Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots vs. New York Jets Crossover: Drake Maye, Aaron Rodgers Set for Week 8 Showdown

Starting point is 00:00:00 This Sunday, the New York Jets continue their fight for their playoff lives, and the New England Patriots find themselves in a unique position to be a spoiler. Time to cross the streams here on the Locked On Podcast Network, Locked On Patriots, Locked On Jets, Crossover Thursday. You are Locked On NFL Crossover, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Locked On Patriots fans, Locked On Jets fans, thank you so much for joining us here on this Crossover Thursday episode

Starting point is 00:00:39 of the Locked On Patriots and Locked On Jets podcast right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And of course, folks, that means your New England Patriots and your New York Jets, respectively, will meet for the second of two scheduled meetings in 2024. The Jets beat New England 24-3 on Thursday night football on September 19th at MetLife Stadium.

Starting point is 00:01:02 Patriots trying to avoid being swept by the Jets for the first time since the 2000 season. A lot of storylines heading into this one, and of course, here today to break it all down is yours truly, Mike DeBate, host of Locked On Patriots, joined by my good friend and colleague here at the Locked

Starting point is 00:01:18 On Podcast Network, the host of Locked On Jets, John Buchko. John, it's always an honor to cross the streams with you, my friend. Patriots and Jets getting their two matchups out of the way early, but it's still an honor and still a privilege, my friend. Mike, always great to chat with you. And, of course, these teams first played Week 3, which is five weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:01:37 And for the Jets, it might as well have been five years ago because so much has happened between then and now. Absolutely. And we're going to get into all that's happened in Game Green Nation in just a moment. But of course, folks, I want to remind you that today's Crossover Thursday episode is presented by PrizePix. Download the app and use the code LOCKEDONNFL

Starting point is 00:01:56 to win $50 instantly when you play $5. And John, as you alluded to, a lot has changed on the green side of the Meadowlands in the last couple of weeks since these two teams met last on September 19th Robert Sala no longer the head coach for the New York Jets Jeff Ulbrich he has been promoted to head coach Devontae Adams reunited with Aaron Rodgers as now he is a New York Jets. So you look at the Jets on paper, especially after adding in now Hassan Redick to wreak havoc in that defense, and the Jets look like they should be ready for a bash. But since the firing of Robert Sala, it hasn't really translated to the type of success the Jets had hoped for, at least in the win column.

Starting point is 00:02:40 So, John, for the benefit of my listeners on Locked On Patriots, kind of walk us through what it's been like the last couple of weeks for the New York Jets, and are these still the biggest storylines heading out of the medal ones right now? You know, Mike, it's amazing. The Jets also changed their play caller two weeks ago, and that's not even within the top three stories of this team in the last month. When these teams last met, was week three and the jets won pretty handily and that week the jets were the toast of the nfl you know aaron rogers played a great game everything was working as planned the team was living up to the hype the all of the accolades that it received pre-season and that was really the last time the jets felt like things were going well for the new

Starting point is 00:03:21 york jets ever since then they've lost four straight games the next week they lost to the Denver Broncos, a really ugly game, followed by a loss in London to the Minnesota Vikings. That's when things got really crazy because then they fired Robert Sala and the owner kind of sold this as like, this is going to be the thing that saves our season. But they go out and lose the next week to the Buffalo Bills. So we have another move that's going to save the season in trading for Devontae Adams.

Starting point is 00:03:45 And I think the thing to, the way I view it is, these were not moves from a position of strength. These were moves that were kind of, in my view, desperation moves. This is a team that is frankly very flawed at the moment. And I think in the NFL, it's very difficult to fix a team mid-season. Most of the time, if your team's if your team

Starting point is 00:04:06 has flaws entering the season you're going to end with the season with flaws i i think it's possible to fix maybe one issue with your team you know maybe two um but you know firing your coach mid-season i guess in this case like a quarter of the way through the season it just creates all these complications i mean for, the last two weeks, the defense has not been as good. You know, Robert Sala, great defensive, not much of a head coach. And I do think that the change was justified

Starting point is 00:04:32 based on his performance, but I don't think the owner thought through how this may impact the defense because Robert Sala is a very good defensive coach. Now, he never really indicated how much he was hands-on versus how much he delegated to Jeff Ulbrich, but either way, you know, the defense was impacted because if Sala was hands-on versus how much he delegated to Jeff Ulbrich. But either way, the defense was impacted because if Salah was hands-on, now he's gone.

