Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Game Plan: Can Drake Maye Outduel Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills Defense in Week 16?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Buffalo Bills love to split safeties. If the Patriots attack, can they pull off the upset? Stick around. You're about to be locked into 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. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage

Starting point is 00:00:33 and also your first listen each and every day. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots. For Patriots country, reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, please follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. And as for me, you can find me where the skies are blue over at Blue Sky at MDABATENFL.BSKY.SOCIAL.

Starting point is 00:01:01 Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. Go right now to hillsdale.edu slash lock on to enroll. There is no cost, and it's easy to get started. Pats fans, your New England Patriots will take their 3-11 record into Orchard Park, New York this weekend for a 425 p.m. kickoff against the 11-3 Buffalo Bills. The first meeting for these two teams, these two divisional AFC East rivals, and not a lot of optimism for victory in this among Patriots nation,

Starting point is 00:01:36 but there is a pathway to victory. The New England Patriots can attack this Buffalo Bills defense and find ways to be able to put it on its heels. Early, not easy, but it is possible conversely this New England Patriots defense must find a way to contain the guy who's playing some of the best football in the league right now an MVP candidate Josh Allen last but certainly not least folks we are going to give you our game predictions here for this week 16 matchup and I say we because as, I am joined by the man with the plan, the man who cuts the monster keys.

Starting point is 00:02:11 I've said it before. I'll say it again. You turn these keys. You go to the top. You don't turn these keys. You're never heard from again. He is my good friend, Thomas Murphy of DieHardBostonSportsFans.com. Thank you for coming to me in friendship

Starting point is 00:02:25 today and for bringing those monster keys that you carry in your pocket like so many nickels and dimes don murph yeah let's see if somebody uh turns them this week that would be a tad bit nice and we could maybe keep this game close it would be yeah exactly and you know what keeping it close i think is going to be key to this game if If the Patriots keep it close, they maintain that puncher's chance to give themselves an opportunity to walk off with an upset victory. If they don't, this team is not built to play from behind. We know that, and it certainly will not be a pretty one in Orchard Park. But Murph, let's dive right into your monster keys, because as always, I think you lay out the most impeccable blueprint for the new england patriots to achieve victory each and every week now whether or not these keys

Starting point is 00:03:09 are turned well as our good friend tommy carmen would say that's above our pay grade those are the decisions that are made by the powers that be at one patriot's place but starting on the offensive side of the ball you've pointed out that this Bill's defense is a strictly cover two, cover three team. They do mix it up a little bit with nickel and they split the safeties and the bills do love to employ that split safety. Look, when I looked at your monster keys,

Starting point is 00:03:35 my eyes automatically raised. If the Patriots are looking at your monster keys, I think they're looking at it and getting that little Grinch smile coming forward because Drake may as a tendency to like this look. If this was your top monster key, bud, kind of walk us through your thought process and how the New England Patriots can actually make this work to their advantage. Well, you know, you said a puncher's chance. I would more call it a boxer's chance.

Starting point is 00:04:02 Get in there, stick and move, move the sticks. It's a defense that Drake May has had some success against early in his career. What's going to have to happen today is he's going to have to exploit the middle of the field. All right? Stay away from those long bombs, you know which which the patriots aren't aren't uh too enthralled with letty i think he threw one last he threw a deep pass last week out of frustration just to say yeah we could do it and um but but other than that attack the middle of the field use your tight end sets get into 21 22 personnel and uh and go at them that way. It's definitely a boxer's chance as opposed to a puncher's chance that's going to just, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:51 wing the ball down the field and go get sixes in a matter of four plays. No, I want to see them matriculate down the field, take what the Bills are going to give them tomorrow and possibly come out of Orchard Park with a victory. It's not going to be easy. In the past, you could always depend on Josh Allen to do something stupid. I've said forever that nobody believes their own press as much as Josh Allen, and he tries to do something stupid, and he turns the ball over in a bad situation. No, it's going to come down to the hands of his receivers

Starting point is 00:05:30 being able to throw to spots that are not currently occupied. This is a zone defense. He's going to have to get rid of the ball before guys break and are in their pattern. And before they break, you're going to see a lot of wow type passes. How did they know that they were going to do that today? If tomorrow, if the Patriots are going to be successful. Yeah, very, very good points.

