Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breakthrough: Drake Maye's Unbelievable Stats | Hidden Concern?
Episode Date: October 21, 2025Drake Maye's historic performance propels New England Patriots to victory over Tennessee Titans. Is the young quarterback redefining the Patriots' offensive identity?Nick Cattles breaks down Maye's re...cord-setting completion percentage and zero turnover-worthy plays, highlighting his dual-threat capabilities. The analysis covers the offensive line's struggles with stunts and twists, particularly rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. Cattles examines the defense's early-game challenges and Christian Barmore's disruptive presence, while also exploring the effectiveness of the Patriots' run game against the Titans' two-high safety looks.Discover why Drake Maye's decision-making when running versus passing could be crucial for the Patriots' playoff aspirations. Will New England's offensive line improvements be enough to support Maye's stellar play?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!PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.RipplingGet Rippling FREE for 6 months. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details: https://app.rippling.com/legal/promotermsPrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload 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)
Another week brings more outrageous numbers from Drake May.
And after the rewatch, we have one concern regarding the franchise quarterback.
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?
And I am your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, been covering the paths for the past 16 years, also co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports talk show host veteran.
On today's episode, we have some significant takeaways after our rewatch, including one defender who continues to disrupt offenses.
Also, we'll tell you how the rookie side of the offensive line did against the Tennessee Titans.
But first, the number one story continues to be Drake May.
We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen for being an every day.
The Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe if you're watching slash listening on YouTube.
Today's episode is brought to by a Fandul.
Right now, new customers can bet just $5.
And if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets.
use across the app. I love rewatching these games, taking a look and learning things that I might
not have learned the first time around in real time. I will tell you, during the rewatch,
Drake May had some high-level throws. We discussed them in the live post game. Those throws that we
discussed, yes, they remained high-level throws against the Tennessee Titans. Here's another note from
Drake May's Sunday. He had zero turnover worthy plays. Again, this continues a fantastic
trend for Drake May. He is not putting the football in harm's way. Zero turnover worthy plays
is a fantastic week from 30,000 feet for your quarterback. And it's rather obvious when you
watch these games that staff, Josh McDaniels, Mike Vrable, everybody else, the players even,
there is ultimate trust in Drake May.
They believe he's going to make the right play.
They believe he's going to make the right decision.
Now, I'm going to hit some outrageous numbers through seven weeks for Drake May.
But coming up in a few minutes, I'm going to actually give you a concern from the rewatch
that I had.
It might be a nitpick, but I do want to get into in a little bit a concern I have after
watching Patriots Titans regarding Drake May.
But let's start off with the great news because it's deserved it.
Drake May has been fantastic.
His pro football focus overall grade through seven weeks is 87.3.
Now I looked at the quarterback rankings from 2024 and I wanted to stack up that
overall grade compared to those numbers from last year and see where Drake May would
have ended up.
Drake May's grade so far from pro football focus at 87.3, so far that would put him sixth in 2024 in quarterback ranking.
So pro football focus, I know, very polarizing. It's just one set of numbers that we use from time to time here on the podcast.
I get it. You're not going to agree with all of the analytics. But just looking at the pro football focus overall grade, Drake May, if the season ended after seven weeks,
weeks. He would have been the sixth highest ranked quarterback in 2024.
Fantastic. Fantastic growth. Fantastic improvement. And did you know that Drake May's
deep passing grade is a 99.9? That's absolutely ridiculous and borderline comical.
We've got some more crazy numbers for you regarding Drake May in what he's.
he's done so far this year.
Doug Kide posts Drake May's 24.8% completion percentage over-expected versus
Tennessee ranks in the 99th percentile of quarterbacks with a minimum of five
plays in a game.
His completion percentage over-expected was almost 25%.
That's bonkers.
Mark Daniels posted, Drake May is the first quarterback.
I want you to truly appreciate.
what I'm about to share thanks to Mark Daniels.
Drake May is the first quarterback in NFL history with five games
with an 80-plus completion percentage in his first two career seasons that's from the NFL.
He is the first quarterback in the history of the game that has ended five games with an 80-plus
completion percentage in his first two career seasons.
Now, before the Monday night football doubleheader, I will let you know that Drake May is number one in the NFL and expected points added.
