Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Texas Two-Steps-Back - Patriots Fall to Texans in Week Eleven - 11/23/2020

Episode Date: November 23, 2020

The New England Patriots Fell to 4-6 on the 2020 NFL season with a 27-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. Joining host Mike D’Abate is fan-favorite Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy. The duo examine the Patriots’ decreased commitment to running the football, the difficulties had by Cam Newton and the offensive line to pick up the blitz, and the manner in which Houston QB DeShaun Watson was able to exploit New England’s defense in the middle of the field.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! EchelonRight now, you can try any Echelon Fitness equipment at home for 30 days. Go to EchelonFit.com/NFLBuilt 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.AxonGet the TASER Pulse Plus, or TASER Strikelight, at Taser.com with promo code [NFL]. 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 it's both a mad and melancholy Monday here 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. Locked On Patriots is presented today by Pepsi, made for football watching. Thanks to a lack of natural athleticism, or commitment,

or overbearing sports parents, fewer than 1% of 1% of 1% of people will ever play professional football. But instead of entering the NFL, they've joined another league, the League of Football Watchers. This football season will be different, and Pepsi is here to get you

ready for game day, no matter how you watch. Pepsi is the refreshment you need to power through any game day. Because Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game, it's made for those who watch it. Pepsi, made for football. Watch it. It's a tough Monday here in the nation, Pats fans. But fear not because the Lockdown

Patriots podcast is here to get you through it. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of Lockdown Patriots, which of course get you through it. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots, which, of course, is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And, folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Share that feedback anytime by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there sorting through your Monday musings on the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Lockdown Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Folks, it might be an understatement to say that yesterday didn't go quite as planned. Your New England Patriots, one of the best rushing teams in the NFL, held to only 86 yards on the ground by one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. Quarterback Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans throwing for 344 yards and two scores,

all adding up to a very disappointing 27-20 loss for your New England Patriots to the Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. And today there's a lot of questions circulating throughout Patriots Nation. A lot of finger pointing, a lot of blaming, but most of all, a lot of disgust. This is one that most of us here in the nation, myself included, believe the Patriots should have had. But there's no way to sugarcoat this. The Patriots were simply outmatched on Sunday, on offense, on defense, and in coaching. And here today on Locked On Patriots, we'll be breaking it all down.

Starting with why a team that is so great at running the football chose to abandon the run for much of the game. What exactly did the Texans do to cause so many problems for an offensive line that's been great this year but simply could not pick up the blitz? How much of that was on the blocking? How much of it was on the shoulders of Cam Newton? We'll also talk about the defensive side of the ball and how Houston was able to attack the Patriots' middle of the field defense, one of the weakest parts of their defense this year. Houston exploited it yesterday, and they did so with great success. And last but certainly not least, we'll talk about the Patriots' secondary. Why the area that is generally considered to be the strength of this defense looked

so futile yesterday against the Texans' passing attack. Folks, there is a lot to break down on today's pod, and I will do my best to break it all down for you, but a loss like this requires a little more than simply my wisdom and counsel. It requires a little extra green wisdom and counsel. And it's Monday here on the pod, so you know what that means. Hashtag

LockedOnMurfMonday as our good friend, the Green King of Sting himself, joins me here on the hot seat. Thomas Murphy and I will break down that and so much more. So sit tight and stay tuned as Murph and I do our best to make sense of yesterday's game in Houston. But as bad of a loss as this was to the Texans, and it was, folks, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Patriots also suffered another loss on the field, and this one will have long-term ramifications. Early in the third quarter, Rex Burkhead took a bad fall on a tackle

while he was trying to get to the corner on a third-and-one play. He had to be helped from the field after an injury timeout was called, immediately went to the blue pop-up tent on the sideline, and further evaluation just became a formality at this point. He was soon thereafter taken to the locker room, and he was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Shortly after this contest, it appeared that our worst fears were confirmed. The Athletics' Jeff Howe reported that that per his sources, the Patriots organization believed that

Rex had indeed suffered a torn ACL that will in fact end his season. An MRI is expected on Monday to officially confirm this. At this point, all signs point to Rex being out for the remainder of the year. And really, this is a bad break for the Patriots. It's a really bad break for Rex, who is really one of the best guys in that locker room. He was in the middle of a very impressive season, arguably one of the best he's had in the NFL. He had compiled 466 yards from scrimmage on only 92 touches this season, also scored six touchdowns. That's the second most on the Patriots behind only Cam Newton. Just this offseason, Rex had restructured his contract in order to have him hang around for at least one more year. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year.

