Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Trending Twitter Tuesday with Steve Balestrieri - 1/14/2020

Episode Date: January 14, 2020

It’s Trending on Twitter Tuesday on Locked On Patriots. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com. The pair discuss the good and bad of the New England Patriots 2019 season, the return of Josh McDaniels and the latest rumors surrounding Tom Brady. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. Welcome to your trending on Twitter Tuesday episode of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, and analysis, mixed in with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate. I am your host of Locked On Patriots, which of course is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

your team every day. Feel free to reach out to me and follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC, and also be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, today on Locked On Patriots, we bring you Trending on Twitter Tuesday, and that means a look around the Patriots Nation Twitterverse. What are the hottest topics surrounding your New England Patriots? Well, they'll not only be identified, but they will be discussed here today on Locked On Patriots Nation Twitterverse. What are the hottest topics surrounding your New England Patriots? Well, they'll not only be identified, but they will be discussed here today on Locked On Patriots.

What simply didn't work for the Patriots in 2019? What were some of the good things about the season? Don't forget, folks, the team also finished 12-5 with a playoff berth. Not the disaster everyone's making it out to be. Not what we're used to here in New England, but definitely not a catastrophe. What does Josh McDaniel's imminent return mean to the New England Patriots in the long run? Does it mean, as Joliet Jake Blues once said, the Pats are putting the band back together?

Maybe Elwood was right. Maybe it's a mission from God. I don't know. And what does it mean that the quote-unquote Brady suite has been cleaned out at Gillette Stadium? Anyone? Anyone? Well, don't worry, folks. I will be tackling those subjects on today's podcast.

But topics this big require more than just a singular opinion. They require some objective, well-thought-out analysis. And who better to share the microphone with today than my good friend, columnist extraordinaire from Patsfans.com, Steve Balistrieri, stops by Locked On Patriots today. And we'll be discussing all of that. 2019, the good, the bad, the ugly. Josh McDaniels, Tom Brady, what it all means, Steve and I will tackle those subjects.

So sit tight, folks, and I hope that you enjoy today's show. But before Steve joins me here today on Locked On Patriots, we start with the news of the day, and it's sort of news of the day, I guess, folks, but it did make some headlines, and this being trending on Twitter Tuesday, I have to do my due diligence. And this report comes courtesy of WEI's Greg Hill, who took to his morning show on WEI this morning to report that Tom Brady and his wife Giselle Bündchen and their children have moved out of their Brookline home and moved into their new home in Greenwich, Connecticut. Considering the Bradys have had their home in Brookline up now on the market for a few

months and that they purchased a new home in Brookline up now on the market for a few months, and that they purchased a new home in Greenwich, Connecticut, it's logical to determine that when you sell a house, you usually move into the new one that you bought. So, is this really news? Well, I'll leave it to you to determine whether or not this is newsworthy. But Hill also went on to say that the Gillette Stadium suite, where Giselle and the other family members watch the Patriots games, the home games that is, it has been cleaned out. And that usually seems like an annual event once the season ends, but Hill did add some context on this.

Hill was quoted as saying, It would appear to be, by those that are in the know, that this has been cleaned out in a way that perhaps it never has been cleaned out before. Period. Speculation. Period. Unquote. And the last thing in the world I'm doing today, folks, is knocking Greg Hill for this. He even prefaced this as saying it was speculation. But this doesn't really seem like it's all that much different than other years. Lockers are cleaned out. Suites are cleaned out. It's just a part of moving on from year to year. When I was an undergrad in college, I had a work-study job. I had the same desk for all

three years. Every single year, I cleaned it out completely. I knew I was going back to the job, but I still cleaned it out. Am I equating the two? Absolutely not. All I'm saying is that information like this doesn't necessarily have to lead to jumping to conclusions. A point that should be made right alongside of this, and credit to Hill, or if it wasn't Hill directly, I think it was someone on his show that made this point, that for the first time in 20 years, Tom Brady is set to become a free agent. Maybe this is a little bit extra protocol for him at this point. Theoretically, it's possible this is being done to send a message. I'm not discounting that. Because I don't know that, I'm not going to make it into a take. But whatever the reason it

is, I am confident in saying that I don't believe that either one of these items in any way, shape, or form is an indication of what Tom's plans for 2020 are going to be. And it's January 14th, folks. Tom Brady can't officially become a free agent until March 18th. That's a couple of months. And you know what? It's only going to get worse. Speculation is only going to rise. The stories are going to get more outlandish and probably even more ridiculous. With most of them, take them with a grain of salt. If there's a series of dots out there, the media is going to look to connect them. It's the nature of the business. But remember this, folks. Just because you can draw a line between those dots doesn't mean it's going to yield a clear picture. If Tom does indeed end up leaving Foxborough, and I've

