Patriots Lessons From 2023 Season | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast - video Dailymotion

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In the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles, Greg and Nick review the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory against the 49ers and discuss its implications for the Patriots' future direction. They ponder the lessons learned from this season and the Super Bowl regarding the team's strategy, particularly in quarterback selection and overall team building. They also debate the potential of selecting a wide receiver with the third pick and analyze Robert Kraft's comments on spending, questioning their significance for the team's plans.  Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.  This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:  Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234. #patriotspresspass #clns #patriots

Transcript

00:00 Did the Super Bowl highlight anything that Elliott Wolfe Alonzo Highsmith and company

00:06 they're looking at it and they're thinking all right we need a QB one.

00:11 Does it change any of their math after watching Sunday night play out.

00:16 I don't know if it changes it but you know I've come to believe in and I I keep going

00:22 back and forth.

00:23 I mean I you know I think the ideal is building up the team and not putting too much into

00:31 one position.

00:32 However I've now become a believer and I think it's part of the reason why you've seen the

00:38 the quote unquote Patriots offense basically go extinct at the NFL level is that I think

00:48 it's really hard to get good enough offensive line play to have a quarterback that is basically

00:53 a pocket quarterback and is just making plays from there like diagnosing the defense ball

00:58 out get to get to the back of my drop top of my drop boom balls out like I just the

01:04 the offensive line play in the league is just too bad there's not enough development time

01:08 that the defensive linemen and the pressure concepts are too good to me like you can't

01:16 just base your base your offense on this is what we're going to do on a five step drop

01:21 every time I just don't think you can do it so to me I think going forward and I think

01:27 we've seen this with a lot of quarterbacks that are successful now in the NFL you have

01:33 to be able to make secondary plays secondary reaction plays that means I get to the top

01:38 of my drop but something's not there or a guy's coming in free and I make a miss and

01:43 I go outside the pocket I either run or I drop it off to somebody but you have to be

01:47 able to make those plays with regularity or you're just going to get stuck in the mud

01:53 and you're too dependent like you said you're too dependent on the offensive line being

01:57 really good having a running game having wide receivers that are good and it's just it's

02:02 just too hard to thread the needle in the NFL he's Greg Nick this is the Greg Bidard

02:15 Patriots podcast with Nick cattle's brought to you by our friends at FanDuel the exclusive

02:19 wagering partner of the CLN S media network new customers joined today you'll get two

02:23 hundred dollars in bonus bets if your first bet of five dollars or more wins Greg let's

02:29 start with the Super Bowl you want to talk about that for a little while here before

02:33 we move on to Patriots stuff was that game on Sunday night about Patrick Mahomes is greatness

02:38 or was there more than that yeah I didn't look obviously excuse me obviously Patrick

02:47 Mahomes is great and he is the heir to Tom Brady's throne if he ever gets there with

02:53 longevity and things like that we shall see but in terms of a quarterback that you can

02:59 never count out that there that his team always believes there they're never out of any game

03:06 because they have number 15 just like the Patriots had number 12 there's no question

03:12 that Mahomes is on that plane and this this championship for them reminded me a lot of

03:18 Brady's last championship 2018 that was that was a team that should not have won a championship

03:25 you know yeah they got off to a really fast start that year but even Tom Brady the whole

03:29 way you know there were eight no saying I'm the most miserable eight no quarterback on

03:33 the planet he knew that they excuse me that was 2019 but in any event the 2018 team had

03:40 its flaws they went on the road in December and lost back-to-back games the the Miami

03:45 fluke game with the Gronk on the kickoff and then they go to Pittsburgh and lose and we're

03:51 all like what the hell's going on here and they sort of change things up and went to

03:55 more of a run-based game but when it came down to it I mean having to go to Kansas City

03:59 you know similar to what they said about Patrick Mahomes this year well he's never gone on

04:04 the road had to go through the playoffs on the road and they said the same things about

04:09 Brady in 2018 and guess what he went on the road and and and won his game and I mean you

04:15 can say that they were ground-based and Sonny Michelle and the offensive line and all that

04:19 stuff which is you know all true but at the end of the day you know the Patriots don't

04:26 a win a Super Bowl or be advanced to a Super Bowl unless Tom Brady is just lights out in

04:31 the fourth quarter just you know dissecting the Chiefs and then the Rams when it came

04:37 down to it so there's no question that Mahomes and Brady are similar but as far as this individual

04:44 game goes and I'm sorry but you know I don't like the throwing all these things in a bucket

04:52 or you know previously in the postseason and all this stuff no let's look at this one individual

04:56 game and this game did not come to come down to wasn't determined by Patrick Mahomes what

05:04 it was determined by was the San Francisco 49ers dominating the game into the third

05:11 quarter and not doing anything with it not getting out far enough ahead where Patrick

05:15 Mahomes couldn't come back or he would be put into a very tight situation where you

