Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Analysis: Drake Maye’s Week One Riddled With Inconsistencies

Episode Date: September 8, 2025

Patriots' Week 1 woes: Drake Maye's struggles and defensive bright spotsNick Cattles dissects the New England Patriots' performance against the Las Vegas Raiders, highlighting quarterback Drake Maye's... inconsistencies and their impact on the offense. The analysis covers Milton Williams' explosive debut on the defensive line, Will Campbell's solid start at left tackle, and the puzzling usage of running back TreVeyon Henderson. Cattles breaks down key stats, including the Patriots' improved pass rush and May's pocket awareness issues.Tune in for an in-depth look at the Patriots' strengths, weaknesses, and potential adjustments heading into Week 2.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYTee up that trip! Enter for a chance to win a dream golf trip for two to any golf tournament* in the USA. Visit https://5HEWIN.com for full rules and entry. No purchase necessary. Excludes the Master’s tournament. Ends October 31, 2025.DoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year.UpsideDon’t let this offer drive on by, download the free Upside app now using my limited time promo code TOUCHDOWN for a limited time 25 cent per gallon bonus! Offers vary by user and location, Go to upside.com for terms and conditions.Click Here to download the app: https://getupside.onelink.me/zlLr?af_xp=custom&pid=barrington&c=barrington_lockedon25&deep_link_value=promo&deep_link_sub1=lockedon25&af_dp=upsideapp%3A%2F%2FYahoo FantasyPresented by YahooFantasy #YahooPartner. Draft now at https://yahoofantasy.com/lockedonnfl.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 There are two main issues getting in the way of Drake May becoming a consistently impactful NFL quarterback. Let's start there. This is Locked-on Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts Network, your team every day. What's happening? I am Nick Cattels, your host, born and raised in New England covering the Patriots. for the last 16 years, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports talk show host veteran. Coming up, a big-time investment came up with a big-time performance in week one.
Starting point is 00:00:42 Also, find out what drove me to almost moving my furniture during my rewatch of this game. But first, Drake May needs to be better for this team to win football games. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen for being an every day the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It's a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's episode is brought to by Fandul. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app.
Starting point is 00:01:11 There is a slim margin of error for this Patriots team and especially this Patriots offense. And Drake May's inconsistencies on Sunday against the Raiders resulted in way too many possessions literally and figuratively being punted. Now, Drake, he has high highs. I mean, if you watch, he makes some unbelievable throws capable of making some great plays. The touchdown of Pop Douglas, throwing Kishon booty open at one point.
Starting point is 00:01:41 You see those plays. You see those flashes. But you also see the inconsistencies. You see those low lows. And because of those consistencies, the Patriots against the Raiders in week one gave up way too many possessions too easily for this Raiders defense. And there are two big issues I want to cover with May here.
Starting point is 00:02:02 Let's start with number one. His pocket awareness, his pocket awareness and also his patience in the pocket. That needs to improve. Unequivocally needs to improve. We talked about this during his rookie season. At times, he would just tuck and run too quickly. He wouldn't trust his offensive line. And I get it.
Starting point is 00:02:21 It's very difficult to trust that offensive line from 2024. But Drake needs better pocket awareness, pocket presence, pocket patience. He needs to be better. He needs to improve because what we saw on Sunday looked way too much like what we saw during his rookie season. And I've got examples. First drive of the game, first quarter for the Pats, first and 10, Drake May leaves the pocket in about one and a half seconds for no need. There was no need to tuck and start to scramble within a second and a half. It's the very first play of the game, first drive of the game for this offense. And there he is tucking and running way too quickly, ends up being a one-yard
Starting point is 00:03:08 scramble. You get a three and out. Then you had the first drive of the second half, coming out at halftime, trying to reset some things, having a lead, the first drive of the second half. You add the fifth play of that drive. it's a first and 10. Great protection by the offensive line. But again, Drake May leaves the pocket after looking at his first progression. First progression, his first read is not there. Tucks, runs, picks up three yards. The very next play is the second and seven where Michael Wenu
Starting point is 00:03:39 and Morgan Moses mess up a twist against Max Crosby. Drake May gets hit. He throws the pick. Late in the third, early fourth quarter, this was a huge drive, the ninth drive of the game. And this is A perfect example of May's up and down play. First and 15, Drake May leaves the pocket quickly. It was blocked up for him. Now, he finds Stefan Diggs for 10 yards, but again, he's leaving the pocket too soon. Second and five, very next play. Clean pocket again for Drake May, but he gets happy feet.
