Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - PATRIOTS POSTCAST: Did Sean McVay and the LA Rams EXPOSE Drake Maye as Comeback Falls Short?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The LA Rams might have been the first team to truly expose this Patriots offense under Drake May, but damned if the Pats didn't make it close. This is the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots Postcast. You are a Locked On Patriots Postcast. Part of Locked On Sports Boston. On the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. What's up, Pats fans?

Starting point is 00:00:33 This is the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots Postcast brought to you by Hillsdale College and part of the Locked On Podcast Network, where it is your team every day. Patriots lose it 28-22 to the Rams. They had plenty of chances to win this game and get back in this game, and they didn't really take them. And it is going to beg the question as to Patriots fans this year, would you rather them get blown out, or would you rather them give you the hope and

Starting point is 00:01:05 still lose at the end? I think I know which way I would go. But that is the latter is the situation you're in right now. Straight May keeps you in a ton of games, but you need a team to win games in this league. And obviously the Patriots, they still do not have that. But I was so stunned in this game today. The fact that just that the Patriots lost because they got out coached. And obviously I'm not stunned at that in a vacuum. Sean McVay is a better coach than Gerard Mayo, but they should be losing games because they don't have enough talent. And really they, they got, they got out coached big time today, and I think that's where they lost the game. And it was really what the Rams did on defense

Starting point is 00:01:51 that I think just gave the Patriots a ton of fits. You're not going to see it necessarily in the sack numbers. Drake May took a couple. You won't see it in a ton of negative runs or anything, but the Rams front was bringing pressure all day long. And I can't lie to you guys. I'm stunned more teams have not done this. I'm really, really stunned more teams have not done this with Jacoby Brissett or Drake May at quarterback. Teams have not dialed up a ton of pressure against the Patriots. And the Rams were like, huh, there's

Starting point is 00:02:26 nothing that's really proven this offensive line isn't any better than like 28th in the league. Okay. Maybe they're not 32nd anymore, but they're pretty bad. Why don't we just blitz the ever loving hell out of them and see what happens. And you saw what happened in a team like the Rams. It's been struggling and sit at now 5-5. That's how you can win games like this. That's how the Rams can continue to win games, because they have good coaching and good schemes. They have a decent pass rush.

Starting point is 00:02:56 They have a good front four, front seven, really pretty young. They've attacked that in the draft the last few years. And it really reared its head today, even against a quarterback in Drake May, who is very mobile and get outside the pocket, can make plays happen. That really disrupted the Patriots offense the whole game after their first scoring drive. The Patriots went three and out on a short field and then went down and scored. And the other thing that really bugged me outside of that, and this does come back to coaching to some extent, is the Patriots left points on the field. By my count, seven points left on the field by three different plays. Okay, first drive, Keishon Butte is

Starting point is 00:03:39 expecting a hit, so he doesn't catch it. On a third about a third and six slant route he's open he's got the first down gets two hands on it and does not bring it down that takes a field goal off the board they would have been in field goal range instead they punt from plus territory so that's one uh you have another one in the second quarter actually it was so that was before the Patriots touchdown drive. And then after the touchdown drive in the first half, they false start on a third and like three ends up a third and eight. They don't get it. And they kick a field goal. So that's, that's six right there. They miss an extra point. That's a, that's to make it seven. And I was being conservative in that estimate because Jalen Polk might've cost them four points at the end of the game as well. I guess it doesn't make a difference

Starting point is 00:04:30 because Drake may throws the pick and the game is over on the final drive, but you you're down by nine. So two scores, you've got it in the red zone. Basically it's fourth and one there's trying to go trick play. And right after Jalen Polk couldn't hold a block that made's fourth and one there's trying to go trick play and right after Jalen Polk couldn't hold a block that made a third and one a fourth and one he false starts he's completely useless like completely useless and it was that play that penalty that actually got him on the stat sheet at all Vanarian Lowe has more catches in this game and more touch and just as many touchdowns as Jalen Polk. It's, it's embarrassing, man.

