- 2 years ago
The New England Patriots barely lost to a much stronger Buffalo Bills team as the defense, once again, put together an exceptionally strong game, only to fall short due to offensive and special teams miscues. Can the Patriots finish the season on a strong note against the New York Jets?
Alec and Rich cover it all.
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Alec and Rich cover it all.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 All right.
00:02 Hello everybody and welcome to Patriots First and Goal.
00:05 I am Alex Shane here with my good buddy Rich Hill on this new 2024 season or new 2024 year.
00:11 I should say the 2023 season is mercifully limping to a close.
00:15 That's Austin Buffalo.
00:18 We started yakking before we hit record and you know this is just too much fun.
00:22 We should get this on air on live.
00:24 Rich Hill first off, happy new year to you.
00:27 Hope you and your family had a good new year.
00:28 I was in bed by 1030.
00:29 It was fantastic.
00:30 Did you do anything?
00:31 Did you party it up or were you lame like me?
00:34 I apparently lived it up.
00:35 I was in bed at 1130.
00:38 I woke up at like 1201 just to say happy new year to my wife and then went right back to
00:45 bed.
00:46 It was ideal.
00:47 It was everything I wanted on New Year's Eve.
00:49 Good work.
00:50 It is the most overrated holiday.
00:53 People get all dolled up.
00:55 They pay like 500 bucks for this buffet and open bar and it's really crowded.
01:00 And then 12 o'clock comes and everyone's all happy for about 45 seconds and then it's 1201.
01:04 And they're like, well, you want to go home?
01:07 I'll go home.
01:08 I used to live in New York City and my first apartment there, overlooked Times Square.
01:15 And I went on the roof for New Year's.
01:18 I wanted to see the ball drop.
01:20 And without a doubt, it is just the most shoulder shrugging event of the season where you just
01:27 go, all right.
01:30 Yeah.
01:31 You could not pay me to go to Times Square on New Year's Eve.
01:35 There are no bathrooms.
01:37 There's no like vending machines.
01:39 You're just kind of there shoulder to shoulder for like eight hours listening to Ryan Seacrest
01:45 blathering on.
01:46 And this seems like an absolute mess.
01:48 Much like the Patriots offense against the Buffalo Bills.
01:51 Rich, let's get into it.
01:53 First and goal.
01:54 The reason I wanted to hit record right away, because we were just laughing so hard about
01:57 what we saw in the first quarter of that game.
02:00 It was kind of annoying at first, but then it was like by the fourth turnover, I was
02:05 like, I feel like I was David's dentist.
02:07 Like is this real life?
02:09 Is this happening?
02:12 I don't know.
02:13 Like I, and all those like camera pans over to Mac Jones on the sideline with his helmet
02:17 on, ready to go in.
02:19 Is he going to make the transition?
02:20 He didn't.
02:21 It's funny.
02:22 In the 2721 to the bills at Buffalo, I will take that result all day, but it's more just
02:26 the way they lost.
02:29 That really kind of sticks with me.
02:31 Totally.
02:32 I mean, they were competitive after the first 10 minutes of the game, essentially like they
02:40 did what they needed to after their comedy of errors.
02:44 But if you go from a pick six or, you know, I guess it was the first interception that
02:50 led to a field goal because the defense blessed them, held them to four yards after starting
02:56 basically in the red zone.
02:57 So kudos to the defense.
02:59 You get no credit against you on that one, but my goodness, I have a stat that I'll share
03:05 afterwards, but you do that and then you eventually throw a what is another interception on the
03:11 past to Farrow Brown or Devante Parker.
03:15 That was also again within the red zone when they got it.
03:19 You got a fumble and then it was just like over and over and over and over again.
03:25 This offense, let me tell you, is worse with Zappy than it is with Mac Jones.
03:32 Yeah, yes.
03:35 I mean, again, good.
03:36 Let Zappy cook.
03:37 He cooked, he burned it, and then we all threw it away.
03:39 I feel like I'm watching the HBO movie, The Menu with Bailey's at the end of it.
03:45 Absolute disaster.
03:46 Spoiler alert in case you haven't seen it yet.
03:48 But yeah, I mean, look, great start.
03:51 Jalen Ragour took one of the house.
03:53 Holy crap.
03:54 And then there's almost a strip sack.
03:56 Bill went three and out.
03:57 Awesome.
03:58 Sounds great.
03:59 And then it was a one play interception.
04:01 Then it was three plays for five yards.
04:03 Then it was another first play interception that was two plays for five yards for the
04:08 fumble.
04:09 Bill went three and out.
04:10 Their best drive of the first half or first quarter was three plays for negative seven
04:13 yards.
04:14 And I think texting on our group bet is like, the way this is going, the defense is going
04:18 to be completely exhausted by halftime.
04:20 It's going to be like 35 to nothing.
04:22 But the defense, as you mentioned, what a day they had.
04:26 Arguably their best day of the season.
04:28 The fact that it was four turnovers and they're only down six points as the quarter came to
04:34 a close.
04:35 Then there was the pick six.
04:36 It was 20 to seven.
04:37 And then the Patriots actually had a good drive.
04:39 They generated like a 75 play yard, 65 yard six play drive.
04:44 But there's just no reality where you watch anything this Patriots offense did against
04:50 Buffalo and think anything about Bailey Zappi being anything other than a career backup.
04:56 Are you surprised they didn't put Mac Jones in or was it more just like this is Zappi's
05:01 ship to go down with and we're just going to stick with him and just fail miserably?
05:04 Yeah.
05:05 I mean, at this point in the season, like why would you put Mac?
05:09 Why would you bother?
05:10 Like if it's something where maybe Zappi throws, you know, five interceptions in a row, then
05:16 like you kind of have to out of the spirit of showing your players that you're trying.
05:20 But honestly, like the defense was being as competitive as they could be.
05:25 The game was never really out of reach, even if it felt like it from a score perspective.
05:30 Like the game wasn't over by any means.
05:34 You know, they were obviously down 13 points at the half.
05:39 But you know, Zappi, you know, or I guess they responded before the half with that Zappi
05:43 17 yard run.
05:44 But you know, they were down 20 to seven after the series of turnovers.
05:48 But the game was never out of reach.
05:50 You know, once those turnovers were done, the defense settled in.
05:53 The offense obviously did nothing.
05:56 But it was competitive enough.
05:58 You know, if it was something where the bills were up 35 to zero, maybe, but because it
06:03 was still close enough, because they're competitive, they're not going to bench Zappi.