05:20 know no mistakes by by the Chiefs and the 49ers just failed to do that I mean you know

05:27 for Brock Purdy to go 6 for 15 for 43 yards in the second and third quarter not good enough

05:34 Kyle Shanahan letting Andy Reid off the hook at the end of the first half and not getting

05:39 another possession to at least get a field goal to go up by two scores again before halftime

05:46 you know not good enough and so especially the third quarter was just abysmal for the

05:52 49ers they get the turnover they get the interception the short field do nothing with it they had

05:57 three three and out drives they totaled I think like four yards on those on those three

06:03 drives with nine plays and it just wasn't good enough so to me when I look at this this

06:10 was a big missed opportunity by the San Francisco 49ers I'll give Mahomes his flowers but he

06:17 should have never been allowed to do what he did at the end of the game I was sitting

06:21 there at a party and I said to some people I was like man the Chiefs have played like

06:25 utter dog crap they played like crap for two and a half quarters three quarters and you're

06:32 sitting there at halftime it's only 10-3 and I just kept telling people I'm sorry it doesn't

06:36 make me any kind of Mensa I think a lot of people had this feeling the Chiefs are playing

06:41 as bad as they could play they looked like you know regular season Chiefs before they

06:46 really kicked it into gear when the playoff started and this game should be two touchdowns

06:50 and the fact that this is a one score game would scare the crap out of me I kept saying

06:55 it if I were the Niners and it came back to haunt them your thoughts on Kyle Shanahan

06:59 Greg and what we saw you know a lot of people talking about his performance or lack thereof

07:04 in big games did we see that again on Sunday night a little bit Kyle's a guy that I have

07:11 an enormous amount of respect for and there's no question to me that he has a really good

07:16 vision on what a football team needs to look like to win and his offense is really good

07:23 and his defense for the most part has been pretty good and is you know they've their

07:27 roster basically all the way around except for special teams and you could make the argument

07:33 that special teams determine this game and it was no shock that Kansas City was like

07:38 I think top five and DV away and the 49ers were bottom five and DV away so that that

07:44 didn't surprise anybody that that it had an influence on the outcome but to me as far

07:50 as Kyle Shanahan I just he's great in the regular season he has a great vision for what

07:57 the team looks like but when it comes down to the biggest game one game seasons what

08:04 he believes in and how he does things it just doesn't work he's just not focused enough

08:09 on the big picture again I'll go back to that that situation before halftime you know and

08:16 to me it loomed large and you have to know you should know this already I mean go in

08:22 a Super Bowl let alone against Pat Mahomes we have to take advantage of every opportunity

08:28 presented to us and with I'm just going through the sheet so the the the Chiefs are driving

08:36 they're down 10 nothing you know they get the ball to start the second half the Chiefs

08:41 drive down and they get a first down at the San Francisco 14 with 109 left now there's

08:48 some controversy I don't know whether the the Chiefs called this timeout or not but

08:52 at the end of the day a timeout was called officially at 109 they called their first

08:58 timeout even though there was no reason for them to call a timeout they were on the 14

09:02 yard line they had all three timeouts left what they wanted to do is you know run a little

09:08 bit more clock probably about to you know 45 30 seconds and then use your timeout see

09:13 what happens either you get a touchdown or next or a field goal but the point is is like

09:18 you're only down one score and you get the ball back to start the second half as soon

09:22 as Andy Reid took that timeout or the Chiefs took that timeout with 109 left Shanahan should

09:28 have been alert enough if he wasn't in his play sheet and said oh crap they just gave

09:33 me an opening right here so as soon as you know first down Patrick Patrick Mahomes goes

09:38 short right to Rashid Reif for three yards they should have called timeout right there

09:42 and they didn't that allowed the Chiefs go down to 37 seconds they ran it again they

09:49 ran it on second down Casey calls a timeout and then San Francisco finally uses their

09:54 first timeout with 23 seconds left after Mahomes is sacked they could have gotten the ball

10:01 back with about 50 seconds left one or two timeouts and you have a chance to put it right

10:06 back in their face and go up two scores again before halftime and that's just an example

10:13 of Shanahan just missing the big picture in the game and I think you know to me I think

10:19 that Shanahan and the 49ers are constructed like a regular season team they are not built

10:24 for one game scenarios I did not think that Kyle Shanahan was ready for Steve Spagnuolo

10:31 and the pressure they didn't have answers to that to me that's unfathomable to me they

10:36 needed another answer at running back in this game Christian McCaffrey is great but he's

10:40 not a workhorse and he's so versatile you can use them in different ways like just as

10:45 a slot receiver if you wanted to to exploit matchups and he doesn't do any of that stuff

10:50 so to me Kyle Shanahan you know the overtime I didn't have a huge problem with his decision

10:58 but just there's those micro things in a game that don't matter in the regular season but

