- 5 hours ago
How about that NE defense?? Has the defense been validated this postseason? NFL legend Boomer Esiason joins! On offense what was the key? Esiason: “A couple of these catches were unreal”
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Homer! Hey, good morning, man. Sounds like somebody lost their voice in another victory
00:05Monday. Can you guys handle all this winning? I mean, it wasn't pretty, but a gutsy performance
00:11by this defense yesterday. Hey, listen, this is Northeast football. It's snowy, it's sloppy,
00:16it's slippery. Looked like Houston is a team that plays indoors and C.J. Stroud doesn't like
00:21inclement weather. And, you know, I mean, for years and years and years and years and years,
00:26I remember listening to Coach Parcells always talk about Northeast football. You can say the
00:31same thing for Midwest football as well, that you've got to be able to run it. You've got to
00:35hold on to the football. And when you do pass the football, it's got to be, you know, it's got to
00:41be like, you've got to know where you're going. You can't make mistakes in the playoffs. And C.J.
00:47Stroud, unfortunately for him, literally had his worst game as a football player, I'm sure,
00:52in his life. Back-to-back weeks where the Patriots offense struggles, from your perspective,
01:00is that an issue or is that just playing better defenses? I just think you're playing better
01:05defenses. Remember, when this whole thing started, everybody was talking about strength of schedule.
01:10And I was talking about validating who they were as a team. They have validated who they are as a
01:18team, especially defensively. But I will say there were a couple of plays yesterday that were made
01:23three by Keyshawn Booty and a couple by Stefan Tiggs. A couple of these catches were unreal. I mean,
01:30and the passes were great. I mean, they were spot on. They were perfectly located. And those guys
01:36somehow, someway were able to catch the ball away from their body in those conditions. You know,
01:41that's the kind of winning plays that win football games. And of course, you know, when you have the
01:47other quarterback imploding right before everybody's eyes in the first half, I mean, you know, this was
01:52a win that was, I think, another validation to the, at least to the New England Patriots defense.
01:59Boomer, you talk about the fact that you played another good defense. I think it's time to now
02:04give the New England Patriots defense credit. Talk about what they've been able to do these past
02:09couple of weeks and especially yesterday. Yeah, there's no question. So it always starts with
02:14stopping the run. And that's exactly what they did yesterday. I think they gave up something like
02:1950 yards on the ground. So now that puts the pressure on the opposing quarterback. And like
02:24I said, CJ Scraud was not, you know, obviously he lost a number of his players around him, but so did
02:29Josh Allen's, you know, a couple of teams, you know, are limping into the playoffs without question,
02:35but stopping the run is always the most important aspect. And I'm sure Mike Vrabel will tell you that.
02:40And if you have the weather conditions that you had yesterday and you're forcing the other team
02:46to throw, and they literally have only one wide receiver to throw it to. And that was Jaden Higgins.
02:52You know, now defensively, the strategy changes. You could try to take him out of the game,
02:56which I think they did in the fourth quarter. But the amazing thing to me was still how close this
03:01game was going into the fourth quarter until the final touchdown. Now I will say this, that the,
03:08the first touchdown pass by Drake May on fourth down was that's Tom Brady-esque. That Tom Brady
03:13made a living on doing stuff like that. It was a great route. The ball gets tipped. Douglas catches
03:18it, goes for a touchdown. And you're thinking this is going to be a runaway game. But the weather again,
03:24like I said, played a major factor in both teams' offenses, not being as smooth as they can be.
03:29And now, lo and behold, the Denver Broncos get a huge break with Bo Nix going down for an AFC
03:37championship game. Boomer, how does this Patriots team match up with the Broncos? And how big of an
03:42advantage is it that Jared Siddham's now their quarterback? So, Courtney, really interesting.
03:46Yesterday, I was talking to a friend of mine who does analytics for the NFL and for games. And he gave me
03:52a stat that I couldn't believe. And he said that Bo Nix in the first half against the Bills ran,
03:59ran with the ball for about 450 yards. Now, obviously, all of that's behind the line of
04:06scrimmage, except for a couple of those yards. And the defensive linemen playing against Bo Nix in
04:13Denver get exhausted. And, you know, Buffalo had a very thin defensive line due to injuries. And
04:19there was a game that the Chiefs were playing. And my buddy who does this for a living was sitting
04:25behind the Chiefs bench when they were playing the Denver Broncos. And he said he was standing on
04:31the sideline. He goes, the defensive line for the Kansas City Chiefs were exhausted from chasing
04:36around Bo Nix. Now, with Jared Stidham back there, that's not going to be the case for this defensive
04:41line. And by the way, this defensive line now, when they are whole, they are playing great.
