- 1 week ago
Patriots clinch playoffs! Pats beat Ravens 28-24. New England was trailing by 11 in 4th, as Maye/Diggs and co. put up 15 in final quarter. Patriots now are 12-3. Thoughts on the comeback?
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00:00The perfect depiction of Steph Diggs yesterday, whenever Vrabel, we ask Vrabel about Steph Diggs,
00:04he speaks on and on about his personality, the way he plays the game, the way he handles the game.
00:09But when he got hurt, when he got banged up in the, was it the first quarter or second quarter?
00:14It was earlier on in the game.
00:16His first quarter, right after his first catch.
00:17Yeah, first quarter. And he was just pointing at his shoulder. He's like, it's not my head, it's my shoulder.
00:22But he's smiling, walking. He's telling all of them.
00:24The reports were that they had to restrain him in the tent because he wanted to get out.
00:28He ended up sneaking out the back way of the tent. There's a back door, I guess, that nobody knew about.
00:33It's just like, to me, he heard those reports. He doesn't care about those reports.
00:37I think the main issue that I have when it comes to beat reporters or any reporters out there
00:41is the ego that they have, that they think that they are changing the game in some capacity
00:46or changing the way players are handling the game. They're not.
00:49Steph Diggs, you need to give him credit and you need to move on.
00:51Yeah, I mean, we talked about it last week.
00:54Like, every week, the go-to guy, for the most part, changes in the offense.
00:59I mean, when you see it, like, Matt Collins made some great catches in last night's game, right?
01:04It changes throughout the game. It changes week to week.
01:07You know, Steph Diggs has done a tremendous job all year long.
01:11But this offense isn't like, all right, it runs through Steph Diggs.
01:17This offense isn't, it runs through Matt Collins or it runs through Kayshawn Booty.
01:22But we've seen that with Josh McDaniels. His offenses, by and large, are not going to center on one receiver.
01:27They're going to be game plan specific. It's going to be week to week.
01:30And, I mean, I would hope the people that cover the team know that.
01:33And if you're going to say Diggs hasn't been great, he certainly wasn't great the three weeks preceding this game.
01:37But does anybody think Diggs doesn't know the offense?
01:41Like, of all the things, Diggs, he's one of the best route runners in the NFL.
01:44But was he not great, or was it just the way in which the games played out?
01:48Just the way the games played out.
01:49I don't necessarily put it on Steph that he had these bad games.
01:52I meant to say not great, that he didn't have great performances in terms of statistics.
01:55His numbers weren't what you saw last night.
01:58But we know in this type of offense, and like, you know, Curtis said,
02:03since whether it's been with Brady, whether it's been with Matt Jones,
02:07we know Josh McDaniels, Charlie Weiss, Billy O, whoever the offensive coordinator is,
02:12and kind of the way this offense has always been built, other than the 07 year,
02:18it's always kind of, you know, been wide receiver by committee.
02:24Now, there's been guys like Wes Welker and Randy Moss and Julian Edelman Gronk.
02:30But it's always been like, you know, hey, one week it'll be one guy,
02:33the next week it'll be the next guy.
02:35Especially when there's not that Gronk, there's not that kind of Randy Moss type of player.
02:42So what I look at is just the way the game flows.
02:46And last night it started to flow in Steph Diggs' direction,
02:50and it flowed in Matt Collins' direction because he had some really big catches.
02:55Yeah, well, we are going to talk a lot about the Patriots today on this Patriots Monday.
03:00Mike Vrabel's going to join us a bit later today.
03:02He's going to join us at 9 a.m.
03:03Let him sleep in.
03:05I'm sure it was a late flight back from Baltimore last night.
03:08We're going to have Boomer at 8 before that.
03:10We're also going to get to They Said It.
03:12And They Said It this morning.
03:13Shyam and I were talking before.
03:14Aaron Rodgers, peak douchiness after that great win last night for the Steelers.
03:18I was watching that before the Patriots game.
03:21We know.
03:22The way in which that thing ended.
03:26I don't know if officials need to have a public speaking class
03:30because the officiating at the end of that is one thing.
03:33But the way in which the official explained what was going on
03:36was the most confusing mind F of all time.
03:40Yeah, it's the way.
03:42And you see it throughout the games all week long with plays that happen.
03:47And we talked about, what was it, the two-point conversion?
03:50And what the hell game was it?
03:52The Seahawks game.
03:53Yes, the Seahawks-Rams.
03:54Yeah, and then even in last night's game on the deep ball to Kayshaun Booty
04:01where the defender basically taps him.
04:03One of the worst no calls.
04:04I couldn't believe that.
04:05Yeah, and there's no call at all.
04:08But you just kind of see it, you know, and you start to look at it.
04:11There's push-offs.
04:12There's grabbing.
04:13There's tugging.
04:14There's pulling.
04:14And it's one of those things at the end of the games where, you know,
04:17it's – I think it was the right call.
04:21Right.
04:21It was the right call.
04:22But Courtney's right.
