Latest / The Big O Podcast / The Big O Podcast - Bonus Pod: Pats loss to Da Bears Instant recap
Transcript
- Glenn Ordway: Bonus pod, we come to you after the Patriots lose to the Chicago Bears Final 30 to 24. Seemed like they were constantly behind by six during the course of this ball game. We're down by two touchdowns as well. My son Sam Ordway joins us as he normally does after each one of these Patriot games. And let's start with the quarterbacks, and then I want to get into this really funky end of the football game. But I thought we saw two of the better quarterbacks in the league. Two young quarterbacks, Sam, that came out in the same year of the draft. one huge mistake by Drake May, that interception was inexcusable. But I think we also saw the same thing, you know, from Caleb Williams at the end of the game because the one thing you can't do in a third and one when you're at the thirty-two yard line is take a sack. And that could have taken them out of the ball game. The difference was Drake May didn't get rectified after the the interception and Santos ends up kicking a fifty eight yard field goal and bailing his quarterback out. Sam Ordway: Yeah. I mean, well, there there's there's a trend with Caleb Williams too, with the way that he runs backfield, and that's one of the biggest concerns with him in the way he plays right now. he he takes sacks behind the line of scrimmage a lot, and that's a big problem with him. you mentioned the Drake May interception. Look, it just wasn't a good throw. It wasn't a good throw in the red zone. It cost you seven points in this game, which you probably needed at the end there. but this this obviously this was not Drake May's fault tonight. The defense had a lot of hiccups tonight and Glenn Ordway: No. Right. Sam Ordway: this was a good offense. And as I said in the last week's episode, probably the best offense you're gonna play all season. I don't know, the Chiefs look pretty good right now, but yeah, a lot of holes on defense tonight. Glenn Ordway: Yeah, no, I'm not blaming Drake May for this one. I thought, other than that interception, I I thought he had a stellar performance. I would say the same thing about Caleb Williams. I thought they were both terrific. And you're right. I think Caleb Williams sometimes takes these chances because many times he can escape. He does that quite well. He's very athletic. But you just don't do it when it's a third and one and the game is on the line. But he was the killer. If you look down the stretch of this game, so Santos gets that doink, the 53 yard field goal that went off of the upright. Now suddenly you've got great field position. You're only down by six. There's a little over seven minutes left in the game. The problem was you went three and out right away and were forced to punt. That was a killer possession right there. And now you get Chicago gets the ball back. Here's the problem. They keep on screwing up with penalties, you know, and they get the first down, then it's negated. So now both teams are messed up. And Chicago at that juncture is just trying to milk out the clock. They just want to get to this thing with three zero zero zeros up on the board so they can get out of it. But I I thought there were some moments the Patriots had opportunities here, but the killer was after you get the missed field goal. You get the ball in great position and it's three and out. That was a killer. Sam Ordway: Yeah, it's been a big problem for the Patriots. I thought it was a problem for them last season as well. They just couldn't put together consistent drives. They rely on that big play. I mean, we saw it at the end of the half from Andre Stevenson gets that huge touchdown down the field. Bears defense probably anticipating Hail Mary. So, you know, this isn't a great Bears defense, but we knew they were gonna bring a lot of pressure tonight. I mean, they did it last week against the Falcons, Glenn Ordway: Yep. Yep. Sam Ordway: forcing two strip sacks on Michael Penix, and they gave Drake May a lot of pressure today and I I gotta say, he he he looked pretty composed today, other than that one interception. But they just they could they have no run game. I mean, you look at the the the Bears run game today, compared to the Patriots run game, th it's just non-existent for the Patriots, and that's a big problem. And, you know, look, the O-line didn't play great today either, but this they're a depleted O-line right now, and I think that's somewhat understandable, but also concerning. Glenn Ordway: Yeah, I would say this. You're right. The Patriots had no running game. They tried to go to it early on and they got nowhere with it. But if you look at the Bears, the Bears ended up with 130 yards or whatever. But I would say a lot of