Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - 2018 Revisited: Week 12 - Locked On Patriots June 6, 2019

Episode Date: June 6, 2019

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Clock is wadding under a minute to go here in the Meadowlands. Problems persisted for the Patriots today. Penalties, some special teams issues once again. A slow start, falling behind the Jets, 7-0. That's been a problem that's plagued them on the road, especially this year, but overall in 2018, and yet New England is on the verge of an eighth win against three losses to head back home next week to entertain the Minnesota Vikings.

And as Tom Brady slaps hands to break from the huddle, moves under center, takes the clock down to 22 seconds and takes the knee, and the Patriots take the win back home to Foxborough. Well, it's good to be back in the win column. You sit there at 8-3. You get back home next week. You play a tough Viking team at 425.

Gets you a chance to get to 9-3. And then back into your division at Miami. And then the big one at Pittsburgh. So it's all there in front of you. It was a struggle for much of the day here in the Meadowlands as it usually is but the Patriots guarantee themselves a 500 finish for an 18th straight year. Hello friends and welcome on in to the week 12 installment of 2018 Revisited, our off-season series here at Locked On Patriots where we're going week by week through the season that

was for your 2018 New England Patriots, a season that began with a victory over the Houston Texans in week one and ended all the way at Super Bowl 53 with New England hosting their sixth Lombardi Trophy. As always, I'm Mark Schofield here in the big chair. And following a disastrous loss in Week 10 at Tennessee, a game that we tried to break down yesterday, the Patriots had a bye week and a lot of time to think about what could have been. But they entered the final phase of their regular season coming off that bye with a division game against the new york jets at the

jets in new york city well in new jersey more accurately and while it again it was not pretty you heard bob socci there from 985 the sports hub on the call with scott zola talking about how they got off to a slow start there were mistakes there was a struggle divisional games tend to be difficult but the patriots do eventually pull out a win in week 12 they coming on top against their division rivals by a final score of 27 to 13 the jets would get on the board first and that's where we will begin in a moment but first your usual cavalcade of reminders to first follow me on twitter at mark scofield check out the work at a variety of places included inside the pylon.com pro football weekly the score matt waldeman's rookie scouting portfolio and yes

that trio of sb nation websites included big blue view where i'm doing an off-season series on scouting the quarterback position. Bleeding Green Nation, where I co-host the QB Scosio with the Honorable Michael J. Kist. And of course, Pat's Pulpit, where my off-season series of How It Happened just debuted last week with a look at Stephon Gilmore's interception back in Week 1. So let's dive into this game, and as indicated, it was a slow start for New England. That was a theme throughout the season, slow starts, particularly on the road, which is why we're all so nervous come AFC championship time. The teams traded punts on their opening possessions

and it would be the Jets to get on the board first. Josh McAllen started in place of an injured Sam Darnold, would find Jermaine Curse on a crossing round to cap off a long touchdown drive for the New York Jets. Solid run. That time for McGuire. Four-game losing streak for New York. Jeremy Bates, the offensive coordinator, trying to figure out a way to generate offense.

It's a quick snap on a third and three. McCown looking. McCown. A strike. Jermaine Curse extends for the touchdown. The Jets are on the board first. A great job by McCown. Buying time in the pocket.

And waiting out Kearse on this crossing route. He gets across the face that time of Harmon. And Jones rather. route he gets across the face that time of harman and jones rather and mccown faith in his offensive line beautiful 80 yard drive and nine iron eagle and dan fouts there on the call for cbs and as you heard it josh mccown did a tremendous job on this play he bought some time in the pocket moved around a little bit it gave curse some time to break free, working across the middle from right to left. A similar route concept

to some of the other touchdowns we've already talked about in this series. He gets by Jonathan Jones, makes the catch short of the goal line, but plunges into the end zone to give the Jets an early 7-0 lead. But the Patriots would respawn. They would get on the board on their next possession. And the two players that

hooked up, well, you've got Tom Brady on one end and Rob Gronkowski on the gun. White will flank him, shifting from the outside. Third and long for New England. Deep drop. Brady, deep ball. Looking for Gronkowski. He's got it! Touchdown Patriots! Gronk

is back. Watch Gronkowski right down the middle of the field. Splitting the two deep coverage. Claiborne late coming over. Beautiful throw by Brady. Under pressure. Coming right up the gut. He absorbs the big hit.

