Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Sour Sequel - Patriots fall to Rams, 24-3 — 12/11/2020

Episode Date: December 11, 2020

Much to the dismay of Patriots Nation, the New England Patriots would follow up their 45-blockbuster win over the Los Angeles Chargers, with a veritable flop just five days later against the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams dominated the Pats 24-3 on Thursday. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Mark Schofield of USA Today Touchdown Wire. The duo discuss Cam Newton’s continued struggles, the Pats’ defensive woes, and what the future might hold in Foxboro.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.MyBookieINVEST IN YOUR INTUITION. USE PROMO CODE LOCKEDON AND DOUBLE YOUR FIRST DEPOSIT. NEW PLAYERS GET UP TO $1,000 IN FREE PLAY - DESIGNED TO ADD MORE EXCITEMENT TO THE SPORTS YOU LOVE AND THE GAMES YOU BET. YOUR WINNING SEASON BEGINS TODAY...ONLY AT MYBOOKIE!BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BetterHelpI want you to start living a happier life today. As a listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at BetterHelp.com/LockedOnDoorDashRight now, our listeners can get $5 off and zero delivery fees on their first order of $15 or more, when you download the DoorDash app and enter code LOCKEDON. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. You are now locked into the Locked On Patriots podcast, and we are breaking down the Patriots' sour Hollywood sequel on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.

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We're watching. Pats Nation, if it can be said that your New England Patriots delivered a Hollywood blockbuster in their 45-0 dismantling of the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, then it can also be said that they followed it up with a Hollywood flop just five days later. The Pats were dominated on both sides of the ball. A 24-3 victory for the LA Rams on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Rams quarterback Jared Goff both rushed and passed for a touchdown. Rookie running back Cam Akers was an absolute force in this game.

171 yards on the ground. A breakout performance for him. And for the Patriots, it was just yet another dismal performance, really on both sides of the ball. Cam Newton, well, he'd struggle in this one, going 9 of 16 passing for 119 yards. Patriots once again having their difficulties moving the ball through the air. Cam Newton threw a pick six in this one. In fact, early in the fourth quarter, Bill Belichick had apparently seen enough, puts

in Jarrett Stidham, who went 5 of7 on three ineffective series, and the Patriots were in fact held without an offensive touchdown, and this season marks the first time since 2003 that the Patriots have been held without an offensive score in multiple games. This loss puts the Patriots at 6-7, if we're being honest, all but eliminating their playoff hopes, and it's the first time the Patriots have seven losses since 2002 that officially puts an end to an NFL record streak of 17 straight seasons with at least 10 victories but perhaps the most disappointing side effect of Thursday night's loss is that for the first time in 12 years the Patriots will seemingly be on the outside looking in when it comes to the NFL playoffs folks there's a lot to break down when it comes to this matchup.

I know a lot of you are upset with the offensive output, some of you with Cam Newton, some of you with the surrounding cast around Cam Newton, but if we're talking quarterback struggles, who better to close the week in style, and more importantly, close the week with a level-headed, accurate approach to analyzing last night's game than to bring back the patriarch emeritus here at Locked On Patriots.

Mark Schofield joins me here today on the hot seat, and we will talk about Cam Newton's performance. Wyatt may not have been completely his fault last night, but there are some things to which he needs to be held accountable. We'll also talk about the Patriots' struggles on defense, especially in the run game. Were their struggles more related to the Patriots simply running into an elite offense with the Rams, or are there deeper problems at certain positions? We'll also talk about a couple of bright spots last night. Believe it or not, folks, there were a couple. And last but certainly not least, we'll answer the question that's on all

of your minds. Where do the Patriots go from here? So an action-packed agenda today on the pod. Mark and I will do our best to answer all of your questions and maybe even talk you off the ledge when it comes to the future of the New England Patriots. But I don't think I'm going beyond my boundaries to say that Thursday night was not the night we were all hoping for here in Patriots Nation. And before Mark joins me here on the pod

to break down what exactly happened on the field in Inglewood, California last night, let's take a look at that action. And the Rams would strike first in this contest, folks, riding the legs of Cam Akers, who really had a breakout game last night. Let's take a look at that action. And the Rams would strike first in this contest, folks, riding the legs of Cam Akers, who really had a breakout game last night. Jared Goff would cap a six-play, 75-yard drive with a dive for the touchdown. That gave Los Angeles a 7-0 lead. A little bit later in the first quarter, Rams kicker Matt Gay, who was nursing a shoulder injury, officially listed as questionable for this game, nailed a 35-yard field goal with 5.16 left in the first, putting the Rams on top

10-0. In the closing moments of the first quarter, however, the Patriots actually appeared to find a little new life. Goff's pass, which was intended for receiver Robert Woods, intercepted by Patriots rookie cornerback Miles Bryant. Did so at the Rams' 32-yard line. And this was a thing of beauty, folks. Miles goes in, actually takes the ball right out of Woods' hands.

