Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Not Ready for Prime Time? - Breaking Down the New England Patriots Prime Time Games in 2022 — 5/16/22

Episode Date: May 17, 2022

The New England Patriots are on to 2022. The Pats schedule for the upcoming season is set, and the Pats are sated for five prime time matchups. However, are the Patriots still the marquee draw, deserving of the time on national television? Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy of E2G Sports to break down the Pats’ 2022 prime time opponents.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, your New England Patriots have five primetime matchups coming up on their 2022 NFL schedule. But if the pundits are to be believed, do the Patriots really deserve those games? Murph and I will discuss that and more as we continue our schedule breakdown. I'm Mike DeBate, and you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England 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 you Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots

a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots, free and available on all platforms. Download, subscribe, and follow wherever you get your podcasts, including smashing that subscribe button to YouTube. I'm Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots. I also cover your New England

Patriots for Patriots Country of Fan Nation of Sports Illustrated. I'm also your host here, which is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And as always on Mondays, hashtag Lockdown Murph Monday exists for a reason, folks, and boy, do we have some great topics to run down here today when it comes to the Patriots'

prime time and whether or not they're ready for prime time. That being said, I am honored, grateful, always, always enamored to be joined by my co-host this morning, the counter Murphy Fisto himself, my benefactor in this business, the only man with his very own branded hashtag, the legendary Thomas Murphy of e2g sports.com. Thank you for coming to me in friendship. Thank you for joining me today, Don Murphy. Oh, always my pleasure, bud. Always my pleasure. Uh, it wouldn't be one day without it. And, uh, yeah, we've spent a hell of a lot of time together this past week. We have. We've spent an awful lot of time together. Murph and I are starting to sicken one another. No, I'm only

kidding. Probably more on his side than on mine. I never get sick of the man wisdom and counsel. And I always enjoy sharing the microphone with you. You know that, bud. And I think we're starting off with a tremendous topic today because I think you're the perfect person to be able to lend a thicket of intellectual wisdom here on Locked On Patriots for a subject that I know gets your blood boiling, gets my blood boiling a little bit, and that is the New England Patriots schedule coming up. And, you know, Murph, I think everybody loves to be prognosticators. They all love to gaze into that Belichickian crystal ball and determine what the Patriots schedule coming up and you know Murph I think everybody loves to be prognosticators they all love to gaze into that Belichickian crystal ball and determine what the Patriots are going to

do I'm always of the ilk that you should at least see what the team looks like on the field before doing that but you know there's a whole living to be made uh by doing it beforehand and I respect it but the Patriots have five prime time games coming up. I'll admit, I was a bit surprised by that, considering the first round exit last year, considering a relatively quiet offseason. I'm not saying a poor offseason, because I think the Patriots made some astute additions to this roster. But that being said, you don't look at this team and say, wow, you know what, they have the marquee star power to warrant five, you know, primetime games. At the same time, this is the Patriots and the games that they've selected, or I should say the schedule makers have selected, do have a bit of intrigue to them. And I

know we're going to discuss those today, but first, before we get into it, you and I are both old enough to remember the not ready for primetime players, the Saturday Night Live. They were before my time, but I was raised properly as an old soul so i mean even though they were hitting the airwaves i wasn't born yet i still was raised on the saturday night live that to me is still the gold standard of casts jane curtain dan akroyd john belushi bill murray chevy chase the the the original uh cast and they were called the not ready for primetime players because no one thought they were ready for primetime. I think that's a nice segue here into this system. When you look at this New England, when you look at this Patriots team

and you look at them from top to bottom, are they ready for primetime? Do they deserve these five primetime games? Of course they deserve the primetime games. This is the New England Patriots. We're sitting there and you're talking about what drives this beast that is the NFL. It's television contracts and it's ratings. And who brings in the ratings? The Patriots. Now, I don't want to hear that Tom Brady isn't here anymore because just as many people tune in to watch the Patriots lose as they do to watch them win.

