Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Grades for Week 10 Win over Chicago Bears: Drake Maye, O-Line, Defense Shine

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

The New England Patriots parlayed a complete team effort into their third win of the season against the Chicago Bears in Week 10. Who “made the grade” for the Pats in their Windy City victory? Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com to grade the performance of Drake Maye and the Patriots defense, while also taking an early look at their Week 11 contest with the Los Angeles Rams. #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! 5 Hour ENERGYWhat’s your Fan Fuel this week?! Whatever it is, do it with a 5 Hour Energy! LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply. Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started. PrizePicksDownload the app 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.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL 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. FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. Ultimate GMUse the promo code LOCKEDONNFL, all caps, inside the game store to receive a free boost to your franchise.  Make sure to get it, as this perk will jump start your play and give you the advantage you’ll want in creating a dynasty. Mint MobileTo get this new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to Mintmobile.com/lockedonnfl.  Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at MINT MOBILE dot com slash lockedonnfl.Disclaimer: $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details. Omaha SteaksFrom legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save fifty percent off site-wide at OmahaSteaks.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra thirty dollars off with Promo Code NFL and a thirty-dollar reward card when you shop early. 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)

The New England Patriots actually looked more like the Omegas than the Deltas in their Week 10 victory over the Chicago Bears. But who made it to the head of the class? 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. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage.

I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. While you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, follow our account on X as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by Ultimate GM. Use the promo code LOCKEDONNFL, all caps, inside the game store to receive a free boost to your franchise.

And Pats fans, even though it's a Tuesday, we continue to bask in the glow of the New England Patriots' 19-3 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in the Windy City on Sunday. Drake May leading five scoring drives. The New England Patriots' defense sacking quarterback Caleb Williams nine times and of course New England improving their record to three and seven on the season after losing seven of their last eight and folks if you think that is a reason to celebrate you're not alone a lot of Patriots fans are feeling pretty good about this win yeah they've earned some well-deserved

kudos that they haven't received in quite some time that's right it's time for the new england patriots grade report and if we're talking grades you know we're talking our patriots professor just happens to be my patriots paisan as well columnist extraordinaire of patsfans.com as well as being the co-host of another amazing patriots podcast patriots fourth and two my good buddy steve balistrieri. Steve, thank you for joining me today and welcome back to the pod, my friend. Always, always, always a pleasure. You know that. And, you know, as we said last week, wouldn't it be nice to be talking about a Patriots win,

you know, this coming Tuesday? And here we are. Absolutely. It is great to be talking about a Patriots victory, and it really, I think, Steve, is starting to give way to some light at the end of the tunnel for the New England Patriots. For so long, we've been hearing about potential, if they can put it all together, if only they had this piece in place.

I think a lot of Pats fans are starting to see the pieces of the puzzle start to fit together. There's still some needed, and there's still a lot of work to be done before this is a finished product. But right now, it's hard not to be excited by what you see in seedlings from a great number of players on this team. And we'll start there, Bud, because you're ready to get your grade report out. Putting on your Dean Wormer cap for a minute here, we're going to grade the New England Patriots. We'll start on the offensive side of the ball and Drake May yesterday I started the program by talking about how Drake May earned his first start to finish victory on Sunday I know he gets credit

for the Jets win but in a lot of ways people are taking a look at that and saying well okay he only played a portion of the game gave way to Jacoby Brissett. This was really Drake's first wire-to-wire win. And in a lot of ways, I think the Patriots played directly into Drake's strengths. They allowed him the off-script ability to make plays happen. We saw him do it several times, but it was a strong running game. Play action allowed him to be at his best. Drake went four of six out of play action 71 yards a touchdown yeah an interception that we won't mention until a little bit later but right

now we'll focus on the positive um Patriots fans were excited by what they saw from Drake May on Sunday but I put it to you professor how would you grade Drake Mays' performance against the Bears this past week? Well, he didn't start off well. You know, we saw that. He had that interception that was, you know, he said he was trying to throw it away, but I think he got kind of caught in no man's land. He was originally going to throw it away. Then he was thinking, maybe I can float this one over the the top and he threw it right to the linebacker and it was ugly i mean you know we would say that for any other quarterback um you know but then the way he finished and especially you know the end