He's number two in the NFL and expected points added per dropback.
He is number one and this shouldn't surprise you given the first number I gave you from Doug Kide,
the completion percentage over expected.
Drake May, number one in all of football.
And Drake May also is the third best when it comes to.
passer rating before Monday night football's doubleheader.
This is all through seven weeks.
Greg Bedard posted that Drake May, when you look at the top 15 completion percentage
over expected games this season.
So take all of the quarterbacks through seven weeks, short two games coming up on Monday
night.
When you look at all of the quarterback play and you take the top 15 completion percentage
over expected games this season.
season. Drake May has one third of those games. He has five. One, two, three, four, fifth. Jalen
Hertz has two. That's it. Those are the only two quarterbacks that have multiple performances in the
top 15 of completion percentage over expected. And Drake May has more than doubled the guy who's in
second place. I mean, these are just astounding numbers. And it's not just his ability as a
passer. It's his ability to run with the football. The dual threat ability is real. And Drake
May this year is attacking defenses as good as any quarterback in the league when it comes to
running with the football. Chad Graff from the athletic. He writes, again, this is before
Monday night football. Drake May ranks fifth in rushing yards among quarterbacks. Third,
in rushing first downs among
quarterbacks. He is first in rushing
third down conversion percentage
among quarterbacks. He's been
great on third and fourth down
and some of that story has been
his ability to convert on third downs
thanks to his legs. But that
leads me to my biggest nitpick
from Sunday in Tennessee
and a concern that I have.
Drake May has to continue
to get better at balancing
when to run with the football
or stay engaged as a passer.
It was an emphasis in the off season.
I think, for the most part,
Drake May has done a very good job of doing just that.
But in Tennessee, there was a little bit of slippage.
I'll give you some examples.
During the rewatch, checking out the All-22,
first quarter Patriots, first drive of the game,
second and 11 shotgun formation,
Drake May scrambles.
When you look at the All-22, when you look at the rewatch,
there's no pressure on Drake.
there's no reason he should be running and drake may actually has two receivers that are open he's
got stephan digs on an out route he's got austin hooper on a crossing route now drake may scrambles
even though he had those two guys open but he does get 12 yards so again you got to balance it
didn't have to run could have stayed away from getting hit if if he threw it to digs or if he
through it to Hooper. He runs, but he does get 12 yards and gets that first down.
Second and six, same drive, under center, play action bootleg. There's nothing going on here.
May actually makes the right decision. Drake May runs it out of bounds. That's a situation
where nobody's open. He runs it out of bounds. He doesn't take an unnecessary hit. Second
quarter, the Patriots' third offensive drive of this game. Jeffrey Simmons, by the way,
he is now out. Not to ever return to the football.
ball game. First and 10 under sensor play action. Drake May has a great pocket standing in the
pocket. There's no pressure. Stefan Diggs is open at the sticks. Drake May decides to scramble.
Now again, this is the balance. The good news is Drake May scrambles. He gets 21 yards on that first down.
The not so good news is he takes a shot because he doesn't slide. Now he slid more than he didn't
on Sunday. But again, he takes some unnecessary hits. If he stands in the pocket and he finds
Stefan Diggs open at the sticks, he might end up with a few less yards, but Drake May doesn't take
the unnecessary hits. And then the toughest one, third quarter, right out of halftime, Patriots
up 17, 13, first drive of that third quarter. First and 10, under center, play action,
bootleg. Efton Chisholm and Hunter Henry, they allow a pressure. But May,
Drake May can step up into the pocket, but instead of stepping up into the pocket and remaining
a passer, he again decides to tuck and run. He scrambles for six yards. Now, that's good.
You know, six yards on a first down, not terrible. But if Drake May stepped up into the pocket,
evaded that pressure to his right and stepped up into the pocket, a la la the play to Ramandre
Stevenson in Miami when he evaded the pressure, stepped up and hit Ramandre Stevenson down,
close to the boundary for that big 50-plus yard reception.
If he does that against Tennessee,
Mac Hollins would have been open.
So if Drake May steps up and makes that throw,
he hits an open Mac Hollins.
Now, here's the toughest part of this.
