Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - PATRIOTS POSTCAST: Drake Maye Outduels Caleb Williams as Patriots Knock Off Bears in Chicago!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, this ain't golf, so maybe three is better than one. 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. Hey there, welcome to the Patriots Postcast. New England goes into Chicago, takes out the Bears 19-3 for win number three on the season. I'm your host, Cam Stewart. Appreciate you making this your first listen today and every day, making the Locked On Podcast Network part of your daily routine. And it was a defensive show

Starting point is 00:00:50 for the Patriots today. Drake May did just enough. We're going to look at his day, what the Patriots did to give Caleb Williams all kinds of fits, and maybe the one or two plays that really tipped the scales in this 19-3 victory. All that and more coming up on this episode of the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots Postcast. And really what it is, is Pat's got it done. Okay? There was a ton of hype coming into this. Well, as much hype as there could have been with, what, a 2-7 team against a 4-4 team.

Starting point is 00:01:25 But there was the storyline being the number one overall pick in the draft versus the number three overall pick in the draft. We did have number one versus number two a few weeks ago and number two won that one. And this time, number three also takes down number one. And boy, is it a dumpster fire happening in Chicago right now. I mean, look at the bare bones of this. The Bears were a team that was built really to win now and had the number one overall pick at quarterback, and they fall to four and five. They have the toughest schedule remaining in football and the Patriots improving to three and seven

Starting point is 00:02:04 and things looking up a little bit because they went out and got a win when their quarterback wasn't fantastic. I thought Drake May was good today. Fine. Better than Caleb Williams, which is something. But by no means was he just lighting up the stat book today. In fact, the first couple of drives of this game, I had the thought of like, this might be a game where you just don't look at the stats for Drake because there just weren't guys getting open. The offensive line was not great in the first couple of drives.

Starting point is 00:02:42 And it just looked like another day where he was going to have to do it all by himself. And credit to the rest of the team, that did not turn out to be the case. But May's numbers are fine. 15 to 25, 184, a touchdown and a pick. That pick was terrible. And he probably should have thrown a second one. That ball in the end zone, either late third quarter, early fourth quarter. I believe it's when they took the field goal that made it 16 to three. He threw it behind Henry or Hooper and it probably should have been picked off. He had the guy, but he just threw it behind him.

Starting point is 00:03:19 But that pick was, was terrible. I don't know what it, all I know what he was doing. He was a kid trying to make a play with his arm strength, but you had a linebacker underneath and you're staring him down the whole time and just tried to loft one up kind of off platform and did not get there. So not a good pick there, but overall he, his number should have been better. I mean, there were still some drops. Uh, there was a bootay drop. There was DeMario Douglas drop, uh, there was still some plays uh there was a bootay drop there was demario douglas drop there was still some plays where his guys just didn't get open again especially early on in that game and he did what they needed to do to win this one and he had a pretty damn good two minute drill once again

Starting point is 00:03:57 um actually a couple of scores obviously late in the first half but that one it's really a whatever 52nd drill to get that field goal before halftime. We're going to talk a little bit about that drive later, but overall liked what you saw from the quarterback. It's again, not one of those where he needs to go nuclear for the Patriots to win, which there's not going to be many of those the rest of this season. By the way, who's the dummy that hosted the postcast last week and said I don't know if there's another win on the schedule boy that guy might need to start looking for new jobs but again spread the ball around Hooper Douglas Boutte are the only ones

Starting point is 00:04:36 with multiple catches though so you know the rest of them Henry Hasty Stevenson Polk Osborne either one or no catches. Osborne does not get one, almost had a touchdown in the first quarter, which was a pretty remarkable play, but he went out of bounds first. You can't do that. So overall, those two plays, the one pick and the one near pick, are the only times he really put it in harm's way in terms of in harm's way for an interception or in harm's way for his receivers.

Starting point is 00:05:09 And honestly, with the rest of your team that you're looking at this year, that's what you're hoping for from your QB. It's not going to be every game he's throwing four touchdowns, no picks, 300 yards. It's not going to be that. he's throwing four touchdowns, no picks, 300 yards. It's not going to be that. You're just hoping that he is limiting mistakes, and today, limited mistakes. And he has not put the ball in harm's way at the rate that I think a lot of people thought he was going to coming into this season.

