Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Recapping Week 1: New England Patriots vs, Miami Dolphins

Starting point is 00:00:00 Our 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 download, subscribe to, and follow Lockdown Patriots wherever you get your audio podcasts and smash that YouTube subscribe button.

Starting point is 00:00:55 Folks, today we are breaking down the Patriots 20-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins in week one of the 2022 NFL season. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. If you want to reach out to me, let me know what's on your mind. Please do so on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well

Starting point is 00:01:22 at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, for the second straight year, You'll follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, for the second straight year, the New England Patriots fall to the Miami Dolphins in their season opener. And unlike the one-point razor-thin margin of loss last year for the Patriots, Pats were seldom close and really seldom close to victory in Miami yesterday. And they fall to the Dolphins 20-7. Patriots start the season 0-1. Joining us here today to break it all down via audio is my good friend, the counter Murphy Fisto himself, the Green King of Sting, the legendary Thomas Murphy.

Starting point is 00:01:59 And Don Murphy, we always greatly appreciate, always honored, always humbled by your presence. I guess the best thing to ask, and this may be a always honored, always humbled by your presence. I guess the best thing to ask, and this may be a loaded question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Murph, what the hell went wrong yesterday? You know, as you can see by the look on my face, that I'm not very happy. I'm not happy. Sorry about the technical difficulties, people. Or, you know, congratulations.

Starting point is 00:02:27 You don't get to see my smiling face today. They still have to see mine. It's not that pretty. What went wrong was, was the fact that, that after an opening drive that you could almost say was textbook perfect. You are locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Sorry, folks. I have no idea what that was.

Starting point is 00:03:01 That wasn't me. After a textbook opening drive where the Patriots put togetherils, it seemed, and they never got any rhythm to their offense for the rest of the day. That's basically what I... It's aggravating as hell because of how early it happened, but that's what I see going wrong. Once again, you can go back to the offensive line and missed assignments. It was really more of what we saw during the preseason.

Starting point is 00:03:58 The Patriots ran the ball well early on the first drive in the first half, as a matter of fact, and then that also went out the window. What was working, Matt Patricia went away from. The running game was solid in the first half. He was running off tackle, and those plays were working. And then we started to try to stretch things out around the sides, and that was stifled also um the last point well not the last point we got a lot of time left here people was was the fact that

Starting point is 00:04:32 um that mac jones seemed to be uh i'm not quite sure when he got hurt and this explains a lot he was throwing off his back foot almost the entire game, and it seemed like everything was floating. Four or five bad plays really ruined this game for the Patriots, who other than that, you know, had played a, I don't want to say a dominant, of course it wasn't dominant. You only scored seven points. But it stalled four or five different plays, either stalled drives or extended drives for the Dolphins. And you can't have that. This team simply is not that talented. No, they aren't. And they're not equipped to play from behind and play through mistakes

Starting point is 00:05:24 the way former Patriots teams have done in the past. And Bill Belichick said this yesterday when he took the podium immediately following the loss. Pretty even game, two big plays, 14 points really skewed the game. And I think you can really make that argument. Obviously, the strip sack, the recovery in the end zone, that definitely was just a real backbreaker for the New England Patriots. I look at that as even more of a backbreaker than the Jalen Waddell touchdown at the end of the half. I know everyone's pointing at that as the dagger for the New England Patriots yesterday. That was a little bit of a break in coverage, and we'll go into

Starting point is 00:06:00 that in just a moment, because one of the responsible parties, I guess, in that regard, Kyle Duggar, I thought, had a tremendous game yesterday. And he was one of the bright spots. And, yeah, there were bright spots yesterday, folks. We will get to those. But, Murph, I think you're absolutely right on the money. Mac Jones, for the better part of the day yesterday, just looked uncomfortable. 21 of 30 pass attempts, 213 yards, one touchdown, one interception. Really a bad interception on the first drive.

Starting point is 00:06:30 Obviously, the pass interference call, that should have been made. I've seen some arguments this morning about, oh, well, there was contact on both sides and you could go either way. He had a handful. Yeah. He had a handful of his shoulder pad. That's just not allowed. And, you know, that really that should have been called. I guess you can call it just desserts afterwards where he was, you know, called for the illegal contact call in the third quarter volumes to what the Patriots did yesterday. And the running game did not really fare much better. Damian Harris leading all rushers, nine attempts, just 48 yards. So Patriots offense looks all kinds out of sorts yesterday, but there is hope for the

Starting point is 00:07:15 future that they can map these things out and get these things taken care of. Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots brain trust going to be hard at work this week trying to correct these mistakes. I know we talked a lot about offensive miscues, Murph, and there were plenty of them yesterday, much more so on that side of the ball. But anything defensively that concerns you about this team that leads you to believe that there could be lingering problems on that side of the ball as well?

