Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Suffer Week 13 Loss to Indianapolis Colts: Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez

Starting point is 00:00:00 Questionable coaching decisions, bad execution in the red zone, and an illegal pull-down all lead to the Patriots snatching defeat from the hands of victory on Sunday. Stick around, you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots.

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Starting point is 00:01:00 skies are so blue at M-D-A-B-A-T-E NFL dot B-Sky dot social. And of course, folks, today's episode is brought to you by game time download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on nfl for 20 off your first purchase that's nation in the closing moments of sunday's week 13 matchup at gillette stadium between the indianapolis Colts and your New England Patriots it actually looked like the Pats might be able to pull out a much-needed victory heading into their bye week unfortunately the football gods had other plans Indianapolis quarterback Anthony

Starting point is 00:01:37 Richardson throwing a three-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce and then they ran in a two-point conversion just for added measure all of that added up leads to a 25 to 24 victory for the colts over the patriots the loss drops the patriots to 3 and 10 on the season and they are now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and it also happens to be the patriots fourth loss in five games A lot to break down in this one, folks, from questionable coaching decisions to poor execution in the red zone. And of course, it wouldn't be a melancholy Monday here on Locked On Patriots if we didn't have something to complain about when it came to the Stripes, the Zebras.

Starting point is 00:02:18 That's right, the officials. We're going to talk about all of that here today because our guest today is Monster Mad, that his monster keys were not turned with efficiency and murph this is becoming a problem for the new england patriots without further ado i want to welcome him in he is the legend the don here on locked on patriots my good friend the kind of murphy pisto himself thomas murphy thank you for coming to me in friendship today on this melancholy Monday. Don't Murph. I work hard, man. Scouting these players, scouting these teams,

Starting point is 00:02:50 cutting these keys and to be ignored in the way that I have been. Um, like in, in certain, certain missed calls, uh, in this game, it's, it's, it's egregious egregious it's pronounced egregious it's pronounced egregious um one job i gave these boys one job to do all right and that's all they had to do all right was stop the run and they could not do it okay this defense could not do it they could not get off the field well if you want to talk about um stats that Patriots held the Colts to 5 of 11 on third down. You know when that doesn't matter? Do you know, folks? When they go 3 for 3 on fourth down.

Starting point is 00:03:37 All right? It was terrible. I was really upset with the lack of run-stopping ability, especially with Peppers back, especially with Barmore getting back. And finally, in game shape, I think, you know, two weeks is game shape. All right? I can, you know, overlook this week one. You know, maybe they rushed him back, but not now.

Starting point is 00:04:03 And Devin Got gotcha was was god awful you're right there is no way to sugarcoat this they're not getting the same type of execution they're lacking discipline on your defense they're lacking the fundamentals that it takes to actually complete these plays and unfortunately a lot of that has to be laid on the doorstep of the coaching staff it just doesn't seem to be preparing this unit just starting to get a lot of the same players they had last year back in the lineup folks uh that they're just not executing safe for one player who continues in my opinion uh to make a strong case for some serious postseason honors we're going to get to christian gonzalez in just a second folks because christian again, leaping off the page, he had a phenomenal game.

Starting point is 00:04:46 And I think this kid really deserves a lot of the kudos he probably will get in the closing moments of this podcast. But you look at how this all played out. And the New England Patriots, unfortunately, broke down at the worst time that they possibly could and show all of their weaknesses in one sustained drive. Colts marching 80 yards, 19 plays, grinding the Patriots defense down to a nub until Alec Pierce was able to catch a touchdown on a fourth and three in the back of the end zone. Kyle Duggar was in on him.

