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What is the most important thing for Drake Maye these last 4 games of regular season? #NFL legend Boomer Esiason joins! What is the Maye key?
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00:00Hey, Boomer.
00:01Hey, it's not a victory Monday, but it wasn't a great day for the Patriots yesterday as the Broncos win, the Bills win, and it seems things are tightening up a little bit, but the Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals have fallen off a little bit over in the AFC.
00:15Wow, we are still basking in the glow of that Chiefs loss last night. Can we celebrate that for a moment, please?
00:21We can celebrate it if you want, and I understand that, you know, legacies want, you know, they hate each other, so you guys were a legacy team from there for 20 years, and Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid have tried to recreate that, and the Texans basically wiped them out.
00:35They're falling short. I mean, people were using the D word. It's not accurate. It's not a dynasty. You can't miss the playoffs when Mahomes is in his prime, Boomer.
00:45I know that. I'm right there with you. I mean, it was, last night was a beatdown. You know, actually, in the second half, I thought the Chiefs were going to run away with it, quite frankly, because their defense shut down C.J. Stroud.
00:57He made, like, four crazy plays out of the pocket. I mean, those are things that you can't defend when an athlete does something like that, but I have to say that it's going to be really interesting.
01:09No Joe Burrow, most likely, and no Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs this year. That feels weird to me.
01:14Well, looking ahead to this game Sunday here at Gillette, where we are this morning, and, you know, earlier in the season, Patriots beat them, and some, you know, Cam Newton was probably, thought it was a fluke, but when you look ahead to this game and to the New England Patriots and the Bills, what do these guys have to do here to win this football game?
01:38Just like they did last time. You got to run the ball down their throat, and you can't turn the football over.
01:43You know, Joe Burrow played almost the perfect game until two back-to-back interceptions, and he hadn't thrown an interception all year when he was playing.
01:51They were managing the game. They had the big, explosive plays against the Bills' defense, which they are capable of giving up, and we've seen this time and time again.
02:00Their run defense, meaning the New England Patriots' run defense, is going to have to be stout because they're trying to run the ball, and certainly, as we saw yesterday, Superman can put on his cape, and those are the plays that, you know, really draw up defenses, but I'm sure Mike Vrabel and his defensive staff will have something to try to mitigate the impact that Josh Allen's going to have with his feet.
02:23Look, their wide-receiving core is okay. It's a B-plus in the NFL. They have really top-quality tight ends that are good when they're on the field.
02:34He looks for them quite a bit, and James Cook's a top running back, so their defense can be had. There's no question about that.
02:40You just cannot turn the ball over against them, and they will turn the ball over to you if you're smart enough, and that's obviously what this thing's going to come down to.
02:50So, Boomer, you're spot on. You definitely can't turn the ball over, but something that you have to make a decision defensively is at the end of the game, it's third and 15.
02:59Do you blitz Josh Allen in that situation and say, all right, get the ball out of your hands because we're not going to play coverage and allow you to pick up 15 yards running the football as you scramble as a breakdown?
03:10What do you do in that situation if you're a defensive coordinator?
03:13You know, this is the thing about Mike Vrabel playing under Bill Belichick, and I remember covering all those teams and those great defenses.
03:21They always had an act to make a play when the game was on the line, and what we see week in and week out, it comes down to third down defense and whether or not teams are going to go for it on fourth down,
03:32which I thought Andy Reid was overly aggressive in the second half with last night.
03:36He may have lost the game as much as Travis Kelsey or anybody else dropping the football or poor passes by Patrick Mahomes.
03:43Sometimes you just got to be a little bit more conservative, but I do think that Mike Vrabel has always been known or was known as a very smart, instinctive player,
03:52and those instincts are the things that you have to teach your team, and hopefully they can live up to doing the same things that he did when he was a player,
04:00and that is being aware of situational football, and that's one of the situations you're talking about, Jermaine.
04:06It's always the toughest thing when you're playing against a quarterback that is as mobile as Josh is and as dangerous when he's on the run,
04:13not just running himself, but also before he crosses the line of scrimmage looking downfield to find an open guy.
04:18So if you're in the secondary, you can't drop your guy, and I would imagine, and this is an overused word in the NFL,
04:25but I would imagine they would use some sort of spy technique, meaning that somebody has got to just be aware of Josh Allen stepping up in the pocket.
04:33So maybe they don't rush up the middle as much or as hard as they normally would in those situations
04:38and be ready for him to try to scoot out of there and make that big play.
04:43Time for this week's Drake Take from Boomer, which is brought to you by your New England Chevy dealers.
