Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Cutting Back On Tight Endage, Early Look at the Ravens and More New England Patriots Week 3 Talk

Episode Date: September 22, 2022

Before fully turning their attention to their Week 3 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the New England Patriots seek improvement in some key areas — one of which is getting greater production from their two top tight end Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith. Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper of Pats Propaganda, as they dynamic duo discuss takeaways from Week 2, tight endage and take an early look at the Ravens.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!NugenixNow get a complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total T when you text NFLto 231-231.Text now and get a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever, with key ingredients to help you get back into shape fast.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedonPrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONTuroDitch boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why did the 12-man personnel fall out of favor so quickly in New England? We answer that question with the Empress of Tight Endage today and more. Stay tuned. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day.

Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube, so smash that subscribe button and download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, folks, today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, and they help you do it faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL.

Patriots fans, we are still basking in the glow of the Patriots' 17-14 victory over the Steelers. I know, not a perfect victory. There's always room for improvement, and the Patriots will need to show signs of improvement if they hope to hang with the Baltimore Ravens this weekend at Gillette and the home opener. But there are still some lingering thoughts on the performance that we saw from the Patriots in Pittsburgh on Sunday, including the lack of tight endage. How can you possibly believe it? It really is amazing.

But who better to talk to today regarding the subject than the empress of tight endage herself? She is the Countess of Clas, a columnist extraordinaire from Pat's Propaganda and also the host of her very own Patriots podcast, A Claire Perspective, which in my opinion, folks, is the best damn listen in all of Patriots media. Claire, Clasie Claire Cooper joins me today

as she does each and every Wednesday here on the Lockdown Patriots podcast. Thank you for joining me from across the pond today, Countess. Oh, you're always so very welcome, Mike. How can I not come on for such a lovely introduction? I could just come on for the introduction and leave, so we're going to see you in all fairness. But, you know, we have some fun talking Patriots as well, don't we?

That is. That's always. I always start off quickly. You know, that's always good. It's always best to start off well. Great introduction. Folks, it all goes downhill from here on my end, but Claire will keep you informed. She will do the great job that we all know that she can.

And it's always great to talk, you know, football with you, Claire. And we are going to talk your favorite subject today. Folks, it's not gratuitous. It is actually very poignant, very much a part of what we need to discuss because it was a glaring omission from the game on sunday but claire before we take our leave from the patriot steelers game which i know a lot of fans are still excited about there are still a lot of fans that are concerned and there are concerns to be had steve joined me here yesterday valstriere we talked a little bit about the patriots gave our season our not our season grades, but perished the thought.

Now there's still a lot of season left, folks. Coffee's still kicking in. But in any case, we definitely, you know, absorbed a lot of his wisdom and counsel on grades for the game. Murph was joining me here on Monday. We talked about some of our concerns, but I wanted to get your take on this because you are the countess of class and the Patriots did show a little bit of excess class on Sunday when they defeated the Steelers what are

your lingering thoughts on this game and what did it tell you about this version of the New England Patriots well Mike as probably most of Patriots nation I was glad for the win I was relieved for the win because of the sort of the as you said the concerns it seems to be the key word really the concerns in regard to that and just the sort of negativity that is surrounding the team at the moment although there's a lot of kind of yeah but in regards to the win it was a win and the Patriots have got a one and one so you know i'm just sort of happy to hold on to that for the moment and just know that they have won it is just a good thing now you mentioned in regards to i know we're going to talk tight-ended a little bit later on

but you mentioned in regards to the lack of tight-endage now there wasn't that much lack of tight-endage when it regards to the Steelers there was it Michael because they had hat Brammer absolutely who I wrote about on Saturday and Claire esteemly you were very very kind countess to share that article uh yes you deserved a shout out that is definitely ten demerits for myself and I will will take a lap on the Pittsburgh. Well, I shouldn't say Pittsburgh. We're out of Pittsburgh now, folks. I will take a lap on the Gillette Stadium practice fields up on that hill that Bill Belichick makes, you know, the guys in the doghouse run during the dog days of summer. But no, all kidding aside, they did utilize their tight endage very well.