Starting point is 00:05:57 And I'm glad that you brought up a few of those in terms of how the Patriots defense may look to attack Josh Allen. And I want to get back to that in just a moment. But when it comes to Drake May and his ability to navigate through this split safety look, I think you hit the nail on the head. Early in his career, Drake has had some success. And I think Patriots fans, or at least Patriots analysts that I've seen this week, are looking at this as an opportunity for them to exploit that.

Starting point is 00:06:21 Our good friend, Evan Lazar of Patriots..com pointed out earlier this week with an assist from NextGenStats, folks, Drake has the third highest yards per pass attempt at 9.3 and is first in EPA per dropback against that cloud coverage. Buffalo uses that at the second highest rate in the NFL at 34.2%. So if you're playing the percentages, folks, this could be a very revealing statistic as to what type of defensive coverage

Starting point is 00:06:49 you're going to see from Buffalo this week and what type of offense you may see from the New England Patriots this week. So I agree with you. The Patriots need to be aggressive and they need to attack. They need to try to put Buffalo on their heels early because one of the areas that this Buffalo team can be had,

Starting point is 00:07:05 and I talked about this a little bit earlier this week with Joe Marino when we crossed the streams for our lockdown crossover, if you run the ball at this Buffalo Bills team, you have a shot to be successful. They've had their difficulty in stopping the run. This Buffalo team right now ranks 14th in the NFL in run defense. That's respectable, but it's not phenomenal when you think about stifling Bill's defense that has been there for a number of years. You can get to this run defense, folks. The problem is, and the reason why teams haven't, is because Buffalo usually puts their opponent on their heels early. You're playing catch up. All of a sudden, you have to start airing the ball out. That's exactly why I think the New England Patriots need to do their best to attempt to get these guys going early before this game gets out of hand. And if

Starting point is 00:07:50 they can do that, they have, again, that boxer's chance of being able to keep Buffalo on its heels. Now, one thing that I found interesting is that running back to Michael Hastie has already been ruled out for this game. There are unconfirmed reports out there right now that the Patriots will be signing running back Terrell Jennings to to the 53 man roster and filling the spot left behind by jermichael hasty could that mean his season's over folks we don't know that yet but in your opinion does that tip the scales at all in terms of the patriots looking to be more aggressive on the run or is this just a numbers thing you just can't simply go into a game with only two running backs it's just a numbers game you can't go in with two uh i don't expect to see a lot of him and i don't think it's going to change the patriots game plan um it's certainly not changed uh having me run

Starting point is 00:08:35 back to cut a new key it's always good to have your wisdom and counsel bud to kind of talk everyone off the ledge so often i think we try to read things through the tea leaves and sometimes it's just very straightforward in terms of the moves that you make. So once again, folks, in terms of cutting the monster keys to victory for offense, Murph, I think, has nailed the point. Are there any other additional offensive keys, Murph, that we have not revealed here yet on Locked On Patriots that you believe essential to the Patriots at least trying to keep this competitive this weekend? Getting the 12 personnel, flood one side of the field, use some motion and some bunches to help these guys get open. Other than that, no, I think we Cooper Day, all right, as Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper are going to be paramount in the Patriots' plans for victory tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:09:32 Absolutely, folks. And you know what? Bottom line, if the New England Patriots can establish their presence on offense, anything is possible. And the Patriots have at least a shot to pull this one off in Orchard Park. But in order to do so, they're going to have to keep this Buffalo Bills team off the board. And to do that may be the most insurmountable task this team has faced all season long. The Bills offense is a juggernaut. No Stephon Diggs, no Gabe Davis, no problem in Buffalo.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Josh Allen has elevated his game, and kudos to Joe Brady and that offensive unit around him that have all elevated their game into making this one of the most complete and cohesive units in the NFL. There is a path to be able to neutralize them. Our guy Murph has it, and we're going to discuss it 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. Locked On listeners, today's episode is sponsored by PrizePix.