06:06 Even though again, I will continue to say this, this offense is no better under Zappi
06:11 as it is with Mac Jones.
06:13 There's no more added hope value for having Zappi in there versus with Mac Jones.
06:18 And by pretty much every single metric, they are less efficient.
06:21 They, you know, he's turning over the ball just as much, if not more.
06:27 His interception rate is higher.
06:28 His sack rate is higher.
06:30 His adjusted yards per attempt is lower.
06:33 Their expected points added per drop back is lower with Zappi.
06:36 So by every single metric, they are doing worse.
06:40 And if you look at how the offense as a whole outside of Zappi, and obviously many caveats
06:46 with all the different players on the injured reserve and stuff like that.
06:48 But again, this offense is so, so bad.
06:54 There's no point in benching Zappi because what are you going to do?
06:58 There's nothing there that's going to help fix it because it goes so far beyond the quarterback.
07:03 It's funny, you know, speaking, I agree with everything you just said, but a slight counterpoint
07:07 that Bailey Zappi has to offer that Mac Jones doesn't, which only adds to my frustration
07:12 on what we've seen from Mac Jones this season is once or twice a game, you will get this
07:18 absolute laser from Bailey Zappi.
07:21 You saw it with Jalen Ragour, you saw it with Hunter Henry a couple weeks ago on the Steelers.
07:24 He's capable of making really, really good throws.
07:27 And we never saw any of those with Mac Jones.
07:30 So at least Bailey Zappi, he's good for like a throw or two a game where you're like, oh,
07:35 that's NFL quarterback caliber play.
07:37 So that's kind of nice.
07:38 Something to cheer for amid the massive piles of suck.
07:42 The good is also Rich Hill to get the second goal here.
07:44 We're still talking about the Bills game, but this well as a great loss in a lot of
07:48 ways, defense played great.
07:49 Like we said, they hung in there.
07:51 The Cardinals somehow won.
07:52 They upset, so the Patriots are right back in the top three.
07:56 I know you've been on team tank for a while here.
07:59 I forgot we talked about in our last podcast, were you rooting for a Patriots win here?
08:04 Are you happy with the loss overall?
08:05 I'm happy with a loss overall.
08:07 Again, like I will continue to say that if they win and they look good doing it, I'm
08:13 cool with that.
08:15 If like, you know, they're playing well and then Demario Douglas has a breakout day where
08:19 he puts up 150 yards and two scores and they win and just convincing fashion.
08:24 I will always support that if they come out in the offensive line, just steam rolls the
08:28 Bills defense play after play after play, then that's cool because right now at this
08:32 point of the year, obviously you want to have like good draft position, but I would rather
08:37 have players on the roster playing well than to be like, I want everything to be garbage
08:43 because that means that next year you have an entire roster of garbage.
08:47 I would love for some players to stand out.
08:49 I would love for there to be blue chip players on this offense to get excited about.
08:54 That hasn't necessarily happened, so I'm okay with them losing and for them to do it in
08:59 a way that feels like they haven't lost the locker room, I think is one testament to Bell
09:05 check, I think supports the idea that he might be coming back next year, but it feels very
09:11 similar to that 2009 Patriots team when Bella tech was like, I can't get these players to
09:17 do what I want them to do.
09:18 We mentioned this earlier in the year, but Trent Brown, the best offensive lineman they
09:23 have being a healthy scratch because he's been openly vocal about how unhappy he is
09:29 with some of the coaching decisions.
09:31 That speaks a lot to okay, Bella check is now saying I'm going to run this team in a
09:36 way that is most effective to the players that want to be here and the players are responding.
09:42 They are playing hard to the last whistle.
09:44 Obviously players across the entire offensive roster is hurt.
09:48 I can't account for Chad Ryland missing about six kicks a game.
09:51 Otherwise they would have won this one.
09:54 It's just one of those situations where you see competitive fire out of this team and
09:58 where they don't have the talent to back it up.
10:00 And I'll take that every single week.
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10:36 To that point, Rich, kind of my second and goal overall theme.
10:39 Was there any player, maybe not necessarily just in the Buffalo game, but is anybody on
10:43 the offensive side of the ball pleasantly surprised you in the last game or a couple
10:48 of games where you're like, you know what, maybe this guy's a future on this team.
10:51 Are you all about the offensive fire sale?
10:53 Yeah, I mean, I don't think that there's anything that I would hang my hat on outside of the
10:57 players that we've talked about all year long.
11:00 Like Demario Douglas, I think that he's going to be a solid piece moving forward.
11:04 You know, he's already put up one of the best rookie seasons of a Patriots receiver ever,
11:08 you know, nevermind just the Bill Belichick era, but like one of the best Patriots rookie
11:11 seasons ever.
11:13 And so I have a lot of hopes for how whole continue to develop moving forward.
11:17 He's going to give them a solid, you know, number two receiver at, you know, maybe he
11:21 can develop even more, you know, like, but he, he gives them a solid piece in the receiving
11:25 room that they can't otherwise count on.
11:28 Love that player that we've been pleasantly surprised by Zekiel Elliott.
11:32 I mentioned this in our text thread, would love for him to come back next year if he's
11:36 willing and open to it.
11:37 I think that he runs hard.
11:39 He competes.
11:40 He's a good leader within the locker room.
11:42 Don't blame him if he didn't want to come back to the Patriots, but he's someone that,
11:45 you know, when the offensive line is doing well, I can see him being a solid running
11:49 back.
11:50 He's a good number two.
11:51 Would love for them to have a third down back, but he's a good change of pace back.
11:54 And right now with his number being called, he's being a good lead back, giving whatever
11:57 he can take there.
11:59 But like outside of those skill players, there's not a lot of bright spots.
12:03 You know, you, you look up and down the offensive line, obviously want Mike and Wayne to be
12:07 back.
12:08 Want them to give them a contract extension.
12:10 Like, I don't know, maybe a city Sal has been doing okay at right guard, but other than
12:16 that whole lot of just really bad performances up and down the board.
12:21 Yeah.
12:22 I mean, it's fine.
12:23 I feel like you and I have waffled back and forth throughout the course of the season
12:25 about like, are they literally just like a, a competent quarterback away from being a
12:30 decent team?
12:31 And sometimes like the answer to that question, they, you know, maybe, you know, they, they
12:33 have enough pieces.
12:34 They're all there enough.
12:35 Like there are enough fours on that team.