You have to wonder whether Rex Burkhead might have played his last game in a Patriots uniform. I, for one, hope that's not the case. Again, Rex is one of the spiritual leaders on this team, and on the field, he's simply one of the most versatile players they have. With Rex out of the lineup, that running back core now is going to heavily rely on Damian Harris, Sonny Michel, who was not active for yesterday's game, but is back on the 53-man roster, and I think it's definitely a safe bet that the Patriots will be looking to lean

heavily on Sonny. Also, James White as the receiving back, and don't forget about J.J. Taylor. He's been a scratch the last few weeks. I look for him to get some looks as the Patriots try to pick up the pieces here. But the most important part of all of this, folks, is Rex's long-term health. I certainly wish him the best for a speedy recovery, a complete recovery, and we'd love to see him back out on the football field as soon as possible. Again, I really hope that's going to be in a Patriots uniform,

but wherever that might be, Rex is truly one of the all-around great guys in this business when it comes to on-field production and the way he conducts himself off the field. Just really wish him the best and hope that everything works out as well as possible. But for the rest of the New England Patriots, the show must go on, and on the gridiron yesterday, there is certainly a lot of adjustments that need to be made with the Arizona Cardinals coming to town in just a little under a week. Luckily for us here on the pod today, we have the man that writes the monster keys, and I will do my best to inject my wisdom and counsel alongside the great green wisdom and counsel of my good friend Thomas Murphy.

We talk offense, defense, coaching strategy, and as hard as it is to believe, there was a bright spot in the Patriots lineup yesterday, and we'll talk about that as well. All of this and more when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, Locked On listeners, when it comes to getting or staying in shape, nothing feels as good as that feeling of accomplishment, of hitting your fitness goals, and feeling great about yourself. Well, 2020 is not exactly the easiest year to achieve that. But today, I'm pleased to give you a little good news on that subject,

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on the offense and defensive side of the ball. I know it's bringing out that urge to you to lace up the cleats, put on the helmet and shoulder pads, and get out there and try to help your team. Well, I hate to break it to you folks, but most of you, not all, but most of you, are probably not the help the New England Patriots are looking for. Thanks to a lack of natural athleticism or commitment or overbearing sports parents,

fewer than 1% of 1% of 1% of all of us humans will ever play professional football. It's true. But instead of entering the NFL, we can all join another league, the League of Football Watchers. This football season has been and will continue to be different, but Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day, no matter how you watch. Pepsi is the refreshment you need to power through any game day. Because Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game, it's made for those who watch it. Go to madeforfootballwatching.com

to check out the latest football watching content from Pepsi. Made for football watching. Patriots fans, coming up this week on the Locked On Patriots fans, coming up this week on the Lockdown Patriots podcast, we will continue to break down the past 27 of 20 loss to the Houston Texans and what it means for the now very slim playoff hopes for your New England

Patriots. Of course, we also get you ready as the Patriots prepare to host Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins, and the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday on this Thanksgiving week here on the pod. But today, emotions are still running high and not in a good way. And when all of us here in the nation are monster mad, we counteract that with absorbing the green wisdom and counsel of my guest today. That's right, folks. It is that time again. Your favorite in mine, my benefactor in this business, the

count of Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy is back for his weekly appearance here on Locked On Patriots. Thank you for coming to me in friendship. And as always, for joining me today, Don Murph. Oh, bud, always happy to be here for a Lock-on Murph Monday, even after that debacle yesterday. Absolutely. I might actually be in the overreaction crowd. I might sit at that table.

We're over by the kitchen where it's loud and noisy anyway, and they're trying to drown us out. But, yeah, I'm not happy, Michael. I'm not happy. And you join a lot of members of patriots nation today that are not happy uh and there's a lot of reason for that and a lot of due cause for it and buddy let's dive right into it uh first off if you told me before 1 p.m yesterday that the patriots running game the unquestioned strength of this team would be held to only 86 yards by the worst run defense in the NFL.

