Latest / Bills Mafia Carolina TAKEOVER / 🔥 BRING IT: PATRIOTS WEEK
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- Owen Wilson: Alright, guys, Patriot Week, Bill's Patriots, Orchard Park. Bills are three and up. And I've got Jesse from the other sideline coming on next, right here on Bill's Mafia Caroline Takeover. Alright, Mafia. It's time for the other sideline, where we bring in fans from the teams the Bills are facing this week. We get their perspective, their passion, and maybe even a little trash. Because it's not just Bill's mafia in the house. It's game week and the spotlights on both sidelines. Let's go, Bills. All right, Jesse. Welcome back to the other sideline, my friend. A friend of the show. How you doing? How are things going? Let's just start there. We're gonna dive more deep into this, but ⁓ you know, how how are you doing? Let's start at the thirty thousand foot level, right? There you go. I I I got up at four AM this morning. To catch a flight out to Phoenix. I'm in a a a lonely hotel room by myself here for work. I've been stewing about the Patriots for pretty much the last, I don't know, seventy-two hours. So ⁓ yeah, I'm salty. Let's go. Very good, very good. And so much to get to, so much I want to get with you about this whole Patriot Bills game. And I I mean, I guess I guess I really want to start off here. Last year there was a lot of talk about the Patriots in the in the fourth place schedule. I think the Patriots had a le they played eleven backups last season. Obviously they got to the got to the playoffs and and ultimately got to the Super Bowl, didn't put it through, but I I I know last year Patriots fans and you had mentioned a little bit in in last year that hey, it's the schedule that we get, it's the schedule that we play. But looking at it, I want to start here, looking at it right now, and we'll get into Drake May and what's going on, but playing the first place schedule, is it more of Drake May situation, or do you think really this is something that the Patriots get in the first place schedule is really more difficult than than maybe what Pat's fans thought? I have to tell you, ⁓ that whole schedule argument last year drove me crazy. Right. That team was fourteen and three, went into the playoffs. Played some incredibly difficult defenses on the road, won, went into the Super Bowl, went in the season. Nobody expected it to be remotely close. Obviously, they got blown out of the Super Bowl. ⁓ but the fact that we were even there in the whole time last season, everybody was harpered on the schedule, the schedule, the schedule. And my whole point back then was like, look, you can only play the games that you're given, right? And Drake dominated those games for the most part. And at least until the playoffs and when he ran it to a few buzzsaw defenses. Here we are, the twenty twenty six season, right? With a real schedule in front of ⁓ and they're one and two. Drake may has continued to look absolutely horrible as he did throughout most of the playoffs in the Super Bowl and now into this year. Maybe the schedule argument is right. I don't know, right? I mean y you have to just go with the facts here. I mean, the fact is, you know, Drake has not looked good in a very, very long time and you can blame, you know, with injuries to Will Campbell or, you know, playing tough defenses, but Good quarterbacks gotta play QB well, right? And and beat good teams. And he just hasn't done that. So look, I don't know. I I th we I think as a Pats fan, we went into this year so jazzed about how ahead of schedule we were in terms of the window and kind of getting back to a competitive state and holy moly the Super Bowl. But man, it is looking pretty bleak right now. And you know what really pisses me off even more since I'm salty and tired, I'll tell you. I was gonna go into this season just Guns blazing. Like this was gonna be the return of the Pats dynasty. I was sick and tired of the Bills chirping per Patz fans and Josh Allen this, Josh Allen that. Well, now I can't even do that anymore. Yeah. Well, I mean, I agree with you. Like I did last year. You play the schedule that was given to you. It is what it is. ⁓ but it is from from the outside looking in, it is interesting to kind of see and unfold what is happening. And and we're talking about Drake May, but really the the Pats organization from the Super Bowl. And, you know, there is some talk even from the media in Boston that, you know, not only was it the fourth place schedule, but it's also the I think he had eleven backups that Dre was playing against. So yeah, I mean regrets. I mean, they basically stayed that entire season. ⁓ They did And now we're regressing to the mean and we've had a bunch of really, really critical guys go down already in the first couple of games. So Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely something that ⁓ is interesting. I mean, certainly from from the Bills side, you know, this is a huge game for us. I mean, if we win this, that's three games ahead of New England. That's gonna be tough just the way that just the way that New England's playing right now. But I wanna dive a little bit more into Drake May. Second place, I think, in