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Starting point is 00:11:45 LockedOn listeners, it's that time of year. The college football playoff is back, and with the newly expanded 12-team format, it's guaranteed to be bigger and better than ever, bringing you all the hard-hitting and high-flying excitement that you love. TNT sports coverage of the college football playoff begins December 21st, starting with the College Football Playoff kickoff show presented by AT&T at 11 a.m. Eastern. That leads into our first matchup, the Southern Methodist University Mustangs

Starting point is 00:12:13 battling the Penn State Nittany Lions at noon. Then the Clemson Tigers look to upset the Texas Longhorns in a showdown at 4 p.m. Eastern. Don't miss a moment of the action. Watch the College Football Playoff presented by Allstate live on TNT, TruTV, TBS, and Max. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots as we get you ready for Week 16 in the NFL,

Starting point is 00:12:42 a 425 p.m. kickoff Sunday December 22nd Orchard Park New York Highmark Stadium your New England Patriots taking on the Buffalo Bills and luckily for us the man who cuts the very monster keys that should lead the Patriots to victory our good friend Thomas Murphy Murph in the previous segment we talked about the Patriots offensive keys to victory and what Drake May and Ramondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson and that 12 personnel of Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper need to do to neutralize this Bills defense. I think the bigger and maybe more insurmountable task for the Patriots is trying to control this Buffalo offense. You take Stephon Diggs out of the equation. You take Gabe Davis out

Starting point is 00:13:24 of the equation. I told Gabe Davis out of the equation. I told Joe Marino earlier this week, everyone was expecting the Bills to regress. That has not happened. This Buffalo Bills team is better on offense now. James Cook is running the ball effectively. Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox are a 12-personnel nightmare for defenses to be able to contain. Amari Cooper has been a great addition to this club. Khalil Shakir has been a great slot receiver. They're getting production from all of their

Starting point is 00:13:50 offensive unit, and their offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, has done a great job of incorporating the run and taking pressure off of Josh Allen. So all that being said, the New England Patriots face a tough task, but not an impossible task, to stop this Buffalo Bills offense. If the Pats are going to be successful, Murph, provide us the defensive keys they need to turn in order to at least keep this close in Orchard Park. Well, first of all, they're going to have to stuff the run. Sunday would be a great day for uh now godchild we'll get into this in a minute and company to wake up and uh and use some of that ample size up front to stop the run this uh bills game is it the bills are a north south uh type running team and the linebackers are going to have their hands full on sunday

Starting point is 00:14:40 afternoon filling some gaps and uh and not allowing them to move the chains in that way. It's really difficult to do this with four, but they're going to have to do it with four with the way that Josh Allen is throwing the ball and using those tight ends that you just mentioned in that 12 personnel that they like to run so much. And quite honestly, with tight ends that good, why wouldn't you? Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's led a lot of Patriots fans to question whether or not Dalton Kincaid could be the one that draws coverage on Christian Gonzalez. I mean, there's a possibility that Demarcus Covington

Starting point is 00:15:19 and that defensive brain trust may look at this and say, look, Kincaid doesn't put up monster numbers, but he is their best weapon against man coverage. If're going to go man on man you're going to want your best cover guy on dalton kincaid and that best cover guy is christian gonzalez now i'm of the i'm of the school and i'm of the ilk that the patriots would be better off using their linebackers maybe using their safeties to try to contain him but do you think there's any credit any merit to the fact that we may see christian g Christian Gonzalez on Dalton Kincaid at points this weekend? Yeah, I mean, you know, not to reach down into my bag of Belichickian tricks, but yeah, I wrote this key myself.