Starting point is 00:05:15 Unfortunately, the coverage just wasn't there. I'm not going to lay this on Kyle's doorstep, or I'm not going to lay this on any one individual player. This was just a breakdown of the patriots defense and i think a microcosm for the entire season murph right look at how the patriots have played they've been right there even giving you the impression that they have the ability to hang with any team and that puncher's chance to win any game yep and then you see these final drives where they're letting up and they're really showing you their deficiencies. When you look at this team in the grand scheme of things, shouldn't be a big surprise that this is how it all shook out on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:05:51 No, they're still learning how to win. They haven't learned yet how to lose. We'll get to the offense, I'm sure, in a minute or two. And Alex Van Pelt. But no, it all starts on defense. And the killer is that this was a top 10 defense last year. Top 10. Very good point.

Starting point is 00:06:15 All right. And now it is at the very bottom of the league in every single category. You find the category, you'll see the Patriots there down at the bottom. Yeah. And that is a remarkable turn. That is a 180 type of turn from the type of execution. Again, the type of discipline that we were seeing from this defense last year,

Starting point is 00:06:35 it's simply not there. And, you know, you can say all you want to that, oh, this team's getting used to a new regime and they're getting used to a new style and whatnot. So Marcus Covington has been in this room, folks.

Starting point is 00:06:46 Rod Mayo has been in this room for a good long time. Brian Belichick is still there. Mike Pellegrino is still there. They have a couple of new coaches here and there that I will give the benefit of the doubt to that may be rookies, such as someone like a Dante Hightower, who hasn't coached at this level before. Right now, it's on-the-job training for this entire coaching staff, you know, as head coach, as, you know, sitting at the head of the table when it comes to coordinators, okay?

Starting point is 00:07:13 Alex Van Pelt had never called plays before. Demarcus Covington is not a coordinator. I don't – I want him gone. I do. I want him gone. And I hate to say it. I think the linebacker play up to this point has been God awful. And that's got to go right on Donta Hightower.

Starting point is 00:07:30 And I saw you tweet this last night in the aftermath of the game. Yeah, you're absolutely under the gun right now, folks. You cannot put a novice coaching staff that is learning on the job and getting on the job training when you're trying to cultivate and you're trying to grow your future franchise quarterback. I don't think there's any doubt that Drake May is that guy. Everything that we see on the field points to poise, effectiveness, his ability. Everything that this kid has shows that he is clearly the guy but if you're not going to surround him with the right coaching staff in order to be able to nurture that talent right and then use that synergy between he and the coaching staff to bring in new players to bring in effective players whether it be receivers tight ends running backs

Starting point is 00:08:15 offensive linemen people that want to play alongside this kid it just doesn't send the right message and i think that's absolutely right and again folks for those of you that are viewing this on youtube you can see the first bullet point on today's show placard for those of you not viewing on youtube and listening to this the first bullet point says can't close in closing moments and yeah the new england patriots had a lot of problems doing that on the field and you saw that in the final drive but i don't think and at the end of the first half exactly at the closing moment yep okay and they could not get it done right and my question to you now Murph is that I don't think this should

Starting point is 00:08:51 be limited to just the players on the field I think the coaching staff is also coming under fire here for their ability to not be able to lead their team in these closing moments you look at that final drive and Gerard mayo is coming under some fire here today for not calling a timeout to give this team an opportunity to reset prior to going into the final sequence where they did have to use a couple of timeouts right burn through them only to give joey sly an opportunity to kick a 68-yard field goal folks which would have been a league record i mean you know i know joey had his issues earlier i know he had his issues earlier in the day so that's going to come under fire look i know this kid can kick from a good distance he's kicked from 63 but 68 yards in a closing moment i think

Starting point is 00:09:37 it's too much to ask of anyone um that in itself may be a questionable coaching decision but where do you lie on the the other timeouts here because i think the patriots might have been smart to throw one in earlier on maybe to either disrupt indy's rhythm or to try to give themselves an opportunity to reset yeah or you reset just give them so give the defense a break give these guys a moment to reset you know understand their job and their responsibility and um um, and, and just get their legs back underneath them. All right. So there, there's another reason for it. And, and for, um, Mayo to bring up for Mayo to bring up the, the Superbowl against the, uh, the, uh,

Starting point is 00:10:16 the Seahawks a few years back, you know, we, we, we won the Superbowl that way. You didn't, you weren't there. You weren't on the field. Okay. You weren't in the coaching staff. Okay. So shut up. You should have used the time out there. Given your guys a chance to get their heads on straight and maybe make a play there.

