- 4 months ago
Andrew Callahan joined Toucher & Hardy to break down Drake Maye’s rough outing against the Raiders. Maye showed some promise, but pressure led to sacks, missed throws, and a costly pick. Callahan said the bigger issue is the Patriots’ weak protection and play-calling, not Maye’s talent. He warned that if the team falls to 0-2 with a loss in Miami, the season could quickly spiral.
Image courtesy of USA TODAY NETWORK
Image courtesy of USA TODAY NETWORK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Drake May's performance, how did he look? Did he look confused? When you analyzed it, what did you see from him?
00:10I saw a lot from Drake. A lot that I didn't like. I thought overall it was just an okay performance.
00:16I already mentioned the play under pressure, which was really, to me, the difference.
00:20Where, again, 0 for 3 in the first half, second half 4 of 8, 3 sacks and a pick whenever he was pressured.
00:26It's got to be better than that. You had some missed throws that were short here and there.
00:30Didn't love it. But for me, he just seemed a little busy-headed.
00:35And I don't know if it's the offense. If Rabel said this yesterday, we've got to figure out maybe if we put too much on his plate.
00:40I think he's capable of that. But there are things that, over time, you can't live with him as the quarterback
00:46if you're going to surprise the season, have a winning season, or even make a surprise run to the playoffs.
00:51So it's a little disappointing, I'd say, from Drake.
00:53And do you think it was the McDaniels, him being too in his head about the complexity of the offense,
00:59or do you think it was just being rattled by what the Raiders were doing?
01:03I don't think it's the complexity of the offense because I know that McDaniels has had to change how he teaches it to these guys.
01:09Like, when Rabel was in Tennessee, one of the first things they did is they brought in old high school teachers from Nashville
01:14to sit in on their meetings. And he had an old defensive coordinator by the name of Dean Pease
01:18who would go on and on and on. He was a good coach.
01:20He was here.
01:20But, yes, he was here and went to Baltimore and then Tennessee.
01:23And he would have these hour-long breakdowns like one play.
01:26And the teachers go, look, the kids today need breaks.
01:30It's got to be 15 minutes. Give them a little bit of phone. Let them get up. Let them do these different things.
01:34I don't know how McDaniels was running his meetings before, but I know it's not like –
01:37I know that's exactly how it is right now.
01:39So the complexity seems to be fine.
01:41The offensive lineman didn't blow many blocks or the receivers didn't run routes where I'm going, ooh, that was an issue.
01:45It's just he has so much on his shoulders because of the pressure, because they're not running the ball,
01:52and you're playing behind against a defense that knows they can throw anything at you.
01:55It's a lot. That's what it is.
01:58Okay, and so it's a talent issue.
02:01No, it's not talent.
02:02It's just –
02:02Not with May, but with the team.
02:04Yes.
02:05It's a talent issue.
02:06Yes.
02:06Okay, let's do this exercise.
02:09If May's on the Vikings, what is his success – how does that affect his success?
02:16Personnel and coaching.
02:18I mean, I think he probably makes the playoffs like they did last year with Sam Darnold.
02:23Because, I mean, that team is – you talk about talent, like Stack.
02:25That was a team that should – almost had the one seed had they beaten the Lions in that last game last year.
02:29I think they probably went on the road against Chicago like J.J. McCarthy did, playing worse than Drake May did, I think,
02:34aside from the finish, which is really important.
02:36But, you know, it's hard to say.
02:39Because the guy that we've seen – we've talked about this before – his development now for going on a third straight year
02:45is behind a bad pass-protecting offensive line.
02:47That lends itself to bad habits.
02:49So when I see him a little frenzied at a time or busy-headed Sunday,
02:53I don't know if that's a one-game sample in September, which we know by now not to trust,
02:57because the Patriots beat the Bengals last year,
02:58or are these habits that they're trying not to get ingrained but are there
03:03because he's a guy who just constantly has to worry too much about pressure.
03:07Do you see mechanical issues with him?
03:09A lot of people have been discussing that.
03:11You know what's funny?
03:11It's like if the guy's completing passes – if a pitcher, for example, is throwing strikes
03:15and you're like, oh, that's not really how you're supposed to wind up
03:18and throw the ball to the plate, you threw a strike.
03:20The issue comes up, we love to do this, when the result isn't what we like,
03:23you kind of run it back and be like, oh, it was the mechanics.
03:26No one cared about this when he had good games last year.
03:28I don't love it.