Starting point is 00:15:58 You know, why not? Why the hell not? You take away what they do best, and what they do best is move the chains with Dalton Kincaid. I would definitely, you know, especially if some of the other guys are on the sidelines getting a breather, you know, I would. I'd run Gonzalez out there against Kincaid and see if they can force Josh's hand, force him outside a little bit. And possibly, you know, just get him a little bit off of his game in that manner. And nobody can get you off your game more than Christian Gonzalez. A smart quarterback always throws away from him.

Starting point is 00:16:37 And for some reason, the light has clicked on for Josh Allen this year. And he's playing some smart football so maybe you could just take away his number one weapon in that manner yeah absolutely very very good point and again if you're looking to try to contain and you're trying to make these guys as one-dimensional as possible uh dawson knox is not someone that you can ignore either this is a tight end in this league that knows the new England Patriots. He knows their defensive capabilities. You may need those safeties and linebackers to cover him because he's very good at sitting down into those soft zones. The Patriots do show that look. So it does give you a very potent one-two combination in that 12 personnel for the

Starting point is 00:17:19 Buffalo Bills. Murph, you talked early on about establishing your run defense and being formidable against this run. James Cook has been a great runner for the Buffalo Bills this year, taking a lot of pressure off of Josh Allen. It's proof that he can be a factor on early downs. He can get out, receive the ball out of the backfield. Gives a multifaceted layer to this Bills offense that they simply haven't had in the last couple of years. The run was almost an afterthought. and if they were running the football, it was 17 taking the ball for himself.

Starting point is 00:17:49 That's not necessarily the case now. This is a gap-heavy run team in the Buffalo Bills, and Devon Godshaw is someone that is able to defend this area of the field pretty well. Do you think that you may see a little more Godshaw in this game, maybe in the B-gap aligned over the tackle to try to help prevent Buffalo from running the football? I think they need to stop this run as well as Josh Allen is playing and as much attention needs to be focused on him. I think if you try to contain James Cook, you may find some success against

Starting point is 00:18:21 Allen this week. Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself, Michael. Gotchow's going to have to have a monster day. Yeah, get him over that gap and allow him to do what he does so well. It's going to come down to the linebackers and whether or not they let this guy get anything after contact. Do not let this man get yards after contact. Wrap him up, get him to the ground this has been a problem ongoing for weeks and weeks and weeks um almost going back to uh week one um was the last time the patriots played really really well against the run um

Starting point is 00:19:00 this could be that same kind of game plan and uh, of course, Christian Barmore, we're sending good karma out to him, will not be there on Sunday. He's still dealing with a lot of the issues that put him on the non-football injury list to start the season, and it is. It's going to be the next man up, and the next man up is already going to be in the linebacking core. Stay in your lanes, okay? Do not chase. Do not over-pursue, and just realize that he's going to come back to you. He is going to hit that gap that you're supposed to be in. When he hits you, get him down. Excellent point excellent point murr and i'm glad that you mentioned

Starting point is 00:19:45 christian barmore because obviously he will be out of the lineup looking like he will be out of the lineup for the rest of the season certainly wishing christian nothing but the best in recovery however it does leave some difficulties on the field because barmore is one of those guys that can draw the double team he can draw a couple of offensive linemen away and allow some of the Patriots pass rushers to try to get after Josh Allen and throw him off his game. Again, it's not an easy task because Allen is someone that is able to elude defenders very well. And certainly without someone like Barmore there, they may be a little more prone to be aggressive, maybe a little more aggressive in the run, maybe a little more aggressive in Josh Allen attacking this defensive line. Can you see

