Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 10-10-16- Who will challenge the Patriots for the AFC East crown?

Episode Date: October 11, 2016

#eaststillrunsthroughfoxboro #miami#1pick #canrexkeepittogether? #isrevisislandatouristsitenow? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Napa Know How. When you purchase a set of Napa brake pads and rotors, you get a discount code from Fanatics.com worth up to $50 towards your favorite sports gear. While Napa can't help your team reach the promised land, we can help make sure your car will. Because these brakes come with something no sports team does. Guaranteed performance. Great brakes, great price, great fan gear.

That's Napa Know How. Napa Know How. Offer expires September 30th, 2017. Good evening, I'm Chris Simino, your host of Locked On Patriots. You're our source for everything Patriots. Today is Monday, October 10th, 2016, and we have another loaded docket for today's show. The Patriots had an impressive 33-13 win yesterday, which we recapped last night,

so if you haven't had a chance to listen, go check it out after you listen to this podcast. Also, be sure to go to nwe.scout.com and check out my live game blog along with a ton of material on there. We also have these podcasts on there, so go check it out. We do the game blogs weekly. Every game, every in-game comment and reaction, in fact, it gets pretty interesting and funny, so I would recommend it. Go check it out.

Alright, let's get down to work. Today in Patriots news and notes, according to reports, recently released guy Jonathan Cooper has been claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns. It is unfortunate that things didn't work out for him in New England because the Patriots really did like his ability. He's a good kid and we wish him the best here at Lockdown Patriots.

Hopefully he catches on with the Browns and that's a good fit for him. Another former Patriots lineman got a tryout today. Former center Brian Stork got a workout with the Giants. This is the second team he's got a workout with this week. Third team's got a workout with this season. And fourth team that he's been looked at by this year.

So, Stork has had quite the offseason, but it's not looking good for him because if you've had that many looks and haven't signed the contract yet, that's not a good sign. And in this case, nothing is imminent as far as a contract. Stork was really good for the Patriots as a rookie back in 2014. He looked like a steal when they got him in the fourth round out of Florida State.

But those concussions that he battled and also some character questions over the last year and a half, they may have hurt his chances of catching on with any other team. I'm still just shocked that his career ended so abruptly, but there's a reason why NFL careers only last three years on average. You know, it's a violent game, and Storck's concussions may have ended his career before he'd even really get a chance to start. Coach Bill Belichick, he had the team visit the Jim Brown statue on Sunday, a man that he has a ton of respect for.

Belichick developed a strong bond with Brown when he was the head coach in Cleveland, and he wanted his players to see the statue and appreciate what Brown has meant to the game. Belichick considers Brown to be the greatest player of all time, which is a pretty strong compliment coming from a guy that lives, eats, and breathes football and has since he was a small child.

And his father had him watching film and identifying things that most people don't recognize. And they're 40s, and he was doing it when he was 5. Belichick was a film junkie from the start. And apparently Jim Brown was his hero. Belichick also spoke about another one of his heroes in Paul Brown and his admiration for the former great coach. You also wonder why Brown didn't have his own statue, but

he has a stadium named after him and the team's named after him, so I think they've given him some looks. There's no question about that. Belichick clearly admires the Browns, and when he talks about them, it makes you wonder what it would have been if Art Modell didn't sell the team and throw poor Bill under the bus. I didn't really like the way the fans treated Belichick at the end of that. It wasn't his fault that the team got sold and turned into a lame duck status. Also in Patriots-related news,

the Broncos faced the Atlanta Falcons yesterday. Chris Harris of the Broncos noticed something familiar. Last season in the AFC title game, the Patriots tried to get the ball to their running backs in space, but it didn't work out because Brady was getting killed by Vaughn Miller. But the plan did make sense because they would have avoided throwing the ball towards excellent cornerbacks Chris Harris and Aqib Dhalib, and it also slows down that Denver pass rush

because they have to start accounting for the backs flaring out. Chris Harris saw what Atlanta was doing, and after the game he said, and I quote, we haven't seen that scheme since the AFC Championship. That's Patriots all day. Well, that's the NFL for you, the copycat league, but I don't knock the Falcons for it, and I wouldn't be surprised if Belichick actually spoke with them and gave them some advice on that.