Starting point is 00:04:11 And because he gets happy feet, he starts to move up in the pocket, bad footwork. He starts to leave a little bit too early. He's off balance. and he tries to hit Remandre Stevenson, who's running across the field wide open. And he throws it low and behind to Remandre. Remondre drops it because it's just a bad throw. And it's a bad throw because Drake May had happy feet, left the pocket early, was off balance making the throw.
Starting point is 00:04:38 And that's something that should have been an easy, easy first down pickup. Then you add a third and five. You've got a miscommunication between Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. This is the good part of Drake, where you get that miscommunication, but even though there's immediate pressure, Drake May is decisive, fine Stefan Diggs for a big first down. But then you jump to two plays later, second and eight, another clean pocket. Drake May has all day to throw the football. He scrambles again way too early, and you end up with an incomplete pass to Gibson, which leads
Starting point is 00:05:14 to a third and eight, which is that play where the pass gets batted down and May catches his don't pass and runs for two yards and the Patriots are left punting. You have to be better if you're Drake May. 30 percent, 30 percent of the team's drives against the Raiders were ruined because of May's lack of pocket awareness and patience and presence. Second issue, a lot of people have talked about the inaccuracies of Drake May, the layups and the easy NFL throws. That's what bugs me.
Starting point is 00:05:46 when he has these spray throws to guys who are open, these plays have to be made. When you have the slim margin of error that this offense has, you have to make these plays if you're the quarterback. First drive of the game. So in the first drive of the game, first play of the game, you had May leave the pocket way too soon, gets a one-yard scramble out of it.
Starting point is 00:06:10 Two plays later, third play of the game, first drive, third and eight, May rushes himself, leads to bad footwork, and he misses Pop Douglas, high on a throw, pops open. Now, I don't know if Pop gets the first down, but it's going to be close. May misses them. Third quarter, seventh drive of the game for the offense. The Patriots start on their 40-yard line.
Starting point is 00:06:33 They start on the 40. Fantastic field position for them. First and 10, May has a clean pocket. Misses a wide open Hunter Henry, ends up throwing the football high. drive ends on a three and out you make that throw it's a first down you move the change you've got some rhythm who knows what happens during that drive but you miss that throw and you end up with the three and out fourth quarter 10th drive of the game a second and 18 may misses mac hollins now i don't know if hollins slipped he might have because of the field conditions but he might
Starting point is 00:07:10 have slipped because he had to stop short because may threw it a little high a little too hard and a little too behind his intended receiver. So he misses Hollins on a second and 18. That leads to a third and 18 checkdown to Trayvion Henderson for 14 yards. Then you have the fourth and five, Will Campbell, fall start, punt. So you look at these two issues, the lack of pocket awareness and patience, and the inaccurate throws on these layups to these open receivers. Two more drives, ruined because of his inaccuracy.
Starting point is 00:07:48 So when you combine the 30% and you combine the 20%, half of the Patriots drives against the Raiders were ruined because of May's lack of pocket awareness and inaccuracy. And you cannot literally and figuratively punt away half of your possessions because the quarterback is missing easy throws or getting a little bit too jittery. in the pocket leaving early that'll kill any offense especially this patriot's offense and i wonder is may overthinking he also had a delay of game that should have never happened in the post game press conference he was kind of bleh looked like he was feeling it a little bit mentally and mike rable was on the gregg hill show w e i and when he was asked about how important it is to drake may to win football games mike reese transcribed this answer Vrable said, I think that he wants to be at times perfect.
Starting point is 00:08:45 You need to be precise and not perfect. And if you make a mistake, it's the reaction that you have to, that you have to the mistake that everybody sees. And then they're like, oh, wow, that was a mistake. We have to clean our reactions up. I just want the better performance, more consistent and continue to grow as a leader and make sure that there is a command to what we're doing, a command to what we're doing. That's the jittery part that Vrable's talking about. Stefan Diggs talked about Drake Man, the post game. Andrew Callahan transcribe.
