Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams Crossover: Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, Rams Defense

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Los Angeles Rams hope to keep pace in a tight race for the NFC West, and the New England Patriots are trying to make it two in a row for the first time this season. Locked On Patriots, Locked On Rams crossing the streams on Crossover Thursday on the Locked On Podcast Network. You are Locked On NFL Crossover, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Rams fans and Patriots fans, thank you for joining us here on this week 11 crossover episode of Locked On Rams and Locked On Patriots. Travis Rogers representing Locked On Rams. I'm Mike DeBate representing Locked On Patriots. Travis, thank Locked On Rams. I'm Mike DeBate representing Locked On Patriots. Travis, thank you for joining me here today. I've been looking forward to this crossover

Starting point is 00:00:51 for quite a while. Yeah, the Rams are hanging on by the skin of their teeth, so we're getting into the interesting part of the season. It should be a good one. Absolutely, and the New England Patriots are all full of surprises as of late when it comes to their play on the field. Travis, these two teams don't see each other that often, but there's a lot of memorable matchups, both regular and postseason. I'm sure Rams fans are familiar. So are the New England Patriots. But we're wondering if this Sunday's matchup could be another classic. Well, folks, Travis and I hope to pique your curiosity on that very subject today in just a moment.

Starting point is 00:01:28 But don't forget, today's Crossover Thursday episode is brought to you by PrizePix. Download the app and use the code LUCKONNFL to win $50 instantly when you play $5. And it's been a while since these two teams have hooked it up, and the Rams are actually playing at Gillette Stadium for the first time since the Patriots pulled out a 26-10 victory back in December of 2016. Rams have actually never won at Gillette Stadium.

Starting point is 00:01:55 They'd like to reverse that trend. And they enter this game, obviously, at 4-5 on short rest after a tough loss to the Miami Dolphins this past Monday, but this is still a tremendously talented team. Sean McVay's club loves to use the ground game to pace that offense and get it going. Kyron Williams' production at the running back position is kind of a barometer for how Matthew Stafford is going to be able to pick and choose his spots, because when those two top receivers are healthy, then yeah, folks, we're talking about Cooper Kopp and Pocono Kua, two of the best in the game.

Starting point is 00:02:30 That definitely allows that offense to get going. And this offense is starting to click after a slow start because of injury. Travis, for the benefit of my listeners on Locked On Patriots and for Patriots fans all over, do you believe that the Rams offense right now is coming into this game with a little something extra to prove? And bottom line, is that the biggest story coming out of Los Angeles when it relates to this team?

Starting point is 00:02:56 Yeah, I think the Rams have had a very, for lack of a better word, odd first nine games of the season. It's just they really have not been whole other than a couple of very short little windows. You know, they got off to a start against Detroit and played them pretty well. That goes all the way back to opening night, believe it or not.

Starting point is 00:03:16 And then they basically lost all of their offensive linemen and both of those wide receivers that you just mentioned. But the wide receivers came back about two weeks ago, so we started to see the Rams' offense look a little bit more like itself as the offensive line went through a retooling. You got a seventh-round draft pick in Bo Limmer, who was playing center for a long period of time. Justin Dedich at left guard, who was replacing Steve Avila,

Starting point is 00:03:42 another rookie that was in there right there. And then last week, as you mentioned, against Miami on Monday night, the offensive line that you were hoping to have to start the season finally came back together. You got both of those guys. You got Jackson and you got Avila off of the IR, and they were terrible. And they got absolutely run over on Monday night against the Dolphins team that, you know, is better than I think their record reflects, but they're not one of the best teams in the league and they could not handle it at all. So I think that's the big question going into Sunday's game against the

Starting point is 00:04:14 Pats is not just whether or not the offense is back, but whether or not some of the guys that you thought you were going to count on are going to be guys that you count on moving forward, or whether or not you go to some of these rookies. You've got your Stars and your Staffords and your Cups and your Nakuas, but the thing that's going to make this go like every team in the history of football is the offensive line, and they're still trying to figure out who their best five guys are right now, and I don't know if they have the right answer to that.