Trying to find out if Gronk caught it. Yes he did. Taking the ball away from Claiborne in the end zone just his second TD catch all season the 34-yard strike from Brady to Gronkowski allowed the Patriots to tie the game at seven and we're going to dive into this play in the third part of this show it's going to be the pivotal play that we break down but I do want to highlight one thing here and you heard Dan Fouts say it. This was just Gronk's second touchdown of the season, and his first touchdown since all the way back in week

one when he got the Patriots on the board in their season opener against the Houston Texans. And you also heard Ian Eagle there on the call talking about the curious decision that the Jets made. On the previous play, Brady looked for Julian Edelman deep downfield, but James White was flagged for an offensive pass interference. Now, rather than decline the penalty and let the Patriots face a fourth and two at the 24, they accepted the penalty, backing the Patriots up 10 yards, turn it into a third and 12 situation, and given Tom Brady another shot to convert a third down. Now, New England may have gone for it on fourth and two. Maybe that was the thought process there.

Maybe they thought they'd push him back a little bit and he could hold into a longer field goal try. But Tom Brady and company make the most of this opportunity and they tie the game at seven. Now, the game would remain tied until midway through the third quarter when Steven Gostkowski would cap off a long Patriots drive with a 34-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 10-7 lead. Now, the Patriots would have a chance to capitalize. Josh McCallum would be intercepted by Stephon Gilmore at the Patriots' own two-yard line.

Unfortunately, however, the Patriots would make nothing of the opportunity. Backed up with under two minutes remaining, they ran Sonny Michel three times rather than trying to put together a drive at the end of the half. And at the end of that drive, they're forced to punt. Josh McGowan takes the team into field goal range and Jason Myers would hit a 55-yard field goal on the second to last play of the first half, sending the teams to the locker room tied at 10-10. Up next, we're going to break down the rest of this contest. We're going to talk about how the Patriots were able to pull away in the second half. But before we do that, I do want to remind everybody about our great new friends over at Playbook Products.

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Father's Day and yes, my family members, I know you're listening. Please take heed. So check out our friends over at PlaybookProducts.com. Playbook Products, rest your pint on sports history. Mark Schofield back with you now on this week 12 installment of 2018 Revisited, our

off-season series taking a look at the Patriots season that was and a season that culminated with yet another Lombardi trophy. We are breaking down the week 12 victory over the New York Jets, a road win 27-13, picking up the action in the second half. The teams entered the halftime break tied at 10, but it would be the Patriots to pull away in the second half. And this wasn't pretty. This game wasn't pretty, but the Patriots received the second half kickoff and they would go right down the field and score on a Steven Kosowski 32-yard field goal to make it a 13-10 game. Now the Jets would tie it up again. They would hand around. They would get a field goal of their own on the ensuing possession, making it 13-13 with just under five minutes remaining

in the third quarter. But then that's when New England pulled away. And the first big play that we're going to break down in the second half of this contest was a drive starter. After the field goal, the Patriots start a drive, first and 10 of their own 25 yards. Then they go play action, and Tom Brady finds Chris Hogan wide open in the middle of the field Patriots have 322 yards of offense Kronkowski has been targeted seven times keeping an eye on the running back situation James White is in remember Michelle went down on the run fake and he hits a wide open Chris Hogan for a gain of 27. On the next play, James White would go right tackle for 27 yards and in the blink of an eye the Patriots were down

just outside the red zone facing a first and 10 at the Jets 21. On that ensuing first down James White would be stopped for no gain but on second and 10 from the Jets 21 yard line Patriots fans were able to finally breathe a little bit easier as Tom Brady would work a gaudy concept, a go on the outside from Rob Gronkowski and an option route from the slot from Julian Edelman, and he would find his slot receiver for a catch-and-run touchdown, getting the Patriots another lead. Gronkowski sets up on the outside. Brady looks in that direction. Pump and throw underneath the Patriots offense. It starts with the alignment.