the voting for the MVP. You know, again, that's that's the talk, you know, what you know, what that you know, that MVP was really all about for Drake May. But there's been some talk out in Boston about a shoulder injury and you know, everything that I'm reading inside inside Pat's Nation, ⁓ even the organization hasn't really come out to talk about that. But it does seem like that Drake May may be leaning a little bit on his shoulder. ⁓ you think that that could be something there, or is this something to just try to distract from maybe just really bad quarterback play. Hard to tell, right? I mean, he's so tentative right now in terms of, you know, throwing the ball downfield and driving the ball downfield. He's so in his own head. He's just it's hard to know like how much of this is, you know, he has a decimated receiver core. He's got very few offensive week weapons. He's got a line that's banged up right. And he's playing good defenses. And how much of it is just like a physical issue with him. But I will say this, there were I mean, pretty much every game last year, he would step into his throws and just throw darts downfield, you know. I especially the he had the unbelievable touch on the long ball. He was a big playmaker. In everything now, see I mean his his velocity seems way down. He's floating a bunch of passes, his his accuracy is off. So it's hard to tell like whether how much of this is just him being in his own head and what's it versus what's physical, but there's a massive difference in terms of his his level of play right now and And you if you if you look at the all twenty two, not that I sit back and actually watch all of it, but you know, you watch snippets and you know, he's missing guys that are wide open. He's just not making his progressions in the pocket. He he he just steps up and starts running at the first sign of pressure. So I don't know, man. I think he's a little just snake bit right now. Yeah. And that's gotta be tough to come out of, too, I would imagine, especially a young guy like that. I ⁓ you know, I I think myself and most of Bill's mafia, especially after last year. You know, there was definitely talk that this is, you know, Josh Allen is superior, right? I mean, definitely, but you know, that hey, the division right now ⁓ is gonna be closer than we anticipated with with New England. And now that we're sitting where we are today, you know, that may not be the case. I mean, what do you kind of see as the maybe the big difference? And I know we're throwing a lot on Drake May from last year, but w I mean, what do you kind of feel like maybe the big difference? I know you you touched on it a little bit there, but is there like ults is it play calling? Is it AJ Brown is is is out, you know, d you know, against Buffalo anyway. ⁓ what do you what do you really if you had to think about it pinpoint it, what would you say kind of difference from Drake May's second voter MVP to to today, other than confidence? I I'll start off with my conspiracy theory. And then we can get into maybe just some some more nuts and bolts. Pat pats and conspiracy theories. I like that. So whenever the Pats get good, the NFL finds some trumped up baloney charges to try to take them down, whether it's spy gate, deflate gate. Now you get some clearly doctored photos coming out in the off season with Mike Vrabel, ⁓ trying to t trying to make them look bad, right? He's all you know, just running ⁓ over the coals. There's all kinds of moral judgments being made. I don't know. I mean with AI you can do a lot of different things with different photos and and whatnot. And ⁓ you know, maybe this is a powers that beat, you know, going after the ⁓ the Patriots yet again. I do think that the coaching has not been as sharp as it was last year. I mean, that was a major benefit and plus to the Pats last year. It was Frabel and that staff. I mean, they coach those guys up. It was a young team. ⁓ so I I don't know whether it's just distraction in terms of the off season stuff or Different guys, different team and are not reacting as well. But I I don't think the coaching's been sharp by either Vrabel or McDaniel. I mean, I think that the defense has looked pretty good, but coaching's a factor. The injuries hurt. I mean, you lost the weeno, you lost AJ Brown, huge keys. The running backs have looked horrible. The remaining wide receivers that are o on the field can't get any separation. The drop and pass I mean, it's just a it's just it's all around bad on especially on the offensive side of the ball. And, you know, if there's a silver lining, it's ⁓ you know, the defense has looked pretty good. I mean Things got away from him in the Jags game, but I think a lot of that was due to turnovers and short fields. But yeah. It's ⁓ it's it's hard to like it's that's what's so frustrating. It's hard to say, look at this team and say, All right, here's the clear path forward to getting back to where we were last year. I just think so many things have to have to get fixed right now. Yeah, you had mentioned your injuries here. ⁓ I I know you were traveling, but ⁓ looks like ⁓ you're starting ⁓ right guard Van Broughton. Is that how you say his name? Yeah, it looks