gone on record several times in saying that I don't believe he will, but if he does, it'll be because of a philosophical difference, or a salary cap issue, or financial concerns. The fact that he put his house up for sale, or decided that he was moving on from being chair of the Best Buddies, or cleaned out his suite, is not going to have one single bit of impact on what his decision was then, and what his decision will be in the future. So that's my humble opinion on the tidbit regarding Tom Brady that found its way into Patriots Nation Twitter on Tuesday morning. But again, that's just my opinion. I wonder what Steve Balistrieri thinks about all this. I'll tell you what, I'll ask him in just a moment.

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EchelonFit.com slash LONFL. My guest today is a part of the family here at Locked On Patriots and one of the best and most knowledgeable columnists that you'll find anywhere in Patriots media. You know his great work from Patsfans.com as well as being the co-host of two amazing podcasts, Patriots 4th and 2, and One Patriots Place with our great green friend Thomas Murphy. He is my paisan, and despite what he'll tell you, he is worthy of all of the praise that he gets, and then some. Steve Balistrieri joins me today on Locked On Patriots. Welcome back to the hot seat, my friend.

Hey, thanks for having me, Mike. I really appreciate the invite, and as you know, I always love talking football with you. Hey, it's only six months to minicamp. Absolutely. Only six months to minicamp. We're sweltering in the summer sun there in Foxborough out there on the practice field. No, you know, all kidding aside, it's always my honor to have you on. First time here in 2020 in the new year that you're coming on the Lockdown Patriots. So always good.

And even though the Patriots aren't playing, Steve, there's always plenty to talk about. And we're going to get to all of those topics today. I said all last week, my friend. Absolutely. I said all last week, my friend. It's very odd not to be getting ready to cover an AFC championship game in mid-January. It's the first time since I've been covering the team that I haven't been doing just that. First time since 2011 that the Pats haven't been there.

But here we are. And the Patriots season did not end on a high note, that's for sure. But I always hate when someone asks me, what's the one thing the Patriots could have done differently? Because in my opinion, the truth is that only one thing is likely not enough to change the fate of an entire season. So, Steve, when you look at the 2019 Patriots in retrospect, what were some of the reasons for their struggles, particularly late in the season,

which historically is out of character for New England? Well, I think the main thing that went wrong for them this year was they didn't address the tight end position. I really, that's the thing that went wrong for them this year was they didn't address the tight end position. That's the thing that sticks out. A lot of people talk about the wide receivers, but you and I were down there. We saw how many wide receivers they brought in. It wasn't for lack of trying. They brought in a ton of guys. None of them could stick for one reason or another. But I think the big thing was the tight ends. I mean, going into the season, I thought, well, maybe they can squeeze one more year out of Ben Watson, and maybe Matt Lacoste will be able to assimilate into the offense,

but I think that really hurt them going down the stretch. Yeah, I do believe that as well. I think you lose a guy like Rob Gronkowski, obviously no one that they brought in was ever going to be able to replicate that type of productivity from a blocking standpoint, from a pass-catching standpoint. Gronk's a generational talent. He's a once-in-a-lifetime type of player. But I was a bit surprised that they didn't do more to address that.

There were some tight ends in the draft this year. We discussed them. We profiled a few of them. Between Sternberger and obviously Hawkinson was the gem of everybody's eye. He went early, and you kind of expected that wouldn't happen. But there were some options there. And then either free agents or possibly even trades for a tight end. It surprised me that they didn't address that.

Lacoste, I don't think, ever really lived up to the expectation that they hoped. I think that was a lot to put on his shoulders. I think he essentially did the best he could with what he had. I think Izzo kind of proved throughout the season that he maybe wasn't ready for prime time. He was a healthy scratch for the latter part of the season, and unfortunately, it just didn't come to fruition there. Benjamin Watson, I think, gave us everything he had that he had left in the tank. I think he gave some nice contributions, but he alone was not going to be enough to carry that load, and I think he hit the nail right on the head.

