Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 12/29/16- Studs and Duds From Patriots/Jets

Episode Date: December 29, 2016

Chris Simoneau of Scout.com discusses Saturday's win over the Jets one last time before moving onto Miami. #studs&duds #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, PatriotsInsideOfAScout.com, and also your host of Locked On Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Thursday, December 29, 2016. We want to welcome everyone back after this holiday break, and I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and or a Happy Hanukkah. Now, we're back in full force, ready to get this regular season wrapped up.

We're ready to get to the playoffs, to be honest, but we do have some housecleaning to do from last week's game against the Jets, which was a 45-3 pummeling, and a 42-3. In the next few days, we'll be breaking down the 10-5 Dolphins before Sunday's season finale. Today we are going to discuss what we typically do the day after a game. Obviously with Christmas and things of that nature, things get a little caught up with the holidays and drinking eggnog, but we're going to discuss the studs and duds

from that blowout over the Jets, and then we are going to move on to the Dolphins and put that game in the rearview mirror because it is time. Before we get to all that, I just want my listeners to know that I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Simino.

If you have any questions for the show, be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider, or if you'd like to advertise here on Locked On Patriots, email me directly at chrissimusc at yahoo.com That's C-H-R-I-S-S-I-M-U-S-C

at yahoo.com If you are a member of Patriots Insider on scout.com, you can email me directly through the site, or you can send me a message, whichever you choose to do. But anytime you need to get in touch with me, that is the way to go about it. Again, the Twitter handle is Chris underscore Simino, that's C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U,

and my email is chrissimusc at yahoo.com. C-H-R-I-S-S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U. And my email is chrissimusc at yahoo.com. C-H-R-I-S-S-I-M-U-S-C at yahoo.com. So, enough of that. Let's get to the good stuff here. Well now, let's go over the studs from Saturday's game. Saturday's 41-3 score. You guys like that? I figured the third time I'd get the score right.

First I said 45, then I said 42, then I said 41. That's what happens when you do a recap of Saturday's game on Thursday of the next week. Thanks a lot, Christmas. Well, it is what it is. So we took a look at the game, took a look at the All-22, and took a look at the score. I mean, it's pretty obvious that the Patriots really excelled in this game. They stepped up, they did what they had to do, and they beat up on a team that they were significantly better than.

They got out quick, the Jets decided not to play. You know, we talked about this on our show last week with the Jets, locked on Jets, and I thought the game was going to be closer. He thought it was going to be a blowout. Well, guess what? John was right. It was a blowout. So kudos to you.

You were correct on that. I was a little bit off. I had a 12-point game, and clearly I was wrong, as it was a 38-point game. But the Patriots are clearly the better team, and they were the team that was determined to get the win. Our first stud of the day was an absolute no-brainer. Malcolm Butler was a dominant force on the field on Sunday,

finishing the day with two interceptions, a fumble recovery, just making plays, and that's what he does. He is just a great player. You know, he's gotten better and better all season, which is a good sign that the coaching staff has really worked a lot with him and got him to the point where he's now a top five corner, in my eyes, top five corner in many others' eyes too. If you look at his pro football focus, rankings, and things of that nature,

he's a top three guy, and they're going to have to pay him. It comes down to it. I've pretty much accepted this. I think you guys on the show have listened to me slowly but surely come to the realization that they're going to have to pay him a lot of money. And I think they'll get it done. But when you have a guy that makes two interceptions and comes up with a foam of recovery and i think they'll get it done um but when you you have a guy that makes two interceptions and comes up with a foam recovery and makes plays and he's all around the ball all the time

and you have the money to do it you have a ton of cap space next season it's time okay so i think that they're going to get him signed i think that he's the guy uh that they can they can use in the secondary with him and um and mccourty to kind of anchor that thing for the next six, seven years. That's a pretty good combo right there, and then you can just kind of mix and match, guys, as you go. I know the Patriots like to have continuity, but they also only have so much cap space. So you'll see Butler most likely get an extension. I don't know what we're going to see with anybody else, but Daron Harmon's going to be up soon, as is Logan Ryan. But Butler is clearly the guy that has to get locked up first.

So Malcolm Butler, great game. He was the Patriots' stud number one in the secondary and the defense overall. Our second stud of the game went to a man who has been missing a little bit over the last few weeks. I was starting to wonder what was going on with him. And he, well, he appeared. He appeared against the New York Jets in their strong running game. Rookie Alandon Roberts, the second stud of the game. Alandon finished the day with five solo tackles, six assisted tackles.

So that's being around the ball on a regular basis. He led the team in both categories. Actually, he was tied for assist with Kyle Vannoy, but Kyle Vannoy was not good. We'll get to that shortly. Landon Roberts, though, he was good. So five tackles, six assisted, and he also had a big fumble that he forced,

which was recovered by the aforementioned Malcolm Butler. He played well. He was around the ball. It was good to see him playing the way that we saw earlier in the season i do know that he was battling an injury for a while there so you know that can take away from his effectiveness considering you know some of these guys that a little bit more talented athletically when they get a little dinged up and they are able to deal with it sometimes those guys are able to to do a little bit more because of their size and their athleticism.

