it right there. Instagram, TikTok. I'm doing a lot. I just, I'm doing a lot over on TikTok. The follower count keeps growing. Get on board before I'm too big to respond to your DMs. Right now, I'm closing in on 30K. But if we keep going, I'm going to be too cool, too famous, too popular to respond to your DMs. So right now, you want to get in on the ground level and be an OG. No, I'm obviously joking. I love my people. So yeah, find me on there for sure.

That's where I'm doing a lot of my sports talk right now and digging into some of the more, the more touchy topics that, you know, people don't tend to talk about on, you know, on social media and elsewhere. You know me, I'm always kind of pushing the envelope in terms of really pushing people to engage with the headlines in a way that we're, we're maybe not always as a mainstream media, especially a national media. So if you're interested in having those kinds of conversations, we do that over on Tik TOK,

follow the almost shameless podcast, wherever you get, wherever you get your podcasts, there's a whole, there's a whole bunch that you can go back and listen to from better days and not so better days. If you feel like, if you feel like going on a ride there and yeah. And, uh, other than that, I, I, uh, you'll just,

you'll, you'll, you'll be, you see my face on TikTok. You see, you see my words on Twitter. Um, there is also a newsletter that you can subscribe to from me. That'll be coming out soon. So, um, that'll, all that information will go out on social media as well. So keep an eye out for that. As I always say, folks, when it comes to what Tanya is able to do, not just on social media, but in any aspect of media, anytime she puts pen to paper, face to camera or voice to microphone, appointment viewing, appointment listening, appointment reading, you'll be informed. You'll be well entertained. I truly mean that. And one of the best in the business, a great friend to Locked On

Patriots, an even better friend to me personally. So, Tanya, thank you for all of your support to Locked On. And folks, we want to thank you, all of you, for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm Mike DeBate, and on behalf of my good friend, Tanya Rae Fox, stay

safe, stay well, continue to be the change you wish to see in the world. Enjoy the game on Sunday, and we'll see you here next time on Locked on Patriots.