Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 10/19/16- Is Devin McCourty The Best Safety In The NFL?

Episode Date: October 20, 2016

Chris Simoneau discusses some recent positive reports from ProFootballFocus and also previews the Patriots/Steelers game. #keyonleveonbellandantoniobrown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. Good evening. I'm Chris Simino, your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Wednesday, October 19th, 2016. Once again, we have a lot going on in Patriots Nation, and we're going to give you all the news and analysis you need to be the most in the know Patriots fan. As always, it was a busy day in Foxborough, so let's get down to business. Today in Patriots news and notes, Patriots tackle Marcus Cannon was named a top-rated tackle during Week 6 by Pro Football Focus.

Showing the ability that this coaching staff here, they've always had in him, they really believe in him, but it has taken him some time to develop. The most impressive part of Cannon's excellent grade is the fact that he did it against Carlos Dunlap, who's one of the best defensive ends in football. Pro football focus, and this is what they had to say about it, and I'll quote, with Dunlap on the other side of the line of scrimmage, Cannon deserves special mention for not just playing well, but doing so against excellent opposition. He consigned Dunlap to the other side of the line of scrimmage. Cannon deserves special mention for not just playing well, but doing so against excellent opposition. He consigned Dunlap to the worst day of his season,

allowing just two total pressures on 41 pass blocking snaps and run blocking against a tough defender. That's impressive stuff there from Cannon. It's great to see Cannon finally realizing his potential in the NFL, and a game like Sunday's will give him confidence against any defense he faces. I'll admit I have openly questioned the contract Cannon received two years ago. I wasn't happy about it. I thought it was too much money. But they saw something, and it's starting to finally come to fruition now for him. And with the loss of Vollmer, Cannon has really stepped into his role and improved every single week.

He's battled adversity throughout his career. You know, he had cancer and things like that. So he's battled through some stuff. He's battled it every step of the way. So it is nice to see him having some success. So good for Marcus Cannon. You know, number one pro football focus. They don't mess around.

So that's really good news for him. Pro football focus also had some good things to say about linebacker Dante Hightower and his blitzing prowess. Hightower has blitzed 41 times, which is by far the most on the Patriots. And of those 41 blitzes, he's generated 12 quarterback pressures and two safeties. That's very impressive. Teams know that he's coming, but he's so good that it just doesn't matter in 2015 he blitzed 116 times generating 24 quarterback pressures so his rate is even better than it was last year and his rate was through the roof that's incredible numbers

he's putting up so so far i've said it on this show and i'm pretty sure i've said it multiple times in the last week hightower may not be the most talented player on this defense, but he is by far the most important. Pro Football Focus also talked about Devin McCourty. He was ranked as the best tackling safety in the NFL. He's only missed one tackle over the course of the first six games, and he's also made 30 solo tackles, which is impressive for a free safety. You know, Patriots defense hasn't been great,

but that just shows that he's good in defending the run, and he's also good at making tackles in the passing game too. He's an impressive player. On a side note, speaking of McCourty, Belichick told a story today about how McCourty, during this past Sunday's game, noticed an issue on Cincinnati's touchdown and opened up the second half.

So he made the coaching staff aware of the issue because they were having communication problems and everything. Chung and Roberts, they were playing underneath coverage, and when Dalton would break out of the pocket, those two would chase him, in turn opening up a huge hole in the middle of the zone. So McCourty suggested that the underneath players look behind them before pursuing Dalton

when he broke the pocket and it worked the Bengals scored only three more points Patriots defense started to look like themselves they played considerably better they said I play a more man that's in the second half and we saw a man who was added for the fourth start of the game eric rowe so they really stepped up and got it done so that was a in part to mccordy so it makes sense that pro football focus would rank him as the top free safety and you know for belichick to say you know this is what he was able to do for us and when we had communication issues and all that good thing all that stuff you. He's a great player. Speaking of the communication issues, Belichick today in his press conference,

he spoke in depth. He got really in depth about how he feels about the tablets, the Microsoft tablets that they use, and how they're just not working for him. He made that obvious when he spiked one and looked at Gronk. He must have taught him how to do it. But he made it very clear that there's a lot of issues, not just with those, but with the headsets and the time that they bring him into the stadium and get him set up.

And, you know, I understand that people, there's this perception that the Patriots tinker with the equipment and do all this. And I just, I think it's ridiculous. It's the NFL's equipment. It has nothing to do with the Patriots tinker with the equipment and do all this. And I just, I think it's ridiculous. It's the NFL's equipment. It has nothing to do with the Patriots. The Patriots don't own it. They can't have their own. They bring it in two to three hours before a game starts.

