Transcript
Speaker: All right, we're live back with the Savage Boston podcast. I'm Scott, your host here with Brett from SavageBoston.com and here with our our good friend helping us fill in and co-host tonight. We got Bryson from Title Talk who you've seen, you know, frequently having viral clips and viral things going on on X there. So we appreciate you, Bryson, coming on with us. Might have another guest in a minute pop on to talk, you know, Drake May to talk Pat Seattle. And then at some point to talk going into the Steelers game, which obviously, you know, people haven't quite feels like I haven't quite fully moved on to. We're still kind of digesting what happened with the Patriots and Seahawks game because that was kind of ah obviously a fucking mess.
Speaker: Anywho, do you guys have anything you want to get off your chest first from Seahawks to kick it off before we we officially dive in? Anything you guys have been dying to to get out there? Brett, you want to start? I'm just dying to get on to Pittsburgh. I think it's one of those things i just sucked. That we basically had a Wednesday game and then had to digest like where it was all... it was We were the only game. It was the only thing talked about. We obviously didn't show up in the second half.
Speaker: And that's all we had to hear about. And then we had to go watch and digest what happened this past weekend. You get the hyperbolic reactions from everyone just talking about how elite everyone's offense is and how inept our offense is. And it's just like one of those perpetual things that you have to just get through. So I cannot wait for Pittsburgh and I cannot wait for us to get out there and try to feast on that team. I you think about last year, we had five picks and still had a chance. We had five turnovers, and we still had a chance to win that game.
Speaker: I think there's a full chance that we could just steamroll this team. I don't think Pittsburgh's good. This is a good comeback game, and it just sucks that we had to wait this long to get to that point. But, you know, here we are.
Speaker: And Dondero's joining the pod. What's up, boys? we got What's up, Mark? Thanks for coming on, man. we appreciate it How you doing? I'm good. How are you? ah So Mark had an awesome clip. I love i like literally i messaged him after for this. I actually literally love this clip um right after the game 98 five. Mark, just break down for the people didn't see the clip. And I'm sure most people did.
Speaker: What kind of tell me about what you said in the clip and and how it went down. I was i mean, it's as simple as this. I was upset at at the results. I was upset at the way the game played out. And obviously the ending, um you know, had me fired up. So I was just reacting to that. I thought like any fan would. It wasn't a calculated ah strategic play, really. i was just mad at the result. And I reacted.
Speaker: Like I was mad at the results because I was. Basically, what I said was that the entire game, Drake May executed high school plays. And that frustrated me, especially with the time he had to prepare for week one after what happened in the Super Bowl and the playoffs and the new weapons. I mean, they were healthy throughout the first half. I thought A.J. Brown would be more involved early in that game. He wasn't.
Speaker: And it just, the frustration built up. um Joe, I was kind of feeding off of Joe. I don't want to speak for Joe, but he wasn't all that happy. We were kind of feeding off of each other. And by the time we hit the air, I was upset. And obviously the end of the game, with I mean, come on.
Speaker: You saw that. ins and then There was no excuse to throw that ball off his back foot like that. So I was upset and it came off like I was upset because I was. And that was just the way it um it went down. I didn't mean for it to be, you know, this big sensation.
Speaker: i would I was just reacting. So that's kind of what happened. I was basically upset that they were. I mean, if you look at what happened, he basically swing passes, quarterback keep type of runs, um you know, running plays and and little slants, quick slant. That's a high school playbook. And I thought they were doing that all night. It was working kind of.
Speaker: But you're Drake May. You were number two for the MVP last year. I was hoping he'd be a little bit more dynamic with the weapon. So that's sort of the overview of what happened and why i did what I did. I gotcha. Yeah, Bryson, look give me give me your thoughts, Bryson, because i know we've been you know we've been breaking it all down. I know Bryson has his own thoughts on Drake and the performance. So why don't you give me your thoughts, Bryson, how you felt about how it went.
Speaker: Well, I'm the leader of Drake Matriot Nation over here. So the reason why you got ratioed is because of like people like me, because we stand Drake May relentlessly. And it's no offense to you.
Speaker: But when we see like counter signaling Drake May, we don't like that. And so i know you i know you're doing your clip and it was nice and you're reacting as fans like we are. But the reason why people get so mad is because, you know, I think you understand it, too. Like, Drake is the most important player on the team. He's the most important player on the franchise. So my thought is always, like, I'm going to support this guy. And I think that what he's saying is actually not incorrect.
Speaker: You know, he's saying, like, I don't understand why the Patriots ah offense looks so simplified. And then you will look around the league. And look at Caleb Williams. He looks so confident. Like, you can see the way he's playing. He has, like, a swagger about him. And the big takeaway I had from the weekend is, like, Drake, have you ever, like, seen him do that, really?
Speaker: Like, he's ever, like like, felt like he's in a groove and doing Drake-made things to I've been a Drake man May fan for a very long time. And the thing that I really don't like about the Patriots ah offense is it's not really like built for Drake May. It's like built to be an offense that's okay. And Drake May just happens to be in the offense. And so I think that Mark would probably agree and you guys would too. The most frustrating part of the game and the Patriots offense always for me, even last year when they were winning games, is like there always feels like there's this bottled up like energy with the Patriots ah offense. Like they never are like extremely dominating. But the thing about like the Drake May stuff that I will defend him a little bit is like,
Speaker: He is dynamic like Josh Allen, and you will have – you actually have these plays, and I don't know there's any way to get around it, and I know it stinks, and I hope it's not in the fourth quarter ever again. But like Josh josh Allen throws an interceptful pass. The next play throws a touchdown, and that's the kind of stuff that Drake May does, except for the problem is you can't get that actually if you're like asking him to not do very much. You will just like – a lot of times you will just get those explosive negative plays. When you don't want them. oh no, no, no. But if you don't have a lot of the explosive offensive plays like Mark is talking about, you actually just won't get the great ones either. So I'm not sure what people actually expect either.
Speaker: lu Let me just ask Bryson real quick. I'm just curious. And I see what you're saying. I hear you. And I hear that. But like after a game like that, or if you're at the bar or you're calling like your boys, are you just all positive? Like, how are you not bitching at all? It's just, hey, Drake's good. I love him. He's fine. We'll be fine. There's no venting going on at all in a negative way. I mean, that's the way if I'm at a bar, I'm pissed and I'm bitching about the way that game went and specifically how Drake played.