like he's going on IR today. So that's gonna leave you with a third string. ⁓ you know, guarding. That may be blessing in disguise based on the last few weeks. He was filling in, I think, for someone there. So yeah. So I mean, obviously with any NFL team, injuries, you know, injuries are gonna play a part. Interesting you talked about coaching. So I do want to talk a little bit about kind of the the mood around Pat's nation about Josh McDaniels. You know, he's one of those guys that's kind of been in the organization forever, ⁓ leaned you know, obviously leaned, you know, heavily on one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and Brady. So you know, what's Pat's nation kind of feeling about the Josh McDaniel two point ⁓ Look, the guy's got a great track record and he clearly did great things with Drake May in that offense last year. It just feels like it's getting stale a little bit on the offensive side of the ball. And and again, I don't know if he's just dumbing it down because the personnel isn't there or or what, but it just feel like it's so predictable. Like you so you look at some of these NFL offenses, I mean for you know, Bills included, they're just there's so much more dynamic. They're operating at such a faster speed. And it's just like the the stuff we've been doing in the past, it doesn't seem to be working as much as it used to. And again, I don't know if it's just a if it's a personnel thing or if it's a play calling thing or what, but how much how much did AJ Brown's ⁓ injury hurt the offense? The the whole the whole idea was we we, you know, we were gonna massively upgrade the wide receivers this year. So we got rid of Booty and Diggs and brought in AJ Brown and Dobbs. Brown goes down right away and Dobbs has been an abject disaster. And it's like we actually traded our two best reliable, most reliable receivers and and now we got nothing back for it. So that's that that receiver core is a a a mess. When when Matt Collins is your number one, it's a problem. Yeah, yeah. I mean he's a fan favorite. We loved him here in Buffalo. But yeah, I mean that's that's you know, in our mind Bill's mafia that get on about having a number one wide receiver, it comes down to the quarterback. What quarterback do you have? Josh Allen finally, I think he's got his number one wide receiver with DJ Moore, but you know, you look at the two and you plug and play. Like Josh Allen plugs and play in New England. You guys are probably three and up, even with that wide receiver core in there. So so important. So important there. Look, Josh Josh Allen is, in my mind, unquestionably the best player in the NFL right now. I don't know. That he is surrounded by He's the best. He's not o you're saying he's not only the best quarterback, but the best NFL. In terms of like what the guy who can make the single best impact on his own for a team, I d I don't think that Bill's team has a lot of talent on either side of that ball right now. I just don't. I mean James J James Cook and Dals. Yeah, he's a good running back. Right. But not nothing else is particularly special. And that guy Josh just single handedly just makes things happen every week. And it's it is terrifying when when you're you're the opposing team and you're you to play him. I mean it's just he can run it, he can throw it, he can just move around, he can make things happen. Guys get loose in the in in the secondary. It's just God damn it. Yeah, I mean it's a it's a I mean, you're right because we look at last week the Bills give up, you know, have five turnovers. I think the percentage there was like if you got five turnovers, so if you commit if you got the other team to give you five turnovers in a game, it's ninety seven per chance of winning that game. And and the Bills come out victorious. And, you know, I talked about it earlier this week on the Mafia Mayhem. I mean, the Chargers are in trouble as it is. And that's one of the things that I think the the Pats are and correct me if I'm wrong, I mean the Pats are reeling right now and they're they're they're gonna have to put up points to beat Buffalo. And if let's say they get into Orchard Park and May is good and looks good. Are the Patriots capable and they don't turn the ball over? Are the Patriots capable right now in a shootout with the Bills? Here's what I'll say is not in a shootout, no. But I actually think I think that Bills defense is pretty weak, frankly. I think we can I I mean, you know, you saw what the Texans did to him, you know, on on on day on week one. I think that they're that that's a defense where you actually can pile up yardage at points. And so if, you know, the defense, our defense, which which is decent and and good, could play well, if they can hold the Josh Allen offense to, you know, something in the mid twenties and all of a sudden we're Drake gets back to where we all thought he would be and you know, you're rolling on your defense. That's an absolute best case scenario where we could keep it close. I don't see playing it out like that though. Yeah. No, I I would agree with you. Right now the Bills defense is reeling. ⁓ and I had mentioned this last week with Taylor from ⁓ Chargers. And ⁓ that secondary