I give Miles a lot of credit. He was heads up, rose to his feet, made the 32-yard run to the end zone, and initially, the play was ruled a touchdown, and that could have been a game-changer for the New England Patriots. However, the replay official review determined that Bryant was down, and thus the touchdown was reversed, but the interception still stood. So the Patriots were hoping to capitalize on that, but they could not capitalize on the Rams' miscue. Rams linebacker Kenny Young opened

up the second quarter by picking off what I can describe best folks as an ill-advised throw by Cam Newton. Young took it all the way back to the house, 79 yards for his first NFL touchdown. And instead of the Patriots trailing 10-7 and making a game out of it, now they faced a 17-0 deficit. And look, I know Cam is taking his share of criticism for that throw, and he deserves a lot of that criticism. It was an ill-advised throw. But there was a reason that he made the throw. Cam was trying to target James White. James White was actually grabbed by Aaron Donald. It was a legal grab, and it was a real heads-up play by Aaron, but that disrupted the timing of the play.

Cam just didn't expect it. He fired the ball where White should have been, and as a result, the throw was high. Kenny Young comes right in, taking advantage of the broken play, and he went 79 yards to the house. New England would close the half, earning their only points of the game on a Nick Folk 29-yard field goal, but still, they went into halftime trailing 17-3, and it just did not get any

better for the New England Patriots after that. The Pats offensive line started to break down a little bit. Jermaine Illuminor was routinely beat by some of the pass rush and defensive linemen of the LA Rams. The Rams would go on to earn the final points of this contest late in the third quarter on a 16-play, 90-yard drive, expunging over nine minutes on the clock. That culminated in a two-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff to wide receiver Cooper Cupp, and LA would maintain its 24-3 lead for the remainder of the game.

And thus, the Patriots now sit at 6-7 and find themselves seriously on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff race. If the loss wasn't bad enough, the Patriots do have a couple of injury concerns to watch over the weekend and into next week, first of which was to Adrian Phillips, who injured his hand during the closing moments of the second quarter. Phillips returned to the game in the second half, didn't look to be too hampered by it, but again, it's going to be worth monitoring, especially if he shows up on any of the initial injury reports heading into the matchup with the Dolphins coming up on Sunday the 20th. Phillips has been such a key part of that defense, and the Patriots really can't afford

to lose him. Another injury to keep an eye on, folks, running back Damian Harris. Left the field in the fourth quarter after suffering what apparently is a back injury. At that point, the game was really out of hand. There wasn't any reason to rush him back into action. We'll continue to monitor Damian's injury throughout the week and bring you the very latest starting Monday here on Locked On Patriots. And a loss on a Thursday night is definitely difficult.

You stew over the weekend. There's not a lot to smile about when it comes to your New England Patriots right now. But I thought I'd provide an observational high note before we bring in Mark to do some analysis of last night's game, and I'm going to hand out a game ball, and that game ball unquestionably goes to Patriots punter Jake Bailey. Look, the Patriots this year have been kind of a pick-em team. You never really know what to expect from the offense, and for the most part, the defense has been solid, but even they've had lapses at times. Well, the Patriots special teams has been solid all year long.

And a big reason why is Jake Bailey. Averaging 51.7 yards per punt last night, a career-long 71-yard punt, and four were down inside the 20. Those are all pro-type numbers. And I know Bailey was highly touted coming out of college. Talk about the hang time. We talk about the distance, but his accuracy has been phenomenal this year. And really, you can make the argument that he may end up being the Patriots MVP when

all is said and done for 2020. Not an easy task for a punter to pull that off, but Jake Bailey has done it. This kid is the real deal, and the Patriots definitely have a solid, dare I say, goat-level punter that they can rely on for years and years to come. So great job by Jake last night. One of the very few bright spots that the Patriots had, but he wasn't the only one. And Mark Schofield and I will discuss those bright spots, and we'll also discuss a lot of the lowlights from Thursday night's game.