03:29I think there are some throws where his feet get a little too happy,
03:32but it's not something consistent where I'm worried about that.
03:36I'm more worried about the protection and what it does to him mentally.
03:40Okay.
03:40And so do you think that they were negligent in the offseason
03:45because they are actively creating bad habits?
03:51No, I think they – bad habits stem from the offensive line play.
03:55That's what I'm saying.
03:55Do you think they were negligent in terms of building the offensive line?
03:58No, they tried.
03:58No one just wanted to come here.
03:59I mean, just like Chris Godwin, they gave Ronnie Stanley or offered Ronnie Stanley
04:02way more than he actually signed for to stay at Baltimore.
04:05Same with Godwin and Tampa Bay.
04:06They tried an interior offensive lineman, someone of whom went to Minnesota.
04:10Instead, they got Minnesota's leftovers and Garrett Bradbury.
04:13Yeah, Bradbury, he came in with a reputation of being terrible.
04:18Not a good pass protector.
04:19I will say, though, he was the only one I didn't have down for a pressure let up Sunday.
04:22Like, talk about September when you go, I don't know what to expect.
04:27This is largely not meaningless.
04:29The games count.
04:29But I can't extrapolate anything from this for the long term.
04:32That's an example.
04:33I'm not going, oh, Garrett Bradbury is going to be this outstanding pass protector
04:36the rest of the season.
04:37But he was a good Sunday.
04:38Okay.
04:39Go ahead.
04:39Now, I was just going to say, defensively, this was the half of the team
04:45that was supposed to keep them in games.
04:48So, they had some real, a couple of weapons to face against the Raiders.
04:54But, and we had a disagreement about this on Monday.
04:58I didn't think the secondary looked all that good.
05:00I thought the third and 20 that they gave up at the end of the game was pretty much inexcusable.
05:07Hawkins redeemed himself, you know, after the touchdown by getting the interception.
05:12Overall, though, defensively, what did you think of this team?
05:16Does it have the markings of a defense that will be able to keep them in games?
05:21So, the secondary played up to my expectation, which I think is to say it was passable.
05:26If not, a little bit better than that.
05:27The issue, you bring up the third and 20, and I think this goes right in concert with
05:31the third and 11 we saw in the first quarter.
05:33The play calling it sometimes was just way too aggressive.
05:37And the third and 11, the touchdown, you remember Christian Barmore and Milt Williams,
05:39your maybe two best pass rushers drop into coverage, and Geno Smith throws this ball
05:44to Jalen Hawkins, who's covering Trey Tucker.
05:46I go, yeah, Jalen Hawkins should have covered Trey Tucker better, but I'm not asking a
05:50middle league safety.
05:51He shouldn't have fallen down, yes.
05:52Yeah, not asking a middle league safety to stand up, but cover a small, speedy guy.
05:57Like, why would you ask him to do that against Pop Douglas in practice?
06:01Yeah, yeah.
06:01That's a scheme thing.
06:02That's a play calling thing to me.
06:03You send the house on third and 20, like, what else is he going to do?
06:06He's going to throw a long because he's got nothing to lose.
06:08It's an arm punt.
06:09So I wouldn't have made those calls.
06:11To me, if you had Christian Gonzalez, this would have been a different game because they
06:14would have put him on Brock Bowers on third down, and that would have, you know, obviously
06:18shorted some of their drives.
06:20But ultimately, I don't think that's why they lost yesterday.
06:23Tackling was a bigger issue and play calling in big moments.
06:25So it seems like something that you could fix, though.
06:29If you're too aggressive with the play calling and you're making mistakes in terms of personnel
06:34and matchups, do they have enough talent on the defense, if they fix those things, that
06:39the defense can keep them in game?
06:41Definitely.
06:41Absolutely.
06:42I mean, I'd say they did keep them in the game yesterday.
06:4520 points?
06:46You should be able to do that against a Raiders defense that was not good last year.
06:49You should, but also, what are your expectations for the offense?
06:53And look, you're not going to win a ton of games if you sit down and say, okay, we've
06:57crunched the numbers.
06:58This is it.
06:5817 points is the most we can squeeze out of this offense in any given week against any
07:03given opponent.
07:04You're going to be terrible.
07:05You're going to be terrible.
07:06But that might be what it takes.
07:08I think 20 has to be a four, but something close.
07:13You've got a good quarterback.
07:15You've got better offensive linemen.
07:17You've got better receivers.
07:19Good tight ends.
07:20Deep running back room.