Starting point is 00:10:36 I mean, then again, you know, who knows who's going to get toppled over from behind. Yeah, absolutely. We are going to get into that folks because bottom line i mean we can talk all about the new england patriots futility on the field yesterday and there are a lot of areas to attack especially on the coaching sideline as well but they were victim to some questionable calls especially in the closing moments of this game we will get into that in just a moment but i think you make a great point especially on the timeout um yeah you can make the super bowl comments but i mean you're talking about a team that was in the super bowl that you

Starting point is 00:11:08 know can respond without needing to call a time right this team is nowhere near no what that team was you need a timeout in that situation to teach even if it's just to say okay guys this is to get a breather take a deep breath get back out there and let's not give them the opportunity to celebrate on our home field. Even if that's your only message, that can be poignant for a head coach in moments like that. So these are the little things, folks, that are adding up that are leading to frustration for the New England

Starting point is 00:11:35 Patriots. You mentioned our good friend Alex Barth of 98.5 The Sports Sub, and getting a chance to talk to him a little bit post-game, he brought up an interesting point. And something I constantly preach here on Locked On Patriots is Hunter Henry's ability to run routes. And he is one of the best route runners at the tight end position I've ever covered. But he made a very good point in the closing moments. And that if you extend the routes that he ran in the last couple of plays, getting a couple of more yards here and there,

Starting point is 00:12:04 all of a sudden you start chipping away at that if he gets five more yards on those two routes that he runs all of a sudden that becomes a possibly makeable field goal for joey sly at 63 so these are the coaching decisions these are the executions on the field these are the little things that the new england patriots need to do if they're going to hope to pull out these games, they need to find a way to find themselves on the winning side. After the Gonzalez pick, the Pats ran three plays. Three plays.

Starting point is 00:12:35 They gave the ball back to Indy with five minutes left in the game. You know? It was just like, yeah, we're going to play clock management here. Again, you can't do that. You're not good enough to do that. Right. OK, this is not 2018. OK, this is not 2011. You cannot do that. OK, you don't have that. You were run on this entire day. OK, this entire day. It was I told you, you know, stop jonathan taylor i warned you all and you you couldn't do it and you just couldn't do it and you you can't play football like that

Starting point is 00:13:14 this team cannot play football like that yeah no they can't and not to mention giving the ball back to indy with over five minutes left on the clock that's coming off of a christian gonzalez interception. You already have momentum. You need to keep that up and harness that and use it to your advantage. And that's your one three and out in the day. Exactly. And that results in a three and out.

Starting point is 00:13:35 That simply cannot happen. And if you want to sustain the fleeting moments of success that this team is finding, and there are some folks, when you look, there there are moments there are glimmers of hope where you look at it and you say if they can only build on what we just saw right this team can be very effective it's frustrating Murph and I guess that leads me quite nicely into my final point on this can't close in closing moments segment um I wouldn't be doing my job unless I did uh unless I did ask you your opinion on Christian Barmore being pulled down on the two-point conversion. Anthony Richardson sheds two tackles, and I absolutely agree with you on your assessment. He does not shed Christian Barmore unless he's brought down.