So I was a little bit surprised to see that as well with the tight end position. Staying on that for just a moment, I know people are going to point to the offensive struggles that the Patriots had this year and some of the difficulties that they had moving the ball and the wide receivers and whatnot and not being able to get on the same page with Tom Brady. To me, I look at the running game as a little bit more of a disappointment than what we saw from the wide receivers. I think a lot of what we saw with receivers was timing issues, execution, and route running and things of that nature where they just couldn't put it all together. I don't necessarily think it was an issue of talent. When you look at the running game, and specifically Sonny Michel this year,

did you see a regression or was it just a situation where you don't think that they did enough to utilize the running game this year and that it could have been more of a productive part of their offense in 2019? Oh, I thought the running game was very disappointing until really the end of the season. As you know, prior to the season starting, you and I both thought they were going to really lean on the running game this year. And because of injuries to the offensive line, it never really materialized. I think that was a big disappointment for them, and I think, you know, Sonny Michel, even though he ended up with about almost 950 yards on the ground this year, it was

a disappointing season for him, and I think part of it goes to him. I think you can't totally absolve him of any kind of blame, but I really think the offensive line, you know, the revolving door they had, the injuries they had, that really put a damper on things because at the end of the season, when they kind of got back together, you've seen the running game get better, and I think that had a lot to do with it. But at the same time, I think, you know, a lot of that had to do with Rex Burkett getting healthy as well, because Rex brings a different dimension to that running game.

Yeah, absolutely. He truly does. And you hit the nail right on the head when you talk about the second half of the season and the latter part of the season. I think that's when you saw that three-headed running attack that the Patriots hoped to trot out for the better part of the year when it comes to having James White being able to catch the ball out of the backfield, Rex Burkhead being able to do both, pound the ground to be able to have a little bit of gaining there, and then also be able to be a threatened play action, and Sonny being more of the traditional back that we're used to seeing him be.

I think a lot of that was because of Burkhead's health and being able to emerge at that point. I think it opened up a lot, and it allowed them to play better. The offensive line, we saw them opening up more holes, more seams, and it looked like the Patriots' running game was a bit more comfortable at that point. So I agree with you, Steve. I think that it is a situation where they do need to continue to build on some of the talent that they have in the running game. One of the question marks this year, obviously we talked about the tight ends. I think that the wide receivers could be a little bit of a question mark as well. But I think the running game is pretty solid, and I think they are going to build on some of the great things that we saw toward the tail end of the season. We've talked about some of the negatives, my friend, but it wasn't all bad in Foxborough this year.

The team still finished 12-5, still made the playoffs. I know it's not what the fans are used to, but it's still a pretty decent season when you encapsulate everything. There were bright spots, and to me, the stout play of the defense for sure, and there were even some positives on offense as well. I think a couple of the rookies and wide receivers showed promise. Maybe they didn't show what we were hoping they were going to show this year, but I think there's stuff to build on there. Again, Steve, in retrospect, what can we look at and feel confident that the team can build on going into 2020?

Well, I think that, you know, next year you'll see guys like Jacoby Myers, who I thought produced pretty well as a rookie. And we're not used to rookies doing well in the passing game here in New England. But, you know, when I looked at him, you know, he's able to make those contested catches. He's not afraid to get his nose dirty by going in, you know, those difficult physical parts of the field. I think he's going to be much better. And, of course, they kill Harry. I mean, Harry missed all of training camp.

He missed the first half of the season. And, basically, he really didn't come on until, like, what was it, week nine or ten. So, you know, at that point, you know, it's kind of a redshirt year for him, and I think both of those guys moving forward are going to be much, much better in their second go-around. I think they'll be more comfortable in the offense, because, you know, one of the things that we saw, and you and I talked about this offline, they were overthinking things too much because they're still trying to learn the offense.

When you overthink things, it tends to slow you down. That was the result of why we saw so many guys not getting any kind of separation. I think that will be a big thing next year. I also liked what I saw in a limited view from Joe on Williams. I really liked what I saw in a limited view from Joe Williams.

I really liked what I saw out of Chase Winovich as a rookie. I think Winovich is going to have a much, much bigger role, especially with the free agents they have on defense. No, I agree. And I think Winovich definitely, I mean, you can make the argument, obviously with Jake Bailey coming in as the punter, took a lot of the rookie, I think, praise when it came to rookies coming in and wowing. And he had a tremendous season, sputtered a little bit down the stretch, but I think he overall had a very solid season as the first-year punter for the Patriots. But Winovich, to me, was one of their most solid rookies from start to finish. He always seemed like he was in the mix of a play, made some big plays when he needed to,

but was always in the right place at the right time. And for a rookie, that's very unusual, especially in a team that likes to run complex schemes like we see the Patriots do in offense and in defense. I was very impressed by Winovich. I was impressed by Jawan Williams. I think a lot of what we're going to see this year is going to build on this