Some people just like to watch the world burn. And that's what the NFL is hoping. That's why these games are happening. They want to draw in not only Patriots Nation, which is as large, if not bigger, than want to draw in not only, uh, Patriots nation, which is as large, if not bigger than, than any fan base in the NFL. Sorry, Dallas, just, just deal with it. Um, but no, there, there are just as many, uh, people out there that want to watch the Patriots lose and lose badly. And that's what they're hoping for. And to be quite frank uh that's what the league office uh has in mind here you know if the patriots are great fantastic if they're not even better that's that's what goodell is hoping for you know he's sitting there and he's thinking who's going to turn on the tv and and switch it over more than anybody else the new england patriots and that's

why they have these five games. And we don't even know. You could still flex more into that spot. So, you know, if the Patriots are rolling, you could see it. Is there an 8 o'clock game on the last week of the season? On the last week of the season, not on the Patriots schedule. We're talking starting with the 24th of December. I'm sorry.

I just meant in general. I forget if there's a late game the last weekend of the season. Yeah, right now there's a lot of TBDs on that week. I know the Patriots, the Buffalo Bills game definitely is. They're talking maybe the 7th, maybe the 8th. But there is a lot of flux still on there. So, yeah, there's definitely room for another another game could end up getting flexed into that that prime time spot and this is what it's all about folks the new england patriots bring

viewers on both sides of the ball whether uh you know it's just that those extra viewers that might not be tuning in for their team facing off against the Patriots, it's the casual fan that's going to come in just to watch the Pats lose. Yeah, and they will. And believe me, the Patriots are still a pariah amongst fan bases. You just take a look at social media, especially Twitter, Instagram as well, but Twitter mostly. That hashtag, Forever NE, whenever you see that, there are twitter mostly uh that hashtag forever any whenever you see that there are people that search that hashtag and they will attack they will absolutely go on the offensive when it comes to little piranhas yeah exactly and they will and

for lack of a better term six championships in two decades will do that i mean you have any idea how many super bowl parties how many frat parties, how many drunken binges were ruined because the Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl and ruined the parties of so many different areas in this country? Sorry, Kansas City. I'm not sorry. Yeah, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Denver. Well, Denver had a good run against us. But there are certain teams that just, you know, weren't able to break through Pittsburgh a few times.

That's it. You know, they weren't able to break through because of the bats. There's a reason I hate the Raiders to this day. And it happened in the 70s. You know? Both instances happened in the 70s. The Sugar Bear game and then, of course, you know, Daryl Stingley. Rest in peace.

But there are reasons. Nobody holds a grudge like an Irishman, except for an Irishman who is a Patriots fan. Absolutely. And you know, when the Patriots are able to get the job done and they're able to get out there and play the way they can, it really is, it's just a happening for everyone. The fan base loves it.

They flock in droves and you get so many people throughout the country that are going to hate watch. you mentioned the final game of the season that's a potential game that could hold the fate of the afc east in its hands i mean even if you buy into the hype that the bills are going to be you know the the champions um and i'll play devil's advocate for a while i mean they're the defending champions the last couple of years i mean this is definitely a team that can do it no one's questioning that but even if they're not competing with the Patriots for that slot, they may need that game without beyond a shadow of a doubt to win a, to win the division. And at that point, you know, does that game get flexed because of,

you know, implications for either Miami or something else to that point, or does that game come down to the division? That's going to be an interesting matchup. It's going to be a lot of interesting matchups, but I agree with you. I think the Patriots are there for a reason. And I think their schedule and their head coach and their prowess warrants them being in the position that they're in.

So bottom line, Murph, they're there. And whether the pundits like it or not, really, I mean, it's kind of secondary at this point. The Patriots were there. The schedule makers felt that they deserved to be right well and you know just one more thing you know prime time games for coaching staffs and for players and for players families is is not ideal coaches don't like them players don't like them. These games burn you out. And the Patriots are playing four in a row, four primetime games in a row. There's only so much get up that

you have. There's only so much adrenaline that you have. This amount of, this many primetime games is not an advantage, people. It's a disadvantage. It might be an advantage to you and me and to, you know, the public at large getting to see your teams. But believe me, coaches don't like this stuff. They would rather play at one o'clock or four o'clock. They do not want to play at eight o'clock at night. And then they definitely don't want to play at eight o'clock at night, fly home home then fly back out to play another eight o'clock game following and we'll see so we'll see bill manipulate that we talked about that last week

a little bit with with staying out on the west coast and and you know at least those two games are back to back and they can you know just decompress and maybe get away from some family problems and diaper changing for the week. And they are back-to-back, and believe it or not, those are back-to-back primetime games. We're going to discuss those in just a bit, but I completely agree with you. I think that there is definitely an argument to be made about teams that are put in this position, that are playing in this position, and we'll continue to see what happens.