Starting point is 00:05:13 And now more touchdowns than Tyquan Thornton. But Jalen Polk, just completely useless, completely useless, man. And he saved himself last week. His one catch was a touchdown it was a hot route that was only designed for Jalen Polk because if he didn't get that we would have been up in arms saying why the hell are you playing this guy over Kendrick Bourne when you're when you're taking a competent veteran receiver out of the game for to get these younger guys in you drafted two wide receivers you don't play one at wide receiver.

Starting point is 00:05:45 And the other one is completely useless. Just a total net negative. He can't catch. He can't block. He can't even get the snap count. It's little things like that. That's how the Patriots lost this game. So at least seven points left on the field,

Starting point is 00:06:03 probably 11, and you lost by six. You just, you can't make mistakes like that in this league. You can't leave that many points out there on the field. This is not Caleb Williams and the Bears, okay? This is not Matt Aberfloos and the Bears. This is Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford, and the Rams. I know their record was four and five, but you've got a Hall of Fame quarterback there and one of the best damn coaches in the league who have won a Super Bowl together. Two all-pro wide receivers. You can't leave points on the field in a game like that. But I thought it was a complete out-coaching job by Sean McVay exposing both Gerard Mayo and Alex Van Pelt. Because Alex Van Pelt was getting his flowers in that first quarter.

Starting point is 00:06:51 It was a good touchdown drive, and I liked some of the things he was doing. But once again, the problem is they did not make adjustments at all. And so, therefore, it's Drake May and 52 Jags on the roster because they're not making adjustments. They got pounded in short yardage situations in the second half. I mean, how many times, man, they get in a goal to go situation. They've got about a third goal from the three. They try to run it. They don't get it. They have to kick a field goal. Let's go back to fourth and one false start. Got to kick a field goal there too. That's leaving points out there. That could be part of it. That could be leaving whatever 12 or 15 points out there.

Starting point is 00:07:35 And a lot of it has to do with coaching a ton of it, a ton of it does, but that just shows you how far the Patriots are from being an actually good team. They have gone from worst team in the league to partly competent with a ton of hope there with Drake May, of course. But there's a lot of steps up that ladder to get to being 500 team to then good team. And it starts with not getting outcoached the way they were today. to get to being 500 team to then good team. And it starts with not getting outcoached the way they were today in this game. Let's talk about Drake May, what he did right,

Starting point is 00:08:15 what he might have did wrong in this game, and when the Patriots should expect to start winning some of these games. That's coming up next on the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots Postcast. This postcast is brought to you by PrizePix. It's the number one daily fantasy sports game in America with over 10 million members and billions of dollars in award winnings. PrizePix has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You just pick more or less on at least two players for a shot to win up to 100 times your cash.

Starting point is 00:08:49 Run your game all season long with PrizePix. It's the only real money daily fantasy platform with an injury insurance policy so that your lineups stay in play even if one of your players gets injured. So if that player leaves in the first half and doesn't come back, PrizePix keeps your lineup live. It now offers Venmo for quick and easy deposits and withdrawals into your account this sports season.

Starting point is 00:09:12 Sign up today and get $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive that $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. PrizePix also offers weekly promotions that can lead up to big payouts like Taco Tuesday. Each Tuesday, PrizePix also offers weekly promotions that can lead up to big payouts like Taco Tuesday. Each Tuesday, PrizePix discounts select player projections up to 25% to provide even more value for your lineups. That is PrizePix, official sponsor of the Locked On Podcast Network.

Starting point is 00:09:41 Drake made good game. Great game, close, but good game. Because that's a point of analysis for all these postcasts, right? What did Drake make? That's what you guys come here for. That's what we're all interested in as Patriots fans. And you look at the box score, and it's a pretty solid day. 30 of 40 for 282.

