Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots December 24, 2017 - A Christmas Eve Glorious Victory Edition

Episode Date: December 25, 2017

Mark Schofield has your Great, Good, Bad and Ugly from New England's 37-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's something in the wind today that's good for everyone. Yeah! Yes, faith is in our hearts today. We're shining like the sun. And everyone can feel it. The feeling's running deep. After all, there's only one more sleep till Christmas. After all, there's only one more sleep till Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas! Good evening and welcome to a Christmas evening. Glorious victory edition of the Locked On Patriots podcast. Mark Schofield here with you in the big chair and as you heard at the beginning, Bob Cratchit as voiced by Kermit the Frog, there is only one more sleep till Christmas. But games were played today, there are takes to be had. So we're going to dive right into it with your Christmas Eve glorious victory edition of the Locked On Patriots podcast. Patriots taking care of business today.

And they clinch a first round bye with their 37-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills. In a game which got off to a bit of a little rocky start here for the New England Patriots, but they were able to sort of pull away in the second half, take care of business down the stretch, some good performances which we're going to get to. The win not only helps the Patriots sort of clinch a first round bye thanks to our old friend Jimmy Garoppoloolo but it also seriously hurts Buffalo's chances at getting

into the postseason we're going to do our great, our good, our bad and our ugly from the game hand out some game balls, we'll start with the ugly first and for the second straight week we have to dive into the catch roll

critical play, late in the first half looks like tyrod taylor hits kelvin benjamin for a touchdown pass that would have given the bills a halftime lead but upon further review it is determined that benjamin's left foot never came down inbounds and it was not inbounds at the time he established possession. So the call on the field of a touchdown was overturned. Bills forced to kick a field goal. And, you know, let's be honest here. You know, if that's a 17-13 game at the half,

Bills did receive the second half kickoff. They went down and kicked a field goal. If it's 17-13 becoming 20-13 early third quarter, it's a different looking game. But as we talked about last week, the rule is the rule. And Tony Romo was pretty much on this one quickly in the review, pointing out that we've got to make sure that when he establishes possession, both feet are inbounds or touched down inbounds, and it doesn't happen. So, you know, you might quibble with the rule.

You might wonder, look, you know, was it enough to overturn it? But the critical question was, and this is the way Romo phased it, does that left foot touch down when he has established possession? And we never see it touch down. So I think they got the call right. But of course, it touches off the tsunami of takes on the timeline that the Patriots are somehow being handed games,

their referees are playing favorites, and that's why we get to drop it here in the ugly section. But let's move on. There's some other stuff that we should talk about in terms of ugly stuff that we saw. That New England open and drive was not pretty. You know,

they received the kickoff. First play, Deion Lewis out of 21 offensive personnel. Just a simple two-yard gain. Then they run a toss. They ask David Andrews, the center, to get to the second level to block the linebacker. He

can't get there. It's a tough block for him to make, but he can't get there. That toss is held to a one-yard gain. And then Brady misfires on a throw to Hollister, the reserve tight end, and they go three and out. Bills go right down the field. They're held to a field goal, but that was a tough open and drive for the New England Patriots offense. Other ugly stuff. The Brady pick six. I've talked a lot about Brady and manipulation and his ability to use his eyes, but he got lazy here.

Because he's trying to throw a curl route to Kenny Brett on the right side. He takes the snap and he opens to his left to sort of look that off. And that part is good. But it's what comes after is the mistake. Because then he comes to the right and he doesn't throw it right away. He's a bit lazy there. He's a step late with the throw. And that allows Pointer to break on it. If he opens to his left and comes to the right and throws right away,

that's a completion. Now, he was thrown to Kenny Britt. Is it a situation where he's not quite there with Kenny Britt yet? Wasn't quite sure he was going to be where he wanted him to be? Maybe, maybe not. But I think more than anything, this one's on Tom Brady. He's got to be better with his eyes there. And it sounds really weird as a 40-year-old washed-up D3 quarterback

that started one game and got pulled from it after throwing his second interception to say that the greatest quarterback of all time has to be better. But that's the job, so here we go. Merry Christmas, Tom. But, yeah, I put that on Brady. So that's your bad from the game. Up ahead, we're going to do some ugly, some good, and some great on this Christmas Eve edition of the Locked On Patriots podcast.