He runs.
He runs.
And he ends up smacking his head on the back of the turf.
So that was one of those plays where you would have much rather seen him
throw the football to Mac Hollins, then tuck and run to get six yards because he smacks
his head on the turf.
This is a tough balance, and I'm not saying every time he runs is a mistake.
Sometimes it's necessary.
Sometimes it works out.
Sometimes it works out better than a pass, like the 21-yard game.
But he has to make sure he's balancing this.
He has to make sure he is protecting himself.
All right.
There's one specific issue for Will Campbell and Jared Wilson after this rewatch.
We'll tell you what that is.
issue is and give you the O-line e-vowl from Sunday coming up next.
This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.
I'm Cody Rourke from Lockdown, Broncos, and this episode is brought to you by Peloton.
Peloton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Peloton, cross-training, tread
plus powered by Peloton IQ.
This is Peloton's most advanced equipment yet, giving you real-time guidance and endless
ways to move, whether you're running,
lifting, or your cross-training with your favorite instructors like Alex Toussaint,
it's training reimagined to make your workout more personal.
Peloton is built for breakthroughs.
With features that help you plan, stay motivated, and hit peak performance,
you can let yourself run, lift, flex, and go while Peloton handles all the rest.
Plus, Peloton IQ provides real time, strength coaching,
tracking your progress and suggesting weights that challenge you so you can get stronger.
Plus the new movement tracking camera, it counts your reps,
and correct your form in real time,
making sure every rep is safer and smarter.
So let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go.
Explore the new Peloton, cross-training, tread plus at one peloton.com.
Let's talk about Mazda.
Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move.
Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more I-IHS top safety pick plus awards
than anyone else.
From footwork to breathwork, athletes, they sweat all the details.
Mazda brings this same intention to how they craft every single model stunning detail like we've seen at times during this wind streak. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. You can feel Japanese craftsmanship in every detail from the metallic accents to available Napa leather upholstery. You can make everyday drives feel like anything but from smooth handling to intuitive controls. And here's something that is really cool. All-wheel drive standard in every crossover SUV so you can drive with confidence through almost.
any season and everybody in the Northeast knows what I'm talking about.
Like our players, Mazda, they sweat every detail because when you make every move
count, impossible becomes irrelevant.
Mazda move and B-moom.
As great as Drake May has been, and he has been pretty great as we talked about in the first
segment, the Patriots will need good offensive line play if they want to truly make noise in
2025, not just get to the playoffs, but maybe win a couple of games or at least a game in the
playoffs. So how did the offensive line look on Sunday? Let's start with the rookies,
Will Campbell, Jared Wilson on the left side. Ups and downs. Ups and downs for both rookies
against the Titans. I would say more downs than ups given the situations versus Tennessee.
And the biggest issue, the biggest issue, and Mike Vrable touched on this during his Monday
press conference, the biggest issue for Jared Wilson and Will Campbell are the stunts
and the games that defenses play up front, twists and stunts. Those types of games that a
defensive line can play have driven at times Will Campbell and Jared Wilson crazy. So let's look
at Will Campbell. We'll start there. My rewatch, I had Campbell for four or five pressures on
Sunday. Three of those pressures, quick pressures, not good. That's two and a half seconds or less.
So he gave up three quick pressures, a total of four or five. He gave up a sack. He had a
false start. And by the way, if you rewatch this game, Will Campbell, I think had four or five
false starts. Only one was called. I don't know how he got away with it. But he kept beating
the snap. He did it four or five times. Let's give you some examples of tough plays for Will Campbell.
In the second quarter, Patriots, their third drive of the game. It's a second and ten.
It's a shotgun play action. And Campbell gives up a quick pressure. Now, this doesn't hurt the offense
because somehow, some way, Drake May makes an incredible throw to Kashan booty. You probably
remember this one. It's when the defender is in the lap of Drake May as he's
throwing the football to Kay Sean Booty, they get 14 yards and pick up a first down,
but that will Campbell quick pressure.
That can't happen because you're fortunate that doesn't turn in to a pick or a sack or
a fumble by Drake May.
It's an individually great play by Drake May, but can you consistently expect that when
your quarterback is getting hit?
I wouldn't.
