Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Spectacular: Drake Maye’s Poise Impresses Against Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Episode Date: November 11, 2025New England Patriots’ quarterback Drake Maye shines against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, raising the bar in his toughest stretch yet. Did Maye deliver his best performance of the season? Pocket awarene...ss, poise under pressure, and explosive scoring plays spark conversation on the Patriots’ evolving offense. Veteran additions like Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, Khyiris Tonga, K’Lavon Chaisson, and Corey Durden prove vital, challenging the narrative that it’s all about the rookie class.Nick Cattles breaks down Drake Maye’s skill development, Josh McDaniels’ strategic commitment to the run game, and standout moments from Christian Gonzalez on defense. The episode dissects Tampa’s defensive schemes, game-changing third-down conversions, and a controversial first-and-goal decision that showcased Mike Vrabel’s aggressive coaching style. With New England now 8-2, the conversation shifts to whether this new blend of rookie talent and key free agents puts the Patriots on track for a deep playoff run.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at https://BetterHelp.com/lockedon.RipplingGet Rippling FREE for 6 months. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details: https://app.rippling.com/legal/promotermsSupply HouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order.PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Discussion (0)
After the rewatch, we have more insight on Drake May's performance down in Tampa.
Let's start there.
This is Lockdown Patriots.
You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on
Podcast Network, your team every day.
What's happening?
I am your host Nick Cattos, born and raised in New England.
I've been covering the paths 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 episode, we'll tell you how Josh McDaniel stayed focused on the long game and how it paid dividends.
Also, we'll tell you why we should be talking about the free agency class as much as the draft class after the win on Sunday.
But first, let's break it down with Drake May.
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Let's pull away about 10,000 feet and look at what's happened the last three weeks with the Patriots, more specifically, Drake May.
The three toughest defenses that Drake May has faced this year happened consecutively.
Cleveland's defense, big test.
Atlanta's defense, big test, Tampa's defense, maybe the biggest test.
And Drake May and the Patriots went three and zero against those three consecutive challenging defenses.
And I'll tell you, going into my rewatch, I said to myself, I thought Drake May was pretty good.
I mentioned it during the live post game during the stream.
I said, I feel like he was pretty good, all things considered.
watching the All-22. I am here to tell you that Sunday's performance, when you look at these three
games, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Tampa, Sunday's performance against the Buccaneers might have
been his best. It might have been Drake May's best game out of those three. And he was better
during the rewatch than I thought he was in real time. I want to start with something that is
pivotal to Drake May's success, therefore pivotal to the Patriots' offense success. And that is
the pocket awareness. Drake May needs to show that he has the pocket awareness in the ability
to get out of trouble, remain a passer. We've talked about this, not run into sacks, not drift
into sacks, not put himself in tougher positions. And on Sunday against Tampa, I thought
Drake May's pocket awareness was much better. I thought his pocket presence was much better than it was
against Atlanta. I did not think that Drake May bailed early out of the pocket.
It might have happened maybe once, maybe once, but he wasn't looking to run as soon as
there was some kind of pressure. And watching Drake May, stay in the pocket, stay calm,
and not bail early. That is a step. That is a step forward. That is an improvement from what
we've seen against the Falcons and even at times against the Cleveland Browns. We talked about all
these sacks stacking up. Well, if you look at the sack that Drake May took on Sunday,
it was a coverage sack. It was a coverage sack. I thought the pocket was good from the
offensive line. I thought Drake May remained patient in the pocket, really had nowhere to go.
Didn't take a huge loss. Took the sack. But it's a coverage sack. Those will happen from time
to time. What you don't want is Drake May running into unnecessary sacks, unnecessary big plays for
the defense.
And when you look at the pocket awareness, the pocket presence, the pocket patience, the pocket poise, whatever you want to say, I'll give you the three plays.
Just the three plays that stood out to me a lot compared to some of the other plays.
And Drake had, you know, a handful of really good plays in this football game.
But the three that stand out, when I talk about pocket awareness and pocket presence, the Pop Douglas play against the Blitz, 25 plus yard play.
The Kyle Williams touchdown, Drake May is getting heat on him.
And then you look at Matt Collins, the 54-yard pass downfield.
Drake May is getting a pass rush there.
He's getting heat.
And because he remained a passer because he wanted to stand in the pocket, poised, tall, looking for a receiver, not looking to bail.
He makes those three plays.
and their three tremendous plays.
So the pocket awareness was better from Drake May.
I also loved watching the fact that Drake May did not get rattled.