None of it's really tested. And they just, you know, they have to get that done right before a game. You know, I coach in high school, and I know how much goes into the preparation i couldn't imagine what goes into an nfl preparation for an nfl game if your communication systems do not be completely settled three hours before game time i just think it's crazy you know the nfl what they can do if they're really worried about any type of sabotage or the Patriots doing anything shady you bring the headsets in the night before and all the radio systems and computer systems and everything you bring in and you have somebody there monitoring it and actually setting it up

getting it ready checking if it glitches and all that good stuff and that way you don't have to worry about it come game day and you don't have all these stupid conspiracy theories about the Patriots tinkering with this and hiding playbooks here and all this other garbage that we hear about all the time. Belichick made it very clear today that the Patriots deal with just as many communication issues as anybody else. And sometimes when I hear him say those things, it seems like it's a big F-you to the league after the way that they've been treated. So it's just frustrating to see some of the things that we see here with the Patriots. And, you know, today it was good for Belichick to speak out

and tell them how it really is as far as the situation with the communication. I'm sure if he had a chance to speak out as far as Volontes Berfix not getting suspended, he would say something too, but he won't do that. But he definitely spoke out about the technology today. In fact, Microsoft responded by saying they're working with the NFL and everything's good. Sorry that Belichick had a hard time, yada, yada, yada. This is funny that Bill Belichick is such a famous coach and so big that microsoft had to respond to his uh not so glowing endorsement of their product today

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from the cincinnati bangles and we are moving on to the page to the patriots and seals um so what we're going to do is a new segment here called behind enemy lines where we're going to take a deep dive into the 2016 sealers and explain how the Patriots will attack them and ultimately beat them. That's the plan, so I'm sure that's what they're planning to do. The Steelers are 4-2 so far in their six games. First place in the AFC North. They are coming off a loss in their last game to the lowly Miami Dolphins. But mainly the reason why is because Ben Roethlisberger tore his meniscus in the second quarter,

and that was pretty much it for the Steelers. So, Roethlisberger is also out this week, so Landry Jones of Oklahoma will start for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not what they were looking for with the Patriots coming into town, pretty much an AFC showdown. This could be the AFC championship. I wouldn't be surprised at all. I just don't think it's going to be played in Pittsburgh. So, Roethlisberger looking like four to six weeks he's going to be out. And, unfortunately, he's going to miss this week's game.

Offensively, Pittsburgh has been good. They're a great team. 25.7 points per game. Ranked ninth in the league. 371.8 total yards per game, also ranked 9th, 265.5 passing yards per game, also 9th, they seem to like that number, and 106.3 running yards per game at 15th in the league. So they have good balance, and the rushing yards are going to continue to climb because Le'Veon Bell missed the first three games,

and now he's back and he's himself. But the thing about this week now, if they had Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell would scare the heck out of me if I was a Patriots fan. I'd scare the heck out of any Patriots followers, coaches, you name it, because they wouldn't be able to just focus on him because they'd have to worry about Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown. There's a lot of players in Pittsburgh's offense you have to worry about, but the main guy you have to stop now with Roethlisberger out is Le'Veon Bell.

So if the Patriots can contain Le'Veon Bell, and I'm going to take that back and say when the Patriots contain Le'Veon Bell because they have the run stoppers to do it, Landry Jones is going to be forced to make plays and beat them. And, yes, he has Antonio Brown. Don't get me wrong. The guy's a great player, and they have some other speeches on the outside. They've got guys that can play. I just don't think it's going to happen.

I think Sammy Coates, he can make plays here and there, but I think they'll shut him down, and I think they're going to double-team Brown over the top coverage, man-on-man, and just make sure that he doesn't hurt them. As long as they're keeping those two players in check, Landry Jones is not going to be the guy that's going to beat them. It's just not going to happen. He's a pretty good player, and I think he's a really good backup to have.

But as far as beating a team like New England, who's coming in with an offense that is just ridiculous and a defense that's opportunistic in getting better on a regular basis, I just don't think that the Steelers are going to be able to do much offensively this week. The way I see it playing out, I think that they'll get a few yards in the passing game. Le'Veon Bell is going to get bottled up. He'll break a few here and there, maybe off a screen, maybe off a draw, things like that. But I just don't see the Steelers scoring more than 17 points this week at the most.