those yards, especially with Swift, were after the first hit. So he gets hit. That's a bad tackle. And he ends up extending that play. It should have been a two yard gain and instead it's a seven or eight yard gain. I thought the tackling by the Patriots against that Sam Ordway: Poor. Glenn Ordway: running game was pretty poor tonight. Sam Ordway: Exactly. And and they just didn't look disciplined tonight as a whole, the defense. And and they've looked pretty disciplined throughout most of these games. but today was just it was a disgusting approach from the defense today. And again, your quarterback didn't really hurt you in this game. I know that pick was in the red zone and it it you know cost you some points there, but he didn't he didn't throw away the game for you and it he actually played pretty good considering the pressure he was getting and For the defense to kinda come up stagnant like that. And we know this is a good Bears offense, but as you just said, it's it's the tackling. You can't you can't have poor tackling against a good offense like this. Glenn Ordway: Yeah, I I will disagree with you slightly on the Drake May interception. I'm not saying if he didn't throw it a little further, he might have had a shot with it. But I think he had his eyes set on Rarden. That's where I'm going. That's the mismatch. He's up against the linebacker. Rarden's got some quickness to his to his game. And he thought he could beat the linebacker. The problem was the safety was still up top. And I always think that is so dangerous to throw. So I didn't like the decision. I would agree with you that if he gets it a little bit deeper, he's got a shot at it. But I just didn't like that decision at at all in in the course of you know, and that was really the only major problem he had. As I said, both quarterbacks looked very, very good. you know, throwing the the football tonight. And I also think that May had some terrific runs and I know he's not supposed to do what he did. On the goal line, when you're down there and you're trying to extend it, you don't do that because you can fumble the ball before it hits that white line. But he lucked out and Vrabel realized that he had got it across that line, touched the line, and they challenged it and they got the touchdown out of it. But I'll guarantee you they're probably telling him now, no, you you're not gonna do that again. We we do not want you to do that. It's just very, very dangerous. I I thought The kid Burden had a big game. There were some huge passes that he was able to Caleb Williams was able to connect on him. Because they it's not like Chicago moved the ball continuously. They just came up with some big plays. Now we can say the same thing about the Patriots, especially at the the end of the first half. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. You've only got nine seconds remaining. And then you're throwing the ball underneath because, well, that's what they were doing. They they realized that they were not going to be able to go over the top. As you said, Chicago was coming at him with blitz after blitz, and they were disguising them really well. You weren't sure whether they were loaded from one the the left side or loaded from the right side. And then they started going underneath and had great success. And Chicago's looking for the Hail Mary pass. You got nine seconds. What else are you going to do? And instead, May goes underneath, and then they end up getting that big score. I don't think I've ever seen a play like that at the end of a half. Sam Ordway: Well, and it was smart for AJ Brown to go down when he did, but I I don't know what's wrong with AJ Brown either. I it he has to get more involved and we talked about it last week. The Patriots are having a lot of injuries with the receiving core and he he has to get more involved in the offense. I mean he he was able to get open he just a bunch of drops last week and today he just wasn't very active for them at all. But for for both Glenn Ordway: Actually they they Sam Ordway: offenses, this was a big tight end game. I mean both the tight ends for both the Patriots Glenn Ordway: Yes. Yes. Sam Ordway: and the Bears stepped up today. Glenn Ordway: Right. Sam Ordway: but you you need to get something else out of that receiving quarter from for Drake May. Glenn Ordway: Yeah, Loveland made a couple of big plays. And obviously I said Rarden and Henry Sam Ordway: Hunter Henry had a better game today, too. Glenn Ordway: Henry had a t a really good game. So yes, the t the tight ends were big, but you're gonna go with the tight ends a lot if they're coming at you, if they're blitzing a lot. Now, the Sam Ordway: Right. Yeah. Glenn Ordway: one thing I did not expect from the Patriots is as much blitzing as