- 6 minutes ago
Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran joined the show to talk about the Patriots win over the Bills and to preview the game this Sunday vs. the Raiders. He talked about Efton Chism’s comps at WR, how the defense is the key to the team’s success this season, the play calling on offense, and more.
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00:00Tommy Curran, thanks for coming on, buddy.
00:02My pleasure.
00:04Thanks for bringing in the talking heads.
00:07And good summation, I think, Rich, of what the Patriots are looking at this week
00:11and what the Raiders are looking at this week.
00:14Yeah, we don't really know what either one is yet,
00:17and this is going to be an excellent game that's going to help define either one.
00:22Let's just start with the Raiders.
00:24When you look at their 3-1 record,
00:27those three wins are against bad teams,
00:30but then all of a sudden they seem to hold their own
00:33against one of the better teams in the league.
00:34What exactly are the Raiders, in your opinion?
00:38They have turned their offense over to a veteran quarterback
00:41who people are happy to throw the dirt on and close the lid of the coffin on,
00:45and I think that he is, in this offense,
00:50Quinn Kubiak's offense, they're not asking him to do too much,
00:53and it's simple because he's got two tight ends
00:55that allow him not to do too much.
00:57He does have 11 touchdown passes,
00:58so it's not as if, you know, he's got guardrails everywhere.
01:02But defensively, they're a pain in the ass.
01:04They have, I mean, Max Crosby's got 11 quarterback knockdowns so far.
01:08They have Quidipe, Malcolm Koontz,
01:11and Nekope Dean at linebacker.
01:13They've been very good.
01:14They just, exactly what you said,
01:17they've played three teams which are combined,
01:20one and 11, and then the team with the best record in football,
01:22along with a couple of others, Kansas City.
01:26So they play well offensively.
01:29They've put up points.
01:30They're a pain in the ass against quarterbacks,
01:31and that's why when I look at this game,
01:33I think Buffalo pressured 18 times, Teddy.
01:36Is that right?
01:37I believe so.
01:37Yep, so 18 times they harried and harassed them.
01:42So that will be the same thing they do.
01:43I just imagine the Patriots, because of their success last week
01:46against Buffalo and Buffalo's two tight ends, Knox and Kincaid,
01:51they have a good chance of playing well against Bowers and Mayer.
01:57I agree, Tom.
01:59I totally agree with that.
02:00I'm curious what you thought of Josh McDaniels' game plan last week
02:03versus the Bills.
02:03They were dead last in motioning during the play going into that game.
02:11For the first three games, they were dead last in motions.
02:13They had 75% motion in that game,
02:15the most that Pat's offense has had since 2015,
02:18and it didn't look like they were audibling.
02:20Did he have any checks from what the original call was to an audible?
02:25What did you think of that?
02:28Should we see more of this,
02:30or was that just a Bills game plan and we won't see that again?
02:35You know, I don't know if the Bills play a particular style
02:38where it's difficult to tell or not they're in manner zone.
02:41Sometimes that amount of motion is used to just get a team to identify
02:46if a player follows someone all the way across.
02:49But, see, that's the good thing about Josh,
02:52and I know that it's very easy and traditional
02:55that whoever the offensive coordinator is,
02:57when things aren't going great, you go,
02:58what the hell was that call?
03:00Which was great last week when they had the minus five yard loss
03:03and they put the camera on Josh.
03:05Oh, yeah.
03:05Yeah, it's choice words.
03:08Which is, but I think, I don't know exactly,
03:12but I'll be interested to see if they keep the motioning up
03:16because, you know, this is a different game
03:19in terms of what you should have to ask of Drake May.
03:22The aggressiveness we saw last week
03:24in terms of going for it on fourth down,
03:27in terms of going for it at the end of the game to salt it away.
03:31Will they have the same kind of mentality against the Raiders
03:34or just say, you know what, they're not going to put up 30 on us?
03:38Tommy, I believe you were the first to put some cold water on A.J. Brown's return next week.
03:43Others have followed that.
03:44Any update on that?