draft class that we saw in 2019 as being a good solid core for the Patriots, both on offense and on defense. We haven't even talked about Damian Harris, who was really a running back that was redshirted this year. We haven't really seen a whole lot out of him. You did mention him briefly, but I think a lot of what we're going to see with Damian Harris this year is going to be a big part of that running game, and I look for him to have an increased role in his second year as well, and I think we'll start to see the emergence of what the Patriots saw when they took him pretty early on in the draft in 2019. Steve, we've taken a look back at 2019, but in just a moment,

we're going to look into the trending topics of the day when it comes to your New England Patriots. And we will determine if a look at the present gives us all here in Patriots Nation a glimpse into the future. Once again, Steve Balistrieri joins me here today on Locked On Patriots. And Steve, the trending topic for the Patriots since the season ended is Tom Brady. Let's face it, it always is, it always will be, until we ultimately hear about his fate for the 2020 season. We're going to get into that in just a moment, but I wanted to ask your opinion today on Josh McDaniels, and I'll admit, I'm a bit surprised that he wasn't offered a head coaching job

this time around. Especially in Cleveland, that looked to be a good fit. But the more I delve into this story, I come to the conclusion that staying in New England I think is really the best case scenario for Josh, and maybe it even helps with the hope of bringing Tom back to Foxborough. So I think this is great news for the Patriots. What was your reaction to Josh's pursuit of a head coaching job falling short this time around, and how does this benefit the Patriots in the long run? Well, I think you already answered that question.

I mean, I think him returning is a huge boost for this team. We saw the coaching staff last year was really kind of picked through, and they had a very short staff last year. I think they had the smallest coaching staff in the NFL. They already lost a coordinator with Joe Judge. Having McDaniels come back I think is a big boost for the offense. So I think that in itself was, I thought, was a big positive. And we all know that his dream job growing up in Ohio was to coach the Browns.

And I think that, you know, he spent seven hours interviewing with them. And I think that, you know, the parameters they were putting on the job was something he couldn't live with. And to his credit, he didn't back down. He stuck to his guns. And he didn't back down. He stuck to his guns, and he didn't get his dream job, but I think in a couple of years, he'll have dream job number two in New England. Yeah, I believe that as well, and I know a lot of people are saying that, oh, Bill's going to

coach well into his 70s now and all that. I still don't believe that's going to be the case. I think Bill is really after that next one. I think he wants one more to solidify this. I really do believe that at the end of the day, and a lot of people scoff and they roll their eyes, I think he really wants to load up for one more run, and I think he's game to do it. The problem is obviously cap and logistics, and we'll get into Tom in just a moment, my friend. But I do agree with you. I think that Josh sticking to his guns here was definitely something that I don't think he'll regret in the long run. I know there's been a lot of reports out there that Cleveland was more interested in implementing a run-based offense.

And that Josh wanted to maintain his ability to have Baker Mayfield be the primary facilitator on offense, get guys like Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry more involved. And I think that in the long run, I think he may have been correct in that assessment. And I think he realized that the control that he wanted over the personnel and what they wanted to do was simply not going to be there. And because of that, it probably wasn't the greatest fit in the world. So logistically, I think Josh comes back to a very familiar environment. I do think it lends itself well into wanting to lure Tom back to Foxborough.

Don't forget, Tom Brady's going to be 43 at the time that he takes his first snap in 2020. He's not going to want to go and learn new verbiage, new playbooks, play for a new offensive coordinator. I know that if he ultimately ends up leaving New England, he's going to have to do that, unless for any unforeseen circumstances, both he and Josh end up going elsewhere. I think the only remote possibility that could possibly exist there would be in Houston if they decide that they're going to move on from Bill O'Brien. But all the indications are that that's probably not going to be the case. So having these guys reunite in New England looks to be a positive.

And I know a lot of people were looking at it as a positive yesterday. Until this morning, and Greg Hill of WEI reported on his morning show this morning that the Brady suite at Gillette Stadium, you and I both know it as, or I should say Pats fans all over know it as, where Giselle and the family at Gillette watch Tom play football. We've seen them photographed in it plenty of times. Hill added that because it's been cleaned out, it would appear to be, and I'm using Hill's own words here, quote, it would appear to be by those who are in the know that it has been cleaned out

in a way that perhaps it has never been cleaned out before, end quote. And he also added to that report that Giselle, Tom, and the family have moved out of their Brookline home and into their new home in Greenwich, Connecticut. Steve, to me, this is presented in a way that sounds ominous, and this is not a knock to Greg at all, but to me this is a definition of a non-story. I mean, it's the off-season, the suites are typically cleared out. Tom is a free agent for the first time in his 20-year career, so maybe they did a little additional cleaning out of that suite than they normally would

in anticipation of what could possibly happen. As for the home, I mean, did we really think that they were buying the house just to be a showpiece? Or I've even seen a couple of smatterings on social media that, oh, well, maybe they bought that house just to play games with the Patriots. You don't invest that kind of money to play a game with a professional football team. I'm sorry. I think that's completely asinine. So you're always the voice of reason, my friend. Do you believe I'm just being a homer to say that this trending story is much ado about nothing, or might there be a few sparks here that could lead to a bigger

story down the road? Well, honestly, I believe that Tom's coming back, and, you know, everyone's trying to read the tea leaves here, you know, and they're all, I think everyone's way overreacting to every little thing that he does now, and because he, you know, and they're all, I think everyone's way overreacting to every little thing that he does now.

