Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots Corral Colts 26-3: Breaking Down the New England Patriots Week 9 Victory

Episode Date: November 8, 2022

The New England Patriots have moved above .500 for the first time in 2022. Quarterback Mac Jones threw a touchdown pass, while avoiding throwing an interception. Kicker Nick Folk added four field goals and the Patriots pass rush logged nine sacks to help New England defeat the Indianapolis Colts 26-3 on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy of E2G Sports as the duo break down the Pats Week 9 win.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” 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!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BlueNileMake your moment sparkle with Blue Nile. Go to BlueNile.com and use code lockedon to save fifty dollars on your purchase of five-hundred dollars or more.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, how about a victory Monday to head into your bye week? That's exactly what we're breaking down here today on Locked On Patriots as the Pats take a 24-6 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Breaking it down for you here in just a moment. Stay tuned. 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 of 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 is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So please be sure to smash that subscribe button and download, subscribe to and follow Locked on Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, folks today, remember that today's episode of Locked on Patriots is presented

by PrizePix. PrizePix is a daily fantasy made easy if you pick two to five players and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with the promo code LOCKEDON. That is prizepix.com, promo code LOCKEDON. And, of course, today we are breaking down the Patriots' Week 9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Yesterday at Gillette Stadium, Patriots moved to 5-4 on the season, first time they've been above.500 all year long, and a winning record heading into the bye. And here today to help us break it all down is the only man that could join us on Victory Monday, the only man with his very own branded hashtag. He is the dancing destroyer. He is the monster master of disaster, the green king of sting, the counter Murphy Pisto himself, the one and only Apollo. Oh, no, excuse me.

Got a little ahead of myself. The one and only, the legendary Thomas Murphy of E2GSports.com. Thank you for coming to me in friendship. Thank you for joining me today, Don Murph. Oh, it's always my pleasure, Michael. Especially on another Victory Monday. You know, a well-earned one. earned one, one that you have to tip your hat to the defensive game plan that they came up with, the defensive effort that was put forth by everybody on that side of the ball,

and a bit of good fortune on the other side. But no, let's get into it. Let's start breaking this down. Absolutely. We are definitely getting into this. And, of course, the Patriots a 26-3 victory over the Colts yesterday. Murph, you do not amass a victory of that type without being dominant on defense. When you hold an NFL team to only three points, most importantly, Murph, when you hold an NFL team 0-14 on third down conversions, you know you're doing something right. And the Patriots definitely did that yesterday.

Nine sacks on Sam Ellinger. When you look at this performance by the Patriots, there's no question that the defense deserves the game ball here. But how much praise do they deserve for their performance yesterday? Because this defense looked very, very good. Yeah, they deserve all the praise on the planet. There was a lot of talk yesterday on pregame shows, you know, throughout New England and throughout the country that the Colts were tanking. Players don't tank people.

Players bring their best every single week and other teams make them look terrible for it. Um, you know, that's that's how or not terrible for it. Um, it's it really irked me to hear that at the beginning of the day. I don't believe there's a single player that wears a Colts uniform, that puts on a Colts helmet, that came into that game saying, ah, screw it, you know, we're just giving up on the year. They brought their stuff, but the Patriots stuff was a bit better, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The first key that I cut this week was the fact that the offensive line is going to have to own the trench, and they did. An A-plus to the defensive line.

Also, what the linebackers were able to do yesterday was just unreal. Matthew Judon is unworldly. He is on an ungodly run right now, and we're just lucky to be able to see it. Absolutely. Judon was in another world yesterday. In my post-game notebook, I awarded Judon the game ball for the day for his performance. Oh, did you? And that's saying something because the New England Patriots had some very good performances

on the defensive side of the ball, one of which is one of the Patriots' more apt at defenders but really was a monster on special teams yesterday and that's jonathan jones uh you know obviously i mean getting his first touchdown career pick six that's huge uh you also look at his involvement in the block punt just such great field awareness by john jones want to give a lot of love to josh uche as. I thought he had a phenomenal game. Three sacks for him, six total tackles. Also, we found out from Bill Belichick postgame and also from Matt Judon postgame that Josh Uche's calling the plays on third downs.

