Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 11/17/16- Breaking Down the Patriots Defense vs. the 49ers Offense

Episode Date: November 17, 2016

Chris Simoneau breaks down the Patriots defense vs. the 49ers offense in today's episode of Locked On Patriots. #kaepernickisdangerous #patriots 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 afternoon. I'm Chris Simino, Patriots Insider for Scout.com, and also your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Wednesday, November 17, 2016. Before we get into our news and notes and break down the 49ers offense versus the Patriots defense, I just want all my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Seminole at C-H-R-A-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. And if you have any questions for the show, be it about the

Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider, or advertising here on Locked On Patriots, you can email me directly at chrissimusc at yahoo.com. That's C-H-R-I-S-S-I-M-U-S-C at yahoo.com. And on a personal note, I'd like to wish a happy birthday to my mother. Happy birthday, Ma. Okay, let's get down to business. Patriots news and notes. So, Patriots are busy getting ready for a trip to San Francisco, and Tom Brady is starting to feel a bit nostalgic as he finally gets to play a game where he grew up. He would have faced the 49ers back in 2008. We all know how that went. He tore

his ACL after seven minutes of the first game, ended up missing 15 and three-quarters of a game. So now after 17 years, Brady finally gets to play in front of his extended family and friends and all the people that he grew up with, so that's great for him. Brady spoke with Mike Reese of ESPN about the classic picture of Brady from when he was four years old when he attended the 1981 AFC Championship game, otherwise known as the catch game. His dad joked about saying that Tom wanted a foam finger for the entire first half,

and he was thinking it was a waste of time bringing him to the game. But he bought him that foam finger, and he, quote, finally stopped crying when he got it. Pretty funny, huh? Brady's been looking forward to this moment for a long time, and he said, you know, quote, I may never get this opportunity again, so it's nice to have all the support and i've had a lot from the bay area over the years my high school my elementary school i still have so many friends from growing up and

coaches my aunts uncles cousins it'll just be a lot of fun out there i'm happy for brady you know as much as much pride as brady has in going home and how much pride he takes in it, the people that have known him since he was a young kid and a teenager are just as excited and have just as much pride in him coming back. And he's been so unbelievably successful, and he's done so much for that area. One of the stories his coaches were talking about, his former high school coach, who's now the athletic director, his name escapes me at the time but when Brady won the MVP after the 2004 Super Bowl he donated the truck to the high school to auction off and because he's so popular and so well known the school ended up making $225,000 off of the proceeds that they got for the fundraiser.

So it's just an amazing thing, the relationship that Brady has with his hometown and his home area, the Bay Area. And I know even his dad says that he's an East Coast guy now because he's been around here for so long. But at heart, your home is where your home is, and Brady is always going to be a Bay Area guy. So again, I'm very happy for him. Good for him. I'm glad that he was able to play long enough to get a chance to play in San Francisco. That's pretty neat stuff. So good for him.

Speaking of some of the things and relationships in San Francisco for that matter, Bill Belichick and Chip Kelly, they're going to be opponents this week, but in reality, they're as close as it gets when it comes to two coaches in the NFL or in the coaching profession in general. Belichick has long admired Kelly and his unique coaching style, and Kelly has always looked up to Belichick too, so it makes sense that the former UNH assistant coach would develop a relationship with the head coach of the New England Patriots. In fact, according to Belichick, that is when the relationship started. Kelly would make regular trips Belichick, that is when the relationship started. Kelly would make regular trips to Foxborough,

and he continued that tradition when he was a head coach for Oregon. They both loved the game, obviously, and that is how the relationship was born. Belichick went as far to say that he's learned a lot from Chip and that they incorporated some of the things that Kelly does into their system. He said some are X's and O's, but I would say that less than that, there are more other things involved with the program. So my guess is that's from an organizational standpoint, maybe working with the players on certain things or maybe how they deal with certain situations.

And I personally can attest to it. I've seen a change in some of the ways that the Patriots deal with their players, and they're not quite as cold as they used to be, say, five years ago, six years ago. There's a little bit more relationship to it. And I know that Belichick's a good guy and this and that, and people just don't really know what he's all about. In fact, we're going to get to that in a second. But there's definitely been a bit of a sea change in the organization

when it comes to talking about things like injuries and how a guy got hurt. I know it's not wide open, but you're definitely getting more now than you have in the past. And I think that's because Kelly kind of rubbed off on Belichick a little bit about maybe being a little bit more open to working with the players and knowing them a little bit more personally. And, you know, when they're struggling and their injuries are causing that and the team that they play for doesn't put that in the injury report, fans start to question, hey, why is this guy not playing? What's going on here?