11:04 they matter huge in one game seasons in the postseason he has always always had trouble

11:10 with game management this goes back to his first year in San Francisco he has not gotten

11:15 any better at managing a game the clock management sometimes third and fourth down decisions

11:21 in play calling in certain situations and scenarios he suffers and they don't spend

11:28 enough money I guess on bringing somebody in who could be a game strategist to help

11:32 him with that stuff it's a major weakness of his coaching and it's gone like completely

11:38 not addressed over the last well he's been there since 2017 you've seen this movie before

11:44 if you're a Niners fan and at some point the team has to figure out we got to help the

11:48 coach and we got to bring somebody in who can be in his headset or be paying attention

11:54 to the bigger picture game management because he has struggled as far as overtime I do think

12:00 he messed up there and I know I've seen all the analytics people tweeting out I appreciate

12:06 your analytics get out of my face with them in this case because look I want to know what

12:12 I need to win the game I'm that way like it's crazy to me that and I enjoy analytics to

12:20 a point analytics people argue all the time about you know the two down to eight score

12:27 whatever the hell thing and the oh you got to go if you're down to scores go for this

12:31 two point conversion the first time around because that gives you an idea of what you

12:35 need to tie or win the game why is it not the same idea when you talk about the overtime

12:41 knowing what you need to tie or win the game if you kick off if you defer you give it to

12:45 Kansas City they score a touchdown okay now you know you have to score a touchdown that's

12:51 if you look at the Chiefs and how they handled it they went for it on fourth down and overtime

12:55 because they knew they we got to go for this this is what's going to happen if they were

12:59 down by seven they would have done the same damn thing they would have been aggressive

13:03 in the Kyle Shanahan thing his his response of well I wanted the third possession makes

13:09 absolutely zero sense right because what he's not accounting for is what if Andy Reid went

13:14 for two Kyle what if what if you scored a touchdown you're up by seven Mahomes scores

13:19 a touchdown does Andy Reid go for two to try to end the game there I would probably put

13:24 my money on it I think Andy Reid would have said okay we have a chance to win the game

13:28 and go home instead of kick it off to San Francisco and if they score we look no I'm

13:32 gonna go for two here on my terms so it didn't make any sense the final thing I would say

13:37 is some of the guys not knowing the details and now there's been a lot of you know there's

13:43 been a lot of pushback from the Niners and people are kind of you know moonwalking Michael

13:48 Jackson style on what they said after the game and I think that's just they're all trying

13:53 to save face that makes me wonder again the details game management the idea of what you

14:02 just said not understanding spags and the zero blitzes and not being prepared for that

14:08 the Shanahan you know he does he turn over every rock before the Super Bowl does he turn

14:13 over every rock that he needs to turn over with his team and with his staff before they

14:16 go into it because after Sunday it didn't look like they did that yeah it's it's a great

14:22 point by you Nick you know a couple of thoughts on the OT decision I completely agree with

14:27 you and in in the big picture as far as like I want to know what I need to get and I want

14:35 to know all right if if we give up a touchdown or you know what have you if we're trailing

14:40 now I know I have four downs to play with and that's huge and if I'm Kyle Shanahan I

14:45 don't want to put Patrick Mahomes in a four down situation but the only X factor for me

14:54 and I wish he didn't address this so it's it's hard to say this was on his mind definitively

14:59 or not you know I wish he just would have been completely honest in the postgame about

15:04 his decision I just want to know was the state of his defense having just been on the field

15:11 against Patrick Mahomes was that really the determining factor because look I could I

15:16 could see that I could see the logic in that like look we've been chasing him for a quarter

15:22 he's getting hotter our guys are wearing down we're not very deep on the defensive line

15:27 which I think is a little bit of a flaw on this team especially when you get into a Super

15:30 Bowl situation something that Belichick was always cognizant of having enough defensive

15:36 linemen in Super Bowls because those games get long they get hot they're just you know

15:42 the amount of adrenaline you pump out like it it's a factor which again goes to you saying

15:49 probably Kyle Shanahan's never really thought about that but Bill Belichick definitely did

15:54 you know if he thought his defense was gassed and said look we've been on the field they've

16:00 been on the field Mahomes is hot right now I'm putting my offense out there I feel good

16:05 about us scoring a touchdown and we get a chance to get a rest we only need to make

16:09 one play if we get up and maybe we cool off Patrick Mahomes a little bit if that's his

16:15 reasoning I don't think a lot of people have an argument with that I mean I think it's

16:19 it's definitely something to consider as far as you know what you were talking about with

16:25 Kyle Shanahan in this game management which I completely agree with you it's it's a huge

16:30 weakness of his my idea if Kyle Shanahan is serious about being a world champion about

16:38 being the best that he can be in a lot of different ways I think his two biggest weaknesses

16:43 are game management and also that his offense does not have answers ready answers at the