He didn't get rattled in this game.
He was mostly calm.
He was mostly poised.
And I love the word poised.
If you're watching the all 22 and you're seeing this play out,
usually early in May's career, if the heat started to come,
and he was dealing with a lot of pressure.
Sometimes, you know, he's jumpy, he's jittery,
he's unsure at what he's looking at.
That didn't happen against Tampa.
He wasn't jittery.
He wasn't jumpy.
He was calm.
He was poised in the pocket against this defense,
against this defensive coordinator.
The pressure, the blitz did not bother him.
And this wasn't like he was being kept clean
and, you know, there wasn't any pressure.
Mike Giardy posted per next-gen stats.
May was pressured on 17 dropbacks.
That's one shy of the season high, which was 18 at New Orleans.
Evan Lizarre points out, Todd Bowles held up his end, rather, of the bargain.
Pressuring May on 41.7% of his dropbacks,
May had four completions for 167 passing yards while under pressure,
including the 72-yard touchdown to Williams while being hit in the pocket that I just mentioned.
Greg Bedard wrote at Boston Sports Journal,
Todd Bowles is a darn good defensive coach
and makes it a 60-minute mental torture test for quarterbacks
May passed with flying colors.
Drake May dealt with an elite pass rusher and Miles Garrett survived it.
He went against experienced and creative defensive minds.
Jim Schwartz, Rahim Morris, Todd Bowles.
He got through it.
And he passed arguably the toughest test on the road
without Ramandre Stevenson and without Kishon.
You have to feel good about that.
And the level of difficulty for some of these plays that Drake made,
just borderline insane.
I was watching the Stefan Diggs touchdown at the end of the first half.
I was watching that over and over and over again.
And I actually took some screenshots on the computer of the All-22
at different stages of that play.
And I posted it at Nick C. Radio if you want to follow me.
And when Drake May is getting ready to deliver.
the football.
Stefan Diggs is not open.
And you're trying to figure out where's the window?
Where does he see it?
And the anticipatory throw, the fact that he puts enough air underneath it to only give
Stefan Diggs a shot at that football, it is an unbelievable play if you break it down
frame by frame.
If you thought it was sexy watching it live, it's even better if you watch it
frame by frame, and you screenshot, screenshot, screenshot.
I took four screenshots of that play.
Just unbelievable, unbelievable by Diggs as well.
The Kyle Williams touchdown, that play, the level of difficulty is insane.
He's got pressure.
He's getting hit.
He's got to layer the throw over the defensive player.
And then again, we saw on third down, you want to talk about calm, you want to talk about
poise in the pocket.
on third down. Once again, May showed up. Second quarter, 237 left, third and seven from the
Tampa 40. That's when May beats the blitz to Pop Douglas. Eventually, that turns into a touchdown
drive. Third quarter, 323 left, third and seven from their own 38-yard line. Will Campbell,
Jared Wilson, both beat on the play. Somehow, Drake May evades Vita Vea and finds Mack
Collins, 15 yards, first down, keep the chains moving.
Fourth quarter, 727 left, third and 14, again, from their own 38-yard line.
Will Campbell loses.
Drake May is getting that pass rush.
On his blind side, he's going to get hit.
54-yard bucket throw to Matt Collins downfield.
Third down, he's been doing it all year long.
Third and long doesn't matter.
And Greg Harvey from Optostats posted players in NFL history to have 25 plus 100 passing yards, 70 plus completion percentage, 250 plus rushing yards, and five or fewer interceptions through 10 games of a season, Drake May this year, that's it.
He continues to put together a great season, and he got through.
He got through Cleveland, Atlanta, and Tampa.
Those three defenses, challenging defenses, very good creative play callers.
He got through Patriots 3-0, and arguably his best out of the three was his last.
All right, five free agents played a key role in the wind down in Tampa.
We'll tell you who they were and the impact that they made next.
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Thank you for making lockdown the number one sports podcast network, your team every day.
And don't forget, if you're watching on YouTube to click that thumbs up, give us to like,
throw a comment in your thoughts on Drake May's performance against the Buccaneers on Sunday.
And don't forget to subscribe as we continue the march towards 7,000.
500 subscribers. A lot of attention being paid to the rookie class after Sunday's win, and for
good reason. They deserve the flowers. Trabian Henderson, Kyle Williams, Craig Woodson was also
pretty darn good in this football game. They deserve. They deserve the credit that they're getting.
