Boomer Esiason

CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning to discuss the Patriots and other NFL news.

The Patriots captured a 31-24 victory over the Colts Sunday, but coach Bill Belichick was not pleased after they let Indianapolis climb back in the game in the fourth quarter.

“Anytime you give up 21 points in the fourth quarter, you can understand how they feel — especially to a team that hasn’t won a game and to a quarterback who really a lot of people don’t have much respect for on the field,” Esiason said, although he added: “Five weeks from now, nobody’s going to look back at this and saw that they gave up 24 points to Indianapolis and give a crap about it.”

The Patriots visit the Redskins next Sunday, but the anticipation already is building for the game in two weeks against the Broncos and Tim Tebow.

“I’m not a big fan of his … but I will say this: What’s happening in their games is fascinating,” Esiason said. “Other teams are imploding offensively, so their defense is scoring touchdowns for them. Guys drop coverage, Tebow runs around and makes big plays in the fourth quarter. I’ve never seen anything like it. I give the young man a ton of credit. I give John Fox a ton of credit for sticking with it and riding the wave.

“When the Patriots get there it’s really going to be interesting, because watching the Patriot defense we saw yesterday in the fourth quarter go against Tim Tebow in his building should lead to some very interesting football.”

Esiason predicted that Chargers coach Norv Turner, Giants coach Tom Coughlin, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano and Colts coach Jim Caldwell will be fired after the season, and that Eagles coach Andy Reid “wants out of there,” speculating that San Diego would be his ideal landing spot.

Following are more highlights from the conversation.

On if he would prefer Tebow or Mark Sanchez as his quarterback: “I would want Mark Sanchez. Tim Tebow’s got a nice, short resume of winning here. It’s unexplainable, other than the fact that the kid is earning it and doing it in the big spots much like Mark Sanchez has. I’ll take Mark over Tim, but I’ll tell you one thing: Both of them are showing they can win games in the fourth quarter after not playing that well for 3 1/2 quarters.”

On Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers: “Tom Brady’s done it a lot longer than Aaron Rodgers has. If you just look at the body of work, I will tell you that Tom’s three Super Bowls still weigh heavily on his side. I’ll always look at those Super Bowls as saying that this will be one of the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played, especially if he can get to a fourth one. I still say it’s going to be New England and the Packers meeting up in Indianapolis. Obviously, only time will tell. Neither team has a great defense, by the way.”

On the Packers’ quest for an undefeated season: “Everybody there wants it. I did their game a couple of weeks ago against Minnesota on Monday night, and everybody there, to a man, even thought they’re not really supposed to be talking about, they’re talking about it. And they’re talking about it because they want it. Just like the Patriots wanted it back in 2007.”

On Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski: “He’s fantastic, he really is. That size, and the ability that he has, and he’s a full tight end — he can block, he can run pass routes. He obviously is a smart player, intuitive, understand where to get himself open and how to get himself open. And much like Tom has the relationship with Wes Welker, this relationship has now developed into that type of thing on the field. If you have it with one guy, it’s great. If you have it with two guys, it’s fantastic. There’s not enough good things to say about him.”

On the Colts’ decision about what to do with the top draft pick and Peyton Manning: “The big question for the Colts will be is [Manning] going to be ready to play next year. And I don’t think it matters. I think they’re going to take Andrew Luck regardless. And they should take Andrew Luck and be like the Green Bay Packers, who have been stocked at the quarterback position since 1992.”