Speaker: Yeah, we were all mad. Like, don't get me wrong. We're mad. But the thing that we do is we go, you know what? With each other, we're at the bar, we're texting. If all of us were in a group text, we'd like, man, that sucks. But when we get on the internet, we're like, we defend the wall because our our thing our thing is this. Our thing is always this. So I take no offense to what you're saying because I'm not saying you're wrong, by the way. But from my perspective,
Speaker: from Patriots fans, from like Drake May fans, like people like me that like love Drake May and thinks the Patriots go as Drake May goes, Eagles fans are not defending us. Bills fans are not defending us. You see like the the blitzing that's going on with Drake May, Bo Nix, all this stuff.
Speaker: So my our thought is always, like we're not going to ever counter-signal each other. We're always going to be like, no, it's fine. We defend the wall. And we're not going to be like... see, actually, this is why the interception was awesome. I just simply maybe you won't even talk about it or I'll say, hey, look, that was an interceptable ball that sucks. But actually, when I was, you know, I actually grade the games play by play and it's actually not a bad game. And then you have, you have like three, you know, bad plays or whatever it is. But in the grand scheme of things, like when you look at plays like this, that does happen. I'm not saying three interceptable balls happens, but overall, I think you had like three missed throws and like, you know, three interceptable passes. So it's, It's not good. The timing is not good. But for me, I'm going to say like, OK, defend the wall. Let's hype our boy up. I don't want I don't want Drake May to be like, I don't like this place. You know, I want Drake May to think like I have people that are behind me. and They're defending me. And I totally get being emotional as a fan, by the way. This is just my perspective and the people that are like surrounding me.
Speaker: All right. The last thing I'm going to say, sorry, Savage. I just yeah I yeah yeah is is it might be hard to believe I'm a fan. i support him. I hope he does well. I think he will be better.
Speaker: um What i was i problem, though, if the three interceptions wasn't the problem. It was the fact that the second he had to be more dynamic, he couldn't. If he was being dynamic all game long and just mixed in some interceptions or some even bad interceptions, I would have stomached that better.
Speaker: But it was the conservative plays. It was the it was the you know the safe, like I said, high school level plays. That's how i described it. Then when we needed him to be dynamic, that's when he struggled. And that's kind of what...
Speaker: was really what set me off kind of. So I just, ah it was that combination. I can deal with mistakes, but the combination of the conservative plays and then the mistakes when he had to be a little bit more dynamic is what, ah I didn't handle it well.
Speaker: I think you're right. I think you're right. Go ahead. What I just want to get across is this is before you continue, I just want to cross like, it's just the debate between um objective reaction to something and being a fan. Like, with that's what we're debating. It's because fandom is different from being objective often. You know, like, even if – and I think you can take the time afterwards and really, obviously, dissect the performance. But in the moment, you know, like, you can go back and read my tweets from the night. I'm literally bullet tweeting, obviously, for, like, the three hours of the game. And, like, I was like – I tweet stuff like that was absolutely unacceptable. Like, shit, like, in the moment. i would Like, as soon as he throws that last pick, I'm not like – I wasn't that bad. I was like, no, you can't. Unacceptable throw that cannot happen in the NFL.
Speaker: And we know that. And like, sometimes i might get shit for it. Other people might get shit for it, but like you hope you're in a position where you can be honest with people you're interacting with and they can be honest with you. Like, I don't want us to all pretend.
Speaker: that everything's great. If it's not now on the side note, before I, forget who was about to talk before I throw it. When I compared to a game like last night, where I watched the entirety of my homes and Bo Nix, Drake may outperform both those players.
Speaker: And this isn't like, let me take the blame off Drake May. Drake actually played relatively fine for what he was asked to do in the first three quarters. And I know we've been through that. Like you can go back and watch it. No, it wasn't crazy explosive. It wasn't anything incredible you're going to show highlights of for the most part, but he was on target with what they were asking him to do. Can you be mad at the game plan?
Speaker: Absolutely, if you want to be. I'm just saying like until Drake went full, ah i'm not going to say bad words on here. When Drake went off, okay, and made very poor decisions, three of them, all interceptable balls, there were bad interceptions, right?
Speaker: He actually wasn't terrible. He was doing what he was asked to do. So, All I'm saying, it's just it's tough with fandom, give or take, especially online. I know guys that like when you're being critical online. I know some accounts that have been fanboyish the entire time. If you say something bad, they lose them hundreds of followers because their fans get so mad.
Speaker: So anyway, sorry. I forget who who was going to go. Well, I think what you guys are saying is right. But I'm pretty sure, Mark, you play basketball, don't you? Like old man's basketball. Yeah. You play pickup basketball. i mean, I play pickup basketball. So here's what I said, you know, on my podcast last night, I was like, you know, you guys are all right about the game plan thing. Like how conservative it was. Now imagine Mark, do you shoot three pointers? You're a three point shooter. You look like three d all the way. Exactly. Okay. Exactly. I knew this was my guy right here. Okay. Listen, imagine like all game long, you like basically are not on the offense. You're just like passing it. You know, you're not doing much. And at the end of the game, the coach is like, all right, look, Mark, now it's time for you to heat up. We're going to go ISO ball. We're to have you shoot some threes. And you're like, if there's three minutes left, let's, let's get some three pointers out you. Let's go win the game. And you're like, a coach, I haven't really done much all game. This is kind of like crazy. It's you're asking me to do this. And so, you know, I'm not saying like, Hey, look, this is exactly the reason why this happened. I'm saying, um I agree with you guys. I'm like, this is obviously should not have happened. I'm simply saying like, why, like, why is the quarterback in the position where it's always, I call it third and Drake because it's, it's seemingly like,
Speaker: run, run. um Hey, Drake, don't you go do something actually insanely crazy? And that was like that last year, too. So that's always been my criticism of the ah offense, right? So i I just think like that is actually a fair criticism. And if imagine guys like if you're if you had Josh Allen as your quarterback and you did. Can you imagine running this kind of offense with Josh Allen or the march Lamar Jackson, like these explosive players just completely bottling them up and then asking them to be great at certain points in the game? Like to me, that's like that seems like a little much.
