Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Reality: Would New England Patriots Losing vs Chargers Make 2025 A Failure?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Failure would not be the right word to use about this season if the Pats lost on Sunday to the Chargers. I'll tell you what word would be. This is Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network, your team every day. What's happening? And I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, been covering the Pats for the past 16 years, also the co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports radio veteran. Welcome to Lockdown Patriots, part of the lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. On today's show, it's all or nothing moving forward. And we think that will change several things about the Pats approach on Sunday. Also, the rookie class. has been relied upon an awful lot this season, and now the pressure mounts. But first, even if the Pats lose this weekend, 2025 will not go down as a failure.

Starting point is 00:01:11 Today's episode is brought to by Fandul before tip off, check the Fandul app and see what's dropping during NBA happy hour every Friday from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern. If the Pats lose on Sunday night to the Chargers, even though it is a home game, The 2025 season would not be a failure. However, I do have another word that I would put up there as to how we would define a loss on Sunday night. And that would be 100% unequivocally a disappointment. It doesn't mean this season was a failure, but it means this season came to a disappointing end. Things evolve.

Starting point is 00:01:56 Our opinions change. The more information we have, the more we know. And this Patriots team, even though before the season kicked off, not many of us would say they'd reach 10 wins and they got to 14 wins. They are who they are right now. 14 and 3, the number 2 seed with a home game on Sunday night. Not only do they have home field advantage this weekend. They are also the healthier team.

Starting point is 00:02:22 I know they've had to deal with a bunch of injuries over the past few weeks, but look at the Los Angeles Chargers. Just start on that offensive line, ravaged by injury. Drake May. We talked about, we waxed poetic about his 2025 on yesterday's episode, and rightfully so. He has had an elite season at quarterback this past year. So if you are the two seed,

Starting point is 00:02:48 if you are hosting the playoff game, if you are healthier than the team you're playing, if your quarterback is in the MVP conversation and has had hands down an elite season in 2025 and on top of all of that, it does truly feel like the AFC is wide open this postseason. We can talk about Josh Allen. And as I've said, I want the Patriots to stay as far away from Josh Allen as humanly possible. And thankfully, they would not have to face him until the AFC championship game, and that game would be at Jolette Stadium.

Starting point is 00:03:28 But if you look around the rest of the AFC, the Patriots have as good of a chance to beat any of these teams as any other team has a chance to beat the teams they face. I mean, this thing is a wide open race. I'm not writing off the Patriots. I think it's absolutely possible the Patriots make a run to the Super Bowl. So when the AFC is that wide open, you're the two seed, you're relatively healthy, your quarterback has been elite and you are hosting the first weekend, yes, if you lost on Sunday night, it would be a big time disappointment. But it would not be a failure. I'll tell you why

Starting point is 00:04:07 in a minute. Mark Daniels of Mass Live. He posted this. Asked about finishing his first season with 14 wins, Mike Vrable said the only wins that are going to matter are the ones they get from this point. Andrew Callahan posted. Christian Gonzalez said, quote, it's a new season now, so we might not even enjoy this one tonight and just get right onto it and onto next week, unquote. So even Mike Vrable and even Christian Gonzalez are telling us, the 14 wins this season, 2025, the regular season, it is in the rearview. The messaging is clear. Mike Vrable has been consistent and he continues to be consistent. The biggest game of the year, the biggest game of your season, is the next game.

Starting point is 00:04:52 What you've done doesn't matter until you reach the end, hopefully holding the Lombardi. But here's why if you lost on Sunday night, here's why it would not be a failure to me. 2025 should not go down as a failure. Drake May. Before the season kicked off, I said the number one priority is to make sure that Drake May is developed correctly.