Starting point is 00:04:48 If he delegated a lot to Jeff Ulbrich, well, Ulbrich's now the head coach. So he's being pulled in all these different directions. He has all these new responsibilities that are taking him away from the defense. And I think it's kind of a symptom of one of the issues with the New York Jets franchise is they always look for like these quick fixes. And firing Salah wasn't a quick fix. You know, bringing in Devontae Adams, we'll see how the move works out.

Starting point is 00:05:12 But he only had three catches for 30 yards in his first game with the team. And the Jets are now two and five. It's going to be a very, very difficult hill to climb to get back into contention for this team. I'm glad that you mentioned, you know, trying to fix things on the fly and the inherent difficulty in trying to do that. I know a lot of Patriots fans up here are hoping that some sort of miracle will befall this team at one and six and maybe show a little bit of life toward the end of the season. I think the Patriots can improve. I think they will, quite honestly, and quite frankly, I don't think they have anywhere to go but up at this point, John, but it is very difficult to find that quick fix during the season, whether it be plugging in an offensive

Starting point is 00:05:48 lineman or in the Jets case, whether it be adding a pass catcher or a playmaker or adding to the defense or the offensive line, there are difficulties that come along with that. And it's very difficult to be able to form that. So we'll see what the Jets look like on the field this Sunday when the Patriots and the Jets lock horns at Gillette Stadium. But it's very interesting that our conversation now has been a few minutes deep into the Jets and the Patriots, and we haven't mentioned Aaron Rodgers all that much. Now, obviously last year was a lost season,

Starting point is 00:06:20 Aaron going down in week one and did not suit up for the Jets for the entire year. This year was supposed to be the year that a healthy Aaron Rodgers kind of cured everything that was wrong with the Jets last year. I think Rodgers' performance so far, and correct me if I'm wrong, could probably be best categorized as up and down. We've seen him look like the Rodgers of old, and sorry Jets fans, we've seen him look like old Rodgers at times so when you talk about the difference between the two how are Jets fans dealing with uh the dichotomy right now that seems to be Aaron Rodgers I think that this is gonna be difficult for a lot of Jets fans to hear he looks like a 40 year old quarterback right now and one thing I've said through the years

Starting point is 00:07:04 with the Jets I said it with Joe Flacco, and obviously Aaron Rodgers has had a much better career than Joe Flacco. Flacco has had this little renaissance the last two years, which has been a lot of fun to watch. But there's always that one great game that's lurking somewhere in a quarterback as they age. You get to a point where they just can't do it consistently. I remember 15 years ago reading this interview with John Elway, and Elway was retired

Starting point is 00:07:31 for like a decade at that point. He said, you know what? I could come off the couch and win a game. I just couldn't win a game the next week. The body, when you get to Rodgers' age, just doesn't recover as quickly as possible, as it used to, from the week-to-week grind. And there still are great games in it. We saw one of them week three, but I don't know if he can do it consistently anymore. He has the second quickest time to throw in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:07:58 He's at the bottom of the league when we're talking about deep passing attempts. Traditionally, in Green Bay, he was near the top of the league when we're talking about uh deep passes deep passing attempts traditionally in green bay he was near the top of the league his last two mvp seasons in 2020 and 2021 you know he was near the top of the league in deep passing attempts now he's near the bottom i think a lot of this is just he doesn't want to get hit because he can't get hit um you know the jets have done actually done a pretty decent job in pass protection outside of tyron smith which really weird to say because tyron smith's been such a great player through his career. He's having a down year for the Jets. He's showing his age, but Jets offensive line

Starting point is 00:08:30 has actually done a pretty decent job in pass protection, but Rodgers has been banged up anyway. He first got banged up, suffered a minor injury near the end of the Denver game. That got a little bit worse the next week in London against the Vikings. He took another big hit. There was a meme going around the internet of him crawling around.