They got a good one in Pat. No question. They have. They have got a good one. And Adrian Phillips, you know, I know that we've talked about i think we've talked about our fair he's sort of he's hit and miss this when it comes to covering tight end needs but and as pat freemuth is a you know very good tight end as we all know now he didn't do too bad a job um one of the commentators said a lovely um thing about adrian phillips i think actually i put it in my game recap for patsmorganda.com so if you still want to check it out please do um quick short plug there um but yeah adrian phillips blanketed the tight end and i was i was mildly jealous of adrian phillips there

blanketing the tight end but we're going to move on from that because there's a slightly maritime but yeah concerns of course everybody's got concerns as i said keyword the o-line it's really that's the niggle point isn't it the offensive line that we're that we can we're all concerned about dietrich's wise where's he been all this time he steps up with these last two games i know we're talking steelers game but the game priority as well to the finns what dietrich's wise has kind of showed up and owned up hasn't he after he's been given a few dollars. So he's become really explosive and very interesting to watch out for. So he's definitely on my keep a sharp eye out list for this season now.

I mean, I love me some O-line. We all know I adore my tight end, but I do love me some O-line. And I love football in general, but, yeah, I'm going to have to be keeping my eye on the D-line now as well. The list of dudes I have to keep an eye on is's just getting longer and longer but I digress I completely digress I've got to say to you Mike because oh this has been I've been holding this in until this episode that I get a chance to speak to you the Gunnar muffed punt now I know you've taken some flack on Twitter and with ourmentioned friends. I'm really sorry.

And I mean, I did like, you know, Gunnar when he was here, but I was always really anxious when he was returning kicks, when he was returning kickoffs and punts, that something like that was going to happen. It was always that anxiety. And I know that, I hope he doesn't mind me mentioning, but Mike Dusso of Patriots Unfiltered sort of shared in a little bit of this. I know he did last season.

It was this element of, is he going to catch it? What's going to happen? Bless him, he's a great football player, he is. But there was just this element of this line of anxiety. And when it bounced, it was just like, well, thank goodness it happened when he was a stealer. And then Brandon Schooler schooled him and picked it off.

And yeah, I mean, I felt he was as aer and then brandon schooler schooled him and picked it off and and yeah i mean i felt he was as a gonna fan but i was waiting to see that in my fandom lifetime and it just feels like now we've really truly seen the the oshefsky proper muffed punt so that was unfortunate for you oshefsky fans but yeah there was a lot to take away that was good i'm really sorry i'll just cut you off i know you were just about the reason that was really good we had you know lots of good wide receiver play there's the concern on the airline there's the concern on mac but if you put in a pin in those things you know the the concerns now and looking at the positive defense we we had some great plays by

the defense we had some great plays by the wide receivers particularly Myers and Aguilar well Aguilar's decided he's also decided to own up and show up as well which is great it's good to see from him and I know we'll touch on upon that later but I think that that might be why we sort of seen a bit less tight endage um than we have been is that the fact that the wide receivers are really kind of stepping to their own, showing that they've got – I think it's the kind of – maybe they've heard of, oh, the Patriots haven't got a wide receiver one, and all these guys have gone, who needs a wide receiver one? We're all super-duper kind of things.

I like that. That's quite good. So, yeah, concerns, yes. That's not going to go away. The yeah-buts aren't going to go away unfortunately the whole yeah but the Steelers didn't have TJ Watt and they sounded like you can't get away from those and they're not incorrect but there is still and Miles Bryant and Devante Parker again concerns in regards to those guys so if you want to like sort of not to try to name and shame but yes concerns however they won it was a victory we saw some improvement from the previous game with the in particular the offensive line defense against the run um so we saw this improvement

if we can continue to see steps like this if Mac can get into his you know get into his jam a little bit more because he's still sort of doesn't seem quite himself out there at the moment if they can get these things to click just in the right places I think they've got some serious potential so as to what I don't know I don't want to say at this early stage of week two oh they're Super Bowl bound it's a little bit far-fetched, really. But I think if we can see the positive steps that they've taken, if we can see them continue to take these, if we can see the positivity that we saw from game one to game two, then I think we've got some really good standing. Absolutely. And I think you make some very, very good points. First of all, I'm glad you made the

point about Gunnar Roshelski. Yes, folks, it was all about the meme. I was dying to be able to use that GIF file on Twitter, and I did get a chance to use it, and I used it properly in detriment to Gunnar this time as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, no, I agree with what you and Deuce had to say on him. There was always a haphazard way in which he sort of lined up and played his game. I think it's just the nature of the way he plays. And it really, it was very good for the Patriots to be able to capitalize on that.