04:48Together, let's drive.
04:49David Andrews said on the Patriots Daily podcast this week that he hopes the Patriots make it to San Francisco
04:57and that Drake May doesn't win MVP, so this team has a chip on their shoulder when they're sitting out there on Saturday morning, whatever.
05:07Is it in general, never mind talking about that game that we won't win in one of Jinx,
05:13but is it in general a better thing for a player if they don't end up year two being the MVP?
05:19No, I don't think so.
05:20I think if you want to win every award you possibly can, but Drake's not going to tell you that.
05:24I mean, for those of us, cover the league, and for those of us who used to, I voted for this award for about 22 to 23 years,
05:32and I took it really, really seriously because I know what it means to somebody's career and their resume.
05:37I mean, and when you have that on your resume, nobody can ever take that away from you.
05:40So they can look at it as a slight if they want.
05:44All I can tell you is that Matthew Stafford is putting up great numbers out in L.A.
05:48They had another great game yesterday, and like I told you guys last week, the only knock that I have against Drake is just the amount of sacks taken.
05:57That's all.
05:58And I think Matthew's got about 17 taken, and Drake's up to 40, and that's one of the reasons why Drake's completion percentage is a little bit better
06:06or significantly better than Matthew's, but both players are playing great.
06:10I think it's going to come down to who plays great now this last month, these last four games, and people are watching
06:17because every single one of these games means something, and these teams have got to win the game.
06:22And by the way, I would say that Josh Allen probably injected himself into the outer ring of the conversation based on yesterday's performance,
06:30another comeback against another great quarterback.
06:33So I don't know.
06:34It's not a slight in any way, shape, or form if he doesn't win it, but if they want to use it as that thing, good for them.
06:39Yeah, I mean, Greg, you can't ask Boomer who won the NFL MVP.
06:44That's true.
06:45It's important to not win the MVP.
06:49Boomer, we still have the Ravens on our schedule.
06:51Who are they after that loss yesterday?
06:53I don't know.
06:54They're lost, man.
06:55I was wondering going into this game whose offense was going to play better, and it turned out to be Aaron Rodgers
07:00and his Steeler offense as opposed to Lamar Jackson and Baltimore.
07:04I saw Lamar after the game yesterday giving a couple quotes.
07:07He really looked down.
07:09They've lost their way.
07:10I mean, they really have.
07:11Now, I will say, this whole thing about whether or not this was a catch at the end of the game in the end zone for Zay Flowers.
07:18They got robbed.
07:19They did get robbed.
07:20100% got robbed.
07:22I don't know what the hell they're talking about.
07:24A movement comment to the game.
07:25I don't know.
07:26What the hell is that?
07:28Why are we in the middle of this again?
07:30Like, if that were a ball that was caught and wasn't in the end zone, it would have been a fumble.
07:36I mean, I don't know.
07:38I mean, because the whole—listen, it looked like a catch to me, Isaiah, likely.
07:42But in the end zone, the rules are a little bit different.
07:44But in the field, they might have just said that was incomplete.
07:46All right, let me ask you this question.
07:48Let's say he catches it at the back of the end zone, two feet in, out of bounds.
07:52Then the ball comes out after that.
07:54Right.
07:54I mean, that's a touchdown.
07:56I mean, like, if a running back decides to jump over the line of scrimmage from the one-yard line,
08:02and he just barely touches the nose of the ball, touches the goal line, it's a touchdown.
08:06I don't know.
08:07They got—I don't know.
08:09I've watched football.
08:10I've played football.
08:11You guys have watched it.
08:12Jermaine, you played it.
08:14Let's call it as it is.
08:15They got screwed, and I don't care.
08:17And I love Gene Steratore, and I'm not out to get the officials, but that was horrendous.
08:24But wasn't the implementation of replay so that there were not horrible injustices
08:31against teams, like, you know, that this was a clear wrong call.
08:35We're going to fix it.
08:36It feels like, especially touchdown catches in the end zone, they create a problem where
08:41it doesn't exist.
08:42Would anybody have said a word if they didn't even review that touchdown catch, let alone
08:47overturn it?
08:48Yeah.
08:48Yeah.
08:49I don't think any of us would.
08:50I think all of us—what we saw was Zay Flowers catch the ball two feet in bounds across
08:55the goal line in the end zone.
08:57Boom.
08:57Done.
08:57Touchdown.
08:58Over.
08:58I mean, how they came up with this and then listening to the guys doing the game and trying
09:04to explain it, and then, of course, Gene Steratore comes on and talks about it some more.