Rams, Patriots, breakdown and analysis with the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. My good friend, the Skull Man, joins me here on the hot seat when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Pats fans, this Sunday may not be game day, but Locked On Patriots has you covered with the latest news, notes, and analysis from Foxborough. Monday here on the pod, we continue to take a deeper dive into the Patriots has you covered with the latest news, notes, and analysis from Foxborough. Monday here on the pod, we continue to take a deeper dive into the Patriots' Thursday night Hollywood flop against the Rams.

And we'll also gaze into that Belichickian crystal ball I love so much at what might be next for your New England Patriots. So stay locked into Locked on Patriots all next week. If you haven't done so already, be sure to subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts. But today here on Locked On Patriots, we need some objective, lucid, well-thought-out analysis when it comes to the Patriots' 24-3 loss to the LA Rams. And that means bringing in the best there is, the best there was, and the best there

ever will be. The excellence of execution, the host emeritus here at Locked On Patriots, an amazing writer and analyst for platforms such as Inside the Pylon, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, Pat's Pulpit of SB Nation, and of course, USA Today's Touchdown Wire, and I'm just naming a few here, folks. His podcast, The Sko Show, appointment listening for Patriots fans, definitely going to want to check out what he has to say on this one. That's right, folks.

Today, we bless the reins and welcome back my predecessor, my mentor, but most of all, my good friend, Mark Schofield. Mark, thank you for joining me here today, bud, and welcome back home. Oh, Mike, it's a pleasure to be back with you as always i wish it was under different circumstances given what we saw on thursday night but there's a lot to get to so i'm excited to dive in absolutely i'm excited to dive in myself uh even though it is under difficult circumstances for patriots fans and uh unfamiliar territory is a word i think i've used a lot on the pot here this year,

maybe more so this year than any other year for a lot of reasons, some of which don't even involve football. But this is unfamiliar territory for Patriots fans. We're not used to being in December with a 4% chance making the playoffs. And we'll get to that in a little bit, folks, I promise. But Mark, Cam Newton is in the crosshairs of several analysts, and I think he probably will be right up until game time on the 20th when the Pats take on the Dolphins. Cam went nine of 16, 119 yards and an interception. A stat line that is definitely not going to endear him to a lot of Patriots nation. He looked uncomfortable throwing the ball at times. He's coming off back-to-back games with less than 100 yards through the air. But it's obvious to me, at least, that Cam's having trouble consistently connecting with his receivers in this offense. And some of that is on him. He's leaving a lot of plays on the field. But I don't think you can ignore the fact that he doesn't have

much help in this area. And I think Cam's recent struggles have some of the fan base clamoring for Jarrett Stidham and we've seen the past couple of games we've seen Jarrett come in in smatterings a lot of fans are still behind Cam he got the vote of confidence last night from Bill Belichick saying Cam's our quarterback Mark you always take a measured approach to this so based on what you saw last night from Cam Newton, are there still positives in what you see? Are you really concerned by what you see from Cam Newton? And is this a fixable situation, not only for just Cam himself, but the Patriots offense as a whole around him? Well, I think that final point, Mike, in your question is kind of the most appropriate place to start

because while there are problems with Cam Newton right now from an execution standpoint, from a mechanical standpoint, from a mental standpoint, quarterback is not the sole problem with a New England Patriots offense. There are protection woes. There are struggles with receivers downfield with a lack of consistent separation. There are some philosophical issues, I would say, with what this coaching staff thinks of their offense. When you have a fourth and goal play and everybody in the world knows

that there is absolutely no way you are going to put the football in the air, that kind of sums up all of those issues. They don't have a passing game. And that's in part due to Cam Newton, but it's not solely on his shoulders. So I think in terms of how to fix it going forward, it's going to take more than a week. It's going to take more than 10 days. This passing game is not going to get fixed.

In time to take on a Miami Dolphins defense, which, by the way, has made quarterbacks look bad this year, including the guy that the New England Patriots just lost to on Thursday night. They made Jared Goff look woeful a couple of weeks ago. They're doing some things with cover zero looks and then showing you cover zero and blitz it and then drop it out of them and playing zone coverage. And there are concerns in my mind as we start to look ahead to that game that this passing game is going to again struggle against Miami.

And so the question then becomes, how do you fix it over the course of an offseason? And that's a very difficult question. I do think that Cam Newton, in terms of an evaluation process, I'm not ready to give up on Cam Newton as the quarterback of the New England Patriots. But the New England Patriots as an organization need to prepare for life without Cam Newton.