Although Steve and I did mention about Jake Bailey just dropping back and hitting Brendan Schooler in stride. He was completely wide open. Something that I think in special teams acumen, I think you're going to see a lot of film watched on that. Cam Attritt said that yesterday when we talked to him in the media, special teams acumen i think you're going to see a lot of film watched on that cam atchard said that yesterday when we talked to him in the media that it's all about getting better and looking at missed opportunities every week so patriots definitely i think that's their biggest um

thing to work on for lack of a better term i wish i could put that more eloquently folks but that's their biggest item to work on this week is capitalizing on missed opportunities because they did have a few of those on Sunday. One thing that I wanted to point out, I meant to with the gunner thing, not to like rewind a little bit. The one thing I did notice that was quite good, that was quite positive in regards to him was after the Muff punt,

he still was in the game. He got, he was back in the game because you kind of, you kind of think if he'd have been a Patriot still and that had happened, he might have been on Bill's naughty bench or in Bill's doghouse, maybe. But I guess as a fan with sort of just mild affection for, you know, the ex-Patriot, I was glad to see him kind of recovering

and back in the game and still use us. Because, you know, he's a good NFL player and we can't take't take away from that but um yeah gunner was schooled by schooler i like that gunner was schooled by schooler i like that a lot i love the alliteration i love the analogy great great stuff uh but one thing you have to give gunner whether you want to go at his physical capabilities whether you want to go after uh his prowess on the field all fair fair game. But one thing you have to say, he is a tough competitor and mentally tough, especially definitely, you know, glad to see him at least, you know, doing, I think doing a decent job down in Pittsburgh. I know Pittsburgh fans are going to disagree with that right now after Sunday, but give

him a little bit more of a chance, folks. You'll definitely see what we saw in him all those years up here in New England. But getting back to your original point about things and positives to build on folks there are a lot the wide receivers definitely playing well 11 man personnel seems to complement that downhill running game very well and the new england patriots ran it extremely well on sunday but one thing they did not do was utilize 12-man personnel. The tight end were not a factor in this game, Claire, and I

know you are dying to give your take on this. I know the Countess is displeased. What to do here on Locked On Patriots? We're going to give her the floor to air her grievances in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues.

But first, folks, as you gear up for fall, you need the right people on your team to help your small business fire on all cylinders. And that's where LinkedIn Jobs is here to make it easier to find the people you want to talk to faster and do it for free. How much more can you ask for, folks? You can create a free job post in minutes on LinkedIn Jobs to reach your network and beyond to the world's largest professional network of over 810 million people. Simple tools like screening questions make it easy to focus on the candidates with just the right skills and experience so you can quickly prioritize who you'd like to interview and hire. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to.

They help you do it faster and they help you do it better than anyone in the business. Do you know every week nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn? Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Patriots fans, the illustrious Claire, Classy Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda and a Claire Perspective of

Patriots podcast joins me here today. We kind of cleaned out the drawer of positivity, Miss Principal of Positivity, when it comes to the 17-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers by our New England Patriots on Sunday. But, Claire, we do have to get a little displeasure out of our systems, mostly out of yours, because when you look at the stat sheet from Sunday, you see that the wide receivers were well utilized. The running backs had a good game. Max game, I'd say probably about 50-50. Good moments, bad moments.

Offensive line, highest marks. You look at the tight endage. And John O'Smith, Hunter Henry targeted four times. Not a piece, folks. That's between the two of them. Zero catches, zero production yardage yikes countess i know this is not sitting well with the empress of tight endage right now but not only do we have fun at your expense when it comes to this you do have a we do have it and

i'm and i am serious you do have a tremendous amount of knowledge when it comes to the position. And I know you keep a sharp eye on their usage. You keep a sharp eye on what this team does well when the tight ends are clicking. And it surprised me that the Patriots were not utilizing these guys more. Some will tell you it's because Henry and Smith are just not capable of getting open, not worth the money they were given. Some will tell you that it's more strategic than that when you look at the tight usage what went through your mind on Sunday and why do you think it was so difficult for Hunter Henry and John O'Smith to get involved in the offense I'm gonna let you in on a little secret