Starting point is 00:20:29 the absence of Christian Barmore creating any further problems for the New England Patriots defensive line when it comes to how Allen and this offense are going to try to attack it? Yeah, I really do. It's something that I think the Bills will try to exploit. They already do it really well, so why wouldn't you do it when your best player on the defensive line is out? No disrespect to Devin Gottschall right there, but Equale, Keon White are going to, you know, I talked about not over-pursuing. I talked about not getting too aggressive and being pushed back behind the pocket because you just don't know when this team is going to run the ball or from what formation they're going to run the ball out of. You know, Anthony Jennings, Christian Ellis is, you know, and Tavai are going to have to really step up because there is not another defensive lineman that the Patriots can just plug in and do what Barmore does, bring what Barmore brings to the table.

Starting point is 00:21:30 Yeah, absolutely. And we've said it so many times here on these airwaves. Whenever Christian Barmore is in the lineup, you can count on him drawing at least one line and most of the times two. And that frees up these guys like Jennings and Tavai who haven't had the opportunity to get after the quarterback. Dietrich Wise, I think, is right now scratching, itching to try to get after the quarterback. Keaton White, a little banged up this week, is on the injury report. He'll be one to watch. At the time, Murph and I are recording right now. He's still listed as questionable,

Starting point is 00:21:57 so keep a sharp eye out there for him, folks. But bottom line, New England is facing a very tough task in defending this Buffalo offense. Yeah. Ultimately, Murph, these games are going to come down to matchups, and this one will come down to matchups. That may be the predictive factor here when determining a winner. Murph and I are going to provide our game prediction, and Murph is going to turn his weeklies when it comes to the Monster Keys when this episode of the Locked On Patriots Podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team

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Starting point is 00:23:26 There's no cost, and it's easy to get started. Don't delay. Do it today. That's hillsdale.edu to register. hillsdale.edu to register. Fats fans, thank you once again for joining us here today as we get you ready for kickoff week 16 in the nfl hard to believe that the new england patriots and the buffalo bills have not met until sunday december 22nd but yet here we are the first meeting between these two afc divisional rivals the buffalo bills already locking up the afc eastph, there was a time where this was the Patriots that were locking up the AFC East this early.

Starting point is 00:24:08 But unfortunately, these are the times in which we live here. The Buffalo Bills or the Kings of the Hill don't look like they're relinquishing that spot anytime soon. Here today to help break down the monster keys to victory and to lay out, I think, the most impeccable path to victory for the New England Patriots to take is our good friend Thomas Murphy. And Murph, we've talked about the offensive keys to victory. We've talked about the defensive keys to victory. But each and every week on your monster keys, you outline the weeklies. You outline the intangibles that need to be met in order for the Patriots to even keep it close,

Starting point is 00:24:45 let alone attempt a victory. When you look at this team, you look at the Buffalo Bills, how sound they are in all phases of the game. You look at the Patriots coming in, kind of limping along, especially after a very lackluster performance against the Arizona Cardinals last week, one which is having a lot of the fan base call for the job of Gerard Mayo and this coaching staff. What are the intangibles that need to be met in order for you to come away from this game and say, hey, you know what? Maybe they won, maybe they lost, but they improved from

Starting point is 00:25:16 what we saw last week. Yeah, it really is going to come down to these keys that I cut almost every week. They never change, hence the word, the weeklies. Win the turnover battle. The Patriots are going to have to take care of the ball because the Bills just do not turn the ball over enough anymore. Maybe force one or two, get a short field, scratch and scrape for every ball, punch everything out that you possibly can they need extra possessions owning third down the last last week the patriots were zero for six

Starting point is 00:25:53 on third down how do you expect to win football games when you can't move the chains on third um they're just at 34 on the season well they gave up 10 of 15 conversions to the Cardinals. All right? Cardinals. All right? The Bills are running it at 43% on the season. They were over 50% in converting last week. And that's got to stop if the Patriots are going to want to have that