And what I mean by that is they need to have, if they decide to give Cam Newton another shot with a full training camp, preseason, offseason program, things which he was denied by both side in late and the COVID-19 pandemic, they need to hope for the best and plan for the worst. And that worst would be that Cam Newton remains not the answer at the quarterback position. And then so you have to evaluate the rest of the group. And at some point, I do think that means you have to start Jared Stidham, whether that's this week, whether that's once it's official that this team has no shot at the playoffs and you use week 16 and 17 to evaluate Stidham, because you have to look at the quarterback room as a whole for 2021 and decide, you know, what your best two options are, a plan A and a plan B.

Specifically to Cam this year, I think that there is more to be said about that abdominal issue that we will learn in the coming weeks. I do think that there's an injury situation here going on. And when you have a quarterback with the mechanics that Cam Newton does, who is a very violent and turquish thrower of the football. I've often compared Cam Newton's throwing mechanics to prime Tiger Woods off the tee. If there are any golf fans listening, and you remember when Tiger was at his best, how violent his swing was, how much torque he generated in his upper and lower body off the tee with the driver, that's Cam Newton.

That's Cam Newton's throwing motion. When you have an abdominal core injury, look, I'm dealing with one right now. I'm a man. I'm 43, and I'm in agony every day. I couldn't imagine trying to throw a football doing it, but that's mostly because I'm soft and washed. But Cam Newton is struggling with that, and it's exacerbated by his throw motion,

and his throw motion probably exacerbates it. It's a vicious cycle. So there's a lot going on right now. There's a lot going on with this offense generally. There's a lot going on with this offense at a number of different positions. And I think that Cam Newton could still be the guy, but the Patriots have to plan for that, but also plan for that not happening and have another answer at the position should they need it next year. Awesome information and exactly what I was looking for when it came to not only what the Patriots

might do down the line and I agree with you on Cam I think I'm not ready to give up on him being the quarterback of this team just yet for a lot of the reasons that you said including the abdomen issue which I don't think is being talked about enough, I should say. That could be definitely throwing off his motion. That could be making him feel more uncomfortable. So that is definitely a possibility. But I agree with you. There's a lot more than meets the eye here with the New England offense.

It's not all about Cam's struggles and leaving plays on the field. Give the Rams credit on Thursday night. They really took it to New England's offensive line more and more as the game went on. Thought Brandon Staley had a very good game plan against this Patriots O-line. Brought blitzes that confused the Patriots a lot. Jermaine Illuminor looked particularly overmatched, in my opinion. He got overpowered a lot on Thursday night. Receiver problems, some of them were failing to separate at times.

And, you know, also Josh McDaniels, I think, you know, calling a few plays on third downs that had too many pass catchers behind the first down line. It's hard to win like that. So there is a lot going on with a full complement of OTAs, training time and things of that nature. Maybe things could get turned around. Well, I mean, I think the issue with the 2020 New England Patriots is this. There's no room for error.

There's absolutely no room for error on either side of the football. And as we have come to learn, as many of us perhaps expected, Tom Brady allowed them to paper over and mask all kinds of sin from a roster construction standpoint, from an execution of the other 10 standpoint, from a defensive standpoint. You know, now there's no margin for error. When they have a false start on first and 10 and suddenly first and 15, you already feel like the punt team is going to come on the field.

When you have a hold and penalty and it's first and 20, you know the punt team is going to come on the field. They don't have the ability right now to convert in those situations. And, you know, you can say, well, you know, that's all a quarterback problem. They don't trust the quarterback. Well, maybe. But then I look at the New Orleans Saints last week against Atlanta on a third and 17, and they've got Taysom Hill at quarterback, and they converted it.

It's not by throwing a screen. It's not by throwing a tunnel screen to a receiver. It's not by running the draw. They asked Taysom Hill to drop back and throw an 18-yard deep out route on time and rhythm, and he did it. So that begs the question, what do we do with Cam Newton? Do we not trust him to do that? And if we don't trust him to do that, you know,

then either it's A, an injury issue that we don't know about and we'll learn about, or B, that we know the answer about 2021. And then what are we doing out here? So, you know, if that's the situation, if they simply do not trust him to run those kinds of plays, to deliver in those kinds of moments, then there's our answer. You know, and as much as I might still have hope in Cam Newton, as much as others, as much as you might still have hope in Cam Newton,