Starting point is 00:04:42 Yeah, it sounds so similar to what the New England Patriots are going through right now in terms of finding their top five when it comes to this offensive line. Starting to see a little bit of progress, but there's still a lot of work to be done. And I think it really does serve as a catalyst for both of these teams when it comes to how this offense is going to operate. And we'll get into, I'm sure the new England Patriots offense and their struggles with the O line and how improved play along the O line has helped this team. And maybe a certain young rookie quarterback has helped to mask some of those issues that the Patriots have had Rams employ one of the best in the business in Matthew Stafford,

Starting point is 00:05:20 and they will definitely be zeroed in on him. And that leads me to my question on the defensive side of the ball, Travis. The Rams D has also played better as of late after a rocky start. A number of rookies being incorporated into the starting lineup, but these guys are starting to find their niche now in this defense. And Bill Belichick used to say all the time, you don't start seeing real football until November. Well, here we are, and we're in November,

Starting point is 00:05:44 and this is what this team is starting to look like when it comes to the time. You don't start seeing real football until November. Well, here we are, and we're in November, and this is what this team is starting to look like when it comes to the Rams. 19th in the NFL in yards allowed on the ground, but I don't think those numbers tell the entire story because the Rams are allowing only 4.3 yards per rush. That's eighth in the league, so this is a team that can stop and can provide difficulty for teams that want to run the ball first, like the New England Patriots. They're a young defense. They've had difficulty defending against the pass, and that's an area that I know Drake May and the Patriots would love to be able to exploit. But again, you know the Rams better than anybody, Travis. So what should Pats fans be looking for from LA's defense on Sunday? Jared Verse. I mean, he is a real deal player. You know,

Starting point is 00:06:28 the Rams had not drafted in the first round, believe it or not, since they took Jared Goff back in 2016. Jared Goff was a rookie the last time the Rams went to New England to take on the Patriots. And it's been a long time. Les Snead famously had the F them picks era where they didn't pick in the first round for nearly a decade. They traded away picks. They went out and got established players, whether it was a Jalen Ramsey, a Matthew Stafford. They were very aggressive in going to do what they wanted to do there. They finally picked in the first round and they hit a grand slam. Jared Verst is a terrific player. Not a good player, a terrific player. This is a guy that might be a pro bowler at some point in his career. This is a guy that I think is a heavy, heavy favorite to win defensive rookie of the year this year. He is good against the pass. He is good

Starting point is 00:07:23 against the run. He's got a high motor. He is one of these guys that just competes like crazy, play in and play out. So that's where this defense is, at least as the star power at first blush is going to go. But what the Rams have been able to do the last two years, and obviously they had an inkling that Aaron Donald was going to leave sooner than later. I think it caught a lot of fans by surprise. I don't think it caught the Rams by surprise because what they've done the last couple of years is really bulk up on the defensive line. They've got four guys that are either in their first or second year.

Starting point is 00:07:56 You've got Jared Verso, I mentioned, his teammate at Florida State, Braden Fisk, also a rookie this year. He was the Rams' second-round pick. Then you go back a year ago with Byron Young and Kobe Turner. Those guys combined for 17 sacks a year ago. You have four guys up front that can really play. Nobody replaces Aaron Donald. He's a Hall of Famer.

Starting point is 00:08:16 He's one of the all-time greats. But they have managed to weather the absence of Aaron Donald incredibly well. And that's where this defense starts is with those four guys up front. The rest of it is a work in progress to be sure, especially in the back end, but up front they get out of after the quarterback really, really well. And that,

Starting point is 00:08:35 that has been the thing that I think has helped their running game. Quite frankly, is that they, you know, they, they put their, their opponents in some disadvantageous situations and they can really play a one-way go.