Starting point is 00:10:03 A couple of touchdowns and a pick. Took three sacks. Turned the ball over twice, which I know people will be pointing to of, hey, how can you say Drake May had this great game when he turned the ball over twice? And I know there's probably that D head in the comments saying that Drake May lost the game for the Patriots. I'm sure that's already there. Drake May did not lose this game for the Patriots, but okay. He turned the ball over twice. Which one do you want to blame him on? The one with a free runner coming right at him before like two seconds in the pocket or the pick where his receiver is not even looking for the football. Which one is Drake May's fault? I don't know necessarily the play design of that final play,

Starting point is 00:10:47 looking for Pop Douglas down the field. I'm not a football coach. But based off what we've seen this season, who is more likely to be making the mistake? Drake May or someone from the worst wide receiver core in the National Football League? So yeah, he turns the ball over twice. And I think you can legitimately blame someone else for both of those

Starting point is 00:11:11 turnovers. Like there's no way he's holding onto the football on that, on that strip sack. He gets absolutely lit up. Nobody's blocking for him. And pop Douglas is not looking for the football. I'm sorry. Maybe I'm being too naive.

Starting point is 00:11:27 Maybe I've got the Drake May colored glasses. It's just tough for me to blame the kid for that one. And whether it's his fault or not, there is still, of course, plenty of hope. I don't want to see the stat of what Mac Jones' QBR was in year one versus Drake May's. We're watching every game, okay? Like, Mac Jones had a good rookie season. It was not what Drake Mays is doing. Absolutely not. He, he did not have the compliments that Mac Jones had. He did not have the best head coach ever. He did not have a great offensive coordinator. He does not have competent NFL receivers. He does not have a consistently good defense or a consistently good running game or any semblance of an NFL offensive line. Mac Jones had all of those things in 2021. Drake May has not had that really at all, at all. And Mac Jones had an offensive coordinator who makes just any adjustments,

Starting point is 00:12:25 any adjustments at all. The Patriots don't have that. And such a microcosm of this Drake May run is he puts together a great drive in the second half. They throw a trick play touchdown to Vardarian Lowe. Again, more touchdowns than Tyquan Thornton this year. And then the Patriots miss the extra point. It gets blocked.

Starting point is 00:12:47 That guy, 75, Jacobs. Just horrible. Just horrible. Didn't want to block the guy. Remember when Gerard Mayo called this team soft a couple weeks ago? Yeah, you saw it in this game. They didn't defend the run very well. They ran it okay.

Starting point is 00:13:04 And plays like that where he, Jacobs is just not blocking anybody on an extra point. The easiest play in football. Nobody misses extra points anymore. Only the Patriots do that. Jacobs completely blows up on that block. And it reminds me of a third and one the Rams had in the second half where it was a QB sneak from Matthew Stafford.

Starting point is 00:13:27 And somebody, I think it was Jeremiah Farms, had a great game last week, literally runs by Stafford and like pats him on the ass. Like it's one-hand touch football. And he just keeps going. He goes out of frame. He might still be running. No one knows what he's headed towards,

Starting point is 00:13:46 but he just tapped the ball carrier on the butt and just kept going. I've never seen that in tackle football. I've never seen that in my life, let alone the NFL. That's what I'm talking about, dude. This team still has so much to work out. The first three incompletions of the game for Drake May were three obvious drops,

Starting point is 00:14:09 including one, which I mentioned earlier, that took them out of points. The weapons he has are not just bad, they're negative, like they're hurting the team. But again, I got to give credit to Sean McVay and this Rams staff and this Rams defensive staff. They brought pressure all game long and it might not be as easy to do or get the results you're looking for when it's Drake May rather than someone like Jacoby Brissett. But you're not necessarily going to force Drake May into like mistakes.

Starting point is 00:14:45 And you did get a turnover out of it with the fumble, but it's not even so much that you're just going to force the Patriots offensive line to block someone, which is going to force the Patriots, everyone else to make mistakes. It's, it's no different than the offensive strategy of just throwing it downfield and one-on-one coverage and hoping for a PI.

Starting point is 00:15:07 Remember like 10 years ago, all the NFL teams but the Patriots would do that and the Pats would get caught in it a bunch of times defensively. It's no different than what the Rams were really employing today. They're saying, okay, we'll blitz the hell out of them and we might not get turnovers or we might not get a bunch of sacks, but force them to block us clean, force them to execute. They can't do that. They've shown all season long.