He's doing the third down. So this is really a big game for him, and I'm so glad that he was able to take advantage of that. I really love this kid coming out of Michigan, and I'm glad to see him coming into his own. But what Matt Judon brings to this defense and the job that he does in not just being able to rush the passer, which is his specialty, 11 and a half sacks, hard for me to believe that he's only one off

of his career high for a season, and we've only played half the games, theoretically half the games for the Patriots this year. So you look at what he's doing, and he's doing it without Christian Barmore And we've only played half the games, theoretically half the games, for the Patriots this year. So you look at what he's doing, and he's doing it without Christian Barmore in the lineup. A lot of people thought that's what curtailed him last year from getting more sacks and being more potent down the stretch. Because Barmore was injured. They were double teaming. He was getting extra guys on him.

Kudos to Matt Judon, who really studied a lot of that film. And he's doing a lot to counteract what we did. I'm completely in agreement with what you said about Judon. And he's showing that film to the defensive line. You can't talk enough about the game that Lawrence Guy had last night. He freed up Judon constantly on stunts. Godchow and Dietrich Weiss also had a fantastic game yesterday. And you kind of stole my thunder there with Jonathan Jones. You know, when we switch over to the offensive side of the ball,

he was going to be my offensive weapon of the day. He was. Yeah, you know, folks, we all remember, I hope most of you remember, what happened last year against the Colts on special teams. It was a low point for the Patriots. They had a blocked punt. It was really, it was a terrible effort. And you could tell that everybody on the special teams unit took it personally,

and they brought it to the game yesterday. Yeah, they absolutely did, and they did it in a big way. Look, when you go and you hold a team, as I said earlier, 0-14 on third down, that really is the most impressive stat of the day for me. It's actually 0-16 because they sat there. They were 0-2 on fourth down too. That is true. So on third and fourth down. So, you know, we'll throw that in there.

Not to step on you or actually, not to actually you. No, but I mean, it makes it even more impressive when you think about the fact that they were able to shut them down twice on fourth down. One of them, which is a four and one. And, you know, I mean, these are not easy things to do to any team. I know you said earlier, I heard that chirping all week last week. This is a tanking team. This is this. This is that.

These are NFL players, folks. And I don't care what kind of competition you have to play to. That's impressive. When you do that to NFL caliber athletes at any level, that's impressive. And keep in mind that these chirping of this is a tanking team yeah it's a bad team these guys suck um when you hear that and blow but when you hear that it's coming here that sources that haven't even sniffed the professional football field right anytime in terms of putting on a uniform and knowing what it takes to do it on that uniform so again i say consider

the source in that situation, but very impressive performance for the New England Patriots defense. 64 total first-half yards for Indy. That's all they got. 19 yards in their first six drives. Indy just had 121 total yards. That's the lowest allowed by a New England Patriots defense since they held the Jets. It's 105 total yards in 2019.

So kudos, tip of the cap, game ball, whatever you want to do, give it to the New England Patriots defense. They certainly earned their stripes yesterday, and one of the big reasons for the Patriots 26-3 victory over the Colts. But Murph, it wasn't all about the defense. All right, I take that back. It wasn't all about the defense. All right, I take that back. It wasn't all about the defense. But there were some points put on the board by this offense.

And there were some bright spots in an otherwise dismal performance yesterday by Mac Jones and company. Murph and I are going to get into those bright spots in just a moment. And what he liked from the offensive output for the New England Patriots yesterday. When this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, please remember that today's episode is brought to you by our good friends at PrizePix. Daily fantasy made easy. And let me tell you a little bit about how they work.

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for an instant deposit match up to $100. That's prizepicks.com. Patriots fans, the legendary Thomas Murphy joins me here today as he does each and every Monday. It's not just Victory Monday here on Locked On Patriots, folks. It is hashtag Locked on Murph Monday. And, buddy, we talked a lot about the defensive dominance for the Patriots in the entire game yesterday for their victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9. But the offense is not getting quite the same praise as the defense.

And there is good reason for that. The offense at times looked very pedestrian, very workmanlike, and really looked like they struggled at times and were bailed out by some pretty good field position that was given to them by special teams in the defense. And also, I think maybe bailed out by a shaky performance by the defense of the Indianapolis Colts yesterday. But there were some bright spots for the New England Patriots. In your estimation, when you watch this game, when you watch as it unfolds and you see the Patriots start to put points on the board, what were your bright spots from the offense

yesterday, and why does it always once again include Ramond Ray Stephens? As I say, does Nick Fult count? Oh, yeah. I saw that. He puts points on the board. Okay. He was basically over the past two weeks has been their offensive output. Now, the offensive line is a shambles right now.