03:46And because we keep also getting these reports,
03:49he's been seen in the locker room with cleats on and whatnot.
03:52Yeah, no, I'm glad you asked
03:54because when I said probably Halloween,
03:56that was a completely plucked from my posterior,
04:00I would guess.
04:01So I'm sorry that it seemed as if I was reporting that.
04:06I just presumed, okay, the guy went down, he's 30 years old.
04:09I wouldn't imagine he's going to be back right on time.
04:11But I did do a, you know, buzz this tower yesterday
04:15as he was sitting in his locker, and he said, I'm good.
04:19Does that mean he's going to play next week
04:21when he's eligible to come off during the week?
04:24I wouldn't go that far, but I don't think it's going to be Halloween.
04:26So I think that you can remove cold water
04:30that I unintentionally poured and dab it up.
04:34I think that indications are, just from him being in the locker room,
04:40that it seems sooner rather than what I initially said.
04:43All right, speaking of receivers, Tommy Curran,
04:45tell me why you believe Efton Chisholm is Julian Edelman 2.0 but better.
04:50Oh, I don't.
04:53You know that's his guy now.
04:55He's just not strong enough.
04:56He's just not as strong as Julian.
04:58That doesn't mean Efton Chisholm isn't a strong little fella.
05:01But Julian, you know, he was pretty rocked up.
05:05I mean, you would never have seen if Efton Chisholm
05:07was the quarterback at Kent State,
05:09the number of unbelievable highlight plays that Julian Edelman had
05:14while he was there because of his power as a runner
05:17in addition to elusiveness.
05:19But can he be Danny Amendola?
05:22That was who the Patriots and Josh McDaniels asked him to study.
05:26Last summer when he was with the team and said,
05:31this is the guy that you want to try and emulate.
05:33You know, Danny Amendola is a little more slight than Julian.
05:36Unbelievable athlete.
05:38People might remember how, I mean, Amendola could just levitate
05:42to go up and get the ball.
05:43That's something that Efton Chisholm did.
05:44So I would not rule out Efton Chisholm being a player
05:50who can be a 35 to 45 catch player in the NFL.
05:54It's not going to be Amendola who had 80 with the Rams once.
05:57He's not going to be Edelman who had 110.
06:00But I do think that there is absolutely a role there for him
06:03because of his athleticism and speed and toughness.
06:06I think another way to look at it is, is he better than, you know,
06:09Pop Douglas or, you know, Kyle Williams?
06:11I think he is.
06:12But that's my humble opinion.
06:14All right, TC, what about, what did you see from Drake last week
06:17that you think is sustainable?
06:19Because his timing, rhythm, fundamentals look way better from the pocket.
06:23And he was, you know, of course he was great throwing on the run.
06:26What do you, do you see something in his game that should be,
06:28we should expect week in, week out now?
06:31I loved his decisiveness on his runs.
06:34I liked, even though he was pressured 18 times, he didn't seem as,
06:40and there were times when he did,
06:42he didn't seem like a squirrel in the middle of the street, you know,
06:46running and trying to find a place to escape
06:48and not knowing which way the car is going to go.
06:49He scrambled with decisiveness and ran with decisiveness.
06:53I thought that was the thing that I liked the most.
06:55His accuracy still wasn't great,
06:58but Florida Dobbs had turned into a turnover.
07:00It was not a great throw.
07:02His accuracy on the throw to Dobbs for the touchdown was excellent.
07:06His accuracy on the throw to Chisholm for the touchdown was excellent.
07:09But on the prior throw, Mike Vrabel has lamented all week
07:12that he missed Kyle Williams.
07:15So it was a good quarterbacking performance by him.
07:19I know he's AFC UL since the player of the week,
07:21but I think it was a good performance,
07:23especially when you knock him a little bit for the ball handling.
07:26It has to improve if you're going to be the kind of player that he should be.
07:30All right, I'm always a sucker, Tom,
07:32for a quick slant poll at the Tommy Curran X account.
07:34Oh, good.
07:35Because they're always laced with a little opinion, which I like.
07:37It's basically a true-false this week.