Mike because I'm not actually that concerned or that displeased at this point because bearing in mind it's week two and you know against the things they did sort of have um plenty of 12 man personnel so the thing that you said that resonates with me the one word that you just said in in in that was clicking and Johnnyny smith is an excellent athlete and it but it just feels like while he is being used and he is in there it feels a little bit like it's not quite clicking quite right into the slot with him and i don't mean the slot is in on the field i mean from a literal perspective of a lot clicking sort of thing just to just to clarify but a good clarification though i will say that well thank you i said to make sure um so yeah i think we

know he's a good athlete you know we're all talking about what happened in tennessee kind of thing and we just haven't quite seen it here yet and as to why he's still a little bit in in the gray area sort of what's happening in regard to the utilization of hunter mac it was a poor throw it wasn't it wasn't a good read by mac it was a bad throw and hunter wasn't in his place kind of in timing so i may be biased but i kind of really put the onus on mac more than i do on hunter and I just think that whilst the the offensive coaching is it's moving along it's developing it's growing it's finding its feet it's finding the plays that sort of like work for the Patriots now because everything is so different when it comes to offense now mainly because of the difference in coaching and play calling that we've got I'm not concerned at

this stage because I just think it feels like teething problems. It just feels like they need to get the right balance of utilising the tight ends and utilising the wide receivers. Now, as you mentioned, there was plenty of wide receiver usage. And I think that is going to have a knock-on effect of the lack of usage of tight ends

because you can't target all the guys all the time. So you're going to see numbers go up and down. And I think at the moment it feels like it's key to get the wide receivers sort of there and really sort of performing. And, you know, the trust that Max got with the wide receivers is sort of building up now. I mean, we saw it, Agalos was in the team last year and we didn't really see a lot from him because he was using he was being used a lot to draw coverage and now he's getting the chance to sort of like

be out on his own stage if you like to bring in the numbers um and i think that's significant and whilst you're doing that you can't target n Nelson Aguilar and target Hunter Henry at the same time and pass it off to Jonu Smith for an excellent run, that kind of thing, or the yards after the catch that he's good at gaining. You can only do so much at once. So I think it's a case of being a little bit patient. Yeah, it was unfortunate they didn't really use them. It was a little bit, you know, it's a bit of a shame for somebody

who's a tight-end enthusiast like me that we didn't see a lot of him to him you play you know there was one ball and it was it wasn't very good and didn't really see him again and I think I mentioned um it may have been last week when we talked one of the sort of keys that I believe uh the the lack of utilization of the of the tight ends a little bit more is because of the weakness I say weakness very use that word very dubiously, but the weakness in the offensive line or the uncertainty of the offensive line, the concerns that there are with the offensive line,

because that's not fully sort of stable, they're having to fall upon the tight ends to maintain more blocking. And if you're having to use a guy to block, you can't have him in the end zone, you can't have him out in space, you can't have him in the end zone you can't have him out in space you can't have him having you know getting yards after the catch because the poor guy is trying to make sure that the that Matt can air it out in the first place

and whilst he is he's going to have like the the likes of Jacoby Myers flying through the air for the ball or the likes of you know Nelson Aguilar flying through the air I did like that they both flew very well yeah we've got very flighty wide receivers. Very good. But yes, you can't have it all. And at the moment, it's week two. So yeah, as much as I guess as a tight-end enthusiast, I want to be concerned.

Right now, I didn't sort of enjoy witnessing the lack of usage of tight-ends in the game. But I'm also not concerned because it feels early I think that if you came back to me in sort of another five games and we're still seeing this loneliness of usage of the tight ends we're still seeing them having to block all the time we're not seeing Johnny you know get out there to get his yards after the catch that sort of thing yeah then I'm

going to have concerns that it's not properly working something is something isn't working correctly and it really needs to be addressed right now week two it feels like they're swapping pieces in and out until they click and finally get exactly what they want so yeah absolutely 100 first of all the thing that I agree with you most on is the fact that it is week two. And that's something that really has to be said more than anything else. This is very early in the process. We're not seeing anything that's indicative of the way the Patriots are going to do business every game from now until January. Hopefully, maybe they're playing a little bit beyond that.