if that's where we're at with him at the quarterback position in 2020, then I don't know if the full complement of training camp and offseason and all that stuff fixes it for 2021. I just don't. Yeah, good point. Very good point. And look, there's nobody more than the Patriots brain trust that sees these guys each and every day in practice, evaluating

them all throughout the year that knows what they can expect in the next season. And that's just it. And I know look, in 25 of the 32 NFL cities, the most popular person in town is the backup quarterback. That's just the nature of the position. And so I know that there are a lot of people clamoring right now for Jared Stidham, and believe me, I understand it. Look, I wrote before they signed Cam,

but look, they have a planet quarterback. It's Jared Stidham. I made the case as much as anybody else did. But they see him every single day. And if their job is to win games, it's not to placate players. And if they thought at some level that Jared Stidham right now was giving them a better chance in a game on a week-to-week basis than Cam Newton, you best believe they'd be running them out there.

But they're not. And so I think that tells us what we need to know about Jared Stidham. Now, do I think the evaluation process on Stidham is done? No. Do I still think that there's an NFL quarterback inside of him? Yeah, absolutely. Do I think that if and when they lose week 15, that Stidham gets to start to week 16 and 17?

Yeah, sure. Why? They have to finish that evaluation process to know going into 2021 if Stidham and Newton are the two guys they want or if Newton and a rookie or Newton and a free agent or a free agent and Stidham or whatever the combination of two guys is, what that's going to be. And so they have to finish that evaluation process too.

But for those clamoring for Stidham at this point, we don't get to see him every day. The Patriots do, and they haven't started him yet. And there you go. Yeah, bottom line, you're absolutely right. And again, the Patriots will know what they have as the season progresses and into the offseason. And those questions that we keep asking will eventually be answered.

And we're going to come back to that point in just a little bit. But, Mark, the Patriots' poor showing last night wasn't limited to just one side of the ball. It wasn't just the offense that struggled. The Rams' offensive line really plowed through the Patriots' poor showing last night wasn't limited to just one side of the ball. It wasn't just the offense that struggled. The Rams' offensive line really plowed through the Patriots' defense last night. Cam Akers, nursing a shoulder injury, you would never know it beforehand. He looked untacklable. 29 carries, 171 yards. His longest play was only 35 yards, so he wasn't breaking for gigantic huge runs. Not that 35 isn't impressive. It's

impressive, but there were chunk after chunk after chunk. And even though the team made some adjustments as the game wore on, the defense really struggled to get stops. I thought John Simon struggled a little bit last night, maybe for the first time all year. Simon's been so solid for this team, just had a bad one. But it really made me wonder as I watched a little bit more footage on the game and tried to take a deeper dive into it, that this defense looks to be missing a legit nose tackle. And all due respect to Carl Davis and even Isaiah Mack and guys, Akeem Spence, guys that they're trying to bring in to plug that gap. I just don't know if they have the personnel on this team to be able to utilize that to stuff the run.

Mark, do you believe that might be their biggest problem, or are there deeper problems on this Patriots defense? Well, I think it's important, you know, we all have the instant reactions to games, particularly after losses. I think it's important to take a step back as, you know, Patriots fans and those who cover the team to remember they were going up against one of the league's best defenses and one of the league's best defensive coordinators right now, Brandon Staley, and one of the league's best offensive minds in Sean McVay.

You know, and I know we just spent a lot of time talking about the Patriots offense, and this is a question about the defense, and we'll focus on McVay here. McVay does such a good job at using personnel to get the matchups in the defense that he wants to run against, and he also does a great job for all the kudos he gets with what he does in the passing game. Sean McVay's ability as a play designer and play caller to create and manufacture extra gaps in the run game

might be unmatched in the league. You know, when you have plays where you have jet motion and then you run to that side and trail the other receiver or tight end in front of that as well, you've now created two to four extra gaps that a defense has to account for. And this is a great example of an offensive play caller adjusting to the adjustments.

Because Sean McVay in 2018 and some in 2019 would use jet motion, teams would trail it with man defenders and man coverage. And then he would run away from that. And now you as a defense have outflanked yourself by trailing the motion. So teams started with the Detroit Lions that year, the Bears, the Eagles, and yes, the Patriots

in the Super Bowl said, we're going to ignore that. He's just using it to distract us. It's IKD. We're going to play quarters coverage. We're going to play zone coverage. So what mcveigh done he said well if you're going to ignore it then i'm going to outflank you by using that motion and then somebody else across from it and i'm going to create two extra gaps and now you are again outflanked because i've adjusted to your adjustments that is a great job from mcveigh and he was doing it last night and so do i take the book a traditional nose tackle might help against some of that?