Buddy, I'm going to be honest. I would have been forced to take away one of your nicknames at that point. I probably would have looked at you and said, is this the Murph that I know and love? You know, you know, exactly. I would have. You can act like a man. You know, I would have had to have gotten a little bit, you know, maybe maybe maybe a little bit forceful. But that's exactly what happened.

The Patriots went away from their rushing attack, and credit the Texans. They had a pretty effective game plan to slow down Damian Harris. Houston started loading the box, sending the run blitzes up the middle, shut down New England's interior runs, and because of that, we saw Josh McDaniels start to mix in some of those crack tosses. And believe it or not, he did have some early success with them, but he stuck with them and he seemingly put the run on the back burner. And he's being maligned for that pretty much throughout the NFL, throughout really Patriots nation, I should say, for the better part of last night and this morning. But the Pats offense still had a net

positive day, if you can believe that, even in the loss. And I think that's probably the likely reason why Josh chose to stay with this course. But that has earned him his share of detractors today. But this one requires the green wisdom and counsel right off the bat. In your opinion, should we be getting on McDaniels for his game planning? Or should he have really just made the commitment to run Damian Harris and the backs to play to the Patriots strengths? Yeah, he should have. He should have. It's definitely the latter. This team is not constituted to get into a shootout, a throwing match, a, well, everybody wants to laud Cam for the fine day that he had passing the ball. And this is not the way this team is built.

And it was, you saw on the first drive exactly the way this game should have played out. Exactly every key on my ring from Friday had been turned on that first drive. It all worked. And the second some adversity got in, we're going to scrap this, they're giving us this, so we're going to take it. That's not this team anymore. You cannot adjust your game plan from week to week as to what another team is doing and still be able to come out on top.

This is a team that needs to force its will onto its opponent and win in a certain way. And they didn't do that yesterday. And that's what ticked me off more than anything, I think, is the fact that I put out a perfect game plan. It seemed on the first drive that, hey, yeah, we read what Murph had to say. And then after that, they went away from it and said, screw Murph. And, you know, I can take a lot, but that's a slap in the face that I'm not happy with.

Yeah, and you know what? I told you before, you listen to the man, you go to the top. You don't listen to the man. You're never heard from again. And maybe, maybe maybe just maybe that might be what happened in foxborough but look bottom line a lot of people are getting on josh for being cute i actually didn't think he was cute yesterday i thought he called the game that was too conservative cam was struggling with the short throws the screen passes the check downs

he had some stellar throws downfield now i don't know if the patriots offense might look better with a more aggressive approach or whether that might just force Cam into more turnovers maybe that's why Josh is starting to go away from that a little bit but bottom line is there's definitely look there's problems there without any question and of course it bears mentioning that the Patriots rushing attack now has suffered a pretty bad hit with Rex Burkhead tearing his ACL I said to open the program today out for the season that's a huge loss for the Pats. Spiritual leadership that he brings to the table, definitely. But on the field, Rex is one of those guys that simply does the job that Bill Belichick puts him on the field to do,

or Josh McDaniels. He's a good soldier, and Patriots are going to miss him without any question. You know, Murph, the Pats offensive line has been the strength of this team. I still believe it is, but they struggled yesterday as well. I think they had their roughest day of the year so far. The Texans were determined to take away the run. They played a four-man line. They didn't play their typical 3-4 defense,

and credit Romeo Cornell and Anthony Weaver for smartly inserting an eighth-run defender in the the box that forced the Patriots to throw the ball and that meant additional pressure on Cam Newton and Cam's had his issues with dealing with pressure all year Houston blitzed Cam on 17 of his 42 dropbacks Cam averaged only 4.6 yards per attempt took two sacks against the Blitz the Patriots had a real problem picking that up yesterday. And in doing some post-game analysis, our good friend, Evan Lazar of CLNS Media, pointed out to me that the primary issue right now appears to be Cam's pre-snap recognition of the Blitz. Either he doesn't have control or he's failing to sense the pressures.

And either one of those can lead to some big problems. A lot of that was made worse by the fact that his offensive line blockers and some of the skill position guys that help out with blocking failed to pick up the pass rushers post snap. Right. And that can lead to a lot of difficulty. And we saw that yesterday on the field. Murph, this is my biggest concern because I think the running game could get back on track with more solid game planning. Maybe, you know, Josh, committing more to what the strength of this team is. But this is a legitimate concern of mine because I don't see an easy fix here. But you see things that us mere mortals don't see. How much of a problem do the Patriots have here? And how much of this is on Cam?