Starting point is 00:09:13 Dig said, quote, he's a guy that's super hard on himself. We've just got to continue that positive reinforcement, that positive encouragement. And then on Monday with the media, you add Vrable when asked about if there was potentially being too much put on Drake May's plate. Vrable said the team has to evaluate that and see what their guys do best. So he did not shoot that idea down. Are they putting too much on May's plate? Is he thinking too much?
Starting point is 00:09:41 He's overthinking, adding to the jittery pocket play. And yes, there has to be some jitters in the pocket because of what happened last year. And I'm sure there's jitters in the pockets of what happened to him last year at UNC. But he has to get over it or he's not going to be consistently as good as he can be. So maybe the Patriots end up slowing things down for him because you don't need a shot. You don't need a shot at Drake May's psyche early in. in the season. And it feels like he's kind of stuck between trying to please his coaches and be a game manager to a point and being that gunslinger. And it's creating some hesitancy. We talked
Starting point is 00:10:22 about it during camp and it showed week one against the Raiders. He has to be better if this team wants to consistently win games. Moving away from May, the Pat's got an explosive debut from one of their big ticket free agents. We'll break it down next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. When the opening whistle blows on a new repair, get your crew moving forward with Supply House. Order today and see parts on your doorstep tomorrow over 280,000 plumbing, HVAC, and electrical items from the most trusted brands in the business. Their real-time inventory and honest lead times keep you from punting projects,
Starting point is 00:11:07 while their industry-leading customer service always has your blind side covered. Need parts fast for a project? Supply House has next day delivery. Talk about a game changer. The part finder tools and 3D schematics can save you hours on jobs where every detail matters
Starting point is 00:11:23 in their trade master perks like priority shipping and dedicated support make the whole process smoother. Join the free trade master program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit Supplyhouse. com to sign up for free and use promo code SH NFL 5 for 5% off your first order.
Starting point is 00:11:44 That's supplyhouse.com, real people, real service. The NFL season is back and honestly there's nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let's be honest. Getting tickets can be a hassle between queues, log in screens, and prices jumping at checkout. It's frustrating. That's why I use game time. The app that gives the advantage back to fans.
Starting point is 00:12:05 Game time is fast, easy and back. the game time guarantee you'll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included. So the price you see is the price that you pay. You pull up game time and just a couple of taps. You see amazing deals. I'm talking about your favorite NFL games as low as $100. And check out the zone deals too. Pick the section. Game time picks the seats and you save big. Download the game time app, create an account. Use code lockdown NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, That's promo code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-FL for $20 off.
Starting point is 00:12:43 Swipe, tap, Ticket, Go. Download game time today. The biggest free agent signing in the off-season for the Patriots was, of course, Milton Williams. He was handed the bag by the front office by Mike Rable. And Williams had an okay camp. I wouldn't say it was an electric camp. I wouldn't say that he just dominated camp. he had an okay camp he had his moments.
Starting point is 00:13:09 But I will tell you, rewatching this game, Milton Williams was absolutely explosive in his debut as a Patriot. Carlos Lopez posted this on Twitter slash X. Williams had a team high seven pressures, pass rush win rate of 23.3%. He had two quarterback hits, one tackle for loss, two run stuffs, and, four tackles. Milton Williams was disruptive all day long against the Las Vegas Raiders. He was a headache for the offensive line. He was causing all sorts of issues.
Starting point is 00:13:51 He was taking on blockers to open up free rushes for his teammates. He was being used as almost a decoy on twists to draw double teams. He created lanes for linebackers. to attack the run game of the Raiders. I thought Williams was fantastic in this game. I don't know how much more he could have done. Consistently disruptive in the past game. Good against the run.
Starting point is 00:14:23 And here's the best part of Williams' debut. We were always asking throughout this camp, as soon as the Patriots signed Williams, we had the question, how much is he going to play? And I've said this ad nauseum, Williams played less than 50% of the snaps for the Eagles. And some would say he played less than 50% of the snaps because Philly did not trust him completely, especially against the run. Now, there's another argument. There's a counter argument to that, which is, well, he didn't play more than 50% of the snaps because the Eagles defensive line was loaded, especially on the interior.