Starting point is 00:14:19 That's on the officials. It really is. It looks like a clip from Van Halen's right now when the guy gets pushed over from behind. Or like Alex Barth had said, it was recess, fifth grade recess. It was such a bad call. I understand the need to swallow the whistle you know at the end of games you know I I've said it before but I mean this was just so so bad I don't know how you could miss it he got submarine yeah from behind he got submarine from behind yeah and that's what let him in there is no way if that doesn't happen,

Starting point is 00:15:05 that Junior gets into the end zone there. He was the third man there. He did a fantastic job. Richardson did a fantastic job shedding those first two tackles. But, no, it was bad. It was so bad. It was so bad. And, yeah, that should have backed them up,

Starting point is 00:15:23 and the Patriots should have won this game even though that they didn't turn those those keys that that I'm looking for so often and we'll get to that in in slices of blame pie yeah absolutely and before we get to the slices of blame pie folks the New England Patriots once again having difficulty inside the 20 this has been a problem for this team for a long time now, dating back to the end of the Bill Belichick tenure and now into the Gerard Mayo, Alex Van Pelt era. I also want to throw Demarcus Covington in there because this team is not defending well in the red zone either. Red zone woes were the story of the day for the New England Patriots. Why are they having such

Starting point is 00:16:01 difficulty executing in the game's most crucial area of the field? Murph and I are going to discuss that point and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Hey, Locked On Patriots fans, I know you're like me and your holiday shopping list is, let's just say, far from complete. Well, if that's the case, I've got the perfect gift for the passionate sports fan in your life. Perhaps you've heard of Ice Shaker. Looks so nice in Patriot blue, doesn't it, folks? Well, the great news is Ice Shaker is now officially licensed with the NFL, NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball, and NCAA.

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Starting point is 00:18:34 to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash LockedOn. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. It is a melancholy Monday here for your New England Patriots, suffering a 25-24 heartbreaking loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. Patriots dropping to 3-10 on the season, heading into their bye week, having lost four of their last five and unfortunately murph things continue to unravel for the new england patriots and it's been problems on offense problems on defense ineffectiveness on the field

Starting point is 00:19:18 questionable coaching decisions uh all mixes up to a pretty bitter cocktail for New England Patriots fans to swallow. But one of the areas that this team has been most futile is in the red zone. And this really, I think, came to the forefront on Sunday. This was really overt. And anyone wondering about what the Patriots are doing in this area of the field, just take a look at some of these. I pulled a couple of statistics in anticipation of our conversation today as I usually do on offense yesterday the Patriots got inside the Colts 20 on six of their eight full drives now that doesn't include the final drive of the game

Starting point is 00:19:56 but there were only 12 seconds left on the clock but of those six drives they came away with points only on four of them of those four scores only two of them were touchdowns with two more field goals early on. It wasn't just the series at the end for these New England Patriots. It was really the total effort all across their red zone execution on offense that continues to hurt this team. When you look at the monster keys that you cut each and every week and you lay the blueprint for this team to be able to win, you're constantly talking about using the running game to facilitate play action, letting Drake May air things out, using his arm, using his legs to create plays, even go off script. Why are we not seeing this effectively in the red zone?

Starting point is 00:20:42 Why are your monster keys not being turned here? Fear and panic. That's a turned here? Fear and panic. That's a fair point. Fear and panic. All right. This coaching staff does not know what buttons to push when they're down inside the 20. And it's really, really simple.

Starting point is 00:20:59 They've become so predictable down there, it's unreal. I mean, the offense looked good yesterday for the most part. It did. They ran the ball well. They threw the ball well. Jalen Polk got one target. But when they get inside the 20, they're not being innovative enough. I mean, you know, granted, if you want to call bringing the backup quarterback in innovative to run one play,

Starting point is 00:21:37 because, yeah, I know that – and that worked out. But, you know, you wanted to fool everybody that you were going to go over the top because that's what Junior does. But it's when they get down inside the 20, inside the 10, it becomes so predictable it's unreal. And everybody knows what's coming. And if you are a decent coaching staff and have decent players, you can stop that. And they have that in spades over there in indianapolis you know on the defensive side of the ball they've got smart good ball players um on the line of scrimmage in uh at the linebacker and it's just you know you just telegraphed everything spread it out all right use drake may do you know how fast drake may is did you see what he did with his legs yesterday

Starting point is 00:22:21 getting to the edge and getting out and just i I've got defensive backs and linebackers going away. I had no idea he was that fast. It's true. Why you're not using him. I called for bootleg action and that's where they needed to do it. I agree with you. I think that you do need to get innovative and you do need to start, you know, giving this team an opportunity to make some plays and to do things that maybe they haven't had the chance to do in recent years. Drake May gives you so many options, whether it be speed, whether it be his ability to make plays with his legs or his ability to take the top off the defense with a big arm. This kid has the total package. Utilize it to your advantage, folks. And you'd be surprised what happens.