I think that's even generous. I think they're going to be in trouble. Defensively, they're also kind of middle of the pack. Maybe a little bit better than middle of the pack, but they really haven't been that good. They're allowing 20.5 points per game, which is 11th in the league. That's their best stat, which is, to be honest, that's the best stat you want to have. Bill Belichick even says the same thing. Who cares

if you're 32nd in the odds? If you're in the top 10 in points allowed, that's what it all comes down to, how many points you allow. So 20.5 points per game allowed is 11th. That's pretty good. They are giving up 394.8 yards per game, which is 28th in the league. So, like I said, Bill Belichick would never problem with that. I'm sure he's stressing that to his team this week, that yardage is yardage, but points are points. They're allowing 293.7 passing yards per game, which is not very good. They have to be better than that, but unfortunately they're not. They're right in the, I believe, number 20.

And they're also giving up 101.2 rushing yards per game, which is the 13th in the league, and it's very unsteal-like. But not having Cam Hayward out there is going to be big for them. Also, Football Outside is a website that I go to a lot. They talked about the special teams units. So Pittsburgh's special teams are ranked ninth in the league while the Patriots are ranked 11th, but they're neck and neck. They're right near each other, so they are very close overall in numbers.

But defensively, I just look at that yardage allowed, and I see the Patriots walking up and down the field. Because 394.4 yards per game, that's a lot. And if they've given up 300 yards passing per game, that means Brady's going to throw for 400. And if they've given up 100 yards rushing per game, I wouldn't be surprised if they ran for a team probably about 125 yards. They're going to move the ball. And Cam Hayward's not playing. That is a huge, huge loss. He's a best player on defense.

So Pittsburgh doesn't have the best offensive player in Ben Roethlisberger. I know you look at Le'Veon Bell and those other guys, and as far as a weapon, yes, they're the best. They're a better athlete than Roethlisberger. But Roethlisberger is akin to losing Tom Brady. He is the straw. He makes the drink go. He's the straw that stirs the drink.

You don't have him, you're screwed, just like Brady. So Cam Hayward is similar to if the Patriots lose Dante Hightower. No different. Hayward is their best player, and he's not going to be in there this week, so that is going to be a huge loss for them. So being down their best player on each side, I just don't think they're going to have much of a chance to stop the Patriots offensively. I see the Patriots moving the ball at will. I just, I don't have a good feeling for Pittsburgh this week. If Roethlisberger was playing, I would still think the Patriots are going to win this game handily,

but they would at least have a puncher's chance because of the fact that they're so terrific offensively with him. But the defense is not good. And, you know, giving up 20.5 points per game when you're facing teams like Miami and those type of teams is one thing, but when you've got the Patriots rolling into town with Brady coming off a 400-yard game and a 300-yard game and, you know, lighting it up touchdown-wise and just looking great

and that tight end, the dual tight end system they got going again, I think that the Steelers are in for it and I think they're going to have a hot time stopping the Patriots. So overall edge on offense I think goes to the Patriots. Overall edge on defense, I think the Patriots have a better defense than Pittsburgh does, and I also think their defense is good enough to slow down, if not even halt completely, this Ben Roethlisberger-less offense.

And I foresee a – I think it's going to be a bit of a blowout. I think we're going to see maybe a 38-17 game. Brady's going to have another big game. Again, like I said, the special teams are even, which usually when you see the even Steven in the special teams and huge discrepancies in the other portions of it, that's usually not a deciding factor, and I don't think it will be this week. I think the special teams will just do what they do.

There'll be nothing really special out of them. They'll just be good. Patriots will have good coverage. Pittsburgh will have good coverage. One thing to watch for, again, is Gostkowski because he has had some issues as far as his extra points and field goals. But other than that, I think special teams will be a wash between these teams. But the Patriots are going to be able to score points and move the ball at will,

and I think that they're going to shut down this offense. And Pittsburgh may drive in the first half a little bit while the defense gets settled, because, again, they seem to take a little while. But they're going to make a big play, and they're going to turn the tide, and then all of a sudden they're just going to pull away. So, again, I'm saying 38 to 17 Patriots. Yeah, that's what I'm going to stick with, 38 to 17 Patriots. So my question for you guys right now is, are you wearing Mack Weldon clothing?

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Mack Weldon makes it a lot easier. Go check it out. I want to thank everyone for joining us today. Be sure to tune in every day to get your daily news and updates and also hear the most in-depth Patriots coverage around. We take a deep dive into what the Patriots are doing because we think that's what you guys want to hear. We want our fans to understand the game and are also available on demand.

So if you can't listen to the show right when it pops up, don't worry about it. Check it out tomorrow. Check it out when you have some free time. You can listen whenever you want. So be sure to tune in and listen to the fastest growing podcast network on iTunes and tell your friends too. Thanks again and have a great day, Patriots fans. Whatcha doing?

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