Mr. Cowher, hello, sir. How are you guys doing in New England? Let's not be panicking yet now. Well, the panic, there is always a little bit of panic. They lose this week. There's going to be a little bit of panic. A little bit. A little bit. Mass panic if they lose this weekend. Believe it or not, there's been a really uncharacteristic amount of restraint amongst Patriots fans after week one and I'm not sure why. I think they think that the offense is going to get their stuff together but there is a little bit of hesitancy to say any keep any praise towards the defense. How do you think things are going to work out? Do you believe this is just going to be another case of New England somehow finds a way to get over a bad loss?

Well, I mean, I think, yeah, and we know what Bill's record is coming back from this.

I know Matt Patricia, I mean, when you look at that game, you know, I saw some uncharacteristic things with the Bill Belichick defense, Matt Patricia, the defense.

They get up six big plays on defense.

You're talking about a team last year.

They only gave up 59 all year, and that's a run of 10 yards or more or a pass of 25 yards or more.

So, you know, when you look at those things to eliminate big plays, a lot of times they are schematic breakdowns.

And Stephen Gilmore, I think Calvin Noi, and they're probably going against a team that gives you a lot of window dressing, a lot of motion, and they're very fast.

So I think what you saw is a combination with that, you know, and I think with Tom, it's just kind of getting used to all the new toys he has around them.

Now, Bill Cowher, they lost Julian Edelman and there's a lot's made of, you know, how important

he was to this offense and how it's going to take them time to adjust. But short of a

quarterback, when you coached, was there a player that you lost that you kind of couldn't make up for their absence?

Well, I would go to an offensive lineman because I think, you know, when you have an offensive line issues, it affects everything.

It affects you being able to run the football, protect the quarterback, what you're doing in the passing game.

But I think when you look at their offense, look at all the new parts that they have, Brandon Cooks, Philip Dorset, Dwayne Allen. Gronk, I say Gronk is new because he hasn't played in over a year. Burkett and Gilleslie, they're getting used to these linemen because you can only do some simulate game speed to some extent. But you'll never be able to substitute that for game experience.

Not all these guys have played together in one game, and I would think that they would give

better because it's all still about communication. It's about timing. It's about adjusting in the

course of the game. All the things you really don't, you can't practice and simulate in practice. So I think with all the new parts he has around him, as long as they can stay healthy on that offensive line, which I think is going to be very key, I think they'll be fine on offense. I'm talking to Bill Cowher. Bill, when you coached, there weren't as money restrictions on contact during practices, preseason, you could be a lot more

physical. How much do you think that damages teams now in the beginning of the season?

Well, everyone's on the same page. I just don't know you say about that. It's all relative, right?

And so, I mean, I think the good teams, I think are, I think they're hurt more because if you're a good team, when more you're getting a rhythm, the more you start to separate yourself from people. So I think the good teams are a little bit of disadvantage early in the season because you're still trying to figure out your rhythm. You're still trying to figure out your timing. Again, even if you've played together, you're not going to simulate that game speed in the pre-season. You're not going to simulate that game speed in practice. So, you know, again, you know, although everybody's still the same, I get that, but I think what it does is it brings the top teams back down to the same level. So I think that's why you saw some of the offensive output, I think, in the first week. Outside of what, obviously what Kansas City did with the big plays was down, I think, really throughout the league with some of the good offenses. Now, how realistic, as far as the Patriots are concerned, it was the beginning of the season, people were, I mean, there were people talking about a perfect season, and they would be able to run the table. and now that you see that's a little bit of a difference and you're kind of getting to take a look at the other teams,

biggest challenger in your mind to the Patriots in the AFC. I know that we discuss the Steelers and the Raiders. Is there a team that we might not be thinking of in your mind? Hey, listen, the team you just played. I mean, Kansas City is fast. I mean, there's no substitute for speed. I mean, you got a kid like Tyree Kill who's had a play over 60 yards for a touchdown

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