Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots August 31, 2018 - Semi-Glorious Victory Edition

Episode Date: August 31, 2018

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Hello everybody, welcome to a semi-glorious victory edition of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield easing into the big chair after the Patriots close out their 2018 preseason with a 17-12 victory over the New York Giants, a game that just went final. That moves the Patriots' preseason record to 3-1 and sets them up for the start of the regular season next week. Before we dive into everything that happened tonight, a reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work at places like InsideThePylon.com, where I'm one of the head writers.

Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's RSP, Rookie Scouting Portfolio. Got a piece up today on Ball State quarterback Riley Neal who is in action as we speak right now. Ball State holding a command in 42-6 lead right now over

Central Connecticut with 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Riley Neal going 23 of 30 for 259 and a touchdown. But you're not here to hear me talk about ball state football, but you can check out that piece at mattwaldmanrsp.com. You're here to talk about the New England Patriots, or more accurately, to listen to me talk about the New York Patriots. And let's dive into it.

And usually in the postgame shows, we do the good, the bad, the ugly, or this preseason we've been doing the good, the bad, and the questions. But you all know me. I'm going to talk about Danny Etlin at the start, okay? And there was some good, there was some bad. But honestly, okay, 18 of 32 for 157, a touchdown, a short throw to Wealth Reb, two interceptions, both of those were pretty poor interceptions. But we're going to talk about that TD run

because the boy ripped off an 86-yard touchdown run on a zone read to basically ice this game away after the New England Patriots pulled off a pretty interesting, pretty tough goal line stand of sorts. They're third and fourth string defenders out there. We'll talk about how that drive ended in a second, but Danny Etlin literally faked the entire Giants defense out. There wasn't a soul on that defense who thought when Danny Etlin put the ball in the belly of the running back on that play that Danny Etlin was going to keep the ball and run it himself. 86 yards later, Danny Etlin raced into my heart. I'll just say it, okay? He's not going

to make this team, but I want him on the practice squad because I want to keep watching that play over and over and over and over and over again. It was just mesmerizing. And there's a guy on the Giants, number 29, Charles McDonald, the writer for SB Nation, who goes by at4verts on Twitter, got a screen cap of it where the cornerback who was on that side of the field has his back to Danny Etlin just watching the pile, assuming that the guy that Etlin faked to has the ball and he's in that mass of humanity somewhere. And Etlin, meanwhile, has the ball behind him and he's racing down the sideline. It is just incredible. But let's dive into Etlin a little bit more.

Some of the good I saw from him, and it took a while to see some good stuff. It took a while to see some good stuff. His mobility tonight was kind of impressive. He had a run on a first and 10 for a gain of 14 right before the half where he made a number of people miss. He had a play-action boot play where he put a deep post right on K.J. May. Slightly underthrown, a little bit better throw. Might have been six, Bob, but it was still a great read

and a great throw on this boot-action play. On that play, the Giants free safety really bit hard on the crossing road underneath from Will Tye, allowed Edlin to make that throw. Finishes the drive with another play-action boot, a little short throw to Ralph Webb for a touchdown. Those were great plays. He had another scramble later in the second half on a third and 12. He dropped his eyes a bit on that play.

Would have liked to see him keep the eyes downfield, but showed good mobility then. Faked a couple of guys. He had a nice read on a slant-flat concept. A perfect throw to Paul Turner. Turner just dropped it. He also had a nice read on a slant flat concept, a perfect throw to Paul Turner. Turner just dropped it. He also had a nice, he threw a block downfield. There was a play where Webb kind of bounced it to the backside.

He had a nice block downfield. And then the boot act, the zone read play for the touchdown, which was just, like I said, he raced into my heart. He just did it. And now I want that guy on the practice squad. The bad, though, he opened the game. He had a comeback route he tried to throw on their open drive that was, you know, too late.

He had an out route to KJ May on the second drive that was too late, so the time it wasn't there. You need to see him be quicker. He had a stick route that he tried to throw to a tie a little bit later in the first half that was left behind him. That throw was missed. The first interception was a switch vertical concept. I think it was a poor read and a poorly placed throw as well.

I think he led May too far on that throw. And then he had a bad mistake where he turned the wrong way on a run and play. He opened to the right. Everybody else is going left, so he's forced to kind of eat it. He had a deep shot to Devin Lucian on a third and nine that was completely covered. Corner had it capped over the top. There was safety help.