of the first half right they got aggressive they went down and scored twice and uh you know at the end with less than two minutes to go and the first half and i just thought hey you know what this is starting to come together there's and don't get me wrong they're still a long way away but you can see the pieces coming together and it you know it really helps when you see the you know the Patriots offense with Drake when they have a running game going and it wasn't a great running game but it was good enough and when you get going now you can see how ABP likes to blend in the play action and things like that. But, you know, I wrote in my piece that I think most impressive this week

is this is now his team. You got the feeling of that, you know, watching the game, how the players react to him, how he's so cool. And then, you know, we heard about after Wednesday's practice, you know, it didn't go well. And May, you know, asked AVP if he could address the team. And, you know, when you're a 22-year-old rookie, that has to be a daunting thing to get up.

A lot of these guys have been in the league a long time, and you're going to talk to them. But you know what? The players loved it because I think they feel like he's starting to take that control, right? This is now his team. Demario Douglas, you know, he said, I couldn't do that. And I get nervous and start sweating. So Jalen Polk said, you know, everybody loved it. And you know what?

After that, they had two of their best practices of the year, according to insiders. And then they came out and they played their best football game of the year according to insiders and then they came out and they played their best football game of the year because this was a complete win complete game win complete team win and i think it all starts with your quarterback so even though he got a c on the day he gets a plus for in the locker room yeah without question and i'm glad that you made the distinction there because, look, bottom line, a 22-year-old quarterback having to address a room full of veterans, full of grown football players, guys that have been doing this for a number of years, you hit the nail right on the head.

It's a daunting task. But in order for that quarterback to be able to earn the respect of his team, to be able to capture not just their attention on the field, but also their attention off of it and really make you feel like this is a guy I have to play for. This is a guy I want to play for. This is a guy I want to succeed for. You need those moments. As a quarterback, you need those moments. You need to do that and you need to do it early. And Drake May stepping into that role as soon as he has is definitely a good sign that this is a guy you want to build around.

This is a guy you want to continue to cultivate, and you want to make sure that he's your centerpiece for many years to come. So I agree with you. He didn't have the greatest start in the world. There's no question about it. But he did rebound nicely. He did come back, and I think he played a solid um second half of football or maybe even a little bit earlier into the first half i think he gave it everything

he had and showed that even when he's struggling this is someone that can dial it up pull back and he can give you his best effort uh even when you don't think he has it in him the great ones do that and you saw drake may do that on sunday i'm not saying that automatically anoints him into a great one roll folks but i think you can see the potential there and right now potential is something i know patriots fans are excited for when it comes to drake may but it wasn't all about the quarterback improvement steve running game came out looking for an improved performance and they got got it. From Andre Stevenson rushing 20 times for 74 yards, this offensive line, I thought, did a much better job blocking for the run, pass protecting.

This is a unit that now looks to have found its, I don't want to say rhythm because I don't think they've found that yet, but I think they've found a reliable five that they're looking to utilize throughout this season. And the pass catchers are starting to show right now that they can make plays happen when given the opportunity. How would you grade the rest of the offensive performance on Sunday, Steve? Yeah, real quick. You know, the running backs, I gave them a B minus. I thought they rebounded so well from last week. Ramondre was the workhorse with 20 carries, like you said.

74 really tough, tough yards, right? Absolutely. The Bears' defense is – their defense is no joke, you know, and I just love the physicality, right? Jermichael Hasty, you know, he had six carries for 20 yards, but I loved, you know, late six carries for 20 yards but I loved you know late in the game Antonio Gibson comes in and plays the role of closer a little bit you know I mean he didn't blow anybody away but five carries 26 yards I mean that's a good way to come in you

know late in the game when you want to put it away and you give Ramondre a little bit of a breather. I love that, you know. So I thought, yeah, they weren't great, but they were getting it done. And, you know, it was so nice to see a complementary game where they had a decent running game going. I mean, the running backs rushed for, what was it, 120 yards, right? And then, you know, it opened up things for them in the passing game. And I just, I thought that was really, really good.

The wide receivers, you know, I gave them a C. I mean, Demario Douglas and Keishon Booty were the only ones that had multiple targets. But I thought both of those guys had a pretty good game. Booty was targeted six times, had four for 47. Pretty nice numbers. That 23-yarder he got was really nice. Douglas was targeted five times, four catches for 50 yards. I thought he was really good.