Starting point is 00:15:03 here. So how much would Williams play for the Pats? And could he remain effective playing more snaps? Week one, the answer is yes. It's clearly yes. I just gave you the impact stats for Williams. Let me give you another stat. 49. That's how many snaps Williams played on Sunday. That is 78% of the defensive snaps. I don't know if he's going to continue to play 78% of the snaps. But on Sunday, he played almost 80% of the snaps and was consistently disruptive for the Raiders offense. He wasn't the only one on the interior. Mike Giardy posted earlier today that Christian Barmore was hard to move in the run game. Few really disruptive snaps from Barmore. And we wondered. Another question, how much would Barmore play? He was heavily managed throughout camp. Workload management a la la the NBA. How much would Barmore play week one? 47 snaps for
Starting point is 00:16:09 Barmore. That is 75% of the defensive snaps. Williams played 78% of the time. Barmore played 75% of the time and Barmore got through it. As far as we know, perfectly fine. It was a very promising start for the interior of this defensive line. Tonga also made a couple plays. But I mean, when you look at it, Kyrie's Tonga, Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, that rotation, sprinkling a little Joshua Farmer, but it was a really good start for your top two guys, Barmore and Williams. Here's something else that was good. The pass rush. Now, leading into the game, I had hope that the pass rush would be good. And that's precisely what happened. I'm going to give you some next-gen stats.
Starting point is 00:16:59 The Patriots were fifth in the NFL heading into Monday night. They were fifth in the NFL in sack rate. Can you imagine that? One of the worst pass-rush teams in the league last year, you could argue the worst pass-rush team in the league. Fifth in sack rate. Heading into Monday night, the Patriots were also 10th in pressure rate,
Starting point is 00:17:21 getting a ton of pressure. And Harold Landry, another free. agent that was given a pretty good amount of money, he was in beast mode against the Raiders. Joseph Pasteras posted from next gen stats, Landry generated seven pressures. He had two and a half sacks. Some say he had three on 28 pass rushes. That means that Harold Landry's pressure rate was 25%, which is kind of bananas. He also had five pressures.
Starting point is 00:17:54 So out of the seven pressures he had in total, five of those pressures were quick pressures, which is when you get a pressure on the quarterback under two and a half seconds. We talk about Harold Landry's first step, looking as quick as it did in his older Tennessee days. You saw it on Sunday. That quick first step. He was not only pressuring Gino Smith.
Starting point is 00:18:16 He was pressuring Gino Smith quickly. And by the way, the Patriots last year only had one player, only had one player do that one time all year long with the five pressures coming under two and a half seconds. So that's a different type of pressure. Bill Perry also told us that the Patriots, he posted third highest blitz rate in week one. Patriots blitz blitzed 43.6% of the time. And, you know, if you put these pieces together, Christian,
Starting point is 00:18:51 Gonzalez, he returns. You've got the bones to a defense. You've got the pieces, good rush with some difficult blitz looks, suffocating press man with Gonzo Davis, Carlton Davis, and Alex Austin. And that defense could end up being a nightmare for a lot of offenses. I don't want to stop here, though. I want to continue with one more good thing. Will Campbell was good. Don't let anybody else tell you differently. Will Campbell was good. I know that there's, I'm sure there's a contingent of people who can't wait to tell you that Campbell wasn't good. Oh, he gave up a strip sack. Oh, we had the fall starts.
Starting point is 00:19:25 The length. Campbell was good. Now the fall starts, he has to clean up. But his pass pro was good. Carlos Lopez, transcribed pro football focus on Campbell. Campbell gave up one sack, two pressures, two hurries, two penalties. He had a PFF grade of 71.6, which not too shabby for a first NFL start. And if you don't love PFF numbers, next-gen stats said that Campbell gave up two pressures
Starting point is 00:19:53 and one sack, and let's not forget the context. The Patriots dropped back 53 times in this game to ask a rookie left tackle to hold up during 53 dropbacks in his first ever NFL game. In the way that he played, I thought he played well. I thought he played well. Again, you've got to clean up the fall starts. I thought that the strip sack, some of that was on Ramandre Stevenson. We'll get to that a little bit later.
Starting point is 00:20:29 But as Evan Lizarre wrote about the O line, if we told you that the O line would only surrender a 28.3 pressure rate in week one, we'd all be ecstatic. And he's right. if you get under 30% pressure rate from an offensive line in 2025, that means your O line played well in past protection. The O line held up. Had some issues with communication, had some issues with some blitzing, but overall, I would take what we got on Sunday every day of the week. And shout out to Garrett Bradbury, who analytically had a clean sheet.