Speaker: I would much prefer like Marcus saying where you're just like, hey, let's go out there and let's let it rip. Let's just play some football. Let's start playing scared ball. Let's tailor the offense to Drake, mate. Let's go out there and win some. I like that much better. So I don't even think you guys would disagree with that.
Speaker: I appreciate the basketball analogy, Bryson, but at the same time, he was runner-up for MVP of the NFL last year. So, like, I get what you're saying, but at the same time, I like that player, if he needs to be dynamic and turn it up a little bit, to be able to do that. That's that's all. Like, that's what I'm looking for.
Speaker: I got you. we yeah Just to jump in, I know when we were talking during the first half, it was conservative from the jump. And it's very predictable the way they run the offense. And i I remember I was texting Savage and Snooty and I was like, they need to let Drake be Drake. Like they're just handcuffing the guy, not allowing him to be dynamic, roll out of the pocket, try to create something. And anything that they did do from a a route perspective, lot of deep routes that just weren't producing.
Speaker: um So it it was not a great game plan. That said, like we we were playing the best defense in the league. ok like We had to be conservative because we're playing the best defense in the league, and we had to be smart about how we went through that. And the reality is, this is probably more of Rabel putting the containment on Josh and trying to make sure that we run the ball, contain no mistakes, just keeping him front and trusting the defense, than this is like...
Speaker: Drake being able to go out there and be Drake. So to me, this was game plan. This was coaching the picks inexcusable, but like the overall stat line for Drake and how the offense operated, like that was just the game plan that the Patriots had. They wanted to not make mistakes. He even said it after the game about the fact that he basically kept it in check.
Speaker: Didn't try to push it downfield. And he was able to basically do that effectively. When he tried to push it, he made those stupid mistakes and Seattle made him pay.
Speaker: And some of that was scheme. Some of that was just horrible decision-making. And that's what happened. I just, I think it's fair to put in perspective the fact that we are playing the best defense in the league in Seattle. And it's okay to understand why we struggled at times. Like that's going to happen. And it's week one.
Speaker: Like we lost to the Raiders in week one. It's one of those things where things happen. Shit happens. You're in Seattle a away game. It's a tough territory. Like it's okay to have those things happen. This is the best, like the worst result that you're going to have for Drake, but it's the best time to have it happen. one, we can recover. We're going to have a more favorable matchup next week. I know Seattle is elite defense. Pittsburgh, they're not Seattle's defense.
Speaker: Like, we should be able to move the ball. We should be able to attack, even with the injury to A.J. Brown. I mean, it's it's, you know, the best point, I think the most realistic point, you know, Joe made a comment here on Twitter. He said, Drake got bored and tried to force things.
Speaker: And, I mean, that is actually what he literally said in in the post-game press conference. i mean, he said it himself. He's like, I got to be patient. It's like – Okay. I guess that's acceptable. You know, if he took the blame right away, like Drake, that's what I like about Drake. I think Drake is excellent on the mic. I think he says the right thing. He didn't try to put it off himself. He goes, listen, I basically was like, I got fucking bored.
Speaker: I didn't take like, this is what Seattle does. We're an extremely talented, extraordinarily well-coached defense again, extraordinarily well-coached defense period. and And they will keep it in front of you That's what they do. They get you in third and long. Their blitz packages are incredible. They confuse the quarterback. They played that cover six that apparently confuses Drake. It was 43% of the time they were in cover six. like So that's a lot. That's a massive percentage of that. And they knew they could mix him up and make him make poor throws, and he did. So it is what it is. um
Speaker: you know is this I'll throw back to you, to you Mark. Can Drake play – within the scheme well enough to get back to that MVP level? Can he stay within the structure or is he going to keep doing this and get bored?
Speaker: See, I don't know if I agree with – I mean, maybe that's what it was, the getting bored. I think – and it's along the same lines. I think it was more he so desperately by the end of that game wanted to contribute and to be a factor and to make an impact play. Knowing all game he was being more conservative and following the game plan. Then they got behind. He needed a really – you know, that's when a quarterback is supposed to shine.
Speaker: I just think you know maybe it was boredom, but I think he was so desperately wanting to make an impact play for his team, which I respect, and then just forced it. um Just on the game plan, like you said, Brett, it's good points. i just you know they the The cover six, Savage, was a good thing to bring up, but they're also one of the better run defenses, and you're trying to run the ball, and they had some guys that were banged up and or out in the secondary.
Speaker: So again, with that MVP quarterback, should you have tried to be a little bit more aggressive throwing the ball down the field he was 0 for 4 on throws beyond 20 whatever um yes to answer your question savage i yes I think he'll be back I think he'll figure it out I don't know if it's the logo that Seahawks logo or just Mike McDaniel is an elite coach like you outlined defensively especially i feel like he's going to find a way back I'd like to think they're going to be a little bit more aggressive with the play calling and Yeah, I don't think – if you want to bring it up, if you want to have the conversation or ask if Drake may – we need a worry or if the schedule was the factor that let him have that success last year, I'm okay bringing that up, but I don't agree with it. I think he'll be back.
Speaker: I think he's going to find a way to really show what he is and what he was last year, and we're to all breathe – or at least I'll breathe a sigh of relief come Sunday afternoon. I expect him to make plays against the Steelers and look dynamic.
Speaker: Let me bring this up before you go, Bryson. I want to say that the league is trending back towards heavy confusion between running and passing, right? So the league is trending back towards 12 personnel, even like 13 personnel, apparently, where they're just load up more tight ends, heavier sets, heavy play action, and you have to be able to run the football.
Speaker: Right. So this is all about like, again, we talk about what, what did the chiefs do last night? Only reason they won that game is because they pounded the fucking football and Kenneth Walker was excellent last night. It dynamic.