So bottom line, bud, like we said, the Patriots are there, and the schedule makers have decided that they deserve to be there. And in just a moment, Murph and I are going to break down the first two of those primetime games on your schedule right now, Minnesota Vikings on Thanksgiving Day, but preceded by a matchup with Gut Bears and a matchup between Mac Jones and Justin Fields that I know you all

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Go to catalystpower.com slash lockedonpatriots to learn more. Patriots fans, we are discussing the not ready for prime time or in our estimation they're ready for prime time players you're in new england patriots getting five count them five pre um lost my train of thought there i can't believe that five prime time games for the new england patriots and i assure you the brain is working once again and we will continue to break those down now murph in the previous segment we talked a little bit about what the patriots are doing in and I assure you the brain is working once again, and we will continue to break those down. Now, Murph, in the previous segment,

we talked a little bit about what the Patriots are doing in terms of getting ready for these games, whether or not they warrant the placement in these games. And you know Bill Belichick's going to have them ready for them, but I think we've both laid out a pretty nice, mostly yourself, have laid out a nice argument that the Patriots are well-deserving of the spots that they've been provided by the schedule makers. But you know as well as I that those primetime games are

not easy, like you said in the previous segment. You mentioned that teams would rather have their players and coaches playing at 1 o'clock on Sunday. Jimmy Johnson was once quoted, I look at the schedule, I want to see 1 o'clock on Sunday every single game. And that schedule, I want to see one o'clock on Sunday every single game. And that's what coaches want to see. And I can tell you from members of the media, you know, it's not fun. Exactly. It's not fun, those 3.30, 4 a.m. nights, you know, getting home and, you know, from the stadium after, you know, a pretty good, you know, long day.

And the players mostly, the players and the coaches, it's hardest on them. But that being said, those games have to be played so let's start with the first of the prime time games that are on the Patriots season slate and that is a team that starts with a c ends in an o and has a cag in the middle of it the bears will host the Patriots or i should say the patriots will host the bears um but there's a lot of reasons why the new england patriots and the chicago bears are happening that's something that i think people you know love to see obviously fans of the bears are going to point to 86 they're going to point to the 46 to 10. you're rubbing in the super bowl um you know the patriots fans can kind of get back at them a little bit

and play that clip of Tom Brady juking Brian Urlacher out of his cleats. There is some hype to this, but I think the hype to this one is really more about the present than it is about the past, and that is Mac Jones and Justin Fields. Most people predict now, and and all due respect to Trevor Lawrence

and to Zach Wilson, that these two are probably, and Trey Lance as well, I mean, I don't want to discount him either, but these two are considered the 1-1A in terms of quarterbacks. When all of this dust settles on the 2021 quarterback class, a lot of people feel that these two are going to be the ones that are left standing. When you look at this matchup, is it just Jones fields? What are you looking forward to in this matchup of the bears?

Honestly? Yeah, it is Jones fields. I can't, you're honest. I really, I really can't lie. I want to see how, how Justin Fields, the Fields medal, the Fields medal. I was not high on Justin Fields coming out of college. I'm not going to make any apologies for it. I want to see how he's progressed as a quarterback, as a leader. Do the Bears, is he even starting? Because we all know what the Bears have done in the past couple of years

in the yanking back and forth. And I'm looking forward to seeing how Byron Pringle fits in over there, Darnell Mooney, guys like that and how they're working with fields, how they're incorporating their run game into things. My thing is more looking at this game as to what happens before the Patriots get in there as opposed to what's going on during the game but no it is it's it's that direct comparison between Justin Fields and Mac Jones that I'm looking forward to uh quite a bit yeah absolutely I mean look you know bottom

line I know we make a lot about quarterbacks, and I take some liberties in saying, oh, well, everybody focuses on the quarterbacks, but nobody looks at the games that are won in the trenches, the O-line, the D-line. There's a reason why quarterbacks are the focal point of what teams look at and what fans look at, and this is going to be a great matchup. You have two contrasting styles, but you have two very effective quarterbacks, probably in great spots for where they going to be a great matchup you have two contrasting styles but you have two very effective quarterbacks probably in great spots for where they need to be we know Mac Jones is in the best spot for him to be able to succeed and show what he can do as a quarterback New England

and the system they like to run is tailor-made hand and glove fit fields I think is going to be interesting in terms of seeing how he progresses with this Bears offense and seeing how they're able to do it you know obviously the defense now going to be devoid of Khalil Mack. So where are the Bears in terms of the grand scheme of things? That's a tough division that they're playing in without any question. I know Green Bay is still going to be probably the alpha in that division. You still have teams that are capable of making runs. We're going to talk about one in a moment that's always enigmatic, but they always seem to be in the discussion.