A guy like Roberts, who, yeah, clearly he's a great athlete, he's in the NFL, but he is undersized. So when he gets hurt, maybe he loses a step or maybe he just can't quite tackle as well. For him, it's a huge drop. He's just barely able to play in the NFL as far as his physical nature and what he can do. So when you take a step away from what he can do, he's not even close to a good NFL player. But when he's healthy, like he seemed to be on Sunday, that's when he's got a nose for the ball.

He's blowing up running backs, and he's forcing fumbles, and he's making plays. So it was very, very nice to see Roberts back in the mix on Saturday. I keep saying Sunday, but it was on Saturday. It was almost a full week ago. We understand that here at Locked On Patriots. It's been an interesting week, but that's what vacations do. But Landon Roberts, welcome back to the mix. Welcome back to the Patriots stud list. You haven't been here.

Oh, God, it's been weeks now. In fact, he went to the dud list a couple times. so very happy to see the kid back on here. He's earned it. So, Landon Roberts, our second stud of the game. Again, five solo tackles, six assisted tackles, and he also forced a fumble that was recovered by Malcolm Butler, which is almost a return for a touchdown, but it didn't happen. But a great game for Roberts. Our third stud of the game, well, we weren't going to ignore the offense completely.

We could have gone all defense if we really wanted to. Some guys really had a good game. But our third stud of the game goes to wide receiver Julian Edelman. Edelman finished the day with five catches for 89 yards, picking up some key first downs and really making it difficult on the Jets' defense. They couldn't stop the Patriots when the Patriots needed to make plays, and that's part of the reason why the score is what it was. He played really well. He actually went back on punt returns too,

which, as anyone who's listened to this show on a regular basis knows, I am not fond of. But he did a good job. He only had two catches. He didn't really try to do anything special. He just, you know, make the catch, secure the ball, don't try to break, you know, off anything crazy. We don't need Julian Edelman getting injured before the playoffs. The Patriots don't need it.

Nobody needs it because it's going to take away from the playoffs. So, you know, having Edelman back there is scary enough as it is. Nobody needs it because it's going to take away from the playoffs. Having Edelman back there is scary enough as it is, but he got the job done. At the end of the game, Cyrus Jones went in. Actually, it wasn't even the end of the game. They were up 27-0, and Jones went in to return a punt. It was scary. It always is when Jones goes in there. Made the play, did a good job, went to the sidelines,

first guy to congratulate him, Julian Edelman. Edelman was all over him. So I love that. That's good stuff to see. So not only was Edelman doing a good job as far as in the passing game and making catches and picking up key first downs, he also did a good job of getting in there on the punt returns himself on the field, making the plays needed to be made, and then picking up his teammate, who they clearly drafted to take over the punt return duties from him, which I don't think Edelman has a problem with. So he's going to help pick this kid up and try to get him where he needs to be. So Edelman is the

third stud of the game. Edelman hasn't got onto the stud list too much this season, so it's nothing against him. I love him as a player. I think he's great. It's just one of those situations where he hasn't been as good as he was last year because he was battling the foot issue all season. But now he's really seeming to come into his own. He's getting comfortable. He seems like that foot's a lot better.

So I wouldn't be surprised to see Edelman making this list a couple more times before the season is over. But Julian Edelman is our third stud of the game. So I want to take a minute to tell you about one of our sponsors, Patriots Insider on scout.com, provides daily news, video from NFL.com, fantasy football, which is they have the most information, great articles, great stuff. Um,

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because you're a member of Patriots Insider on scout.com. Again, nwe.scout.com. Register today. We have material year-round. So, we talked about our studs, and again, we could have kept going. I didn't do honorable mention because, you know what, to be honest with you, there really wasn't a need to. There were the three guys that stood out the most to me.

Tom Brady played pretty good, and I thought that the running game was okay and the offensive line was okay, but those three guys stood out the most, just like these duds did. So we had three duds. Nobody in the – nobody beyond that, just three again, so it wasn't too bad. But, of course, there's going to be duds in every game, so guys just have to accept it. Our first dud of the game goes to James White.

Now, I know, I know, I know. You don't want me to give a guy a bad grade in this and that because of one drop. People think, oh, that's bad. You only had one drop. And, you know, that's, you know, people think, oh, that's bad. He only had one drop. How could he drop him down in three catches? He got a touchdown, this and that. Well, guess what?

He probably could have had two touchdowns because the drop on the wheel route that Brady had thrown to him, he was wide open going down the sideline. There was nobody there. There was nobody there. You watch the All-22. You know, I know he's not the fastest guy in the world, and he may not have broken it, but he's a pretty shifty guy, and there is a chance that he might have broken it.