Speaker: We look at the bears. Bryson told me all about what Ben Johnson and the bears did running the football, right? Like they run the football. How about the lions? How about, you know, all these, the best OCs, Kyle Shanahan, the best OCs and play callers in the league are running the football and effectively,
Speaker: And that's how they're they're getting their quarterbacks into favorable situations, right? So the problem is it just stops. If you have a negative EPA on first down, it's immediately bang, negative EPA. And you you you can't you can't run the ball on first down. and then you can't run it But then you keep doing it, and they keep not being able to run the ball on first down. That's when I personally get upset at the game plan.
Speaker: Like you have to come up to first and 10 and say, hey, Maybe we should just have a drop back pass. Maybe like you don't have to be in shotgun. You can just do like a five step drop from under the center.
Speaker: How about you run play action on first and 10? Like there's ways to vary this thing. And the game plan was like, we're going to pound the rock, pound the rock, pound the rock. And I shared a graphic today. They had a negative EPA running to every single area of the field off tackle guard center,
Speaker: on the edges. They were negative EPA everywhere. So again, that's where they lost it. You have to run the football. I know that's boring, but that's what variable wants to do. And you have to be able to run the football. All right, go for it, Bryce.
Speaker: Oh, I mean, complete Patriot Mark, believe in, and Drake may actually love that. I love Savage's point too. It's like, you know, you guys are totally right. And the thing that we had been talking about on X. The craziest part of me about this game is the Seahawks. If you remember in the Superbowl, we're like, yeah, we knew exactly what the Patriots were going to do Like, was it actually that complicated? Almost every play we knew what they were going to do. You have seven months to prepare for that. And then when you're watching the game and you see Matt Collins, draw on the field, everyone knows what's going on.
Speaker: It's immediately going to be a run. Now that changed like a little bit slightly once AJ Brown got hurt. But like, Any other offensive coordinator that does that, we're all like, you're an idiot. that's like the dumb That's like the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Do you have a tell like that? like ninety it's like It was like 90% last year or something like that with Mack on the field. Didn't change at all this year. And I'm not against running the ball. like You guys just said Ben Johnson, I'm pretty sure, has already broken the like the record for running the ball for 200 yards or something like that. Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson, Andy Reid, all of these great offensive coordinators know how to run the ball. And a lot of that is due to scheme. A lot of that is due to knowing when to run the ball. Simply like, hey, every once in a while, like you you have to actually pass on first down and make the defense guess a little bit. That's like 80% of the NFL is just like not not knowing what the other team is going to be doing, right? There's a reason why on the sideline we'll hear guys yelling, pass, run.
Speaker: It's not that complicated. I feel like that is like the most damning thing of the entire game is like this Mack Hollins though, but that's just me personally. Yeah. I mean, it's as you say, man, it's it's something where They have to adjust. I think this week will be different.
Speaker: It should be different. should be something a little bit more exciting. um I mean, I feel like at this point, like, can we move on from the Seahawks game? You know what i mean? As a collective, we all just say, like, okay, it's time. Like, let's move on. Let's let's move forward. Because, again, like, this is like six days of everyone beating each other up. so You know, on the radio – It's been bleak, man. It's like a radio ESPN. It's like Drake. I mean, they went crazy with Drake, man. There's no, none of the similar energy when you talk about whether it's fucking Bo Nix or, or even my homes, I've been going off on my homes. I know people don't like changing narratives, but he's had declining play for years and he doesn't throw beyond 10 yards. And he's like an Andy Reed schemes it up. It's all yak, blah, blah, blah. Like my homes was not even that great in that game last night. And Nix was fucking horrible.
Speaker: So anyway, nobody keeps the same energy and that's just what pisses me off and ah whatever. But why don't we go on, Brett? don't you tell me what are you looking forward to the Patriots versus Steelers game? and you know What do you think's going on there?
Speaker: Well, it's a get back to basics on ah offense. It'll be interesting to see what happens when they get away from A.J. Brown. ah I still want to see them try to establish run. I think they'll have a chance to do that against Atlanta. um I agree. You know, I said before the game I wanted them to ah not abandon the run because I know – Josh has a history of that, too, and the run doesn't work. He just totally abandons it. But it's it's I agree, Bryson. It's about when you run and how you run. So I want to see our offense get established, play balanced ball. The positive coming out of last week was how our offensive line played as a whole, I think, was...
Speaker: night and day compared to where it was at the Super Bowl so I expect them to be able to establish themselves in this game and I think it's one of those games again where we turn the ball over five times and we almost came away with a win that that time last year i don't see anything on Pittsburgh that really scares me I mean TJ Watts elite and we got to figure out how to contain him but like Their defense is gettable.
Speaker: And offense, I mean, they're pretty inept. I mean, they played Atlanta last week, and Atlanta's not good. So I don't see anything about Pittsburgh that scares me about this game. I think this one should be a get-back game. And I just want to see our offense get established. Like I said, balanced run, balanced attack, moving the ball methodically. And really with ease without any like pressure or any issues. I'm not looking for these big boom plays, et cetera. I just want to be consistently attacking the ball, moving the ball as we need to. And I think this team, we can move it against Pittsburgh. I think they're gettable defense. I think their defense is way overrated just because the TJ. Yeah, that's fair. are feeling, Mark?
Speaker: It's a perfect spot. I'm with Brett. um You know, when you factor in the loss last year and we, what was that week two when they lost to Pittsburgh, um, week three, whatever it was, early in the season. It was week three. Three. I think they lost in week three, or I don't remember. It was early. They lost with the five turnovers.
Speaker: um Good team. I'm almost glad the Steelers won in week one. They can come in here with a winning record or whatever that means. um You know, the defense is good, not great. I think it's a perfect opportunity to get some revenge after last year, kind of show yourself, and for and for Drake May to sort of reassert himself. I know – I do think that is a thing as much as I believe that it's, you know, he is who we saw last year.
Speaker: I still want to see it again. i still want him to, you know, cause we have seen some quarterbacks start hot, have good rookie seasons or explode. And then kind of, I don't know, regress or come back down. That's become a thing in the NFL. And I don't want to see that for Drake may it's a great opportunity, even without AJ Brown to go out there at home, show what he can do, kind of get right, get back on track, get the Patriots back on track and sort of settle everything down. I think it's a great opponent, great team.
Speaker: um And yeah, let's see what happens because they need it. They need it after the playoffs. May needs it. And after week one, um the Patriots overall need it And I think they're gonna get it.