16:49 line of scrimmage for what a defense might do if I'm Kyle Shanahan I am on the phone

16:55 with Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels after the season and I am telling Bill I'll pay

17:02 you whatever you want can you come in and be my game management coach for this year

17:09 and also Josh McDaniels can you tell me how you guys did this with your protection sort

17:14 of meld the Shanahan and McDaniels offense in terms of how can we be better at the line

17:21 of scrimmage because that's that's a key for the McDaniels Patriots offense and you know

17:27 McDaniels doesn't have to be there for the whole year he can come in an offseason and

17:30 just talk it through with him this is what I would do if I were you but I would Bill's

17:35 a good friend of Mike Shanahan maybe Mike talks to Bill Bill and Josh both had the benefit

17:41 of going behind the scenes with another team that they could be competing against a year

17:46 from now and gain the intel from everything that Shanahan does which there's a lot of

17:52 good things and to apply it the next time they get a chance I don't know maybe it's

17:57 far-fetched but if I'm Kyle Shan Shanahan I'm calling Belichick and McDaniels imagine

18:02 if that happens and then Bill ends up in Dallas or Philly next year you get him twice that

18:10 season and you're going for the division one last thing I wanted to ask you about you kind

18:14 of touched on this a little bit with Brock Purdy second and third quarter a lot of conversation

18:18 about Purdy coming out of this game what was your takeaway about Purdy watching him on

18:23 Sunday night I thought he was average I did think he made some plays especially towards

18:29 the end of the game you know the touchdown throw to Jennings was a good timing throw

18:37 back foot there was pressure tight window he made some tight window throws there was

18:41 the play to I think it was McCaffrey when he avoided pressure and sort of shovel the

18:47 ball out to him okay you know nice play but you know it was two yards behind the line

18:54 of scrimmage and McCaffrey made the whole play there was I'm not gonna take this play

18:58 away from him I think it was second or third down the one that you check where you check

19:03 had the Jesse James play where he dives and the ball pops out not a touchdown for the

19:08 Steelers against the Patriots but it's a first down with no review in the Super Bowl I would

19:12 have liked to have seen a review there but that was a nice play by Purdy like he started

19:16 to run then he came back and then he got rid of it like I'm not gonna take anything away

19:20 from him he certainly made some plays in this game but to me you know I'm sorry Michael

19:26 Feigler this was not just about Patrick Mahomes being on the other side and what are you gonna

19:35 do because it's Patrick Mahomes and you know God forbid okay Brock Purdy's not as good

19:41 as Patrick Mahomes we got no that's not what it is about Michael this was about you know

19:46 like he was a seed quarterback in this game he was a game manager for the most part he

19:52 made a couple of plays but in a game like this if you're gonna win a championship your

19:57 quarterback has to make special plays not all the time and not on the level of Mahomes

20:02 or Brady or anything like that but you know Nick Foles against the Patriots Joe Flacco

20:08 against the 49ers you know any other not goaded quarterback like just look at those games

20:15 those guys had to make special plays and to me Purdy missed a lot of plays in this game

20:21 you know not a crap ton but enough where you know he just and you could tell during the

20:28 game on the telecast like Shanahan was pissed at Purdy for a good part of this game because

20:32 he was leaving plays on the field he wasn't throwing the ball in rhythm until the very

20:38 end of the game fourth quarter and in the overtime and you know to me I'm not saying

20:43 that Purdy can't be a guy that wins the championship just this year year two for him he's not good

20:49 enough Kyle Shanahan is being held back again whether it was Matt Ryan or Jimmy Garoppolo

20:54 and now it's Brock Purdy where the quarterback position is not that he's not getting good

20:59 enough play and I don't care how good your scheme is you need your quarterback to win

21:04 a championship your quarterback has to make special plays and again I'm not saying Brock

21:09 Purdy can't do it because you got to remember he's only in his second year and he didn't

21:13 have an offseason this year because of the elbow surgery so I am going to allow that

21:19 he might have the opportunity to be a lot better next year when he gets a full offseason

21:24 but if I'm Kyle Shanahan and I'm and I'm Lynch I am taking a serious look having serious

21:32 discussions about all right well what else are we going to do a quarterback you know

21:37 are we going to bring back Sam Darnold do we trade for Mac Jones is that good enough

21:43 do we look at taking maybe one of the second tier quarterbacks in this be it Penix or you

21:48 know Bo Nix or JJ McCarthy do we look at that I think they have to give themselves

21:53 options I don't think they can go full in on Brock Purdy because I just think at the

21:58 I guess I am saying I don't think he's going to be able to do it he's just too limited

22:03 as an athlete I do think he has a chance but I'm not I'm not taking a chance on it this

22:09 is my longevity this is this is my legacy as an NFL coach I'm not putting all my money

22:15 into Brock Purdy I'm just not doing it so you know whether it's a year from now or two