Same.
Same drive.
Third drive of the game.
Third and goal.
shotgun formation.
Both Will Campbell and Michael Wenu give up quick pressures.
May can't step into the throw, but again,
Drake May bails his offensive line out,
which has been a storyline through the first seven weeks,
and he throws it to Austin Hooper,
who makes an insane touchdown catch.
We all remember it in the corner of the end zone.
Now, maybe Austin Hooper doesn't have to make as insane of a catch
if Will Campbell and Michael Wenu do the job and don't give up the quick pressure.
but Drake May can't necessarily step into that throw
so he has to rely on Austin Hooper
to pull out a Randy Moss in the corner of the end zone.
Then we get to Jared Wilson.
I had Wilson for three or four pressures at least.
I had him for a couple of quick pressures,
and he gave up two sacks on Sunday.
First quarter, first drive of the game,
third and six, shotgun formation.
Jared Wilson gets beat by Jihad Ward.
It's a sack.
Patriots end up with a field goal.
third quarter second drive of the second half for the Patriots third and seven shotgun formation
Jared Wilson again gives up a quick pressure slash sack Drake May has no shot to do anything but I will say
those were the downs but as I said there's downs there's ups there's downs there's ups there's downs some of
the good first quarter second drive of the game for the Patriots second and six under center pitch left
to Ramandre Stevenson, you get a good push, good initial push from the offensive line.
Jared Wilson makes a great block, a great block on the second level.
Ramandre Stevenson cuts it up for 16 yards.
Third quarter, first drive of the second half of the Patriots, it's a third and eight.
This was a fantastic, a terrific play by Will Campbell.
So it's third and eight, shotgun, and the Tennessee Titans run a little bit of a stunt.
And Will Campbell does a fantastic job of using his quick feet, his athleticism to just get enough of the pass rusher to bump him off his path, allows Drake made a step into the pocket, and he hits Stefan Diggs for a big play of 20 plus yards.
That is a significant play by Will Campbell on a third and eight.
And the Patriots were deep in their own territory.
So there's some ups, there are some downs, mostly down.
against Tennessee. Now, the rest of the offensive line, Morgan Moses, I think, is just stabilizing
right tackle. I thought he was really good against Tennessee. I only had him down for one
pressure, and I had him down for a clean first half and past protection. I thought Morgan
Moses was really good. Garrett Bradbury, he probably wants three snaps or so back, some pretty
rough snaps. He gave up a sack. He gave up a pressure. Devandre sweat was a problem
a couple of times for Garrett Bradbury,
which is not necessarily shocking.
As we know, Garrett Bradbury, if he's going to struggle,
he's going to struggle against bigger dudes.
Yeah, breaking news to Vandre Sweat would be considered a bigger dude.
Michael Wenu, the roller coaster.
I had him for three pressures.
I had him for two quick pressures.
We talked about one of them just a few moments ago.
I would say Michael Wenu did not have many, oh my God, moments in a bad way.
We've talked about that.
We talked about it, I believe, last week on the show where, you know, Michael Wenu, every week has two or three plays where he just gets absolutely blown up and destroys any momentum for the offense.
That didn't necessarily happen against Tennessee, but he still gave up a number of pressures.
I had him for three again, two of those quick.
And we have to remember the context.
Tennessee did not have Jeffrey Simmons in this game after the first two defensive possessions, two defensive drives for the Titans.
I mean, the Patriots, they get through their first two drives.
Simmons leaves with a hamstring.
He never comes back.
We also have to remember that going into this game, Tennessee did not have Femiola
Dejo or Arden Key two of their pass rushers.
So they had three guys who are pretty pivotal to this defense, especially Jeffrey
Simmons, who is the most crucial piece, not in this game after the first two Patriots
drives.
And the offensive line still had some of these issues.
So they got to clean some things up.
out. There was pressure on Drake May in this game, and it wasn't a situation where Drake was
stepping into the pressure an awful lot. A couple of other notes about pass protection.