12:38 If you get like an, you know, if you get like an eight that can make a bunch of fours look
12:41 like sixes and the defense being what it is.
12:43 Yeah.
12:44 Maybe you can hang in there.
12:46 But they're not, there's not going to hang with the good teams.
12:49 And the fact that they made one of the better teams in the AFC work until the last whistle
12:53 and need like a clock killing drive.
12:56 Not that I had any confidence that the Patriots get the ball back.
13:00 They're going to drive down the field and score a touchdown, especially when it seems
13:03 like every single Bill's punt landed inside the two yard line.
13:07 Somehow there's just no way they're going to drive 95 yards and score there.
13:11 But the fact that the defense can even keep it close with the offense playing that poorly
13:15 and most of those guys on the defense, they're, they're coming back next year.
13:18 They're under contract.
13:20 There are some guys to extend Kyle Duggar, probably one of the, on the top of that list.
13:23 I'd love to see Christian Barmore get an extension right now.
13:25 Matthew Judon is coming back next year, which is also nice.
13:28 Christian Gonzalez coming back next year.
13:29 So lots to be excited about with this defense.
13:31 But yeah, I really, there was ever any doubt in anyone's mind that this is just, they're
13:36 not just a quarterback away.
13:39 I'd like to hold this Bill's game, put the rest, any debate.
13:42 I'm at that.
13:43 Yeah, no, totally.
13:44 I mean, like we've talked about this heading into the year that if they could be a top
13:49 10 offense, they're a contender just based off of how the rest of the roster is constructed.
13:53 They could have been a contender if they had a top 10 offense, they could be a wild card
13:57 playoff push team if they just had an average offense and would a top five quarterback make
14:04 this an average offense?
14:06 Maybe, but you can't go around expecting that.
14:08 You know, you're, you gotta look for what is the average quarterback going to do with
14:12 this roster and you would maybe get a top 20 offense with an average quarterback right
14:17 now.
14:18 Zappy and Mac Jones are combining to be like ranked 39th and 40th out of 40 starting quarterbacks
14:24 this year.
14:25 Like they are bad.
14:26 They are ahead of probably only Desmond Ritter and Zach Wilson.
14:29 Like this is, it is bad country for this Patriots quarterbacks team.
14:34 But you look at how close this team has been special teams aside with the fact that Chad
14:40 Ryland, sorry to just like have to name him directly, but with the Patriots having the
14:45 most points lost from missed kicks in the entire NFL by a margin by expected points.
14:52 Like, you know, we've talked about how, you know, it's, you know, they're 50 plus yarders.
14:55 They're not easy.
14:56 Sure.
14:57 You miss enough of them over time.
14:58 You're supposed to at least hit 50% of them.
15:00 And so for them to be missing the most points in the entire league from kickoffs or from
15:04 field goals is really bad, but for, do you have five defensive touchdowns allowed?
15:10 Five defensive touchdowns allowed is absolutely just impossible for an offense to overcome.
15:16 And then you add in that there's an additional six drives this year that have set up the
15:21 opposing team essentially within the red zone or already in scoring position.
15:26 Plus the one with against the dolphins that kind of took away Patriots field goal range
15:30 and gave it to the dolphins to get right before the half.
15:33 You have 11 drives there that put points on the board for the opposing team.
15:38 There's no way to overcome that, but that's also a lot of bad luck.
15:42 That is something that if you had that league average quarterback, perhaps you'd win some
15:47 of these games, right?
15:48 There was that stretch of the season where you had the commanders Colts giants chargers
15:52 in a row and you know, even before the jump there, you had the Raiders game.
15:57 Those were all just immensely winnable games.
16:00 If you just had a competent quarterback out there, I'm not talking about a top five.
16:04 I'm not talking about a top 10.
16:06 You get an average quarterback out there, Patriots right now, they might be nine and
16:11 seven.
16:12 You know, like it's something where the Patriots are yes, a quarterback away from being okay,
16:17 but they also need to have just an entire makeover done across the offensive roster
16:22 just to be an overall contender.
16:24 Because as we said, there's not a lot of players to look forward to for next year, which will
16:28 make for a really interesting off season conversation.
16:31 Rich Hill, when you're doing a complete offensive overhaul, do you want to bring a rookie quarterback
16:35 in there and throw him into an offense in the NFL in flux when highly touted draft prospects
16:41 come into a well-established offense with a great line and a good running game and still
16:45 struggle?
16:46 Are you expecting like a Drake May or a kale to come in and magically fix this?
16:49 No way in conversation for the offseason, but that's going to be an interesting one
16:52 to say the least.
16:53 It's absolutely wild to me that the bills only had one scoring drive of their four,
16:58 including the field goals that started outside the New England 30.
17:02 It's just you just don't win games like that.
17:05 Again, not the end of the world.
17:07 If this is the kind of thing where there was like a playoff spot online, I'd be a lot more
17:10 pissed off.
17:11 But it was just it was just funny to watch.
17:13 And I was happy with the result in terms of they played hard.
17:17 It was a classic Patriots kind of just really crappy play and they kind of woke up, but
17:21 it was too late by the time they did.
17:23 And this whole season is like that.
17:24 By the time they woke up, it was too late.
17:27 Now the Buffalo Bills for the Dolphins for the AFC crown.
17:30 So it's a pretty fun week 18, not from a past perspective, because it's probably the most
17:34 the worst game on the roster.
17:37 Ask Jets at one o'clock.
17:38 We can talk about that on third down.
17:40 Anything else?
17:41 I'm talking about this Bill's game, Rich.
17:42 Yeah, I mean, like there's two things.
17:43 One is that, yes, I with the bills next week against the Dolphins when they could be the
17:47 number two seed lose, they could be out of the playoffs entirely.
17:50 They have just such high leverage on this game.
17:52 But I think the last takeaway I'd want to take from this game and also the season series
17:56 between the Patriots and the bills is that if the Patriots fix their offense, they could
18:02 be right back at the top of the AFC.
18:05 They had two really good games against Josh Allen.
18:08 They had two really good games against the Spills offense.
18:11 And that gives me a lot of hope for the future.
18:14 If they keep Bill Belichick, I can talk about this in the office as well.
18:17 I think that they should retain them at this point.
18:20 But the fact that they're able to do so well against one of the best quarterbacks in the
18:26 entire league really makes me feel like if they can figure out this offense, then they
18:30 can compete against the division.
18:32 They can go four and two in the AFC single five and one.
18:35 And that puts them in a really strong position to start contending again.