22:19 years from now they need to start making other plans just to have options the idea that oh

22:25 the Niners lost this game because you know Patrick Mahomes was just Patrick Mahomes that

22:32 makes it sound like Mahomes was otherworldly in this football game again for the first

22:36 three quarters or so this team played like trash Mahomes had a terrible interception

22:42 he threw it up for grabs to an unopened Travis Kelsey down the field he forced that throw

22:47 when he could have ran and maybe picked up the first down I mean they were snapping the

22:51 football all over the place Mahomes wasn't very good they couldn't get really anybody

22:55 involved offensively outside of Kelsey every once in a while they couldn't run the football

23:00 so it's just it's not a case of man Mahomes threw for 400 yards and lit the world on fire

23:07 and how could you possibly challenge a guy like that I also hate this idea of well they

23:14 didn't lose the game because of Purdy I don't think anybody is saying that they lost the

23:17 game because of Purdy they did not win the game because of Purdy you could say well they

23:22 didn't win because of him either it comes down to this Greg and I posted this I think

23:28 it was on Monday or it was Sunday night later on in the night Brock Purdy when you're talking

23:34 about going against one of the best quarterbacks any of the top five or six that have great

23:40 or elite traits Purdy can't match that so because your quarterback cannot match those

23:48 elite traits the margin of error is so damn slim for a team like San Francisco the fact

23:56 is that Purdy cannot overcome some of the things that the 49ers did that really bit

24:02 themselves in the ass because he's not as talented as a Mahomes he can't come back in

24:07 a fourth quarter and just lead them on three four scoring drives like no big deal you need

24:11 the operation to work and you need to and you need to have it work almost perfectly

24:17 if Mahomes is playing great which he wasn't so that's the difference that the gap between

24:23 the quarterback position is that everybody else has to pick up the slack and if somebody

24:28 fumbles the football inside the ten damn it we've got Brock Purdy we not we might not

24:33 be able to make that up someone misses an extra point damn it we have Brock Purdy every

24:38 one of those mistakes hurt you more because you're inevitably limited at the quarterback

24:43 more than the other team that's the point and pro football focus has their grading system

24:48 and I know people dump all over it but just to give you an idea I believe Patrick Mahomes

24:53 was like 14th or 15th when it came to PFF grades on Sunday night he was the 14th or

24:59 15th best player on the field according to pro football focus Purdy wasn't in the top

25:04 15 so this wasn't Patrick Mahomes playing like an all-world talent Mahomes was struggling

25:11 the Chiefs were struggling you just did not have the special talent or the talent at quarterback

25:15 with those great to elite traits that could make those guys pay for it consistently enough

25:21 that's the difference excellent excellent point by you this is why we pay you the big

25:26 bucks on this podcast but like you know just for example like you know because Felger was

25:33 giving it to me today of course and and so like just quickly I went through and I and

25:38 I wrote down the quarterbacks that I would take over Brock Purdy if I were the 49ers

25:43 and I came up with 17 including some controversial guys but I Rogers Mahomes Burrow Allen Dillard

25:51 Dak Stafford Cousins Hertz love Herbert Lamar Jackson I would take Tua I think he's like

26:00 I think he'd be better in that scheme and again this is in the scheme like I'm putting

26:03 these guys in the scheme with Shanahan not just on their team so it's a little bit different

26:09 I would take Gino I think that Gino with his size his running ability his arm strength

26:15 like I think he'd be really good in that scheme Stroud of course I would take Trevor Lawrence

26:22 I would take Baker Mayfield I think he would be pretty good in that scheme the way he makes

26:27 plays you know with his feet his arm strength I think it would be really good Kyler Murray

26:33 I think would be sensational and that's might think about looking at that trade if I were

26:38 the 49ers Kyler Murray Deshaun Watson and I drew the line kind of at golf I said no

26:45 on golf I mean Sean McVay said no they run similar similar schemes but I'm not saying

26:51 that Brock Purdy's bad and again he can be better with a with a full offseason he was

26:57 put at a big disadvantage this year but he just and this is this is going to relate to

27:02 our discussion about the Patriots he just doesn't make enough special plays and second

27:06 second reaction plays that you need to win games on the biggest stage new customers join

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27:25 more with fan do an official sportsbook partner of the NFL that leads us Greg what you just

27:31 said a moment ago before our friends at fan do had that little reminder of who they are

27:37 and what they do for us you talked about the Patriots and coming out of this game on Sunday

27:42 night did the Super Bowl highlight anything that Elliott will Phil Anzo High Smith and

27:49 company they're looking at it and they're they're thinking all right we need a QB one

27:55 does it change any of their math after watching Sunday night play out I don't know if it changes

28:02 it but you know I've come to believe and and and I I keep going back and forth I mean I

28:09 you know I I think the ideal is building up the team and not putting too much into one

28:16 position however I've now become a believer and I think it's part of the reason why you've