Starting point is 00:05:40 But really, the story of this game is the defense. The defense just smothered the Bears, smothered Caleb Williams, and might get Matt Eberflus fired. I know this is not a Bears postcast, but the Bears are in such a bad way right now. They are not going to make the playoffs because of that. The rest of their schedule has a 631 winning percentage, the toughest in the league to finish off the year. And I had a family friend, I think I said this last week, family friend asked me before this season,

Starting point is 00:06:12 what do you think the Bears are going to do? They got a nice roster. They went out and got the number one overall pick. They got Caleb Williams, the guy everyone wanted. And I said, yeah, at best, they're a 500 team. What? Are you kidding? Only 500? Yeah, only 500. And they're a 500 team. What? Are you kidding? Only 500? Yeah, only 500.

Starting point is 00:06:27 And they're not going to get to that. They are not going to get to that. And the number three overall pick, while not having this great glistening day, did look a lot better than the number one overall pick. So take that as a moral victory, as well as the actual victory for the Patriots in this one. 19-3 the final. And I mean, defense, I'm burying the lead here with the defense.

Starting point is 00:06:56 I have been so on this defense for a couple of weeks now. It's been one of the worst run defenses in football the whole season. But really specifically the last four or five weeks, they've just been getting gashed in the run. And this was supposed to be a team that was aggressive in its pass rush, even without Judon out there, you know, cause we were hearing that the first couple of weeks of the season with new coordinator DeMarcus Covington. And that was after Matthew Judon was gone.

Starting point is 00:07:21 We saw, we saw that. We saw that in this game today. Defense dominated. Let's take you through the numbers and overall what the feel of this game was from a Patriots standpoint on the defensive end. That's coming up next on the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots postcast. But first, let's talk about Robin Hood. No, not the one with little John running through the forest. Not that one, but Robin hood, where you don't need a silver spoon to eat up the

Starting point is 00:07:51 financial favors of the 1%. Robin hood gold allows others to get the rates and perks usually reserved for the high society. Well, now the resourceful individual with Robin hood gold can earn the very liberal rate of four and a5% APY on uninvested cash and be rewarded with a handsome 3% retirement boost on an IRA account. Robinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5 a month. The new gold standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at Robinhood.com slash gold.

Starting point is 00:08:24 Terms do apply. For specific disclosures, visit Robinhood.com slash gold. Terms do apply. For specific disclosures, visit robinhood.com slash gold. Investing does involve risk. Rates may change. Gold membership is offered by Robinhood LLC. Once again, that's robinhood.com slash gold. Patriots take care of business at Soldier Field in Chicago, 19-3. It wasn't always pretty, but it was really never in doubt. It was 3-3 at one point in the second quarter, but at no point did it look like the Patriots were in danger of losing that game, except for the fact that they were 2-7 coming into the game, right?

Starting point is 00:09:03 You know, that's the only pause that you guys would have had watching the game is that, oh, well, they do lose a lot. But it didn't look like at any point in this game that they were just about to collapse. Nothing put momentum in Chicago's hands the whole game. And that is a credit to really this whole team, but specifically the defense. The defense went out there and faced, you know, the number one overall pick in the draft

Starting point is 00:09:29 with some pretty good weapons around them. You know, you heard it through the broadcast, right? Obviously, Roman Dunzay, the other top 10 pick, but Cole Komet and DJ Moore and Keenan Allen. And yes, somehow, somehow Mercedes Lewis is still playing in the NFL. Could have fooled me guys. I had no idea. I'd love to know if you knew, um, if you do, you're a sicko and I love that, but no idea that guy was still playing, but the bears had all the, all these weapons. They have not been scoring the last couple of weeks. And you felt that this was like one of those games where it's like, all right, we got to figure it out now because they're four and four. Okay. They got a coach

Starting point is 00:10:09 on the hot seat, which means all the coaches are on the hot seat. They've got a capable quarterback and a ton of weapons. Like this is going to be the week they figured out they're playing, playing a two and 17 at home. They did not figure it out by my count, I believe that is 22 straight drives without a touchdown for the Bears. Wow. And Caleb Williams has not thrown a touchdown pass in like four weeks. And it very much looked the part of a dominant defense today, which is what we thought we have with the Patriots in the first couple of weeks. Didn't mean they were going to go win 10 games, but we thought, hey, this defense is going to keep them in a ton of games this year, just like they did last year.

Starting point is 00:10:53 Hadn't really been the case, but today it got them the win. Caleb goes 16 to 30 for 120. Do that quick math. 16 completions for 120. Four yards a completion. That's not right. That's not right. And he got sacked nine times.

