Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - LOCKED ON PATRIOTS- 2/11/17- Super Bowl Studs and Duds

Episode Date: February 11, 2017

Chris Simoneau of Scout.com gives his final Studs and Duds segment for the 2016 season. #patriots #2016worldchampions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Good afternoon. I'm Chris Cimino, Patriots Inside of a Scout.com and also your host of Lockdown Patriots, your source for everything Patriots. Today is Saturday, February 12th, 2017. Kind of a mixed up schedule for us this week. We had the opportunity to do the crossover show earlier in the week. Hope you guys all got to listen to that. It was fun with the Lockdown Falcons guys. It was more of a therapeutic show for them than it was a Patriot show for

us, but it was fun to sit down and have a conversation with those guys. They seem to be doing better now, so I hope you guys had a chance to listen to that. Today, it's going to be our final installment of the Studs and Duds. Typically, I know we do it earlier in the week, but things have been a little hectic over here at Lockdown Patriots lately. So we're getting back into the regular schedule, the offseason approaching. Actually, the offseason's here, it's not approaching. So pretty soon, you'll start to hear some of our shows. We'll be focusing on free agency

and prospects and possible trades and things of that nature. One of the advantages I have of being the publisher for Patriots Inside on scout.com is I do a lot with the college stuff with the senior bowl and you know grading players and talking about all that. So it's not something a lot of you fans in the New England area have the option to read into around here. A lot of it's more national than it is local. So this isn't on a national stage, but you local New England guys are going to be able to get some stuff that you've never really gotten in the past from our podcast.

So make sure you're listening in if you want to hear some of the better prospects and some of the guys that have a good chance to get signed by the Patriots, drafted by the Patriots, and traded for or traded out by the Patriots. And again, this will be our final Studs and Duds segment of 2016. So the Patriots wrapped it up in style with that comeback win and the biggest in Super Bowl history. You know, this isn't just Lockdown Patriots. This is Lockdown Patriots, the first place you need to go for your world champion Patriots news and updates

and whatever you want to think of because we're going to cover all different areas. Before we get started today, I want my listeners to know I can be found on Twitter under the handle Chris underscore Simino at C-H-R-I-S underscore S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U if you have any questions for the show be it about the Patriots, myself, Patriots Insider on Scout.com or if you're looking to advertise here on Lockdown Patriots

you can email me directly at Simono.Christopher5 that's S-I-M-O-N-E-A-U dot C-H-R-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-R the number 5 at gmail.com you can also hit me up on scout.com if you're a Patriots Insider member, and you can contact me on that site directly via message. All right, let's get to the good stuff here, because it's a Super Bowl win.

We have more studs and duds than usual just because it was one of those games and we have to point out, everybody, it's not just three and three this week it's it's i think it's five and five but i can't remember off the top of my head but let's get to it number one stud now i know tom brady was the mvp of the game and i know james white had 14 catches and he's the de facto mvp for everybody but for me the mvp of the day was trey flowers Trey had led the team with a pass rushing grade after totaling three sacks, a hit, and a hurry. He didn't just make plays, he made them at big moments too, and that's why I named him the number one stud of the game. When it looked like the Patriots had done after the Julio Jones catch,

Flowers came up with one of the top three biggest defensive plays of the season, if not the biggest because that was the beginning of the backwards momentum for Atlanta that drove them out of field goal territory and gave the Patriots a chance to get that opened up the window for them to win. So that was a huge, huge sack by Flowers that started the momentum back. So, you know, it was just an unbelievable play from a kid that last season was inactive all year. You knew he had pass rushing ability and you knew the ability was there,

but clearly something clicked this year, I believe, not just mentally but physically too, and now he knows what he has to do to be a dominant player in the league, and he's just going to keep getting better. He finished the night with four total tackles, two assisted, and I believe he vaulted himself in the Super Bowl history with one of the best games the Patriots ever had on defense in the Super Bowl. I mean, the kid had two and a half sacks. I say three because I'm not even going to give half a sack to Van Nooyen. We'll talk about that later. He was awful.

But Flowers was just a complete dominant force on the field type of kid that is just going to keep getting better, and this is why the Patriots are so good. And this is why they're so good for 17 years now. 16 years, actually, because they stunk in 2000. But the thing is, this is why. Because they find these type of guys, and they plug them in, and they make plays. And that's how it works.