04:46This reminds me of when the New York Giants won their two Super Bowls. Quarterback played really,
04:52really well. But the defensive line of the Giants won those two Super Bowls, if you remember.
04:57And I'm sure you remember. I'm sure you remember. But I'm just saying like this defensive line is
05:02now starting to assert itself exactly, I think, the way that Mike Rabel expected it to.
05:08Time for this week's Drake Take from Boomer, which is presented by your New England Chevy Dealers.
05:12Together, let's drive. Drake May, four fumbles yesterday. Thanks to his teammates,
05:18they recovered a couple. So what do you give him grade-wise yesterday? And what does he need to
05:25do when it comes to holding on to the ball?
05:26I'm giving him a B because he had three touchdown passes. And in those conditions,
05:32not easy to throw. And I thought those touchdown passes, like I said, especially the one to,
05:36well, actually all three of them were terrific throws and terrific catches on the side of the
05:44wide receivers and three different wide receivers, by the way. So all of that is great. But ball
05:48security is the most important thing. And I'm sure Josh McDaniels is going to be telling him that.
05:53He's going to say, look, we got to protect the ball. The only way I believe they lose to Denver this
05:58week now is if they are minus in the turnover ratio. And by the way, Denver got a lot of turnovers
06:04this past week against the Bills, something that they hadn't done defensively consistently during
06:09the season. So that was a little bit of kind of an awakening, I think, for Drake May going into
06:16this game. Just hold on to the ball, man. We got to run the ball on a smaller defense. We got to
06:21control the football. Our defense should be able to control the Denver Bronco offense. So the only way,
06:27the only way that New England loses this game is if it's a defensive turnover by Denver
06:33or some other crazy situation where there are turnovers or special team scores by the Denver
06:39Broncos. And that's why the New England Patriots are favored as much as they are favored by.
06:44Boomer, going back to that Bills game, I understand the conversation about interception or catch.
06:51And I'm sure people vary in their beliefs on that. But I don't understand why the Josh Allen decision
06:57to lateral the ball right before halftime is not a bigger national story. If they just
07:03don't do anything there, take a knee, the Bills win the game. What was your take on the play that
07:09everybody's talking about? And what do you think about Josh Allen there?
07:11First of all, I'm an offensive player and I think I thought it was a catch. I thought it was a catch.
07:16And I had trouble sleeping on Saturday night. You know, I'm talking to all my buddies who have played
07:20in the NFL. I'm talking to coaches in the NFL. And I asked one question, catch or interception,
07:27guys? And literally every single guy that I called, and it had to be at least 20 of them
07:32or texted with, all said catch. Catch, catch, catch, catch, catch, catch, catch. Now we're breaking
07:38this down like this is a Bruda film, for God's sake. And it's all over the place. And I think the
07:45Bills got job there, but the Bills also created a lot of their own problems, including what happened
07:51at the end of the first half. I mean, this is the way that, you know, a favored team loses games when
07:56you get loose with the football. And maybe that's why Josh was so emotional after the game, because
08:01that's not usually the way he plays. I mean, he didn't have any turnovers in the previous six
08:06playoff games and I think 18 touchdowns. So he's always been, you know, the reason why the Bills have
08:12won. And when they do lose, it's when he gets a little loose with the football. So, I mean, I feel
08:18sick to my stomach about the fact that he's not playing in New England this week. I mean, that's
08:24what I was hoping for, but it's unfortunate and really, really going to be scrutinized because last
08:30night in the game between the Rams and the Bears, same thing happened, almost the same exact thing
08:35happened with Devontae Adams. And they called Devontae Adams' knee down and he's got the ball and,
08:41you know, the Chicago Bears are ripping the ball out of his hands. They have it. I mean,
08:47it's crazy. And then, of course, Chris Collinsworth makes mention about Buffalo Bill fans. And if
08:52you put those two plays side by side, man, they are really, really similar. And the outcome
08:56was different.
08:57It doesn't matter because it was a loss, but have you seen a throw like the one that
09:01Caleb Williams made last night?
09:03Oh, it was ridiculous. That was insane.
