00:00All right, good morning. I think a lot of people are overrating this Denver Broncos defense.
00:05I think that if you look at what they did in the second half of the season, they gave up 26 points
00:09to the Marcus Mariota-led Commanders. They gave up 26 points to the Packers. They got blown doors
00:15and gave up 34 points to Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. And I think this Patriots offense is
00:21better than all three of those. Like, I think this Patriots offense is much better in a lot of cases
00:25than all three of those. And this Denver Broncos team was not great at getting turnovers this year.
00:30They were minus three in the turnover differential. They only had 14 takeaways all year.
00:35The last two teams you played had 29 and 23. So, like, I just, I think this Denver Broncos defense
00:43was really good at the beginning of the year and has very much so since cooled off and is very beatable.
00:48I think Riley Moss is a very easy target to attack when you're on offense because he's terrible at
00:55coverage, even though he's their number two corner. And so, I also just don't think, I think the Will
01:00Campbell injury has been tough against the last two pass rushers because I think Will Anderson and
01:05Khalil Mack in particular are both really good power rushers. And Taylor Kyles was on with Jones
01:10and Kiefer earlier this week and made a really good point about how Will is having a tough time
01:13anchoring the same way he was at the beginning of the year. And that's primarily, I think, because of
01:18the injury. And so, I think against a guy like Nick Benito, who's much more of a finesse rusher,
01:22he'll be a little bit better. It's not going to be perfect, but it'll be a little bit better.
01:27And I just think this offense is going to look way better this week. I called my shot last week
01:30thinking they'd score 30 on the Houston Texans. They got to 28. I think they'll get to 34 this
01:35week against the Denver Broncos. And you're looking at a 17-point win and we're off to the
01:39Super Bowl.
01:4017? Was that the number of firings in the NFL? Oh, no, Shive, that was 10.
01:47He missed on that one.
01:48I nailed the Mike Tomlin.
01:50Right. And the Niners pick. Just, Mitch, make sure that we're clipping that so that we
01:53have his prediction for the game.
01:54Go for it.
01:5517-point win. I'll just jump in here because you bring up Will Campbell and Wiggy yesterday
02:01on this show brought up Snap Count and how things are going to be out there in Denver. And
02:09that, to me, is that's what I asked. We talked about it briefly earlier, so a little air out
02:15of the balloon on that. But you are not concerned with the struggle that the struggles that Will
02:23Campbell has had. And you add in the noise that is there at that stadium and the issues
02:31that that O-line may have, especially on that side with giving Drake May the time that he
02:38needs.
02:38I mean, there's a concern. Like, don't get it twisted. Like, I'm definitely concerned.
02:43That's what makes me nervous. That's the one part of the Patriots game that worries me.
02:50But that's on Josh McDaniels to understand and say, OK, we have to do a better job of
02:56chipping.
02:57But you said, you and Niko were talking about, they tried that, tried it with Travion.
03:01But he screwed it up. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
03:05But he has to realize and say, when you're going to chip, you can't just, you know, touch
03:11the guy. You really got to put some sauce on that ribs. And when you look at the Travion
03:16Henderson one, he barely touched the guy. And Shine brings up a good point. If you actually
03:20look at both Nick Bonino and Jonathan Cooper, who's the other edge rusher on this defense,
03:27they are a little bit more finesse and speed, where when you're talking about anchoring in
03:33on a weaker knee, the speed to power will get you. So, but when you are a speed rusher,
03:40snap count and playing on the road is an advantage because you got to be able to get out of your
03:45snap. So it's so important for Josh McDaniels to have the quick passing game, screen game,
03:52things that will slow that pass rush down and make Will Campbell, you know, be able to
03:58say, okay, this guy can't be just pinning his ears back every time unless it's third and
04:0211. Put the tight end there. And when you chip, make sure Nick Bonino, Zach Allen, Jonathan
04:10Cooper, make sure they feel it when you go out before you're out.
04:14Here we are. We are. We are at Watrice Mountain. We have some leads left. Coming up, we're going
04:19to get to They Said It. We'll do They Said It in about 10 minutes because, or, well, yeah,
04:27I think we have to because Robert Splane is joining us at 730. So let's get our leads in.
04:31Curtis, good morning. Hello. How are you?
04:32Great, Greg. A couple numbers for you as you get ready for Sunday. One would be where the
04:38Patriots as an organization would rank, tying the 49ers with 40 playoff wins in the franchise's
04:43history. Two would be the years earlier, Drake May won his first road playoff game. And another
04:52number one, Drake May would equal Aaron Rodgers' career of going to one Super Bowl. So that is
05:01pretty outrageous, the amount of things that you have on the precipice, on the doorstep
05:05of this Sunday. And Wiggy and I disagree about the game, which is great. I have some losses
05:11that were far worse than this would be if they lose. Home against Mark Sanchez and the
05:15Jets, they were the number one seed. They had beaten that team 45-3 a couple months prior.
05:20They lose at home. Bart Scott, I can't wait.
05:22That's the Brees-Rivas jersey burning game.
05:26There we go.
05:26I believe.
05:27I remember that.
05:27Against Rex Ryan, the 2006 AFC Championship in Indianapolis, where you were the sixth seed,
05:35the Colts were the five seed. You were up 21-3 with Asante Samuel picking off Peyton Manning
05:40and taking it to the house. You were one win away from playing Rex Grossman in the Super
05:45Bowl, which would have been another Lombardi for the Patriots. And I would even go back to
05:50the Mac Jones lone playoff start in New England. We were all back on board that year. Mac Island
05:56was overpopulated. You felt like you were at the beginning of something. You had one down
06:00year with Cam Newton. Here you go. And you weren't even competitive in Buffalo. It was
06:05a disaster. If they lose a close game in Denver against Jared Stidham, we in two months will
06:12still say, wow, that was a great year.
06:15Yeah.
06:15Yeah.
06:16And I don't think that you would say that for those seasons where those losses occurred.
06:20No, I think from my perspective, we talked a lot about this as this team did better and
06:26better in the regular season and in the playoffs. If you don't win this game, I will be disappointed.
06:32But my expectation was never that you were getting to the AFC championship game, Mike
06:37Rabel's first year here. So they've now exceeded my expectation by getting here.
06:42And they would have one playoff win in Denver, more than the franchise has ever had entering
06:46this weekend in the playoffs.
06:47All right, Curtis, thank you. Sean, we'll take a break.
06:50What?
06:51I don't know. Wiggy's giving you a look.
06:52Really?
06:52Yeah.
06:53Just disappointed.
06:55Yeah.
06:55We talk to Rabel every week and he talks about how difficult it is to win in the NFL.
07:00So if you lose to a Jared Stidham-led team, one game before the Super Bowl.
07:09Wiggy, I'm a realist.
07:11Greg, come on, man.
07:13I will be so devastated.
07:16You're going to be pissed is what you –
07:17I will be pissed.
07:18Let's figure the word.
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