The explosive plays offensively changed the dynamic of that football game. So there's nothing
wrong with giving love to that rookie class. But do not overlook the free agent.
class from 2025 because as I'm watching the game on the all 22, the free agent class stood out
to me. And there were five guys and there could be more guys I could throw out there. But there were
five guys that really stood out that were part from the 2025 free agency class that made a
difference, made a impact and helped you win that game. Let's start with somebody who I've talked
about a few times throughout this season and for good reason.
Cari's Tonga continues to be the ultimate find.
He has been awesome this year.
And as if dominating on the defensive side of the ball wasn't enough,
now he's helping you offensively.
Now, as I go through the game,
I keep a chart of plus minus plays.
My buddy Greg Bedard has done this for years.
I've started to do this the past few weeks.
I'm falling in love with it.
I'm like obsessed watching film now.
But, you know, Kyrie's Tonga, my plus minus as fullback.
When he's in the game offensively against the Buccaneers, he was a plus three, three plus plays as the fullback, just crushing cats.
But defensively, he hasn't lost a step.
Defensively, he was a plus five.
So when you combine his offensive impact and his defensive impact, for me, migrating,
Kairi's Tonga was a plus eight in this football game.
And defensively, it doesn't matter if it's against the run.
It doesn't matter if it's against the pass.
He is going to make an impact play.
So Kairi's Tonga deserves a lot of love.
Stefan Diggs.
Now, some of you might sit there and say, oh, of course, Nick, the touchdown catch.
Yes, the touchdown catch.
That was an elite play.
I said it during the live stream.
But Stefan Diggs's game on Sunday against the Bucks went beyond just that
touchdown catch.
He was actually my highest graded player on offense from Sunday's game.
He was a plus five.
And the elite touchdown was there.
He also, I thought through one or two really good blocks that helped the run game spring
some guys free.
And let's not forget his ability, his hands to recover the onside kick to seal the game.
So Stefan Diggs continues to be a great free agent signing, leading that wide receiver room,
coming up with big plays, helping.
Drake May on critical downs, now starting to find the end zone with a little bit more
regularity.
So Stefan Diggs deserves some credit for that win on Sunday.
Matt Collins, third guy that I want to mention here, six catches, 106 yards.
He had two third down conversions that were significant plays.
We talked about a third quarter, 323 left, third and seven from your own 38.
Drake May somehow slithers around Vita Vaya, keeps both hands on the football, great job by your
quarterback there, and then finds Mack Hollins for 15 yards, converts the third down, and then the
third and 14 play down the field.
And let's not forget, there was another play, and some people didn't like the spot.
Mike Vrable did not challenge it, so apparently he thought the spot was okay, but you had that
other third down and long where Drake May finds Mack Hollins, and Matt Collins ends up, what,
like a yard short, half a yard short.
So not only was it six for 106, but it was timely catches, big impact catches when
you absolutely had to have them.
Now, I will be honest here, a little bit of a mixed bag in the run game from Hollins
against Tampa on Sunday.
But overall, Matt Collins was a plus for me, and he continues to be a pleasant surprise
doing even more than I thought he would on this team.
fourth guy is Caleb on chase on and he has continued to have a really,
really good season and I think he's going to make a decent amount of bank in the
off season as a free agent.
Will he stay with the Patriots?
I guess we'll wait and see, but to go back to my grading,
I had Caleb on Chase on as a plus five against Tampa getting pressure.
He had a very resilient sack where he got the initial pressure in Baker Mayfield,
try to break, break, contain and get away from the pass rush.
And he almost accomplished getting away from the pass rush.
But Caleb-on-Cheson did not give up on the play.
And we talked about it during the preview show.
When you play Baker Mayfield, you best be ready for him to extend plays.
You can't give up those big scrambles.
It is a significant part of his game and a significant part of that Buccaneers offense.
Is Baker Mayfield escaping the.
pass rush and finding a way to get the offense 10, 15, 20 yards. And there was a sack in this
game by Caleban Chase on where he gets that initial pressure. He continues to chase Baker Mayfield
from behind and he gets the sack. Big time play. You had the fourth and three blitz when the
Patriots were up 2116. They came up with the stop. Two plays later. Travion Henderson gets a 69
yard touchdown run. So Calebon Chase on, very good. And here's some.
somebody who's been under the radar, but deserves attention. And that's Corey Durden.
I brought him up a few weeks ago. And, you know, I did not think he was, you know, spectacular
last week. But I'm telling you right now, I thought two out of the last three games, maybe even three
out of the last four, Cory Durdon, big defensive lineman, he's showing up. He was a plus two for me.