Starting point is 00:08:45 And even if you don't have a ton of talent, if you know that they're only going to pass or only going to run, you can really kind of lean on it that way. It's been fun to watch. They've gotten much better from the beginning of the season to where we are right now heading into Week 11. Yeah, great points, especially when it comes to the problems that the New England Patriots have had on the offensive line.

Starting point is 00:09:03 That is something the Patriots fans need to keep a sharp eye on this weekend, folks. Obviously, this aggressive Rams defense is going to be looking to make life difficult for Drake May. How can he neutralize that or can he neutralize that? We'll find out in the next segment. But Travis, before we take our leave of the Rams' biggest stories, I always hate to use the term must win in November, but I'm going to play devil's advocate for just a moment. And I'm going to put you on the hot seat in terms of the Rams placement

Starting point is 00:09:32 now in the division. Obviously they're competing with the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, a little bit of a surprising team. The Seattle Seahawks always still lurking there and capable of winning games when they need to. In terms of the Rams' hopes to qualify for the postseason or make things interesting heading into the final stretch, would you say this is a must win for this team? Yes, because they shot themselves in the foot on Monday night. They needed to beat the Miami Dolphins. Their schedule down the stretch is you've got Buffalo waiting, you've got the Philadelphia Eagles waiting. You've got another matchup with San Francisco, another matchup with Arizona, and you've put yourself in a situation where 10 wins might get you in. It might not. It may or may not win the

Starting point is 00:10:15 division. For them to get to 10 wins and what they have right now, they got to go six and two over their final eight games. And so you're not getting the six wins if the New England Patriots aren't among those six. So it absolutely is a must-win situation for them. Their playoff hopes went from, you know, kind of touch and go going into that Miami game to their path is about this wide to get there right now. There was a huge blow to their playoff chances losing on Monday night.

Starting point is 00:10:39 Yeah, and again, the Pats would love to play spoiler, but how could the Patriots do that? Can they do it? Those are the questions we're going to answer in just a moment because if we're being honest, Travis, and we're being objective, I think the Rams are a more talented team on both sides of the ball. But once again, the New England Patriots proving they can parlay that puncher's chance into solid results on the field.

Starting point is 00:11:00 In just a moment, Travis Rogers and I are going to flip the script and he's going to put me on the hot seat to help Rams fans get a clearer picture on what to expect from those three and seven Patriots. All this and more on this crossover Thursday episode of Locked On Patriots and Locked On Rams

Starting point is 00:11:17 right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Locked On listeners, time is our most precious commodity, so don't waste it scrolling through the same mind-numbing content for hours and hours. How can you spend it wisely to improve yourself? Well, our sponsor, Hillsdale College, is offering more than 40 free, that's right, free online courses, including Constitution 101, which is the meaning and the history of the Constitution, Introduction to Free Market Economics, and a brand new

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Starting point is 00:13:34 an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. New England Patriots fans and Los Angeles Rams fans, thank you for joining us here today on this crossover episode. Week 11 matchup coming up at Gillette Stadium, a 1 p.m. Eastern kickoff, 10 a.m. on the Pacific. In the previous segment, Travis, we talked a lot about what the Rams are going to bring to the table, the biggest stories coming out of the City of Angels when it comes to the LA Rams, but I know Rams fans are curious as to what to expect from the Patriots again it's been a little while since these teams have hooked up on the field Bill Belichick no longer in New England Gerard Mayo is in his head coach Drake May is the quarterback a lot of unfamiliar faces but at the same time the Rams also know that coming into Gillette is always going to be a tough

Starting point is 00:14:22 matchup so from a Rams perspective, as Nathan Jessup would say, and a few good men, do you have any questions for me, Count? Yes, I do. The first one is a little bit broad-based, Mike, and it's just, what is life after Bill Belichick like? The Rams' recent history with Bill Belichick is running into one of the most scary guys in the world in the Super Bowl or when they would occasionally run into each other during the regular season. But the Rams most, until the one that they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in in Super Bowl 56, their two trips to the Super Bowl prior to that ended with Bill Belichick holding up the trophy at the end of the day.