Teams in the NFL do it all the time, so good win for the Falcons, Denver losing is always good for Patriots fans, and you know, in the win-loss column it's good too. It may not have been the AFC game, but if New England finishes 14-2 and Denver finishes 13-3, that loss could be the one

that decides who hosts the AFC Championship. Let's hear a word from our sponsor. Are you wearing Mack Weldon clothing right now? No? What are you waiting for? There is nothing more comfortable on the market today. Mack Weldon believes in smart design, premium fabrics, and simple shopping. I am not the savviest online shopper,

but navigating and shopping on Mack Weldon's website was one of the best experiences I've ever had. And it was easy to get what I wanted. Mack Weldon has by far the most comfortable underwear, socks, shirts, undershirts, hoodies, and sweatpants you'll ever wear. I got the underwear and the socks and also one of the polo shirts. And oh my god, they are so comfortable. Underwear, they're form-fitting and I literally don't want to wear any of the underwear I own. I just want to go and get more because the Mack Weldon's are just so comfortable.

They also have a line of silver underwear and shorts that are naturally antimicrobial, which those are great. You know, if you're an athlete and you're working out, things like that, they won't stink after you wear them after a workout. Obviously, you have to wash them, but they won't stink up your clothes. They won't stink up your bag. So you can wear those after your workout, take them home without stinking things up. Mack Weldon's always thinking about their customers. Mack Weldon also wants their customers to be comfortable. So if you don't like your first pair, if you want some of the underwear,

you can keep it, and they will still refund you. No questions asked. Customer service is a lost art nowadays, if you want some of the underwear, you can keep it, and they will still refund you. No questions asked. Customer services are lost out nowadays, but Mack Weldon, they meet and exceed their customers' needs. Not only does Mack Weldon underwear, socks, and shirts look good, they also perform really well, too. It's sturdy, comfortable clothing, and it's good for, like I said, either working out, you can go to work, whatever you're doing doing everyday life the socks the underway of the t-shirts the undershirts all that's great to you can wear for anything

so what you want to do is go to mac waldon dot com and you can get twenty percent off if you use my promo code l lopats so again that's twenty percent off mac waldonden.com using my promo code LOPATS. L-O-P-A-T-S. That's MackWalden.com, promo code LOPATS. Go have an online experience shopping that will probably be the best you ever have. Go do it today. And also, go order a pair of those underwear because they are comfortable.

So it's time to take a stroll through the AFC East. A place that seems to be quite a mess these days. The rest of the AFC East had a pretty interesting day, and things are starting to come into form here. The Bills continued to win in spite of their shortcomings, and they went to Los Angeles and beat the Rams at the Coliseum, which is impressive. The Rams came into the game 3-1, and they've been better than what people expected. Rex and his crew, they're starting to gain some confidence, but we've seen decent stops from the Bills before,

and then next thing you know, they finish 8-8, and they're all fired up about winning a game against backup. So I have to admit, I'm not there yet. I also feel bad for their fans because they are so loyal, but they have a coach in Rex Ryan that doesn't do a very good job of maintaining a consistent team. He's a better coordinator than head coach, and with having his WWE-looking brother hanging around,

that doesn't help either. Good for the Bills that they're 3-2, but buyer beware. The Dolphins, well, they're a mess. They are just an absolute mess. They lost to the Titans yesterday. So let me repeat, the Miami Dolphins lost to the Tennessee Titans yesterday. Titans fans, if you hear this, please don't hate me. I'm not ripping your team.