they did. I think they blitzed sixty percent of the time in this game or somewhere around that. That was an awful lot. So they were gonna gamble. And they were gonna come at Caleb Williams and they were gonna see if they could rattle him a little bit, I think. Sam Ordway: Force him to run behind the line of scrimmage. That's what you want to do against him, yeah. Glenn Ordway: Correct. Right. And so they really came at him during the course of this game. And they had Christian Ellis, I thought had a brilliant game tonight. I thought he was all over the place. A major factor, pressure on the quarterback, making tackles. he was the one guy I thought that was doing a great job hitting hard and tackling. Sam Ordway: Yeah, I mean they just couldn't tackle today. That's that's the biggest issue with the defense. but that's that's the game plan you want to have against Caleb Williams is to bring in pressure, force him to run, you know, five yards behind the line of scrimmage, which what they did to force them to kick that field goal, which was still ballsy to kick that field goal. but defense has to play better against a top tier offense like this, or else you're not gonna you're not gonna be a good playoff team if you want to get there. Glenn Ordway: Listen, I I you and I both talked about this game before the game, and we both thought Chicago was probably going to win it. We thought it was going to be a high scoring game. We thought it was going to be a close game. It was all of those things. Here's what is a little troubling to me is that there were so many opportunities for the Patriots to win this game. You're within six, you know, you've got that that opportunity, and they just couldn't make that next play, or they made the play and then they get penalized. You know, it was just one play here or one play there. I don't know whether to feel encouraged about that or to look at it on the flip side and say, man, this is a game. You go into Chicago, you could have won it. They took the crowd out of the game numerous times during the course of the game. And because that crowd was revved up. I don't know if you saw it early on, but that was the highest price ticket. on the secondary market of any NFL game so far this season. It was out of sight. No, it was out of sight. Because it Sam Ordway: that doesn't surprise me. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Yeah. Glenn Ordway: was Caleb Williams' first game back because he played in Atlanta last week. So he's back. It's against a team that was in the Super Bowl last year. And people are jumping on the bandwagon right now because let's face it, the Bears are are pretty damn good. But I thought the Patriots did a a good job because it could have got carried away early on. You know, they they get the They they get the the field goal, then they get the touchdown. Now they're up ten zip. That's when the Patriots came back. And that was where they they found was that the the Reardon play where they found him? yeah, and they they get on the on the scoreboard. And to me, they took the crowd out of the game at that point. And that that crowd was getting really loud. So it's frustrating to me because I think this was a very winnable game, Sam. Sam Ordway: Yeah, they stayed in this game. The problem is they keep on shooting themselves in the foot. And we talked about it last week. If you keep on shooting, they they beat themselves. Okay. And if you're gonna they have they have some talent. Obviously their O line is depleted right now. They have a lot of injuries, but you can't keep on losing these games to yourselves. Because they they are keeping themselves in these games. They are. But there are dumb moves throughout these games where you just sit there and you say, Jeez, how how are you making that play? And a a lot of missed tackles tonight. And didn't think the Bears offense played spectacular either. I thought there was a lot of drops, especially from Loveland. Like he he he drops a couple, so yeah. Glenn Ordway: Yeah, he did. Yeah. And he's been terrific for them so far. But there were so many plays in which you sat there and said, my God, th if they make this one play. So it's a third and eleven. and Caleb has got the ball back deep in his own territory, and the Patriots blitz him and he avoids the safety. It looks like they're ready to take him down, certainly at the goal line. Right. Sam Ordway: yeah. That was a beautiful throw too. Glenn Ordway: And then he throws the ball. to Adunze a great pass. And instead, Sam Ordway: Great catch too. Glenn Ordway: right, instead of being third and eleven, they suddenly have the first down and they're out of deep in their own territory. And now he's got some breathing room to to work in. And that was a killer. And I go back