09:10I mean, I'm just—as a quarterback, I was just bewildered.
09:15I don't know how else to say—well, pissed is really, I guess, what I was, because I want
09:19the right team to win, whether I picked them or not, or I liked them or not, or I played
09:24for them or not.
09:25I just don't want the injustice of losing a game on a call like that.
09:29Boomer, can the Colts win without Daniel Jones?
09:33No.
09:33Maybe they'll trade for Joe Flacco.
09:35I don't know.
09:37I don't know what they're going to do.
09:38I think they're—I feel like their season has just been totally pulled out from underneath
09:42of them.
09:42And I—I feel terrible for Daniel Jones because all those years he was here with the Giants,
09:47stuff like this happened to him almost every single year.
09:50And he's got a reputation now of just being—and I don't want to use the word brittle because
09:55that's not right.
09:56He's just got a—an injury bug that has not seemed to leave him, and he's got to deal with
10:03that reputation now, which is unfortunate because he was on pace to make between $100 and $140
10:08million, most likely.
10:10Boomer, listen, I remember your career, but I don't remember it at the very beginning.
10:15So I'll ask this question.
10:17I don't know if you were born then.
10:18No, no.
10:19Believe me, I was born.
10:20I was born.
10:21It was before television.
10:22Yeah, I was very young.
10:23When you look at a young quarterback like Drake May, and I don't know if you're ever in this
10:27situation, what becomes the most important thing for the young quarterback, especially
10:33late—well, December, heading into the playoffs on how he has to play and what he needs to
10:39do?
10:40All right, so interestingly enough, you asked me that.
10:42In my second year, I kind of like was Drake May.
10:44In other words, the light went on, and I had great coaching around me.
10:48I had great players around me like he does, and I was in the right situation to really
10:52flourish, and, you know, back—that was 1985, by the way, Jermaine.
10:56No, I was 10 years old.
10:58I don't remember the Bears and Patriots Super Bowl, so.
11:01Right, and you were having a few beers and everything, I'm sure, at that time.
11:06But the light goes on.
11:08It really does, and you start to really understand what defenses are trying to do to you.
11:13He's lucky to have Josh McDaniels as his coach.
11:15He's got everything around him that he needs, a quality running game, quality offensive line,
11:19even though, you know, the offensive line has been banged up.
11:22Buffalo's offensive line is banged up, and yet they still score as many points as they
11:25did the last two games.
11:26So you've got to make do with what you have.
11:28But I will also say for him, it's just not to put too much pressure on himself.
11:33He knows how important these games are, the expectations that come along with him.
11:37Stay healthy.
11:38Don't drink a lot of alcohol.
11:40Don't try to celebrate too much because you haven't accomplished anything just yet.
11:43And this is the final run.
11:45This is the final turn here, these last four games.
11:47And this will determine whether or not you have home field advantage in the AFC, which
11:52in this case, this year, I think is a huge, huge win for the team that gets that.
11:57And if they can hold serve and they can keep the home field advantage and get the bye,
12:02that is a huge thing for them to look forward to.
12:05And that, to me, would be, I think, the inspiration that Mike Vrabel would bring to this team.
12:11Question of the week for Boomer presented by McFarland Energy,
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12:23Shador Sanders threw for over 300 yards in that loss yesterday.
12:27Do the Browns have their quarterback of the future?
12:30It's one game.
12:31I thought he looked really good at times yesterday.
12:34I saw a couple of where he planted his back foot, made a decision and threw it.
12:38He's still throwing a lot of short passes, which is fine.
12:41He beat the worst team in the NFL.
12:44Not going to overreact to it.
12:46There are a lot of one-hit wonders.
12:48He still has a lot of work to do.
12:51And I think what they're really doing with him and what they have done with him
12:54is everybody's trying to put him in his place.
12:56Everybody's trying to make him realize that this is a pretty serious deal.
13:01I still don't know if they truly believe in him,
13:03but I'm glad for him that he played as well as he did yesterday,
13:08but in just typical Browns fashion,
13:10they ended up losing to the worst team in the NFL.
13:13It's unbelievable.
13:15You can't, you can't, somebody needs to, I'm sure somebody wrote a book.
13:18The question is, is did the book actually sell?
13:23Boomer, I would like to personally thank you for keeping Notre Dame out of the college football playoffs.
13:27But in all sincerity, why is James Madison, a team that if they played Notre Dame,
13:34Notre Dame would be favored by three touchdowns in the playoff over Notre Dame?
13:38Well, because they belong to a conference.
13:40That's why.