07:39And you write,
07:40even though the region's mood rises and falls with Drake May's performances,
07:43the Patriots' capital letters defense is the real engine
07:47and will propel them wherever they're going.
07:49Can you expand on your thoughts there?
07:51Yeah, and I agreed with me.
07:55And 71% of the voters did.
07:58They're just, when you really look at it,
08:01Ken, it's just they have eight straight games,
08:04excuse me, their last eight games,
08:06before the beginning of this year,
08:08before the playoffs last year,
08:09and they have one stinker.
08:10And that was against Jacksonville just, you know, 11 days ago.
08:14To me, on a weekly basis, they have greater stability on defense.
08:20I think that they continue to face teams
08:22and will continue to face teams that are a little bit offensively challenged
08:26in exactly what they want to do.
08:27And even when they see a team like Buffalo,
08:30who is as good as Buffalo is,
08:33I think Zach Corr and Vrabel and whoever is responsible
08:36for fashioning the defense that was put together last week
08:40really deserves a lot of credit.
08:41It's not just a temporary thing at this point.
08:43Like, they're, that's the more dependable part of this team.
08:47And I think that's the part of the team
08:50which is kind of interesting
08:52because there's a lot of conversation right now.
08:54Should the Patriots allow May to play more like he did last week
08:58and be aggressive and just take the guardrails off entirely?
09:01I don't think they should until he develops.
09:05Look, I'm scarred by those drops coming away from center.
09:08I gotta be honest.
09:09Yeah.
09:10I was going to ask you about that
09:11because the Raiders are extremely good in causing turnovers.
09:15That seems to be their calling card right now.
09:17And the Patriots are, are they, are they the bottom of the league right now?
09:21They're like a minus five, I think, when it comes to turnovers, I think.
09:26How, what's going on there and what are they doing this week?
09:28Or is there anything you see them doing this week
09:32that's addressing these turnovers that they've had?
09:35That would be my greatest concern is because there's,
09:38the protection's not going to necessarily be better.
09:41Yeah.
09:41You're still going to be down into your depth at right guard.
09:46Moses, you know, Will Campbell's not coming off a great game
09:49and he's going to have Quiddy Paye and Max Crosby
09:52and the other guys that I mentioned earlier to deal with.
09:54So there's not a lot you can do except
09:58try and go max protection.
09:59The pain in the ass, I don't know if you go max protection.
10:02I just pulled that out of my posterior too.
10:06But they get pressure with four.
10:08So that means they don't have to send extra people.
10:11I really think that this is going to be a rock fight looking game.
10:14I really do.
10:15I don't think, I think this could be a punt fest.
10:17Oh, really?
10:18But the Patriots can run against this Raiders defense, correct?
10:22Right.
10:23Because Ramondre Stevenson is going to be good to go.
10:25That's a great point.
10:26And is he?
10:27I know he was limited.
10:28He can play, man.
10:29They need him in this game.
10:31Yeah.
10:31So TBD on that.
10:33So I would say that, you know, the jury's out,
10:35but I would expect that this will be much more of a
10:38flat and a phone bowl with a lot of insight
10:41than a wide open game.
10:43All right.
10:43Well, finally, Tom,
10:44E. Curran from MC Sports Boston,
10:46do you believe that we actually landed on the moon?
10:49Oh, yeah.
10:50Oh, yeah.
10:52Who was?
10:52Which was it?
10:52Was it Buzz Aldrin?
10:53Which guy?
10:54Buzz.
10:56That punched that kid who said you didn't go to the moon.
10:58I think it was Buzz Aldrin.
11:00Yep.
11:00Do you remember that video?
11:01Absolutely.
11:02I do.
11:02By the way, that guy's like,
11:04see, somebody's finally getting in his face.
11:06That guy was a dink.
11:08Like, to go up to anybody,
11:09especially an old man,
11:10and just, like, shove a microphone in his face,
11:12I wouldn't answer you either.
11:13I'd punch you in the face.