Starting point is 00:15:03 Tom Brady holding up the trophy at the end of the day, Tom Brady holding up the trophy at the end of the day. What's life like after that? Well, I mean, life after Tom Brady essentially has kind of prepared, I think, Patriots fans for life after Bill Belichick. It's been a little bit since the New England Patriots have tasted Lombardi Trophy silver. But at the same time, I think P's fans are now understanding this is a new era a new dawn and a new day in foxborough under gerard mayo and now under drake may as your new quarterback so there are elements of the belichickian regime that will always be in new

Starting point is 00:15:37 england that element of do your job that element of putting your team first this pat's team is in that image but they are also trying to forge their new image. So a guy like Drake May is going to come along and be a little bit more of an off-script quarterback. He's going to give you an opportunity to be able to win games, scrambling with his legs, making exciting plays down the field. So in that respect,

Starting point is 00:15:59 you are going to see a different product on the field. You're going to see a little bit of a different identity, but in terms of how different things are between Bill Belichick being on the sidelines to Gerard Mayo being on the sidelines, those traits, those intrinsic traits of the Patriot way, I think are still very much intact. So Mike, take me through the process of the rookie quarterback. You know, you've mentioned Drake Mays names a few times. I mentioned a second ago that, you know, the Rams had their own highly drafted quarterback in Jared Goff not that long ago and kind of going through the ebb and the flow of, hey, I think this guy's got it too. Oh my gosh, he's never going to make a good decision for the rest of his career. Kind of

Starting point is 00:16:37 riding that wave with a young rookie quarterback. Where are you guys with Drake May and what do you make of what you've seen from him so far through his rookie season well I think Drake's progression from the moment he stepped through the doors in Foxborough is the number one overall pick and really stepping on the field if we're being fair for training camp rookie camp things of that nature to where he is now there's been a tremendous progression uh Drake came in with a lot of talent um and he still has an awful lot of talent there's no question about it but now i think you're seeing a more temperate drake may take the field i think you're seeing him more willing to take the checkdowns and willing to take um opportunities

Starting point is 00:17:15 in the intermediate and short areas of the field that you didn't see him take so much when he was at north carolina now he's a rookie he's going to try to hit the home run ball every now and then. And you saw that a couple of times, even this past Sunday in their victory over the Bears. But one thing that I love about this kid is his resilience. He'll throw an interception. He'll make a mistake. He will get up, dust himself off, and he will absolutely move on to the next play without dwelling on what he just did too much. It's been a little while since the New England Patriots have had a quarterback either under center or taking snaps wherever they're aligning him that is able to do that. Tom Brady did that.

Starting point is 00:17:54 And I'm not comparing the two here, but there is a certain comfort level that I think Patriots fans and I know the team and the coaching staff have with Drake May that he's going to be capable of doing that. But in terms of his mechanics, I've seen tremendous growth. When he's leading the shotgun, like he did at North Carolina, he's not leading with his right leg, which is his prominent leg. He's leading with his left to protect himself a little bit more. His eyes are matching his footwork when he's completing passes and he's taking shots down

Starting point is 00:18:22 the field. He's proven to adapt pretty well to the Patriots play action, which is facilitated by the outside zone run. So there are progressions that I've seen in Drake and he continues to grow and also become a vocal leader in the locker room. A couple of weeks ago, the Patriots were not practicing well. Drake went to Alex Van Pelt, the offensive coordinator, said he wanted to address the team. For a 22-year-old rookie, even though you are the number three overall pick, that's a daunting task. You're facing a locker room full of career football players,

Starting point is 00:18:53 and every one of those guys responded to it. They were impressed by it. And this is something that I think that Drake is showing the wisdom beyond his years in. So that type of leadership is going to help him to develop into a better quarterback on the field. Still a lot of mechanical work to do, but what we've seen so far has been great progression. Where can they take advantage of his inexperience?