18:38 If they can get that average offense, they are close.
18:41 They are not as far away as their record suggests this year.
18:45 They've had a lot of bad bounces, a lot of bad luck.
18:47 But I think that this game really continue to support that this team is a few pieces
18:53 away from being good on offense.
18:56 But it's a few pieces.
18:57 This team, the defense doesn't need to be rebuilt.
19:00 This team could be in good hands if they hit on a few of their draft picks and a few of
19:05 their free agent signings, and they can be right back in it.
19:08 And maybe if their kicker would kick more than 62%, not the best.
19:12 I can't imagine Chad Ryland is back next year.
19:15 Maybe he'll be in camp with somebody else chance to kind of win the job.
19:19 But the Patriots just cannot find a kicker.
19:21 I guess maybe it's their punishment for having basically going straight from Benetteri to
19:24 Gostkowski over like 20 years.
19:26 You're kind of due for a kicker situation like this.
19:29 But still, it's rough knowing you played as badly as you did.
19:32 And you were still basically two missed field goals, very makeable field goals away from
19:36 27-27 and the chance to win overtime.
19:39 But what you're going to do, at least we're not the Jets, Rich Hill.
19:43 At least we're not the Jets.
19:45 But the Patriots are playing.
19:46 We'll talk about them on third down.
19:47 Right back.
19:48 All right, Patriots.
19:51 Jets week 18 is mercifully upon us.
19:53 This game was DVD in terms of time slot.
19:56 Because I imagine the thought process.
19:58 This was Mac Jones versus Aaron Rodgers for a game with pretty serious playoff implications
20:03 when they first made the schedule.
20:04 God's made this back in April or May, whenever the schedule comes out.
20:07 Neither Aaron Rodgers nor Mac Jones are starting for their respective teams.
20:11 This game is right where it belongs in the 1pm slot where only Patriots and Jets fans
20:17 are going to watch it.
20:18 And it's going to be a very weird situation where Patriots fans and Jets fans are probably
20:21 rooting for the other team to win because draft implications are all we have to play
20:26 for right now.
20:27 However, Rich Hill, before we talk about past Jets, let's go around the league.
20:30 This is going to be a really, really fun week in the NFL.
20:34 There are not that many playoffs seatings locked in.
20:36 The Ravens are locked in on the one seed in the AFC.
20:40 That's kind of it.
20:41 Anybody from the two seed to out of the playoffs are on the line for a lot of people.
20:45 So besides past Jets, Barnburner is going to be.
20:48 What are the games you're most psyched for?
20:50 Yeah, I mean, like talking just for playoff situations, you got the nine and seven Texans
20:56 on the road against the nine and seven Colts.
20:58 You're talking about AFC South title as well as a playoff spot.
21:02 Whoever wins that one.
21:03 That'll be interesting because you also have the nine and seven Jaguars on the road against
21:06 five and eleven Titans who would love to play spoilers.
21:08 You got the seven and nine bears that are on the road against the Packers trying to
21:12 ruin their season, knock them out of the playoffs.
21:14 That's a great storyline.
21:15 I think that the bears are a team that have played pretty well, albeit with like a pretty
21:19 weak schedule as of late.
21:20 But it's one where, you know, Matt Eberfluss was on the hot seat earlier in the year.
21:25 They're going to keep them for next year.
21:26 And then there's a chance that they keep Justin Fields as their starting quarterback, which
21:30 really opens the door.
21:31 If the Patriots get that number two seed, would they trade up to get Kayla Williams?
21:36 Would they be fine sitting with someone?
21:38 But like if the bears don't take a quarterback, who knows?
21:42 You know, maybe they add Marvin Harrison Jr.
21:43 Or Joe Alt or something like that at that first pick overall, the Patriots could get
21:47 that top quarterback prospect fall to them.
21:49 So it might be a high leverage point for the Patriots.
21:52 But the game obviously that I think will be most exciting is that Bill's Dolphins game.
21:57 They both have so much to play for right now.
22:00 The Dolphins have been on a little bit of a slide, it feels like, and the Bills have
22:03 been so up and down all year.
22:06 I think that the the Dolphins really need to find their footing again.
22:10 They just got blown out by the Ravens 56 to 19.
22:15 So they really have that paper tiger on them.
22:18 They've lost against pretty much most of the good teams that they face.
22:22 You know, they lost to the Bills earlier in the year 48 to 20.
22:24 They lost to the Eagles 31 17.
22:26 They lost to the Chiefs 21 14.
22:29 This is a team that has not shown that they can compete with or beat the good teams other
22:33 than when they beat the Cowboys 22 20.
22:36 And like, maybe the Cowboys are a good team.
22:38 We'll see.
22:39 So the the Dolphins are really trying to prove that they are actually a good team and not
22:44 just one of those disappointments that will get knocked out in the opening round.
22:47 So very curious to see how that game will play out.
22:51 It's also the very last game in the regular season.
22:54 So that worked out really well for the NFL.
22:56 All divisional games in the last week is a good move.
22:59 I like the way they do it.
23:00 Really, really cool.
23:02 Bill's Dolphins is good.
23:03 Chiefs Chargers could be really good.
23:05 Obviously Seahawks cards is one to watch for draft perspective.
23:07 If the cards can win last week, maybe they can win this week too.
23:11 You never know.
23:12 They're at Arizona.
23:13 So here's hoping the pages can jump up to that two spot.
23:15 But that would require probably a loss to the Jets.
23:18 I'm not exactly sure what the draft kind of playoff scenarios are.
23:23 But hopefully I know you said from the very beginning, Richard, your team tank, but you
23:25 are not team lose to the Jets.
23:28 So I think we're all rooting for a win in this one.
23:31 And let's get started into the break the game itself.
23:33 Patriots offense as putrid as it was last week against the Jets defense.
23:38 Very similar situation.
23:39 Two bad offenses, two good defenses.
23:42 Bailey's Abby is home against a stout passing rush attack.
23:46 This is a big running game.
23:48 Is this going to let Zappy air it out again?
23:51 Throw three picks instead of four.
23:52 What's your strategy offensively here?
23:54 Yeah, this is going to be one of the best pass defenses you play all year.
23:59 They have one of the best pass defenses through the air.
24:02 They allow some production on the ground.
24:04 So like it could be a big Ezekiel Elliott day.
24:07 But obviously like there's just so many issues with the Patriots pass attack that I'm like
24:12 not expecting this to be the game where all of a sudden they challenge the Jets and like
24:16 are able to figure it out.