How much of this is on the line um just in in sunday's uh game i'm gonna say it's 70 30 on the line the line had a terrible day it was just awful um i i graded them out as a d um did they move away from the run too soon and and not let these guys get into a rhythm, which always helps the offensive line. Believe me, folks. When you're out there and you're grading the road, it becomes a lot easier to pass block later. But they did. They had their problems.

Wynn was beaten for a sack on a way who was just not himself yesterday. He got beat by an old man, J.J. Watt, on a run stuff, and he had his hands up blocking passes all bloody day long. A lot of that is on the offensive line, folks. Some of it's on Cam and his giant wind-up and release and staring people down, but believe me, we take credit when it's due, and we take the blame when it's due, and that was on the offensive line. Yeah, without question.

I mean, look, Cam had his misfires. He had some low passes to Nikhil Harry, even the running backs, but he still completed 65% of his passes, 365 yards and a touchdown. You look at the stat line, and all of a sudden you're looking and saying, how did the Patriots perform so poorly with Cam putting up those types of numbers? Didn't do much with his legs, but considering the game that Josh was calling, I think Newton executed exactly what Josh was trying to call at that point. He did make some good plays.

That little rainbow pass to Demir Bird was probably the eye-opener. Yeah, but he missed him later. Yep, absolutely. Going to the good buddy, and you missed another touchdown later, didn't you, Junior? That's true. And that goes to Cam not seeing, as we said earlier, not seeing the entire field, not being, you know, ignoring the right side of the field, which we've seen time and again, whether it's his shoulder issues or what's going on, missing that entire side of the field.

And it makes it – actually, it made it a little more impressive yesterday with the amount of points and yards that he put up. But, no, that was definitely on him. This offensive line really ticked me off yesterday. They were missing assignments. They had two linemen blocking the same man at the end of the game, which really took the Patriots out. It was rough to watch.

And quite honestly, I've usually watched the game at least two times, if not three by now. I haven't been able to turn it back on. No, I think you're getting a lot of company in that regard. It's definitely a tough one to go back and watch. And very unusual for, like I said, to to open the show an offensive line that has been the strength we've lauded their performance week after week and say sometimes we say they're the only bright spot for the patriots yesterday it was definitely a low light and it did uh you know

cause issues on the field um one thing that i did notice about cam yesterday and I think I've noticed him improve week after week is he's manipulating coverage a little bit better by staring down the middle of the field and we saw him do that yesterday using his eyes to lead defenders and then finding his intended target still think there's a ways to go but I'm seeing improvement week after week with that he did it with Demir Bird a couple of times yesterday even with Jacoby Myers in the closing moments of that game I'm not saying the cams without blame because there definitely were some times where he missed targets. You mentioned missing Bird.

There were times where he short-armed throws and there were difficulties completing passes, but that's at least encouraging as the team moves forward. And I think the offensive line will figure it out. I think there's too much talent on this line to just simply lay down and not be able to be the force that we're used to seeing bottom line is they're just going to have to do a better job and every every unit has bad games and the offense definitely underwhelmed on Sunday buddy there no question about it but the defense underperformed and at times it was not pretty Deshaun Watson is good

folks he is very good at football. No one is saying any different. But did the Patriots defense make him look a little bit better than he really played? Murph and I tackle this question and more when the Locked on Patriots podcast continues. Patriots fans, you've all heard the phrase, often imitated but never duplicated. I mean, is there a better phrase to describe your favorite football team in Foxborough? Six Super Bowl titles in just under two decades? Yeah, no other NFL team in the modern era can even come close to making that claim. Only the best can provide the best. And when it comes to protein bars, the only ones who could provide the best healthy, low-calorie, and delicious treats you know and love are the ones who provided the best in the first place.

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It's Locked on Murph Monday here on the pod. And we're putting the Pats 27 to 20 loss to the Houston Texans under the microscope. And Murph, Deshaun Watson entered Sunday's action as the sixth best middle of the field thrower in the NFL. He did a very good job of exposing the Pats' weakness and then some, I think, yesterday. The Texans attacked the Patriots in the middle of the field coverage by throwing off leverage against man coverage and Watson just doing a

masterful job of manipulating those second-level zone defenders. He does that as well as any quarterback I've seen in the league. The Pats' problems defending the middle of the field is really, I think, a case of picking your poison. Either you let the younger athletic players make mistakes, or you have to live with some of the slower-footed or slower veterans that you have in coverage, and you're going to get exposed. And unfortunately, both of those were poor yesterday. Either way, coverage between the numbers has been a significant issue for this defense all season long.