Starting point is 00:08:48 This week on the injury reports, you know, in addition to the ankle, which has landed him on the injury report the last couple of weeks, now his knee's hurting, his hamstring's hurting. It just doesn't seem like the body can hold up anymore. It happens to everybody. And, you know, look, he can still make some throws. He can still make the pre-snap reads. He still can have a big game. But i think we're past the point where it's realistic to expect him to be anything resembling the green bay version of aaron rogers and that's disappointing for the jets it's disappointing for the fans to hear because i think jets fans had the dream of finally solving the quarterback situation at least for the short run finally getting the hall of famer that they've been searching for for so i mean you can make a case that just been searching for it for so long. I mean, you can make a case that Jets have been searching for a quarterback since Joe Namath. Unfortunately, I mean,

Starting point is 00:09:28 and the thing is, it's not like, okay, he got fooled by this coverage. Okay, he'll bounce back from that. He's 40 years old and the hits are going to keep piling up over the course of the season. And I just don't see how things get drastically better from this point. Yeah. If there's any silver lining, Jets fans, Aaron Rodgers looked pretty good against the Patriots the last time he played them to the tune of 281 yards and a passer rating of 118.9.

Starting point is 00:09:54 If he can kind of, I don't want to say duplicate it because obviously Patriots fans would not like to see that, but Jets fans would love it or at least come close to that. Yeah, and Aaron Rodgers that may not be at full strength is still better than what a lot of teams are dealing with when it comes to the quarterback position. John, before we flip the script and you put me on the hot seat and we put the New England Patriots under the spotlight, I want to give Patriots fans a little bit of insight on the Jets defense and what the return of Hasan Reddick is going to mean to this team. Obviously, the Jets did not have Redick when they played the last time. And now you're adding one of the most talented pass rushers in the league

Starting point is 00:10:31 when he's on his game. And the New England Patriots have had their difficulties with withstanding pressure. Do the Jets look at this as an opportunistic matchup on Sunday? Well, it's tough to say. I mean, this defense is frankly not been as good as the numbers would suggest. I think the defense feasted early on offenses that were not very good. Tennessee's offense, Denver, they played, they got the Broncos on a day where the bad weather day at MetLife Stadium, Bo Nix was clearly having a lot of issues with it. Last two weeks, they faced Buffalo. They faced Pittsburgh.

Starting point is 00:11:06 The defense did not hold up well, and there are issues. This is not the Jets' defensive line you're used to over the last two years. The top three defensive ends from last year are all gone. John Franklin Myers was traded. Bryce Huff signed in Philadelphia on a free agent deal, which is frankly not panning out very well for the Eagles. Jermaine Johnson's injured. Will McDonald, the first-round pick from a year ago,

Starting point is 00:11:24 has been pretty good at generating pressure. We'll see how many snaps Redick plays. I'm assuming Redick's not going to get a full snap count. I think he will play. I assume he's going to be on a pitch count and play obvious passing downs. Quinton Williams is not having a good year. So this is not like a great Jets pass rush right now. And more than that, they're getting pushed around in the run game.

Starting point is 00:11:40 This is a bad run defense. That's a very good point to make because the new england patriots have struggled to run the football is this an opportunity for them to break out of their two-game slump and being able to run the ball effectively and gain significant yards on the ground to help drake may john butchco is curious about that and so are a lot of jets fans in just a moment he's going to put me on the hot seat as we flip the script and the New England Patriots take center stage on this Crossover Thursday episode between Locked On Patriots and Locked On Jets right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, today's episode is brought to you in part by our friends at ZBiotics. ZBiotics pre-alcohol

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Starting point is 00:13:40 Mike DeBate of Locked on Patriots and John Buchko of Locked on Jets. And John, the Jets enter this matchup at two and five, the Patriots and John Butchco of locked on jets. And John, the jets enter this matchup at two and five, the Patriots at one and six, the jets still have playoff life and they're going to be playing that way. This Sunday, the Patriots. Yeah,

Starting point is 00:13:55 it's pretty much onto 2025 here at this point, but you know, the pats would love to play spoiler year. And I know jets fans are curious about the Patriots right now, because the last time these two teams faced off, Jacoby Brissett was the quarterback. Drake May has now taken the reins in New England. From a Jets perspective, what are the biggest questions do you think Jets fans may have, or the Jets themselves have, about the New England Patriots and the matchup coming up this Sunday?