Starting point is 00:23:04 And again, I come back to the red zone problems, Murph, because once again, it's staring you right in the face. package utilize it to your advantage folks and you'd be surprised what happens and again i come back to the red zone problems murph because once again it's staring you right in the face this team came into this matchup now we haven't seen the reshuffled statistics so i'd imagine this is probably going to get even worse but they came into this matchup ranking 27th in the league when it came to touchdown percentage in the red zone 46.9 this has got to be a priority for alex van pelt heading into this bye week you've got to clean things up inside the 20 if you don't this team is going to have nothing to build on in terms of being able to put serious points on the board when it comes to 2025 and beyond yeah without a doubt without a and like i, it's become too predictable.

Starting point is 00:23:46 More Gibson, more better. Absolutely. I asked for it. You know, I set it in my keys. Antonio Gibson needs more touches. He had another fantastic game. And right now, I'm calling for a complete. I love Romandre.

Starting point is 00:24:00 We do. He is fantastic. You know, he looks fantastic. He looks fantastic. But looks fantastic. Are they getting so used to just beating him into the ground year after year that they don't understand? You went out and signed Antonio Gibson for a reason.

Starting point is 00:24:14 He's a great bat. He's a big man. He's a big man who has the ability to go up in between the tackles and get to the outside and catch the ball. Why isn't he in there? Is it just a favoritism thing okay because you know that that happens folks with coaches you know you like a guy you put him in there all right um you if you're a head coach you can't be everybody's

Starting point is 00:24:38 friend right and i said this coming into it that um that gerard mayo is going to realize now when you're sitting in the in the it's a lot easier to be the assistant because you're everybody's buddy as opposed to being the head coach and making the hard decisions antonio gibson needs to touch the ball more and he definitely needs it more in the red zone he needs to at least be on the field so that threat is there because the threat is different i understand remondre can catch the ball out of the backfield, but the threat is really different with Gibson there. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:25:09 And again, folks, it all comes down to the New England Patriots knowing what their weak spots are and being able to use that, harness that, take your weakness and turn it into a strength. And if that coaching staff, that novice coaching staff right now in New England can do that over the course of this season into the next. It's going to mean a lot of success on the field for these New England Patriots, including the success they need off the field to bring in the personnel that they're going to need to be able to make that next step. And Murph, before we take our leave of the red zone

Starting point is 00:25:40 discussion, I don't want to neglect the defense either. I don't want to make this seem like, oh, the Patriots just can't execute and score points in the red zone new england once again coming into this matchup on sunday um the final as of the end of week 12 had them ranked 20th at 59.5 in red zone defense um again better numbers than what their offensive counterparts are putting up but still this is an area where this team has always been bend, don't break, and they haven't broken. This year, they're breaking. And from a defensive standpoint, what are the Patriots doing differently from what you saw early on in the season? Because it looked like they were going to be a strong defensive team in the red zone once again.

Starting point is 00:26:21 We simply haven't seen that the last couple of years. No, I kind of put that on the safety play. Peppers just getting back. I thought him out there running the show as a quarterback in the defensive backfield helped a lot. It just didn't happen on Sunday. I expect better out of them going forward with Peppers back. I expect better with Barmore back. You know, hopefully he won't get pulled down from behind.