24:18 But you have one of the best secondaries in the entire league out there.
24:21 You have some good coverage linebackers.
24:23 It's not going to be easy, nor did the Patriots have the horses to be able to pull that off
24:27 through the air where they will be able to do pretty well is on the ground.
24:32 So like I think that they'll be productive running the ball.
24:35 I don't think that they'll be able to like knock the doors off the barn kind of a thing.
24:41 But if the Patriots are going to win this game, it's going to be one of those eight
24:44 drive kind of a games where they run the ball, slow down the clock, and it's going to be
24:48 slow and methodical.
24:49 Maybe you'll Ezekiel Elliott or Kevin Harris will bust out for a 12 yard run kind of a
24:53 thing.
24:54 But like it's not going to be one of those situations where all of a sudden out of the
24:59 blue the Patriots figure it out.
25:02 And I know full well that I'm jinxing this because that's what I said against the Steelers.
25:05 And for that one half, it was glorious.
25:09 It was glorious rich for that one half.
25:11 But alas, one half is not a season make.
25:14 What about Kevin Harris?
25:15 I think he played pretty well in very limited action against the Bills.
25:19 I imagine I'll probably activate him again with Mondra on the IR.
25:22 I think we'll get more action.
25:23 You got like two running running snaps and obviously that 54 50 yard screen he caught.
25:29 You see him more as kind of maybe the de facto by force third down back role you're talking
25:33 about.
25:34 Yeah, I don't even know necessarily is a third down back.
25:36 Like obviously he had that really big catch, but he's not a receiving back.
25:40 Never was in college.
25:41 Isn't it now?
25:42 He'll be that change of pace.
25:43 Like Ezekiel Elliott is that third down back.
25:46 He is the one that will get all of the targets he had.
25:48 I don't know if he had like 12 targets or something like that.
25:51 And like, but it was like 30 yards.
25:53 Like he's someone who will absorb targets might not make a lot of them, but he'll catch
25:56 them.
25:57 That's what they'll do.
25:58 And like the Patriots will rather that than someone who won't do anything with the ball
26:01 at all.
26:02 So I don't think that they're going to throw the ball to Kevin Harris a lot, but they'll
26:05 give him opportunities.
26:06 You know, they'll give him a drive here and there, but it will be Ezekiel Elliott in the
26:10 backfield.
26:11 I think Kevin Harris has done a good job showing that like he should be on the active roster
26:15 for next year.
26:16 And like, honestly, he's doing better this year than he did last year, albeit in very
26:20 limited time.
26:21 But I think that this is going to be Ezekiel Elliott likely having to prove what he can
26:25 behind this Patriots offensive line that is dealing with a lot of injuries.
26:29 You know, obviously like Trent Brown is a healthy scratch, not really expecting that
26:33 to change that much for next week, especially with all of his playing incentives.
26:38 And obviously, like the Patriots probably not wanting to let him do that.
26:43 Will the Darien Lowe be the answer against this Jets defensive front?
26:47 No.
26:48 So it's not going to be a bully Patriots offensive line, but it's going to be the Patriots best
26:53 chance it is, which is very, very sad to say, Rich.
26:58 But here we are.
26:59 Here we find ourselves.
27:00 Let me ask you before I make him my official X factor.
27:03 I mean, I'm going to tease my X factor out there because I think he had a pretty decent
27:07 game if we're kind of recalibrating expectations for what we thought he might bring to the
27:11 table versus what he's actually bringing to the table.
27:14 Tyquan Thornton, he had three grabs, 24 yards.
27:18 All three targets he caught.
27:20 He had I think it was 14 or 15 yards was his long one.
27:22 They're using a little bit more.
27:24 Didn't didn't do it at all on Sunday.
27:26 We're kind of the end around the Jets sweeps, but they're kind of getting him involved a
27:29 little more.
27:30 Is this more just because they literally need a body out there that can potentially catch
27:34 a pass or you see him finally maybe warming his way into the offense by getting the reps
27:38 he got only because they're so injured?
27:40 Yeah, don't do this to yourself, man.
27:43 Don't do this to yourself.
27:44 This is because Juju Smith Schuster is on the IR.
27:47 There's just been so many injuries up and down the board like it is a who else are they
27:52 going to throw the ball to kind of a situation that they just don't have anyone else.
27:57 Someone has to line up out there and with the Patriots tight ends just not getting it
28:03 done.
28:04 You had a narrow Brown fumble and you had a second target that led to an interception.
28:08 Like this was that was not a tight end game against the bills.
28:13 And so like they had to give it to the wide receivers.
28:16 So I could see him getting snaps again, right?
28:20 Like he played 70% of the snaps because he was that top outside receiver because you
28:26 know Parker is limited.
28:29 Will it be the same case next week?
28:31 Probably it's the finale.
28:33 You have Parker on two more years.
28:34 You don't need to get him senselessly hurt for no real reason.
28:37 Maybe they start him one play a couple of drives and sit him for Taekwon for the rest
28:40 of the game.
28:41 But I'm not going to take any production from Taekwon Thornton as if he's turning it around
28:45 or if he's won it based off of his talent and production outright.
28:49 And it's more so the fact that they have about four other wide receivers ahead of him in
28:52 the depth chart that are hurting on available.
28:55 To go back to the bills game real quick.
28:56 I want to talk about this when I got distracted by a fumble or a turnover that first turnover
29:01 that Bailey's after through was a slant to Devante Parker.
29:05 I watched it a bunch of times.
29:06 Is it me Rich Hill or is that just a really half ass slant that Parker ran and just like
29:11 he really didn't seem to like make the cut he needed to make.
29:14 Not that I'm taking blame away from Zappy, but that was not a good slant, right?
29:17 No, I mean, I feel like most of those turnovers were like half receiver half quarterback,
29:23 but when the quarter when it happens about four times, you know, quarterback that adds
29:27 up there.
29:28 Their fault percentage is about half of them.
29:29 So I'm back to the boat.
29:31 So what would Taekwon Thornton need to do for you?
29:33 Rich Hill for you to be like, you know what?
29:35 Maybe this guy's got something.
29:36 What would need to happen?
29:37 I would need to see him get at least seven catches for a buck.
29:43 50 like it's something where you know he has the speed that he can catch one pass for 70
29:48 yards and a score and it's not going to do it for me because there just hasn't been that
29:52 consistency you see any of the other burners that the Patriots have had over the years
29:57 on the outside and we're talking not just like the Chris Hogan's and Brandon cooks of
30:02 the world, but you'd go back to like Aaron Dobson.