Starting point is 00:07:42 I'm not sure if I would call them lingering problems, but you can't jump off sides coming out of a timeout to extend somebody's drive. Yeah, very good point. Please. You know, I sat there and I'm sitting back watching this go on and I'm like, watch somebody jump off sides now. Go ahead. Jump off sides now. And it happened.

Starting point is 00:08:08 Also, missed tackles was a huge, huge problem yesterday afternoon. It seemed like people were going for hits instead of tackles. Grab the guy, wrap him up, and drag him to the ground. There was just too much of the yards after the catch that stat that I love so much. I can also hate so much. And that really killed the Patriots. Yeah, it really and truly did. And I'm glad that you mentioned that. Just really uncharacteristic miscues that the New England Patriots are committing that they never really did before. Now, I shouldn't say never really did before, but they're become a lot more prevalent lately.

Starting point is 00:08:46 And it's something that I think in a lot of ways can be a difficult thing for Patriots fans to see. But again, if we're talking silver linings here, folks, it definitely lends some credence to the thought that these are fixable problems. So hopefully the new England Patriots will be able to fix these moving forward. One thing that the Patriots are really hoping gets fixed and gets fixed quickly is the back of one quarterback mac jones right mac did not speak to the media yesterday and it caused a little bit of

Starting point is 00:09:15 an uproar and even though some indications are that this may end up being okay phil belichick was very cryptic in his comments to the media this morning. Murph and I will break that down and we'll discuss Mack's injury and its potential impact on the New England Patriots when this post-game debacle episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, Murph, we all know that protection is a big part of what we do as human beings we want to protect those we love we want to protect our valuables of course the new england patriots want to protect their quarterback right now and that's not proven to be so easy with the play of the offensive line lately but to do so you need a little insurance and we all hate insurance right folks i mean it's just a pain to go through the process of securing it but it

Starting point is 00:10:05 doesn't have to be any longer because our guys at brightco.co turn the whole experience around so it's probably the easiest thing that you'll do for yourself this week no excuses at this point folks for five bucks a month you can totally get comprehensive coverage and it won't take you more than two minutes to do on your cell phone. Check it out right now. Bright.co forward slash locked on. That's bright.co locked on. Patriots fans, the legendary Thomas Murphy, the counter Murphy Fisto himself, joins us here today on the pod. Murph, always, always a great time when you join us, even when we break down a loss,

Starting point is 00:10:49 because we're always talking ball, and we're always giving it to our listeners the best way we can, exactly how we intended, just giving it to them straight and letting them know what happened. And, of course, the New England Patriots yesterday putting out a real, real difficult one to drag any type of positives from. And we're going to try to do that in just a moment. But first, Murph, the big story emerging out of yesterday is not even so much the New England Patriots' loss or how they looked or things of that nature. Quarterback Mac Jones, yesterday, right after it was revealed that Mac was immediately

Starting point is 00:11:27 heading to the x-ray room to be evaluated, and later we found out that it was going to be for a back injury. You had mentioned yesterday that Mac did not look comfortable. He was throwing off of his back foot all day. We saw several fadeaway throws from Mac. Not sure if this was related, but it seemed to be aggravated in the fourth quarter, very early in the fourth quarter. Mack absorbed a hit that was whistled for a rough thing. The passer, I looked when he got up,

Starting point is 00:11:57 tweaked his back a little bit. He was kind of holding it, kind of walking ginger and just never looked comfortable from that point on. When you look at the injury, first of all, do you believe that was where it occurred? Do you think it just aggravated maybe something that's been bothering the kid? Or do you think this is a situation where the Patriots are just being overly cautious? I don't believe it's been overly cautious the way he played for most of the game yesterday. I think it happened earlier. I can't say when it did, but that hit certainly aggravated

Starting point is 00:12:29 what was ever going on throughout the game. It could have happened. You're talking to somebody with back issues. It could have happened at any point in time during the strip sack. It's difficult to pinpoint where it started, but I want to say that it started somewhere in the first half and not on that specific play. But it definitely aggravated what was going on. It definitely turned the volume up. Yeah, without any question.

