Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 11/11/16- Breaking Down The Patriots Offense Versus The Seahawks Defense

Episode Date: November 11, 2016

Chris Simoneau analyzes the Patriots offense versus the Seahawks defense. #Patriots Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good afternoon, I'm Chris Simino, your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Friday, November 11, 2016. First and foremost, I want to say thank you to all those veterans who have served our country and those who are also currently serving. What you've done and continue to do for this country allows us to live like we do in the United States, so thank you. Today we are going to break down the Patriots offense versus the Seattle defense, which is going to be fun to watch considering that Tom Brady tore this defense up the last time he faced them, specifically in the second half

when he really got after them. But first and foremost, let's get to Patriots news and notes. Yesterday we talked about Deion Lewis and his situation regarding Sunday, and I was in the belief that they'd wait another week before getting him back in the lineup. Maybe activate him on Monday and get him ready to go for the following week. But I was wrong. It looks like Lewis is set to go for this week against the Seahawks. Bill Belichick did have some comments on the situation saying that. We'll see how it goes here as we get closer to the game.

He's working hard. Dion's working hard. This is what he needs to be around football, rehabbing and running up hills and doing push-ups and all that's great, but that's not playing football. He's gotten a lot of good football snaps over the last however many days, and it's been good. I'm sure Belichick was just being tight-lipped when he said he's not really sure what he's going to provide, so I'll say it for him. He's going

to provide some explosiveness out of the backfield that they just don't have currently. James White and Belichick even mentioned this yesterday that James White's not getting replaced anytime soon because he's been great this year, but he doesn't have that explosiveness that Deion Lewis does have, or at least Deion Lewis did have last season. I'm still concerned that he's only a year removed from the injury. His cutting ability might not be the same yet, so that's just something to watch for.

I think it'll get back to that because he's still young, but don't be surprised if he's not quite where you saw him last season because last season he was literally at the top of his game physically. So I don't think that's going to be what we see on Sunday. I think we'll see a very quick, agile back, but not with quite the explosiveness that he had last season. But he'll get it back. He'll get it back, and it's just going to take another year.

Maybe not even that long, just maybe a few months, but we won't see it until next season, unfortunately. Patriots' perfect attendance from yesterday wasn't to be today. Chris Hogan and Chris Long both are absent from practice. Neither of them listed on the injury report this week, so there's a good possibility that they're both excused and probably dealing with some personal stuff. They're all humans. Things come up,

occasionally they miss a practice, so until I hear otherwise, I'm going to assume that there's nothing to see here. Julian Edelman, Martellus Bennett, and Alan Branch. Edelman's got the foot, which he's had for over a year. Martellus Bennett, his ankle injury, and

Alan Branch with his back, which he says is fine, but, you know, back injuries are back injuries, so he's listed as questionable. This status all remained the same. They were in limited participation. Brandon Bolden spent the practice on an exercise bike, so, you know, they're just kind of managing him, too. Jacoby Brissett was in attendance today, but all he did really was stretching, do a little conditioning work.

He didn't have his helmet either, so there was clearly no way that he was going to practice. Plus, he's on IR, and they haven't brought him back from IR yet. And I just don't see that happening. It really doesn't make a lot of sense to bring him back this season. You know, let him work and let him do what he can do, but, you know, you don't need him him. There's a chance that maybe they bring back Trey Jackson or maybe they bring back Sebastian Vollmer or somebody else off the IR, and I just don't think that Percet is going to be that guy.

Another sign that points towards the activation of Deion Lewis' Sunday is the waving, once again, of Tyler Gaffney. Gaffney is off this roster more than Ross Ventrone was back a few years ago. If Gaffney is to clear waivers, he'll most likely be re-signed to the practice squad because they have an open spot after the Jets came in and poached Anthony Johnson. They added him to their 53-man roster. I actually think that's a good move for the Jets.