30:05 Dobson was more consistent than Taekwon Thornton is and Dobson had his issues.
30:10 I think that he got a bad rap because he was elevated to such a hard position as a rookie
30:13 in a very difficult system, but he did the best that he could and he produced, you know,
30:19 one of the best rookie seasons from a production standpoint out of necessity, but at least
30:23 he did something with his opportunities and.
30:27 You know he had that was like a three catch two score game against the Steelers that one
30:31 time.
30:32 I would need to see something more than that here because of how little we've seen from
30:37 Taekwon Thornton in every other opportunity that he's gotten.
30:41 So who is going to be getting the looking at the ESPN box score come Monday morning
30:45 with it sort of says New England Patriots receiving who is leading the Patriots in receiving
30:50 yards this week as the Jets.
30:52 Oh Demario Douglas without question like this is how catches and catches and yards.
30:57 Absolutely absolutely.
30:58 He's going to be the chain mover.
30:59 You're going to have to sacrifice some players sauce Gardner on the outside.
31:02 You're not going to beat him out there and you're going to have to sacrifice some of
31:06 him and it is likely going to be Taekwon Thornton.
31:09 You put Rieger out there as well.
31:11 Again, not a lot of other options that you have, but where the Patriots are going to
31:15 be able to.
31:17 Not even necessarily move the chains, but at least make a completion will be to Demario
31:20 Douglas underneath like that.
31:22 That is how they're going to get their completions.
31:24 'cause I also just don't trust Zappy to consistently produce with balls to the sideline.
31:30 That's just not going to happen.
31:31 It hasn't happened all year.
31:32 It's not going to happen now and where we have seen some form of consistent production
31:38 is underneath to Douglas underneath to Henry underneath to Kendrick Bourne.
31:43 That's like what we've seen this year.
31:45 That's been the only thing that's worked this year and it will be the only thing that will
31:49 work against the Jets kind of out of necessity and kind of because the Jets will say like.
31:53 OK, you can get those 6 yards to Demario Douglas underneath.
31:57 You're not going to be able to score against us.
31:59 Well there's going to be at least one like it's good for one a game.
32:01 Like I said, those apps can have one ridiculously sweet throw for like 40 yards.
32:07 Just who's going to catch it?
32:08 Is it going to be Parker?
32:09 Is it going to be Rieger?
32:10 Is going to be Douglas?
32:11 I'm going to go with Mike Kisecki makes the ridiculous catch this time.
32:14 He's maybe maybe I'll maybe talk to me on a Taekwon Thornton.
32:17 I go with Mike is my X factor.
32:18 He's not going to have a big day, but it'll have like two catches for 35 yards and his
32:23 longest probably like 32 yards.
32:25 So like one catch for three and then one massive one down the field that maybe get some a field
32:30 goal attempt.
32:31 I can't ever say field goal make which had Ryland on the field, but they'll have at least
32:35 be in position to kick one and maybe that'll get them enough points.
32:38 And I think it's gonna be a very low scoring game.
32:40 Totally I think it'll be as well.
32:41 I mean my X factor is going to be the Patriots offensive line based off of whoever they're
32:45 going to line up.
32:46 So like Redarian low will be my headliner X factor if I have to choose a specific name
32:51 because I don't know what else you're going to get.
32:54 David Andrews, you're going to get his yeomans like performance out at the center spot and
32:58 Wayne who is going to be solid at right tackle city.
33:01 So for all of his flaws, you know what you're going to get from him at right guard.
33:05 Mafia got benched for Jake Andrews at left guard last week against the bills.
33:10 Curious to see what happens there.
33:12 Low on an island on the left side is going to be a very difficult spot, but basically
33:17 the Patriots entire left side of the offensive line is a bad spot.
33:22 So if they can look like some semblance of okay, then maybe the Patriots will have a chance
33:27 to be okay on offense, but I'm kind of expecting the jets in their defensive front.
33:32 You know, they have enough players out there with Quinn and Williams, Jermaine Johnson,
33:36 John Franklin Myers.
33:37 They have players that can disrupt.
33:40 And so I think that the Patriots are going to have a pretty tough time.
33:43 They are.
33:44 I think you're right.
33:45 It's going to be a pretty long haul for the offense.
33:46 Luckily, Rich Hill, I think it will also be a long haul for the jets offense against the
33:50 Patriots defense.
33:51 It's a fourth and goal before I go to fourth and goal Patriots against jets offense because
33:55 tremor Simeon, I believe is listed as a starting quarterback.
33:58 It is Zach Wilson out, Simeon in.
33:59 So the vaunted Mac Jones versus Aaron Rogers matchup is now the Bailey's happy first tremor
34:04 Simeon matchup.
34:05 Well, a quick list for you of some of the quarterbacks who were already confirmed as
34:09 starters for this week in this multi-billion dollar week 18 NFL that we all pay so much
34:14 money to watch.
34:16 We have Blaine Gabbert starting.
34:18 We have Carson Wentz starting.
34:19 We have Nick Mullins, Jeff Driscoll, Easton stick, Sam Howell, Tyrod Taylor, Mason Rudolph
34:27 and our boy Jarrett Stidham.
34:29 We're making a start.
34:30 Just some of the starting quarterbacks we're going to see around the league due to either
34:33 injury or resting guys because playoff seating is already established.
34:36 But Trevor City has got interesting to me.
34:38 I don't really have anything to say about him.
34:40 He's another quarterback who exists in place football.
34:45 That's pretty much all I have to say about him.
34:46 If he did anything memorable in his tenure so far as a, as a NFL player, I don't remember
34:51 what it is.
34:52 The Patriots should have a pretty easy day against him.
34:55 So I imagine the plan would be to just stop the run at all costs and force him to beat
34:59 you deep.
35:00 Yeah, totally.
35:01 I mean, he, he is as mediocre of a quarterback as you can have.
35:06 He's completed 60% of his passes, never in his entire career over the past four years
35:12 of playing football, I guess technically five, cause he, he didn't really play in 2020, but
35:17 over the past, uh, you know, five years of play, he has one win in about nine starts.
35:24 He's not going to be their savior this year, but the jets do have some talent, right?
35:28 They obviously have the worst offense in football.
35:30 The only reason that the Patriots aren't at the complete and total seller as it relates
35:34 to their passing attack is because the jets are worse.