Starting point is 00:05:17 The biggest thing, I did not even care about the wins in the long. losses this season. I wasn't worried about that. The number one thing I was focused on was whether or not Drake May would prove to the football world that he was a franchise quarterback. Well, no doubt looking at this season, Drake May is a franchise quarterback. No doubt he has proven that he has the ability in any given season to be a top two or three quarterback in the league. So the biggest question that you had entering this year, whether or not Drake May was going to show that he's the guy, that's been answered. And it was answered a long time ago. So this second year leap, the fact that Drake May has done what he has done makes 2025 a success.

Starting point is 00:06:09 That's why I can't call it a failure. I also can't call 2025 a failure even if you lose on Sunday night because you went from a completely unsurious program to a serious program. I tweeted in early January just about a year ago to the day at Nick C. Radio, I tweeted that it was time for the Patriots to move on from Gerard Mayo. It was time to go out and hire a Mike Vrable to make a totally unsurious program, a serious program. And when you go from four wins to 14 wins, you have gone from the Unserious to the very, very serious. Nobody's cracking jokes about the Patriots right now.

Starting point is 00:06:54 Nobody's cracking jokes about Mike Vrable. Nobody's cracking jokes about Drake May. And your team looks like it knows what it's doing. The culture has been established, folks. You have established a culture. You have seen a year two leap from your franchise quarterback. your 2025 draft class, who we will talk about in just a little while. Your 2025 draft class has backed up all the excitement that surrounded said class on draft weekend.

Starting point is 00:07:30 Your offensive staff, Josh McDaniels, Thomas Brown, Todd Downing, your offensive line coaches, Doug Marone, Jason Hotailing, Robert Coogler, your offensive staff has proven itself. and Zach Corr, all things considered, has not been terrible as the defensive play caller, even though he was thrown into the deep end during this season. That's why it's not going to be a failure. You're going to walk away from this season, even if you lose on Sunday night, and it might be very tough in the moment, and it would likely be tough in the moment. But I'm telling you right now, you walk away, you separate from the season,

Starting point is 00:08:07 even if you lose on Sunday, and you will say, hey, we've got Drake May. Hey, we're a serious program. Hey, the culture has been established. Hey, what about that 2025 rookie class? Hey, man, what about our coaching staff? You know, the nature of the one and done NFL and the fact of it, the reality of it is, if you have a bad 60 minutes, you can lose. You can be the best team in the league.

Starting point is 00:08:34 Bad 60 minutes, you can lose. So it's not just about what happens on Sunday night. I would rather feel confident about the ability of this program to sustain itself over the next few years. I would be much more excited about that than being down in case you have a bad 60 minutes on Sunday. Frankly, 2025 was not Super Bowl or Bust. It never was. And right now, it really shouldn't be. Of course, we all want a Super Bowl.

Starting point is 00:09:07 we want the Patriots to make a deep run. We want that to happen. But if it doesn't happen, if they lose on Sunday night, it would not be a failure. It would be a big time disappointment in the moment, in the vacuum. Because win or lose, you've got what I've talked about, and you also have excitement for the future because of that top tier quarterback. Because your left tackle problem,

Starting point is 00:09:31 which you could not figure out for years, finally feels like it's been solved thanks to Will Campbell, Because we all have trust in Mike Vrable, his vision of what he wants to build, his ability to define and find talent, the fact that you have 11 draft picks in almost $45 million in cap space, according to over the cap. So as disappointing as a Sunday night loss would be, it doesn't make 2025 a failure. We don't throw this season into the garbage, no, because a lot of positive things have been gained. Momentum has picked up, and now we look towards the future with the resources to build upon what we've seen. But it would be pretty nice if the Patriots get the dub and move on. Up next, the performance of five rookies this Sunday could be the difference between moving on or going home.