Ramandre Stevenson was really good in Blitz pickup. There were a number of times where
Ramandre Stevenson canceled out a blitz, really good from him. I wish I could say the same
about the tight ends. Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry, they have had issues this year. They continue to
have issues on Sunday and past protection. But I will say overall, if you're taking the 30,000
foot view, the past protection, the offensive line is so much better than it was in
2024. All right, I don't feel as bad, maybe slightly better, about the early defense
for the Patriots, as I did on Sunday. Find out why and get some more of our rewatch
takeaways next. We continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown
Podcast Network, your team every day.
Let's talk about Fandul. Fandul has an offer that you don't want to miss. Right now,
new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That's right. Check
this out. Pick a bet. Put down five bucks. If that bet hits, you'll unlock $300 in bonus
bets to use across the app. You know, I've been talking about it. I love how
Fandul gives me so many ways to play.
You can build parlays.
You can try player props and even follow the live lines during games.
It makes watching football even more exciting when you've got a little something riding on the action.
Whether you're a casual fan or love diving into the stats, Fandul makes the game day experience so much better.
Again, right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets.
If you win, pick a bet, put down five bucks.
If it hits, you'll unlock three.
hundred dollars in bonus bets to use across the app so what are you waiting for visit fandul
dot com to download the fandul app today and get started nick why do you rewatch these games why
do you watch a game over again why do you watch all 22 because it opens my eyes to some of the
stuff that i missed in real time and sometimes i feel a little bit differently than i felt
immediately after a game sometimes i feel significantly different than i feel significantly different than
after the game initially.
And there are a number of takeaways I want to share with you from my rewatch.
Number one, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the defense at the beginning
of the game was awesome.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the Patriots defense does not need to be better
at the beginning of the games.
They absolutely do.
They need better starts.
I would love to see a first quarter with no points on the board.
The Patriots also need to get better pressure when they have four-man fronts.
all of that stuff is true. However, I do feel slightly better about their early defense against Tennessee.
I feel slightly better than I did in real time. Let's start with this. Cam Ward actually threw a
couple of dimes in the first quarter. He made a couple of really nice throws. First and 10, a critical play,
first scoring drive for the Titans
first and 10
shotgun formation
ELEC I O Manor
has a crossing route
now
Carlton Davis
falls down in man coverage
I don't expect
Carlton Davis to go
took us over tea kettle
I cleaned it up a little bit
I don't anticipate Carlton Davis to go
took us over tea kettle often
okay
So he just falls down.
That's 20 yards.
That's not necessarily Cam Ward.
But Cam Ward does have a throw that I want to talk about on the second scoring drive.
But the first scoring drive, you've got Ellick I.O. Manor crossing route.
Carlton Davis falls on his took, took, and you end up giving up 20 yards.
Other than that play, when your defensive back just fell down, which again, doesn't happen consistently.
the Tennessee Titans had an 11-yard pass to the tight end in the flat.
They had two runs that totaled three yards,
and they had an incomplete pass, Marcus Jones, in coverage.
So other than Carlton Davis falling down,
the Patriots defense gave up a total of 14 yards on that drive.
Then you get to the second scoring drive for Tennessee.
First and 10, under center.
you have a three-yard run.
Keon-white, Christian Ellis, do a good job.
They wrap up.
Second and seven, here's the throw I want to talk about from Cam Ward.
Second and seven, if the Patriots can come up with an incomplete pass here,
force an incomplete, do something, right?
You're looking at third and long, and who knows what happens.
It's a second and seven, and the Patriots have good coverage.
Now, Robert Spillane is a little bit late.
He's a little bit late in his coverage.
but he actually recovers and watching the end zone shot from behind Cam Ward of this throw on
second and seven this was such a ridiculously tight window that Cam Ward fires the football
into and somehow some way I mean it is a terrific throw it was one of the best throws of the day
including the throws we saw from Drake May so second and seven good coverage Cam Ward a crazy
tight window throw to convert and get that first down.
And then, of course, later on, you've got a first and ten.
You've got the shotgun play action.
And Marcus Jones gets beat.
Craig Woodson gets spun around.
Chimray Dike gets the touchdown catch.
We all remember the big play, the explosive.
But Marcus Jones doesn't get beat very often.
He's been one of the better cover corners for the Patriots.
He's had a terrific season.
Craig Woodson's young.
So you kind of expect a mistake here and there.
and you can give up a big play because of it.