You're in a really, really early part of your rebuilding stage, and you're going to be good. The Dolphins are supposed to be beyond that, and they're supposed to be competing for a playoff spot, and they are not. And what they're doing is they're losing to a team like the Tennessee Titans who are building it right, and the Dolphins are obviously not. So they're just struggling.

They got whooped pretty good too. So now Miami's now 1-4. They're three games out of first place. They're averaging 17.6 points per game. That is just putrid. That's 28th in the league, and they're bad on the pass game. They're 24th, and they're terrible running the ball. They're ranked 31st.

So not dead last, but pretty close. The defense has been okay as far as points allowed with 23.8. Again, that's just okay. But they allow 400 yards per game, 401 yards per game overall. That's a lot. That's 28th in the league. Teams are starting to figure out how to score. Teams are going to start figuring out how to score in the red zone too.

So if they don't get that yardage down, those points are going to skyrocket up to how to score. Teams at Gunnestop figuring out how to score in the red zone too. So if they don't get that yardage down, those points are going to skyrocket up to close to 30 at some point. And that's just a recipe for disaster. The loss of Cole Meecy yesterday, that didn't help at all. Meecy's been pretty active as a defender for them, so that's a loss. The Dolphins might be battling for the top pick of the draft here. That's something to keep an eye on. And if they are, Ryan Tannehill's days as the Dolphins quarterback

could be coming to a very quick end. Teams aren't going to wait around forever for a quarterback to develop, and Tannehill just doesn't seem to be getting it. He never really struck me as a guy that was going to be a great NFL quarterback. I always liked him as an athlete, but I think he's a backup. I really do. I think he's a backup NFL quarterback. He just doesn't have the consistency,

and it just doesn't look like he's the guy, and the Dolphins are starting to learn the hard way. So, again, the Dolphins, 1-4, a mess, one of the worst offenses in the league, and also one of the worst defenses. So, again, the Dolphins, 1-4, a mess. One of the worst offenses in the league and also one of the worst defenses. So good luck to them. Last but not least, we have the hated New York Jets. They're not doing much better than the Dolphins. The Jets got rocked by the Steelers yesterday.

It was 31-13, and things just don't seem right in New York. Their offense has been extremely average, and they have the weapons, they're just not making it work as well as they did last year. Ryan Fitzpatrick has turned the ball over at a pretty high rate, and if he continues, he's going to lose his job to Geno Smith, who is not good. So either way, they're going to be struggling at quarterback. The defense has given up a lot of points. They're allowing 27.2 points per game, which is odd for a Jets team. Over the last decade or so, they really haven't met a team that's allowed

a lot of points, but this year is a different story. The 27.2 is high. They've been awesome against the run. They're only allowed 16.4 yards per game, which is second in the NFL, but they allow 302.4 through the air, which is 31st in the NFL, but they allow 302.4 through the air, which is 31st in the NFL, so that's kind of a yin and yang as to bad defense. With the 1-4 record, the Jets are going to need a lot more things to start going right if they expect to make anything out of this season, but I just think 1-4 is a little too deep of a hole when your offense thinks like theirs does.

The secondary's been bad, too. Revis has just been a mess. I don't know if he didn't, well, I can tell he wasn't in shape this out the year, but I think there's more to it. This guy, he got a taste of winning, and I know it wasn't easy. You play for a franchise like the Patriots, and it's tough. I mean, they put in a lot and I think that Revis got a little burnt out after his season with New England but then he went back to the Jets

for the money and he played and I think he might be having some uh some regret on his decision to not stay with the team that's pushing him to make him a better player and to win championships because when it comes down to it winning winning especially when you've made that much money is what it's about and he's not winning and he's not enjoying his time so if Rivas doesn't get it together this secondary isn't going to improve at all. They just released Dean Milner

who was supposed to be the Rivas replacement back in 2013 and 2016 is a washout and cut so this secondary is terrible and that's not going to help. So the Jets may be battling the Dolphins for that spot in the draft because they don't look good, and things don't look like they're going to get much better. So the Bills, they are one game back from the Patriots,