Starting point is 00:14:23 Well, I think whenever you face an opponent that has drafted a quarterback and that quarterback has just entered the starting lineup, you hit on it. You hit on it with that intro. How is Drake May looking so far? Drake May right now, I think, is looking as Patriots fans hoped he would when they drafted him back in April. Look, bottom line, there are still issues that Drake May needs to work through and there are still improvements he needs to make. He's a rookie. He's going to look like that at times. They're going to be errant throws. There are going to be lapses in judgment. But the thing that really makes me believe that the Patriots are onto something with Drake May here, John, is his wisdom beyond his years. He's using the knowledge that he's

Starting point is 00:15:06 acquired since he's been drafted and working with Alex Van Pelt and the Patriots Offensive Brain Trust to resist the urge to constantly push the ball downfield. He's taking the jet down when it's available. He's throwing the ball away when he needs to. He is going off script and making things happen and showing us that type of athleticism that really made people fall in love with him as a quarterback at North Carolina. He's putting that into action. And smartly, Alex Van Pelt is putting him in position to utilize that by utilizing him in the shotgun much more than they're utilizing him under center. Now, again, his eyes need to match his feet, and that's something that he's doing better,

Starting point is 00:15:43 but he needs a little bit more improvement there. His throwing motion can be a little bit wide and a little bit erratic, and that's causing him to maybe miss some targets or lose control of the football, where if he compacts his throwing motion a little bit, he'll do a little bit better job of protecting the football. But all in all, he's taking shots downfield, he's giving life to this offense, and the players around him doing a magnificent job of being able to form a pretty good synergy with him all of that it equates to his athleticism and his ability to go off script to negate a lot of problems that the Patriots are

Starting point is 00:16:18 having along the offensive line the Pats lately have been better when they've been throwing the ball than running the ball that's not coincidence That's because Drake May is opening things up in the passing game. Patriots will increase that, but they got to find a way to get the running game going to really help compliment this kid. That's going to help him settle down and it's going to help him get better. But so far, so good for the young rookie out of North Carolina. All right, Mike, I want to figure out how to phrase this next question in the most respectful way possible. But, of course, during the Brady era, Patriots were full of household names.

Starting point is 00:16:51 I think everybody knew the key players. This is a Patriots team that's not as well known. So can you tell us some of the key guys on offense, some of the key guys on defense Jets fans might want to look out for on Sunday? Yeah, absolutely. And, look, I know if you're not talking about Drake May, you're probably looking at guys like Ramondre Stevenson, Hunter Henry. Demario Douglas is becoming a little bit more of a known name, but that's one I would focus on if you're a Jets fan, because Bob Douglas is one

Starting point is 00:17:17 of their more explosive playmakers. He can win his battles in the slot. If he needs to get out on the perimeter and venture out there to make a play happen, he can do it. So always account for his whereabouts on the field. On the offensive side of the ball, when it comes to running backs, Antonio Gibson, I think, is someone that is a threat on third down. He's a threat catching the ball out of the backfield. He's someone that I'd keep an eye on.

Starting point is 00:17:40 If the Patriots running game gets going with both he and Stevenson, that's a pretty good one-two punch running the football on the ground. So keep an eye out it. The Patriots running game gets going with both he and Stevenson. That's a pretty good one-two punch running the football on the ground. So keep an eye out for those guys. And Kayshaun Booty right now, the wide receiver out of LSU, two years removed from a tumultuous but yet promising college career. He's been very good lately about getting open, shedding his defenders, sure hands, and really showing a burst of speed to be able to get open down the field. So those are the guys that I would watch if I'm a Jets fan on the offensive side of the ball

Starting point is 00:18:12 that may not be as well known as some of the players that Jets fans are used to seeing. On defense, I would look for Anthony Jennings. Anthony Jennings right now is their best player in terms of being able to set an edge. Dietrich Wise Jr. is a team captain and a name that Jets fans probably know from the sheer volume of games these two teams have played against each other. But Jennings is so key to setting that edge. And if he's got help from Wise to do it, that's going to allow him to maybe even pin his ears back and get after the quarterback, or at the very least, if he's playing more of a