Starting point is 00:11:12 Nine times. Man, and he was just on the ground the whole game. It says four right there. I don't know why I'm looking at that and taking that as candid. 16 times four is not 120. But it was 4 yards per attempt, which is lower than his season average this year. It's about 2.5 yards lower than his season average, which is about 2.5 yards lower than Drake May's average, by the way.

Starting point is 00:11:37 But we talked about Cole Komet. The guy did nothing today. They were talking about him in the third quarter as he was getting his only two catches of the game. DJ Moore, three catches. Roma Dunzey, three catches. None of those three go over 30 yards receiving. Their leading receiver had 44 yards. That's what we're usually talking about with the Patriots. And the real number that stood out to me was third down. That was the one that just kept piling on and piling on. One for 14 on third down for the Bears. The Patriots stopped 13 of 14 third down attempts. Bravo. Bravo. Because that's what we've been looking for for a couple of weeks. A defense with a spine, with a backbone. They got pushed around in the running game week

Starting point is 00:12:26 after week, and on money downs, they stunk. They were awesome today. Awesome today in really both of those, because the Bears only rushed for 73 yards in the whole game. And it's not like they were down 14 points early. They had plenty of opportunity to run the football and establish the run Patriots really didn't let them and played complimentary football because they ran it down their throat a couple of drives only 144 on the game but they controlled that line of scrimmage against the Bears defense which is overall pretty good. Top 10 overall, but not a good running defense at all, at all in this one. But the two numbers that are going to stick out, one for 14 on third down for Chicago,

Starting point is 00:13:14 and Caleb Williams gets sacked nine times. God, I feel like Rooney and his secretary at Ferris Bueller's Day calling Ferris' mom nine times. Great Chicago movie. Someone should put that to a meme. Nine times Caleb Williams is sacked. And honestly, part of it was good Patriots coverage, but part of it looked like him getting flustered, Caleb getting flustered.

Starting point is 00:13:40 This is not a great offensive line for the Bears either, and the Patriots took real advantage of that. Keon White had a nice day for the first time statistically in a while. He was kind of one of those guys who was kind of wreaking some havoc without you seeing it in the box score. And also there were plenty of times where the defenses could completely key on him. No pun intended. Four tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack,

Starting point is 00:14:09 and a pass deflection, by the way. Batted one down. Hit the quarterback twice. That's a big league day for Keyon White. That's the kind of day we thought we were getting from him, or we were getting from him, in the first quarter of the season. And it's the first time in a couple of weeks that he's put up some numbers like that,

Starting point is 00:14:27 which is, which is a real promising sign for, for this Patriots team as it goes forward throughout the year to string a couple of wins together. I say this every week, guys, I was talking with a friend today who's Panthers fan and the Panthers got the win over the giantsants and saying like,

Starting point is 00:14:46 hey, we might be coming for that number one pick. And I'm like, take it. Patriots don't need the number one pick. In fact, if they do get the number one pick, it's going to complicate things. Obviously, they're not going to draft a quarterback, but if they get number one, the talk is going to be offensive tackle, of course, pass rusher, Travis Hunter, maybe even a wide receiver. Those things are going to be thrown around, and if you're picking first rather than third or fifth, then that's what Elliott Wolfe is going to have to think about, and I don't want him thinking about that. Don't overthink this. Tack tackle tackle so you can win five games maybe even six and get the top tackle in the draft i i probably wouldn't go past five probably wouldn't go past

Starting point is 00:15:37 five i don't want to leave that to chance but whoever it's going to be, whether it's Banks or the other kid, the LSU and UT guys, it's going to be one of them. That's the number one tackle taken in the draft. You can get that at five or six. The number one tackle in the draft went last year at pick number five, Joe Walt. So you don't need the number one pick. You can afford to win some games here. And Patriots showed you can afford to win some games tonight.

Starting point is 00:16:07 But Caleb, he kind of stinks. Look, it's halfway through year one. I'm not saying he's a bust or anything, but he kind of stinks right now. Like anyone watching that game, you know, while neither quarterback's numbers jumped off the page, anyone watching that game, is anyone going to tell me that Caleb Williams is more in control than Drake Bay? If you do, I don't know what game you're watching. Like Drake, Drake, even with a bad pick in the first quarter was just way more under control. He still needs to learn how to slide.