Murph, how do the Patriots fix their middle-of-the-field defense issues? Was this just running into one of the best quarterbacks at exposing that? Or do they really have some serious problems here that a lot of other teams can use to exploit their difficulty? Well, unfortunately, it's the latter. It's a lot of issues that the other teams. The Patriots were working hard. The defensive line did exactly what they were asked to do, which is keep Watson in front of them and not let him make plays with his feet. They stuffed the run really well, but they truly made this Texans team one-dimensional.

The only problem was they couldn't do anything to stop the dimension that they were left with. And that has to do with, as you said, with age, with being a step slower. The McCourty twins had a terrible day back there. I thought it was today. To put it nicely, everybody left their tackling shoes at home. And that's where the biggest problem was with this secondary. It's one thing when you're allowing another team to make plays in the middle of the field and to catch balls. It's one thing when you're allowing another team to make plays in the middle of the field and to catch balls. It's another thing when you can't bring anybody to the ground. And the linebackers and the secondary of this team simply could not do that on a consistent basis.

And it allowed Watson and his minions to move the chains almost at will. Absolutely. And again, I mean, Deshaun Watson was very good in this game. No one is taking anything away from him, but I think we can make the argument, and you've started to here quite nicely, that the Patriots made him look better than he's looked all season. Yeah.

Look, Watson, bottom line, finished the game completing 75% of his passes for 344 yards, two touchdowns. Even so, the Texans created a lot of separation Jordan Akins was very good in this game five catches 83 yards really having a lot of success and whether it was Kyle Duggar or John Jones or Juwan Williams they had problems defending the tight ends and the Texans just weren't running the football all that well. Duke Johnson was not getting that many carries, but they didn't have to run. The Texans just threw the ball. They didn't have to.

17 passing first downs. 17. You can't win that way. You can't. I mean, he goes to the other side of the ball, and Cam had 16 passing first downs. But the Patriots let them have 17 passing first downs and another two first downs off of penalties, which really ticked me off. Yeah, bottom line, absolutely. And I think it ticked off a lot of Patriots nation.

And I'm sure the coaching staff as well, you know, they'll probably won't admit it. They'll just, you know, look at it and say we were bad in all phases, got a lot of work to do. But I think that's something that's going to be watched a lot on film over the course of the next couple of days. And as the Patriots prepare for the Cardinals this weekend. But you had mentioned the struggles in the secondary on Sunday. It wasn't just limited to the middle of the field.

There were struggles in coverage. There were struggles at corner and safety. Were you surprised by how this secondary struggled, especially considering that this is supposed to be the strength of this defense? Yes, I was. It was a little difficult to fathom watching this going on, but when you took a step back and you saw who was burning them

at the moment, even Brandon Cooks was getting yards after the catch, and you know, folks, how I feel about Yak. You know what I'm doing. Guys like Will Fuller you know are going to get theirs. The point of the matter is, and I hate to keep beating a dead horse, is if you're going to play the style of defense that this team did last night, yesterday afternoon, I should say, you've got to get people to the ground, and they didn't do that.

They just whiffed. There was too many whiffs. There was too many four yards after the catch, six yards after the catch. It was bad. It was really bad. When you look down at these stats and you see a chunk play for 44 yards to Brandon Cooks, 25 to Aikens. Will Fuller with a 20-yard grab.

That's not the way this game plan should have been laid out. You can put it on effort if you want, but it didn't happen, and they didn't adjust, and they didn't make the right reads at the right times. It was really hard to watch this, and it's going to be even more difficult to sit down and watch it again when you know what's about to happen. Yeah, without question. And again, 27-20 loss to a team that most people believed the Patriots should be in the Houston Texans makes her a very bitter pill to swallow.

It's going to make the turkey a little tougher to enjoy this year on Thanksgiving dinner. But, you know, bottom line is these these are the times in which we live in the Patriots right now. Four and six slim playoff hopes. But there's still that Lloyd Christmas chance. And unfortunately, we're going to keep clinging to it until they tell us we can't cling to it anymore, but it's going to be difficult, buddy. We have to end on a high note. You know me, I'm Mr. Positivity. I try to always bring positive vibes to the new England Patriots faithful. And that wasn't easy today.