K.J. Osborne had that one target at first when I saw it. I thought he scored a touchdown. And then they said he had stepped out prior to the ball getting there. They didn't really show that on the game I was watching. But, you know, the referee had thrown his hat down, so I think you can't argue with that one. Jalen Polk, he only targeted once. He only caught one pass for two yards, but it was a big one.

It was a big one. It was a touchdown. It was one that counted, yeah. Oh, yeah. So I'm hoping, like Gerard Mayo said, after the game, you know, maybe this is the start of something big for this kid. And, you know, he got to kind of monkey off his back a little bit. You know, he catches the touchdown.

Let's hope that that's a sign for better things. Tight ends, once again, very reliable. They grade a B. Austin Hooper, I thought, was outstanding in this game. That 28-yarder he caught from Drake, what a throw and catch. I thought that was beautiful. Hunter Henry had a kind of a quiet game, but you know, those guys blocked their tails off. Yeah, they did. Yeah.

You know, I didn't write that in my piece there, but it should have been added in there because those guys, that was some of the best blocking I've seen out of them. And, you know, offensive line, I almost had to stop myself. They got a B-. They went back to the, you know, the starting five that they played in week six and week eight. And, again, I thought the pass protection was pretty darn good against a good Bears defense. And the running game.

I mean, you know, they didn't blow the Bears away, but I thought they were the much more physical team that was able to assert their will where the Bears were not. So the offensive line, I mean, they get high marks this week, you know, because we grade them on a week-to-week basis. And those guys have to be feeling pretty good about themselves right now. Yeah, absolutely. When you take a look at what the O-line did in terms of pass protection

and especially in terms of run blocking and allowing this running game to get going, yeah, they deserve pretty high marks for the job that they did, and I did give them a tip of the cap yesterday in a unit that really has been much maligned, and rightfully so at times but we give credit where credit is due these guys are stepping up and they're playing big time football and they deserve an awful lot of credit for that i agree with you on the receivers i think there's some

growth i think there's some uh opportunity still uh for some of the guys on this team uh like what you said about tight ends hunter did have kind of a quiet game on sunday but don't forget you know you're drawing away defenders and whatnot it allows guys like austin hooper to make plays and uh yeah hooper drove the boat steve on sunday without any question he did not have city hands steve he had shore hands three catches 64 yards but uh all kidding aside um mr hooper, but all kidding aside, Mr. Hooper, but all kidding aside, I think he really did have a very good game and show that he can be a solid compliment in that tight endage game for the New England Patriots. So bottom line folks, high grades for the New England Patriots offense and deservedly so. Played one of their best games of the year on Sunday, but still, this Patriots offense, I believe, was overshadowed

by the defense, who really showed up to play on Sunday. Great scheming, great game planning, solid play in all three phases, but what does our professor have to say about the Patriots' performance on defense? We're going to talk about that Patriots' defensive performance against the Bears when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Hey, Pats fans. Remember our great partner, Ultimate Pro Football GM?

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locked on is my patriots by zon our patriots professor my good friend steve balistrieri and steve in the previous segment we talked about surprisingly high grades for the new england patriots offense across the board. Some more deserving of higher grades than others, but overall a solid performance. Well, I think we'd be remiss if we didn't say that the defense may have stolen the show. As good as the offense played, the defense was, in my humble opinion, just that much better. Great effort on the defensive line, great effort from the linebackers, great effort from the secondary, but. Great effort from the secondary. But you're our Patriots professor.

You are essentially responsible for pulling this unit out of double secret probation. So, Steve, when you open up that grade report, let's start with the defensive line. How would you grade the performance of this D-line against that Bears offense on Sunday? Look, you know, and I prefaced my column with this. We all know the Bears offensive line was beat up, right? They were missing their two tackles. And so we all know that. But I'm also going to say when people were piling on the Patriots early in the season, I didn't see anyone say, yeah, but New England's

offensive line is banged up, right? So with that, I'm going to say the Patriots offensive, defensive line dominated this one. I mean, two things come to mind. They allowed less than 100 yards rushing for the first time since the Seattle game in week two. Only 73 yards and a 3.7-yard average. The longest run of the day was only 10 yards, and that was on a scramble from Williams. And then you pile up the sacks that the defensive line had. You know, Farms had three tackles for loss, a sack, and a quarterback hit. Keyon White, a sack, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, and a sack.