He's not hurt. He's not in the injury report. Patriots haven't talked about any injuries. Now they've been a little bit more open, and I think that's helping the relationship between the players and Belichick. Again, I believe that that's come from Chip Kelly. Being a college coach, he had to deal with a lot of personalities of kids. Those guys are still kids. I think that's helped him in the pros, and I think he's kind of rubbed off on Belichick, and that's great. Kelly

also said, too, he's like, Belichick is one of the most gracious guys, and that's great. And Kelly also said, too, you know, he's like, Belichick is one of the most gracious guys and he's so nice. He said, quote, I don't know if the media always sees that side of him. We don't. But the extremely outgoing, smart, personable Belichick is the Belichick that Kelly knows. Last season, Kelly got the best of Belichick when he beat the Patriots with the then underdog Eagles,

the team that ended up firing him after the season was over. And that didn't sit well with Belichick. The loss didn't sit well, but the firing didn't sit well with him either. He said that, you know, Chip's going to catch on somewhere. He's a great coach. I think they may have jumped the gun. And he was right. And I'm sure Bill was happy that he got another job.

But I'm getting the feeling that he isn't too excited to face him for a second straight season you know that's one of the things say what you want about the 49ers and how they've struggled this year and they're not the best team but Chip Kelly's a good coach and you know what he did with Philadelphia's first year there he 10-6 were under the playoffs they weren't that bad last season and I think they jumped the gun and getting rid of him they had to have been something going on where he just didn't get along with the players or there was some type of i know there's some issues with howie roseman and things of that nature but you know belichick said and i agree with him there's no continuity anymore

there's no all right let's let's play this out for four or five years and see where we're at and then revisit it. And that's why Chip Kelly got run out of Philadelphia, but San Francisco was smart enough to give him a chance, and I think he's going to make it work there. I really do. I think he's going to make it work with Kaepernick, and I think the 49ers are going to be good again in a couple years.

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PatriotsInsider on Scout.com. So one of the things that we're going to do here every Thursday and Friday is we are going to discuss the 49ers, well, let me take that back, the opponent's offense versus the Patriots' defense. And then on Fridays, we'll get into vice versa. So today, we're looking at the 49ers' offense versus the Patriots' defense. Both have actually been struggling a little bit. I know the Patriots' points per game allowed isn't that bad, but that number is climbing.

So let's be honest with ourselves. They gave up 31 points last week to Seattle. I think they could have given up more, but Seattle left a little bit out there. So let's be honest with ourselves. They gave up 31 points last week to Seattle. I think they could have given up more, but Seattle left a little bit out there. So I think the Patriots should be a little bit concerned this week when it comes to San Francisco. Again, this looks like a mismatch on paper, but it is important to note that the Niners' passing game has been better since Colin Kaepernick took his starting job back from Blaine Gabbert. Kaepernick has averaged 235 yards passing per game,

which is a big jump from where they were with Gabbert. And Kaepernick is actually getting better on a weekly basis. So, you know, when they had Gabbert in there, they were only throwing for about 180, 185 yards per game. That's jumped up to 191.2 yards per game since Kaepernick has joined, but it's still 30th in the league. This is 2016. If you can't throw the football, you're going to have a lot of trouble. Now, you know, fans know how I feel about the run game and how important it is, but when it comes down to it, you need to be able to throw. And right now, the 49ers are really

struggling with that. But Kaepernick has definitely given him a shot in the arm, and that's, you know, again, a big jump from where they were with Gabbert. And the other thing about Kaepernick, too, he's also run the ball 32 times for 228 yards and a touchdown, which is an additional 57 yards of offense per game. You know, in hindsight, and I really truly believe this, I think the Niners should have had Kaepernick back in there sooner. As soon as he was ready to go and he was in uniform, they should have put him in. But they made the decision, and now they have to live with it. San Francisco has only averaged 20.8 points per game this season, which is right around 20th, I want to say.