Starting point is 00:26:22 boxer's chance this week. This is where they're going to have to jab at them, and it's going to have to be getting off the field on third down and, of course, owning the red zone. All right. Take a guess who leads the league and trips to the red zone, folks. Yeah, it's the Buffalo Bills. The Bills get into the zone over four times a contest,

Starting point is 00:26:46 and they're tied for the league in touchdowns inside the 20, converting three of those four. Keep them out of the red zone. This is not a bend-but-don't-break week, folks. It's not. They can't let this team just matriculate its way down. Keep them out. Force Allen to take shots from outside the 25

Starting point is 00:27:06 outside the 30 and uh and get that ball back make them settle yeah absolutely and again folks no one's saying this is going to be easy Merck's monster keys are not for the faint of heart but I think you outline a very strong case in order for the Patriots to be able to keep this one close you cannot have self-inflicted wounds on this team and expect to beat anyone, let alone the Buffalo Bills. It could get extremely ugly, extremely early, and remain that way for the entirety of this game. This could be an old-fashioned Tom Brady 50-burger.

Starting point is 00:27:36 Yeah, it could. It could. It could get... That is a possibility, and it could get that out of hand, folks. This Buffalo Bills team is playing that well. This New England Patriots team has that many gaps and that many holes that may put them at a severe disadvantage and that leads me quite nicely into my biggest problem area for the new england patriots this week and that's the left side of the offensive line it worries me a little more

Starting point is 00:28:00 than usual this week murph because this is a left side right now that is very porous. We're seeing Darian Lowe and Leighton Robinson coming into this game, playing some of their worst football of the season. I know Robinson was better against the Cardinals than he was a couple of weeks ago, but still, you know, he gets whistled for that early penalty last week. And it really, I think, set the tone for the New England Patriots to kind of just fall apart. This is where the Buffalo Bills can really take advantage of a lesser opponent, in my opinion.

Starting point is 00:28:35 Greg Rousseau has become one of the Buffalo Bills' top pass rushers. Seven and a half sacks, 59 pressures, well-built to be able to play this type of football. He's very long-armed. He can get after. He really has the ability to get into the pocket. He can shed blockers. These are the things that the New England Patriots have had difficulty, particularly with Darian Lowe, who has not been good in this regard. Lowe is very slow to get out of his stance lately. I don't know if he's feeling effects from a lingering injury. He does pop up on the injury report. He's once again on

Starting point is 00:29:04 the injury report this week. This is a concern of mine because Rousseau is going to come into this game looking to attack Drake May and get after him. This could be a long day for Vardarian Lowe if he's not on his game. And then you look at Layton Robinson and what he's going to have to face. It's likely if I'm Buffalo's defensive front, I'm putting that Oliver and aligning him right over the top of laden robinson that may be one of his toughest tasks to date oliver ranks second on the buffalo bills with 32 pressures so this is going to be a

Starting point is 00:29:37 huge test for the new england patriots left side um anybody that loves remember the titans say left side strong side the Patriots are going to have to be repeating that over and over and over again. I don't know if necessarily it'll come to fruition, but that has to be their mindset coming into this game. Otherwise, I don't think the Patriots even stand a chance here. No, I agree. These guys are going to have to uh flip a switch find a different gear do something to uh to keep these guys off of uh drake may's head all right because it could end up being you know this could end up looking like you uh taking on your little brother when you know you're 12 and your little brother's eight and you know you're just it couldn't be that big of a mess man these guys are that good

Starting point is 00:30:22 and i don't want to come out and say that that professionals are not up to the task that's in front of them. I really don't. But I don't know if this group is. I really don't. We've harped all year long that these guys are the depth that you needed on this offensive line. They're not the guys that you want running out there to play 40, 45 plus snaps a game. It's going to be difficult. And Drake is going to have to have his head on a swivel. And it's not like you can run away from these guys. You can't. All right. If you catch them

Starting point is 00:31:00 off balance and go the other way, sure. But I, I'm going to go to Mass in the morning and light a candle for Drake May and this offensive line and pray that they can get out of Orchard Park intact. Yeah, absolutely. And for as much grief as I gave the left side of the offensive line earlier, the right side of the line has been better, but not by much. And you're still dealing with guys like AJ F and that's even Von Miller. Let's face it. These guys still can get after the quarterback.