Starting point is 00:26:48 That was almost a horse call. But, no, things do need to get better. And just a lack of leadership. It's very young. Duggar's been playing out of position. And now he's going to get back into position with with peppers there uh i think it'll get uh i think it it should get better going forward and that's a good point murph and i think it may lead us very nicely into our final segment here today on lockdown patriots because all of you

Starting point is 00:27:17 out there are upset by the new england patriots lost to the indianapolis colts who deserves the biggest slice of the blame game pie? Murph and I are going to slice that one up, serve it up on a plate, and we're going to provide it to you 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, get ready to tackle NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook.

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Starting point is 00:29:53 As we continue to break down the Patriots 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, of course, Murph, the Pat's heading into the bye week on this one, so a lot of time for this one to marinate. A lot of time for the Patri to marinate a lot of time for the patriots to examine what they did well and yeah folks there were moments that the patriots did execute well and did do some things well on the field on sunday wasn't all bad however in the closing moments and in the moments that really i think mattered most the patriots still showing

Starting point is 00:30:22 that they are a very young team a very inexperperienced team, a team in need of much improvement. You cut the monster keys each and every week, bud. So you see things us mere mortals don't see. When you take under account your monster keys, you watch the product on the field, who gets that biggest slice of blame pie and why? Joey Sly. You missed a chip shot.

Starting point is 00:30:45 That's it. You know, I could go ahead and say, you know, the inability to stop the run, that was huge, especially on the last drive. You know, but that was the game. It was a 25-yard chip shot. All right? And you're sitting there looking at your holder like, what are you doing? All right?

Starting point is 00:31:03 I don't care how the ball was tilted. I don't care. You saw it. You had your down it's a 25 yard chip shot you're a professional kicker kick the field goal you you hit that and the patriots win that's it plain and simple honestly i think you're brave for putting that out there like that but i also think you're absolutely correct because it is little things that will add up you look at that and say okay well it was a 25 yarder can't put it all on one play because the patriots had several chances i can that 25 yarder being made in a key situation puts three extra points on the board there you go all of a sudden there you are not in a position to have to do that if everything plays out the same way. So yeah, little things do add up folks and miscommunications,

Starting point is 00:31:47 misfires, all of these little intangibles can add up to big problems on the field. I'm going to point to the fact that the new England Patriots once again had seven penalties for 88 yards on Sunday. You can't sustain that. If you're consistently committing penalties that are causing you major problems. I know a lot

Starting point is 00:32:05 of my colleagues here on the locked on podcast network have said yeah but mike you know what we went out there and we had 10 penalties and we still won the game or we had nine penalties you're not good enough won the game yeah these are teams like the baltimore ravens these are teams like the denver broncos that aren't in the kansas city chiefs exactly the kansas city chiefs these are teams that aren't in the same position that the New England Patriots are. There's talent on those teams that can allow them to win on talent alone. Patriots don't even have close to that right now. They've got a lot of talent, but it needs to be cultivated. And unfortunately, when you continue to cause self-inflicted problems, this is the output you're going to get. Yep. Without a doubt, without a

Starting point is 00:32:45 doubt. No, I, I agree with you. I think, um, you know, the, the penalties were, were, you know, monumental, you know, especially on the offensive line. Again, it was really, it was really terrible. Uh, uh, Layton Robinson, um, you know, he got moved over. I know that's an issue, getting moved over from the right to the left. I've said it before. But, you know, he committed two holding penalties. And, oh, God, it was nasty. It was not a good name game for Layden at all in pass pro. And so, yeah, no, I agree with you, but I'm going to lay the monster blame right there on the

Starting point is 00:33:31 foot of Joey Sly on his leg. You should have made that kick. Murph, before we take our leave completely of this subject, you know we love to end on a high note, and we're going to do that. We're going to end on a high note. If you are handing out that biggest piece of Alamode pie you know the one that everybody wants it's the final piece you've got to give it to your favorite family member who's getting that one in this game for you yeah it's antonio gibson okay uh 62 yards on the ground and and a touchdown you know every time he touched the ball it was