Starting point is 00:19:15 What does he struggle with? Where does he get into trouble? If I'm Chris Shula, the Rams defensive coordinator, and I'm trying to make life difficult on the rookie quarterback, what do you throw at him that he struggles with? Well, there are obvious issues with being able to take to pressure. You know, Drake was someone that did struggle with pressure to sack ratio when he was at North Carolina. That is still there. Obviously, some of that comes from

Starting point is 00:19:38 protection along the offensive line. If the offensive line is able to give him time, Drake is able to get through it. One of the areas that I think that where he could be had where there could be a level of difficulty is if the Rams are able to shut the run off and able to stop it and force Drake to be a one-dimensional quarterback and beat him through the air this is a team right now that is struggling to get receivers open receivers are getting open a little bit better than they have been in the past, but there are timing issues that need to be worked on. The hands are always an issue. Guys are dropping passes. So if that is indeed the case and the Rams can halt from Andre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson, even to Michael Hastie, who's been pitching in on occasion to try to help move this team along. If you're forcing Drake to drop back and throw the ball consistently over and over again,

Starting point is 00:20:28 it could lead him into some of the difficulties that plagued him when he was at North Carolina, always trying to hit the home run ball. He may feel that he needs to do that in order to overcompensate for a team right now that is struggling to run the football. So that would be my advice to this Rams team. Try to make him one-dimensional, and hopefully you can force him into making some rookie mistakes. I got one last quick one for you, Mike,

Starting point is 00:20:51 and that is the Rams on offense looking at that Patriots defense. Where are the soft spots? Where can Matthew Stafford? Is it a Pukunukuwa day? Is it a Cooper Cup day? Is it a Kyron Williams day? Who has the big day if the Rams are playing well? Well, I think it would probably be whoever is not going to be covered by Christian Gonzalez.

Starting point is 00:21:08 I say that somewhat tongue in cheek, but I do say that honestly. Christian has been excellent shutting down a team's either top option or the option that you want to take away. My guess is you're probably going to see Christian line up against Puka. That's just my guess at this point. I wouldn't surprise me to see him play Cooper, but I think Jonathan Jones may be a little bit more adept to playing the type of style that Cooper Cup likes to play, which is primarily slot. I know he's someone that can definitely do the job

Starting point is 00:21:37 on the perimeter as well, but Jonathan has the versatility. If that's indeed the case, that could be an area where the New England Patriots could end up being vulnerable because right now, Kyle Duggar is still banged up. He did practice on Wednesday, but he was out for Sunday's game against the Bears, and they're still missing Jabril Peppers, who was one of their most valuable secondary players when it came to the middle. So the middle part of that Patriots defense can be had if Matthew Stafford can start exploiting it. The Chicago Bears were clearly not able to do that and the Patriots defense dominated that game, sacking him nine times. But if you can catch

Starting point is 00:22:15 guys like Keon White and Dietrich Wise off guard and they're not getting home after the quarterback, that's when that soft underbelly, that middle part of that defense could be had. So that's a soft spot right now. If I'm Matthew Stafford, I'm looking for ways to exploit that to avoid anybody on that defensive line taking the double team and allowing someone like a Keon White or the newly acquired Yannick Ngankwe to be able to pin their ears back and get after the quarterback. If they're not able to, that Patriots defense can be scored upon. And in that vein, Pats fans, could that be one of the New England Patriots' keys to victory? Be tough up front. Well, the New England Patriots

Starting point is 00:22:54 will definitely try to do that against a potentially explosive Los Angeles Rams offense. What are the keys to victory for the Pats, and what are the keys to victory for the Rams? Travis Rogers and I are going to talk about that very subject when we wrap up our discussion here today on Crossover Thursday, Locked On Patriots, Locked On Rams, on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Locked On listeners, I want to talk to you a little bit about our friends over at PrizePix the best place to get real money sports action with over 10 million