Starting point is 00:21:04 He was really good in past protection. I did not expect that. And of course, the other part of it, you got to run the ball. ball better. So the O-line hopefully gets back to the lab and figures that out. But if we talk about past protection, we talk about Will Campbell, Patriots were good against the Raiders. So beware of those agendas. After watching the game over, there are three things. I just told you three things that were good. There were three things that bothered me. One specifically infuriated me. Find out what next. We continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network,
Starting point is 00:21:38 your team every day. The NFL season is here, and Fandul is making sure you're ready for kickoff with a can't miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5, and if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using Fanduel because it fits however you like to bet, player props, building the same game, parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. There's nothing better than sitting there on a Sunday with your buddies and keeping up on all the latest with Fandool. It makes every game more exciting, whether you're watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup. It's quick. It's easy. It's the best way to add a little more energy to your Sundays. Again, $5, new customers, bet $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300
Starting point is 00:22:28 in bonus bets to use across the app. So are you ready to play? Download the Fandul app now by visiting Fanduel.com to get started. That's Fandul.com to place your first $5 bet. We all understand that week one, with week one in the NFL, a lot will change. From what we saw from week one to week two, there might even be dramatic changes. But I want you to think back for a second. Think back to 2024, week one against Cincinnati, what was being said, how did everybody feel, and how did the season end? A lot of things can change. There's a lot to fix for this Patriots team.
Starting point is 00:23:07 but if you're burning down the season after one week, that's just silly, in my opinion. But there is one specific thing. There were three things that I want to talk about and dive a little bit deeper into that I did not dive in as much in the post game. There are three things that bothered me, but one specific thing infuriated me. And that was the usage of Trayvion Henderson. I don't understand why he only played eight or nine snaps in the second half. I do not understand that.
Starting point is 00:23:37 I do not understand after he showed a little bit of juice running the football in the first half given the circumstances. I don't understand why he had zero traditional carries in the second half. And I don't understand the past game and how he was utilized. I get it that Trayvion Henderson is not going to play or touch the football 25 times a week. We have talked about that. I have nailed it down that Henderson will get 10 to 15 touches weekly. He had 11 touches against the Raiders.
Starting point is 00:24:10 But it wasn't the amount of touches. It was more the way that he was used or not used. Henderson put it simply against the Raiders was the king of the checkdown. He was the king of the checkdown. He was king of the swing pass. And he was king of the predictable screens. That's what his role was in the passing game. And I didn't think it was nearly good enough.
Starting point is 00:24:30 I'll give you some examples. Second quarter, third drive for the offense. You get the bad delay a game. on Drake May that we brought up earlier. It's third and 17. You're near the red zone. And predictably, you throw a screen pass to Henderson for nothing. It's predictable.
Starting point is 00:24:49 You just had to delay a game. The defense knows you're going to try to call something simple. Henderson's in the game. So they're keyed on him. He gets nothing out of it. Second quarter, fourth drive, the very next try. You have a hold called on Austin Hooper. First and 20, after the holding call, another situation where you could just feel a screen
Starting point is 00:25:13 pass coming. First and 20, let's just get some yards. Play action screen to Henderson. He gets four yards out of it. Just not enough. Third quarter, seventh drive. The Patriots start on their own 40-yard line. Talked about this a little bit earlier with May having the clean pocket, misses Hunter Henry High, who's wide open. The second play of that drive, right? after May missed Henry was a second and 10 swing pass to Henderson. Now, Josh McDaniels did have Henderson in motion, which was at least a little bit of a tweak, but this was read perfectly by the Raiders, one-yard loss. Third quarter, eighth drive of the game. You start first and ten, Pop Douglas, Jet Sweep for three yards. Second and seven, pony formation, shotgun
Starting point is 00:26:01 ends up being a checkdown to Henderson for three yards. The pads failed to get creative versus zone defense that they couldn't find mismatches for for henderson evan lazar posted that the raiders only played one man coverage rep on 53 dropbacks it was mostly all cover three and cover two zones and that way you know henderson you couldn't get a matched up with a linebacker you couldn't easily get a match up with a safety that you might want to match him up against and i thought josh mcdaniel struggled to get travion henderson the football in space. You've got to find ways to get them the ball in space. And the screen passes were way too predictable. The checkdowns are checkdowns.