Cole Strange was benched for the second game in a row. Once again, I think that the switch at center has affected him in a humongous way. He is getting pushed around a little bit. And the fact that the giant man standing to his left has not had the best couple of games. And that's affected everything on this side of the ball, with the exception of Ramondre Stevenson, who looks fantastic.

Yeah, Ramondre just gets better and better week in and week out. I would like to see a 10-year extension dropped at his feet tomorrow or today for that matter. The man is just amazing. He turns nothing into something. He turns something into big, giant gains. He just needs a little more something from this offensive line to be up there and talked about with some of the great running backs that are in the NFL right now. He's able to do everything. The touchdown grab that he made once again was a one-handed grab that he had to reach out and pull in because Mac Jones just does not look comfortable behind this line of scrimmage. He looks rushed. He's looking,

he's focusing in on certain receivers, his first option, if you will. And the line is not giving him enough time and he doesn't have enough confidence in this line to go back to earlier reads and see if they've gotten open. That's a real problem. There's the reason that the wow factor that everybody is looking for, why people in the stands were once again showing their displeasure with the uncreativeness and the unspectacular play of this offense and Mac Jones. But no, you know, just getting back to week in, week out, Ramondre is the one constant on this team. And nobody really seems to be able to stop him. uh with the depleted play of the offensive line he was able to you know um get into the end zone uh this week and put up four yards to carry absolutely without

any question uh 15 times carried the ball yesterday 60 yards for remandre stevenson three passes for 10 yards including the touchdown uh really heads up play on the touchdown yeah one of the more athletic one of the more more field savvy catches that you'll see. Just really great field awareness for Ramondre on that. He's already surpassed his rookie total in scrimmage yards. He had 729 in 2021. He's already surpassed that at 775 heading into the game yesterday. So he's definitely, you know, someone that is a huge part of their offensive

output. He's carried the ball 15 times in four of his last five games. And even though you may see some of those decreases, maybe, excuse me, some of those touches decrease a little bit when Damian Harris does come back and we fully expect him back in week 11, but he's at the top of the food chain right now. He is your alpha back. And I don't think there's anybody that would argue that point, that he deserves to be there. Ramondre has been their most consistent offensive performer. And he's done this in a suspect offensive line that really has done a very shoddy job in not only run blocking, but mostly in pass protection.

And I'm glad that you mentioned that yesterday when it came to Mac Jones, because we're all seeing some of the difficulties that Mac is having, the difficulty with the initial reads. And I'll get into that a little bit more when we talk about quick fixes, not quick fixes, but must-have fixes that need to be done here as the Patriots move into the bye week. But, you know, Mac's stat line yesterday, 20 of 30, 147 yards, one touchdown. Very pedestrian stats for a starting quarterback.

But no turnover. No turnovers. That is the key. First time in seven games that Mac Jones has started that he has not thrown an interception. So this is a step in the right direction for Mac. And I know a lot of people aren't seeing that, but there were some moments yesterday where I thought he showed great field awareness and being able to evade the pressure.

He can do it with his legs. Mac Jones is capable of scrambling and capable of maneuvering when he needs to, to evade the tackle or evade the sack. But the thing that really, I think, sticks with me, Murph, and correct me if i'm wrong here is the patriots play calling brain trust still continues to dial up these deep verticals for me yeah this is not a situation where i think it's working uh go back to basics utilize the short game right do what you were doing for bailey zappy if they do that for mac i think the patriots

can have some success do you think there's anything to the fact that maybe this is not what Mack wants? Maybe he's trying to force it? Or do you think it's a situation where they just have more confidence in him and want to test him a little bit more than they did the rookie? I think it's the latter. I really think it's the latter. I have to. When they did use those short crossers, they kind of worked. And then again, we had wide receivers out there fumbling the ball as they were trying to get me that yak that I asked for every single week. Hang on to the ball, people. This is becoming a serious problem. The Patriots are taking the ball away at a prodigious rate every single week,

but they're also giving it away in every single week. Fumbles are killing this team. I don't care if you have to go take a little bit of air out of those balls. It looks like they've been overinflated because everybody is punching balls out on wide receivers here. And just to get back to your point, I see what you're saying, but I don't think they're using the right personnel to do it either. Where's the slim reaper? Where's he on the go routes? Let Matt drop back there and air it out and see if he can go run underneath it.

That's a good point. You know, those are the downfield plays that I want to see. Those old Jim Plunkett to Stanley Morgan plays, you know, I'm going to heave it up and you go get it, and nobody but you is going to be able to pull it in instead of going for these 50-50 balls. And, you know, the other thing that, you know, was missing yesterday was, oh, God, why am I in a complete loss?