Dietrich Weiss, two sacks, two quarterback hits, a tackle for a loss, and a pass defense. You know, Roy had a sack i mean when you're getting that kind of you know production out of your defensive line you were winning the day my friend because the patriots yeah i mean they don't have like a four-man front that, you know, attacks and all this stuff. They have three big guys in the, you know, in the middle. And with the outside linebackers, I thought the defensive line had an outstanding game.

You mentioned a solid defensive effort throughout, and I'm going to give you an opportunity to wax poetically on a position. I know you love to break down. I also know there's a player on here who's going to be getting his laurels and well deserved but uh tell us about the linebackers tell us about Jelani Tavai but Steve tell us about Anthony Jennings yeah Jelani Tavai I mean you know to me uh he's been disappointing this year, but he had a great game last week. I thought he had another outstanding game this week. Nine tackles, a sack, tackle for loss, pass defense, quarterback hit. I mean, he was filling those holes like we expected him to, you know, this year. And, you know, this is two really

good games in a row for him, which is very, very, you know, optimistic sounding, right? He's starting to stack the good games together. But my player of the game, as you know, Anthony Jennings, I've been touting this guy's horn since he was drafted. I thought he had his best game of the year, possibly as a pro. You know, he set the edge like he always does. But, you know, with Uche gone, the team asked him to step up a little bit, right, and pass rush. Well, he was outstanding on Sunday.

You know, he had four tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, three quarterback hits. He was just wreaking havoc back there. And I love to see it. You know I'm a big Jennings fan. So watching him just tear apart, you know, the Bears it you know i'm a big jennings fan so watching him just tear apart you know the bears quote you know granted backups but you know you know the front seven had one of the best games that that they've had in the last two years i think um you know they held the bears at just

three points 142 total yards and you know, that's a very talented skill position team, you know, on Chicago. There are no slouches in the skill position. And the fact that the Patriots were able to hold them to three points, total domination. Yeah, without question. And, you know, the Pats needed a game like this, especially when you're facing an exciting, mobile, young quarterback like Caleb Williams, who's coming in with all the pedigree. He's coming in with a lot of the accolades. He's the number one overall pick. You know he's got weapons at his disposal. The Chicago Bears definitely have no shortage of

pass-catching talent, whether it be Roma Dunze, whether it be Keenan Allen, whether it be DJ Moore, Cole Komet, all of these guys can make things happen. You also have DeAndre Swift running the ball. That's not exactly a bad fallback option when it comes to the running game. So many weapons around him, and for the Patriots front seven to step up and to prevent anything from happening right from the snap is always a sign that this Patriots defense came in with a solid game plan and you want to credit Demarcus Covington for doing a great job with getting this front seven ready and Steve we also don't want to neglect the

secondary because in a game like this where you hold a team to three points it's so easy to fall in love with the job that the defensive line or the front seven does, and they deserve all the credit we've given them. But this secondary was helped by the fearsome pass rush that we saw, but it also did things on its own in order to be able to stamp their ticket for, I think, a much improved grade this week. How would you grade this secondary for their performance? Yeah, the secondary rated an A-minus, I think, on Sunday. As you said, you know, it's amazing to see how sticky they can be when they don't have to cover for six seconds, right? You know, that's a big thing.

You know, but I thought Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan, Marcus Jones, I thought, you know, they all had really solid games. And again, I mean, you just mentioned all their skill position guides. I mean, Keenan Allen was their top wide receiver, five catches, 44 yards. Longest pass play was 18 yards. Roma Dunze was definitely held in check. I mean, and then, you know, the coaches added a wrinkle. They put Brendan Schooler out on defense as a spy for Williams.

And, you know, you could see that Schooler was like a kid at Christmas. He was loving that. And he responded. He had a sack and two quarterback hits on five defensive snaps. That's not bad. You know, when you're looking at pass rush win rate, I guess, that's pretty darn good, right? Yeah, without question.