But, you know, we'll keep the faith at this point, Claire. We'll say early January right now because that's when they're scheduled. And bottom line, I agree with you, first of all, and I do agree with you on Hunter Henry. I think that ball was more on Mack than it was on Hunter. That ball needs to go to the outside. He threw it on the end. To be honest with you, Mack is lucky that the Pittsburgh defender,

who escapes me right now, I don't know if it was Fitzpatrick, but he was in position to be able to pick that off. I mean, that could have really been a disastrous turn of events for the Patriots in that regard. I thought Hunter ran the route correctly. I thought he was in good position. And if he puts his arms out and is outstretched, he makes that reception.

All of a sudden, maybe that kickstarts the use of Hunter Henry in the um in the offense and I think you will continue to see that we saw enough production out of Hunter last year to know this is not indicative of who he is he's much more capable of providing some really really good plays down the uh the field and I for one and definitely uh you know looking forward to seeing him more ingratiated as well. That's why I'm not concerned at this point. As you said, week two, Hunter brought it so much last year, and we saw from him and the good chemistry with him and Mac last year, that that's why right now I'm not concerned because we know it exists.

We know that that is there. We just need to get it all moving to give it chance to to be utilized exactly and you know for all intents and purposes that was his most reliable receiver last year uh i definitely say that that hunter henry was max most reliable pass catcher maybe hunter maybe kendrick mourn was the most explosive of the pass catchers last year but hunter henry was his most reliable he and jacoby myers really were the the two forces that really allowed that offense to stay on the field last year and little jordan humphrey a lot of people were surprised about him being used in a tight end like

production a lot of people thought that wasn't going to be possible but he did align at some points during sund Sunday's game you know utilizing those point of attack blocks they're typically given to a flex tight end so at that point him coming in it does look like the New England Patriots are at least going to kick the tires on maybe utilizing him in a third package if they do want to go that route but bottom line the production between Hunter and between john who definitely needs to increase i think you will see that and i think as the game plan allows it i think that's when you'll see it because that to me is also one of the big points here is that the patriots went wide receiver and claire you articulated this perfectly they went with wide receiver because

it was working for the game plan and that 11 man personnel complements a downhill running game much better than a 12 man personnel because you're able to get guys out utilize the field utilize the perimeter and hit guys like agalor and myers who were really great in this game i'd like to see kendrick bourne mixed in a little bit as well and folks don't forget about davante parker i'm hearing the name of nikhil harry invoked in my sleep. And that is not the case. Devontae will be a better factor on this team and in this offense. So just give it a little bit of time and I assure you, you'll be happy with the results.

Claire, it's always, always a pleasure, always an honor to talk tight endage with you here on Locked On Patriots. But folks, we're not quite done yet, because as we take our leave of the Pittsburgh Steelers, it's time to welcome the Baltimore Ravens to Foxborough. And Claire's going to give her initial thoughts on what that matchup may look like and exactly what we can expect on the field when these two teams lock horns on Sunday in week three. But first, I want to talk to you folks a little bit about our good friends at BetOnline.net,

your number one source for all of your pro and college football betting needs and sports info this season. Find all of the latest football league developments, game matchups, news, and podcasts. BetLine is also your continued source for all of your sports wagering information, including live betting, esports, and scores. The fastest and easiest way to check in on all of your sports wagering information, including live betting, esports, and scores. The fastest and easiest way to check in on all of your favorite sports and events, including Major League Baseball, MMA, boxing, and golf, is with our good friends at BetOnline.net. So head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the

action. BetOnline online where the game starts. Pats fans, we are nearly ready to wrap things up here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, joined as always on Wednesdays by the illustrious Claire Classey, Claire Cooper of Pats Propaganda and a Claire Perspective of Patriots podcast. Claire, we talked a little bit about some lingering positive thoughts on the Pats Steelers.

We talked your favorite subject, tight end positive thoughts on the Pat Steelers. We talked to your favorite subject tight endage for the second straight week and you brought the wisdom and counsel away. Only you can that wisdom and counsel meter broke off a long time ago, especially with the tight endage knowledge, but we know that the last game is only as good as your next game. And the era of good feelings is about to be wiped clean. Starting today on Wednesday, the Patriots hit the practice fields to prepare for the Baltimore Ravens,

Lamar Jackson, and a high flying offense and a stout defense, John Harbaugh coaching, you know, the Ravens, every single time they come into Foxborough, you know, it's always going to be a tightly contested game.