07:21Let's get it to go.
07:23Let's move.
07:2420 points should be the minimum of what you're shooting for on Sunday.
07:28This team doesn't score points.
07:30When was the last time they had 30?
07:312022 with Bailey Zappi in Cleveland.
07:33Yeah.
07:34Okay.
07:34So, I mean, this is what we're talking about here.
07:38I mean, you say you hold the team to 20.
07:40I think you've got to hold the team to 14.
07:43Right.
07:43But this is not that team, though.
07:44Bailey Zappi is not Drake May.
07:46The end of Bill Belichick losing his mind and Gerard Mayo are not Mike Vrabel.
07:50And Josh McDaniels, as we know, is not Alex Van Pelt.
07:52So, the talent is the talent.
07:53Don't get me wrong.
07:54And I'd love to say that exact phrase to remind people they've got a ways to go.
07:58And the offensive line, still an issue.
08:00But it's better than what they had then in the most important places.
08:02So, to me, that means no excuses when it comes to just scoring 20 points.
08:06Well, if you want to feel better, the Cowboys allowed 24 points and lost.
08:14The Chiefs allowed 27 points and lost.
08:20And the Falcons allowed 23 points and lost.
08:24So, there you go.
08:26There you go.
08:26That makes you feel better.
08:28The Saints allowed 20 points and lost.
08:31So, these are all things that you can feel good about.
08:34Go ahead, Jonathan.
08:35Okay.
08:35We were talking about this before you got here.
08:38This game in Miami, technically north of there.
08:41But this road game against the Dolphins this weekend, Patriots don't always play.
08:45In fact, they never play well down there.
08:47A lot of weird things have happened to good teams down there.
08:50They're 0-1.
08:51If they lose this game to a Dolphins team that's beat up, probably is going to have their coach fired during the season.
08:59Tyreek Hill's got all sorts of problems throwing tantrums on the sideline already.
09:03He wasn't voted a captain.
09:04There's a leadership issue.
09:05I could go on and on.
09:06If they go and lose this game, this is a very winnable game.
09:11If they lose this one, I fear we're in store for another four or five-win season.
09:16I fear that's what we'll hear a lot of next week.
09:20I want to remind folks that they have not won there very often and that they're underdogs going into Sunday.
09:26And it's a marathon, not a sprint.
09:28You can still get to it.
09:29Look, quiz time.
09:30Two games into an NFL season is equivalent to how many games in an NBA season?
09:37Oh, jeez.
09:38I can tell you this off the top of my head.
09:39Okay, go ahead.
09:40It's 10.
09:41Okay.
09:41It's 18 or six series in a Major League Baseball season.
09:460-2 is bad.
09:47If they go down and lose to Miami, John, you're right.
09:49What's the percentage of teams that start 0-2, though, that make the playoffs?
09:53That's when it starts getting scary as a fan.
09:55It's low, 14, 15%.
09:56Tempe, you have been at the front of the bus going, anyone who thought this team was going anywhere?
10:00I don't think they're making the playoffs.
10:01So it's not something you should concern yourself.
10:03No, no.
10:04No, no, no, no.
10:04There's a difference between improvement in six or seven wins and another 4-13 season, which is what I feel would happen.
10:10They're not going to be 4-13.
10:12Yeah, I don't think so either.
10:13But my problem with the Miami thing is that it appears that Miami's falling apart.
10:20You've got to admit, this is McDaniel.
10:23This is his last year as the coach.
10:25And I like him a lot, which it's sad to me that he's losing the job.
10:30I mean, there's mutiny on the sidelines.
10:33They're trading away a ton of – I mean, they treated the offseason like they didn't want to win this season.
10:38McJones is their number one cornerback at this point.
10:42So, like, you're going into, like, a very – a team that's, like, at the height of toxicity.
10:47Like, if you were asking me today, and not just based on week one, but based on the offseason and then throw week one in,
10:55but that's part of the formula, Miami's in contention for the number one overall pick in the draft.
11:01I really believe that.
11:02Like, New Orleans –
11:04Cleveland.
11:04And Cleveland – but they played Cincinnati.
11:08I think Cleveland's going to be a little better than that.
11:10Well, maybe not.
11:11But Cleveland, New Orleans, it's fair.
11:14But Miami's in that echelon based on coaching, offseason, and first game.
11:20If you have improved, you should win this game.
11:23It would be – look, doing radio – doing sports radio in Boston, I'm hoping they win on Sunday
11:31because it's going to be very difficult.