Take a look back at that. Yeah, it's 22nd in the league. And that hasn't changed with Kaepernick on the center. The yardage has been better, no question about it, but they're still having some trouble in the red zone. San Fran's still averaging, like I said, there's the 191.2 passing yards per game, but they're going to get it going a little bit,

and their overall yardage is 310.8 yards per game, which is 29th, so they're struggling to move the going a little bit, and their overall yardage is 310.8 yards per game, which is 29th, so they're struggling to move the ball a little bit. The one positive that the Niners do have on offense, besides Kaepernick starting to play better, is the 7th ranked rushing attack that they have, averaging 119.6 yards per game. Carlos Hyatt has led the group, he's picked up 443 yards and 122 carries, an average of 3.6 yards per carry, which isn't that great, but their offensive line hasn't been as good as it usually has, so he's working behind an unmanned unit there. And he's also taken it to the end zone six times this year, so he's one of their main guys.

He's been banged up, though, so keep that in mind. There's no guarantee that you're going to see him on the field, so just keep that in mind. Kaepernick is actually second on the team in rushing. He has done a great job, but that isn't a surprise. And with him back and Hyde getting healthier as the year goes on, I would expect to see the 49ers climb even higher in the run game. What does this all spell out for the Patriots? Well, easy.

Keep Kaepernick in the pocket, like they wanted to do with Wilson last week, and this time actually do it. Stop the running game, and you're going to start looking good. So if Kaepernick gets hot, the Patriots may be looking at some type of upset loss, like they received at the hands of Chip Kelly last season with the Eagles.

So this is the way I look at it. First things first. Stop the run. Second, keep Kaepernick bottled up in the pocket. Third, don't get beat deep by Torrey Smith. Torrey Smith has killed the Patriots during his time when he was with Baltimore. He still has top-end speed. He's only 27 years old, so it's imperative that he's covered,

and he has to have over-the-top help because he is extremely fast, and I just don't think the Patriots corners can run with him. Jeremy Curley and Quinton Patton have also done a good job this year, too, so it's not like the 49ers don't have any weapons. They have some guys that can get it done. And tight end Vance McDonald, he's got a good relationship with Kaepernick. In fact, I was going to pick him up for my fantasy team because I had traded for Kaepernick when I was having some issues on depth. I decided not to pick him up, and he went ahead and caught a 75-yard touchdown.

So that one kind of burnt me a little bit. So, yeah, Kaepernick has weapons to deal with. Yes, they're not as good as the Seahawks, but I do believe San Francisco is going to score some points, and I think that Kaepernick is going to give the defense some headaches. But ultimately, the defense will make enough plays and have a smarter scheme than they did on Sunday. God, I hope so, when they looked unprepared,

which is odd when you're coming off a bye week. I do expect the 49ers to score right around 20 points, which is just below their average. This game is going to come down to red zone defense, and I think the Patriots will do a good job of forcing some field goals. They typically do that, forcing field goals. So this is not the Seattle Seahawks. This is not a team that is as talented.

But, and this is a big but, they have a running back. Take that back. They actually do have a running back who's pretty talented, but they have a quarterback who can run and can throw, who's getting better every single week, and who scorched the Patriots the last time they faced them. Okay? So this is not going to be one of those games that's going to be easy.

It's going to take some time for the Patriots to get going, just like with Seattle. I know they scored on the first drive, but after that, it took a little while for them to get it going because Seattle adjusted to what they were doing. Patriots are going to have to do the same thing with Kaepernick this week. They're going to have to figure out, okay, this is how we have to stop him. This is what we have to do.

Again, I've said it like six times. You have to keep him in the pocket. Don't let him start running around like a madman. And I would probably drop as many guys in the coverage as possible to make sure that he's not having open receivers to throw to. So, again, I expect the 49ers to score 20. I'm not going to tell you what I expect the Patriots to score until tomorrow. So you guys are just going to have to wait on that one.

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SeatGeek is the place to be so I want to thank you all for joining us today on Locked On Patriots be sure to go on iTunes and subscribe to our show and make sure you tell your friends about us too don't keep it a secret we want everybody that's a Patriots fan to be listening to our show and have sure you tell your friends about us too. Don't keep it a secret. We want everybody that's a Patriots fan to be listening to our show and have a subscription

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