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Starting point is 00:24:37 Prize picks run your game. Pats fans and Rams fans, thank you for joining us here today on this crossover episode. Locked on Patriots, locked on Rams. Travis Rogers, host of the Locked on Rams podcast. One half of the hosting tandem on Locked on Rams. And Mike DeBate, host of Locked on Patriots. Travis, we've talked about this game from a Patriots perspective, from a Rams perspective. As the late great Gorilla Monsoon

Starting point is 00:25:05 might say, if this were a WrestleMania promo, the time for the talk has just about ended. If the Rams are to come into New England and defeat the Patriots and hold that four and a half point advantage right now that they're enjoying in terms of being the favorites, thanks to our friends over at FanDuel, what are LA's keys to victory they got a block I mean this is I think there are two things kind of working in the Rams favors coming into this one number one is that Sean McVay I think is as about as good at doing this as anyone in the league I still believe that he is one of those guys they They were bad last week. They're very rarely bad two weeks in a row. So I expect him to get his team ready to play.

Starting point is 00:25:49 They were bad in a very specific way, and that is that they couldn't block anybody at all. I do not expect him to let that happen either through scheme and those guys being put in a better position or by changing the guys that are there because they were doing all right prior to bringing Jackson and Nabila back. You have some healthy options there. If Rob Havenstein comes back at

Starting point is 00:26:10 right tackle, you might have the best version of your offensive line really for the first time all season long. So if they block it up correctly and give Matthew Stafford time, I'm still a huge believer in him. You give him time and weapons, and you have weapons. You have Kyron Williams. You have a running game. You have the two receivers that you and I have talked about quite a bit. Those guys are going to be there. Really, Puka has not had a big game since he came back originally

Starting point is 00:26:36 against the Minnesota Vikings, so I keep waiting for him to kind of hit his stride a little bit. I think the Rams are a really good shot. I think they have the ability to get after the quarterback. They have the ability to score some points if they can block a little bit. I think the Rams are a really good shot. I think they have the ability to get after the quarterback. They have the ability to score some points if they can block a little bit. And I expect them to win the game. That being said, I expect them to win the game on Monday night against the Miami Dolphins, and they look dreadful. So nobody knows anything in this league. My co-host, Kirk Morrison, who I do the pre and half and post game show with on the Rams flagship station, he says it to me.

Starting point is 00:27:07 He's been saying to me every week for nine years that we've been together. Every week is a new week that whatever happened last week does not matter. Whatever's going to happen next week has nothing to do with this week is the ultimate week to week league. But I do expect them to be a lot better and I expect them to be a lot better up front. If those guys can't do it, they're going to put other guys in. Yeah, absolutely. And I think the New England Patriots are a mirror image of what this Rams team is trying to do coming in here and earn the victory. If the Patriots are to be successful on the field on Sunday, they need to establish the run. And one of the big ways they're going to do that is to successfully run block, something that this team has had difficulty with right along. But if the Patriots want to be able

Starting point is 00:27:50 to win this game, they're going to need to be able to block and they're going to be able to block effectively in order to establish the run. Because one of the big things that Alex Van Pelt would love to do is establish that outside zone, let Ramondre Stevenson be able to run the ball effectively. That opens up so much for Drake May in terms of being able to take shots down the field, extend plays with his legs, or use the intermediate areas to be able to get short yardage gain. If the Patriots are doing that, they're in good shape. Once again, it comes back to controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Patriots, when they do that and they win those battles, they're not only in games, but generally they're giving themselves an opportunity to win. In their three wins this year, they've controlled the line

Starting point is 00:28:34 of scrimmage on both sides against the Bengals, against the Jets, and then again against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Not going to be an easy task against the Rams. This is not an easy team to control the line of scrimmage, but the Patriots have to do it. And last but certainly not least, Travis, and I think this is true of both teams, if they want to come away as the victor, the Patriots absolutely have to force and capitalize on turnovers.