Starting point is 00:18:44 middle-type game, be able to help stop the run. So he's a very key cog in that front seven. And in the defensive backfield, look for a guy named Marte Mapu. Marte is a second-year safety, got experience as a linebacker, plays close to the line of scrimmage, but he can be very physical, and he can be a very deep weapon for the Patriots in red zone defense. So those are the guys that I would keep an eye on that may not be household names in the Meadowlands, but you may hear those names come up on the television broadcast on Sunday. Now I know we're entering week eight of season one, but what are the early returns on Gerard Mayo as head coach? I think the early returns right now are that Gerard is doing the best he can.

Starting point is 00:19:26 He does have a ways to go to settle into being a head coach, but he's showing all the right elements. And look, I know it's been a tough week for Gerard and the soft football team comments. We've talked about that several times on locked on Patriots. And for the benefit of Jets fans that may not be aware of that, Gerard called his team out post-game after the Jaguars game on Sunday in London and said, we're a soft football team across the board. It sent shockwaves through a lot of Patriots media. People were not used to hearing the head

Starting point is 00:19:55 coach get up there and criticize his players in a public fashion. Bill Belichick would usually come up there and say, we need to be better. It starts with coaching. It's on me. I think Gerard was getting at that. And I don't think he meant any ill will toward his players. I don't think his players took it that way. But again, you worry about the term soft having a negative effect on guys in the locker room. It inherently insinuates that you're playing without heart. And that's the last thing an NFL player wants to be told. So it's going to be very interesting to me to see how the Patriots deal with adversity. They're going to come out of their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they're going to go into this matchup with the Jets.

Starting point is 00:20:34 I think under the microscope, a lot of Patriots fans are going to really be looking closely to see how this team is playing for Gerard Mayo. Are they playing hard on every snap? Are they doing everything they can to to get loose balls, to be able to force turnovers? Are they playing through every play, or are guys going their separate ways on the field, going off script and not really adhering to the Patriot way? If that's the case, yeah, I think Gerard Mayo is going to come under some scrutiny, but if this team comes out and plays hard for him, that's a sign that they're moving

Starting point is 00:21:04 in the right direction because he's smart enough when it comes to x's and o's to be an effective coach and he's also well liked enough and well respected in that locker room to command that type of leadership that he's going to need to lead this team back i think this game on sunday is going to be a very good litmus test for how effective his leadership has been thus far and that that's one of the things that's always tough for a first-time head coach, because sometimes you say something that may be technically accurate, but it doesn't come off the way you want it to, and it's heard in a way you didn't intend for it. And I've seen Jets coaches struggle with that. Yeah, and I think that's exactly what happened here. I mean, Gerard Mayo was the last

Starting point is 00:21:43 guy that's going to get up there and call his team soft or say that his players are soft. I don't think he meant that in that regard. But again, I did hold his feet to the fire earlier this week and say that he has to watch his rhetoric because a comment like that can be taken the wrong way and it can very easily lose you the locker room, especially when your main job is to try to earn the respect of everybody in that locker room. He's a rookie head coach. He doesn't have the same pedigree that Bill Belichick has and all of the rings and the resume behind him that automatically demanded respect before he even spoke a word to these players. Gerard doesn't have that yet. He's got to earn it and he's got to earn it each and every day out there on the field and in the locker room. So again, there are things he needs to do better, but there are also things that he's

Starting point is 00:22:28 doing well, and I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. It's got to be tough following the legend who has six Super Bowl rings. That's true. That's a big shadow. No question about it. And Patriots fans, speaking of a big shadow for a good long time, and again, I'm sorry, Jets fans, New England Patriots fans usually circled the Jets games as automatic wins. That is no longer the case by far.

Starting point is 00:22:54 The Jets, the last couple of games that they've played against the Patriots, have dominated them, one with Bill Belichick, one without. So now the question comes, can the Jets, who are hungry for a win, desperate for a win, come in and play an aggressive style that will allow them to maintain their status as the favorites? Yeah, that's right. The Jets are coming into Foxborough as the favorites. We're going to talk about that in just a moment because the Jets are going to need to do certain things to beat the Patriots on their home turf and vice versa. The Patriots are going to need to do certain things to beat the Patriots on their home turf, and vice versa. The Patriots are going to need to execute certain things as well to beat the Jets and forge the upset.