But I think it's going to be an interesting matchup. So I'm looking forward to the matchup in general. It's going to be the first primetime game for the New England Patriots on the schedule, but unless something changes, which I don't believe it will, but that to me should be interesting. But this one really is all about Justin Fields and Matt Jones. You know, I also want to see how Kyler Gordon is doing right now. Absolutely.

You know, that's a piece that a lot of people had hoped would come here to New England with a little bit of luck and some shuffling around. But I am. I'm interested in watching him develop and grow and what he is right out of the box. Very good point. Absolutely. And we talked about Gordon several times here on the airwaves and locked on Patriots leading into the draft and, you know, just interesting stuff that I think will be very, very good for Patriots fans to take a look at.

Well, that's the only primetime game that the Patriots have heading into the week and heading into the bye week. Excuse me. Week 10 is the bye week for the that the Patriots have heading into the week and heading into the bye week. Excuse me. Week 10 is the bye week for the New England Patriots. They come back with a matchup with the Jets on the 20th of November, Sunday matchup at Gillette Stadium, one o'clock, and then the Patriots go on the road. And for the first time since the 2012-2013 butt fumble, which you didn't think we were going to talk about Thanksgiving without mentioning the butt fumble,

because it makes Murph and I laugh hysterically. It will always be funny. No, I looked, I looked, I looked for my butt fumble t-shirt and I think my daughter took it. It will never not be funny. It's just,

it's one of those things that will never not be funny. It will always be funny. And, and we'll continue uh, to, you know, poke fun of it. But, uh, the Patriots have the Thanksgiving night matchup. So they returned to play on Thanksgiving, which a lot of us had predicted prior to that. It seemed like that was the way the schedule was shaking out. Minnesota Vikings are going to be their opponents. And, you know, I know the Patriots have the NFC North slate this year, and that's going to be an interesting, you know, four games,

whether, you know, you talk about the Packers, you talk about the Vikings, you know, you talk about the Lions and the Bears and these teams that are, you know, coming in and playing. But the Vikings, to me, has the chance to be an intriguing matchup, or it could fall flat as well. I mean, there's a lot that could happen. It really depends on what type of team that the Vikings show up as. And this is right about the time of year where they're starting to determine whether or not they're going to be a playoff team

or whether or not they're going to be a team that is ready to make that jump. I think this is one of my more intriguing matchups for the 2022 season when I wrote about this matchup a couple of weeks ago for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. It wasn't just the fact that this game is going to be on Thanksgiving, though. I think the Vikings do present a formidable challenge here. What is your assessment of this game? What are you looking forward to most when the Patriots head to Minnesota to take on the Vikings on Thanksgiving? Pie. I'm looking forward to pie.

We all know how much I love pie. Yes, it's it's next stop pies. No, it's always great to get a Thanksgiving Day game in here. But again, you know, it's the late start. Are we all going to be tripped to fan out and sleeping in our barcrow loungers by the time kickoff rolls around? But there's a lot of stories that we're talking about. How Kirk Cousins is handling possibly a walk year.

Is Dalvin Cook healthy and set to go? Can this Patriots, you know, defense shut down Justin Jefferson? Will Bill Belichick get into another scrap with Adam Thielen? These are things that we want to – they almost came to blows last time, people. They almost came to blows last nine people they almost came to blows and um but no just just watching how um the vikings go about their their their year leading up to this and of course the matchups that that i just talked about can the patriots stop this this running attack can they keep guys like jefferson in check what the defense is going to uh look. It's going to be a very interesting week when I'm cutting my keys to this game.

Absolutely. Could not agree more. And look, I know the things that you mentioned are the same things that I have my eye on as well. You want to see how this run defense is going to be able to contain a prolific runner like Delvin Cook. And, you know, assuming health, assuming he's able to go, that's going to be definitely, I think, priority one for the New England Patriots. But don't kid yourself. This

is a big test for that secondary as well. Can that zone coverage that the Patriots are likely to be playing, especially with the guys they've added, like Malcolm Butler, who I think is more suited to the zone. I think the Patriots are kind of conceding at this point that they're going to be playing more zone at that point. If that's the case, how do they contain guys like Adam Thielen, like you mentioned, and also with Justin Jefferson, who was one of the more prolific route runners in this league, and seeing how they're able to control that offense, and also how they're able to, you know, to keep the defense away from Mike Jones. Kevin O'Connell, the new head coach coming in, this is going to be a big test for him, too.