And Steve and I are going to finish up this great report for the New England Patriots and take an early look at the Rams when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Locked On listeners, we've

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Terms apply. So again, create an account and redeem the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off. Download GameTime today. What time is it? GameTime. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots. It is Tuesday. It is grade report day, and if it's grade report day, you know our Patriots professor

is joining us, our good friend, legendary writer of Patsfans.com, my Patriots pison, Steve Balistrieri. Steve, we talked about the New England Patriots grading on offense and on defense, and for the most part, pretty high grades, especially for the defense.

I thought a solid effort in all three levels. Offense on defense and for the most part pretty high grades especially for the defense um i thought a solid effort in all three levels offense showed an awful lot of improvement but if there is a unit along this new england patriots roster or organization right now that has taken its share of criticism i would probably say it's the coaching staff uh from gerard mayhem to the coordinators to the positional coaches there's have been a lot of people second, third, and fourth guessing a lot of what we've seen in Foxborough this year. However, I think on Sunday, this game proved that the coaches that are in place right now not only heard the criticism,

not only heeded the criticism, but they also looked at it as an opportunity to grow and to show what they can currently do. It doesn't automatically fix all the criticism, but they also looked at it as an opportunity to grow and to show what they can currently do. It doesn't automatically fix all the problems, and it's not going to absolve them from their previous sins or any that they may commit in the future, but for one day on Sunday, I thought this unit put it together pretty well. If you're grading the coaches before we put the grade report away and take an early look at the Los Angeles Rams this week in week 11 how would you grade this coaching staff against the Bears this week I think the coaching staff deserves a minus right I wrote the first sentence I wrote under the

coaches that the coaching staff pantsed the Bears staff. And they did. I mean, as much as we've been maligning the decisions and, you know, just the sloppy play, they put it together on Sunday. You know, we'll see if this is, you know, one of those things where they start to build things, right? If they can, you know, come up with another good game plan. Now we know that, you know, it's going to be tough this week, but we'll get to that. But, you know, the defense, I saw them getting creative.

Again, it wasn't rocket science, you said you know it's not something that other people haven't done in the past but the fact that they installed it and it worked and they kept going with it and it's like hey you know what this is good keep doing stuff like this right and what i really loved was alex van pelt right for the first time i thought the offense got aggressive you know at the end of the half they scored 10 points in the last minute 46 that put them up at 13 to 3 at the break i was thinking unless there's some kind of catastrophe because the way the defense was playing, that they're going to win this football game. And you know what, you know, when you can

go on the road and beat a team in their building by holding them to three points, again, I mean, kudos for the defense, kudos for the offense. I just think they did a fantastic job. They had a great game plan. And for the most part, they executed it with very little hiccups. Now, some of the red zone stuff, they weren't very successful at. But I think the way the game was going, they didn't want to take any chances of possibly giving the Bears some life down there. So they played it safe. They kicked some field goals. You want to see more touchdowns, obviously, in there. But I think the way the defense was

playing, they weren't concerned about it as much. We'll see what happens on Sunday. Yeah, absolutely. Very, very well said. And look, the things that you want to see from this coaching staff that we hadn't seen previously, creativity, adjustments, and you also want to see aggression. And I think we saw all three of those on Sunday. Creativity, we talked about the longhorn. That's definitely something that threw a wrinkle into the Chicago Bears' plans, and I think in a lot of ways caught Caleb Williams

off guard. And he's already playing a little bit gun-shy, a little bit scared because of the offensive line in front of him. So it was smart to keep him on his heels in that regard. When you look at adjustments, you do see that the Patriots adjusted the way that they played the final moments of the second half. This is a team that had been ultra conservative, maybe even too conservative in their playing and led a lot of Patriots fans to believe that they just didn't have any type of confidence in the unit they had on the field to get something done in the final few moments. It also ties into aggression because Alex Van Pelt showed both of those. He adjusted the style that he had from previous weeks

and actually tried to keep this team on its heels and make sure that we put maximum points on the board and not necessarily worry about being too overprotective. Throwing caution to the wind sometimes can be a good liberating experience for a coaching staff, and I think you saw that on Sunday. So again, a tip of the cap to the coaching staff. They haven't gotten many of those this year yet, folks, but they will continue hopefully to turn the corner.