It should have been intercepted. Lucian did a great job sort of breaking that up. In his second interception, the cornerback was uneathed. The ball was thrown too late perhaps needs to lead devon lucian on a little bit more in a post route there's a post route versus a cover two man underneath look so i i like the decision to throw that cover two with the middle of the field open you know that post route's gonna be the right read middle of the field open cover to look but he's got to be faster and quicker with decision make a better throw

you know that was some of what I saw from Adam. We did see a lot of play action. We were talking about that and the inside and the locked on Patriots slack channel. Again, you can be a part of that. Hit me up on Twitter at Mark Schofield. We were talking about his use of play action tonight,

but again, it comes back to the 86 yard TD run. And that was just fantastic to see. Let's get into some more of the good now. Jason McCourty at safety early. That probably tells you what the Patriots are thinking of him. Didn't play that much, played a little bit early, and so that might give you an inkling that he's making the team.

Keon Crossan, again, coverage on a slant route on New York's first drive. His third great play on a slant route. He had good to great coverage on it. Great pass breakup. Looked like he might have gotten a stinger, but he did get back into the game. Ralph Webb, great run on a second and five on New England's first drive. Had really light feet on an inside zone run. Really like to see that. JC Jackson had two interceptions tonight. I think this kid made the team already, but I think he solidified

it tonight. It was a stutter and go. A vertical route. He was right on the hip of the receiver. Great, great head turn at the last minute. Reading the receiver's eyes. Getting his head up. Great pick. And then later in the game another vertical route. Another interception.

Great recovery. great hands. He's just listed at 5'10", but surprising length from him. I almost want to look up his arm size, his wingspan, because that was really impressive. He also had another good position on a slant route on Khalif Raymond at the start of the third quarter on a second and 11 play. Again, I think J.C. Jackson made the team. He left due to dehydration.

We also will talk about it a little bit in the bat section. He gave up a touchdown pass, but I think he made the team tonight. Kenneth Farrow finishing some runs strong. We were talking about that in the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. Devin Lucian on that post route that we just talked about from Danny Etlin. Great job breaking that up. That's what you want to see from a wide receiver in that type of play where it kind of turns into a 50-50 ball.

You've got to become a defensive back in that moment, and he did that. By the way, I just looked up and saw Danny Etlin's rushing stats for the night. Seven carries for 113 yards for an average of 16.1 per carry. So that made me smile. the night. Seven carries for 113 yards for an average of 16.1 per carry. So, that made me smile. Gio Grissom, he had a nice speed rush on Kyle Oletta late in the second quarter. He had used his arm chop. Right tackle got his arms out to try to engage. He just

chopped down with his arms. Right tackle couldn't get his hands on him. He missed the tackle. He needed to finish the sack, but I liked that rush. Ralph Webb, another nice run he made on an inside run later in the game. Ran over the safety, finished that run well. Farrow had a run to the left side where he showed really nice vision, nice footwork.

Like to see that. On the whole, I thought Grigsby tonight. I thought he was generally solid underneath coverage. Played a lot. I think he probably made the roster. He had a big, big, big pop on number 80. I believe that's Kalief Raymond on a slant route. Really hit him.

Ralph Webb, fantastic run on a 3rd and 10 draw. Patriots trying a little draw play on 3rd and 10. He broke one tackle near the line of scrimmage, then hurled a second tackle attempt. That was fantastic. Not sure he's going to make this team because of the numbers, but would really love to see them get him on the practice squad somehow. Khalifi Mohamed, talk about finishing runs.

He's a new addition to the team. He finished some nice runs late in the third quarter, early in the fourth quarter. We haven't talked special teams, but Ryan Allen, he had a great punt in the fourth quarter, pitting the Giants down around their own one-yard line. And that drive ended with Marquise Flowers on a fourth down play inside the red zone. He had great coverage on a backside corner up by the tight end and a wide iso three by one. Really good position on that to prevent a touchdown and, you know, giving the Giants the lead.

So that was some of the good stuff I saw from tonight. Next, we're going to do the bad and then later the questions that remain after the preseason slate of games. That's all ahead with me, Mark Schofield, on this semi-glorious victory edition of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now. Going to do quickly some of the bad stuff that we saw from tonight. Matt Tobin, you know, he

got the start when you're looking at how the Patriots matched up tonight. He got a start at right tackle, gave up a sack on the second drive of the game. He had a good initial job of sort of riding the defensive end around the pocket to the back side, but he loses him. Danny Antlin starts to climb the pocket.

He loses him. He allows the defensive end to disengage, come underneath him for the sack. He's got to finish that block there. Keonta Davis, he started tonight as well. He loses the left edge on an outside run. He just gets swallowed up by the right tackle, allows the running back to get the edge. Defense can't get there to help.