He's six foot four, three hundred and five pounds. So he's a big guy. He's physical. He is strong.
And one of the best things that I love watching with Corey Durdon is he has a motor.
He's got a really good motor.
And he is becoming a headache for offensive linemen.
So you start to stack these guys up.
Milton Williams continues to be really good.
Christian Barmore had a quiet day against Tampa.
But you've still got Kyrie's Tonga, Corey Durdon, Joshua Palmer made a player two.
But those five guys, Kyrie's Tonga, Stefan Diggs, Matt Hollins, Calebon Chaseon,
Corey Durden, all signed this past offseason, all showed up big for you down in Tampa and helped you win an impressive football game.
So good job by them.
So not only did the draft class help you big time, so did the free agency class.
All right, staying committed, even when something's not working is tough to do, but it paid off for the pats against the bucks.
We'll have that and more next.
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I'll tell you, it is, it is a much better experience rewatching these games when the team is 8 and 2.
It has been a much more pleasant experience rewatching these football games.
Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe, help brother out, help podcast out.
So certain decisions and plays, when you rewatch the game, you put them under a microscope.
And the Patriots, they remained committed to the running game, especially on first and second down.
And there was a moment where they called back-to-back runs.
It was right when they kind of felt like they were taking control of the game.
And Tony Romo mentioned it on the broadcast and said,
that one of the things about the Patriots that they want to work on
is they haven't necessarily put the foot on the throat.
Now, I'm paraphrasing, but that's what Tony Romo was talking about.
And right on cue, the first two plays, run, run.
And the Patriots end up giving the ball right back to Tampa,
keeping them in the game.
There are going to be stretches in games.
There are going to be play calls.
There are even going to be weeks.
that you might not like, love what Josh McDaniels is doing.
Overall, you've got to look at the big picture.
I think Josh McDaniels has been fantastic.
And I think he deserves a lot of credit for where Drake May is
in his progression and his development.
But it doesn't mean Josh McDaniels is flawless.
If you expect to agree with everything a coordinator does,
I think that's unreasonable.
You're going to have some plays.
but the one thing that Josh McDaniels stood by on Sunday against the Buccaneers was we're going to continue to run the football.
And even if it's not working out for us great in that moment, hopefully it pays off for us down the road.
And on early downs, it was a mixed bag.
I'll give you some plays.
In the first half, first drive, second and third down, no gain when you need one yard.
Second drive, you had three first down runs.
on the second drive of the game,
those three first down runs resulted in three total yards.
The fifth drive of the first half,
you had a first and 10,
Henderson gets one yard.
You also, if you want to go to goal line,
had a second and third down in goal
where you went absolutely nowhere.
But again,
Josh McDaniels and Mike Vrable,
they were not going to bail from the run game
and just drop it and become one dimensional,
say we're going to have Drake May throw
the football 50 times against this defense that brings pressure.
So what did Josh McDaniels do?
Second half, first drive, first drive of the second half on a first and 10.
They run the football in what's Trayvion Henderson do, takes it to the house.
55-yard house call from Trayvion Henderson on a first and 10 run play.
If you bailed on running early, what happens?
You don't get the 55-yard touchdown.
And this happened again later in the game.
First, fourth-quarter drive, second and seven,
Henderson minus two yards.
Second, fourth-quarter drive.
First and 10, Henderson, minus four yards.
Third, fourth-quarter drive.
First and 10, Henderson, one yard.
Second and nine.
What does Josh McDaniels do?
He stays with the run.
And I didn't like the play call at all.
but it results in a Trayvion-Henderson 69-yard touchdown run.
And what Mike Vrable and Josh McDaniels would tell you is,
yeah, we know that we were unsuccessful running the ball early a bunch.
And we get it, but we're going to continue because if we can pop a run or two,
that's what matters.
And they popped two huge runs from Trayvion Henderson and almost had a third
where Trayvion Henderson got tripped up.
And if he didn't, he might have taken that to the house.
So staying committed to the run, understanding you don't want to have Drake May always being a sitting duck in the pocket, it ended up working for the Patriots.
As frustrating in real time as it could be from time to time, it ended up working.
And if you look back, I charted all the first down play calls from Josh McDaniels because I think a lot of people would walk away from Sunday thinking that they ran the football more on first down than through the football.
That's not the case.
In the first half, Josh McDaniels on first down called eight passes and five runs.
In the second half, it was even 50-50, five-past, five run.
So for the game, Josh McDaniels actually called more passes on first down than runs.