and they seem like a possible threat to the Patriots this year, but the Jets and the Dolphins are going to be battling for the highest draft spot. The two teams expected to compete, that has to be a pretty tough pill to swallow. If Patriots fans were worried that they might lose control of the AFC East because of the Brady suspension, I think those fears have been put to rest, to say the least. But regardless of the Buffalo loss last week, New England is still by far the best team in the division,

and they might not lose another game this season, so the East still runs through Foxborough. As far as overall AFC opponents, it's starting to look like the Pittsburgh Steelers are a real contender. They rocked the New York Jets yesterday, 31-13, and they are so talented offensively that they're able to stay in games with anyone, even if they do have some issues with their defense. Denver's defense is awesome, but I do think that they're going to have a hard time getting back to the AFC title game due to their average offense, and Pittsburgh looks

like that team is going to take advantage of it. The Raiders, let me repeat, the Raiders improved to 4-1, which is just a crazy thing to say, but let's not forget that they got really lucky because they were playing the Chargers, the unluckiest team in history, who blew a field goal to lose. Now, you hear me say, yeah, they blew a field goal to lose, and if you didn't watch the game, they didn't even get a chance to kick. It was a bad snap. That team is so jinxed, it's not even funny. I've never seen a team that has had more talent over the course of, I don't know, 12 years now. They've been talented.

The Chargers always have talent. They always find a way to blow games. They usually go 8-8 or 9-7. And then if you watch their game film and you look back at it, they should go 13-3. It's just amazing how they do it every year. And they did it again yesterday, and the Raiders took advantage and improved 4-1 because of it.

But again, that was a Chargers loss more than that was a Raiders win. They always do something to lose, and that's kind of sad and pathetic to watch. So the Raiders still have a long way to go before I'll consider them as a contender, but they are having a good season. But they're not a contender like New England or Pittsburgh. The truth of the matter is the AFC kind of stinks right now.

And if the Patriots and the Steelers stay healthy enough, I'm making the prediction now that they'll be meeting in Foxborough to decide who goes to the Super Bowl. Let's take another minute to hear from our sponsor. Football season is here and in full swing, so it's time to get in the action and play like the pros at mybookie.net. It's the most exciting online experience for sports fans. MyBookie features real Vegas odds and incredible player props on every football game. The game already started and you didn't

get a chance to call? Well, there's nothing to worry about. MyBookie is live in-game, all odds updated in real time, so it's never too late to make a play. MyBookie.net is optimized for smartphone users for non-stop action on the go. So if you're out and about with your family, you've got things going on, but you knew that you wanted to take care of it, go on to MyBookie.net and get it done. You can do it from wherever you are. So what you need to do, go online, go on to mybookie.net and get it done, you can do it from wherever

you are. So what you need to do, go online, type mybookie in your browser and sign up today. Use promo code PATRIOTS, it's P-A-T-R-I-O-T-S, to be entered into their million dollar prize pool, or you can call. The number is 844-722-2387, again that's 844-722-2387 Join the thousand of online players already playing. Only the biggest. Only the best. Only at mybookie.net Sign up today.

I want to thank you all for joining us today. Actually, tonight. And be sure to tune in tomorrow when we go through the scouting report of the All-22 Coaches film. We'll see who played great but didn't really get any credit. And we'll expose those guys that struggled that weren't too obvious to the naked eye. It's always the way it works when it comes to the game film. Be sure to listen and because you may actually learn a little bit of something

and you may enjoy it. Who knows? Thanks again for listening and have a great night, Patriots fans. Is democracy in danger or decline? Condoleezza Rice, William Galston, and Carlos Gutierrez and others take on this question in the fall edition of The Catalyst, a journal of ideas from the Bush Institute. Surveys show Americans place less trust in institutions like the media and business. Others contend America has faced far more challenging periods and emerged strong. Leading policymakers, Bush Institute experts, and respected journalists take on this debate. Read about it at bushcenter.org slash catalyst.