Emotions are going to be running high. These two teams don't like one another. And this is going to be a tightly contested game emotions are going to be running high these two teams just don't like one another and this is going to be I think a fun one in Foxborough on Sunday but Ravens are coming into this game with a little extra chip on their shoulder after blowing such a big lead to Miami your initial thoughts on the Ravens this weekend what the Patriots need to do in order to not only remain competitive but maybe pull out the win here I think that's the thing that concerns me again keyword um is they're coming off that loss I mean that game against the things was quite a high scoring game it was quite a bit of a battle back and forth. So the fact that they're having to roll into Gillette after a loss to, you know, it is a little bit of a concern,

the extra chip on their shoulder. And I mean, they're a good team. They don't need that extra chip. So, yeah. I mean, they've got a good O-line. The question is, can we, sorry, can we can the Patriots sorry do that too often can the Patriots contain that movable that movable quarterback um that's a question not a concern as such a question can they do it because I think we've got quite a good defense now and I mean

Dietrich's wise we've already said this I'm like I'm really shocked I'm like this guy's owned up and shown up I'm waiting for this this is very exciting now actually now i think about it i'm quite excited to see that that d-line get after that course back oh this is going to be something some body slamming when and gronk isn't even around and we're still going to get it inside joke with the travis kelsey thing if you don't know you have to go and check on it's everywhere so yeah but yeah i mean the one thing i did notice is the ravens defense seem to run out of steam in the fourth quarter and i think it's going to be a case of shall we say football smarts can the patriots capitalize on those little weaknesses that they generally are a really good team are going to go they're going to show so i

think that's going to be a sort of a key for success is capitalizing on those little small weaknesses and chipping away those little weaknesses that they have got there or that maybe come to light there so one point is Jake Bailey needs to be very careful when he does any punting because, you know, that Duvenay with his 103-yard return for a touchdown, oof, rather good. So we don't want any of that, insert rude word there, happening. We don't want any of that going on. We want that nipped in the bud completely.

So we're definitely going to need these, you know, special teams to step it up. We're going to need the whole team these, you know, special teams to step it up. We're going to need the whole team to, you know, as we said, Baltimore is a good team. So they're going to need to bring some A game back to Gillette. So,

but I think I'm quite confident that they can. I'm hoping it's, it's an easy win. Obviously, how can we not? So yeah, contain that quarterback and capitalize on the sort of the defense running out of steam I think if you just use your football smarts and the one thing the

Patriots are known for granted some of the coaching staff that are known for it have since left but I still think it's a Patriots way is football smarts and that's something that I think they're really going to sort of want to fall back on to bring success back to Gillette and beat the Ravens absolutely agreed and I think containing Lamar Jackson is going to be a tough matchup there's no question about it I mean this is one of the most mobile and most versatile quarterbacks in the league and I don't think Lamar gets enough credit for the arm that he has a lot of people will always point to his ability to run to be be able to extend plays with his legs, create plays with his legs. Lamar is an explosive athlete, one of the best athletes I've seen at the position since I've been covering football. But at the same time, he's also a traditional pocket quarterback that can do the job if he needs to.

That's not a strong suit, but it's something that he can do and do very well if he's cornered into doing it. So it's kind of a pick your poison with the New England Patriots I think Christian Barmore is going to play a very key part in this game because if Barmore is able to I don't want to say marginally disrupt but occupy I guess is the best way to put it at least a couple of those offensive linemen from the Baltimore Ravens it may free up someone like a Matthew Judon or maybe free up someone like an Anthony Jennings to pin his ear back and try to get after the quarterback you're going to need your speediest guys to try to pursue Lamar Jackson I don't expect a lot of blitzing you saw Miami blitz heavily against Lamar Jackson and they

paid the price for it in the second half so I think the Patriots will take more of a tempered approach protect the middle of the field with the linebackers that means Mack Wilson that also means Juwan Bentley has to be healthy as well if he's not that could be a huge hole for the Patriots this week but what you just said kind of that has sort of boosted my confidence in it so you've got Christian Balmore Dietrich Wise Dietrich Wise and then you've got Matthew Judon steamrolling after Lamar Jackson I mean come on those names you've got to get excited about that absolutely and you should don't forget Matthew Judon played in Baltimore for a number of years you've got a little chip residing on that shoulder right now and there's definitely something yeah there's definitely something to be said there so