He's got to do a better job of sort of setting his base, not giving up ground, setting that edge, forcing that back inside. I missed this. I wrote this down on the wrong side. But Adam Butler, put your good hat back on for a second because he had a pass rush on a play early in the game. Great hands, good push on a second-and-one run as well. Not that I was worried about Adam Butler,

but again, solidifying his role on this team, I think. One good play from Keontae Davis. Again, I'm writing some stuff up, doing it by hands. My bad, people. But he did have later on the same drive where he lost the edge in that one play. He did get pressure on Kyle O'Leary where he split the double team, flushed O'Leary and forced a high throw. So that was really well done. Now the touchdown that the Patriots gave up, that J.C. Jackson gave up, he got caught in traffic on a mesh concept. He was covering the X receiver who was isolated on the left side of the offense, so it was the right side of the defense. They bring him across the formation, and he just got caught up in traffic.

He needs to do a better job. He kind of went over the top of the traffic rather than trying to fight underneath it. He needs to do a better job of trying to fight that. They might, you know, it could be that he was taught to go over that, but either way, he's got to be quicker with it because he kind of hesitated in getting over the top of that, really sort of let the receiver extend his separation from him. Whatever he does, going over the top or fighting through it,

he's got to be quicker on that. We talked about the Etlin pick. Etlin turned the runway in the handoff, the second interception. JC Jackson, he did leave the game due to dehydration. Haven't seen anything more on that. Ted Karras, he was at right guard on a three-step drop play, and he just got steamrolled by number 99 on the Giants. Etlin doesn't even have a chance to get his feet set and get the ball out.

A lot of times when you see three-step drops and you see a quarterback get hit, obviously your first inclination is, oh, that's got to be on the offensive line. But remember, three-step drop, quarterback's job is to hit and throw. You've got to hit your depth and get the ball out. The problem becomes if you don't have a chance to even hit, and what I mean by hit was you finish your drop. You take three steps. So it's for a right-handed quarterback, right foot back, cross with your left,

right foot back again. Once that second right foot gets in the ground, you need to start getting the ball out. On this play, Etlin's right foot isn't even in the ground yet, and he's getting pressure, which means it's not on him being too slow. It's on the guy up front. In this case, Ted Karras just getting shoved back into the face of Danny Etlin. So, Karras needed to be better there.

The defense, there was, after that Ryan Allen punt, the Giants are pinned first and ten inside their own one-yard line. The defense gets them into a third and eight situation. They run a little smoke route slash flat route combination where they've got two receivers to the right. The inside receiver runs sort of an intermediate out route, maybe like a speed out at about five to eight yards. And the outside receiver is just smoke route.

He just doesn't even come off the line of scrimmage. He just stands there. And Alex Tanney, the fourth-string quarterback for the Giants, just throws that smoke route he just doesn't even come off the line of scrimmage he just stands there and alex tanny the court the fourth string quarterback for the giants just throws that smoke route you've got cyrus jones and grigsby both in position to make a tackle they don't get him to the ground cyrus jones whiffs greg grigsby whiffs turns into a first down that can't happen i don't care who is on the field the first runners the four strangers it doesn't matter you can't give that up when you've got the offense pinned, you know, on a third and eight on their own like three-yard line. You just can't do that.

The defense on the entire drive, that entire drive, they really sort of, you know, New York just went right down the field. And then they had that, you know, a third and four where there was a drop. That could have moved the sticks. And then on the next play, you get that YIo that Marquise Flowers showed pretty good coverage on. So the Patriots did keep the Giants off the scoreboard, but they gave up basically a 90-yard drive that was helped along in big part by that conversion on third and eight.

So that was some of the bad stuff that I saw tonight. Up next, we're going to talk lingering questions, basically a quick hitter of who I think is in and who I think is out after the fourth preseason game. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, on this glorious victory edition of Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this glorious victory Friday edition of Locked on Patriots

recorded on this Tuesday night. The Patriots just wrapped up their fourth and final preseason game, knocking off the New York Giants by a score of 17-12. We're going to get into some quick hitter, who's in, who's out, word association type of things here. But before I do, I want to remind everybody of a couple of things. One, going to have a show for you on Saturday. Remember, Saturday is cut-down day. I will be back breaking it all down once the Patriots

roster is roughly finalized. There might be some moves after the fact, but I will be back for you to do that. Remember, you've got ways to interact with me and other Pats fans now. You've got the Locked on Patriots phone hotline, 240-670-6016. Call or text anytime with your thoughts. Or, the Locked on Patriots phone hotline, 240-670-6016. Call or text anytime with your thoughts.