I think Anthony Johnson is a pretty good player, and he could provide them actually think that's a good move for the Jets. I think Anthony Johnson is a pretty good player, and he could provide them some depth that they just don't really have right now. But that's the Jets, so Patriots fans probably aren't that happy about that, but it is what it is. And also, to no one's surprise, Richard Sherman, he chimed in on the matchup with the Patriots this week. He has respect for Brady. Everybody knows that.

That famous picture now, him reaching out to shake Brady's hand and all that, that was a sign of respect in itself. He understands Brady's greatness. But, of course, he had to take a shot anyway, saying that Brady has several rule changes to protect him in various situations. So you've got to be careful with how you sack him. And Sherman is right to a degree. But Brady takes plenty of big hits that aren't called for penalties.

So he might want to slow his roll a little bit there. Some of these quarterbacks, they're starting to take shots. Seeing Cam Newton getting hammered all the time. Brady has been getting popped this year. And it's all been legal. He's been getting, you know, hit around the chest area, and he'll high a little bit. I think he's taken a couple shots to the head when they've called it.

But he's taken a lot of hits this season because his offensive line has been a little shaky. So for Sherman to say that, it kind of shows me that he isn't really paying attention. You know, you'd think he'd be watching the tape and seeing that. But, you know, he's not noticing that Brady's taken up plenty of shots and they haven't met a ton of penalties called. And if he takes a shot below the knees, it should be called.

And the same goes for a head shot. So keep that in mind, Richard, when you talk about guys and them getting easy penalties and stuff and getting away with it, maybe you should take a look at the actual statistics. So local businesses, if you are interested in advertising on Locked On Patriots, please feel free to reach out to me via Twitter. My profile name is Chris underscore Simono. That's C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. That's Simon E-A-U.

You can also reach out to me on Facebook. Just find my name right on there. Or you can email me directly. And my email address is chrissimusc at yahoo.com. That's C-H-R-I-S-S-I-M-U-S-C at yahoo.com. Considering that we are part of the fastest growing podcast network in the world, there's a good chance your business will see a boost after advertising with us. So if you're local and you want to have us advertise on the show,

definitely reach out to me and we'll get that rolling for you. So yesterday we discussed the Patriots defense and how they could slow down Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense. And today we're going to flip that. We're going to analyze the Patriots offense versus the Seahawks defense. This matchup isn't that much different than it was when we saw Super Bowl XLIX. I don't think the Seahawks defense is quite as good as it was two years ago. Actually, 22 months ago is pretty much exactly when it was.

But this Seahawks defense is still excellent, and this Patriots offense is dynamic, as we all know, especially with the return of Tom Brady. So far this season, the Patriots offense is scoring 27.1 points per game, which is sixth in the league. They have 380.2 total yards per game, which is seventh, 263.9 passing yards, which is 9th. And 116.4 rushing yards per game, which is 8th, which is excellent.

So you look at all four categories there, points, total yards, passing yards, and rushing yards, and I know that's the basic stats if you really look at them, but that's really all you need to know when it comes down to a matchup here. These teams are ranked at this spot for a reason. So the Patriots' offense, to be in the top ten in every category, is excellent. I just get the feeling after watching their offensive line, you can see it on film and seeing Brady just getting even more comfortable and Garrett Blompe in the best shape of his career.

I think these rankings are going to continue to climb regardless of who they play. And this week it's going to be Seattle. Seattle's defense is pretty good too, statistically. And like I said, I don't think they're as good as they were two years ago, but that doesn't mean I don't think they're good. They're very, very good. They're averaging 16.8 points allowed per game, which is just behind the Patriots.

They're third in the league. They've given up 332.6 yards per game, which is just behind the Patriots. They're third in the league. They've given up 332.6 yards per game, which is ninth. Only 233.9 yards and.9 yards passing through the air per game. So that's tenth in the league, and they've given up just 98.8 yards rushing per game, which is twelfth. So they're not, you know, top three, top four in every category. But like the Patriots, if you take a look at their points allowed per game, that's what really matters. And that's where the Seahawks really are good.