A lot of eyes are going to be on him that night. Don't forget my buddy Irv Smith's baby boy is playing tight end for them. Absolutely. I'm going to have to keep an eye out on that because, please, I can't handle Irv in my DMs every five minutes. How'd you like that one, Murph? How'd you like that one, Murph? How'd you like that one, Murph? Hey, we tried.

I remember when Irv was coming out and we were looking at, you know, players that could have been, you know, potentially mocked to the Patriots and guys, and that was a good tight end class as well. That was Claire's dream class. I mean, there was a lot of guys that could have come in here, played very well. Irv was one of those players that had that special designation

when it came to yourself, myself, and Steve. I know Steve Ballestrier was very high on him as well. So that will be interesting to see what the Patriots do. And, you know, bottom line, I mean, two primetime games against two NFC North opponents, always interesting way to begin. But Patriots fans, believe it or not, we haven't even scratched the surface yet. We're not even halfway through the Patriots gauntlet of five. Count them up.

Five. Again, five primetime games. I keep wanting to say preseason, and it definitely is not something that comes off well. No, we don't want five preseason games, folks. Five primetime games for your New England Patriots. A gauntlet of three straight coming up. And believe it or not, I mean, it's really, it's four straight. But I mean, if you think about it, after Thanksgiving, after the holidays,

Buffalo Bills, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Las Vegas Raiders. Murph and I will discuss all three of those matchups and why that gauntlet is going to be very difficult for the Patriots to overcome when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, Team Butchie's favorite time of the program, my friend, and that is I get to talk to you about the great folks over at Built Bar. Because, Murph, as you know, summer is coming. With summer, you're going to need some food on the go as a coach you know the value of keeping your players in good health keeping them energized and keeping them happy as well well guess what with built you can do all three built bars are the perfect snack to take with you on sporting outings family vacations just throw them

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Eat healthy and actually enjoy doing it with Built Bar. Visit built.com today and enter the promo code LOCK15, built.com. Patriots fans, we are almost ready to wrap things up here on Locked on Patriots as my good friend, the Don of Locked on Patriots, the legendary Thomas Murphy joins me as he does each and every Monday for hashtag LockedOnMercMonday. And my friend, we've talked a lot about the Patriots schedule and the primetime matchups. We've talked about whether the Patriots were ready for primetime.

And then we went into the two NFC North opponents for the New England Patriots on this docket. The NFC North division. But three matchups still remain, and it really is a cross-section, including two out west that I think are really going to be maybe the make-or-break point of the Patriots' season. But the Patriots get the first of those matchups against the Buffalo Bills.

It's at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots come back home after a Thanksgiving matchup with the Vikings, and they take on the Bills. Another Thursday night matchup, and 8-15 at Gillette against the defending AFC East champions. But there is no love lost between these two franchises. The Buffalo Bills were always kind of the bullied little brother up here in Foxborough, but things have changed

in the last couple of years, and now they annoy us as much as we've annoyed them the last few years. When you look at the Buffalo Bills, you look at the additions, you look at the moves that they've made this offseason, how much of a red circle or a big green circle is this one on your calendar? Huge, huge, humongous, humongous circle. Gamma-induced circle here.

I'm really set to see how Josh Allen is set to work with Dorsey, what new wrinkles he's – Ken Dorsey, the new offensive coordinator there in Buffalo. He's been there for a few years, but my knock on Allen is, has always been, he regresses when he starts believing his own press and how well he's going to work with the man that was,

you know, his quarterback's coach, but it is now the one calling the shots as he is, is Allen going to be with the man that was his quarterback's coach, but is now the one calling the shots. Is Allen going to be on the same page that Dorsey is? Can they work together? Change like this is always something that leaves a bit of intrigue coming into any season. And I really don't know if these two are going to work well together or not.