Starting point is 00:34:01 kind of electric um you know he he put the patriots up in the fourth quarter and um you know running very smartly okay it was it was it was it was really nice to see him out on that you know hate to pump the tires but you know he deserves it he does gibson was gibson was great yeah he absolutely was uh of course i don't think it's a big mystery as to who I'm going to choose here. I kind of hinted at it earlier and we're going to come full circle and that's Christian Gonzalez. I think continuously this kid shows that he is head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates here. Really carrying that secondary right now. Yeah, absolutely. Right now he currently ranks 11th in passer rating 71.4 13th in completion

Starting point is 00:34:47 percentage 56.3 percent um and you know you have to take under account murph that he's doing all this when he's assigned to shut down a team's number one option a team's number one receiver you look at the job he did yesterday i thought he did very well against both Pittman and against Alec Pierce. Just two catches on four targets, 14 yards, had the interception. This is just his 17th game in the league, folks. And he is one of the best in the business. Yeah. And something I come back to, and I said this when he was drafted, because I watched this kid as an Oregon Duck, speaking to my friend and colleague Spencer McLaughlin who does the Lockdown Oregon Ducks podcast here and we talked about how Christian Gonzalez never takes his eyes off of their quarterback he has the ability to recognize

Starting point is 00:35:34 routes it really is uncanny and for a player that really is playing I think in his rookie season if you want to be honest I mean that really. He's picking it up because he never takes his eyes off of the quarterback, and he's continuing to do it. And again, he's showing an ability to be able to know what other teams are going to try to do to help neutralize him, and he's throwing it back at them. He's making tackles in the field. He's, like you said with Christian Ellis, forcing him to the field.

Starting point is 00:36:01 Those are things that the great players do. I also want to give a slight tip of the cap and a nod to the gods to Drake May for doing that yesterday, because coming into this game, Murph, all we kept hearing about was that Gus Bradley, the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, is going to call more zone. I believe he calls more zone coverage than any other defensive coordinator in the league. That was his MO. He was running the defense with the Los Angeles Chargers,

Starting point is 00:36:26 and I was on the Chargers. He knew that Gus is not a heavy blitzer. He only blitzed Drake on 25.6% of his dropbacks yesterday, but Drake found a way to be able to neutralize it. I think teams are starting to learn here that you can't play him in zone coverage like that and expect to be able to succeed. And then he found a way to be able to neutralize the man coverage because Gus kind of mixed in a little bit of that as well. Not maybe as much as they should have, but he did try to at least incorporate it.

Starting point is 00:36:56 Drake was able to anticipate both coverages yesterday and had, for the most part, I think, had a great amount of success. So bottom line, the Hooper was fantastic. Yeah, it really was. He liked tight end, didn't he? He does. We're going to have to get him a tight endage t-shirt. Call Claire and get him a tight endage t-shirt. That's right.

Starting point is 00:37:15 That's right. You can hear Drake May in the huddle going, Hooper drives the boat, Chief. He's ready. He's ready. He loves to find him, and he wants to be able to find him. But, no, it's true. I think opposing defenses right now realize that you have to account for Drake May on every drop back. Whether you're playing man to man, whether you're playing zone, you have to account for them because he has the ability to make plays in either coverage. So Murph, what can I say? Thank you so much for lending your wisdom, your counsel, those monster keys keys that you carry in your pocket like so many nickels and dimes we appreciate you before we let you go bud please let everyone know where they can interact with you reach out to you and what you got

Starting point is 00:37:53 marinating in murph's kitchen for the week you can check me out on twitter at teamerf207 zitter x whatever you want to call you can also check me out on Blue Sky, also at TeamRF207, whatever, bluesky.com, I don't know. On behalf of my good friend Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate, reminding all of you 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

Starting point is 00:38:18 on Locked on Patriots.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Suffer Week 13 Loss to Indianapolis Colts: Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez

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