Speaker: Yeah, that's fair. What do you got, Bryson? Well, I totally agree with all of you. The one thing we have not even brought up yet, which is crazy to me, is that Will Campbell looked awesome. And, you know, I actually did a debate about Will Campbell like in March or April. like is he I remember. Is he a guard? Is he a tackle? And, you know, he he looked really he looked really good. And so going into the Steelers game, like the main problem last year was our offensive line. And Will Campbell looked really bad in that game. But this year, you've got Will Campbell looking much better. His technique looks much better. And so...
Speaker: you know Aaron Rodgers does not look good. he's not like In case you haven't been paying attention, if you're a Patriots fan, you haven't really watched his Steelers, he does not move like he once did. like If you muddle the pocket just a little bit, he's not like going to like get outside the pocket and just like throw a 50-yard dart.
Speaker: He's not that anymore. He will just completely fall down. and The Patriots have the perfect type of defensive line that completely contain Aaron Rodgers. I completely expect him to like just muddy it up and dominate the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense. It's not that good. And the defense is okay, but like you guys are saying, if Will Campbell's good, the offensive line is good, like everything else from the Seahawks game actually was just fine, other than Drake May, really. Other than the run towels, other than everything like that, the offensive line, Will Campbell, I liked all of it. The only thing else that I would just i really need to see, actually, is, hey, you paid like $20 million dollars a year for Romeo Dobbs. let's Let's get Romeo Dobbs involved a little bit here, okay? Let's get him started a little bit early. We need to see that because this guy, like people are saying like, oh, Romeo Dobbs is not get it all good at all. Go out there. let's Let's see it. Let's lock him in. Throw him some passes early. I want to see it.
Speaker: I'm surprised. is that just like a May thing that he didn't trust Dobbs? Is that like, I'm trying to figure out what that was, but like, you obviously barely looked at him until he forced a pass to him on the left sideline that got picked. Right. Which was obviously forcing it to him, but like barely looking his way, you know, and then he has that brutal drop obviously, but I don't know. You know, i didn't watch his whole tape. Was he open? Was he getting open? Does he not play well against zone?
Speaker: You know, like I was high on Dobbs, obviously in the red zone too. Like, Um, bring it to another wide receiver, pop Douglas. We've been, we've been talking about pop Douglas for a while. Like I said, out every year we're like, it's pops here. It's pops here. And then like, it's just not there in most of the games, you know, like he, he needs to figure out like, how do you, how do you sit in zone? How do you read zone? I don't know why it seems to always be an issue every time Drake's going to him.
Speaker: it's he's not open. Like, I don't, I don't understand ah why that's happening busy, but it's frustrating. And this is going another game. Like they're going to be in zone and all game, all game. They're going to play that cover six shit too. They're going to play a deep high to shell. They're going to be doing the same thing as Seattle, except just way worse.
Speaker: So, you know, so it should be easier to move the football, but again, it's, it's just, it's frustrating. Like, we can't keep comparing him to Tom Brady, but like obviously when Brady used to play against zone and Seattle and the Steelers, right. You knew he was going rip them apart every time. Like you knew, like he was going to shred them because Brady knew how to dissect zone. So hopefully Drake can just keep learning and working on it. And I think this should be a perfect, a perfect week for Drake to rebound. um
Speaker: And if he doesn't, you know then we can have more conversations about what the fuck's going on. And there will be, because if he's as elite as we all think he is slash showed last year, um this is not supposed to be a long process. I mean, I get, okay, maybe he has some struggles. The Seahawks are really good. That defense messes with him, whatever.
Speaker: he should be He should jump right back into being Drake May, being that MVP level player. This shouldn't be a six-week buildup to – getting close to what he was and he finally figured it. No, no, no, no.
Speaker: Okay. Issues against Seattle. He should jump right back into it. You don't see the elite quarterbacks go into these long stretches of just average play. I know you're saying about my homes, but I mean, he had a long stretch of elite play way longer than one season of Drake may.
Speaker: I better see him jump right back into being that quarterback we saw last year or else you're right these conversations will continue and they will be warranted unfortunately but i don't expect that to happen Yeah, no, I don't think it will. By the way, i know you you commented on big country there, Bryson, which is great for me to hear because you've been very critical Will Campbell.
Speaker: Will Campbell actually did not play that bad against the Steelers. the I looked it up because I was like, how did he do against TJ Watt? The sacks that Watt got were against Moses. It wasn't against Will Campbell. Will Campbell actually didn't give up a sack the entire game. He did give up some pressures, so it wasn't great, but like he wasn't a huge disaster. And that's what I thought. I mean, early on, you ah if I recall, other than the Browns game, that was essentially the only game before the injury that you would look at Will Campbell and say, man, the guy does not look good. He's a disaster, et cetera.
Speaker: He had the game or against the Browns, and i mean – All the end that he's going. So Garrett's going to get what he's going to get. After that, he played really strong, solid left tackle play. And he he looked the part. Now this going around. So I have full confidence in him to be able to go out there and continue to produce. And like I said, i was really optimistic coming out of that game, looking at the offensive line play. Because that was the most glaring issue at the Super Bowl the last time we played Seattle. And clearly they cleaned that up.
Speaker: that thing boat That bodes really well for us because, yeah, I do think Drake's going to figure out. This was statistically the worst game of his career, and it was bad. But like that's that's bottoming out Drake, and we had a chance to win it against...
Speaker: Seattle, Super Bowl champions, and had our chances to go through because he kept us in the game the entire time. i think you put him against lesser opponents, he's going to produce. He's going to find his. So I think there's a lot of promising things that you can look at.
Speaker: it's really just comes down to coaching, play calling, what they do from a scheme standpoint, and how they attack. It's just it's too vanilla, too predictable. They're not using their weapons like they're supposed to.
Speaker: If they start to do that, I think they're going to open things up a lot more. Thank you for the comment, Ghost. Aola, say you say that. Bryson's so hot. Very nice of you. This is unreal. Tremendously kind. I'm getting brutally mugged by Mark right now.