Jacoby Myers had that fumble. Devontae Parker was out. I think that played a bit of a role into, you know, less of a spectacular afternoon for Mac. But, no, I agree with you. Yeah, I think so. And look, we're not saying that Mack can't dial up and throw it, you know, and get a little bit of yards and being able to do that.

He did it yesterday a couple of times to the two tight ends. I mean, he had a nice 24-yard completion to John O'Smith, and then the 29 or 30-yarder I've seen accredited both ways, folks. I'm going to give him the extra yard because I like Hunter Henry, and he deserves that extra yard uh clara uh you know she'll approve of this but um that was i think max that's it all of the day and and when you look it was and i've been begging i've been begging for seam routes for the past three weeks um because they're there they're they're we're playing against you, cover three defenses that are, that, you know, should be able to be picked apart in those longer intermediate range passes, you know, to the tight ends and to the Jacoby Myers crossing. And they're just not being used.

It either seems to be we're going to go short and let either seems to be, we're going to go short and let them get the yak, or we're going to go long and make it a 50-50 ball. And that's not the way to attack these defenses. They haven't been very good game plans by Matt Patricia and whoever else is sitting in that room. I can understand the people thinking that Matt Jones is frustrated by this. Maybe he is. I don't know. I don't know Matt Jones. But he doesn't look it on the field.

He looks like it's somebody – he's taking this personally and thinks that he needs to do a better job to get these plays going. And I don't necessarily agree with that. I think that the offensive game plans have been kind of stagnant. And just going back to the tight ends will piss Claire off a little bit. They were a big part of the reason that this run game could not get going yesterday. There were a lot of blocks that were missed by Hunter Henry and by Johnnie Smith. And that's a real issue. If you're going to run this personnel,

those tight ends are going to have to be able to block, and that didn't happen yesterday, even though they did have good games receiving the ball. I'll give them kudos for that and a C grade on the day. Yeah, absolutely. No, I completely agree with you. I mean, the blocking at this point needs to be tight, especially from the tight end position.

One of the big reasons why Nakiel Harry saw the field so much last year is because he was doing a tremendous job blocking for the run. I know that didn't really sit well with a lot of fans. I know a lot of casuals were looking at this and going. He could come over and ear hole anybody and get you an extra five yards. Absolutely. That's not happening. That's just not happening.

Exactly. I did like seeing John U. Smith lined up in the backfield yesterday a couple of times as a fullback. That worked out okay. But you've got to be able to do it on the line, not just picking up a blitz or something else. And just circling back, if Mack is not comfortable behind this line, he is not going to read through his progressions

and get back to somebody that might be open downfield later. It's just not. He's going to read through, see the open man and hit the open man. And that's that it might be a boring offense, but that's the offense that you're going to get until he thinks he can count to three hippopotamus. Yeah, absolutely. And again, it comes down to protection and it comes down to his ability to feel comfort within the pocket. And maybe, just maybe folks, that might be one of the biggest fixes that New England may have to put forth when they go into the bye week

and they go back to the drawing board and make their attempts to make those changes so that way they can compete for a playoff spot. At 5-4, the New England Patriots currently sit in last place in their division. Can they move up? Well, the first test they get is the New York Jets. And Murph, still amazing for me to say this, that they were victorious over the Buffalo Bills yesterday, proving that on any given Sunday, anything can happen.

So New England and the Jets have a date in two weeks, but the Patriots will go back to the drawing board this week. Murph and I will tell you what we think they're going to be working on in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, let me tell you a little bit about our friends over at BetOnline.net, your number one source for betting and football and the start of the new basketball season. Find all of the latest player developments, team matchups, news, podcasts, and in-depth

analysis on every game. And as always, BetOnline remains your continued source for all of your sports wagering information with live betting and up-to-the-minute scores for every sport out there. They're the fastest and the easiest way to check in on all of your favorite games and events, including MMA, boxing, and golf. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more. Bet online where the game starts. Patriots fans, the legendary Thomas Murphy joins me here today on Victory Monday, breaking down the New England Patriots 26-3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, bringing them to 5-4 on the 2022 season and of course above 500 for the first time

this year Murph we've talked offense we've talked defense we've talked about what the New England Patriots did well yesterday and we've even talked about what they didn't do so well but you and I both know that games are fleeting Bill Belichick will use game film to evaluate what he's been doing but there are progressive problems that the New England Patriots have had that have seemed to either have caught steam or caught fire over the last few weeks or were there before they took their first snap and just really haven't gotten any better. When you look at what the Patriots will do now in the bye week, because you know Bill Belichick and the Brain Trust still going to be burning the midnight oil. Maybe they don't have a game this weekend, but they're going to be