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Starting point is 00:12:51 Join the everydayer club today. Get Locked on Patriots. with no interruptions, members-only Discord access, and more, all for just five bucks a month and 50 bucks or 50 bucks for the year. You can go to Lockdown Patriots.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. And don't forget if you're watching on YouTube, help us out, click that thumbs up, give us a like, throw a comment in as well. Would you, would you deem the 2025 season a failure if the Patriots lose on Sunday night,

Starting point is 00:13:18 or do you agree with me? It'd be a big disappointment, but it would not make this season a failure. Also, don't forget to subscribe to Lockdown Patriots on YouTube. All season long, the Patriots have relied on their 2025 draft class. We're talking about tons of snaps and lots of responsibility put on the plate for these young guys. And when you look at this, we all have to acknowledge and appreciate that this Sunday night is going to be the first playoff game for many of these Patriots, including this draft class that has been relied upon so much. And I think five rookies, you look at five rookies from this class,

Starting point is 00:14:03 they could make the difference between a win or a loss on Sunday night. I want to start with somebody who you might not think of right away because I think a lot of people think offense first. I want to actually look at the defense. Craig Woodson has played a ton of snaps this year. You go back to draft weekend. The Patriots drafted him early on Saturday. They had all Friday night to think about it.

Starting point is 00:14:30 They had Saturday morning to think about it. They had an opportunity, certainly, to trade the pick. They did not. They stuck with the pick, and they drafted Craig Woodson. And now we know why. He has played just a ton of snaps this season. And after that Miami game this past weekend, you should have a little bit of concern at least

Starting point is 00:14:51 about how Craig Woodson is going to perform on Sunday night. The tackling issue, he's in the right spot, he just doesn't finish the play all the time. One miss tackle can create a big play, can change the game. Craig Woodson's eyes in coverage sometimes, whether it was all on him or on him and Christian Gonzalez against the Dolphins on that first touchdown and only touchdown for Miami on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:15:20 The eyes. You lose your eyes. You lose discipline. Big play happens behind you. You could be cooked. And the instincts, the execution, the finish, that's what it's all about on Sunday night. It's one thing to understand what the charges are going to try to do.

Starting point is 00:15:36 It's another to be able to combat that and execute the play. You give up one big play. It could be a big old yikes on Sunday night. So Craig Woodson has to play responsible football, has to play disciplined football. Trevionn Henderson. Now I'll jump to the offense. Trayvion Henderson, we've been talking about this going back to camp. His big play ability, and we've seen it several times.

Starting point is 00:16:05 We saw it against the Jets. We saw it against the Bucks. The big play ability. Trayvion Henderson, his home run hitting ability, could simply change the game on Sunday night. one big run, one house call can be the difference between going home or staying in this playoff race. One big play. The big playability of Trayvion Henderson could bust this game wide open on Sunday night.

Starting point is 00:16:35 But then you look at some of the other things, right? His improved vision. Is Trayvion Henderson going to get more than what is blocked? He has improved over the past few weeks in that category. You know, you look at the first 10, 11, 12 weeks of the season, a lot of it was whatever's blocked, whatever's there, Trayvion Henderson, he's going to run through the hole, and then he's going to get tackled. He's not going to create too much, right?

Starting point is 00:16:59 Not many cutbacks, not many bounce outs, not making a lot of guys miss. That started to change. And so now maybe that two-yard game becomes a five-yard gain. Every yard matters. I know it sounds cliche, but we're talking about playoff football. Pass protection also matters. If Trayvion Henderson is in the game and Drake May is going to throw the football, Trayvion Henderson has to have more blocks like he had on Sunday against Miami's Blitz moving forward in this postseason.

Starting point is 00:17:28 He has to protect the quarterback. Then you look at the kicker. Yeah, the kicker. Did anybody watch Pittsburgh Baltimore on Sunday night? Did you see that the Ravens rookie kicker, Tyler Loop, missed the game winning kick as time expired? the Ravens should be hosting a playoff game on Monday night. Instead, they're home. And now they have a controversy between Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh.

Starting point is 00:17:55 Andy Boregallis, we're talking rookie kicker. We're talking tougher conditions. You just had a kick blocked on Sunday. The pressure is higher. Every extra point, every field goal worth its weight in gold. If you miss a couple of kicks on Sunday night, it's very likely you won't get another chance to kick a football until July of 2026.