Starting point is 00:23:31 Keys to victory are the topic of conversation next when John Buchko and I wrap up this Locked On Patriots, Locked On Jets crossover Thursday episode right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sports book. And don't delay. Do it today because this week's game coming up, your New England Patriots and your New York Jets are doing battle at gillette stadium

Starting point is 00:24:05 in foxborough the jets right now favored by seven on the road yeah that's right jets fans have to be loving that coming into foxborough and they're the favorites but the patriots may take that as a sign of disrespect whether you're a jets fan or a patriots fan however you feel about that let your fandom work for you with fanDuel and when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can go and check out the latest stats. View live play by play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. That's right,

Starting point is 00:24:40 $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Make the most of your fandom with FanDuel. That's FanDuel.com. Once again, Fan Thursday style. Mike DeBate of Locked On Patriots, John Buchko of Locked On Jets. Folks, the New England Patriots are seven-point underdogs at home, according to our friends over at FanDuel. The Jets come into this matchup 2-5, the Pats at 1-6, a 1 p.m. kickoff at Gillette Stadium

Starting point is 00:25:23 on Sunday. John john we've gone over the biggest stories in jets camp the biggest stories in patriots camp but if either team is going to be successful on sunday it comes down to the little things the logistics on the field that are going to determine the winner and the loser in this one the jets are coming into this game in your estimation as needing this win. A 2-6 start to this season probably means a very difficult, maybe even impossible road to the playoffs for the Jets. So there's a lot of motivation here for them to come in and get the victory. If they're going to do that, how do they do it? What are the keys to victory this Sunday for the New York Jets?

Starting point is 00:26:03 Well, Mike, the first thing I'm looking to is the script on the offensive side of the ball, the first, you know, 15 or so plays. It's improved the last two weeks. Now, as we've discussed, the Jets have so many stories going on. Two weeks ago, they changed play callers from Nathaniel Hackett to Todd Downing. And that's not even one of the top three stories of the last two weeks. It's not even debatable because you fired the coach. You traded for Devonta Adams and Hassan Redick ended his holdout. This is at best the fourth most biggest story on the team the last two weeks, which for other teams might be the story of the year.

Starting point is 00:26:37 The script has improved. And I've been a skeptic that Downing would make that big of a difference. I'm not sure he's made that big of a difference, but one thing that's definitely improved is the quality of the play calling in the early part of the game, the way the Jets are executing, just the overall creativity. I think the script is especially important in this game because jumping out to an early lead is a big deal for the Jets in this one.

Starting point is 00:26:59 I think whenever you're facing a rookie quarterback, you want to put a lot on his plate because even the good rookie quarterbacks have moments where they don't look so good. And when you ask a rookie quarterback to do too much, even a good one, bad things happen. So on the other hand, this jet, and I know the Patriots haven't been running the ball effectively. This jet's run defense has not been effective at all. And I know, again, the Jets stopped the Patriots pretty well on the ground week three, but

Starting point is 00:27:24 the Patriots get the lead and this jetets defense needs to start stopping the run, I don't have any faith in them. So I think it's always important to get off to a good start, always important to jump out to an early lead, but Jets jump on the Patriots early. It's tough to see how New England wins. If the Patriots jump out to a lead early in this game, that's how they possibly pull the upset. Second key, it's nothing the Jets can do except hope, but they need to hope Greg Zerlein bounces out of this slump that he's in. Greg Zerlein has been a really solid kicker through his career. He's had a good first couple seasons with the Jets.

Starting point is 00:27:59 This year it's not been working for him. Missed a game-winning field goal attempt against Denver, a couple doinks against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. Last week had a kick blocked from only 35 yards. And it was going wide anyway. You know, it happens to good kickers all the time. And it's happening to Greg Zerlein this year. He's in a slump.

Starting point is 00:28:16 You have to hope he comes out of it. Third thing, don't beat yourself. I think that with all due respect to the New England Patriots, most neutral observers would say that the Jets are a more talented team. And I say that even as somebody who thinks that this Jets team is not as talented as it was made out to be. If both teams play their A game, the Jets are probably going to win. The way the Jets lose this game is if they make mistakes.