And of course, it all comes back to the head coach and Gerard Mayo, who's been under fire a lot more than he's been praised this season. Good to see him get a moment, especially a big time road victory. So good on the coaching staff, Steve, but the task is not going to get any easier with the Los Angeles Rams coming into town, coming in at four and five. This is a team right now that is playing in a tough division. Let's say, you know, call it for what it is. Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers. They're all capable teams, but at the same time, you look at this club coming in. Maybe they don't have as much of the star power as they once had, but you're still

looking at Matthew Stafford as the quarterback. Kyron Williams can still be an effective running back. Cooper Cup, Puka Nakua, these guys can make plays when they need to. On defense, they still have guys like Turner and Fisk and Young. They can make things happen when they need to. If you're the coaching staff and you're looking at this Rams team and you're looking at what you did on Sunday against the Bears, what are you trying to maintain? What are you trying to improve when the Rams come to town? Well, I think the coaching staff has to take a long, long look. And that was one of the good things about Monday Night Football this week, right? The Patriots got to sit at home as a team, watch their next two opponents, and you're seeing what works for that team, what wasn't working, and you know, game plan against each of them.

And don't forget the Rams. I mean, they had, I thought, a very subpar effort for them. I was not impressed with them at all last night. Defensively, I thought they were fine. But offensively, I was like, where's all, you know, the juice on this team? And now they have a short week because they played on Monday night and they have to make the trip all the way to the East Coast.

So that might play in the Patriots' favor. But, yeah, I'd be watching those games, seeing what you can work, what the other team was doing to each other in these next two games especially the rams um i think what they have to do is try to maintain that balance okay um because you know we saw alex van pelt's offense really for the first time this year right you know because they had because they had a decent running game. They were able to do play action. And you saw the pieces starting to come together. I think they still have a ways to go with that.

You know, we're not saying they're out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, but we're seeing signs of it coming together. And I think that's the most important thing on Sunday is keep that going defensively. If they can play as aggressive and as well as they did against Chicago, the defense will keep them in this game. Buddy, what can I say?

Thank you so much for coming by, for lending your wisdom, your counsel, and of course your great report, which we look forward to each and every week. Before I let you go, please let everyone know where our listeners can reach out to you, interact with you, and what you got marinating in La Cucina Balistrieri between now and next week when you come back to Great Patriots Rams. Well, and always thanks for having me. I love these, you know, these, these chats we have about football. I miss being up there and doing it in person with you. Absolutely.

We have to play the hand that we're dealt. So, but you can follow me on Twitter at Steve B seven SFG or X, whatever you want to call it. You know, other social media at Steve Balistrieri. I write for patsfans.com. In fact, Tuesday, today, is a very busy day here. So we're doing Lockdown on Tuesday afternoon. Tonight at 8 o'clock, I'm doing a podcast with the South Florida Tribune called Inside the Pigskin.

So I'll be on that show tonight. We'll be talking about Sunday's games. And then later tonight, a little after 9 o'clock, we're doing our Patriots 4th and 2 show. So this is going to be a very busy day. But you know what? It's fun to talk about a Patriots win. Absolutely. And we are truly blessed to be able to do something we love to do for a living, Steve. So check Steve out on all those platforms, folks, especially Patriots 4th and 2. We look forward to having Patriots 4th and 2 invade locked on very shortly. We're working out the details on

that, folks, so stay tuned for that. You're not going to want to miss it, but bottom line, anytime my good friend puts pen to paper, voice to microphone, appointment listening, appointment viewing, you're more informed, you're more entertained, and that's all you can ask for in this business, and he is one of the best in the business, not just from a professional standpoint, but also from a personal standpoint, and on a personal note, we may be one day late, but I'd be remiss if I did not give you a significant tip of the cap and a thank you and wish you a belated Happy Veterans Day. Thank you, my friend, for the service you provided to this country. We are forever in your debt. So thank you for all of that. And we continue to honor you here on Locked On Patriots as often as we can.

Folks, thank you all for making Locked On Patriots a part of your daily New England Patriots coverage today. And don't forget, our coverage of Patriots Rams is just kicking off, including this week's crossover episode with our good friends at Locked On Rams. So download, subscribe to follow. You're not going to want to miss a single second of the action. But in the meantime, I want to thank my good friend Steve Balistrieri for dropping by today. And of course, folks, I'm Mike DeBate. I remind you all to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Lucked on Patriots.