that the Bills, you know, like you mentioned against Houston and Detroit giving up thirty plus, you know, that that's gonna be a key. It was a key last week. ⁓ the Chargers just didn't cut capitalize. And so, I mean, the Patriots, they really need to to capitalize there. And and to your point, I'm just not sure there's enough in there. ⁓ Benford is hurt right now, so we'll see what that comes out. Definitely for the Bills, they need to come out fast and really bury the Patriots early. But I do think, just like I said last week, I do think when you get a team like New England that is reeling, and and and you do, you know, you're you got a good Vrabel's a great coach. If they if the Pats come into Orchard Park on Sunday and they're able to get on the board early or get a couple turnovers like the Chargers did, you know, be interesting to see how they cope with that and and how the game progresses after that. Because I d I do think that if the Bills are putting up twenty one plus points, You know, the Patriots can't kick field goals here. Well, no, and what's gonna happen is it in that scenario is and, you know, all of a sudden Drake's gonna start pressing and trying to be, you know, play hero ball, trying to make the big play. And we s we've seen it all season. When he does that, he's gonna throw a million interceptions and it's just gets it's out of hand real quickly. Yeah. So I look I I I agree. I I I don't I think a a win for us, like a moral victory, would be, you know, Drake gets back to, you know, a semblance of his former self and You know, the offense seems to be clicking. We're able to move the ball down the field. Defense does a decent job and you know, and we lose by ten. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the opposites here, like the Bills offense did not play well at all. So we're you know, we're hoping that it is, you know, the Bills will get it done. I gotta but I love let me ask you this. Just while we're talking about the Bills. I mean, how are you feeling about this season and the prospects? It's kinda it's kinda wide I mean, it's kinda wide open a little bit. I don't think it's as wide open as you think in the AFC. Are you talking about the AFC in general? Yeah, I mean you got the Chiefs, you got the Bills. Yeah, I mean I yeah, I mean I think I think right now you you got you got Vegas and the Chiefs and the Bills. Yeah. ⁓ but you know, the Veg it's a nice story, but they'll end up falling off. And then you got I mean, you got the two powerhouses right now, and that's you know, you got the Bills and the Chiefs. So for the Bills Bengals Bengals are looking good, right? Burroughs back. B Bengals are looking good. Yeah, Burroughs back. You know, the The thing with the Bengals is is can they can they be consistent throughout the year, right? That that's their MO. But I don't think it's close. I think it's, you know, ⁓ Chiefs, Bills, you want to throw the Bengals there. We'll put we'll put Vegas in there right now. And then after that, it's it's kind of a you know, a race to the to the next side of it. I think right now the Bills are, you know, the Bills are really ⁓ tr trying to keep pace with with Kansas City. I I do think the Bills win the East this year, especially if they beat ⁓ New England, you know, on Sunday. I mean, that's three games up, two and a half against everybody else. So I mean it's a tough, tough over tough come there. But ⁓ you know, I mean, every year the with Josh Allen you have an opportunity, it's just a matter of what the you know, what the playoffs look like. I think the defense, you had mentioned earlier about the defense. I think a defense comes around and it's gonna be a lot better and it in in completely different defense that we've seen by the Bills for sure. Yeah, they're gonna need it. I I I I just think it's clearly it's it's Chiefs and Bills and everybody else. Sure. Yeah. And you know, the then the question becomes can can Josh Allen get over the hump? You know, and Exactly. Ben it's been a while, right? I mean It it's been a while. Here's what I love about Bills. I mean, we grew up Red Sox fans, right? Losing in the most heartbreaking fashion all the time. And the Red Sox fan base, ⁓ we've talked about this, is just was just filled with this existential dread all the time. They knew there was gonna the collapse was coming. The Bills go in every season like convinced they're gonna win the Super Bowl. Like like and then at whatever happens, happens. But y you know, you guys don't have that sense of foreboding doom and you know, we're gonna blow it again. It's I just feel like you guys like eternal optimists in that sense. Yeah, I th I think for s the seven obviously in the nineties, yeah, I mean, you know, you look at the Bills schedule in paper because we didn't have computers then, like you're like, ⁓ that's a win, win, win, win, win. I mean, basically you could go that nineties team. You could go down and probably say, hmm actually they might be undefeated here. Or they may lose this game because they're gonna wrest guys and then they lose one game. I mean, that was the team. And then you get the 17 year drought, and you're going I I mean, I remember doing this. You go through the