Starting point is 00:26:44 I just, I did not like what I saw on Sunday the way that Henderson was used. And maybe it's just too early for more creativity. Maybe we go back to the Drake May stuff and overthinking and too much on his plate. So maybe that's what McDaniels would tell us. But you've got to find a way to get Hendon's. going. And when he's your best running back in the first half, running the football, to not give him a single traditional carry in the second half, I think is outrageous. But let's not stop there with the running back. So let's go to Ramandre Stevenson,
Starting point is 00:27:19 because another issue was remandre just wasn't very good. Seven carries, 15 yards. Decent amount of that on the offensive line. But meanwhile, you know, Stevens has got seven carries for 15 yards. Henderson in the first half had five carries. for 27 yards, more than five yards of carry. I thought Stevenson, the Red Zone run, about the five-yard line, if not inside the five, I thought he had more space to work with and got a one-yard gain out of it, not the best run. And he really just didn't add anything extra, like yards after contact, you just did not see
Starting point is 00:27:56 that. But the worst of Ramandre Stevenson on Sunday was his pass protection. second quarter, third drive of the game. The Patriots are putting together a nice drive after the first touchdown of Pop Douglas. And what do you get? A first and 10 run. Garrett Bradbury falls over.
Starting point is 00:28:15 I don't know what happened. He blows the block. Entire line crumbles. And then, you know, the next play, you've got a blitz that's not picked up by Stevenson. A pressure on Drake May batted down at the line of scrimmage. Fourth quarter, first and 10. remandre stevenson late to a blitz results in an incomplete pass to henry on a pressure it's not good enough first and ten later on that same drive the strip sack that we talk about remandre just does not do a good enough job chipping the pass rusher he's supposed to help will campbell in that situation and he barely grazed the guy and i think that hurt campbell's opportunity there to maybe block it and make sure that there's not a
Starting point is 00:29:00 pressure, that there's not craziness happening, but Ramandre does not help Campbell as much as he should have, the chip was awful, and you get the strip sack. And if this continues, it's time to get Antonio Gibson more involved, just not good enough from Stevenson on Sunday. Not good enough running the football and not good enough in past protection. One more thing I want to get to. We discussed the big plays given up by the defense in the post game, but I want to look at a couple of opportunities that the linebackers missed out on that could have changed this game. Third quarter, seventh defensive possession here, seventh defensive, you know, stand, so to speak, not so much a stand.
Starting point is 00:29:43 First and goal, the Ashton Genty touchdown, tough run by Genty. But I thought Robert Spillane had a chance to make a play in the backfield, and he just ran right by him, ran right by him. In the fourth quarter, the Raiders have the football from their own. 11-yard line. They end up getting a field goal out of this possession. A couple of errors by your linebackers. A third and one, Robert Spillane, instead of running into a gaping hole that was created by, you know, defensive line, there's a huge hole that Spillane has to fill. He runs into the defensive pack instead of filling that hole.
Starting point is 00:30:22 Gentie gets a first down on that third and one. The very next play, the Patriots, give up 26 yards. And then on the fourth and one, that really was the nail on the coffin. Fourth and one, Raiders go for it. It's a play action bootleg to the left. Gino Smith throws across his body to Michael Mayer for the first down. But there's no reason that should have happened. Christian Ellis is for some reason over pursuing Gino Smith.
Starting point is 00:30:48 And if you look at it from behind Smith, there are two or three Patriots defenders right in front of Gino Smith. he's going nowhere, but for some reason, Ellis kind of leaks too far over, over pursues on the second level behind those other defenders, over pursues Gino Smith and doesn't take responsibility for his guy, which is mayor, and what do you know? First down, game pretty much over. So you need better plays by your linebackers in those key situations. And it will be fascinating to see the corrections for Miami.
Starting point is 00:31:25 in week two. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being in every day. Reach out to me on Twitter, Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Don't forget to hit that like button and don't forget to subscribe to the channel. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen of the day, NFL season. It's here for your second listen. Get a double dose of the lockdown NFL podcast. Tyler the Madman Rolling gives you a shot of espresso to start your football day while Tony Wiggins takes you into the barbershop for the smoothest breakdown. to end the day. Find locked on NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you tomorrow.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.