and I look at all of these plays and I'm sitting there saying, if the Patriots had done that, if they had sacked him right there, even if they don't get him in the in the end zone, because they ended up driving beyond that. And ended up ended up scoring. That ended up d you know, and it was plays like that. You look back and say, one play here or one play there. So there's some encouraging things in this game. And they get what Miami next week and they get plenty of time to prepare for for Miami. They're on the road quite a bit now over the next Sam Ordway: They don't play they don't play a one PM game until after Christmas. That's kind of Glenn Ordway: Correct. Sam Ordway: an interesting dynamic. Glenn Ordway: Yeah. Well, and you were you expect though though they were in the Super Bowl last year. So usually teams that are in the Super Bowl the year before or, you know, late playoff teams, you're not gonna get a lot of one o'clock games because the networks are gonna fight for you in the four o'clock window. And then they still have a Monday night game and a Sunday night game to play. So and who knows y you know, when they move games around. Wait in the season if they don't pick up another one. But no, that doesn't surprise me. Though Miami does surprise me, that is not a one o'clock game. You would think that would be a one o'clock game. Sam Ordway: Right. Yeah. Glenn Ordway: And that one that wouldn't that one isn't. but they get at least ten days now, right? They get they don't play until a week from Sunday. So it gives them a little bit of exactly. That's Sam Ordway: Yeah. And they they desperately need it with all the injuries that they have. Trust me, they need this. Glenn Ordway: exactly what I was getting at. They're going to need that right now. So they can get some of those, some of those bodies back, because that could be a a real problem for them, you know? And did Byard ever come back in the game? I I can't remember. Did he come back? I can't I don't recall seeing him later on. He left with a shoulder injury and I don't remember him coming back in the game. Huh? Did he? He might have. He might have. I c Sam Ordway: Thought he did, no? I thought he did, no? I might be wrong. Glenn Ordway: I can't remember seeing. I'm trying to just look at my list of injuries for tonight. Every week we seem to to have all of these injuries. the other thing I do believe though, and I don't know if it was Christian Gonzalez apparently was sick. Sam Ordway: Yeah, yeah, he was. I heard him in the post game too. You could tell he was sick. Glenn Ordway: He was sick. And because you didn't hear his name called an awful lot. And I will say this, something you don't normally see with the Patriots. I thought Chicago, especially in that first half, Sam, had a lot of wide open receivers. A lot of them. Sam Ordway: yeah. they did. No, this was this was probably the worst defensive performance we've seen from the Patriots. And you could bring up Jacksonville as well, but I I'd give the pass because the offense gave you nothing in that game. At least the offense gave you something in this game. just inexcusable from the Patriots defense. In a game where, again, as I just mentioned, the O-line, very depleted. So your defense needs to step up and help out your offense. Cause they they bailed the defense out plenty of times today. Glenn Ordway: Yeah, I also think you're looking at a very creative offense. There's a lot of motion. So they've got guys going in one direction and then they're focused on throwing the ball in a different direction. I mean, he's getting a lot of accolades. It it it's obvious that Detroit is suffering without having him Sam Ordway: yeah. Glenn Ordway: there. And so I I think a lot of it is deserved. I I thought they did some really Cool stuff in the in the course of the game. Well, it would have it it would have worked if you did it right. And it Sam Ordway: How about that one handoff to the old lineman? How about that? Were they Right, he wasn't behind Glenn Ordway: was to to me if you would if you had given it to them from behind as opposed to in the front. So my guess is on this one, Sam, they had a short week and they didn't have a lot of time to work on it. And Ben Johnson decided, you know what, we're gonna use it right now. And they probably didn't. That's a a play I think you need an awful lot of reps. Guards are not accustomed. To getting the ball and then and hiding and then running with it, you know, s because he basically he had to spin off of it after he got the ball. and he so he he didn't know what to do with it. My guess is if they had spent an an entire week working on that, that probably would have worked. but it looked very, very awkward, almost as if Yeah, we didn't really work on this. We