Okay, let's dive into some of the ugly. There are a couple things we can focus on here. Brady misfires. Look, he finished the day of 21 of 28 for 224, two touchdowns in the interception, which we just talked about. I know people might say,

why are you dinting him here? Why are you putting them both in the ugly and the bad? But there were some misses. You know, there's a play action pass on their fourth drive of the game in the red zone.

He misses on that. Trying to see who he was going for on that play. Yeah, he was trying to hit Gronkowski. He throws it behind him. He also had Philip Dorsett who came in motion on that play and runs a wheel route up the sideline. That route was open too. So he had two open receivers. He

misses those. On the play before the interception, they went back for a pick six. He had Gronkowski late in the play. He slid around, does the good stuff, slides around, buys time, has Gronkowski on a late crosser along the left sideline

and he just misses it. And we're talking about the greatest. We're nitpicking him here, but these are throws we expect him to make. Missed on a couple of them, so we got to point that out. Devin McCourty. I've talked a lot about the safety play this year

With Chun, with Harmon, with McCourty They've been great for the most part But on Buffalo's drive before halftime They did a really good job Buffalo did of getting into the red zone And as we talked about They looked like they had a go-ahead touchdown Right before the half But there was a critical third and two play where Tyrod Taylor was forced to check the ball

down to LaShawn McCoy in the right part of the backfield. And when McCoy catches the ball on his swing route, he is six yards behind the line of scrimmage. Remember, it's third and two here. And McCourty did a great job of realizing that route was going to be thrown, breaking on it, and he breaks down in good tackle and position two yards behind the line of scrimmage. But McCoy still makes a miss and gets the first down. You know, that's a situation where there's about a minute to go in the half. If the Patriots force punt there, we're talking about a different set of circumstances

because maybe they go down the field, get maybe a field goal, maybe they get a shot to put the ball in the end zone. But instead, McCourty can't make the tackle. Buffalo picks up the first down, and that drive continues. And it wasn't the only time that Shady made a bunch of guys miss on their opening drive of the third quarter.

There was a simple, again, a route to McCoy in the flat, the right flat. This time it's a Landon Roberts who has the first crack at him. He misses. Multiple guys miss, and McCoy rips off a long game on that reception. Now McCoy's a tremendous running back, shifty, makes people miss, but tackling was something that could have been better in this game. Let's put it that way. And going back to that drive before the half,

the defense on that drive needed to be better because you had the McCourty miss. Butler got beat. Butler got beat a couple times in this game, but he got beat on that drive. Gilmore got beat a couple of times by Calvin Benjamin on that drive. McCourty with the missed tackle. You know, so need the defense to be a little bit better there. And talking about the defense, you know, it looked like at times Gilmore was struggling with Kelvin Benjamin.

And this is kind of the, you know, Evan Lazor, who does work over for Pat's Pulpit, the Boston Herald at times, you know, he tweeted out during the game, you know, this is kind of one of those matchups where you want a guy like Stephon Gilmore to match up with a guy like Kelvin Benjamin.

This is kind of the reason you go out and get a Gilmore is for this type of matchup. And Gilmore struggled at times with Kelvin Benjamin. Benjamin five receptions for 70 yards. And this was the second time this year that he times with Kelvin Benjamin. Benjamin, five receptions for 70 yards. And this was the second time this year that he's faced Kelvin Benjamin. You know, and Deontay Thompson, who saw a lot of Malcolm Butler today,

four catches for 91 yards. There was a big crossing route where Tyrod Taylor hit Thompson early in the game. You know, so those guys struggled a little bit. But the Patriots do come out with a win, so that's what you like to see. Also, Evan Lazor, you can follow him on Twitter, at E-Z-L-A-Z-A-R. Please do follow him.