Everybody says they will. Everybody says they get along great. But it's a little different when somebody that was your pal sitting next to you on the bench over the weekend telling you to keep your elbow up and follow through is now telling you what plays to call. Very good point. And I'm glad that you mentioned that because we're hearing this an awful lot with New England. Josh McDaniels is gone and that's going to make Mac Jones regress. I mean, we're hearing this, we're hearing this on terrestrial radio in the market. So you know

that, you know, the usual suspects are trying to stir the storm and you know that they love doing it. But it is a valid question because whether or not that will translate to Mac Jones' regression on the field or whether or not there will be bumps in the road or growing pains, I think is a fair point. Is it going to derail his career the way some people are maybe hoping to, you know, I don't know, gain ratings between the hours of two and six? Maybe. But at that point, I don't believe that will be the case. I think Mac is far too good of a quarterback or something like that to happen.

And also, we're talking about two different animals. Allen is in no way, shape, or form a guy coming into his second year in the league. This is a man who's been talked about as an MVP candidate and has had some success, if you want to call winning an AFC East title success. And I guess up in Buffalo, you do do that. But like I said, it's just, are the heads going to knock? I don't think that's going to be the case here in New England with the turnover at that coaching position.

It certainly could happen up there in Western New York. Yeah, and it could. And I'm glad that you made that point about, you know, Mac being a second year, you know, essentially just fresh off of a rookie season. Josh Allen is very well suited to the way he likes to play the game. He's very much settled into his cadence. He's very much settled into his routine. And to break that and all of a sudden throw that off a little bit can be difficult and you know we're not talking about a seasoned player like a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning who's done that several times that were able to do that and work with new coordinators

simply because of the vast knowledge they had in their head Allen I think can reach maybe you know close to that level but I don't think he's quite there yet in terms of a mass knowledge especially especially from the postseason perspective right so you have to build to that area you have to uh as nietzsche said you have to learn how to crawl and learn how to walk before you can learn how to fly right and i think that's something where you know alan is very close to being able to spread his wings and flying but i still don't think he's quite there yet. And that could cause some difficulty there. So yeah, I mean, there's no question about it. You've got the Von Miller factor in this one, Buffalo coming in. There's a lot to like and bottom line, I mean, it's just still there and they brought in Jameson Crowder. There's, you

know, OJ Howard and you know, there's a lot of weapons up there. There's a lot of people to keep happy. And let's see how well Josh handles the turnover. Yeah, and we haven't even mentioned much about the defense other than saying Miller, the drafting of Kier Elam. We talked about him as a possibility for the New England Patriots. Davius White going to be back, going to be healthy, we hope, but we think if that's the case, that secondary is a lot more formidable than the one that they faced last year. All due respect to Levi Wallace and company, who I think did a fair job.

You're talking a pro bowler and probably an all pro caliber in Tredavious White. So that's going to be a very tough game for the New England Patriots, especially with the Thanksgiving layover. That one circled big time. But the Patriots now head out west to close things up, Murph. And these are two intriguing matchups, two very interesting teams. The Arizona Cardinals, led by Cliff Kingsbury, Kyler Murray, a lot to be interested in when it comes to these two teams out there.

Arizona was one of the surprise teams last year. Beated a little bit down the stretch, but bottom line, I mean, I still think they're going to be a fun team to watch, and then obviously closing things up with Josh McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders. We know the Patriots are planning on staying out on the West Coast during this run. They're not going to do the cross-country trips back and forth.

I think that's smart. They'll come home to face the Bengalsals uh you know for uh you know to close out the uh the season um on christmas eve but when you look at these two match-ups first of all i'm not gonna ask you a dumb question which one are you looking forward to more because i think most people are going to say the raiders but which intrigues you uh a little bit more um i don't think the patriots should be sleeping on this Cardinals matchup. It's going to be a tough matchup for them. Yeah, this is definitely going to be a tough matchup for them. You do not sleep on this Cardinals team. You never know what's going to happen.