11:14Even if, like, I knew you were right,
11:16even if I've been holding a secret my hole,
11:18if I'd punch you in the face,
11:19the guy was being a dink.
11:20No.
11:21No.
11:22Buzz has always had a breaking point.
11:24He's always had a quick wick.
11:25Yes.
11:26Hey, TC, real quick,
11:28real quick,
11:28before we let you go,
11:30the 2001 Super Bowl team is being honored,
11:32along with Adam Vinatieri's Hall of Fame,
11:34at this game on Sunday.
11:36Do you have a favorite memory from that 01 season
11:40that you can remember that stands out to you?
11:43More than I can count.
11:45Okay.
11:45I was 33,
11:47but one of the great things I won't forget
11:51is we're on the bus leaving the ASC Championship game,
11:54and they have these media buses,
11:56and John Clayton, RIP, was on the bus,
11:59and he turns around to Kevin Mannix
12:01after the Patriots beat the Steelers,
12:02and he goes,
12:03everybody called Kevin Mannix.
12:04Kevin, he goes,
12:05so, Kevin,
12:07do you start Bledsoe next week
12:09if the kid can't go?
12:11Kevin Mannix goes,
12:13F no!
12:15And that was the funny thing,
12:17is everybody who was around the team then,
12:19and Ted can probably, you know,
12:21acknowledge this as well,
12:22by then,
12:23the conversation about whether or not
12:25Bledsoe should be coming in as a starter,
12:27and that was still a conversation
12:29after the ASC Championship game.
12:31Oh, wow.
12:33It might have not dawned on Marblehead
12:35that the party was over,
12:36and what Brady was able to do was,
12:40you know,
12:41during that year even,
12:43really,
12:44he was already looking like a player
12:46who might win his first 10 playoff games
12:48in three Super Bowls in the next four years.
12:50Yep, yep.
12:51Awesome, man.
12:52I don't know about that.
12:53Again, that might have been plucked my posterior.
12:55Settle something for me.
12:56Did John Clayton have a ponytail?
12:59No, we did not.
13:01Okay.
13:01Which is one of my all-time favorite conspiracy theories
13:04is that, like,
13:05you just never saw him.
13:06He was always looking straight at the camera,
13:07and for some reason,
13:08somebody said that they once saw him
13:10and he had a ponytail,
13:11and I've always wanted to know.
13:13Well, he had that commercial.
13:13Yeah, he had that commercial
13:14where he was living upstairs
13:15to his mom's house.
13:16That's right.
13:16That's right.
13:17That was awesome.
13:17But that commercial was an answer
13:19to so many people,
13:20like, on the internet,
13:21saying that he had a ponytail,
13:22and I thought it was great
13:23that they ended up doing that.
13:24It's like,
13:24Ma, the meatloaf.
13:25It was like, you know,
13:26the dude from Will Ferrell
13:28in Wedding Crash.
13:29I love John Clayton.
13:29Yeah, he was a good one.
13:30I don't know.
13:30I would say ask Drake May about it next week
13:33when you get him on.
13:33There you go.
13:34Don't ask May anything.
13:35Absolutely.
13:35Boy, that kind of blew up.
13:37All right.
13:37Well, Tommy Curran from NBC Sports Boston.
13:39Great stuff.
13:40I think the Patriots
13:41are going to win this weekend.
13:42I think that
13:44you're going to see
13:45that the level of competition
13:46that the Raiders have been playing,
13:48other than the Chiefs game,
13:49which they didn't win, by the way,
13:51has kind of beefed up
13:52what people are saying about them.
13:54But needless to say,
13:55Patriots could use another win.
13:57That would be nice.
13:57My apologies to anybody
13:59who followed my 41-20 Bills victory
14:02last week
14:02that I predicted right here.
14:04I'm going 16-10 Patriots this week.
14:06All right.
14:06Rock fight.
14:07I like the rock fight.
14:08That sounds like a good prediction.
14:10All right.
14:10Well, Tommy Curran,
14:11good stuff.
14:12We'll talk to you again next week.
14:13Thank you, Tom.
14:13All right.
14:14See you guys.