11:33I really do hope they win on Sunday because if they don't show against Miami, then you –
11:42I think we're on the same page with the amount of wins, but we also are on the same page about in December, like, being technically in the hunt.
11:52That's all you really want.
11:53Yeah.
11:54And that if you don't win that Miami game, now you're getting in a situation where, look, it's great for the team if at the end of the season they finish stronger than they started.
12:03That's what you want, too.
12:05But you do want it – you don't want to mathematically out of things.
12:09No, you want some – in December, you want some Felgermas path math.
12:13You want to have the – you want to be able to have the conversation.
12:16Yeah.
12:16Technically, it's still possible.
12:18That's all.
12:18I want to be crystal clear.
12:19If they lose at Miami, this is very bad.
12:22An 0-2 start, if they have the same problems with tackling, certain plate calling, Drake may under pressure, that portends poorly for the season.
12:30I'm not going to be happy as a guy who has believed in May and in Vrabel.
12:33Well, the issue for me, whether they win or they lose, is extrapolating anything from the two weeks in the NFL season that mean less than all of the rest.
12:42Now, there is something to be said for when you lose these winnable games in September.
12:46I was texting with Chris Mason and Matt's Live about this yesterday, that when it comes to December, and you mentioned – or we talked about 2022 a couple of minutes ago,
12:53they lose to Cincinnati on a reminder of Stevenson Fumble on Christmas Eve, and they were this close to winning that game, and they finish 8-9.
12:59You really would have loved to have beaten the Dolphins in their season opener that year.
13:03Those games, these games that they just lost on Sunday and might do again this week, come back to bite you.
13:08I'm just not going to freak out because I still believe in what I see from this team in the most important positions, and September tells us nothing.
13:16Okay.
13:16What do we know about Gonzalez?
13:19Not much more than I knew last week, which he's not practicing, hasn't practiced in over six weeks now by the time whenever we see him on Wednesday.
13:26And to me, that doesn't seem like a guy who's ready to play on Sunday.
13:28What are the odds we see him tomorrow?
13:30I would say probably pretty low.
13:32And to me, here's the simplest thing about Gonzalez.
13:36The most likely thing that happened with him is he had a setback because he pushed himself too hard or the team pushed him too hard.
13:43Right.
13:43That's what happens with injuries.
13:44And with that soft tissue injuries too.
13:47And if it's a grade two hamstring, which it's certainly not a grade one because this is more serious,
13:51then he's actually at the back end of his recovery timeline for how bad those are.
13:56Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when we were sitting here, it's like, yeah, he's really banged up, you know, and he's going to sit.
14:01Just plan on him being out for Miami, too.
14:03You don't even need him for Miami.
14:05Now, they shouldn't, but...
14:06I'd want him for Miami.
14:07I'd want him.
14:08I'd actually really want him for Miami.
14:10See, I don't have receivers that technically should be good.
14:13That's the strength of their team is their receivers.
14:16Now, the quarterback's ability to get to the ball, to get them the ball is of question.
14:21And the fact that every time he gets hit, it seems almost like a cruelty situation.
14:27But if I'm remembering that was the conversation, you should be able to get to Tua quick enough to where you're going to negate his receivers and their speed on the outside.
14:35So having Gonzalez there...
14:36I like this style of defense against Miami, too, better than what the Patriots used to run.
14:39When they get the ball up that quickly, and this defensive line is we just got to go in and screw stuff up, that should help them, I think, schematically.
14:46Yeah.
14:46I mean, look, man, you're right.
14:48I mean, 0-2 at the beginning of this schedule didn't seem like an ideal two games to lose because it seemed like it was weighted pretty...
14:56You know, the weight of the easiness of your schedule was early, but...
15:01Yeah, and you still got Pittsburgh and Carolina, but it's...
15:04Yeah, if it's 0-2, John, I agree.
15:06Pittsburgh.
15:06It's going to be pretty bad.
15:07Pittsburgh, good luck against...
15:08I think Pittsburgh won.
15:09Aaron Rodgers is up to his Hall of Fame.
15:12He can play now, huh?
15:13He was victimized by the Jets.
15:15I would say you got Carolina and New Orleans soon enough.
15:18Browns are down there, Titans in October.
15:20Yeah, I know.
15:20They have an easy schedule.
15:21All right, but you got to win the games.
15:23For all the latest from the Sports Hub, download the app at 98.5 The Sports Hub.
15:26Dotcom.
Be the first to comment