Perhaps. But they're getting outflanked on the edges. They're losing the edge. You know, they're not setting the edge, partly because they're just simply outnumbered at this point. And so I think, you know, it's easy to sit here and say, look, man, the defense was bad last night. Could it have been better?

Yeah. But I think Sean McVay deserves some credit for what he has done this year, how he craps a one game, and the Patriots, like, they didn't have an answer for it. And I don't know what the answer is. I don't know what the answer is short of going back to those man coverage moves where you're going to trail both of those guys, and now you'll get a numbers advantage.

But you all know what happens after that. They adjust again and start attacking you on that back side. So, look, Sean McVay deserves a lot of credit. You know, I think that the defense struggled, but I think that the defense was put in a bad position by what Sean McVay called last night. Yeah, and I think that's a great point, and I'm so glad that you did that. This is why I love when you come back home, because your wisdom and counsel,

that's a perfect anecdote, or I should say antidote, to this knee-jerk negativity that's running throughout Patriots Nation right now. I bought into it as well. But, you know, you always bring that level-headed approach. And even in some of the difficulties, you can see the forest from the trees. And, again, nobody is definitely discounting what the Rams were able to do defensively. I thought they were a brilliant game plan and just a very, very good defense that the Patriots ran into. So who knows? Maybe that ship can be righted quickly and they'll be able to be a little bit better going forward. But there were some bright spots on Thursday night as well. Not many of them, but they were there. And Marcus pointed out a couple, but we're

going to focus on one in particular in just a moment. And also, folks, to bring it all home, Mark Schofield and I will answer the question that's on everybody's mind today. What now? All this and at least one more total reference when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Locked On listeners, NFL analyst Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson host Locked On's Peacock and Williamson every Monday through Friday here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Brian and Matt give you the national perspective all around the NFL, covering all the latest news and insight on every game, every team, and move around the NFL. Get your picks, your previews, and much more every weekday

with the Peacock and Williamson podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Pats fans, my good friend and predecessor Mark Schofield joins me today on Locked On Patriots. And Mark, as bad of a showing as the Patriots put out on Thursday night, there were some bright spots. And one person that I wanted to give some love to today,

and I think this is going to anger a good portion of my listening base, but I'll do it anyway. I thought Nikhil Harry showed some promise. Now, folks, calm down. I'm not saying he was phenomenal or great, but I thought he showed some promise. Harry finished with three catches for 49 yards. Not a blockbuster stat line, but I thought he made a couple of really impressive

contested catches, one of which came in the third quarter on the second and 20. And in my opinion, Mark, this is the reason why he was brought to New England, showing that he can elevate over a defensive back, track down a tough ball from Newton, and come down with the catch. I don't think this is going to be enough to redeem him, and maybe the argument can be made that it shouldn't be enough to redeem him. But do you think Pats fans can be justified in having some optimism when it comes to Harry? And on a related note, who caught your eye as the Pats' bright spot or bright spots on Thursday night? Well, I'll answer the second question first to Jake Bailey.

It's never a good side when your punter is perhaps the bright spot. And the Scots show Slack channel where, you know, the listeners to my show and I sort of congregate, you know, all week long, especially during games. At the end of my post-game shows, I usually win the Patriots' win award game balls based on, you know, what people were talking about and the nominations presented in the different threads and channels.

And Jake Bailey was the only name to get nominated. So that tells you where that game was Thursday night. As for Harry, I thought the catch in the dig route was nice. I thought the contested catch along the left sideline was nice. I do think that those are the reasons why they drafted him to win in those 50-50 situations, to win in those sort of contested catch throws. But I do think that this goes back to sort of a philosophical issue. When you are drafting a guy to win contested catch situations because that's what he did

in college, I think you're setting yourself up for failure as an organization. Because if a receiver cannot separate in the Pac-12, then he's certainly not going to separate in the National Football League. And the Pac-12 corners are worlds apart from the NFL corners you're going to face. And so those 50-50 throws you're talking about in college, they become 20-80 throws in the NFL. And you might come down with some of them, like Harry did on Thursday night,