Starting point is 00:16:48 Goodness me, you took two hits downfield that I'm like, that gave you nothing. There was no benefit to taking a hit there. But Caleb was uncomfortable the whole day. There were a couple points where he just couldn't throw the ball in the ocean from a boat. Reminds me of that great Woody Johnson quote when they asked about Christian Hackenberg, where they asked Woody Johnson, what do you have to say about the comments about your quarterback saying he can't throw the ball into the ocean?

Starting point is 00:17:15 Woody says, which ocean? That's what Caleb Williams looked like today for a good chunk of that game and just could not get anything going. His body language on the sideline. I'm a big body language guy, like Simmons in that way, big body language guy, body language doctor. And it's just like sulking and just, huh, like he's already out of options. Midway through year one with a roster that was ready to go, with a roster that was ready to win now.

Starting point is 00:17:45 A defense that in yards per game is in the top 10 and with a full allotment of receivers. You look at what Drake Mays got at the other side. He does not have DJ Moore or Cole Komet or even a salty vet like Keenan Allen. He doesn't have any of that. He has Kayshaun Boutte. He has Jalen Polk some weeks. He's got Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry at the tight end position.

Starting point is 00:18:11 And that's what he's got. Caleb is in a much better position, and he's not playing good enough football. Not playing better football than Drake May. They have more wins. And by that, I mean one more win. That's a disaster in Chicago, an absolute disaster. I do want to talk about Kendrick Bourne, another receiver I didn't list there because he didn't play today, didn't take a snap today, was on the sideline. But that was kind of a weird story. Let's talk about the Kendrick Bourne aspect of things and what they do with him going

Starting point is 00:18:49 forward and what was the sequence in this game that the Patriots wanted, and it might not be the sequence that you think. That's coming up next on the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots postcast after this word from FanDuel. Yeah, FanDuel. Ever heard of it? It's America's number one sportsbook. And right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win.

Starting point is 00:19:15 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, like you're seeing how inaccurate Caleb Williams is, you can check out the latest stats. You can view live play by play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. Just visit fanduel.com to join today. You'll get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win that first $5 bet, that's fanduel.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Pats win it. Wasn't always pretty, but also wasn't really in doubt. 19-3 the final in this one.

Starting point is 00:19:57 And we talked about Drake May spreading the love, as he always does. But one of the guys he did not spread it to is to Kendrick Bourne. Kendrick Bourne did not take a snap in this game. And according to Andrew Callahan, covers the Patriots, Bourne was told he may not play this afternoon to prioritize the young receivers. Okay? He was told that yesterday.

Starting point is 00:20:20 Bourne has caught 57.1% of his targets. Nonetheless, he continues to show the support. This is from Andrew Gwinden, this part of the tweet. Congratulating Jalen Polk after the touchdown. But this is an interesting one. You're trying to play the young receivers, which in a vacuum I totally understand. But this is not in a vacuum.

Starting point is 00:20:42 They signed Kendrick Bourne, re-signed him in the offseason to a two-year deal. He's on your team next year. The trade deadline has passed. You didn't trade him. What, are you just going to not play him for a year and a half? Is that what we're going to do to prioritize young receivers? And this is just, I know not every team operates like this.

Starting point is 00:21:08 And I know it's unfair to compare to the greatest coach of all time. But this is just not something that would have happened under Belichick ever. Prioritizing young receivers by taking a capable pro out of there. One who's under contract for another year after this. It's weird. You could have got something for Kendrick Bourne. You could have. I mean, Dallas picked up or gave up a fourth round pick

Starting point is 00:21:33 for Jonathan Mingo from the Panthers, who has the lowest yards per target of any receiver in the league. You're telling me you couldn't get anything for Kendrick Bourne if you were going to prioritize young receivers? That's a team that always hits on fourth-round picks, and they're just giving them away, throwing them out like candy on Halloween for someone named Jonathan Mingo. And you couldn't get anything for Kendrick Bourne to the point

Starting point is 00:21:59 where you're going to bench him to prioritize young receivers, a.k.a. Jalen Polk, because it was not Javon Baker. It was not Tyquan Thornton. He was inactive. Baker didn't have a target. K.J. Osborne had one technical target, but it was taken back on an illegal touching. So who are you prioritizing there?