Or the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. Again, we had some people in there talking about the game tonight as it was unfolding. I understand it's the fourth preseason game and it's on Thursday night. And you've got better things to do than to watch the fourth preseason game. That's why you listen to me in the morning because I watch the game so you don't have to. But once we get into the regular season, that's probably going to be a lot of fun. A lot of people watching the games,

you know, not just Pat's games, but other nationally broadcast games and things like that. So if you want to be a part of that, it's going to be a ton, a ton of fun interacting with other Pat's fans. Hit me up on Twitter at Mark Schofield or shoot me an email, mark.schofield at insidethepylon.com.

I'll get you set up with an invite over to the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. Let's quickly close out this show here with some questions about guys who might be in, who guys who might be out. Riley McCarron, I think, is in. Because why? He didn't play. I think that's a pretty good sign that the Patriots have seen what they need to see from him. Braxton Berrios, I think he's practice squad at best.

That dream seems to be flickering out, unfortunately. Danny Etlin, like I said, he raced into the practice squad of my heart tonight with that 86-yard touchdown run. I think the Patriots will be able to get him onto the practice squad. That wouldn't surprise me. Keontae Davis, I wonder now. I'm starting to wonder, although, you know, the next guy to talk about here,

Vince Valentine, he played deep into this game, very deep into this game. And friend of the show, Nora Princiotti, she was obviously at the game tonight, and what she was basically saying was this. She put out a tweet later in the game. Seems like Vince Valentine is going to play the whole game. It's possible the Patriots want to get him more snaps

since he's coming off an injury, but still not a good sign. And I'm kind of there with that because you see him late into the game. It makes you think that, look, they're resting other guys. And so you do wonder about him. Crossan and Jackson, I still think they're in. I still think they're in. I know Crossan gave up the touchdown. We talked about that.

But, again, he had fantastic positioning on those two vertical routes where he got interceptions. Great position on a slant route. Crossan, again, great position on a slant route. We also saw Jackson active and run support as we did last week. I think those guys are in. Two offensive linemen who I think are in but shaky tonight, and we talked about them a bit, Matt Tobin and Ted Karras.

I think they got in given some of the other guys on this team, but it's close. It's really close. And they were moving these guys around. You saw Tobin at right tackle. You saw Karras at right guard. They're clearly seeing if these guys can be the versatile swing inside and outside type guys that the Patriots need to have right now.

I think they're in, but I'm a little less confident than I was, say, a couple of days ago. And finally, Dwayne Allen. Dwayne Allen is probably in. You know, we talked about him a lot this season, mentioned him as a possible cut candidate for the New England Patriots, but he restructured. That news came out in the wake of the Tom Brady restructuring that Dwayne Allen was reworking his contract to get that cap number down a bit. And I think that's a really good thing for the team because of a number of reasons. You know, the Patriots do seem to be in position

to use more multiple tight end packages. And so the more tight ends you have, the better. And what he does, he does well. You know, he's more of your more multiple tight end packages. And so the more tight ends you have, the better. And what he does, he does well. You know, he's more of your blocking type tight end, but you need that. You know, you might want a situation with multiple blocking tight ends on the field, and you'd rather have Allen and Gronk than, say, Gronk and James Devlin at a tight end spot, meaning you have to go single back because you're not going to have another fullback on the roster. And so there'd be that trickle-down effect

without having Dwayne Allen on the roster. But for him, even though he takes a little bit of a restructure, reduces that cap number, gets a little bit of a pay cut, it's better than being cut outright. And so I think it's a good situation. Obviously, that points to Dwayne Allen making this team and so there you have it that that kind of closes the book on the 2018 New England Patriots preseason filled with lots of moments that we will remember and cherish forever okay

just one Danny Antlin's 86 yard touchdown I'm I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a while but speaking of a while it won't be long until you hear from me again because, like I said, I will be back Saturday breaking down the roster. It's been a fun preseason. We're getting close. We are now just almost one week away to the kickoff of the 2018 pre- actual, I almost said preseason, to the 2018 season. You know what?

I just got done watching the fourth preseason game. I'm going to go have an adult beverage or 10. I'll be back tomorrow. Or if you're listening to this Friday, tomorrow. If you're listening to this Thursday, right when it comes out, you got to go do something else. You don't need to listen to this one right away. It's just the fourth preseason game recap.

I'm rambling. I'm going to go have an adult beverage. I will be back Saturday. Until next time, everybody, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on P.