Podcast: On the Patriots, the Bills and the gap between the two

The Athletic's Matthew Fairburn has covered both teams extensively. Why is Bill Belichick still coaching? How did Brandon Beane morph Buffalo into the division's best? We examine all in a two-parter.

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Good morning! What a treat it was to catch up with friend of the program, Matthew Fairburn, for this two-part podcast.

We go long on all things Patriots and Bills live from Hamburg Brewery Company in Western New York.

Fairburn covered the rise of these Bills as well as anyone, gaining rare access to GM Brandon Beane. He then headed off to Boston at a critical time in Bill Belichick’s career. How is the best coach of all-time trying to catch Buffalo in this colossal role reversal? So much depends on Mac Jones but, as always, the coach’s thinking runs deeper.

We split this episode off into two parts. Part I is a close look at Belichick and the Patriots, while Part II examines where the Bills stand with Sean McDermott, Josh Allen and, of course, Beane. As we’ve seen time and time again — especially with the New York Giants — trusting your area scouts can go a long way toward building a winner. Fairburn spent a full day of scouting with the Bills’ brass for this story.

Co-host Jim Monos shares many stories from the scouting trail, too.

You can download the Go Long Podcast wherever you consume pods with all links and a full video replay below. We’ll get back to the words Friday morning in this newsletter, too, with a fascinating Q&A.

APPLE, Part I and Part II

SPOTIFY, Part I and Part II

YOUTUBE