I'll be very honest with you. Start looking up and down the box scores, what the Patriots did. It was not easy to pluck some positivity out of this, but Damir Bird, very, very good on Sunday. I think Bird finished with six catches, 132 yards, one touchdown. I thought he got great separation. I thought he showed some very good instincts in going up, making contested catches, something that I didn't really believe he had the skill to do, but he showed it off yesterday. He was very good after the catch as well you mentioned yak this kid really has

rounded into I think a pretty well versed wide receiver if he can play more like this in future weeks do you think the Patriots have stumbled onto something special here oh yeah I without a doubt and we can go all the way back to early in the season when you and I were talking this kid up. We loved what we saw from him. We wondered why we weren't seeing more. Now we're seeing what he can do with a knowledge, a working knowledge of this offense.

It was a lot of fun to watch. It was probably the saving grace of this day with probably the exception of Jake Bailey's punts. You know, Bailey continues to wow with his ability and just, yeah, he really is amazing. Our good friend Steve Balistrieri and I have watched many a practice with this kid just booming these punts into orbit. And you continue to see him do it in game settings. And it's amazing. But as tough as things are in Foxborough right now, bird is the word today. And we'll try to cling to that when it comes to finding some positivity.

And I'm glad we could end on a high note because I agree with you. I think the Pats have found something special here. Good blend of speed. And I was glad to see him get his hands dirty a little bit yesterday and show that he can mix it up with some of these, these corners and these, these cover guys in the secondary of opposing teams. I liked him here and I'd like to see him get a few more looks.

So good stuff there. And you know what, on that note, we'll end on a high note, buddy, your wisdom and counsel. Like I said, I mean, it's exactly what we needed today. It's what we always need. And you lend it like no one else.

That's why you are familia here on Locked On Patriots. You definitely get a seat at the Thanksgiving dinner table always. I thank you for joining me today, my friend. Folks, you should already be following this man. But for any of our new listeners, follow the Count of Murphy Fisto, my good buddy on Twitter, at TeamMurph207. Never miss Murph's Monster Keys.

Folks, I told you, all the Patriots brass had to do was read the keys, turn them. We'd be talking, we'd be having a whole different conversation today. But I digress. I would say point, click, learn, enrich, become smarter material each and every week.

Proudly found on buyhardbostonsportsfans.com. And of course, never miss an episode of One Patriot's Place with Murph and our great mutual friend, Steve Balistrieri. Buddy, thank you so much again. Honored and humbled by your presence as always. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours we look forward to breaking down what we hope is a return to the win column next week for the patriots

oh to say i i will be here if you will have me my friend and and as always i i appreciate it uh an invite over for thanksgiving all the time thank you everybody out there have a happy thanksgiving and don't forget you you know, two Patriots plays every Friday with Steve and Klazzy Claire. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I'm sure you guys are going to be talking some tight ends because Izzo had some moments yesterday and

saw Steve tweet them out a little bit too, so I'm sure you guys will be talking that. And as always, you always have an open seat at the Thanksgiving dinner table here at Casa del Locked On Patriots. I always say it's not Thanksgiving, folks, unless two things happen. Unless you watch Neil Page and Del Griffith drive down the highway in planes, trains, and automobiles. And until Murph comes over to lend his wisdom and counsel, then it's officially Thanksgiving.

So we've got one going, and hopefully this week we'll get a chance to get a viewing of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles in as well. Always a pleasure, my friend. Thank you so much. Stay safe and stay well. And again, have a very happy holiday to you and yours. You too, my friend. Thanks for having me. And so, Patriots fans,

that'll just about do it for our mad and melancholy Monday here on the pod. And while Murph and I took a deep dive into this contest, there is still even more to dig up below the surface. And because today was Murph Monday, it's a Balistrieri Tuesday tomorrow. Steve Balistrieri of Patsfans.com will join me as we continue to dive into the Patriots' 27-20 loss to the Houston Texans. So to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, follow and subscribe

to Locked On Patriots on platforms such as Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google 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, the Count of Murphy, Fisto himself, Thomas Murphy, 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 tomorrow, stay safe, stay well, continue to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.