Speaker: Getting mugged. Yes, mugging. Yeah, I'm too old to use the young people language. Anyway, um but yeah, man, this should be a good week. I think, like, dude, if they lose to the Steelers, right, and they're oweing to and you're sitting there and you're looking at Jacksonville at Buffalo,
Speaker: Then I think you can – it's like panic's the wrong word, but you can just see the route. You're like, this could get gross for a little, you know, until yeah the schedule softens. And, um you know, again, likewise for like the Broncos or something. Like that you and the Broncos are a similar spot. The Broncos have a brutal, brutal schedule for like the next six. They could be like one in five. I mean, like that's a team that played nobody last year either. Nobody talked about it. They had an extremely weak schedule last season.
Speaker: And again, nobody nobody talks about that. so um And back to Mahomes. So I don't need to go nuts with this shit, but Mahomes has had basically declining play for like three full seasons. okay His last really great statistical season was 2022. It's four years ago, four seasons ago.
Speaker: And then subsequently it's been like, Passer ratings falling to the low 90s. Last year was like 89. And again, now he he just doesn't even throw the ball downfield. So I don't really understand. it Like to me, I was critical. I think you should have rank ranked Drake May over Mahomes in like preseason rankings. I said that openly.
Speaker: Go for it. Like be bold. Like you don't have to rank – Mahomes at the top of the list just because of his prior experience. And people bring up Brady and said, oh, Brady had a couple bad years in the middle there.
Speaker: I'm like, well, they're they're kind of hard to find. Like, honestly, like you could you could nitpick a year here and there for Brady if you want to say like, okay, 2009 Brady, right? When like Moss was declining and it was like post ACL, wasn't quite as good. And then 2010, was unanimous MVP.
Speaker: 2011, 2012, he was phenomenal with Bill O'Brien. The offense was phenomenal. He did throw, think, six touchdowns and a half 2009. One of those games. He did. gets the Titans. It was tremendous. But still, yes, that was, again, high bar. But yeah then, like, 13, he wasn't great. And then, like, you know, he his whole, resurret you know, whatever, 2010s, he was incredible. So, anyway, what I'm getting at is Brady would dip a year, something happened, and then he would come back and have, like, three straight,
Speaker: incredible top five statistical season. So with Mahomes again, like nobody really talks about this as much. Maybe our guy, ah Joe a who gets a lot of, ah you know, he gets a lot of criticism online, but he's been very like watching Mahomes. And and again, his, his, his performance which has been declining. So if you're at the stage of your career right now, it's random question. Would you rather have Drake may at 23 or Patrick Mahomes at 30 years old? Who would you rather have right now?
Speaker: Oh, I mean, I'm taking Drake May all day long, you know. i'm being serious, too. yeah, 100%. The thing about Mahomes, there's some – you know, one of my buddies, his name's KP. He has a Twitter account. He's kind of guy that if you're like, hey, is so-and-so a Hall of Famer? He'll be like, no, because he has – he, like, knows the calculations in his head. He's insane about quarterbacks. And years ago, he was, like, all fun and games for Mahomes until he turns 30. The way he plays, it's he's absolutely cooked after 30. So when these like 22 seasons, 23 seasons started happening, we were all like KP is literally a prophet. He is literally called this. And if you think about it, like the way of Mahomes moves around the pocket, like all that backwards running stuff. Now he's been injured a little bit. Maybe he could have a like little renaissance, but I'm i'm kind of thinking he's like on the back nine in here. and And most quarterbacks actually just don't really even play like long like Brady did, or even Rodgers, for that matter. Rodgers is not that good. But Mahomes does not play like a traditional drop-back quarterback. He does like moving in the pocket and stuff like that. So I think the drop is like...
Speaker: It's actually warranted. And this is actually who Mahomes is right now. And he was great in his early years and he was awesome. He has tons of athletic stuff. But now you don't really see that as much. And I don't think you're going to get that. So I think Drake May is like the easy choice for me. He's 20, 23, 24 years old. I'm easily taking Drake May. I think almost I think most NFL teams probably would.
Speaker: yeah When you think about the way I would think about it and the way I think about it is if you put Patrick Mahomes on the Patriots right now, I would have more concerns.
Speaker: Then excitement. my My level of concern would outweigh my level of excitement. I'd still have excitement, um but I've also never seen Patrick Mahomes without Andy Reid, who's an elite offensive mind.
Speaker: So you take that away from him, put him in a different situation. You're looking at what he's doing with Reid. I know the weapons aren't what they were. But it's, you know, concerning. So i my answer would be Drake May. I still believe in Drake May.
Speaker: He's younger. He's bigger. I think also they they can match up in terms of being a grown-up, a leader, you know, handling their business as quarterback the right way. I think they both do a good job with that. It's not like Mahomes is way more mature than May or something.
Speaker: um May would be my answer. It's not like I'd have, ah ah you know, boatloads of confidence, but it would be May at this point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's not debate. I think it's pretty simple that it would be May. And that's the whole thing. Like, ah that's what drove me nuts about coming out of the Seattle game is how quickly people were just right off Drake May. As if, like, that last season just didn't happen. And that what happened in this game was, oh, he's bad. And basically, they're like, oh, it's an extenuation of what happened in the playoffs last year. Yeah. Drake's falling off a cliff and it was all fluke. It was all schedule, all schedule, which drove me batshit crazy because I'm tired of hearing about all schedule, all schedule. he It was a product of the offenses that they're playing and the QB play.
Speaker: Drake played the best defenses that they had throughout the league, throughout the entire season, and he still produced with less weapons than he has now and a less offensive line than he has now. So everyone has to pump the brakes on looking at Drake May and thinking the guy...
Speaker: is more of what we've seen in the last few games than what we saw in the entire body of work that he had last year. It's the same idea we talked about at the start of the year when it came to Will Campbell. His entire body of work at the start of the year is why he was the left tackle. It was never in question, never a reason why we should try to put a guy like Lomo in a left tackle because Campbell, by and large, had a successful rookie campaign. He deserved it.
Speaker: Drake may had a phenomenal year last year. Didn't get enough credit and should have won the MVP because you look at the, what he had around him versus what Stafford had around him over there and the Rams, like not even comparable.
Speaker: And Drake was able to produce. So I hate all of the narrative around it. It's a simple answer for me when it comes to it is Drake may. And at this point, There's not too many people that I would take over Drake May. Yeah, I would take Josh Allen over Drake May.