Starting point is 00:31:30 Buffalo bills are not an overly aggressive pass rush. They're not a big blitz team at all. I think it's in the bottom third of the league. And just for good measure, we might see Matt Milano back. And the return of Matt Milano absolutely throws that into sharp contrast because this is a kid that's getting his legs back. He's starting to round into playoff form. He's got a couple of games now under his belt since coming back from the injury.

Starting point is 00:31:57 And that changes their entire complexity and toughens that defense so much. The Bills right now are clicking on all cylinders, and they're playing some of their best football heading into January and running into a team right now that is still trying to find its own identity. Murph, it's prediction time. We always love to do this each and every week. This week may be a little bit more painful than others, but I'm going to put you on the hot seat, my friend.

Starting point is 00:32:21 How does this all shake out in Orchard Park? How do you see this one coming together for the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills? Josh Allen hates the New England Patriots like no other player in NFL history, all right, and with good reason. When he started out his career, the Patriots were beating him down and smacking him around and the bills around behind some of the best teams that the Patriots had ever had. And it's a revenge tour for him every time he sees Pat Patriot, every time he sees the Flying Elvis, every time he sees red, white, and blue that are not his own players. Hopefully, you know, maybe he'll get screwed up and throw a couple of picks because of that on sunday um but no i i as hard as i work on these keys as hard as i uh try to find a path to victory they're going to have to be perfect each and every key that i cut which you can check out

Starting point is 00:33:18 over there at diehardbostonsportsfans.com shameless plug um would uh is going to have to turn out uh turn and turn well and stay turned for this uh for this game to to go the Patriots way or even just to keep it close my prediction is that there's just too much talent on the other side of the ball right now in this point in time in Patriots history for them to come out on top, I predict the, the bills are going to win this game 34 to 14. Yeah. We're almost in lockstep, my friend.

Starting point is 00:33:52 I agree with everything that you said. Look, this is a bad matchup for the New England Patriots when it comes to their personnel, when it comes to how banged up they are and where Buffalo is at its strongest, that New England Patriots traditionally have difficulty defending mobile quarterbacks. They have defending tight ends and defending and they can't stop the run this year. What are we looking at? Yeah, exactly. What are we looking at here?

Starting point is 00:34:15 Yeah, I think we're looking at a 38 to 17 loss for the New England Patriots. I have Buffalo taking this one by a good margin and having no problem in covering that 14.5 point spread set by our good friends at the Vandals Sportsbook. Thank you so much, Don Murph, for coming to us in friendship and for bringing those monster keys. You can count on Murph to come back here and talk about all the keys that were turned, all the keys that weren't, and the aftermath. The ups, the downs, the goods, the bads, the ins and the outs of the patriots week 17 matchup with the buffalo bills coming up 4 25 p.m kickoff folks please be mindful of that this one was listed at 1 p.m on several schedules the nfl has flexed this to 425 so be mindful of that in the meantime i want to thank my good friend thomas murphy for his wisdom his counsel his monster

Starting point is 00:35:01 keys and his appearance this week, not only once but twice. We always love having him, and we'll keep having him for as long as we possibly can here on Locked On Patriots. But most of all, Murph and I want to thank each and every one of you, all of you everydayers that take time out of your schedule to join us here on Locked On Patriots and make us a part of your daily Patriots coverage. I'm Mike DeBate, and on behalf of Thomas Murphy,

Starting point is 00:35:24 we wish you all a great weekend. Stay safe. Stay well. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Enjoy the game on Sunday. We'll see you back here again on Monday, bright and early, on Lucked on Patriots.

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