The number two stud of the game, well, that one's easy. It has to go to Tom Brady. Brady dropped back to pass 70 times in the game. He was under pressure on just 20 of those. That's according to Pro Football Focus. And Atlanta blitzed him just five times. Brady did finish the day 37 out of 48 for 399 yards and a touchdown with a clean pocket. But he was just 6 of 14 for 67 yards, a touchdown, and he threw a pick that was returned for a touchdown, which is a

51.8 QB rating when he was under pressure. So it's pretty clear. I mean, he's a 39-year-old quarterback, but he's been like that since he was 25. You get pressure on Brady, and you're going to make some plays. But if you don't, he's going to kill you. So his total number is 43 out of 62. 466 yards, two touchdowns, one at deception. Again, that was a pick 6.

And he also had one courageous run for 15 yards. He gave the Patriots a big first down at the time. Brady was not good in the first half, and he was getting pressured like crazy. But like the old Wiley veteran always does, he stayed the course, let his team back from a deficit that seemed impossible to overcome. Brady made every play he needed to make from the 832 mark of the third quarter to the final run when James took it across the goal line for the win. Brady was just, he put on a clinic from the 832 mark for the rest of that game.

It was impressive. You know, throwing the ball, 43 out of 62 for 466 yards in a Super Bowl? That's insane. So, you know, Brady, I just, I don't think he's done yet, and I don't think the Patriots have done yet. Let's put it that way. The guy just looks like he's not even close to being completely ineffective. And that's what people need to understand here. Brady's going to slow down as we see things happen. His accuracy's going to slow down as we see things happen he's going to his accuracy is going to drop a little bit but what they're going to do is they're going to there's going to be throws and things he's going to be able to do for another three years at a high

level there's going to be things like deep outs things like that that are probably going to start to evade his talent and his skill set over the next few years too um i think the deep outs is definitely going to be an issue, and I think the deep ball has already, you already see the deep ball for him being a problem. But, again, this season it's been better. I know he worked with Tom House a lot to improve that, which is crazy, because, again, he's 39 years old and he still gets better.

But as you see some of his other things over the next few years start to deteriorate, which is, that's just going to happen. That's life. You know, he's 39. He's not, at some point, this has to slow down. But I think they'll be able to disguise it and be able to work around it for a few more seasons. And that's just, they can win championships with a game manager if Brady's your game manager.

Right now, he's just a force. He's an absolute force. If you don't get pressure on him, like I said, he's going to kill you. So Brady, number two stud of the game. And again, I think he's got a couple more really good years left in him. I think this Patriots team may be, you know, they've won two out of three. Again, this is the second time they've done that. They've won five championships.

I mean, this is getting crazy. They won another one. They tie Pittsburgh. They win two more. And they're, I mean, kidding me? They're the greatest franchise in the NFL. That can't not be a goal that Brady has to be looking at at this point because what else does he have to shoot for? He's won five championships.

He's done everything you need to do in the league, and he's vindicated after the whole Deflategate fiasco. But, I mean, I just look at this, I think that's the next goal. Try to win another one and then try to win maybe one more and then, you know, that'll be the end of it. But this guy's not done yet. That's all I can say. Dante Hightower, I have him as the number three stud of the day.

Hightower had a strip sack, a hit in a hurry. He played all 49 snaps on defense. Hightower, I have him as the number three stud of the day. Hightower had a strip sack, a hit in a hurry. He played all 49 snaps on defense. Hightower, he just makes plays. It's as simple as that. He's done it throughout his career, and I'd be stunned if they don't find a way to get him re-signed. I believe Hightower's a clear leader of the defense. He's the quarterback.

He sets the tone. His physicality, his awareness, his talent, he's a great player. He makes plays, and he hammers guys, too. That guy packs a punch. You can't replace guys like that. And I know he's missed some games. Tony Mazzarotti from Felger Mazz tweeted something yesterday about how Logan Ryan hasn't missed a game

and Dante Hightower's missed, I don't know, 30%, 20% of the games that he's been a Patriot. But look at the impact that Hightower has missed, I don't know, 30, 20% of the games that he's played as a Patriot. But look at the impact that Hightower has versus the impact of Logan Ryan. Logan Ryan's a nice player. I like him, and I'd like to get him signed. But if he wants $10 million to $12 million, no, not happening. Hightower's going to get about $12.5 million, and he deserves it. So they've got to keep him around.