As I said, he was kind of pointed out that matchup between Gilmore and Benjamin today. So that's been sort of the bad. We'll get to the good and the great and give out some game balls up next with me, Mark Schofield, here at Locked On Patriots. Okay, let's get to some of the good stuff out of New England's 37-16 victory, which not only did it sort of help them clinch that first round bye this week, but in terms of sort of the overall picture, Patriots' eighth straight 12-win season. That is now the longest streak of all time, top in Indianapolis, who had seven straight

12-win seasons. The Patriots now have 12, 12 win seasons, which ties Dallas for second most all time. Only the 49ers have more with 13. Although it looks like the 49ers might be a year away from a 12-win season watching Jimmy Garoppolo today, but that's a story for another time. Also another mark, Brady now,

his 12th win as a starting quarterback after the age of 40 behind only Brett Favre who had 13 and Brady can obviously tie that mark next week and with the way he's playing it does look like he'll top it in 2018 but some other good stuff from this game and there was a lot of good stuff to get to. Hey, you know what? Nerdy football stuff. The return of the direct snap to Deion Lewis where Brady fakes like the snap's going over his head. Harking him back to the days of Kevin Falk.

Always good to see that. It's good to see that back. Trey Flowers, Patrick Chun. Some good games from them today. You know, Chun had, you know, there was a play early in the game. It was a second and two on Buffalo's first drive where they went empty. And Chun was sort of in a man coverage alignment over the number two receiver who then goes vertical. And number one, the outside receiver, runs an in cut chun showed great recognition they're giving up on the vertical route known he's got safety help to pick that up breaking on the in cut and

breaking up that pass that was just a nice little play you know for safety down in the slot sometimes it's tough you've got different angles there but a good play from chun there also there was a play where chun and flowers It's tough. You've got different angles there, but a good play from Chun there. Also, there was a play where Chun and Flowers, sort of in a big spot in this game, where the Billis have a first-and-goal situation at the 10-yard line, and they try a little throwback screen to Tolbert. I don't know why they went with that play call, but they did, and it was Chun and Trey Flowers who were able to stop that for a

10-yard loss. That was a big play in that spot. That was on Buffalo's opening drive of the second half. That's a situation where first and goal at the 10 turns and the second and goal at the 20.

Buffalo's forced to settle for a field goal to close off that drive. So stepping up at that point was a big play and Shun and Flowers did that on that snap. Flowers had a good game as well. There were some other plays that he made that really stood out. Did a pretty good job on,

and this is the difficulty with Tyron Taylor. You've got to keep contained, and Flowers, for the most part, did that. There were times when he lost them, but there was a play, first and 10, on Buffalo's open and drive where they showed fake toss, and Tyron Taylor tries to boot. Flowers does a great job of staying home,

forces a throw from the pocket. That fourth and two play, early in the second quarter, Buffalo's third job of staying home, forces a throw from the pocket. That 4th-and-2 play early in the second quarter, Buffalo's third drive of the game, where they decide to go for it early in the red zone on a 4th-and-2. Flowers as well as Dietrich Wise with some pressure there. So I thought Trey Flowers had a nice little game. Shaq Mason. We talked a lot about Shaq Mason

the last time these two teams played. Had another solid game, and I don't know if you noticed, but on one of Deion Lewis' runs, he was out of a shotgun set, a sweep to the right side with Shaq Mason pulling. Mason with another good block, and that was the same exact play that the Patriots hit last time these teams played, only with Rex Burkett.

So the Patriots went back to the well there for a big game that time from Deion Lewis. Mason on Mike Gillisley's touchdown run. Great job drive blocking, firing off the ball, getting some good push up front to pave the way for Gilleslie. Also, the Lewis touchdown on the screen. Nate Solder, Shaq Mason, David Andrews, getting out in front of that. Great blocking from

those three guys. Malcolm Brown, his defense on Buffalo's drive when the game was tied at 16. Drive starts with Malcolm Brown with a big sack. Loss of 15 on Tyrod Taylor. Next play, they tried an inside run to try to get back into a manageable territory. Malcolm Brown with a stop for no gain.

That sets up a third down check down on third and 25 to LaShawn McCoy that goes nowhere and the Bills have to punt. But setting the stage with that huge sack on first down was a really big play. Because that's 16-16. The Patriots have just tied it. Teams trade field goals to start the second half. You force a three and out.

Set in motion by that big sack on first down. What does New England do? Touchdown. Four plays, 65 yards to take a 23-16 lead. That was basically that sort of sequence

really changed the game. Because then the Buffalo Bills on their next drive, they miss a long field goal. Interesting decision from Sean McDermott there to try that field goal. They miss it. Patriots then another touchdown. Seven play 60-yard drive and

almost the blink of an eye. It's 30-16. All set in motion by Malcolm Brown with that 15-yard sack on first down. Big play from them. Also, mention Mike Gillisley. He hasn't been active for the past couple of weeks. People are wondering what's going on there.

Six carries for 28 yards, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Does get the touchdown. Also, one catch for 15 yards. Not a huge day, but good to see Gillsley get in the end zone. As far as the great stuff, we mentioned some of it. We mentioned Malcolm Brown. He had a really, really good game today. Six total tackles, three solo, one sack, one tackle

for a loss, one QB hit. Solid afternoon for Malcolm Brown. Dietrich Wise, he contributed as well. One and a half sacks, one tackle for a loss, two total tackles, one solo. Great

afternoons from them. Rob Gronkowski, what else can you say about this guy? In a week where we're all wondering, is Buffalo going to try to take him out? What does Rob Gronkowski do? Five catches, 67 yards, and an incredible touchdown on that vertical route where he makes the one-handed catch. Brady puts that ball in a big spot.

Perfect spot for him. And Gronkowski with a touchdown there. You know, and just speaking of Brady, again, 21-28 for 224. Two touchdowns, the one interception. You know, QB rating of 106.8. I know quarterback rating is not the best quarterback statistic, but another good afternoon from Tom Brady.

And when he threw the interception, the timeline erupted with, oh, the Patriots lost the trade and Brady's lost it because that's what happens. But in the end, 21 of 28 for 224, two touchdowns, one interception. How many other teams would love to see a stat line like that? I'd say a lot. Say what you want about Brady, but another solid afternoon. And Deion Lewis, as predicted

by your boy here, 24 carries for 129, one touchdown on the ground, chips in a touchdown as a receiver, and perhaps the most underrated play of the day. That extension on the ground, chips in a touchdown as a receiver, and perhaps the most underrated play of the day, that extension on the fourth and one that was reviewed

and overturned. It was ruled on the field that it was short of the first down. Upon review, the spot was moved. He had achieved the yardage to gain. That's an example of play strength. As we get into draft season and as I turn my eyes towards the fun that's going to be ahead of us all when I go down to Mobile for the Senior Bowl. But when we talk about traits such as play strength, that was it.

Because he's got defenders wrapping him up. The strength to stay upright and then extend the ball to make it the first down. Huge play. Game balls before we go and celebrate Christmas with our families. Look, Deion Lewis, you get one. Rob Gronkowski, have a game ball, my friend.

Malcolm Brown, let's give a game ball to our boy here, and let's round it out with Dietrich Wise. How about that? One and a half sacks on the day. Tough to get Tyrod Taylor down sometimes. Anytime you do it, it's worth noting.

So, Dietrich Wise rounds himself out with a game ball as well. That's been your Christmas Eve glorious victory edition of Locked On Patriots. And as we all retire for the night and wonder what

Santa may bring us, I hope that most of all he brings you and your family happiness, joy, fulfillment, peace and kindness and love for the rest of the year and for the year ahead.

And from my family to all of yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and we will be talking soon. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots.

And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us. God bless us, everyone.