28:22 seen the the quote-unquote Patriots offense basically go it's extinct at the NFL level

28:29 is that I think it's really hard to get good enough offensive line play to have a quarterback

28:37 that is basically a pocket quarterback and it's just making plays from there like diagnosing

28:42 the defense ball out get to get to the back of my drop top of my drop boom balls out like

28:47 I just the the offensive line play in the league is just too bad there's not enough

28:52 development time that the defensive lineman and the pressure concepts are too good to me

28:59 like you can't just base your base your offense on this is what we're going to do on a five-step

29:05 drop every time I just don't think you can do it so to me I think going forward and I

29:11 think we've seen this with a lot of quarterbacks that are successful now in the NFL you have

29:17 to be able to make secondary plays secondary reaction plays that means I get to the top

29:22 of my drop but something's not there or a guy's coming in free and I make a miss and

29:27 I go outside the pocket I either run or I drop it off to somebody but you have to be

29:31 able to make those plays with regularity or you're just going to get stuck in the mud

29:38 and you're too dependent like you said you're too dependent on the offensive line being

29:41 really good having a running game having wide receivers that are good and it's just it's

29:47 just too hard to thread the needle in the NFL so to give yourself more of a margin for

29:53 error you need the quarterback that makes up for other things and I just think it's

29:58 too hard to get things aligned especially on the offensive line for a guy like Tom Brady

30:04 or a Peyton Manning where you know they feel protected enough I just think the days of

30:10 that might be gone with the way the way the NFL is structured the way the guys in the

30:16 college game aren't getting coached enough on the offensive line so to me I think it's

30:23 I if I'm a Patriots executive coming out of this I'm be like we have to get an athlete

30:28 at quarterback and whether that's at three or that's at 33 or whatever it is that's what

30:36 I'm looking for and that does preclude other things but I could tell you one thing I ain't

30:42 drafting a wide receiver at third overall I no way I mean I mean look at what the 49ers

30:48 have done with both those teams in the in the championship game in the Super Bowl none

30:53 of them had you know guys who were first round picks and you know spent a lot of money on

30:58 free agency in fact the Chiefs traded to Rick Hill and they went to Super Bowls without

31:03 him so the big thing is the quarterback they got to get an athlete who makes secondary

31:08 reaction plays I have been standing on top of the mountain screaming since the end of

31:15 the year quarterback quarterback quarterback I am a quarterback freaking guy and that's

31:20 not to say that if you don't like the quarterback draft the quarterback of course I'm not saying

31:25 that if Elliot Wolfe and Highsmith and Matt Groh and all the other guys in the front office

31:30 Stuart Cargile Williams you name him Robin Glazer oh let's get people triggered let's

31:36 say you know all of those people are sitting there they're looking at it if you love a

31:40 quarterback if you think a quarterback at three can be your franchise guy for the next

31:45 10 to 15 years it's not even close it's not even a conversation it's if you to me it's

31:50 so obvious and there are people that I respect and appreciate in this business that are arguing

31:57 the opposite and arguing oh well you can trade down because the team's not ready for a quarterback

32:04 you you are at number three in the draft this is a golden opportunity to take a swing at

32:11 somebody again if you love them right that has those kinds of traits and when you look

32:18 at these quarterbacks Greg in this draft the three guys that we're talking about constantly

32:23 they all have the traits they all have the off platform extend play trait Drake may has

32:29 it Daniels has it with his legs and Caleb Williams has it in spades it's pretty much

32:34 his biggest strength is that he could just make plays when you don't think he has any

32:39 chance and that's why people bring up Patrick Mahomes when they talk about him so all three

32:43 of those quarterbacks whether it's Daniels or may that falls to you at three and I hate

32:47 saying falls to you because it makes it sound like they're not they're not worthy of being

32:51 a top three pick when that's not the case if if this was any other year you could argue

32:55 that Daniels could be a number one pick may could be a number one pick the beginning of

32:59 this year they thought may would be a lot of the pundits may would be battling Caleb

33:02 Williams for the number one spot they all can do that off platform extend the plays

33:08 last thing I will say on this Greg your wide receiver point this is something else that

33:12 I'm very very very stringent on wide receiver to me is the third most important need for

33:18 this football team quarterbacks number one tackles number two you can go out and you

33:22 can get wide receivers in the third round fourth round fifth round puka Nuku'a fifth

33:26 round I did this on my podcast the Nick cattle show a few weeks ago I went through I think

33:31 it was since 2017 up until 2023 and I just added Nuku'a because he was you know no doubt

33:40 a guy and there were like 14 or 15 cats that were drafted in the second round or later

33:47 since 2017 that you could categorize as number one receivers for their football team you

33:52 can get that guy you can get that guy in the second round third round fourth round and

33:57 I know people will say you can get the quarterback in those rounds to it's much more likely look