We talked about that before the season kicked off,
but you don't often see bad coverage for Marcus Jones.
So Marcus Jones gets burnt and Craig Woodson gets spun around.
And that's, again, you can't have it happen.
But I don't anticipate Marcus Jones getting beat regularly.
And I don't anticipate, you know,
sometimes you get a tip your cap to the quarterback.
And Cam Ward on second and seven,
that is a tip to cap type situation.
And then when you look at the third scoring drive for Tennessee, when they get, you know, another field goal, 32-yard drive to 32-yard drive, including a third and three where Van Jefferson beats Christian Gonzalez.
And I would not expect Christian Gonzalez to get beat very often, especially against a receiver like Van Jefferson, just not the best rep from Christian Gonzalez.
But I'm not doubting Christian Gonzalez's talent.
and that was like a 15-yard catch.
So the Patriots, I mean, 32 yards on that third scoring drive,
they had like 34 yards in the first scoring drive.
It's not like Tennessee was racking up 75, 80-yard drives on the Patriots defense.
So I feel slightly better.
I don't expect Carlton Davis to fall on his face.
I don't expect Christian Gonzalez to get beat very often.
I don't expect Marcus Jones to get.
toast very often, you know, and then you got the quarterback making that ridiculous throw that
I talked about. And he had another one or two great throws in that first quarter, first quarter
and a half. So looking at it in totality, some unusual things happened, some bad luck happened,
some bad play happened, and some really good play by the quarterback happened. All right,
Christian Barmore was a beast in this game. He had at least four or five pressures. At least,
at least he was a nightmare he's taking on double teams he's beating some of these double teams
he's creating opportunities for other players like when he takes a double team and harold
landry late in this game loops around christian barmore and gets a sack that is thanks to
christian barmore and harold landry even points to christian barmore and gives him credit immediately
after that sack christian barmore has been great and he was really good on sunday
the run game of the run game early on uh i think was very effective because for the first time
in a while we saw tennessee defense they were playing too high safety and we've talked about
this a little bit defenses have been loading up against the run through the first six weeks
the patriots drake may he has seen a lot of one high safety now if you look at some of the
numbers drake may uh you know the one high safety stuff last year gave him some problems so the
one high safety look is all about taking away the run and putting it on the quarterback.
But because Drake May has been playing so well, Tennessee actually came into the game and
they played much more too high safety than Drake May has seen, especially early in games.
And a lot of that yardage, that first drive and a lot of the yardage that you saw in the
first half in the run game was against two high safety looks.
Now that changed in the second half, but the Patriots against two high safety were
effective. They also had good initial push from the offensive line. They had some good blocking
on the second level. I mentioned Jared Wilson during the second segment with a great
second level block. And I thought Ramandre Stevenson was really good in the first half.
He had tremendous patience. He had excellent vision and he ran strong, hard, angry.
had really good finish. Now, the second half run game was a little bit different. Tennessee
went to one high safety, especially when the Patriots got up by 18. So Tennessee started to stack
the box more and that impacted the Patriots run game. Tennessee was also more aggressive in
the second half, run blitzes. And Austin Hooper was atrocious in run blocking. There were,
you know, two, three, maybe even four occasions where Austin Hooper just was not nearly good enough.
and that's been a problem.
Tight end blocking, sometimes wide receiver blocking.
And the offensive line was also more inconsistent in the second half in the run again than they were in the first half.
So, you know, a combination of factors, but we have to keep an eye on the one high safety versus two high safety.
Because if Drake May continues to beat defenses when they play one high safety, you know, or rather, let me start over there.
If Drake May continues to beat defenses when they play one high safety, I was right.
They're going to have to go to two high safety.
And when you go to two high safety, that should get the run game going.
So that's the cat and mouse game that defenses are going to have to play against Drake May and the Patriots.
If Drake May keeps cooking defenses in that one high.
All right, that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots.
Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an every day.
Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio.
and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel, hit that like button, throw a comment, and subscribe.
And for your second listen, get a double-dosed Lockdown NFL podcast with Tyler the Madman,
Roland and Tony Wiggins.
Find Lockdown NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Have a great day, and we will see you tomorrow.