The thing is, is DeAndre Hopkins going to be on the field? Marquise Brown, how are they going to utilize him? J.J. Watt on the other side of the ball, while J.J. has not had a whole lot of success against the Patriots, that's always in the other side of the ball, while JJ has not had a whole lot of success against the Patriots. Uh, that's always in the back of his mind that, Hey, I haven't had a whole lot of success against the Patriots. Uh, this is, this is going to be a fine matchup. Uh, it's going to be a good, uh, uh, chess game for bill in his defensive backfield and how he's going to stop this, you know, I don't want to say overrated, but it's a team that has a bit of a chip

on their shoulder and is going to go out there with something to prove. Absolutely, and I agree with you. And look, you know, Kyler is hearing all of these whispers as well, that he is a quarterback that can be a good regular season to showcase what he can do he's going to try to take advantage of it and what better throne to be able to or i should say what better pulpit that he can use all right it's our good friends at the bats ball but to utilize then being able to try to be effective against the bill belichick led defense i mean that really is a badge of honor if you're a young quarterback you and you can succeed against the Bill Belichick defense you know you've done something well so that's going to be an intriguing matchup without question and then of course a matchup we talked a little bit about last week not going to spend a

ton of time going into the details but I still think there's more under the surface that we didn't get to the last time and that is the Las Vegas Raiders Murph we know now that the hoopla about the reunion is going to somewhat dissipate a little bit with the preseason matchup, but bottom line, this is still going to be a very much anticipated matchup. All of the weapons that have been added by the Raiders, whether you want to talk about the offensive weapons that they've added, the defensive prowess that they've added as well,

this is going to be just an interesting game for the New England Patriots and the Raiders. And I think it comes at a point in the season where these two teams are going to be battling for their identity. I think at this point, you're going to know whether or not the Raiders and the Patriots can be in contention. This may be a battle of which team can remain in contention after that. I think that may have this type of implication. No, I agree. I definitely, this is deep into the season where everybody's

going to be fighting for playoff position. There's a lot of familiar faces over on that side. Chandler Jones. Hey, hey, Chandler Bong, the only NFL player on the planet who has me blocked. I have no idea why. You know, how to shut down Darren Waller. You know, is that going to be a possibility? How Derek Carr is working with Devonta. I wish this was week three and Devonta Adams and Derek Carr were nowhere near the same page. But that's really going to be scary. Josh Jacobs in the running game. There's just so much that we could get into here.

I will be wearing my Brandon Bolden jersey that week and wearing it proudly. And I miss you, B. I miss you. I know. I absolutely know. And I know that when that happened, Murph was definitely clutching the jersey and singing Michael Bolton's How Am I Supposed to Live Without You. It it was very we didn't put that on camera out

of respect to my good friend it doesn't mean i'm not going to mention it no i'm kidding folks uh all all kidding aside uh there are tons of intriguing uh you know points to this matchup whether it be the effect of josh mcdaniels and how he knows the new england patriots tendencies but also how bill belichick knows his as well. I think that goes both ways. We always hear about, oh, McDaniels is going to come in with all this Belichickian knowledge. But, you know, Bill knows Josh's tendencies too,

and he knows how he likes to coach and his strengths and how to rattle him a little bit too. So the chess match is going to be interesting. Definitely a lot of Patriots coaching acumen is going to be on that side of the football when these two teams go at it. Carmen Brasillo coaching the offensive line. Mick Lombardi now the offensive coordinator in Las Vegas. It's a big jump for him. Mick was one of my favorite guys to interview last season. He was always so forthcoming, just so easy to talk to. Just like that.

And he would give you everything that you needed. And I really do believe that his players out there in Las Vegas, if they haven't already in some of the very limited opportunities, they probably had to interact. They're going to fall in love with him out there, and I think he's going to do a fine job. Bo Hardegree coaching the other quarterbacks, I think is going to be a big move for them as well.

Jarrett Stidham now going to be out there. So he provides a little bit of scout team acumen like brian hoyer did all of the years here uh this has got a lot written all over it and of course chandler jones uh you mentioned about him blocking maybe it had something to do with chan and larbonne we might you know right might have been i laughed so hard you almost made me choke mark no i'm kidding hey don't you know i mean you show up at the back of a police station you know practically naked i'm gonna i'm gonna say something i'm gonna say something um but no there's a lot of there's a lot of intriguing things that are happening here you know not not to mention you know the raiders i thought had a sneaky good draft d Dylan Parham, the offensive lineman that they got from Memphis.

Zamir White out of Georgia that he's going to be somebody to keep an eye on. We didn't even talk about Cooks when we were talking about the Bills. I can't, you know, you know how badly I wanted Cooks here in New England. I can't wait to see how he fits in there with do not lose track of Mr. Cooks. No, definitely do not lose track of Mr. Cooks. And if there was one area that the Buffalo Bills offense may have had a little bit of a crack in the foundation, just a little bit, it was in the run game.