You always remember the last thing you saw.
And I think a lot of people will look back in that second half to that run-run part that I mentioned
when they could have taken control of the game and have that frustration and forget about some other things.
running the football on third and long with Trayvion Henderson.
That play that almost busted out for a touchdown.
I think he got 14, 15 yards.
So I think Josh McDaniels continues to do a really good job,
even though every once in a while we're going to be frustrated.
Christian Gonzalez, I wanted to dig in deeper to his game
because there seemed to be a lot of back and forth between he and Emeka Abuka.
And I got to tell you, the rewatch, it was an up and down day for Christian Gonzalez.
He gave up some plays.
I did not think he was as physical against the run as he was last weekend against Atlanta.
But he did have some big wins.
He had some crucial wins.
Tampa's second drive, third and six.
Baker Mayfield tries to get it to Emeka Abuka.
Christian Gonzalez shuts it down.
The third drive for Tampa, third and three.
Baker Mayfield, again, wants a mecca abuca.
Once again, Christian Gonzalez shuts it down, and that opens the door to the Ekelevan Chase-on sack.
We talked about a little bit earlier.
Tampa Bay's fourth drive, third and two.
Craig Woodson has a blitz.
And this is Christian Gonzalez, mono-a-mano against Emeka Abuka on a third and two,
and it is fantastic coverage by Christian Gonzalez.
No chance for Tampa.
Nothing happens.
And then you get into the second half, Tampa's second drive of the second.
second half. Christian Gonzalez ends up with a defensive pass interference, one of those negative
plays. But then he comes back. He comes back. He keeps his head about him. And he forces
incompletions on first and second down to Omeca, Abuka. So he doesn't get down. He gives up a big
play with the defensive pass interference, but he comes right back and gets the best of Abuka on
first and second down. And then there was a fourth quarter drive by Tampa third and nine,
the Patriots Blitz, and Christian Gonzalez is all over, absolutely all over a Sterling
Shepard screen pass that only goes for one yard.
He attacks the play, gets to tackle, good work.
Overall, Christian Gonzalez finished the day as a net neutral, but he did make some huge
plays that I don't think the Patriots win this football game without them.
All right.
I wanted to talk about one more thing here.
The first and gold decision at the end of the.
the first half. And there was some talk about it. We mentioned it on the live stream and the post
game. And, you know, Drake May said that he was trying to score. Mike Vrable deflected multiple
questions on whether or not they intentionally had Drake May kind of just flop around.
I got to tell you, I watched the play multiple times again. And that was 100% intentional.
Drake May did not intend to score on that first down and go. No chance. I don't care what Drake
tells me. I don't care. I don't believe you. I do not believe you. He doesn't even move his
legs. He's not trying to push the crows. Nothing's happening. He literally gets the snap and he just
kind of falls off to the side. 100% they were trying to not score on that play. And of course,
you know, you can look at it and you can question the decision by Mike Vrable and you can say,
how can you just give up a down? But Mike Vrable, I'm sure, he decided
If we're going to do that on first and goal, we're going to go all four downs.
If it takes us four downs to try to score, that's what we're going to do.
That decision has to be made before you make the decision of whatever you want to call the flopping fish,
Drake May on that first and goal.
Once you make that decision, you've got to say to yourself, you know, we're going on a fourth down.
If it's fourth and goal, we're going on fourth down.
Now, hindsight, maybe you want to mix in a play action pass on second or third down,
but maybe the Patriots were concerned about the pressure
and losing yardage
and they didn't want to lose yardage.
So you had the floppy fish first in goal
and then you had two runs into a brick wall
that got you nothing.
And I do wonder if the Patriots had lost any yardage
during those first three downs.
Does Mike Vrable change his mind and kick a field goal?
I don't know.
But it ended up working out.
And Mike Vrable wanted to burn some clock
and said, look, we'll burn clock on the first down.
I believe this is what he said to himself and what he told the team and what he and
Stretch talked about, let's burn some clock on first down, and then we'll have three
shots to get it in the end zone from like the one yard line.
And if we can't get it in from the one, it's our own fault.
So interesting decision, it worked out for them, and Vrable continues to be aggressive on
fourth down.
All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots.
Thank you for making us your first listen and for being in every.
dare reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the
YouTube channel. Don't forget to hit that like button and don't forget to subscribe. And for your
second listen, get a double dose of the Lockdown NFL podcast with Tyler the Madman
Roland and Tony Wiggins. Find Lockdown NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a
great day and we will see you tomorrow.