Starting point is 00:28:57 They can't necessarily rely on talent alone to be able to beat this Rams team because I don't think they match up in that area. They give them a good shot. They give them a good fight, but the Rams are more talented. So the Patriots have to hope that the Rams make some mistakes and they have to be right there in place to capitalize on them. They do all those three. They'll have that puncher's chance that I talked about earlier. Travis, what can I say? Thank you for joining me. I know there is a time discrepancy here from the East coast to the West coast, but you know what? We you for joining me. I know there is a time discrepancy here from the East Coast to the West Coast,

Starting point is 00:29:26 but you know what? We always make it work. Three hours, not a big deal. And we always look forward to lending the wisdom and counsel to all of our listeners out there, whether it be Locked On Patriots fans or Locked On Rams fans. On behalf of the Patriots side, thank you for enlightening our squad so that way we know what to expect on Sunday from the Rams.

Starting point is 00:29:46 Yeah, same to you, Mike. I can't believe it. We're past the halfway point of the 2024 season. It goes way, way, way too fast. That's for sure. It absolutely does. And folks, it will continue to roll on

Starting point is 00:29:57 both on Locked On Patriots and on Locked On Rams. Game preview episodes coming up shortly. So be sure to stay tuned and keep it here right on the Locked on Podcast Network for both of those. But Travis and I are still not completely done yet, folks. We saved the best for last.

Starting point is 00:30:14 Sometimes we do these on Locked on Crossovers. Sometimes we don't. But Travis and I agreed before we hit the microphone today that we were going to give our listeners an extra special early treat. If you are picking this matchup and you're looking at a final score here from the New England Patriots, the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, how does this one shake out? I think the Rams win, I think, because they kind of have to win.

Starting point is 00:30:36 I think they're still competing for a playoff spot as slim as their chances might be. I think you've said it a few times, Mike. I think this is one of the few times that the Rams might have more talent on their side than their opposition. I think these are two teams that are in transition for the most part. I think the Rams win the game, but I don't think that they win it in a runaway. I think it's a pretty close game. The Rams really haven't blown anybody out all season long. That's just not how they play. So I think this is going to be played in the low 20s somewhere. I'll give it to the Rams 23 to 20. I can definitely see this one being a

Starting point is 00:31:10 tight game. I think it is going to be in the low 20s, maybe even in the teens. I will continue to wear the Homer hat. I did it against the Chicago Bears. A lot of people were surprised that I picked the Patriots in that game. I'm going to continue to believe in the hometown squad, folks. I'm going to go with the New England Patriots by a final of 20-17 over the Los Angeles Rams. But you said this very well, Travis, earlier on. Matthew Stafford's ability to pick teams apart, to be able to pick defenses apart, find his spots, and be able to exploit difficulties.

Starting point is 00:31:41 He's one of the best in the game to ever do it. And if he comes in here and is able to do that on Sunday, not going to matter if it's the home team or the road team folks, Rams are going to be able to take care of business. So what are your thoughts? Let us know here on this crossover episode, drop us a line individually, or viewing on YouTube,

Starting point is 00:31:59 drop us a line in the comments section below, but bottom line, and we will continue to break down this one right up until kickoff, both on lockdown Patriots and on lockdown Rams. But in the comments section below. But bottom line, and we will continue to break down this one right up until kickoff, both on Locked On Patriots and on Locked On Rams. But in the meantime, check out my good friend, Travis Rogers. You can find him on Twitter at Travis Rogers, and you can also find both him and Doug

Starting point is 00:32:17 as they host the Locked On Rams podcast Monday through Friday, each and every day. One of the best listens in the NFC West, folks. And I kid you not, I always enjoy their product. And definitely you're going to want to check that out. And if you want to check me out also, Monday through Friday on Locked On Patriots each and every day. So on behalf of Travis Rogers, I'm Mike DeBate of Locked On Patriots. Stay safe, folks. Stay well.

Starting point is 00:32:40 Be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day and enjoy this one on Sunday. We'll see you back here again on the Locked On Podcast Network tomorrow.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams Crossover: Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, Rams Defense

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