Starting point is 00:13:00 No question about it. And it did turn the volume up. And look, obviously, I mean, no one's accused. Javon Holland's hit was clean, folks. I mean, there's not even a question of it he came in he gave a good hit and there was just there was no question about it it was the way mac landed it was uh the way it fading away from the uh from the pass if you go back take a look at it there's a lot of clips of it out there on twitter on youtube take a look he was already fading away to make the throw the way he landed was very awkward, and I agree with you. I don't think the Patriots are being overly cautious.

Starting point is 00:13:29 Bill Belichick, speaking to the media this morning, said that Mack did travel back with team and that he is going to be further evaluated today. Initial x-rays on Sunday evening, folks, came back negative. So that is a good thing in terms of bone breaks, in terms of anything immediately uh you know concerning the New England Patriots but with a back injury you can never tell that doesn't tell the entire story and I tried to tell people that last night through DMs and Twitter oh his neck

Starting point is 00:13:56 trays are okay he's going to be fine it doesn't necessarily mean that we need to see the evaluation today but obviously this would be a huge loss for the New England Patriots if it's for any extended period of time. Is there any reason for optimism that either Brian Hoyer or Bailey Zappi could keep this team afloat while Mack is healing, if the worst case scenario should happen? Sure. Zappi showed in the preseason against some, I don't want to say stiff competition, but guys that were working hard to work their way up the depth charts that he's capable of doing. But Brian Hoyer will step in here. He's been running this offense for a very long time. He's well entrenched in what the Patriots have are doing or what they want to accomplish on the field. Yeah, he can keep them in there. I just

Starting point is 00:14:53 I worry that that he's going to be able to hold up at his age to to any kind of a pounding. And with this offensive line still trying to get it together he's going to take some hits yeah he is going to take some hits and look folks this is absolute worst case scenario and i don't mean to be you know spreading the uh the prognostications of doom but you simply want to be prepared for all possibilities and ultimately we're hoping that mac is back on the field on sunday and that he's and you know he's leading this offense against the Pittsburgh Steelers and we'll get into the Steelers as we progress uh through the week here but we're going to you know continue to dissect

Starting point is 00:15:35 this game Murph before we take our leave of Mac just yet because obviously the big concern right now is his injury but there were still concerns about his play on the field yesterday and I know you brought a couple of these up uh you know looking out of sorts uh play you know throwing off of his back foot for the better part did not look comfortable in the pocket I look back at the strip sack if you want to call it from you know Javon Holland and then obviously um Melvin Ingram recovering in the end zone and being able to put seven points on the board, which really was a gift. It was an absolute gift. And again, it was the result of second and third level blitzes from the next.

Starting point is 00:16:15 I'm sorry, Brandon Jones. That wasn't Javon Holland. But I apologize for that, folks. Brandon Jones deserves all the credit for that. He came in unblocked from the third level of the defense and again these are problems that matt continuously had last year picking up that second and third level blitz from the next level of the defense not being able to recognize it and again bad things happen uh when you look at this how big of a concern is it that these situations are

Starting point is 00:16:41 still happening is this on mac Is this on the offensive line? What are your thoughts from those continued problems that Mack seems to have with picking up defensive backfield blitzes? Yeah, Mack really has to take the lion's share of the blame here. We talked just last week about Miami's style of defense, the fact that nobody blitzes on the planet more than Miami. Nobody blitzes DBs more than Miami does. And this is something that had to be drilled into his head all week long, you know, to be aware, to be cognizant of this happening time and time again.

Starting point is 00:17:21 It's not like they do this once a game or twice a game. This will happen four or five times during a contest against the Dolphins. It's something that he should know about, he should have seen, he should have directed, and the rest of it goes on picking up those blitzes and being able to give Mac the time that he needs to get the ball out quick. But he does need to realize that, you know, here it comes. I got to get this ball out quick. I got to check out of this, and I got to go to bat.

Starting point is 00:17:54 Absolutely, without any question. And look, Miami knew what Mac's deficiencies were as a quarterback or his main deficiencies. It's the kryptonite. It is. It's that second and third level of the defense confusing him those struggles continued yesterday Miami knew that they did it we knew they were going to do it and unfortunately yeah I agree with you I think Mac does need to take

Starting point is 00:18:15 some of the lion's share of the blame here obviously the offensive line needs to do a better job of protecting the edges there's no question about that but right now with uh max difficulties uh they're certainly uh they're not making life easy for each other meaning mac and the offensive line and these issues need to be fixed because that pittsburgh steelers team is going to be hungry to try to get their you know uh you know name back in uh national prominence and they're licking their chops especially after what they saw in New England yesterday. Patriots fans, all is not lost. I know it seems bleak right now, but all is not lost, because Murph and I, when we continue here on Locked On Patriots, are going to attempt to drag a little diamond from the deluge.