13:41I mean, if I were Notre Dame, I belonged to a conference.
13:44Everybody signed up for the same format.
13:47They may expand it again because of this kind of controversy.
13:50If I had, if I were Notre Dame, my argument would be, why is Alabama in front of me?
13:55You know, why, why, why, why would them getting blown out by Georgia in the championship game
14:01and having three losses?
14:02Now, some say the championship games don't matter unless there's a major upset in one of those games.
14:08Now, Duke obviously upset Virginia, but they have five losses,
14:11so there's no way they're going to be in the 12 team playoff.
14:13You could say that Vanderbilt, you could say that Notre Dame are better than JMU,
14:18and there's probably a couple others.
14:20But unfortunately, the way the system is written and the way that it's looked at,
14:25they followed it to the letter of the law,
14:28and I am glad that Notre Dame basically didn't get in.
14:31And I would just say to Notre Dame, you know, join a conference.
14:35If you joined the ACC, you most likely would have been in the ACC championship game.
14:39You would have won the ACC, and guess what?
14:42You'd be in the college football championship probably as a top-four team.
14:47It's just hard that we were talking about it earlier,
14:49hard to figure when nothing happens with either team,
14:52and then Miami jumps them last minute.
14:54Like, it's not – it seems like it's based on oftentimes personal preference.
15:00Again, I still think it has something to do with being a part of a conference.
15:05The other thing, too, is that I am glad Miami jumped them,
15:08because Miami did beat them in the beginning of the year.
15:10So that's a head-to-head.
15:11That's easy.
15:12And I know teams change over the course of a season,
15:15and if one of these top teams would have lost one of their better quarterbacks,
15:19just like last year it happened to one of the teams that lost their quarterback,
15:22and they fell out of the college football playoff.
15:25I understand the committee looks at teams differently at the end of the year
15:28compared to where they were at the beginning of the year.
15:30But when you have two teams like Miami and Notre Dame,
15:34and they did play each other, and Miami won head-to-head,
15:36and Miami went on and had the same record
15:38and probably played about the same type of schedule.
15:42The thing about the Alabama situation is that they're in the SEC,
15:46and their schedule is significantly tougher than both Miami and Notre Dame.
15:52So that's the thing.
15:54That would be my argument if I were Notre Dame, why Alabama over us?
15:57But then again, if I'm on that committee, I'm saying to myself,
16:01that conference championship game doesn't really mean much to me.
16:04I already know where Alabama is, and Alabama was already ranked ahead of Notre Dame.
16:09So just join a conference, Notre Dame, with your football team
16:12and stop being independent and having your nose stuck up in the air at everybody.
16:16Well, we need a douche move ruling from you when it comes to the announcement
16:20right after that they won't participate in any bowl games.
16:23Well, there are a couple other teams, too, that just said the same thing.
16:26I hate that, but the college bowl season for teams that are not in the college football playoffs,
16:32a lot of players don't even play anymore.
16:34So it's a glorified scrimmage against players who hopefully will be on your team next year
16:39because the college transfer portal opens January 2nd, which is the dumbest thing ever,
16:45because it doesn't align with all that's going on.
16:49But I think that Notre Dame probably felt like, you know, I think maybe four or five
16:54or six or seven of our players probably didn't want to play in a meaningless bowl game
16:58for no reason and risk injury.
17:00Well, Curtis and Courtney know this because they're alumni.
17:03BC accepts any meaningless bowl.
17:06Yes.
17:07That they're ever there.
17:08That they're ever there.
17:09Well, I can say the same thing about the University of Maryland, Courtney,
17:12so don't you worry about it.
17:14I will take a bowl.
17:16Unlike my Georgia Bulldogs.
17:18I will say one thing, though, and this happened to me.
17:22My senior year, we played in the Citrus Bowl, and Reggie White got me.
17:27He played for Tennessee.
17:27He got me, and he separated my left throwing shoulder.
17:30In a meaningless game, I loved playing in the game.
17:33I wanted to play in the game, but I ended up with a separated shoulder coming out of that
17:37and did not perform well at the combine going into my draft.
17:41So I think that hurt me.
17:43Yeah, imagine how things could have been entirely different.
17:45I think it worked out.
17:47It didn't work out for you.
17:48Yeah, it kind of worked out for me.
17:50Now I've got to get up and do morning radio.
17:52I'm going to blow my brains out.
17:55Well, Boomer, thanks for getting us excited about this game on Sunday,
17:58and we will talk to you next week.
18:00All right, guys, look forward to it.
18:01Have a great week.
18:02Have a great week.
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