Speaker: I think Lamar Jackson's questionable. I would toss around. I would toss around with Lamar. I think he's still a threat. And that's probably it. Like if Burrow I knew was going to be healthy and had a good offensive line, I would probably i would start looking at Burrow. But like tell me when that happens. Tell me when he makes it through a year and I'll reconsider that. So it's Josh Allen and then I think it's debatable anyone else.
Speaker: Let me, let me ask this, Mark, if you're Robert Kraft last season and you can hire any coach you want, Mike Vrabel or Ben Johnson, who do you hire?
Speaker: I like the variable hire. um i yeah I know it's, it's hard you know, Ben Johnson. ahzi it's legit I think it's a good debate. Legitimately. you pray I mean, this juncture, looks like you couldn't have gone wrong either way.
Speaker: i like the variable hire. Now, this is before all this stuff happened in the personal life. I think it was defensively, You know, a good defensive head coach, leader of men, competent offensive and in creating a culture. All of those things about Mike Vrabel were on point. And I really like him as a head coach. And it, you know, proved out to be that way last year with how they played. so I'm not ready to second guess that decision.
Speaker: um And it's not like Drake May didn't benefit with Josh McDaniels. there He was second for the MVP. So, yeah, Ben Johnson would have helped, but he was also – Drake May was fine offensively for basically the whole year they went to the Super Bowl.
Speaker: So, yes, I can understand the question. Total respect for Ben Johnson. Love what he's doing in Chicago. But I'm not coming off of that right now. I'm not looking back and saying, oh, man, that was a mistake.
Speaker: I still feel good about hiring Mike Vrabel. You know, assuming this – The scandal of the offseason doesn't affect the team in any way. We're still early into this season. I don't think it will.
Speaker: But Mike Vrabel is still, I think, the choice that needed to be made. And it was the right choice. yeah Yeah. And I know that I know how probably Bryson feels. I don't want to speak for him. But I would say, like, I do think there's a way to win without just having your head coach being your O.C., and call plays. Like, I don't think, i don't think you have to have that, right? Like, I don't think you need that. Judging my last season where you had Vrabel and Mike McDonald were the ones in the super bowl, right. Two defensive head coaches. So, um, again, like, I don't think you need that there's, there's, there's more than one way to win, but it certainly seems to make it easier. If you have, obviously you start with the elite, elite offensive head coach calling plays and it's like Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson, Andy Reed, like, you, you know, you go down the list and like, that's been, and then again, like, then they don't, they don't, they're not going to go anywhere. Cause they're the head coach. They're not a threat.
Speaker: hopefully your guy in Josh McDaniels isn't going to get a head coaching job anywhere because he's tried and failed twice. So you hope he just wants to live here with his kids in Westwood, right? And just chill, stay here and and coach up Drake May. But um yeah, Bryson, why don't you give me your thoughts on that? The OC and head coach kind of play calling combination.
Speaker: Yeah, well, like I've been liking Ben Johnson since he was a tight ends coach. And so I was like, I was pushing for it You can look at my, you can look at my tweets back then. I was like, And Ben Johnson has a UNC connection, loves Drake May. And so I was like, this is going to be like Deshaun McVay, the young quarterback that has the awesome offensive coordinator for 10 years or 15 years or whatever it is like that. I think, you know, I don't have a i don't have a problem with hiring Mike Rabel, obviously, but I would have picked Ben Johnson. And I think Ben Johnson is a better coach. I mean, he's a he's a way better offensive coach. And I think that's what really, that that is what really matters. And the thing about defense is I totally get it. But unless you have, like, an elite defense every single year, it's very hard. It's very hard to do that. And the the thing that you can have, actually, like, I don't think we would be sitting here talking about, like, why isn't Drake Naga against cover six or, like, you know, like all these all these dumb things. Like, I think with Ben Johnson, you would not have any of those questions. And, you know, I wouldn't – the defense, maybe it wouldn't be as good, you could argue. But, like, if you're scoring 40 points a game, like, i would I prefer that. So I understand if you don't prefer that, but I always am going to prefer to have Ben Johnson because I think he's going to legitimately be like one of the greatest coaches of this decade.
Speaker: I mean, it could be him versus – I mean, again, i love I profusely love what Mike McDonald has done. I think that guy is like maybe the next like Belichick like type guy. He's awesome. A savant defensive coach. Like how he coaches that team. I watched behind-the-scenes clips of him, how he coaches It's incredible. um And if you get that, that humming on defense, man, like with with that kind of unit, like maybe it'll be him versus Ben Johnson for a decade or him versus Sean McVay. If McVay doesn't quit and decide to do something else with with his life, you know what i mean? Same with Kyle Shanahan, like you got some great coaches there. um And I think just maybe with Reed and Mahomes, like Reed is still excellent. He's excellent. I just think they're, they're reaching their limit with what Mahomes is going to,
Speaker: do for you and i mean if they win this year again if the cheaps end of winning it's because their defense is elite again and mahomes can make some silly plays to keep you in games like that's how the chiefs are going to win thought the broncos would be a lot better than them last night but i was obviously mistaken that was one of the worst games i've seen a team play in a while um to pivot back do you think uh brad i'll start with you um should they be playing these guys in the preseason like league wide should you we just be playing in the preseason like one full like Play a fucking game, you know?
Speaker: Yes. I'll say yes. But I don't think it's as bad as people are making out to be because these joint practices, are they are getting good reps, and they're getting good play on it and stuff. I just think – It's helpful when you're able to do it and get as many reps as you possibly can. So they are getting them in joint practices more so than they did when the preseason schedule was prior. But I think as many opportunities as you can have to get your number one units and reps against another opponent and they're basically scheming up against each other and trying things out.
Speaker: the better you're going to be in the long run. I understand the concern when it comes to health. I understand when it comes to some of these veteran guys and the way the league is run nowadays with like how many of them are padded practices and what that looks like, et cetera. It's just different.
Speaker: I just look at it by and large and say more reps can never be a bad thing. Like I don't see a huge diminishing return by having them go out there and get those reps in.