Starting point is 00:18:59 It's not going to be easy, but we are going to do that. And believe me, folks, there were a couple of bright spots yesterday on the field. We will discuss those and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up. But first, we remind you that today's episode is brought to you by our good friends at PrizePix. And let me explain to you how PrizePix works, folks. You pick two to five players, and if they will go score more or less than their prize picks projection you can win up to 10 times your money on any entry there's no competing against other people it's just you versus the projections available prize picks offers

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Starting point is 00:21:02 You're pretty when you get a chance to look at this. But it's difficult. It's just difficult to drag any diamond from the deluge after a 20-7 loss, which really makes it sound a lot closer than it was, folks. Patriots were not in this one for better parts of the game. But there were some bright spots to be taken from the field yesterday, Murph. And we're all about ending on a high note. So when you look at the contest yesterday, when you look at the New England Patriots performance, what did you take from the field in Miami Gardens, Florida, from Hard Rock Stadium, leading you to believe that there are some good things to build on heading into week two and beyond. Yeah, this Miami offense is a very potent one

Starting point is 00:21:48 when it comes to the passing attack. And the Patriots defense did a fantastic job of holding them to just 13 points. They eliminated Tyree Kill to gains of 26 and 23 yards for his longest plays from scrimmage. And Kyle Duggar was just amazing. Okay, take out the flub that led to the six points just before halftime, and this man would have gotten my game ball.

Starting point is 00:22:19 Yeah, absolutely. He deserved it without any question. Kyle finishes the game six tackles, two of which were a loss. I know there's going to be some question mark about, you know, the flub, like you said, at the end. That was a miscommunication, I believe, between he and Juwan Bentley. Failed to make the tackle. They collide with one another. Jalen Waddell gets a free pass into the end zone. Those plays are going to happen.

Starting point is 00:22:41 Obviously, no one's happy that they happened. The Patriots have to try to eliminate those. But those are things that are mistakes, miscues in the moment that aren't indicative of anything lying deeper. Everything I saw from Kyle yesterday, fundamentally head in the game, whether it comes to, you know, making the tackles, his speed on the defense is really an asset. He and Jonathan Jones flying all over the field yesterday. I want to give a little credit to Jonathan Jones as well. Not a perfect game for Jonathan, but the speed that they hoped he would bring to the table in terms of being able to help contain Tyreek Hill was really a key in being able to do that yesterday. So kudos on the Patriots

Starting point is 00:23:21 defensive staff for recognizing that Jon Jones would be a good perimeter option. I think he was yesterday, and I think he did a very good job in that lineup. And he, to me, is one of the bright spots as well. But I agree with you. If there is a game ball to be doled out, it is going to Kyle Duggar without any question. I'm staying on the defensive side of the ball for a moment, Murph, because I was very impressed by the Patriots' ability to contain the run yesterday. This is a Miami team that did a lot in the offseason to beef up their running attack.

Starting point is 00:23:53 And when you look at them bringing in guys like Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds, two players who know the Mike McDaniel operational series very well. Chase played against Kyle Shanahan for a number of years. Obviously Raheem Mostert was in that system in San Francisco. These guys are speedy. They know how to handle that offense. Patriots yesterday held in the ground game to 2.8 yards rushing average 23 attempts for only 65 yards. Give you a little bit of perspective on that. The Patriots only held two teams under three yards per carry in a game in 2021 total for the entire season. They held Houston to 2.8 on October 10th last year, and they held Atlanta to 2.5 on November 18th. Two rushing attacks that are not exactly known for their potency, the way Miami is coming in build. So if you're looking for something

Starting point is 00:24:44 to hang your hat on, folks, this was a running attack that wanted to get the game on track yesterday, and the Patriots prevented them from doing it. So I do look at that as a positive. Murph, I know the offensive output was dismal. There's no other way to put it. But were there any positives to be taken from the field yesterday offensively? The way the Patriots were able to run the ball when they certainly were obvious about it.