approaching it as if they do. What are they working on? What do the New England Patriots need to fix heading into week 11 and the second half of the season? Of course, the obvious thing is the offensive line. These guys need to get healthy. They need to get on the same page. They need to go out to dinner together and get drunk and figure out what is missing in them as a unit. Part of it has to do with the constant shuffling and switching that's been going on. But I mean, anything that you need to do, Matt Patricia is going to need to call up Dante and say, look, man, give me a hand here. Point me in the right direction. What am I doing wrong? Swallow your pride. And the other thing that they need to fix is the red zone. They were one for two yesterday. And it, you know, the one was basically a give me a gimme off the block on and then Ramondre scored on on I think the two plays later.

But the red zone needs to be fixed. The plays that are being run in the red zone are basic. And what's the word I'm looking for? Everybody seems to know what's coming. There's no mix up to it. Where is the height that this team has at wide receiver and tight end? How is it being used down in the red zone? I would really, really like to see a wide receiver or two running across the back of the end zone and giving him something to look for, something to throw to. I understand that fade shots to the corner have not worked out to date, but that doesn't mean that you go away from them and you just sit there and pound it up through the middle and hope that Stevenson gets through. And the other thing is, what the hell is J.J. Taylor doing in a goal line package? Okay, everybody knows that I like Ricochet Rabbit, but I don't like

him in a goal line package. All right. That's not the place for him to be. This is football 101. He can't block air and he's not squeaking through underneath people behind this offensive line. He had no business being there. Put Jonu Smith back there, for Christ's sakes, anything, and split Ramon Drea out. I don't understand the thinking once we get inside the 20s and the fact that no shots are taken into the end zone. Yeah, very good point.

Very, very well said. And I agree with you. The red zone issues are going to be, I think, one of their more difficult fixes because I just don't see a whole lot of answers in the way that they're calling plays and the way they're operating and in the way that the offense looks inside the 20. You're absolutely right. And this is where you miss somebody like a Jakob Johnson, who did a tremendous job there last year. Maybe the fullback elimination was not the smartest move by the New England Patriots. I know a lot of teams are going away from it. And I understand that if you're going to run the outside zone, it's almost a prerequisite that you have to do what they did. But at the same time, it doesn't work for the type of offense that has given you so much success throughout the years. That, to me, is – that's still a question. It's confounding.

It's really confounding as to why they went away from this. I hate to sound like some of the talking heads on radio, but this offense was so proficient for so long, and it has to do a lot more with, you know, the Earhart system than maybe it does with Tom Brady. It just works. We saw it when Tom wasn't out, when he missed an entire year. It still worked. It still moved the chains, and it still got people into the end zone.

You know, hats off to Tommy, but Mac ran this system pretty well last year. He wasn't great, you know, and people need to stop thinking that every quarterback either has to be one of the top three in the league or they suck, you know, because that's not the case. It's the play calling. Where is he? I mean, I understand that Jacoby Myers was out this week, but Kendrick Bourne, get Kendrick Bourne in there in some sets down inside the 20s. Get Tyquan Thornton running across the back end line. Find that guy that you're going to be comfortable with throwing the ball to down there and go into the end zone through the air at least

once, maybe twice when you're down there, when it's first and goal at the four. Yeah, exactly. You're absolutely right. And and you see that you know i mean you peruse social media after the game and i make it a point to try to do that to keep my finger on the pulse of what the fans are saying because i try to keep as much of an analytical eye as possible when watching this take fandom out of it you look at how the fans are reacting and you know naturally i mean you're going to see the requisite he He sucks. He's this. He's that. He's terrible. Get him out of there.