Starting point is 00:15:36 They cannot block. They cannot execute. They cannot play clean on offense. And that's what they did. It knocked the Patriots out of some crucial field goal positions twice in the first half. So that was exposure, not necessarily for Drake May's talent, but for what he has around him. And don't be surprised if this is the blueprint going forward. And again, stunned that more teams aren't doing this in fact it took it took the till the third game of the season which could be reset at quarterback for teams to

Starting point is 00:16:13 even bring a ton of pressure it was that Jets game at 24 to 3 that was the first time they were really brought any pressure against him and it's been few and far between. And you didn't really see it last week with Chicago. And Drake May had all time, all kinds of time, and he picked them apart. But you see, you see how, how close they are to doing this, to being, to winning these games. They won one against the Jets a few weeks ago with Brissette. Drake May brings him back to tie that game against Tennessee

Starting point is 00:16:49 that goes into overtime. Like, he is keeping them in games that, with the rest of the talent on their roster, they have absolutely no business being in. Drake May, Christian Gonzalez, 51 Jags, 51 just another guys out there. Happy to see Christian Barmore back. I thought that was important. He didn't do a ton on the stat sheet today,

Starting point is 00:17:17 but that's a guy I did not think was going to be playing this year at all with the blood clot deal. And he was out there today for a bad team. Like, credit to him. I mean, there was talks throughout the first couple of years of Christian Barmore, you know, was he mature enough? Does he love football enough? And those kind of questions come about when you're in a Belichick system.

Starting point is 00:17:41 It's bound to. But he had a pretty serious, almost life-threatening injury, and still could be. And he's trotting out there for a team that's now 3-8. And he worked all fall to get back out there, and he played some meaningful snaps today. So shout out to Christian Barmore, because that could be a nice little lift

Starting point is 00:18:07 for the Patriots throughout the rest of the season when it comes to stopping the run because they have obviously not done that very well. Again, okay today. Kyron Williams had six yards to carry and got 86 yards on the ground, whoever that is. But you could use some good run support the rest of the season. Don't expect him to be all pro or anything, but this is hopefully a step in the right direction of keeping him on the field

Starting point is 00:18:36 and hopefully figuring out this blood clot situation so that he can't play because this is a budding star for the Patriots, and it was good to see him out there today, and hopefully that leads to more time for him in the future. Defensively, the Patriots had some interesting strategies today, and what they could do next week, the rematch of the Toilet Bowl from earlier this year with a lot different setting, the Patriots and the Dolphins.

Starting point is 00:19:01 We're going to look a little bit at that next on the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots postcast. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Alright, it's America's number one sports book. You probably already know that because right now new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets

Starting point is 00:19:20 if you win. The FanDuel Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you're going to be able to check out the latest stats. You can view live play by play, get all that data you need on the same page where you place your bets. Just visit FanDuel.com to join today. Again, you're going to get started with 150 in bonus bets. If you win that first $5 bet. That's Fanduel.com. Never waste a hunch and make

Starting point is 00:19:46 every moment more with Fanduel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Patriots defense didn't necessarily cover itself in glory, but I guess gave them a chance to win it at the end of the game. But this is where I go back to. This was not Matt Abelflus and Caleb Williams and the Bears. This was Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford and Puka Nakua and Cooper Cup and the LA Rams. And that was a big difference in the game today. Just the guy on the other sideline and the guy under center, right? Puka went off in the first half, just went off 117 yards in the first half and a touchdown.

Starting point is 00:20:33 And just too many times he was getting covered by one of the Joneses. And I'm like, man, how can you let that happen? Like, how is Christian Gonzalez not on him every play? Like, white on rice, man. I just, I don't understand it. Like, Cooper Cup is obviously quick. He's a shorter guy. You can put Marcus Jones on him. Are you going to win every time?