schedule, you know, in Brady's era, and you're like, all right, well, there's two losses. The Jets maybe one there, maybe we can go nine and seven, eight and eight, and slide in in the wild card, right? So but there was always an optimism of getting. Let's just Get to the wild card. Let's just get in the dance, right? Yeah. But now with Josh, it's it's, you know, I don't wanna like say it's foregone conclusion, but you know, you you you know, you certainly feel like you're gonna be, you know, late in the January. But, you know, I do and I had mentioned this on my podcast ⁓ during the offseason here, that this is Josh Allen's best roster that he's had in nine years, and it's not because of the offense, it's because of the defense. And I know Bills are reeling right now on D, but if that defense gets turned around the way it should be from Jin Leonard's defense, this will no doubt be Josh Allen's best roster he's ever had in his career and maybe the one that gets us over the hump. Yeah. I mean, there's that eternal optimism. I don't think that defense is good at all. Not right now. Not but I don't think it matters. I think Josh Allen's gonna carry that team on his back. I I legitimately do. It really hasn't mattered in the last nine years. Yeah. If if you wanna be honest. Yeah. You know, it it mattered the most on thirteen seconds, twelve men on the field. ⁓ you know, it mattered in the games that it that it that it should matter. And that's the problem, right? And ⁓ so, you know, hopefully that will change. And the Bills last year they gave up they lost games they should have won, New England, Atlanta. And I don't I think that mindset this year, I don't think I think the Bills are gonna lose, but I don't think they're gonna lose to teams that they shouldn't lose to. I just but I just wanna I'll throw something out there. Yeah, come on. I think we spoke at this exact same time in the season last week. I was gonna mention this. And the Pats I think have the exact same record they have now. They did. And I was saying a lot of the things I'm saying today about how much they suck and how they have no real, you know, path to getting good again. So ⁓ you know, I think they changed. Yeah, they ran the table. Yeah. They're gonna tell you round table. I just thought about the same thing. Same thing. And you know what? I mean, this is a little bit the ⁓ Josh McDaniel's offense, which is it starts slow, they kind of put the pieces together, they figure out, they like start layering in more like, you know, routes and you know, option routes and just passing plays and and it just you know, it it it takes them a few weeks to kind of get their mojo. And so, you know, I'm I don't think that's what's happening here. I think it's just Drake Blame has has been playing absolutely horribly. To function that but you know it's early my point is only that it's early in the season and things and that's why it's so important, I think, for New England, for the Patriots, this game, just like it was for the Chargers. ⁓ but the but for the Chargers, we're not in the division, ⁓ you know, in the East. So that's why it's a really important game for the Pats this week. They can't go three games back, especially the way they are. But you know, everything is everything is really for the Bills, it's really hindered on on injuries and obviously Josh Allen's Health there. ⁓ prediction for the game? I think it's twenty eight thirteen Bills. I think ⁓ I think the the Pats offense is gonna continue to struggle to put up points. Maybe we get some garbage time points late in the game. I think the Bills probably get out to a pretty quick start. It's gonna be tough to slow down, Josh. Maybe you guys kind of let your your foot off the gas toward for towards the end and and only wind up at twenty eight. Twenty eight thirteen is my call. Yeah, I'm gonna go thirty I'm gonna go thirty-five twenty here. The Bills the Bills are gonna get back in the thirty range. The defense is gonna come up big for the Pats. I do think the Pats score. ⁓ you know, there's some talk out there the Pats aren't gonna score. I just again, like I said last week with the Chargers, is a very dangerous team. This is another big test for Brady because McDermott always had the team ready for these games. ⁓ and so this is another one for Brady's test here. But yeah, so I've got the Bills winning this one handily as well. Before we Sign off on the other sideline, tip a cap to the Sox. I think last year when you came on the other sideline, the Sox were also in the playoffs in the start of the wild card. So that's my only against the same team, right? Against the same team. Yeah, this is literally we're like groundhog day. So go sox. Well, Jesse, I appreciate you coming in. The other sideline, thanks for taking time. ⁓ you know, hold up in a hotel in in Phoenix there. Appreciate it. And ⁓ good luck on Sunday. Yeah, you too. Go pets. That's a wrap on today's episode of Bill's Mafia Carolina Takeover. Thanks for tuning in and repping the Mafia with us. Don't forget to subscribe, drop your mafia mail, and join us next time as we bring the passion, the pride, and the power of the Buffalo Bills straight from the Carolinas. Let's go Buffalo!