And even if he didn't, he was still going to gain another 40 yards on that play. You need to make that catch, especially when you're known as a running back coming out of the backfield catching the ball. James White cannot run the ball, okay? He had, shockingly, he carried the ball once for 14 yards, which is a rare positive run for him, but he is not a running back. He is a running back that can catch, and he can block. I'll give him that. He can block also. But he cannot be dropping the ball on third down on a perfect throw by Tom Brady in a game that you need to have on a play that was early in the game. This didn't happen when the score was a blowout.

This happened in a big situation. You need to make that catch. You need to make the play. And you need to get the first down, the touchdown, the 60 yards, whatever they would have got out of it. At the least, it would have been 20 yards, and they would have picked up a first down, and they would have been driving. So James White, huge drop, reason why he is a dud in this game, and I actually put him as the number one dud

because if he does that stuff in a playoff game, that's going to kill the Patriots. So James White, get it together, make those catches. You need to make those catches on those wheel routes. When Tom Brady puts it in your hands basically like he's handing it to you, you need to make the catch. Our second dud of the game, we've already put out an APB for, so hopefully we can get some information back on that soon because we haven't been able to find him.

Wide receiver Chris Hogan, otherwise known as 7-11. If anybody's seen him, please email me. I provided my email address in the beginning of this show uh what's going on chris where are you uh what happened one catch for 22 yards a complete non-factor once again so i'm worried about hogan i really am and i know the emergence of malcolm mitchell and i know i'm one of the people who actually said there's a chance that that could happen with the emergence of Malcolm Mitchell. But one catch for 22 yards?

I mean, really? Hogan was a major part of this offense over the first 12 games. Well, actually, make that the first 10 games. Over the last six, it has not been good. Well, actually, take that back. Over the last five, not very good with my math today. But Hogan, he just hasn't been doing anything. So one catch, 22 yards, non-factor,

and they need him heading into the playoffs. Danny Amendola had a high ankle sprain. Like I said, I've predicted here on this show that he would be back on January 16th, and I still believe that's going to be the case. But if he doesn't come back, they need to have everybody hands-on deck, healthy, ready to go come playoff time. And if Hogan's healthy and he's not contributing because he's struggling

mentally, he's got to get it together. So Brady and Hogan hopefully sticking together after practice and working together a little bit, my guess is he is. I know he was bad on a back injury. That could definitely be part of what's going on here. His back could still be bothering him. But Chris Hogan's one catch for 22 yards and being a complete non-factor is just a major issue for this offense.

They need him back, and if they're going to win this whole entire thing and win the Super Bowl, Chris Hogan needs to be a part of it. So Chris Hogan, the number two dud of the day, one catch for 22 yards and basically being invisible. Hogan, let's go, buddy. Get it together because they need you. Third dud of the day goes to Malcolm Brown, defensive tackle. Brown got benched in favor of Vincent Valentine, and when he did play,

all he contributed was one assisted tackle, and he was a non-factor. I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't know if Brown got in trouble or if he simply had a rough week of practice. I think it might be a little bit of both, but this situation, I think it's something to keep an eye on. I mean, you have a second-year defensive tackle who's been starting his entire career as a Patriot, and then all of a sudden he doesn't start against the Jets in the biggest game of the season to date? It didn't make sense. So I think Brown definitely got himself in a little bit of trouble. Not sure what he did.

Maybe he missed a meeting. It's probably something like that because if it was something beyond that, like an arrest or anything of that nature, that information would have come out already. So Malcolm Brown gets the third dud of the day for, A, being benched in favor of Vincent Valentine, B, contributing only one assist to tackle when he did play, and C, being foolish and getting himself in trouble or whatever he did to earn himself a spot on the sidelines to open the day. So Malcolm Brown, I love you.

You're a great player, and I think you're a big part of the sidelines to open the day. So Malcolm Brown, I love you. You're a great player, and I think you're a big part of the Patriots' present and future. But come on. Come on, man. Don't be late for meetings. Don't be stupid. Get in there. Get where you need to be.

I don't think this is a game plan specific thing. I don't think that's the fact. I know Valentine's a bigger body than Brown, but I just don't see that as being the case. The Jets offensive line, to be heard bluntly, sucks. And I just don't think there's any way that they're going to put in Vincent Valentine a favor about Malcolm Brown based off of game plan and talent. No, there's no way.

So Brown will be telling to see if he is back in the lineup on Sunday. So we'll be watching for that. Malcolm Brown, third dud of the day for being benched. Hopefully we'll have his crap back together on Sunday against the Dolphins. And what is a big game after last year's disgusting display of football? Patriots need to go down there and get a win. They need to wrap things up, get the 14-2, lock up this number one seed, and they're going to need a guy like Malcolm Brown to come out there

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and tell your friends about us. Here at Locked On Patriots, we're all about getting Patriots fans the most info you need to be the most in-the-know Patriots fan. Again, I'm your host, Chris Cimino. Thanks again for joining us, and have a great night, Patriots fans. What you doing? Ran out of space on my phone, so I'm deleting some stuff. By singing dog.

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