Starting point is 00:22:19 Polk had one catch, had a touchdown. Congrats. Maybe that shows how bad the Bears are. But that's a bizarre move to me. Again, not that Kendrick Bourne's bringing the house down. In fact, I think he's not had a great season either. 57.1% of his targets, not all that great, but it's a weird move to me. Prioritize young receivers when you didn't really do that in this game. And when you're trying to develop a quarterback, a young quarterback,

Starting point is 00:22:48 I understand, oh, he'll have a connection with these young guys for a while, but he's going to have Kendrick Bourne next season. Why not develop some chemistry with him? It's a weird move to me. It is a very weird move to me. And again, one that Belichick would have never done, never done. If you are the better receiver than whomever on the depth chart, you're out there at any position. If you're better than this guy, it doesn't matter if he's young or he needs to

Starting point is 00:23:18 be prioritized or what you're playing. And that's not the case of the Patriots anymore. Not the case. Where did the tables turn in this game? It actually turned pretty early. It was the second quarter. The Patriots scored a touchdown to go up 10-3. Their only touchdown of the game. Nice play. Nice play designed to get Jalen Polk an easy target on the goal line.

Starting point is 00:23:40 And it was actually a good point by Daryl Johnston. We do not get many good points from the color commentators and Patriots games anymore because we're getting like the D-list commentary team, but he was mentioning that they had ran the play before and they had Jalen Polk at the end of the offensive line like you would with a tight end on a run block because then the next play, you're going to pass out of it

Starting point is 00:24:03 because you got a linebacker lined up on him ready to blitz. And you're thinking, well, this guy's not like, what are we doing? Like, why is this guy lined up against a pass rusher here? And it's because he's going to rub and go, go to the pylon and catch a touchdown on Tyreek Stevenson. Tyreek Stevenson's been in the news the last couple of weeks and maybe his worst play of the year was giving up a touchdown to Jalen Polk. Anyway, so the Patriots score there. Bears go into kind of a two-minute drill. Obviously, they get nothing. They were 0-4 in the first half on third down. They have to punt it. Marcus Jones gets them to the Patriots 40 with 50 seconds left and two timeouts.

Starting point is 00:24:47 And they make it happen. Drake May with a beautiful 22-yard pass to Keyshawn Boutte with about 10 seconds left in the middle of the field. No timeout. They get up there. They get to the line of scrimmage perfectly. They snap it and spike it with one second left. And Sweat from Chicago had not gotten

Starting point is 00:25:06 back to the line of scrimmage yet. So add five more on an offside penalty with that wind. Absolutely. Whipping was huge for Joey Sly who kicks the field goal to go up 10 at half. And we, it was a great momentum shift at the time, but what we didn't realize until afterwards was the game was over right there. The Bears have not scored a touchdown in like 10 quarters. So that was over. It was done. 10-point lead, you had them. And it was more to me, the perfect Patriots execution. Because with everything we've seen for the Patriots this year, they should not have executed that. They should have ran out of time. And if anyone was going Patriots this year, they should not have executed that. They should have ran out of time. And if anyone was going to get a penalty, it should have been them.

Starting point is 00:25:53 Seeing Sweat not be able to get back and add an extra five yards for a field goal attempt on a play where they used the middle of the field, they had to run up to the line. That's something that would happen to the Patriots this year. Instead, it happened to the Bears. And it happened to the Patriots' advantage. And it's little things like that. That's how you win on the details. They ran the ball well enough. They stopped the run. They had coverage sacks. They didn't commit stupid penalties. In fact, there was not a lot of penalties in this game at all,, not a stupid penalty that I can remember on the Patriots, which is something that we're

Starting point is 00:26:28 usually reviewing on this postcast, like every week didn't have that. And in that two minute drill, really a one minute drill and eventually a 10 second drill. Cause that's what that is. A drill it's it's plays that you run in practice in order to get up there and snap it. They did it perfectly. 12 penalties in this game. Actually, the Patriots lost the penalty battle and the turnover battle and won the game by 16.

Starting point is 00:26:55 Ooh, that's bad news in Chicago. That's not our problem. Not our problem. Patriots host the Rams next week. The Rams didn't exactly go fire sale like some were thinking, but I don't know about that team. Obviously better quarterback situation than what Chicago had. So Mike debate of lockdown Patriots.

Starting point is 00:27:14 We'll have you ready for that all week long. He's going to have a more measured breakdown of this game on tomorrow's show. Be sure to make it your first listen today and every day have Mike get you ready for the Rams. And then after that game, about 4 o'clock, 4.30 next Sunday, we'll have it live for you on YouTube right here at the Locked On Sports Boston Patriots Postcast. We will see you then.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - PATRIOTS POSTCAST: Drake Maye Outduels Caleb Williams as Patriots Knock Off Bears in Chicago!

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