Starting point is 00:18:24 So the kicker has to come through. It was really nice to see him make. It was really nice to see Andy Borogales make a 59-yard field goal against the dolphins and some cold weather gives you some confidence. But Andy Borogales could be the difference between, you winning or losing on Sunday. How about Will Campbell, your left tackle? Would you say he's pretty important on Sunday?

Starting point is 00:18:49 Making sure that the blindside rush from the Chargers, we'll talk more about the Chargers pass rush. They can get to the quarterback a little bit. Do you think Will Campbell's critical? Of course he is. Can he protect Drake May's blindside? He had multiple really good blocks against Miami and the run game on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:19:08 Can he continue that against the Chargers? The Chargers front seven is much. Much better than Miami's front seven. But if Will Campbell is showing that physicality, getting to the second level, finishing his blocks, creating space for Andre Stevenson, and for Trayvion Henderson,

Starting point is 00:19:27 that obviously will only help the Patriots offense. And another thing about Will Campbell is bring the nasty. He's the guy on this offensive line that could bring a little bit of that nasty, can bring that physicality. He has to bring both in space, on Sunday night. And finally, Jared Wilson, is he even going to be out there on Sunday night? Jared Wilson has been up and down this season. And frankly, I would say more down than up.

Starting point is 00:19:54 Now he's young and he's playing a different position. So some of that is understandable. Looked like he was getting better before he got hurt. He was out of the lineup for a week or two, came back, gets concussed. He's been out for a week or two now. Is he going to be back on Sunday night? And will the Patriots even start Jared Wilson? Or will they look at Ben Brown and say, you know what? We'd rather start Ben Brown because Jared Wilson has had this layoff. He's coming back from that concussion. And it's, you know, the postseason.

Starting point is 00:20:27 And we just trust Ben Brown more. So those five rookies, Craig Woodson, Trayvion Henderson, Andy Borogallis, Will Campbell, and Jared Wilson. If they play well, the Patriots have an awesome. shot of winning on Sunday night. If they don't, Pats could be in trouble. Now that it's won and done, which it is, it means we should expect some changes on Sunday. At least, I think so.

Starting point is 00:20:53 We'll tell you which kind of changes next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Fridays feel different during basketball season, and Fandul is making them even better. Every Friday night before the games tip off, Fandul gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with NBA Happy Hour. MBA Happy Hour is your official pregame, a limited time window where special offers drop right inside the Fandul app before the action starts.

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Starting point is 00:21:55 That's NBA Happy Hour only on Fandul. And of course, Fandul is the official sportsbook partner of the NBA. Don't forget to comment. Don't forget to like. get to subscribe 8,500 subscribers is the next goal. All or nothing this Sunday night. Winner go home, whatever you want to say. And I believe that there are going to be some things that are going to change this Sunday night compared to what we've seen from the Patriots this regular season. You don't have to worry about management anymore. You don't have to hold anything back.

Starting point is 00:22:31 So here are some thoughts and some questions about what we could see, likely see on Sunday Ramadre Stevenson. It's fascinating. Remandre Stevenson has really picked it up. We've waxed poetic about him now for the past couple of weeks and we should because he's been terrific. But here's the thing about Ramandre Stevenson. Over the last four games, a full month of football, he's averaging only about seven carries a game. And that's intriguing. Is he only averaging about seven carries a game because he's not fully healthy? He looks fully healthy. Or what I think is happening is he being held to about seven carries per game over the last month because the Patriots are managing his touches because they're going to lean on Ramandre Stevenson a lot this postseason because their game plan is to run the football with Ramandre Stevenson, sprinkle in Trayvion Henderson's big playability, and then let Drake May cook when he can cook. I would be very surprised if we're watching on Sunday night