Speaker: um So I think it would have been helpful. that being said i don't think it changes what happened in this game like to me again this just came down to scheme this came down it wasn't like guys weren't in sync with each other and they were like we were making mistakes and we're fumbling all over it like yeah there was a couple things where you're like oh you know stevenson really should have hit that hole there and should have recognized that but that's going to happen anytime So I don't think there was an in sync situation where the offense wasn't where it needed be. And by all accounts on the joint practices, they looked like they were in a great spot. I commented on that because I was, that was my biggest concern going into the year. All of the new pieces coming together and trying to get them in sync before the start of the season.
Speaker: I didn't feel like that was going to be an issue, nor do I feel like watching that game that it showcased itself on the field. I just think it never hurts to have more touches. So I'm always going to be proponent for more. more guys getting out there and playing. Plus, as a fan, it's just it's a better product when we're able to watch a series, a quarter, like something. like They used to play three quarters before back in the day, and then now you get nothing.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, football players play football. I mean, I don't think it's a game-changing conversation if they play a little bit in the preseason, but I mean, it'd be nice to just get out there where you're actually in ah in a scenario where you could get hit or tackled and Try to develop a little bit of a rapport. You know, go to the driving range. At least hit a few balls. Play a couple – a practice round before you actually play in the tournament.
Speaker: And then maybe you're a little bit more at ease going into the – I just feel like for the fans too, the product overall. I mean, it's a disgrace what these preseason games have become. But in terms of being ready for the regular season, I mean, you could – yeah, you're not going to get somebody hurt. But then A.J. Brown gets hurt.
Speaker: you know, three quarters into the year. So I did, I mean, i would just play, you know, it doesn't even have to be a lot one game and then a series, you know, just to get a little bit of rhythm and then get out. I would do it. I don't think it's a game changer. I would do it.
Speaker: Yeah. You'll go for a Bryson. I agree with all of you. Before there, you know, I've always said, like, I don't care. Don't play in the preseason. It doesn't matter to me. Like Brett is saying, the joint practices actually do that. I enjoy the joint practices more than most games, to be honest with you. So I have no issue with it. But like Marcus saying.
Speaker: One play, Drake May slips, tears his ACL. Everyone's like, why does anyone play in the preseason? So maybe the risk far outweighs the reward there, but what did Bill always say about this? September, no matter what, like we always talked about, when he did when he was playing guys in the preseason, he always said it was an extension of the preseason, no matter what anyway. It's like, It's not like these preseason games. It's nice to get reps, but it's not the same as like the crowd screaming you the pressure. It's nice to have. And, you know, we understand that. But like Marcus saying, I don't think it's a game changer. And if Gonzo gets hurt, someone else gets hurt. We're all in here crying. Like, why is anyone playing the preseason? Cancel the preseason. So that's totally to get it. You know what I mean? Yeah. No, I,
Speaker: I get it. Like, no matter what, people are going complain. I just think theyre out of 17 games, the the randomness of injury risk is, like, is borderline moot. Like, if you have them play a half of preseason. You just want to – and this is, like, we're talking about, like,
Speaker: what, you know, a half of preseason doesn't maybe help with the first game. I don't know, maybe. It just feels like it's been – there was a lot of sloppy football yesterday Sunday night, yesterday, Sunday.
Speaker: There was a ton of offense, but, like, people were like, wow, look at the ah offense. But it's like there's so much shitty defense. Like, there's two ways here. It's not just great offense. You also have – like, Carolina Panthers giving up 59. That doesn't mean, like, wow, this is the best game ever. Like, i bet the defense was pretty fucking bad. and They got destroyed.
Speaker: So there's two ways here. You can't just have, you can't just be one thing, you know? So I don't know. I'd love to see a little bit more in the preseason only because it is a fucking horrible product, genuinely a horrible product. And like, they need, they give three games, like joint, the real fucking preseason is joint practice where we all go and everyone's down there and you're like, this shit's hyped up. Like you're at Pat's Eagles joint practice was awesome. Like that was, that was sick. It was legit talent going at each other, but yeah,
Speaker: you know, some actual game time would probably make a big difference. um All right, before we wrap it up here, and I'll let you guys go, appreciate you coming on. um We usually do by the end of it, just we'll go around and just give me your, who wins the game, what's your score and any like final thought. So Brett, we'll lead off with you. Who's winning this Sunday and what's the score?
Speaker: Give me your final take. I think the Pats are winning. I got thirty one fourteen I think this is definitely get right for Drake May. I see him having getting a ah big Dobbs day in the end zone and another touchdown to Raritan. But I got a thirty one fourteen Pats. Like it, Mark? Yeah, I'm in a similar boat, I think it is start a little bit.
Speaker: slower where they're kind of just kind of feeling each other out and then it'll open up and may hits one. And then it kind of unfolds and unravels for the Steelers from there. I think Drake may is going to find a groove in this game. The defense is going to do kind of what they've been doing.
Speaker: And I think the Patriots will pull away and make a statement and kind of get back on track in a home game, which is important also to reestablish a little home field advantage. So I'm looking for a big response.
Speaker: Awesome. Bryson. Yeah, the other thing that we maybe are not thinking about is who's Drake May's favorite quarterback of all time? It's not Tom Brady. It's Aaron Rodgers. That's who Drake May always says. I've always modeled my game after Aaron Rodgers. This is going to be a huge game for Drake May. He's going to look at the other guy on the sideline and think, I want to beat this old man badly, okay? It's going to be thirty five to seventeen Patriots are going to win. They're going to come back. And all the Drake May stinger talk, completely over. And I think we can move on past this stinger of a game completely fine. Drake May is going to go out there. He's going to be hugging Rogers after the game, but it's going to be 35 to 17. Love it. I got the Pats obviously as well. um I'll take 28, 21, a tiny bit closer. Just give a little, you know, just give a little room there, 28, 21. But I think they should be fairly, fairly comfortably winning this game. Hopefully get up by two scores and, um you know, and just put it away. So, all right. Well, I appreciate getting you guys coming on and thank you again. And yeah, man, this should be a, should be a good week. I'll be at the game. Stoked tailgater 2000. We'll be down there and it should be a fun time. So we appreciate you guys and we'll see you next time. Peace. it be withitch you boys yeah