Starting point is 00:25:14 They got down, when they got downhill, it happened and not necessarily up the gut, but when they were running off tackle, things worked, and the offense was clicking. I expect to see more of that this Sunday against the Steelers to keep that pass rush at bay. And for Christ's sakes, can I get some play action, please? Can I get a little play action? Is it too much to ask? I don't think I saw three play action passes the entire afternoon there. But no,

Starting point is 00:25:47 there's certainly things to build on. The last, God, it's just killing me. It's just killing me. The fact that Kendrick Bourne sat this entire game until the fourth quarter, and then he came in and what was it? It was one target for 41 yards. And this is a man that I know we want to end on a good note. So let's end on a good note.

Starting point is 00:26:17 All right. This is a man that can change the face of a game. Okay. Is he a superstar? No, but he's the man that sits there there and whether you're sending him down the sidelines or sending them on across the middle, create separation and makes people force his coverage to him. And, and that's something he showed it in the one play that,

Starting point is 00:26:40 that he was able to get in for. And let's, let's, you know, let's see some more of that this Sunday, hopefully. I really don't understand what is going on, whose wife he insulted or whose daughter he dated and didn't call back the next day. But this man deserves to be on the field. Let whatever is happening go and get him out there and let him work. Yeah, I mean, Kendrick was very candid yesterday in his comments to the media. He basically said, look, he says, I'm just not showing the team what they need to see,

Starting point is 00:27:11 and I want my opportunity. And he's very adamant about the fact that he wants his opportunity. When he got his opportunity yesterday, Murph, you saw what happened, 41 yards. And I'm glad that you said what you said, because is Kendrick Bourne a superstar? No, but he is without question the Patriots most explosive playmaker wide receiver. He's the guy that can make things happen like you said and to put him out there on the field changes the complexity of things and the Patriots I think when they did put him out here saw that so hopefully cooler heads will prevail here. Bill Belichick again very cryptic not committing to any type

Starting point is 00:27:45 of reasoning which you knew he was never going to do in the first place but he was very adamant about saying it's not disciplinary we're going to get you know kendrick out there and you know hopefully he'll be able to contribute down the line but there's a reason why this guy took two snaps yesterday and then you know for the life of us we won't be able to figure it out folks but at the same time we hope that cooler heads will prevail and that Kendrick does end out back on the field, especially against Pittsburgh defense that we know they're going to need all the help they can get. And ultimately, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This is a deep issue that that goes all the way back to San Francisco.

Starting point is 00:28:21 And why San Francisco let this man walk away for a song right and uh he couldn't get on the field there and that was an issue and right now he can't get on the field here whether it's it's um you know dealing with the playbook or what i what i said earlier about you know who who are you dating that that you shouldn't be or or who did you not call back it this is something that needs to get ironed out because the Patriots simply do not have enough weapons on this team to allow this man to sit on the side. Absolutely. Very, very well said.

Starting point is 00:28:55 And bottom line, my friend, it definitely is something that the Patriots are going to have to work on and get straight for the Pittsburgh Steelers this coming Sunday. But folks, we're not quite ready to take our leave from the Miami Dolphins just yet. We're going to continue to break things down here tomorrow on Locked On Patriots and throughout the week. And we will get you prepared for Pittsburgh and turn the page very quickly because the Patriots have another tall task on the road this coming Sunday. You definitely don't want to come back home.

Starting point is 00:29:30 2-0. For joining me today, for exactly, exactly. You don't want to go down 0-2. You do not want that. And that is not going to be something the New England Patriots will definitely stand for. Hopefully they won't have to stand for it. But we always appreciate your wisdom, your counsel. And thank you so much, Don Murph, for joining me here today on Locked On Patriots.

Starting point is 00:30:00 Folks, check him out at TMurph207. All of the great columns include Monty Moore Turned, and we always say it here on Locked on Patriots. You turn the keys, you go to the top. You don't turn the keys, you're never heard from again. And again, folks, my man was right on the money, so be sure to check out all the great work that Murray Day, whether it be in the paper or whether it be voice-to-mic, voice-to-video,

Starting point is 00:30:24 these guys do an amazing job. So check them out wherever you get your podcasts and wherever you get your audio. Folks, once again, thank you for joining us here today on Locked On, Patriots, and for making us your first listeners every day. Once again, we will be back tomorrow. Until then, stay safe.

Starting point is 00:30:42 Be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Recapping Week 1: New England Patriots vs, Miami Dolphins

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