09:05I mean, unbelievable. With regard to Buffalo, any chance they make a change when it comes to,
09:11you know, there's always that possibility, man. I hope not, guys. I mean, I really,
09:18I like Sean McDermott and, you know, I try to be objective with these things. I try to
09:22look at these things a little bit differently. And he's been really hit with some really hard
09:27luck plays over the last few years. I mean, is just excruciating. And, you know, the Pagoula
09:33family, you know, they are wild cards. So I don't, I don't know what they're going to do. I,
09:37that's not on, none of this is on Sean McDermott, maybe with the exception of the end of the first
09:42half. But when you have Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, you know, top end quarterbacks,
09:47you're always going to give them a chance to score touchdowns. And if you don't, then, you know,
09:52everybody's saying, ah, you know, you, you, you packed it in and you, you're, you're conservative
09:57when you shouldn't be in those situations. So that was really an unfortunate fumble that
10:01if, if he does get fired, I would think that it would have to do with a lot of what happened at
10:07the end of the second half, as opposed to what happened in overtime. And at the end of the game,
10:11he's had a lot of years up there though. Um, a lot of years to get it done.
10:16Yeah. But you know, I, I understand, but this is not a team that just went for at four and 13.
10:21I mean, it's a, this is a team that was decimated by injuries all year long. Uh, and they made it to
10:28the divisional round and without a blown call, they're playing in the AFC championship game.
10:33And I feel bad for Josh, because obviously without Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson
10:38in his path, you would think that this would have been the easiest path for him to get to the
10:43Superbowl. It's never easy, but even now I think playing against the Patriots, as opposed to having
10:48to go to Houston would have given him a much better chance of, you know, winning and getting to the,
10:54the Superbowl because they had been in new England a few weeks ago and won. So I'm sure they
10:58would have been confident going in. He's been coaching there for as many years as Carson
11:02Beck has been out of college and not going to class. Yeah, I know. I mean, can we be real?
11:08How many guys are really going to class? I mean, come on. Boomer, what, what does everyone
11:14in New York, the Jets fans, the Dolphins fans say today? Because all I heard for the Brady
11:19Belichick years was you just lucked into a quarterback. You lucked in it with, with Bill Belichick.
11:25It's very difficult to win unless you do that. And now the Patriots have rebuilt another team
11:30that's in an AFC championship while the other AFC, you know, loser is still sitting at home.
11:35Well, you know, I work with a Jet fan down here, Mike Fliegelman, and he's always the guy
11:40that's hooking us up. And I'm going to ask him as, uh, what he told me when I sat down here in
11:46this, uh, uh, at the desk here, getting ready to talk to you guys. Uh, Mike, uh, how do you feel
11:50about watching the Patriots rebuild under your eyes? I mean, these guys lucked into it again,
11:57another dynasty incoming. They are really frustrated with you people out there. I'm just telling you,
12:03I just like bringing you victory Mondays, but every time we sit here and he's got to listen to me talk
12:09about victory Monday, he gets angry at me too. Well, the Jets had a chance to get Mike Vrabel,
12:14but they chose to pass on that one. So yeah, no, the Jets didn't, uh, decide to pass on that.
12:19Mike Vrabel decided to pass on that. And he took, he took the right job where he's comfortable.
12:24And he had the quarterback brought back the offensive coordinator and bought some defensive
12:29players. And lo and behold, they're on the cusp of yet another Superbowl appearance.
12:34Question of the week for boomers brought to you by McFarlane Energy, the region's most dependable
12:38provider of home heating oil delivery and expert HVAC services at McFarlaneEnergy.com.
12:44A couple of weeks from now, uh, you're on record. Who is, uh, who do we see in the Superbowl?
12:50Uh, Seattle, I think, um, it's gonna be really tough. I mean, before the, everything started,
12:56I thought Rams and Texans, to be honest with you, I didn't expect that CJ Stroud was going to play,
13:02uh, just horrendous football the last two weeks, but, um, I, Seattle is going to be really difficult
13:08for the Rams to go in there and beat, you know, they know each other. It's, you know, obviously a
13:11division matchup again. And, uh, the Rams, you know, I look like to be a pretty much healthy,
13:17especially at wide receiver. I mean, they go in and do it, man, but that performance by Seattle,
13:22uh, that, that was just so impressive and just so intimidating. I mean, the 49ers didn't have a
13:28chance. The moment that the game started, obviously with a kickoff return, but I think Seattle,
13:33I think Seattle now looks to be the team that's going to make it to the Superbowl.
13:37And you would be shocked if the new England Patriots are not right there.
13:40Totally shocked. Totally shocked, especially with the quarterback situation. Most important,
13:44uh, place in football. Now, Nick Foles did it with the Philadelphia Eagles. I don't know if
13:50Jared Stidham has it on, I mean, he hasn't thrown a ball since 2023. You guys know him,
13:54you guys drafted him, but I mean, this, this is going to be, this is going to be a really tall task
14:00for the Denver Broncos. All right, Boomer. Well, thanks for taking the time on a victory Monday.
14:05We will talk to you again next week. Hopefully it'll be another victory Monday. Let's go.
Be the first to comment