35:37 The jets, I know right dead last in the league in points per drive, dead last in yards per
35:43 drive dead last in time of possession per drive.
35:47 This is a very, very bad team.
35:49 They had a couple sparks as of late, they put up 30 points against the Texans, 30 points
35:53 against the commanders.
35:55 Overall, this is a very bad team with not a lot of talent, uh, able to do like they're
36:00 not to overcome the quarterback position.
36:02 They have two players that are really, really good.
36:04 Brees Hall and Garrett Wilson.
36:06 Everyone else is pretty okay.
36:07 I, or, you know, at best Tyler Conklin, he gets targets because he's a tight end and
36:13 he starts for them.
36:15 That's kind of it.
36:16 Everyone else complete and total disappointment for this jets team.
36:19 They just released Dalvin cook, who is their number two running back.
36:21 Like this is not a good jets team.
36:24 If I'm the Patriots, I say I'm going to sell out, stop Brees Hall, let my cornerbacks do
36:28 the work against Garrett Wilson, and I feel pretty confident that this jets team is not
36:33 going to be able to move the ball pretty well.
36:35 So he putting on Garrett Wilson, a banged up Jonathan Jones with safety help, or are
36:39 you putting somebody else on an island against him?
36:40 J this is Jalen Mills game.
36:42 What are you doing to shut Wilson out?
36:44 Honestly, you mix it up.
36:46 This is not one of those situations.
36:47 I feel like where you have to have man on a man for the entire game.
36:52 You want to disrupt it.
36:53 You don't want to see me into get into a rhythm.
36:54 You want to throw different looks at him and different disguises.
36:57 So obviously, like you want to make sure that he's not going to get into a rhythm with soft
37:02 zone kind of a play.
37:03 But I don't think you necessarily have to keep the same cornerback on Garrett Wilson
37:07 the entire time because I don't think the Patriots have the horses really to be able
37:11 to keep up with it.
37:13 But I do think that they they very well could, you know, if they want to like force a few
37:18 turnovers because I don't think that the the jets have the ability to overcome a single
37:23 turnover in this game.
37:25 Patriots to like this is going to be, as you said, a low scoring game.
37:28 But I think if the Patriots are able to, you know, mix up the disguises, I think that they're
37:32 going to be able to capitalize on the fact that they rely so much on Garrett Wilson and
37:36 Brees Hall in the passing game, but specifically Garrett Wilson, that I think the Patriots
37:40 are good enough on defense to be able to capitalize on and force a turnover or two.
37:45 I think they can as well.
37:46 I think this would be a good kind of disguise coverage.
37:49 Send in some linebackers at weird times kind of thing.
37:52 He's not really good at diagnosing blitzes.
37:53 He's not really a diagnosing complex schemes.
37:56 I can see them using to July to Vi, who is my X factor as like a blitzer.
38:00 He's an absolute monster season.
38:02 He's limited.
38:03 I love you.
38:04 It's an injury report today.
38:05 Richard, he was limited with a tooth injury.
38:06 Hopefully his tooth is OK by the time Sunday comes around.
38:10 I feel like he's the kind of guy that can really kind of put him all over the place.
38:13 They can line him up all over the place.
38:15 He's decent in coverage.
38:16 I think you really do well as kind of like a sneaky on the line linebacker.
38:20 He doesn't play a whole lot, to be honest.
38:21 I think he can kind of really do a lot of good things on there.
38:24 I see a lot of weird packages being thrown at Trevor Simien.
38:27 I know Bill Belichick wants to win every single week, but you know it works really well in
38:33 his favor when he beats the Jets.
38:34 I think he's going to save saving some stuff in the basement and we'll see it this weekend.
38:39 Oh, totally anything to beat the Jets.
38:41 And I mean, the way that the Patriots are set up here, they match up really well against
38:45 these Jets and their strength.
38:47 Like Tyler Conklin, I said, pretty mediocre.
38:50 He is one of the players second on the team in receiving yards.
38:52 This is going to be a big Duggar game, big whoever the Patriots are able to put out at
38:56 safety kind of a game, because also if you're going to be thrown to Brees Hall, if you have
39:01 to be able to stop the run there, you need a thumper.
39:04 Duggar is my X factor here.
39:05 I think that this is his last game for the year on his rookie contract with the Patriots,
39:09 really trying to reinforce and the whole test the market.
39:12 I hope the Patriots match whatever he gets in the open market.
39:15 He's such a good player for this team.
39:17 But I'm expecting a big, big day out of him against this Jets team.
39:21 He is just so vital to what the Patriots do overall and specifically matches up really
39:26 well against the Jets and their strength.
39:28 But if you can clog that middle of the field, make sure the Hall and Conklin don't move
39:31 the chains with any regularity.
39:33 It comes down to can the Patriots defensive backs guard Garrett Wilson long enough to
39:38 be able to win it?
39:39 And I think they can, you know, whether it's as you said, is it going to be Jalen Mills
39:42 on the outside?
39:43 I don't know if you want to look savvy veteran got Miles Bryant, who has been playing really
39:47 well this year.
39:48 And then, you know, Alex Austin had his interception last week like that.
39:51 There's players that you can rotate out there.
39:54 I don't know who they think would be the best matchup because I also don't know what the
39:57 Jets are really going to be doing on the other side.
40:00 You know, like what?
40:01 Who are they going to be really rotating at the wide receiver spot because they have enough
40:05 receivers of different sizes and skill sets that it might not behoove the Patriots.
40:10 Say Jonathan Jones, you're on the sky for the entire game because there is that rotation
40:15 of like, I don't know who their top player is going to be like Jason Brownlee.
40:19 Is he going to be the number two receiver?
40:22 Obviously Xavier Gibson has a lot of speed as a return man, but like the Jets have that
40:26 many question marks on the outside.
40:28 You know, last week, Jason Brownlee had almost 100% of the snaps against the Browns.
40:33 If you were to say, who is Jason Brownlee?
40:36 That's fair.
40:37 I could have made that name up, but he was out there for them.
40:40 And so do you match them up?
40:42 You know, he's six to 200 pounds.
40:44 We don't want him to take over the game, not expecting or saying he will, but because there's
40:49 so many different forms and styles of these receivers on this Jets team, it's hard to
40:53 say one player should match up with them completely because we don't know who's going to be taking
40:57 the field.
40:59 Real quick to back it up.
41:00 Excellent usage of the word behoove ratio.
41:02 I think it might be a podcast first for using the word behoove.