Starting point is 00:28:40 And last week against the Steelers, Jets were in control of the game. They were up 15-6 with a minute 15 seconds left in the first half. Aaron Rodgers throws an interception. That turned the game around. Again, going back to, you want to force a rookie quarterback to do as much as possible. You want to put as much on his plate as possible. If you're turning the ball over, giving him short fields, you're making life easy on him. You don't want to do that. So those are my three keys to victory for the Jets. How about you? What do you think the Patriots need to do to win this game? Well, in a lot of ways, John,

Starting point is 00:29:09 I think it's a mirror image of what the Jets need to do. The Patriots came into this game running the ball ineffectively for the last two games. They need to make sure to get that running game on track because what it does is it keeps defenses on their heels and it allows the Patriots to play from an area of strength, but it also opens up this offense so much for what Alex Van Pelt likes to call the Patriots are predicated on outside zone and they love to run that from Andre Stevenson is a very good running back at being able to run that style but it allows Drake to be able to get into his rhythm and then start taking shots down

Starting point is 00:29:40 field through play action that's what the Patriots would love to do. So they need to be able to try to establish the run early. Conversely, on the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots need to start stopping the run. They have been abysmal at doing so in the last few games, and it's shown on the field. It's really hard to feel good about this Patriots run defense right now, John. The Jets may come into this game looking at the Patriots as being right for the pickings. The Dolphins, the Texans, and the Jaguars all posted rushing totals of 193, 192, and 171 yards, respectively.

Starting point is 00:30:16 And at that point, you look at what Jacksonville did with the Patriots running the ball on 17 consecutive plays. The Patriots cannot have another repeat performance like that. And then lastly, I think really kind of works hand in hand with both running styles. The Patriots coaches from the top, from Gerard Mayo to Alex Van Pelt to Demarcus Covington have done a poor job of adjusting when they need to in games. Haven't been doing much of that.

Starting point is 00:30:42 We've seen the Patriots get out to hot starts. They did it against the Jaguars, got out to an early 10-0 lead, and then all of a sudden abandoned the passing game when it was working very well, attempted to run, and they were gaining one yard or losing one yard or losing four yards. There weren't the offensive adjustments that were made that were necessary in order to keep the Patriots up and to keep the Jacksonville Jaguars on their heels. On the opposite side of the ball, obviously, if you're ripping off consecutive runs in the teens, your run defense is doing something wrong. Adjustments are not being made on the defensive side of the ball either.

Starting point is 00:31:15 So that's inherent upon Gerard Mayo. It's inherent upon the coordinators. You talked a little bit earlier about the jury being out or the early returns on Gerard Mayo. If they continue to play in a way that does not adapt to what this team needs during the game, yeah, then that's going to be another indictment on his coaching style. So again, a lot comes back to the New England Patriots here, but they have to be able to get back to fundamentals, and they have to be able to adjust on the fly.

Starting point is 00:31:42 If they're not doing any of those, it's going to be a long afternoon for them in Foxborough on Sunday. Well, Mike, always a pleasure chatting with you. It is always an honor, always a privilege to share the microphone with you. Love crossing the streams twice a year. I had a funny feeling that at some point on some Locked On show across the Locked On NFL channel, John and I are once again going to be sharing a microphone. But in the meantime, on behalf of my good friend, John Buchko of Locked on Jets, I'd

Starting point is 00:32:08 like to thank each and every one of you. All of you Locked on Jets everydayers. All of you Locked on Patriots everydayers. All of you curious casuals that are out there. Fans of other teams that may want to be keeping your friends close and your enemies closer that are joining us today to learn about this upcoming matchup. We always appreciate your support. The Locked On Podcast Network is nothing without its fans, and we appreciate each and every

Starting point is 00:32:30 one of you. So keep coming back. And of course, don't forget, more to come on Locked On Jets, more to come on Locked On Patriots as we get you ready for kickoff on Sunday, 1 p.m. from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. In the meantime, on behalf of John Buchko, 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.

Starting point is 00:32:52 Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow, right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

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