As you heard, Rob Gronkowski lines up as the boundary receiver to the right with Julian Edelman inside of him. The Patriots have three receivers to the left and Tom Brady is alone in the shotgun. And that right there puts a defense into a bind. You've got a numbers advantage for the offense, but it's away from Gronkowski and Edelman. So as a defense, what do you do? Well, here, the Jets run basically a cover two. And that boundary corner aligned over Gronkowski, he's going to sink with that vertical route, which clears out the sideline. Julian Edelman is running that option route from the slot. But with the numbers advantage away from Edelman, that nearest linebacker has to drop and rotate away from Edelman. So Edelman has either option available to him. On this option route,

this gaudy concept, the slot receiver can either sit down, which he typically does versus zone, or run away from man coverage. Because if it's a man coverage situation, you're going to run away from the inside defender because outside defender is going to be cleared off by the vertical route. Well, here in this cover two, because that corner has to sync with the vertical route, Edelman gets the best of both situations. He could do either because he could break to the outside where there's no defender. The corner is run off by Gronkowski or he can just sit down. He chooses to sit down. Brady pumps a little bit on the Gronkowski, or he can just sit down. He chooses to sit down. Brady pumps a little bit on the Gronkowski vertical route to hold that corner over Gronk, and then makes just a simple,

easy throw. And from there, it's Edelman. Gronkowski does a great job sealing off the cornerback. Edelman plunges into the end zone, and the Patriots have a 20-13 lead, thanks to the extra point from Steven Gostkowski. And they would close out this game with one more touchdown drive. It would be a Sonia Michelle one-yard touchdown plunge, but before that, a huge third down conversion from Brady to Josh Gordon. Force that low throw, but he's having some type of difficulty when throwing to his left. Third and 10 for New England. Pivotal play.

Gronkowski is off the line. On a third and long. Rush is coming. Brady steps up. Brady delivers to the sideline. Called in by Gordon. First down at the 30-yard line. 17 yards as Brady with a BB. And he's first to go over and congratulate Gordon because of this catch. Tremendous hands. Grabs this ball and secures it as he hits the ground and rolls over. Acquired for a fifth round pick when things went south in Cleveland. Facing a third and ten at the Jets 47 yard line and holding to that 20 to 13 lead the Patriots need to

get points here to try to put this game away. There's 12-24 left in the contest. If they're forced to punt here, the Jets could go down the field and score. But instead, Brady finds Gordon. It's a simple speed out route, a deep out, and they just get a cover forward look from the Jets. It's basically a man coverage situation on the outside. Gordon starts his route at the bottom of the numbers, works to the top of the numbers inside, gets the receiver to worry about a route break into the inside then flips his hips breaks to the boundary Brady with a tremendous and long throw here he releases this from his own 45 yard line in the

pocket down to about the 30 right sideline long throw great hands catch slide into the turf from Josh Gordon and he makes the reception, moves the chains, and the Patriots would cap off that drive with the Sonny Michel one-yard touchdown plunge. With the extra point making it 27-13, that gives you your final score. The Patriots leave MetLife Stadium with a win over their division rival, the New York Jets. Up next, we're going to break down the pivot play. Ian Eagle said it was this third down, but we're really going to dive into the Gronk touchdown from earlier in the contest. And then we're going to talk about what we learned about the Jets

and the Patriots in this week 12 contest. Mark Schofield back with you now on this week 12 installment of 2018 Revisited, breaking down on a show-by-show basis the season that was for your New England Patriots. And we're breaking down and putting the bow on the week that was in Week 12 for the Patriots, a 27-13 road win over the New York Jets. And let's talk the pivotal play. And there were a couple of plays we could choose from. I know I talked a lot after this game happened about the Edelman touchdown. We just talked a little bit and went into depth on the Gordon third down conversion in the fourth quarter.