04:22Take a class.
04:24There was one at BC.
04:24I think we took the same one.
04:25But the public speaking.
04:26Not exactly the people that they point to.
04:29But the – I'm watching the games as we all do every Sunday.
04:33And there was drama.
04:34It was great.
04:34But this popped into my head.
04:38If you're going to do this quick – what is it?
04:41Expedited review.
04:43I don't want the league to bail teams out in under two minutes.
04:47I feel like it should be punitive.
04:49Like, if you don't have timeouts with two minutes left in the half
04:52or two minutes left in the game, the league doesn't jump in
04:55and automatically review it.
04:56I feel like it should be – you should have three challenges to challenge anything.
05:00A call, a flag, a play.
05:02Because I watch these games and it's like – it's – it really makes them –
05:08it's the only part of the NFL experience that is excruciating.
05:12And that is the time to make some ruling, the time to go under the hood,
05:16and the time for the play-by-play team or the league official to explain it.
05:20Like, it's – it is awful.
05:22It has never been worse.
05:23Well, you say the league jump in, but that would be for, like, turnovers, fumbles.
05:26Right.
05:26I want it just to be play the game, try and get the call right.
05:29And if it's wrong, then do a – then challenge it.
05:32But if you don't have no challenges and none of the two minutes –
05:34Then it's your fault.
05:35But if it's so egregious –
05:38If it's so egregious, then it's on the rep to make the right call.
05:40Then – but I think that there are things that they miss.
05:43And so, you know, and generally when you miss certain things, it's –
05:47you know, most of those things will be turnovers or did the guy, you know,
05:51have two feet in bounds and that kind of thing.
05:54Wait, you played in an NFL that didn't even have replay.
05:56No, I know that.
05:56And there are a lot of times you're like, you know, we wish we had replay.
06:01But the thing is –
06:02Because they blew that call.
06:02It happened so fast.
06:04I don't – I think that the replay, yes, at times we get frustrated about it.
06:09But on the other hand, it's – there are calls that are overturned,
06:14that are made in the right direction because the game is so fast.
06:17If the Patriots lost yesterday, we're all talking about the no-call P.I. on Booty.
06:21Yeah.
06:21Right?
06:22Right.
06:22And there's nothing you can do about it.
06:23Right, but that's –
06:23We all accept it.
06:24Right, but the league wouldn't be able to expedite that, though.
06:26No, what I'm saying is that we literally watched a game that was negatively impacted
06:29by a bad call and you couldn't do anything about it.
06:31Right.
06:32So what's the difference between that and an interception?
06:34Well, no, because there's – like the league could step in on an interception.
06:38What's the difference?
06:39There's no difference.
06:40I guess it becomes – if that's the case, then – because you're saying you don't
06:46like the fact that the league steps in on expedited calls.
06:50But you were saying let the errors of the officials, you know, if you don't have
06:56challenges left, then let it just play out.
06:58The NFL is trying to give off the impression that the games are completely accurate,
07:03that no matter what happens, they get it right in the end.
07:05And my point is that is something that is impossible to reach.
07:09It is a bad goal to have in terms of actually being able to complete it.
07:12And they've never been further away from it in my lifetime.
07:15The games with all of this are bad.
07:17They're poorly officiated.
07:19The calls, like the Ravens game a couple weeks ago, there are things that happen
07:22right in front of your eyes, and they just make the wrong call.
07:26They redefine what a catch is in real time.
07:28It's like – I don't know.
07:29I just feel like if you added the – if you put it on the coaches of each team
07:33and they had the same amount of challenges, the onus would be on the league
07:36to try and get it right the first time, and then you can use them
07:38for whatever you want.
07:39So last night's win for the New England Patriots was tremendous.
07:43There were questions.
07:44There had been questions before about Drake May in the second half of games
07:48in the fourth quarter of games.
07:49And I think last night showed you, proved to you that, yeah, he can do this too.
07:54This is just yet another thing that Drake May is checking off his to-do list
07:58as he grows into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, 12 of 14 for I believe
08:04139 yards and two touchdowns in the second half there, the game-clinching run
08:10to kind of milk the clock away.
08:12And I just thought that, like, that fourth quarter, you could not have asked
08:15for a better Drake May performance.
08:17That first touchdown drive when they were down 11 in the fourth quarter felt so kind
08:24of Tom Brady-ish in the way it was five yards, four yards, five yards, seven yards,
08:31five yards, and then you just get to midfield, and then he just launches
08:35an absolute dart to Kyle Williams, who makes an unbelievable catch in the end zone.
08:40Like, it just—at that moment, you knew.
08:43It's like, oh, yeah, the Patriots are going to win this football game.
08:45And sure enough, they get the ball back.
08:47They get down the field.
08:48They score again.
08:49Even through the booty, what should have been a DPI and putting them at the five-yard line,
08:54they were still able to drive down.
08:56And I think that's kind of what makes it even greater, is that despite not getting that call,
09:01they still went down and scored anyways.