James Cook definitely comes in, and he's someone that can get the job done. You know he can do it on the big stage because, I mean, you're part of the national champions. I mean, you're not going to shy away. And they will use him right away. There will be no red shirt. No question. That will not be happening there.

This kid is a game breaker from anywhere on the field, from running the ball out of the backfield, getting to the edge, catching the ball out of the backfield. He'll even line up in the slot and give you giant issues. So whatever the Bills had lost during the year, this kid could plug in and fill it. And that really pisses me off. Absolutely, without any question. And folks, these are going to be interesting matchups.

And the New England Patriots' primetime games are going to be a lot of fun fun it's fun for the fans yeah a little tough on the media but we can't complain too much definitely tough on the players and the coaches but that gauntlet of four in a row is going to be a very very difficult uh hill for the patriots to climb uh we'll get into schedule predictions a little bit down the road here we just want to give you a little bit of a primaries to what to expect. Win, win, win. And Murph will give you his optimistic feelings on what the Patriots will do each and every Monday here when Murph joins me for hashtag

LockedOnMurphMonday and maybe even the occasional feeling like we had on Friday. Bookend of the week was always great and was a dynamite lead into the show with Miguel over the weekend. Folks, if you have any questions on Foxborough Finance, Miguel was spot on as usual. It was so good. Including a couple of firsts here on Locked on Patriots.

And if you haven't seen that, definitely want to check that out. Miguel reveals a first, the first time I've ever seen him have to do it. And probably the last because he he is truly please go watch people please go watch you know i i caught it i caught it late on saturday night sunday and it was just like yeah let me watch this and i was just oh no i'm not going to bed now well you know i have to have miguel on you know so many times during the month of may because the new top gun sequel is coming out. And I've always said to him that the plaque for the alternates

does not exist when it comes to his equals because there is none. He is the salary cap Top Gun. But there's only one Don here on Locked On Patriots. There is only one Godfather. So, my friend, what can I say? You are the true Don. You are the head of the family when it comes to Locked On Patriots. Before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can

find you on the Bird app, what they can expect from the great Penn, the great voice of Thomas Murphy with not only the Patriots coming into fruition now, but also some of the great Red Sox coverage that you provide for E2GSports.com. Yeah, I've got a new piece out this morning at E2GSports.com.

Please go check that out about Xander Bogart Bogart's being open to negotiating during the season on a new contract. I mean, why not? You're batting three 60, but we could talk contract. But will the, will the red Sox actually come and sit back down at the table themselves? So go check that out there. Of course, tomorrow, One Patriot's Place with Steve Balistrieri and Clazzie Clare. Don't miss that one. We're real Alex Barth of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

He's going to be on. Always a great time when Alex stops in. Just a plethora of knowledge that that man holds. He should be higher up. He's reaching for things that we don't see too often. He always puts in a great, great job. Always does a great job over there at 98.5 The Sports Hub, my favorite writer over there. And, of course, you know, I'll have some Patriot stuff coming out later this week

because I just got to get some things off my chest. Absolutely. And when Murph has to get things off his chest, folks, you know it's going to be entertaining. So always point, click, learn enrichment material coming from him at E2GSports.com. Definitely check out One Patriot's Place, including this week's episode with Alex, who's a great friend of our program and another great friend of mine. Truly honored to share even a portion of the beat with him. Real pro's pro.

Just an awesome guy and a real, real wealth of knowledge. So check that out, folks. And, of course, you can check out Murph each and every Monday right here on Locked On Patriots. Hashtag Locked On Murph Monday exists for a reason, folks, and that's because of this great man and the wisdom and counsel he provides. Until next time, Foxborough faithful, I want to thank each and every one of you for making the time to make locked on Patriots,

a daily part of your new England Patriots coverage, and also your first listen every day. Keep the feedback coming in folks. I'm trying to bite my tongue a little bit more, trying to be a little bit more direct. And I appreciate some of the great feedback that we get here on YouTube. Good, bad, or indifferent. We look forward to it to help make locked on Patriots, a better listen,

a better view for all of you. Of course, we do that with a great guest that I'm privileged to share the microphone with each and every week. But until the next time, Foxborough faithful, please continue. Stay safe, stay well. Be the change that you wish to see in the world. On behalf of the great legendary Thomas Murphy,

I'm Mike DeBate. Have a great day, everyone. Bill Park.