Starting point is 00:20:56 No, because Cooper Cup's an all-pro. But, like, that, to me, I'd rather take those two matchups than Marcus Jones or Jonathan Jones on Puka Nakua. That's got to happen, man. That's got to be Christian Gonzalez on him as much as you possibly can. And he was on him a lot in the second half, and I think Nakua only had one catch in the second half. I got to say, the only decision I didn't really agree with from Sean McVay was that fourth down on

Starting point is 00:21:27 their last possession before the kneel down, they had just gone on third down, deep down the field to, uh, to Puka. And it was Jonathan Jones who, who made a great play on it is, is real only good play all day. Um, and so you have them at a fourth down. They're on the Patriot side of the field. They're in field goal range and they elect to punt it and pin them deep. And I just, I would have, I would have taken the field goal there or taken the field goal attempt,

Starting point is 00:21:58 but the kid also missed from whatever 30 earlier in the game. But I, I'd like the chances to put the game away with the receiving core that the Patriots have and the mistakes that they make. I might have taken my chances there. I also probably wouldn't have thrown it 25 yards downfield on third and six. I would have done a slant route that the Patriots can't cover. But that's, hey, that's, I'm not Sean McVay.

Starting point is 00:22:22 I'm not Sean McVay. Maybe one day. But I thought they were a little discombobulated on that last drive, the Rams were. After they got that first first down, they started throwing. And I know you're on the other side of the two-minute warning, but I was really surprised by that because they had been getting what they wanted in the run game, the second half especially.

Starting point is 00:22:44 So I thought they could have easily gotten a couple of first downs on the ground and run out the clock. Instead, they tried passing a couple of times. They burnt a timeout, two timeouts actually on that drive, but one of them, because it looked like they didn't have a play ready. The second one, they were trying to see what the Patriots were lining up in. So a little bit of, you know, tete-a-tête there, a little bit of strategy there. But again, the Patriots don't have the talent that the Rams do, but they lost this game by getting outcoached, which is really too bad. Next week, they take on Miami.

Starting point is 00:23:18 We're going to get you prepped for it all week long on Locked On Patriots with Mike DeBate, starting with tomorrow's episode, which will be a bit more measured breakdown, a little less emotional than me. But Mike will get you ready with all the statistical analysis, and he'll have a great preview of the Dolphins going on all this week. But it makes me think back to that game they played last month, the Toilet Bowl in Foxborough, a 15-10 Miami victory

Starting point is 00:23:43 with that terrible call on Jalen Polk. Terrible non-catch call. I still don't understand how that's the rule. And it was Snoop Huntley versus Jacoby Brissett. This time, it looks like we'll have Tua and Drake May. So a little bit better, but the Dolphins have not played much better the dolphins are not a great football team and here the patriots sit you know jets lost today and um they had a chance to go into second place in this division and they still could get into second place in the Patriots or in the AFC East, which was supposed to be the best division in

Starting point is 00:24:26 football. But they've not taken that opportunity yet. They do have the same amount of wins as the Jets and the Dallas Cowboys. So there's something to be said about that. But the Jets losing to the Anthony Richardson-led Colts today, oh, what a mess. This is not a Jets podcast, so we're done with that. But it's funny. You got to admit, it's pretty funny. Patriots, Dolphins next week. Mike DeBate will keep you up to the minute all this week, and I will be with you next week after that game goes final.

Starting point is 00:25:02 You got it. It's a 1 o'clock Eastern time kickoff. Don't act surprised, okay? That's all but what? Two games this whole season for the Patriots are going to be 1 o'clock Eastern time kickoff. So we'll be with you then. Be sure to like and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:25:18 Drop your comments for what you thought on this game down in the comments below or tweet at me, RealCamStewart, to get your point across why you think Drake May is the greatest or why you think he lost this game for them. And don't just say he lost this game. By the way, that comment did come up. Wow, stunning.

Starting point is 00:25:33 But actually put out a coherent point as to why, because I guarantee you, you can't find one. Drop that down in the comments. Ring the notification bell to get notified every time we are dropping postgames here for the Patriots, the Celtics, and Boston College football as well. That's right after every game. But if you ring that notification bell, we will keep you up to the second. And we will see you next week on the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots Postcast.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - PATRIOTS POSTCAST: Did Sean McVay and the LA Rams EXPOSE Drake Maye as Comeback Falls Short?

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.