we didn't have many hours this week, so we just threw it we threw it together. so in in the end, are you encouraged? Now admit you thought they were going to lose this game, as I did. So I'm not sure I can sit here and say I'm discouraged in any way, because I anticipated they would lose. And if you told me it was gonna be thirty twenty four before the game, I probably would have said, Yeah. That's probably right. That's where it'll be in the end. yet as I said, I I'm a little bit frustrated because there were so many plays. If the play goes this way instead of going south, you win this football game tonight. But are you frustrated? Sam Ordway: Yeah, I think I am frustrated 'cause I think this was a defensive effort tonight. We talked about it. There was just poor tackling today. but I also understand that they have a lot of injuries. And they they they stayed in this game. It probably better than I thought they would have, considering how parts of this game went for Chicago. I didn't think Chicago's offense played perfect either though. So that's where I kinda you know, hesitate. But I don't know. They Miami next week, so it should be an easy game. But yeah, I I don't s I don't feel great about this game. No. I don't feel great. Glenn Ordway: Well, you never feel great when they lose, but for me usually when I know or I f have a good feeling based on the two teams that I don't think they're gonna win that game, you come out of it and say, Well, did they play well enough to make you feel good going forward? And that's where I'm a little bit puzzled in all of this, because there were some really good things they did. I mean, the play with nine seconds left in the first half. And the danger there was Chicago had just scored. So now, if you don't score in the nine seconds, and really you shouldn't have scored in the nine seconds, as I said earlier, I I don't think I've ever seen that happen like that at the end of a half. Chicago's get the first possession of the second half, which by the way, they scored on. So now suddenly you're in serious trouble. So that touchdown to close out the first half is really what kept them in this game for that second half. Really did. They're not in this Sam Ordway: Yeah, I mean it Glenn Ordway: game, I don't think. Then I think we're looking at maybe a blowout or certainly they're losing this by two touchdowns plus. Sam Ordway: And I guess it's also comforting to know that this is a Thursday night game. And these games are wacky. These games are wacky because it's little prep time. It's a it's a night game. Glenn Ordway: Right. Yep. Sam Ordway: it's just y you never know what you're gonna get, but you always know it's gonna be a little wonky. And it that's what it was in that first half. I think both teams started to mature up a little bit and play real football in that second half. But Pictures defense has got to be better than this. I've been giving them the credit that I think they've deserved 'cause I thought they've been playing pretty good, but today was just atrocious. Glenn Ordway: Big plays, they gave up big plays and crucial third down plays, where you thought you had Chicago by the throat and then they were able to bail out. But you're right, all of these Thursday games are very, very strange. and it's preparation. These guys are creatures of habit. They normally go to meetings on Monday, they are off on Tuesday, then Wednesday they start working in the trenches to get ready for the opponent coming up on Sunday. And it all goes out the window when you're playing Thursday night because you have none of that. You're working on Monday. You're on you're not off on Tuesday. So it's it's just a different week. I've seen it over the years since they started incorporating these Thursday night games. And they've always been kind of, you know, funky like this because, Sam Ordway: Yeah. Glenn Ordway: you know, it's it it just it's not the normal routine that you have. I think some of that is going on with the games overseas in in Europe too. I mean, you know, especially with teams w we saw it in Australia where the the Rams, you know, decided they were gonna go over there the night before or whatever, 'cause that's what you normali Yeah. It could be. It could be based on where they are. And Sam Ordway: Well, that might've just been the Rams though. That might've just been the Rams. Who knows? I don't they don't look good. Yeah. Glenn Ordway: the forty nine is blew out, if you remember, in that game. All right. So it's Miami next week. Get to watch everybody else play this weekend. All right, Sam, good job. The Patriots end up losing this one thirty to twenty four to the Chicago Bears. We thank you very much for listening to the the bonus pod. We'll have more coming your way this week.