He's a great player. He leads that defense. And if they don't keep him, that's going to be a problem. Don't be surprised if they give him the franchise tag, and then they eventually come to an agreement, because I don't think he wants to leave here. I don't think it makes sense for him to leave here. He's not going to play forever. These linebackers, they played typically for about 8 to 10 years, and they're done. You've seen it a lot with different guys like Gerard Mayo in San Francisco.

My God, you see it all the time. But these linebackers can't play forever. So the Patriots, they should do the right thing, pay this kid who's played through knee injuries and played through bad shoulder injuries and just continues to bring it. Two championships now that he's helped bring here, and he's made huge plays in both those games.

He made a huge play to give them an opportunity to tie the game. He's the one that made the strip sack and got them the ball at the 25, and he's one of the reasons why they are what they are, so they have to find a way to get him signed. I believe $12.5 million a year for five years. Four years will get it done, but we'll see. Next out of the game, Malcolm Mitchell. Mitchell finished the day with six catches for 70 yards.

Most of that production came during the Patriots' miraculous comeback. Mitchell made huge catches in the extended Patriots' drives. He showed mental toughness out there and talent that most rookies wouldn't have in the Super Bowl. Mitchell is one of the gems of the 2016 NFL draft class. He's just going to keep getting better. Now he knows he can play huge on the biggest stage, which is going to make him even more confident. I think Mitchell's eventually going to emerge as the Patriots' top pass receiver,

assuming he remains healthy. He's got a great build. He's got those giant hands. He wears the white gloves that look like the Hamburger Helper gloves that he wore back in the day. It's a riot. But, hey, he's got good hands. He can make these catches. And he's also got escapability, too. I didn't see it a lot in the day. It's a riot. But, hey, he's got good hands. He can make these catches. And he's also

got escapability, too. You didn't see it a lot in the Super Bowl. I think he was a little bit in the Super Bowl just, you know, make the catch get down, make the catch get out of bounds, you know, be smart because he's trying to make a comeback. But I think during the regular season next year, we're going to see him break a few and make some plays because

he's going to be a little bit more willing to gamble during the regular season than he would, obviously, in the Super Bowl as a rookie. But Mitchell was huge. He allowed the Patriots to change up their game plan on the second half and started to attack the outside instead of going inside, and eventually that opened up the inside again because they had to dedicate coverage to him. So Mitchell played great, and that's why he's one of the studs of the game.

Next guy up, James White. He was awesome. There's no getting around it. White had caught 14 of his 15 targets for 110 receiving yards. He had one touchdown through the air, and then he added a pair of touchdown runs, including the now historic game-winning touchdown. White basically stepped up and saved the Patriots when they were struggling to get the ball to their tight ends and wide receivers,

like I just discussed. If they couldn't get it outside, which they eventually adjusted to in the second half, White was the guy they were able to get it to. Atlanta was forced to devote defenders to him and that's when it opened up for Mitchell Bennett and the rest of the crew on offense. Great game for James White. Any other Super Bowl without Tom Brady playing in it, without all the crap that's going on, and without him throwing for 466 yards,

because we can't deny that, and leading a humongous comeback, but White would have been the MVP any other year. It was pretty cool that Conan O'Brien went and got him a truck and did it on the show, because the NFL said that that's not part of the deal anymore, because Brady was going to give him the truck just like he gave to Malcolm Butler the other day in 2014.

But, you know, Conan O'Brien stepped up to get it done. And our final stud of the day goes to Joe Tooney. Left guard Joe Tooney, he had his best, according to the Pro Football Focus, earned his best grade of the season. He allowed just a pair of hurries and 70 snaps in pass protection. Tooney stepped up big time during the playoffs. He struggled the second half of the year. I called him out on the show and said, you know, you've got two weeks to get your stuff together here.

And he did. He really did. That wasn't from us. I'm just saying in general, he did it. It was something we were really focused on here on the show. Interior play for the Patriots offensive line is something that people have to understand. It's one of the most important parts of this team. If they don't have that blocking, they're not good. We've talked about this. Brady gets taken off his spot, even with his good feet.

If he gets taken off his spot too early, it's going to mess him all up, and he's going to take time to get back in the rhythm like we saw in the Super Bowl. Having a guy like Tooney makes it so that you have at least one of these guard spots solidified, and he just keeps getting better. Tooney and Mitchell, they're the two players New England drafted with the picks they received in the Chandler Jones trade. Jonathan Cooper may have been a bust, but the two picks are absolute gems. Tooney's going to be playing guard for the Patriots for the next decade, again, assuming that he stays healthy, just like with Malcolm Mitchell.