but you're not going to come up with half of them, let alone the majority of them. And it then stems us back to the deeper issue, which is New England's difficulties in evaluating the wide receiver position. Now, we all saw the graphic during the telecast. It certainly stings when they draft Nikhil Harry and pass on D.K. Metcalf, but there were medical reasons there. But this team has struggled to evaluate the wide receiver position,

specifically the outside receiver positions. They've gotten the slot position right from Wes Welker to Julian Edelman to perhaps even now Jacoby Myers. They've figured out slot receiver, and that's critically important in the Patriots' offense. Don't get me wrong. A lot of their passing game runs through that slot receiver. They ask a ton of the slot receiver in the passing game for memento

and then execution at a physical footwork standpoint. So it's critically important that they've done that, and getting slot receiver right has contributed to some playoff teams and some Super Bowl wins. So, you know, they deserve credit for that. But outside receiver has been a vacuum of suck, and there's no other way to phrase it. They haven't gotten it right.

McKeel Harry might not be the guy, even though we saw some flashes. He might be best suited as a fake slot. They have to recalibrate their thinking on the outside receiver position and what matters. And they have to perhaps, and this is just a guess from me, divorce how they think about slot receivers from how they think about boundary receivers because, you know, it's not working right now. They have to do a better job at the boundary receiver position.

Now, thankfully, look, I think I know where we're going with the final question here. There are some options in the boundary receiver draft class that they should seriously consider. And I know people might say you can can't draft the first round receiver again. Well, look at this offense right now. Yes, you can draft the first round receiver again, but you better get it right. Yeah, without question.

Absolutely. And yeah, that does lead me quite nicely into my final question here. And, you know, Mark, we can dance around the subject all we want, but Thursday night's loss might've just accelerated the inevitable. And according to calculations by 538, New England currently has a 4% chance to still earn one of the seven playoff spots in the AFC.

That's not good. I say that tongue in cheek, folks. You know that's terrible. And that probably all but eliminates the Patriots from postseason contention. And, you know, really, technically there is no scenario yet that would officially end New England's postseason this weekend. But their odds would actually fall to below 1% if Buffalo beats Pittsburgh, if Miami beats Kansas City, and if Baltimore beats Cleveland. And theoretically, those are all possible. Buddy, we're both big Chicago fans. You know that. You know, we both big Chicago fans. You know that. We both know that. Our listeners know that. And on the Chicago 2 album, Peter Cetera wrote a song called Where Do We Go From Here? So I thought that was really an appropriate way to end this pod. It was the last song on that album. I think it's the perfect way to end today's pod. My question to

you is now, Bud, what do the Patriots do from here? What are their options going forward? Looking at obvious elimination from the playoffs, what do you expect to see from this team as they play out the stretch? Well, I think it sort of has to start at the quarterback position. I think that, and we talked about it, I'm not going to dive into it too much there. They have to figure out what the issues are. They have to figure out who the best options on the roster are now. And then they have to figure that position out going forward.

I think that's job number one. And I do think job number two is they have to figure out the weapons around the quarterback position. We talked about boundary receiver. I think it is to address that. And I hate to say it, but I think tight end is still a massive question mark right now. You have the two rookies, and outside of quarterback, tight end might be the toughest position to play and be effective as a rookie.

Because when you look at what Devin Asiasi did at UCLA, when you look at what Dawson Keene did at Virginia Tech, Keene was used as a fullback, H-back, sniffer type of guy. That's not how the Patriots are going to use a tight end. That's not their offense. And our CSC was used as basically a slot receiver at times. It was barely asked to block.

That's the issue when a working tight end comes into the league because they were used in sort of nuanced roles because the job of a college offensive coordinator or head coach isn't to get a tight end ready to play in the NFL. It's to win games. And if you can win games with your

tight end not doing what he's going to be asked to do in the NFL, you're fine with that. You're not going to develop the guy. And so, you know, maybe there's hope for those guys, but I think you've got to figure it out. And I will continue to try to speak Kyle Pitts, the Florida tight end, as a New England Patriot, into existence because, you know,

I just watch this kid and I think you can do a lot of the universal stuff with him, number one. And number two, you can flex him out against corners if he's going to win in one-on-one situations. He's going to separate in one-on-one situations. So I'm going to try to speak this pick into existence. But then I have to caution Patriots fans, listen to this. We all know what's going to happen.