He can't play. He can't. Meanwhile, they're giving him only a year and a few games to really judge what this kid can do. But I digress. Every fan has a right to their opinion. But some of the comments that you see are very insightful from some of the fans where you look at and you say, OK, well, he's fixating on his initial reads. I completely agree with that. You talked about that in the previous segment. He's not seeing the entire field well. This is something that Mac did last year very well. And for some reason, not clicking this year, he's holding onto the ball. He's forcing the ball

into the target he identifies before the snap. These are all ways that a quarterback can really derail any type of momentum that they want to put out in the regular season and into the playoffs. When he has to throw the ball away, when he has to do what he needs to do today, it really is a difficulty for him in a lot of ways. And that, to me, stems from three things. One, it stems from maybe a little bit of regression, things that he needs to clean up, things that he needs to do a little bit better of a job, process time a little bit, and really, I think, put a little bit more effort into making sure that these problems don't happen. But the two biggest culprits to me are play calling, like you said, and also the blocking along the offensive line. I mean, when you're under duress and under pressure for the better part of the game

and you can't shake it, it really will – it'll screw with your head. I'm sorry to say that so bluntly, but it will. And I think that's exactly what's happening. He was sacked four times yesterday. That's ten times in the last two games. And he was put on his backside, you know, he sacked four times for 14 yards, and he was hit a total of seven times. Okay.

It gets into your head. You get the happy feet. You take the first option because you know you don't have another half a second to look back over yes i know he missed open men but he didn't he doesn't have the confidence to stand there and go back to find that open man right exactly he just doesn't yeah absolutely yeah and then when he does when he does hold on to the ball and tries to scan the field right usually by that time the field is swarmed he has no other alternative but to either throw it away or run throw it at somebody's feet or run

into or run smack down into a defender like he did yesterday and have no choice but to slide or take a hit that could have knocked him out of action for a little while right and that's the other thing that that slide at the three yard line that he made you know he, he's, he's getting a lot of grief for that. You know, that's what a smart quarterback does. Right. Because he would have gotten laid out there. Absolutely. He would have completely gotten laid out.

Yeah. And you may call this a subtweet or where I'm not going to, I'm not going to throw the guy under the bus because, you know, he's a friend of mine and, but, you know, get off the man's ass. Honestly, you know, that that's what a friend of mine. But get off the man's ass, honestly. That's what a smart quarterback does. And that's why the guys that don't do that end up in concussion protocol for three weeks. Yeah, absolutely. And not for anything, but you're also dealing with a quarterback

that just a couple of weeks ago was hobbling around on a pretty severely sprained ankle. Looks pretty good. You do not want to regress or go the wrong way on that one because then you're looking at season-ending possibilities, and that could be a disaster for Mac Jones and really a disaster for the New England Patriots as well as Bailey Zappi has played. And I love what I've seen from the kid.

It would be a different second half for Bailey Zappi going up against the Buffalo defense twice, the Jets defense, the Dolphins defense, and some of the difficulties that they'd have going up against, you know, the Vikings as well on the schedule. You know, you got some heavy hitters and we need, we have serious problems to solve Murph and we need serious people to solve them. A little election day nod. I'm not sure if anybody got that. If you do drop a comment, I'd love to find out who got that reference, but in any case, Bud, I really always from the bottom of my heart appreciate you dropping by, lending your wisdom and counsel

here on hashtag LockedOnMurfMonday the way only you can. Before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can reach you, where they can interact with you, and what you have coming on the horizon from the great pen, the great voice of the legendary Thomas Murphy. The keys will be back on Friday. Other than that, I'm taking a much needed week off after covering the ALDS and the, the,

the NLCS and of course the world series. I just need, I need a blow from baseball for, for just a few days. Go back and read any of my articles that I posted throughout the year on the ineptitude of the Red Sox GM. The Keys will be back on Friday, of course, and on Wednesday. We're going to be going on Wednesday this week.

One Patriots Place is going to welcome Philly Perry back. That's always a great show, and Phil can stop by. Don't miss that one. And, of course, you can follow me on the Bird app, you know, right there at TeamMurf207 because, who knows, I say I'm taking a week off, but someone could piss me off and I could start writing, you know, in a second. Oh, no, man, don't worry about it. See, what we're doing to ensure that is I'm sending Murph out to Las Vegas under the protection of Don Francesco of L.A.

I want him to rest. Murph's going to go learn the casino business. I'm going to learn the casino business. On that note, folks, Don Murph, thank you so much for your wisdom, your counsel. It's always my honor and privilege to share the microphone with you. Folks, it is always my honor and I am always deeply humbled that you take time out of your busy schedule, spend it with locked on Patriots and make locked on Patriots, a daily part of your new England Patriots coverage.

And hopefully you're making us your first listen every day. If you've done that, please now make your next listen, the locked on sports today, podcast, the biggest stories of the day, plus instant reactions, big game recaps. And of course biggest stories of the day, plus instant reactions, big game recaps,

and of course, the take of the day. Available on the Odyssey app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. On behalf of the legendary Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate. Please continue, folks, to stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone. Matty, just call. Call.