They're third in the league. Last week they gave up 25 points to Buffalo, so that might, you know, go into account there when you look at that. In fact, they'd probably be ranked higher than New England if they hadn't given up that 25. I don't have my calculator in front of me, so I'm not going to sit here and figure it out, but I'm thinking that I might be right on that one. Who knows? But the Seahawks and the Patriots defenses both give up minimal points, but I think the Patriots offense is considerably better than the Seahawks offense. Overall, there's more balance.

Brady has weapons like you read about. I mean, it's crazy. They've got so many guys that he can go to. So I just think that there's a clear advantage regardless of how good Seattle's defense may be. The Patriots have also proven that they can move the ball on anyone. And Seattle is easily the toughest test they'll have to date. But it is very important to note that Michael Bennett he's not playing this week and that changes the dynamic of the seahawks defense bennett's their best player in the front seven and he causes chaos all over the line and one thing that causes brady and the peters to have

the most problems is pressure from the inside something that bennett would have provided it also would have been fun to watch martellus and his brother go toe-to-toe because it would have happened but it's not going to happen this week. New England has one very new feature they didn't have in Super Bowl XLIX, like I just said, the aforementioned Bennett. That dynamic tight end there, he is good. He's teamed up with Gronk and they're wreaking havoc on the NFL. And now he's had a week to get healthy too,

so he's going to be even quicker out there than he was the last few games. So, you know, that's going to be dangerous. I know the Seahawks are talented, and they're getting Cam Chancellor back this week, but there isn't a team in the NFL that can shut both tight ends down, and I'd be stunned if they weren't a huge part of the game plan on Sunday. Regardless of the talent in the Seattle secondary, Brady's going to find open receivers if he has time. And with the absence of Michael Bennett,

he's going to have more time than he ever has against Seattle. That's a huge injury, and I'm surprised that people aren't talking more about it because I think that's going to be maybe the deciding factor in this game on Sunday because if Seattle had him, they'd have a much better chance of coming to get the upset. So what I expect to see is maybe a slow start from the Patriots' offense as they try to adjust to what Seattle is doing. And as the second quarter wears on, maybe even the early second quarter, late first quarter, early second quarter, I think the Patriots will start to move the ball at will

and score more points than the Seahawks are accustomed to giving up. The tight end duo, along with the rest of the weapons, be it Edelman or Hogan or Amendola, there's just so many guys. Malcolm Mitchell is expected to play tomorrow too. And then in the passing game, also coming out of the backfield with James White and Deion Lewis possibly returning as another element. And then they can hammer you with LeGarrette Blount and running that two tight ends set, and they just want to run at teams. There's just so many different things they can do.

And with Bennett not being out there and the Patriots being at home, I just think that it's going to be really tough for the banged-up Seahawks to deal with. I predicted yesterday that the Patriots would hold Seattle to 17 points, and I think that the Seahawks will give up 24 to New with. I predicted yesterday that the Patriots would hold Seattle to 17 points, and I think that the Seahawks will give up 24 to New England. So there is my final score. The Patriots 24, the Seahawks 17, in what will probably be a pretty good game. And I think it's going to start slow at first, but it's going to pick up as it goes on, and it's going to turn into a good one. So I want to thank you all for listening to the Fastest Growing Podcast Network in the world. That's right, in the world.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow. We're going to talk about any updates as far as injuries. We'll let you guys know what's changed, maybe who's going to be active. We're going to take a stab at the inactive list. We're going to maybe guess a little bit on who's going to be on and who isn't. So we'll go over that with you guys. And we're also going to do something we haven't really done. Saturday was going to be Saturday's special teams breakdown.

I know that I've already predicted a final score to the game, and I've taken special teams into account. But I'm going to talk to you guys tomorrow a little bit about some of the special teams, standouts on both teams, and what to watch for. A lot of guys really do enjoy special teams and we don't talk about it enough. So we'll talk about that tomorrow and we'll check it out. So thanks again for joining us. Have a great day, Patriots fans. Be sure to check in tomorrow. Thank you. 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.