They're going to trade out of the first round and they're going to draft some random safety in the second round. Like, you know how Bill Belichick does things. But the roster evaluation process has to start now. It has to start at every position group. It has to start at every position. Like, and it's not just starters. Like, I'm talking, you have to be two deep

or even three deep at every position. And I think this is one of those off seasons now where you've got into week 15 a less than perhaps 1% chance of making the playoffs. You've got to improve at all 52 spots right now. Like that's what you have to do. Every job is on the table. Like from CB1 to CB7, like you have to look at improving every single slot. Of course that starts

with quarterback, and I know there are going to be debates about drafting the quarterback early. Believe me, as a guy that is both a Patriots fan and gets paid money to evaluate the quarterback position, this is a dream offseason for me. I will be on

my soapbox every single day talking about evaluating the quarterback position. I know we're all excited about it. I know we're all dreaming of Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence somehow, or maybe a Kyle Trask or a Mac Jones or a Zach Wilson. There are guys to think about in this draft class, but they have to look at the entirety of this roster, top to bottom, and improve at every spot if possible

yeah without question and again we use the term unfamiliar territory an awful lot here on the pod it's been used again and again we find ourselves in that position today but mark what can i say amazing amazing insight i love how you already are giving us players on which we need to keep our sharp eye when it comes to potentially the draft, potentially the off season, but your analysis and your, you know, nailing essentially of what's going on in Foxborough is spot on.

And I can never thank you enough. That's why the total poster never comes down. It's always on the wall. You are the patriarch emeritus here at lockdown Patriots. And it's always my honor and my privilege to share the microphone with you as often as I can. Please let our listeners know what they can look forward to from the amazing pen of Mark Schofield in the coming days and weeks, both on USA Today's Touchdown Wire and also a lot of the other projects that you have going on.

One of the hardest working men in the business, folks. It's my good buddy here, and he does it with class, and he does it with style, and he does it with accuracy, which is the most important thing. So have at it. Let us know what we can look forward to coming from you in the next days and weeks. Well, Mike, it's always a pleasure and an honor to be back with you. I enjoy all the time we get to spend together.

It truly is a blast each and every time. You can find me on the burn app at MarkSlowfield. I'm working on right now my holiday shopping gift idea for every NFL franchise. And what I mean by that is what every NFL team needs right now, what you can get every NFL team, whether it's to be successful at the end of this year or to look ahead to success in the future. And I just got done, I kid you not, writing the gift idea for the New England Patriots. And as you might expect, given what I just said,

it is Florida tight end Kyle Pitts. I am going to speak that into existence. I am going to get my hopes up. I'm going to spend the winter months, these dark, cold, and dismal winter months, dreaming of number 84 in a Patriots uniform, only to be crushed when the Patriots trade out of the first round with him still on the board trade back into the second round and then draft

Vanderbilt's backup strong safety in the second round but that's what I'm working on right now holiday gift shopping ideas for every NFL franchise that's great I absolutely love it and folks he won't tell you this but an honorable mention for the Patriots was to get Bill another one of those holy sweatshirts that we saw earlier this year in the press conference. Everybody loves those. The fan base loves it. We want to see disheveled Bill because it makes us feel better about ourselves, and it makes us think that Bill is this evil, mad genius at work calculating, doing what he has to do to improve this team. But, no, kidding aside, buddy, thank you very much.

Folks, definitely check out everything Mark does. You become better football fans. You become better people by simply absorbing this man's wisdom and counsel. My best to you, my best to the family, my friend. Stay safe, stay well. And we look forward to having you back, hopefully here, before the turn of the new year so we can close out the year in style here on Locked On Patriots. So thanks again, bud, and have a great weekend.

All the best to you and yours, buddy. Always a blast. Have a great weekend, my friend. Thank you. You too, bud. And so, Patriots Nation, we put a bow on the week that was here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. And in a way, I guess you could say it's a wrap from Hollywood when it comes to the Patriots

two-game stay in the City of Angels. The Pats may have split the difference, but at 6-7, they find themselves severely on the outside looking in when it comes to the Patriots' two-game stay in the City of Angels. The Pats may have split the difference, but at 6-7, they find themselves severely on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture. And next week here on Locked On Patriots, we will continue to break down the Patriots' 24-3 loss to the LA Rams, what it means for their immediate future, and maybe even their future for 2021. We'll also keep a sharp eye on the Miami Dolphins and look ahead to what is going to be a

very tough divisional matchup on Sunday, December 20th in South Beach. So to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, subscribe to and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts, just make sure that you're staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Mark Schofield for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's

pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until Monday, folks, stay safe, stay well, always be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great weekend, everyone.