But pretty good deal. Two studs of the game in the Super Bowl, the two players that the Patriots, two of the players the Patriots received in draft picks for Chandler Jones. You cannot say they didn't hit that trade. They absolutely did. So good job by the Patriots personnel guys, pinpointing the players that they wanted with those picks. And good job by the coaches immediately identifying how talented they were, getting them into the lineup.

And again, two studs of the game in the Super Bowl. It's amazing. Rookies. So great job, guys. Let's take a minute to tell you about one of our sponsors. PatriotsInsider on Scout.com provides daily news, video from NFL.com, fantasy football, which is just incredible how much coverage they have. And if you sign up, you can earn money back.

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This is an unbelievable deal. Do not miss out. $5 a month or $49 for the year. Okay, it's time. It's time for the duds of the Super Bowl and the final duds of the season. And I guess maybe I should have gone with the duds first so we could end it on a positive note, but it is what it is. We're ending on a positive note anyways because the Patriots won the Super Bowl, so, you know, that's positive as it gets. First stud, dud, sorry, first dud of the day goes to Shaq Mason.

Mason gave up two sacks and also a good amount of pressure. I don't have the exact numbers yet because I just haven't had a chance to go through the All-22 encounter yet, so that's coming up. I'll get that done in the next couple days and we'll give you guys an idea of how many pressures he actually did give up. I know it was a lot. He did play better in the fourth quarter, but he struggled big time for the first three. Mason had a pretty good year. I think he's an effective starter. He needs to clean up his pass blocking technique in order to take the next step in his development. Mason wasn't the only lineman to struggle but when your quarterback's weakness is up the middle like

we've just talked about you need to have two effective guards or they're going to find other guys right now they know they found one tuning i believe mason's a good player too mason actually reminds me of brian waters former guard for the patriots that they picked up from the chiefs was a long time chief mason wasn't a great pass blocker right away, but he eventually became one. He was an excellent run blocker right from the start, and that's what Mason, he's the same way. So I wouldn't be surprised to see Mason go down a similar career path to Brian Waters if he continues to play, but for this game, he was a dud. I'm glad he was able to step up in the fourth quarter, but it's a four-quarter game, Shaq,

so you need to be on point for the whole game. So Shaq Mason, first dud. Second dud goes right to his line mate, Nate Solder. He had a tough day in pass protection. He gave up 11 hurries in the sack. That's according to Pro Football Focus. Solder's assignment was the ancient but still effective Dwight Freeney, who is given Patriots tackles headaches during his years with the Colts and Chargers,

and it appears that not much has changed since he went to Atlanta. Patriots are able to adjust and work around the mismatch, but Solder has been, he has to be better against speed rushes if he wants to keep protecting the backside of the franchise. They're not going to move Cannon at this point with how well he's played, so Solder has to be better. He might not be here. He might get moved to guard.

Who knows? But I just know that you need to be able to block 38 or however old Freeney is defensive ends in a Super Bowl when you're trying to win a championship. The next dud of the game, pretty easy pick, LeGarrette Blount. Blount totaled 31 rushing yards on 11 attempts, 11 attempts with 20 yards coming out to contact. Blount, he forced one missed tackle and he lost the fumble. So, all in all, he was pretty average. Actually, I think he was terrible. Blount, I thought would play well. He just couldn't get anything going.

And after the fumble, which was huge because the offense was driving, Belichick and company were afraid to use him like they'd planned. Blount's a good back. He's good, but he's feast to famine, and Sunday was definitely a famine. So Blount, one of the duds. I'm not going to go too deep into it. Everybody watched the game. You saw what it was. The next dud, this was pretty bad too, Deion Lewis. Lewis, he forced a pair of missed tackles on his six carries, calling the pro football focus, but he only finished at 27 yards on the ground, and he also only contributed one reception. Lewis came into the game a little banged up.