09:02Ball don't lie.
09:04Drake May continues to grow and kind of grow the legend around him.
09:08And he's even—he's back to being close to Matthew Stafford for the MVP.
09:12So I, for one, am very happy with the way Drake May performed last night.
09:15I'm surprised you haven't taken more of a victory lap off the bat,
09:18because there were a lot of people that were like,
09:19well, we need to see Drake be able to have a comeback from behind win.
09:24And can he do it, especially heading into the postseason?
09:27I thought you were going to come in this morning, like, guns blazing.
09:30Yeah, I mean, he hasn't—my big thing has been, like,
09:33he hasn't really had much of an opportunity this year.
09:35Like, I understand that he had one in the Bills game, and it didn't work out.
09:38And the Bills have, I think, the number two ranked pass defense in football,
09:42as they said yesterday during the Bills and Browns broadcast, like, 18 times.
09:46And he wasn't able to do it.
09:49He came in against the Ravens, down 11 in the fourth quarter,
09:53and did it with ease, it felt like.
09:55And so I just—look, nothing he does surprises me anymore,
09:59and he's just going to continue to get better.
10:01He almost went the other way, Sean, twice, though.
10:03It was the third and two almost picked off,
10:05and then the fourth and two almost picked off again.
10:08Great job by Steph Diggs to be able to catch that.
10:10I believe it was the fourth and two.
10:11Yeah, yeah.
10:11So it was, like, sometimes, like, just be a little bit careful.
10:15Spit that thing out a half second earlier so you don't run into those situations.
10:19Have you guys noticed as well, early in a game now,
10:21Drake May looks a little bit confused in the pocket.
10:24Like, he's being shown, I think, more disguises on defense.
10:30Like, I think coordinators on opposing teams have really shown their respect for him
10:34and how they've game-planned because it feels like early on,
10:37Drake is kind of feeling—like, there were a couple drives early in that game
10:39where he was sort of bouncing around in the pocket and was sort of timid.
10:43Curtis, I think you're absolutely right,
10:44and it started with that Tampa Bay game when he went up against Todd Bowles,
10:47and Todd Bowles was, like, dropping eight into coverage,
10:49and he's like, all right, what am I seeing here?
10:51And so now, at the beginning of games, he is kind of—
10:54it takes him a couple minutes to figure out what kind of defense they're playing,
10:57and once he kind of locks in, like, they were just spamming those deep over-routes last night,
11:02Wiggy, and they just kept working.
11:03And what they did is they walked everybody up in the line of scrimmage ball to more
11:07to make it look like, all right, we're blitzing, we're blitzing.
11:09Then they would drop guys out, but they would blitz corners, right?
11:11So you've seen a couple times.
11:13So Drake has to kind of see that and then maybe checks into a play that looks like a man-beater.
11:17Then they drop out, but they still bring a little bit of pressure.
11:21And so those are some of the times where you see him hold it
11:25and then throw a ball late that almost gets picked off,
11:28where sometimes you've got to be like, all right, see that,
11:32break it down, pre-snap, and then get that ball out of your hand.
11:35Now, I knew there would be a few people this morning
11:37that would have this take 3-3-9 texter on the Subaru of New England text line.
11:42They barely beat the Ravens team.
11:44That was missing Lamar Jackson for the majority of the game.
11:46And what about his absolute garbage interception he threw?
11:53So there are people that are going to criticize his team after that.
11:56He's going to win.
11:57Cool.
11:57Like, he threw an interception.
11:58I get it.
11:59It wasn't great.
12:00That play also should never have happened because Hunter Henry should have cut a touchdown.
12:03So, like, I get it.
12:04Okay.
12:05Well, we can't do that.
12:06I know, but it's just – I understand.
12:08It was a bad interception.
12:09Are you surprised, though, because on social media,
12:11I'm lurking and I'm not participating.
12:14Like, in-game, I like to see the fans go nuts.
12:17Occasionally, I'll have a pithy tweet.
12:19But I watched that yesterday.
12:21The amount of Patriots fans that are ready to bury the guy after that,
12:25I mean, it wasn't one or two people.
12:26Yeah.
12:27It was like Drake May, another red zone pick.
12:30Drake May – like, it was visceral.
12:32Like, he has less turnovers this year than Josh Allen,
12:34who we can all agree is the best quarterback on planet Earth right now.
12:36Tom Brady's alive, but yeah.
12:38Active quarterback.
12:39Right, but I think a lot of it is because, you know,
12:43he doesn't have a lot of those comeback victories.
12:47And granted, he's not –
12:48But these are two Sunday night games, two fourth-quarter comeback victories.
12:51He's undefeated in primetime games.
12:53Right, but he's not been in a lot of those situations.
12:55So what I think ends up happening is that some of the negative people,
13:00they look at it and go, like Courtney said,
13:03where's his big comeback games when they are down, like, you know,
13:07in Buffalo last week.
13:08Yeah.
13:09Yeah.
13:15Yeah.
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