41:05 So so good work there.
41:07 We'll soon find out again.
41:09 1 p.m.
41:10 Thank goodness is not a primetime game.
41:11 I can't imagine any reality.
41:13 This game is like the Sunday night game, so so good for them.
41:15 I'm going to talk about or get predictions.
41:18 Let's go to predictions, man.
41:19 All right, let's do this.
41:20 I figured I would go do the opposite of my instinct last week, and I picked the Patriots
41:24 to win.
41:25 I was close.
41:26 So basically, they were basically a couple of field goals away from possibly winning,
41:30 but I was wrong.
41:31 You had the Bills winning.
41:32 So you get the hammer.
41:33 Very last prediction of the 2023 season.
41:36 Rich Hill Patriots are hosting the Jets.
41:38 Who you got?
41:40 Would it be?
41:41 Would it be mean of me to say something like Patriots winning three zero?
41:46 I guess that cruel us for watching this like the Patriots and Jets.
41:53 They rank twenty ninth and thirty second and points per game.
41:56 Jets are scoring less than 16 per game.
41:59 Patriots are scoring less than 15 per game.
42:01 Their defenses middling from a points allowed perspective.
42:05 You know, Jets allowed 22.
42:07 It's also allowing 22, but a lot of that is due to their ineptitude on offense from an
42:11 overall defensive perspective.
42:14 Both top ten defenses, if not top five defenses.
42:17 This is going to be slow.
42:19 It's going to be brutal.
42:20 It's going to be a ten three kind of a game.
42:23 I think the Patriots win this one.
42:25 I think that they have the ability.
42:27 Zap you magic out there.
42:28 You know, there'll be, you know, maybe a game winning drive at the end there, but it's not
42:33 going to be a barn burner by any measure.
42:35 I think the Patriots win it because it is Bill Belichick against the Jets.
42:38 I think that it will be enough to kind of knock the Patriots out of the top few draft
42:42 picks, and I'm kind of OK with it because it's the Jets fully understanding that the
42:49 Patriots only have one win at home this entire year.
42:53 But I think that the Patriots managed to pull this one off and win ten three ten three.
42:58 If I remember correctly, Rich Hill, was that the also the same score as the Marcus Jones
43:02 punt return game where it was like three three for the whole time?
43:05 Yes.
43:06 OK, we're looking at one of those again.
43:07 I want to disagree with you, but I don't think you're wrong here.
43:10 I mean, I don't even know if a touchdown is even feasible and which scares me because
43:15 that means it's going to be a battle of field goals, which means it's legitimately possible
43:20 that the Jets win this one because Greg Zuer Zerline is a accurate kicker by comparison.
43:27 And so it's kind of thing where the teams just take turns driving to the 30 yard line
43:30 and Rylan misses and Zerline doesn't.
43:33 This could be like a like a nine nine six game very easily.
43:37 However, you know what?
43:39 Let's do that.
43:40 I'll just make it easy for next week.
43:41 I'll just go with the Jets, go the opposite again.
43:43 Costanza this.
43:44 I will go nine six New York Jets on four missed field goal, four field goals.
43:50 Patriots missed two of them.
43:52 Jets miss one of them.
43:54 Each team gets four field goal attempts.
43:56 Three or four means nine points, right?
43:58 And two or four means six points.
44:00 Nine six Jets and yet another Patriots game that sets the NFL back decades.
44:05 Well, I hope I hope that the Patriots do enough to retain Bill Belichick.
44:11 I guess maybe my last question for you, Alec, the extra point here.
44:16 What do you think Bill Belichick has to do here to secure his position for next season?
44:21 If anything, fine to guess, I think whatever they're doing is already kind of decided by
44:26 Bob.
44:27 I don't think he can do anything good or bad.
44:30 Maybe if the Jets come and like blow him out 45 to nothing, maybe there's some talk about
44:33 but I think anything that happens on Sunday, the cards are already dealt.
44:38 I really hope he comes back.
44:39 We can talk more about that in the offseason, but I don't think there's anything that can
44:42 kind of have done at this point to seal Bill Belichick's fate one way or another.
44:46 I think he wants to go out strong because it's the last game of the season.
44:49 It's the last home game.
44:50 It's the Jets.
44:51 He has every reason to want to go hard because he's the best there's ever been at tunnel
44:56 vision being singularly focused on exactly what's in front of him and he'll worry about
45:00 it later.
45:01 So it's probably gonna do this one too.
45:03 Yeah, no, that's totally fair.
45:05 And I think that he's pretty close just to continue moving up in the rankings.
45:12 He's obviously not going to catch Don Shula this year, but every little bit helps.
45:16 Everything kind of makes his pathway towards that number one spot a little bit closer.
45:20 That's what he wants.
45:21 That's what he's sticking around for.
45:23 And anything that can prove that he should stick around for two more years with the Patriots
45:27 may be able to do it for him.
45:30 If he's able to show that this win against the Jets gets them a little bit closer, keeps
45:34 the team motivated.
45:36 I don't want the Patriots going on that coaching carousel, especially because like, honestly,
45:41 like GM moves aside, how many better coaches are you really going to get in free agency?
45:47 Like you're not, you're chasing another Kyle Shanahan kind of a situation.
45:53 And so like, try and get better associate coaches and let Bill Belichick keep them at
45:58 home for a little bit and find him front office support.
46:01 That's what you gotta do.
46:02 And give him a top three draft pick for the first time in his career and see if he can
46:05 do it in a ton of cap space.
46:07 I think that's a reasonable request.
46:09 It just didn't work out.
46:10 Mac Jones isn't the guy, Bailey Zappi's really not the guy.
46:13 Nobody can win with Bailey Zappi and Mac Jones in the NFL.
46:15 It doesn't matter which team you put them on.
46:17 You put them on, you put those two quarterbacks on any team in the NFL, any roster, you're
46:21 losing most of the games.
46:22 So let Bill Belichick have a shot at least to build the roster one more time.
46:26 I'm all for that.
46:27 But again, that's, we're talking off season, Rich.
46:29 This is regular season.
46:30 We got to let this season come to a merciful close.
46:32 The good news is next time you and I get together next week, it'll be rear view mirror time.
46:37 We can talk about what could have been, what should have been, and what will be going forward.
46:41 And that'll be a lot more fun in my personal opinion.
46:43 Absolutely.
46:44 Well, until next time, Alec, you have a good one.
46:47 You too, buddy.
46:48 See ya.
46:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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