34:02 up how many Super Bowl quarterbacks were drafted in the first round that'll give you your answer

34:09 okay it's it's yes it's it's an inexact science in every draft is different I don't want to

34:15 go too far because that brings me to something else where people say oh well you know look

34:19 at the third quarterback the third quarterback every draft is different every offensive tackle

34:26 prospect is different can we stop saying oh well the third quarterback that was taken

34:31 last year or in 2021 that guy stunk so that that that means this guy is gonna stink if

34:36 he's a third guy taken that that's so nonsensical like the draft picture this Greg it's like

34:43 a snowflake drafts of snowflakes they're all different my friends they're all different

34:48 this episode is no flakes we didn't get today yeah I know well 12 plus inches to about three

34:55 here in Foxborough before we before we continue here this episode I remind you brought to

35:01 you by our friends at FanDuel exclusive wagering part of the CLS media network $200 in bonus

35:06 bets if your first bet of $5 or more wins and by the way I know Jay Stu listens to this

35:10 podcast I will pay 98 five I will go give Rick Radzik money if I could do an hour with

35:17 Felger one day because I just want to battle him until I drop on the floor I see you and

35:23 him on Tuesdays I what I would do for an hour with that guy give the money to charity whatever

35:30 we got to do put me in that studio against Mike Felger let me battle him all right let's

35:34 get to the FanDuel odds for next season to win the Super Bowl Greg here's how they look

35:38 Niners actually number one according to FanDuel at plus 500 Chiefs plus 650 if you're wondering

35:45 you want to try to make a little bit of money Patriots are plus 15,000 the Panthers are

35:51 the only team that is worse than the Patriots just your reaction to those odds the Niners

35:57 then the Chiefs and the Patriots way down bottom just ahead of the Panthers yeah I mean

36:03 look the Patriots were tied with a bunch of teams but I had closed out what that window

36:06 by then so I you know I I didn't I didn't go back and look at it but I think they're

36:12 tied with like five or six teams so I don't want to I don't want to come across that they're

36:15 like second to last in the NFL it's not quite that bad but you know a little bit surprised

36:23 at the 49ers I thought I don't know why the Chiefs wouldn't be favored I like some of

36:28 the teams there were longer odds for teams that I like that come out of nowhere that

36:32 I kind of like like the Rams the Packers didn't have great odds I was surprised about that

36:37 with the step forward they took this year with Jordan Love and now they're revamping

36:41 the defense with with Halfley but yeah this is where the Patriots are I mean you know

36:47 not only do you have an unknown head coach you do I mean unknown a head coach they don't

36:52 have a quarterback you know we'll see with Alex Van Pelt and you know there's a lot of

37:00 unknown with the Patriots but and you know they're changing offensive schemes so everybody's

37:05 got to learn again so you're going through all that stuff so yeah I expect this to be

37:09 a tough season for the Patriots but yeah we'll see how it goes one of my best friends in

37:16 the world he was in my wedding I went to his wedding and his name is Jim Louse he works

37:23 at 985 assistant program director Jim back in 2001 bet money on the Patriots to win the

37:28 Super Bowl he made a he made a pretty good he made a pretty good little chunk of change

37:33 for placing that bet before that season so you put five dollars on something like that

37:39 crazy things can happen you never know we'll give you thoughts on Robert Kraft and what

37:44 he had to say about spending in this one hour sit down out there in Vegas most of it off

37:48 the record by the way but I want to remind you you can check out Greg Giardi and the

37:52 rest of the peeps over at BSJ 50 bucks for the year they do great work over there and

37:58 I'm not just saying that because Greg's a friend and I write a column every week for

38:01 him it's it's I believe that Greg will tell you I was paying for Boston Sports Journal

38:06 up until like the last year I was I was paying him religiously year to year because I actually

38:10 believe in that and that website and I believe in what Greg does so check it out 50 bucks

38:15 for the year all right Greg so Robert Kraft mostly quiet outside of the goodbye press

38:22 conference to bill and the intro press conference to Mayo but he sat out there in Vegas with

38:27 I think it was what three outlets it was the athletic it was NBC Sports Boston and it was

38:33 the globe I believe and he sat down for an hour most of the conversation was off the

38:40 record however Robert did allow two answers to go on the record and it had to do about

38:48 spending and so just your thoughts Greg I mean the gist of it was it's not on me it's

38:54 on bill never limited the coaching staff etc etc we can spend I never get in the way of

39:01 spending that's how I am as an owner just kind of your thoughts on first Robert having

39:08 the sit down in the first place out there in Vegas yeah he's done this before and I'll

39:13 just be honest it pisses me off I mean like we all don't live here within like a half

39:20 an hour of Gillette Stadium we can get together for an off the record chat like any freaking

39:24 time but he's got to do it out at the Super Bowl what because he misses feeling important