And because he, you know, he was always locked up before. So no one ever paid attention. Did anyone ever really pay attention to how much he cleaned out his suite over there in Gillette? I mean, you know, I think it's all much ado about nothing. I really believe that if Tom Brady plays football and he doesn't retire, he's coming back here. And I agree with you. And I've had dissenting opinions on Friday here. Our executive producer here at Locked On, Jay Soderbergh,

a good friend of mine, and my supervisor came on, and we talked about it. And we talked about the logistical problems when it comes to salary, when it comes to additional free agents, and some of the impediments and roadblocks that could lead to him being jettisoned or essentially lead him to believe that he was going to walk away from New England. But to me, the one question that I don't think anyone has really been able to answer is that if he leaves, where is the best fit for him to go? I still believe that at the end of the day, Tom is all about success. It's more important to him than money or anything else of that nature.

And I think the best place for him to succeed is in New England. So ultimately, at the end of the day, I do believe he will be back as well. With regard to cleaning up the suite, again, like I said, I don't know of anybody that really spent any type of time delving into that, and I don't think it would have been delved into unless the circumstances presented themselves this year, and I think everybody's kind of looking for at least one shred of piece of evidence that might lead you to believe one thing or another. And at the very least, it is. It gets the topic trending.

That's why we call it, you know, trending in Twitter Tuesday here on Locked On, because it is a story that people are going to click on and they're going to have an opinion. But at the end of the day, you look at the actual, you know, substance and the stock of the story, and there really isn't much there. This is done every single year. These suites are cleaned out in a way that it never has before. Yeah, maybe they took a couple of additional things out knowing that there is impending free agency, and it might just be more protocol than anything else. So as always, Steve, we keep a sharp eye on these

situations, and we'll continue to monitor it. But I have a very sneaking suspicion that the next time you and I cover a training camp in Gillette together, my feeling is that we'll be watching a red jersey with white numbers, and those numbers are going to be number 12, and I think he's going to be taking snaps there as well. So we live in hope, and we'll see what happens. Once again, my friend, I can't thank you enough for coming on. You always lend your wisdom and counsel the way no one else can and you provide a level headed approach talk me down off the ledge at times and I always appreciate it folks again I can't recommend the columns highly

enough patsfans.com Steve's Sunday column in particular is one of my favorite weekend reads I never miss it you shouldn't miss it the podcast between Patriots 4th and 2 and of course One Patriots Place. I've been a guest on that show several times with Ian Thomas Murphy.

They're great guys, very knowledgeable, and it's always one of the best listens anywhere. Steve, my great, great thanks to you for coming on today, and I look forward to doing this again very shortly. Again, just to let any listener that hasn't listened here before,

if you've listened to the show before, you know where to find this man, and you should know where to find this man, but just please enlighten maybe some of the new listeners that we have of where they can find you on social media and interact with you and your great work. Well, Mike, thanks again for having me. I really appreciate it. As always, it's a lot of fun to talk football with you. You can find me at patchfans.com.

My Twitter handle is at Steve7SFG. And, you know, you can always find me on social media somewhere. I'm either writing about that or in the military. Absolutely. And some of the military writing that Steve has done, I encourage you to check out his Twitter page. I encourage you to check that out. It's not all about the Patriots. Steve is a gifted

writer in any topic, and especially when it comes to military history and current military protocol, he does a phenomenal job there. So please be sure to always check that out. And again, my friend, thank you so much. A belated Happy New Year here on the 14th of January, but we look forward to having you back on shortly,

and maybe we'll have some free agency news to break the next time you come on. So always a pleasure, and thanks so much for coming on today, buddy. Thank you, Mike. I appreciate it. And folks, I hope that you enjoyed this Twitter Tuesday episode today of Locked On Patriots. As always, I will be back tomorrow to bring you the latest news, notes, and analysis from Foxborough, Massachusetts. And please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider.

Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank Steve Balistrieri for his time, insight, and appearance today. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked into locked on Patriots. Have a great day, everyone.