It was a weird injury, and I think he did it to himself, but it's not surprising that he wasn't a big part of the game plan because of him getting dinged up in the NFC Championship. With the speed of the Falcons' defense, Lewis did seem like the perfect weapon to combat them, but unfortunately it was not to be. Now now they continue to stay undefeated with him in the lineup but you know it's it's a big question about lewis's can he really stay healthy and next season's going to be quite it's going to be big because i think the patriots are going to go out and probably replace blount with maybe a better running back like an Eddie Lacy or somebody like that and

they might not keep Lewis and James White they might mix things up here a little bit so this is something to keep an eye on I know Lewis is a good player I know he's a cult hero around here people love him but he didn't do much in the uh in the Super Bowl and he looked ineffective and he gets hurt a lot so that's that's something to keep an eye on as the offseason progresses here and the Patriots look at some of the backs available. One of the glaring things in the Super Bowl was team speed, and I know Lewis is quick. I know he's got good speed. He makes plays.

But overall, they need to get bigger and faster with their weapons and also with some of their plays on defense, I believe. So I just think Lewis could be one of those guys that he might not be long for New England. He might not be long for the NFL. He gets hurt all the time. So let's just keep an eye on that. And he was a dud. He did nothing out there on Sunday.

So, sorry, Deion Lewis, one of the duds of the game. Our final dud goes to Kyle Van Nooy. Don't mistake his pile-jumping half sack. Oh, to be something he actually contributed because that was all Trey Flowers, and I mentioned that earlier. Van Nooy was on the field for 30 plays, a lot when you consider his talent level. He struggled mightily in coverage. He looked absolutely lost against the run in the pass. Van Nooy simply wasn't good. I know they showed him on the sidelines a couple shots

and it was funny to celebrate and all this and that, but he should be celebrating and thanking his teammates for helping him out because he just didn't step up. Van Noyce looks like one of those guys that maybe the Patriots should go out and trade for. They use him for the rest of that season. Decent guy. Makes a few plays here and there, but I don't think we're going to see Van Noyce back in New England anytime soon. Not sure of his contract status, so I'm not going to sit here and try to pretend that I know. I'll have to look that up, which I'll be doing very soon. I'll be going through all the contracts, and we're going to have a show about that very, very

soon because it's that time of year. I do know they have about $66 million in cap space, $56 when you adjust it after the draft and all that and i don't know if they're going to want to contribute any of that money to kyle van noy so um van noy major dud pile jump in half sack doesn't count not counting i'm giving three sacks of tree flowers i'm doing my own stat system and that's how i'm doing it so kyle van noy is the final dud of the day so you know all in all great season for the Patriots. Again, Super Bowl champions, you know, you can't even, it's a perfect ending to a season. And the way that they came back was just simply amazing. So, you know, I know some of these guys, you know, Duds, they didn't have a very good game, but, you know, all of them made at least one play that helped out at one point in the game.

So I don't want to be negative when it comes to these guys. We just point out the truth, and some of them just didn't have the best game. But again, they came out Super Bowl champions, so as many guys that were duds, they still find a way to help out this team at some point in the year, and now you're New England Patriots and Super Bowl champs. I want to thank you guys all for joining us on this Saturday afternoon edition of Locked on Patriots. I want you to go to iTunes and subscribe to our show today,

as in right now, and make sure you tell your friends about us. You're 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 fans. Tomorrow, we are going to break down the All-22 from the Super Bowl. The two areas I want to focus on the most is the start of the game and why New England wasn't able to block, and that's basically what the issue was,

and then the breakdown of the Falcons' offense and defense as Brady led the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. It's going to be our final discussion of the Super Bowl as we prepare. We're going to move on to the offseason, and we're also construction for the 2017 season. But it would be unfair of me to not give you guys an all-22 breakdown of the Super Bowl. Again, go to iTunes, subscribe to our show today.

It's just going to keep on getting better. We're not stopping, guys. The offseason's here, but we're just going to keep on pumping out shows. As time goes on, we will start having them posted every single day it has been a bit of a struggle this season we just kind of jumped right into it uh wasn't one of those things that was that was uh known about until the season had already started so there was some some issues as far as you know time and all that but now we have it down pat we know what we're looking to do here and we're going to be all over you guys

with different information every single week and every single day, so make sure you're tuning in. Go to Audioboom every day. Go to iTunes. Make sure you're clicking on the link and listen to our show because we're going to give you guys some great information on prospects, possible trades, and everything you can possibly think of.

Again, tomorrow, all 22, our final discussion of the Super Bowl, and we wrap up the 2016 championship season, and we're going to move on to roster construction for the 2017 season, starting on Monday. Again, I'm your host, Chris Cimino. Thanks for joining us today, and enjoy the fact that your Patriots are world champions yet again. Whatcha doing?

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