39:28 at the Super Bowl because his team's not there anymore like what the hell um at least like

39:34 drop a I don't know call me on the phone put me on speakerphone so I can at least hear

39:38 this like what the hell um so that being out of the way um you know it was a big nothing

39:46 burger he said the exact same thing to me at the league meetings which mind you I invited

39:52 other reporters to come in and hear the answer to because I thought it was important that

39:58 all the Patriots fans hear his answer on the spending topic because uh Bill had brought

40:04 it up Robert had not talked about it yet and I gave him the opportunity and and I wanted

40:10 everybody to hear it um so it was the same thing that he said last year I believe craft

40:17 um you can look at the spending and this and that um you know look it's it's on bill the

40:25 spending has been on bill do I think the crafts hated it no I mean before Belichick got there

40:30 they used to spend like wild men and you know they're gonna have to spend this year just

40:36 to get to the salary floor which they're below but I I keep forgetting when I go on Felder

40:42 Mavs to read the excerpt from Mike's favorite author Mike Lombardi um his first book gridiron

40:50 genius page 221 okay a little bit of background I'm not sure what year this is he doesn't

40:56 say but I think it's 94 95 in Cleveland mind you Bill Belichick hasn't accomplished crap

41:04 as an NFL head coach and this this is what Lombardi writes I still remember sitting with

41:09 Belichick in Cleveland going over salaries for the upcoming season when we came to a

41:14 left tackle Paul Farron by the way local guy shout out who was due to make this is a left

41:20 tackle mind you in the National Football League who was due to make nearly 500,000 Belichick

41:25 looked at me and said I have a hard time with Farron making more than I make of course he

41:31 was right this is Bill Belichick in 1994 what have you before he's done anything in the

41:39 league and he has an issue with a player a left tackle kind of an important position

41:44 in the NFL making more money than he does so if you want to sit there and say it it

41:51 was it was the it's all the crafts and they give him a budget and Bill would have spent

41:56 and then like you're full of crap Bill has a complete history not alone not only you

42:03 know what he does with his locker room like we're paying Wes Welker this so this guy can't

42:08 make more than him and keep his locker room in line which I agree with that sentiment

42:13 but the reason the Patriots have been so cheap the reason why they didn't pay DeAndre Hopkins

42:18 the reason why they didn't give Jacoby Myers a million extra bucks to keep them you think

42:22 that was the crafts hell no it's Belichick it's always been Belichick yes the crafts

42:27 have benefited yes I'm sure they're happy about it and they would have you know some

42:32 cause for concern if spending got out of control but at the end of the day Bill was in charge

42:38 of all this stuff and he decided not to spend money they're gonna spend money now and that's

42:44 the end of the story for me there's no way on God's green earth that Robert Kraft is

42:50 walking into Bill Belichick's office and saying we're not going to give Jacoby Myers an extra

42:55 million dollars bill time to pivot and go to Juju Smith Schuster that's not happening

43:00 folks it's not happening I would also say the coaching staff wise Belichick's on the

43:07 record he's on the record saying that his philosophy is not to have too large of a staff

43:12 he doesn't like too many cooks in the kitchen he doesn't like he thinks it's too much work

43:16 to disseminate one message he likes everybody being on the same page so he doesn't like

43:21 having a bunch of people on the staff that's why he kept it to that close-knit circle that

43:26 he kept it for so long that that's his philosophy it's his belief it's not Robert Kraft and

43:31 I would also say I don't think it's a coincidence how much was the most that Brady got paid

43:37 annually Greg what was his average annual value at its highest oh probably 20 yeah like

43:44 yeah 20 somewhere Bill Belichick makes or did make 25 million a year here in New England

43:52 think about what Greg just told you about Belichick and how he views players and what

43:57 he had to say about a certain player making more money than he's making I think you could

44:03 add those two things up and you could say that hey maybe Bill yes he had an issue with

44:07 paying Brady because Brady was 42 at the time which I have no issue with honestly I think

44:12 the biggest mistake Bill made was he did not have a plan knowing that Brady was going to

44:17 go he traded Jimmy Garoppolo and then he sat on his ass and thought Jared Statham was gonna

44:22 be the freaking answer or whatever the whatever he was thinking but I don't think it's a coincidence

44:27 that Belichick made 25 million a year and Brady couldn't get that 25 million a year

44:31 for two years that he wanted the Drew Brees contract I don't think that was a coincidence

44:36 a happy accident I don't think that's how it's uh how it's going all right I'm done

44:42 Greg's done we're both done Greg's had a long day he wants to go take a nappy nap so he's

44:47 gonna go do that we'll come back later in the week we're gonna talk about something

44:51 because there's just a ton of stuff happening now with the Patriots all the way through

44:54 the draft so until next time he's Greg I'm Nick see.

44:58 you

44:59 [Music]

45:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Patriots Lessons From 2023 Season | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast

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