Matthew Judon's going to be looking to ball out this week I'm glad you mentioned Dietrich Wise because definitely someone that I have an affinity for and folks if you haven't checked out yesterday's pod with Steve check that out you'll find out why Dietrich Wise is someone who's very near and dear to my heart Claire knows the story uh but in any case um he is someone that can definitely get after the quarterback as well and does show the ability to be able to put pressure and he's been phenomenal on that defensive line. And if those guys can get into position and play their game, it makes the job of the secondary that much easier.

All of a sudden, Jalen Mills and Jonathan Jones can use their speed and versatility to control the perimeter. And then you have the defensive backfield being manned by maybe a three-hole, maybe all four of them. Hopefully Kyle Duggar will be okay. We'll know more when he hits the practice field on Wednesday, what his status is going to be. But if you've got Duggar, Peppers, Phillips, and then of course,

the team captain Devin McCourty back there gives you the opportunity. So I think this game for the Patriots is going to be one on the defensive side of the ball. If they can do it, it's going to be a tall task folks, but you've heard the wisdom and counsel of the Countess of Clas herself. And again, folks, she does not disappoint. Never has, never will. One of our favorite guests here on Lockdown Patriots.

And it's always my honor and privilege to share the microphone with you each and every Wednesday. Before I let you go, Miss Empress of Tight Endage, please let everyone know where they can find you, your great work, what you have coming up on the horizon for the week of coverage for pats ravens coming up well as always you can find me on twitter at classy claire so that's pretty normal you you'll get me on my game recap at patspraganda.com so obviously that's not till after the game but yeah each week you'll i'll hit you with a game recap at patspraganda.com so if you haven't already checked out the steelers one and you want a good laugh when you're having a cup of coffee,

go over to patspropaganda.com and check out my Steelers game recap. But yeah, so that will hit the web after the Ravens game. And hopefully my latest episode of A Claire Perspective will be dropping potentially this week. Fingers crossed. But yeah, I try and get to you each week when it comes to the in-season, but it's still a bit tricky because obviously guests are very busy. week um fingers crossed but yeah i try and get to you each week when it comes to the in season but it's still a bit tricky because obviously guests are very busy so yeah just just keep an eye out

for the for the podcast for that so yeah but i'm around check twitter you know i'm here there and everywhere one patriot's place each and every week is there for you at etgsports.com so you know if you want to listen to this i don't know why but if you do then you'll find me here there and everywhere and i'll be back here next week on Locked on Patriots to talk about the success of the Patriots over the Ravens at Gillette. Folks, it's all Claire all the time, and it's all good in Patriots

Nation, if that is the case. Now, seriously, when she puts pen to paper, voice to microphone, check it out. Appointment listening, appointment reading. They don't call her Monday morning recaps. The best reads in the business, folks. The best Monday Morning Read in the business as far as I'm concerned. So always check that out each and every

Monday or the day following game day. It's not always a Monday Morning Read, but after the game, that's definitely something that you want to check out. Countess, it's always my honor, again, my privilege to share the microphone with you. We look forward to doing it again on Wednesday.

But in the meantime, folks, please stay tuned here on Locked On Patriots as we shift our focus 100% to the Baltimore Ravens, starting with tomorrow's episode, Locked On Crossover Thursday. Kevin Ostreicher of Locked On Ravens will join me here on the hot seat as we talk all things Patriots Baltimore heading into Sunday's matchup. And of course, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for we talk all things Patriots Baltimore heading into Sunday's matchup. And of course, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. And now that you've made us your first listen, make your second listen to Peacock and Williamson

NFL show. Brian Peacock and former scout Matt Williamson give you the expert NFL analysis in less than 30 minutes. Just like Locked on Patriots folks. It's free and available wherever you get your podcasts on behalf of the esteemed countess of class herself, miss Claire, classy,

Claire Cooper on Mike debate, stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.