Starting point is 00:23:44 and Ramandre Stevenson doesn't have 13, 14, 15 carries. I think you could see double the amount of runs from Ramandre Stevenson on Sunday night than he has averaged over the past month. Another guy I want to talk about is Harold Landry. Harold Landry has not played the past couple of weeks. His last game was on December 14th against the Ravens on Sunday night. And in that game, Harold Landry played only 30 snaps, which was well below his standard. The Patriots need him not only for hopefully, you know, extra pass rush juice, which we know they need,

Starting point is 00:24:25 but also his run defense. If Harold Landry looks like 90% Harold Landry, that would be a pretty big boost for this defensive line. It would be a big boost for this defense overall. So the Patriots have obviously managed Harold Landry over the past couple of weeks because they want him as close to healthy as possible for this run. And if you get the Harold Landry before the injury or close to the Harold Landry before the injury, that is an impact player being added to your defense

Starting point is 00:25:02 that we haven't seen in two to two and a half months. How about Stefan Diggs? Here's another interesting guy. When we talk about no more management, no more holding back, Mike Reese this week posted that Stefan Diggs has played on 54.7% of the Patriot snaps offensively this year. So Stefan Diggs is out there about 55% of the time. His season high was the Thursday night football game against the Jets.

Starting point is 00:25:33 He played almost 69% of. the time, which was 46 snaps. And here's my question. And here's kind of what I expect. Stefan Diggs, is he going to be closer to the 70% than the 55%? Is Stefan Diggs going to play 10 to 15 more snaps on Sunday night? Because it's winner go home. You're not trying to save him anymore. You're not trying to save the tank. This is you're throwing everything out there in hopes of winning and moving forward in what Mike Vrable calls the tournament. I would not be surprised if Stefan Diggs's snaps go up on Sunday night. I would not even be surprised if his snaps increase exponentially

Starting point is 00:26:21 on Sunday night. I don't think it's bananas to believe that Stefan Diggs could be out there for 50 snaps against the Chargers. And if he's out there more, I like that. He's your best receiver. He's a security blanket for Drake May. I think you'll see more of Stefan Diggs on Sunday. And then I'm just wondering, how is the interior defensive line composition going to look on Sunday?

Starting point is 00:26:49 You know, Kyrie's Tonga, does he return? Is he going to be back? He's been walking around in a boot reportedly. So is Kyrie's Tonga going to be back? even if you can get 15 to 20 really good snaps from Kyrie's Tonga, your defense is better for it. Your run defense is especially better for it. So is he back? How much does Milton Williams play? He played 28 snaps against Miami. He has said that he felt sore after the game. He has let everybody know that he is not 100%. He has a high ankle sprain. And it's going to

Starting point is 00:27:25 take a little while for that thing to fully heal up. Now, before the injury, Milton Williams was playing 35 to 40 snaps a week. Is it possible that we see him play seven to 12 extra snaps on Sunday compared to what he played against the dolphins? I think it's possible, but I think it's more likely he's probably going to continue to hover around 28 to 30 to try to keep him fresh so you get more. flashes from him. And so if Kyrie's Tonga is either not back or he's not giving you, you know, many snaps, if Milton Williams is still going to hover around 25, 28 snaps,

Starting point is 00:28:08 then how much are you going to rely on the young guys? You're going to rely on them more. I mean, Christian Barmore will be out there, but how much do you play Corey Dirton? How much do you play Leonard Taylor? How much do you play Eric Gregory? These are all critical questions thoughts, ideas, before heading into the wild car round against the Chargers. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. And don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel, hit that like button and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:28:45 And if you're looking for a gift for someone, make it easy. Check out the Everydayer Club. Add free episodes of this show, exclusive Discord server access, and more. Subscriptions can be gifted through lockdown patriots.supercast.com. Have a great day and we'll see you for the crossover tomorrow.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Reality: Would New England Patriots Losing vs Chargers Make 2025 A Failure?

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