But let's go back to the Gronk touchdown. Because if you want to play quarterback in the National Football League, or at any level, you have to be able to think quickly. You have to be able to diagnose quickly. And Tom Brady, one of the reasons he's the greatest of all time is his ability to do that. This is a third and 12, and the Jets show a too high safety look. And they will run a too high coverage here, a Tampa 2 coverage with the linebacker getting depth and running with Gronk, who runs a seam route up the seam from his alignment on the left side, the left wing. Now, how the Jets get there is a little different

because it's not a standard two safeties before the snap. That's where they stay. They deke Brady, or at least try to, by making him think it's more of a cover three look, which would give you a safety in the middle of the field, which would perhaps take that seam route away from Gronkowski because one of the safeties who aligns at a safety depth free snap, at the snap of the ball, he crashes down.

And so as a quarterback, you see one safety crash, you immediately think it's cover three buzz, which is a cover three look, deep safety in the middle of the field, deep cornerbacks, one on each side, and that safety comes down to take away digs and crossers and routes like that. But instead, they're rotating it into sort of an inverted cover to look because as that safety crashes, the cornerback who's aligned over the outside receiver on the left, the Patriots have three receivers to the left, Gronkowski's the inside one.

That outside boundary corner, he rotates into a deep safety alignment. So it really is still a cover two Tampa two look, but they're trying to take that seam route from Gronkowski away by their rotation. They're trying to make Brady think it's a different coverage and so he's going to come off of it. Brady doesn't. He knows it's still Tampa 2. It's just a flip of the safety in the corner into that deep safety half field safety position. So he stays on Gronkowski. He gets pressure. He gets hit in the chomps, but still makes a tremendous throw. And for his part, Gronk holds on. He takes the hit, makes the hands catch, and it's a beautiful play. But it

begins with the read and recognition from the quarterback. Other quarterbacks, younger quarterbacks, they might see that little safety and corner exchange and think, oh, it's cover three. I got to come off this and look somewhere else. I got to get through the rest of my progressions. They're going to take away this seam row. Brady reads it, deciphers it, diagnoses it, and makes the great play. What did we learn about the Patriots in week 12? Well, it's a similar game to the Buffalo game that Monday night we talked about a few shows ago. It's a road victory over a divisional opponent, over a rival. Those are always tough to come by. And so to get one, fantastic.

Now we expected this one coming off a bye. The Patriots, Brady, Belichick, they're always good after bye weeks. They had another slow start, another slow start on the road. You get down to a team that probably on talent, on paper, talent-wise is not as good as you. You get down early, that's tough. But the Patriots, they come back. The offense makes enough plays, particularly in the second half, and they're able to pull away with a victory. This was another sort of grinded out type of win. They would have a lot of them this season.

But they got the win that they needed. This was sort of that right to ship moment. You could imagine if they come out of the bye and lay another egg on the road to a divisional opponent, what things would have been like in New England in the aftermath of a loss like that. But instead, they get the divisional victory and they get to look ahead now at a schedule that maybe perhaps was easing up. You get the Vikings at home and that looked to be a tough game, but it comes at home. You're into December now, when the Patriots tend to be at their best in the Brady and Belichick era. Then you get those last two road games at Miami, at Pittsburgh,

and yeah, you're capping it off with games at home against teams with rookie quarterbacks that were struggling. So this was the right-to-ship game, and they got it. They got the W. But as we would see, and as we'll see in the next couple of shows this wasn't the even keel kind of season we were hoping for so that will do it for today i will be back tomorrow on friday with sort of a week that was this is the friday show as we're going to do here we're going to sort of recap mini mandatory minicamp gronkowski rumors braxton

barrios balling out all sorts of fun stuff and then next week we will be back into 2018 revisits. So that will do it for today. Check out our great sponsors, Playbook Products, Hotels.com, Untuck It, Grip6Belts. Please show them some love as you've shown me some love here. Also, don't forget, I throw this out there. I drop it out there every now and again. Leave some reviews, iTunes. Himalaya. The fantastic new podcasting app. You got to check out Himalaya. You can get this show there. You can follow shows. They will build a playlist for you.

They will curate it for you. Check out Himalaya. Our great friends over there as well. Until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots.