Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots December 29, 2017 - Gameday Edition and Mark A. Schofield, Esq. on Behalf of MVP Candidates

Episode Date: December 29, 2017

Mark Schofield dusts off his lawyer hat and makes the case for six MVP candidates, complete with questions from the bench. Plus, expectations for Sunday against the New York Jets.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mic check, one, two, three. Good morning and welcome into Locked On Patriots for Friday, December 29th. Mark Schofield here in the big chair as I am five days a week. Reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com as well as Bleacher Report, final end of the year quarterback rankings. They drop next Tuesday.

Going to be a super, super, super fun day. Today's show going to do two things. At the end, we're going to have our usual game day edition fair for you. Expectations for Sunday, why this game remains pivotal for the New England Patriots. But first, we're going to review. We did this a couple of weeks ago, but we're going to circle back on the MVP discussion. Many people think it's gotten down to just two names here at the end, Todd Gurley and Tom Brady.

I've still got six candidates in mind. We're going to do something a little bit different today. If you've ever wanted to perhaps listen to me argue a case in court, given my days, my background as a lawyer, but do it with a little bit of a football twist, well then, you're probably my mom. Hi, Mom. But that's what we're going to do today. I'm going to present my case on behalf of each of the six contenders. We're going to do this much like a courtroom oral argument. There will be questions from the bench as well. So without further ado, court is in session.

All rise. Good morning, Your Honor. Mark Schofield on behalf of the six petitioners before you today. I understand that is a little bit of a departure from the norm on today's docket. But I will be making an argument for each of the six petitioners here today. I will reserve time at the end of each argument for rebuttal as necessary to revisit each argument as needed. If it pleases the court, I would like to begin with Calais Campbell. You may proceed. Thank you, Your Honor.

And Your Honor, again, Mark Schofield on behalf of Petitioner 1 in this matter, Calais Campbell, defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars. And the case for Petitioner Campbell is this, Your Honor. He's the cornerstone of what has become a historically great past defense for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jacksonville Jaguars have won the AFC South. They are going back to the playoffs. And a big reason for that has been their defense and their past defense. Even after their loss last week to the San Francisco 49ers, they are ranked number one in DVOA.

Minus 28.6%. That is number one in DVOA, minus 28.6%. That is number one in pass defense by far. The league average adjusted net yards per attempt by quarterbacks this year is 5.9. Jacksonville has given up just 3.7. That is a difference of 2.2. That is the biggest difference in the league. And in terms of expected points added, Jacksonville's defense, they've added 119.84 points per game, which averages out to 7.94 points per game.

That is the best since 2006. That is better than the 2013 Seattle Seahawks, whom we all know as one of the best defenses of all time, the inaugural Legion of Boom. They are giving up only 173.5 passing yards per game, which is best in the league. Minnesota, the second best team in the league, is giving up 193.8. So the Jaguars have given up two fewer first downs via the air, if that's how you want to look at it, Your Honor. And where does Campbell fit in to all of this? He is the leader of this defense. He leads the team with 14.5 sacks,

which is just right behind Chandler Jones for the overall sack lead in the National Football League. He plays a critical role on this defense. Yes, I understand you have a question, Your Honor. Counselor, as you mentioned in your remarks, a defensive player has not won this since Alan Page. Why is Calais Campbell worthy of this honor? That's a very good question, Your Honor. And the case for Calais Campbell, for petitioner Campbell, is this.

It would be a recognition of the Jaguars' historically stout pass defense, which he's the cornerstone of. And his 14.5 sacks have been a critical component to what Jacksonville has been able to do and a critical component to Jacksonville's numbers as a historically good pass defense. He is a valuable component of that unit, which is the best unit in football. And as such, it would be a recognition of his value to the best unit in football.

Your Honor, I see my time has expired. I would like to reserve one minute for rebuttal as necessary. With that, I would like to proceed with the next petitioner before you, Your Honor, Antonio Brown, wide receiver, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Please proceed. Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, we can just go through some numbers here for Petitioner Brown. First in receiving yards with 1,533.

He likely finishes first in receiving yards despite missing basically the final three games of the season. He's first in receiving yards per game with 109.5 receiving yards per game. He is the only player to average over 100

yards receiving per game this year. He was currently tied for second with receptions with 101. And he's doing all this, Your Honor, having missed three games. What Antonio Brown has done so far this season, even just missing three games is incredible. And I understand that there might be some hesitation that Antonio Brown, missing some time, being a wide receiver,

shouldn't qualify him for most valuable player in the National Football League. But when you look at what Antonio Brown has meant to this Steelers team, and even in the games when he didn't put up big numbers your honor defenses have to account for where antonio brown is on every single snap defenses would game plan to take away antonio brown in the passing game and that is further evidence of his value to not only the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, but to the Pittsburgh Steelers as a whole. Yes, Your Honor. Jerry Rice is the only receiver to win this honor. Why is Antonio Brown worthy of being the second? That's a very good and a very fair question, Your Honor.

I understand the sort of historical context here. And it's important to look first, I'd say, at that four-game stretch from Week 11 to Week 14 when he caught 10 passes for 144 yards and three touchdowns against Tennessee. The following week against Green Bay, 10 catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns in another win. Eight catches, 101 yards and a touchdown in another win against Cincinnati. 11 catches for 213 yards against Baltimore. In three straight

games, those last three, those were one score games. The win over the Tennessee Titans was a bit of a bigger margin, but that was a critical stretch for the Pittsburgh Steelers headed into their game against New England, which unfortunately Antonio Brown was not able to finish because of his calf injury. But because of his performance down the stretch for the Pittsburgh Steelers, he should be considered for most valuable player. And with that, I see my time has expired, Your Honor. I would like to reserve, if possible, one minute for rebuttal, if needed, and move on to the next petitioner.

You may proceed. Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, now, again, may it please the court, Mark Schofield, on behalf of Carson Wentz, quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles. And at the outset, I think it is important to understand the sort of developmental arc that we saw from Carson Wentz this year, from his rookie season, which was a bit of a mixed season, shall we say, to where he stands right now. And yes, similar to Antonio Brown, his season was cut short due to injury.

But as we sit here, as we stand here today, Your Honor, he is still fifth in adjusted net yards per attempt with 7.43. Only Jared Goff, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Alex Smith have posted better numbers. He is still currently first in touchdown passes with one game to go. Russell Wilson, another of our petitioners, is right behind him with 32, but Wentz has missed the last two weeks. This Philadelphia Eagles team was 11-2 with him as their starting quarterback.

He had 33 touchdowns to only seven interceptions this year. His interception percentage of only 1.6 was among the lowest in the league. The developmental leap that Carson Wentz made from his rookie season to this year has been astounding. And Wentz's ability to make throws from the pocket, to make throws outside of the pocket, to slide and evade from pressure has enabled him to become the quarterback that many thought he would be when he came out of North Dakota State. Yes, I see you have a question, Your Honor. Carson Wentz's season ended early. Why, in your mind, should he be considered. But your honor, there is precedent here for a player to miss time during the season and still come out with the MVP trophy in his hand when all is said and done. Because if you look back through the history of this award, here are some NFL MVPs who have missed

games. In 2011, Aaron Rodgers won the MVP but missed a game. In 2003, Steve McNair won MVP but missed two games. In 2000, Marshall Falk missed two games but won the MVP. In 1993, Emmitt Smith missed two games, won the MVP award. I'll just, two more, Your Honor. I understand my time is running short here. But 1989, Joe Montana missed three games and won MVP. And 1987, John Elway, he missed three games and won the MVP award as well.

So the argument here is, especially when you have seen the Philadelphia Eagles the past two weeks, who has perhaps meant more to their team than Carson Wentz? And with that, Your Honor, I'll yield my time. I do understand that we are up against a break here, Your Honor. I would ask and petition the court here at this point to take a brief recess for lunch and return

with our final three petitioners. Your Honor, may it please the court again, Mark Schofield, on behalf of the six petitioners in this matter, I would ask that we now proceed with the next petitioner, Russell Wilson. Please proceed. Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, again, Mark Schofield, on behalf of petitioner Russell Wilson. And the case for Russell Wilson,son i think your honor is perhaps the easiest case out of any of the six i will stand here and make today russell wilson leads his team in passing yardage he leads his team in rushing yardage he has accounted for 86 percent

of seattle's offense this season he is second in passing touchdowns and has a chance to eclipse petitioner carson wentz this week if he just throws one or has a chance to eclipse petition to Carson Wednesday this week if he just throws one or two more one to tie to to take the outright lead the case for Russell Wilson is simple imagine the Seattle Seahawks without him as it stands the Seahawks on the as we enter week 17 of the NFL season need a win and a little bit of help to get into the playoffs. But I would make the case, Your Honor, that without Russell Wilson as their quarterback, this would be a 5-10 team headed into week 17 at best.

And what is more valuable than that? Sir, the Seahawks struggled at times this year and might not even make the playoffs. How does that make Wilson an MVP? Yes, Your Honor, the Seattle Seahawks have struggled a little bit the past two weeks. It's true. They managed only 149 yards against the Los Angeles Rams two weeks ago in a game that they lost. They managed only 136 total yards against the Dallas Cowboys last week in what was essentially an elimination game. And they were one and1 in those two games. But in the win over Dallas, Russell Wilson took advantage of some mistakes

by the Dallas Cowboys, capitalized on those through two touchdown passes. That's what players do. That's what great players do. They capitalize when they need to on opposition mistakes. Russell Wilson is leading a team where he is single-handedly their offense. And for years, the Seattle Seahawks have been a team built around their defense. But now this defense is now 10th in DVOA.

They've lost guys due to injury. And it's been pretty much the Russell Wilson show. As he goes, so does this entire team right now. And what, Your Honor, is more valuable than that? Your Honor, I see my time has elapsed. I would like to move on to our next petitioner, Your Honor, and that is Todd Gurley, running back, Los Angeles Rams. You may proceed.

Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, in recent weeks, perhaps the name that has caught the most fire when it comes to this debate, to this matter before the court, is whether Todd Gurley can eclipse our final petition, who we will get to in a moment, to win MVP. And the case for Todd Gurley, Your Honor, is perhaps the strongest case before the court today. He is first in the NFL in rushing yards with 1,305. He is first in rushing touchdowns with 13. He is first in combined rushing and receiving touchdowns with 19. He is first in all-purpose yards with 2,093. And he's first in yards from scrimmage with 2,093. And, Your Honor, here's, I think, the strongest case for Todd Gurley,

and it is somewhat of an obscure statistical reference here, but I think when you see the names, the only other names that have accomplished it and in what seasons they did it in, you will understand the weight of this precedent. Last week, Todd Gurley became only the third player in league history to generate 2,000 yards from scrimmage, 10 Russian touchdowns, and at least five receiving touchdowns. The only other two NFL players who have done that are O.J. Simpson in 1975 and Marshall Falk in the years 2000 and 2001. And with respect to Mr. Falk, in the year

2000, he won this award. In the year 2001, he was named the Pro Football Writers Association MVP. So given that strong precedent, Your Honor, I believe Todd Gurley may have the strongest case for MVP. Sir, isn't your argument more one outlining why Sean McVay is Coach of the Year and not why Gurley is MVP? Your Honor, I would posit that Todd Gurley is the player that made all of this happen for the Los Angeles Rams. Sean McVay deserves a tremendous amount of credit for what he has done with this team,

with this offense, the way he's developed Jared Goff this year. But Todd Gurley is the player that made that possible from his ability as a receiver out of the backfield to his ability as a runner to take pressure off Jared Goff. That has been critical to the offensive success for the Los Angeles Rams and he is a huge reason why Goff has developed and he is a huge reason why Sean McVay is a coach of the year candidate because Gurley's ability as a runner, as a receiver, and as a pure offensive threat have enabled Sean McVay to do things

schematically that other coaches can't do. So while McVay deserves credit and perhaps should be the coach of the year for what he's done for this team and what he's done with Jared Goff, Todd Gurley is a major reason for that. Your Honor, now I would like to move to our final petitioner, Tom Brady. Please proceed. And over the course of a storied and legendary career, Tom Brady is perhaps playing his best football at the age of 40, right before our very eyes. This year, he leads the league in completions.

He leads the league in passing yards. He leads the league in passing yards per game with 292.5. With respect to passing yards, Your Honor, 4,387. 367 completions, Your Honor. He is first in yards per attempt with 8.1. He is first in completions per game. And when I mentioned a storied legendary career, Your Honor, over the course of his career, Tom Grady has put up great numbers year after year. But this season, he has career highs in completions, yards, yards per attempt, and yards per game. His adjusted net yards per attempt of 7.69. It is the fifth best mark of his career. But he is third right now behind only Jared Goff, who is at 7.72.

And Drew Brees, 7.71. Yes, Your Honor. Tom Brady threw an interception in five straight games down the stretch. Not an MVP-worthy mark. Don't you concede. Yes, Your Honor, he has made mistakes over the past couple of weeks. But for only the first time in his career

has he thrown an interception in five straight games. And provided he throws one or zero interceptions on the final weekend of the season against the New York Jets. It will be Tom Brady's eighth season as a passer in the National Football League with a single-digit mark for interceptions. Peyton Manning, who has won this award five times to Tom Brady's two, has only achieved

that once. Only once in his career did Peyton Manning come in under double-digit interceptions. And as a matter of fact, Your Honor, in 2003, when Peyton Manning won this award, he threw 10 interceptions. In 2004, when Peyton Manning won this award, he threw 10 interceptions. In 2008, when he won this award, he threw 10 interceptions in 2008 when he won this award he threw 12 interceptions in 2009 when Peyton Manning was your MVP he threw 16 and in 2013 again when he won the MVP Peyton Manning through 10 interceptions his interception Tom Brady's interceptions over the past

couple of weeks are a minor blip and if he just throws one or zero interceptions, it will be the eighth time in his career where he finishes the year with single-digit interceptions. Your Honor, I now see my time is up. I see no need for rebuttal, Your Honor. I rest my case on behalf of all these petitioners. All rise. Okay, so there you have it.

There's Mark Schofield, Esquire. You got to catch a little glimpse of me in the courtroom. Just a tiny little glimpse. And as you can see, there's a reason why I'm now writing and talking about football for a living. But it was fun.

It was fun to sort of make the case like that. Big shout out to my friend and colleague, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, Michael Kist. He is the co-host of Locked On Eagles. You can follow him on Twitter at MichaelKistNFL. Big shout out to Mike for playing the role of the judge here in today's proceedings.

I hope you did enjoy that. What I'm going to do is, look, I think Tom Brady wins the award, but I tried to make the best case for each of these six guys. Let me know who you think should be MVP. Hit me up on Twitter, at Mark Schofield. Maybe I'll do a little poll or something. You can let me know who you think is your MVP.

Be interested and see everybody else's thoughts. Now, as we sort of close out the show, our final, I don't want to say it's our final show of the 2017 because I will have a post-game recap show on New Year's Eve for you. Also looking ahead for New Year's Day, I'm going to do a little year-end type recap. Get some questions in. Shoot me some questions, again, at Mark Schofield on Twitter

for sort of a year-end recap type show. Something to kick off the new year with. But as we look ahead to Sunday, and we haven't talked a lot about this Jets game because we talked a bit about Bryce Petty. We sort of know what to expect from this team, what to expect from this team. What to expect from the Jets.

Here's the importance of this game though. And I want to look back at 2015. Because in 2015, the New England Patriots were 12-2. 12-2 entering the final two weeks of the season. The Denver Broncos were 10-4. Now in week 16, the Patriots lose 26-20 in overtime to the New York Jets. And the Denver Broncos, they win in overtime over the Cincinnati Bengals. So that sets up week 17. The are now 12 and 3 broncos are 11 and 4 but the broncos have the

tiebreaker because they won in that regular season meeting and what happens in week 17 the patriots go on the road again to a divisional opponent a team the Miami Dolphins who were five and ten and the Patriots lose meanwhile the Denver Broncos they have a home game against the Chargers which they win both teams finished twelve and four thanks to the tiebreaker and Brock Osweiler the Denver Broncos clinch home field advantage. And wouldn't you know, these two teams then meet in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium, and it's the Denver Broncos who win a two-point game, 20-18,

and go on to Super Bowl 50. So home field advantage does matter. And right now the Patriots, they do have the inside track on home field advantage. And in a bit of news here, it looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to rest their starters. Sounds like Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell, they're going to sit down. You know, and so much has been made over the past couple of days about James Harrison and him leaving. And, you know, did he like sort of force his way out of Pittsburgh? You wonder where Pittsburgh sort of has their heads at right now.

But the Patriots, look, they still have a job to do. And they need to do it against the New York Jets. They need to go out and win this game because home field matters. You know, obviously playing at Pittsburgh is a little bit different than playing at Denver. You know, and just to be clear, it sounds like Tomlin might still be undecided on that. There was word here earlier on Thursday that the players were going to sit. Now it's not so clear, but put that out the window.

Patriots need to go out and beat the New York Jets. And here's the thing about beating the New York Jets this Sunday, and I heard this on Pat's Pulpit podcast, and I think it's spot on. If the Patriots can't take care of business at home against Bryce Petty and a 5-10 Jets team right now, then maybe they don't deserve the number one overall seed. I forget who said it over there, but somebody on the Pat's Pulpit podcast said it. And it's true.

The Patriots need to go out there and get it done. With respect to Bryce Petty, and we've talked about him, sort of simple passing concept, doesn't do a ton over the middle. I expect this to be a game where the cornerbacks play a huge role. Because Petty's much more comfortable throwing to the boundaries,

throwing deep down the sideline. Than he is attacking the middle of the field. So Stephon Gilmore. Eric Rowe. Malcolm Butler. Those are the guys I'm expecting to have a big game. They're going to have to get after Petty a little bit. Make him be quicker in the pocket

because that's not when he's at his best. And I think they can do that. And on the other side of the ball, just like we talked about the last time these two teams met, attack the young safeties. They're a young, aggressive, talented defense, but they haven't seen a Rob Gronkowski. They've only done it once.

And Gronk had a touchdown catch in that game. I expect to see some levels, concepts, and stuff like that. But this is a game that the Patriots should win. I think it's a game that the Patriots do win. In terms of the spread, I'm seeing New England minus 15 right now. That's over at Westgate. Yeah, 15 at Caesars. I still think New England can cover that.

Over under 44, I think the Patriots probably I think they cover it, but just maybe barely. I'd imagine they try to get ahead and get guys rested a little bit. Don't want to risk injuries. But this is a game the Patriots should win. I think they will win it. And I think they do lock up

that number one overall seed. Will that happen though? We'll have to find out. That will be Sunday night show on New Year's Eve. I'll be back for that. Also, listen. Before I wrap up. To those of you who still celebrate the final night of the year

in style, just be safe. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. You want to hydrate. You want to be smart about that. And don't stay home listening to Lock On Patriots podcast in lieu of going out and having a good time. Maybe you can bring it, you know, if you're riding the subway to where you're going, maybe you can listen to it on the headphones, unless you're riding with a group of friends. And don't be the anti-social guy, okay? You can get caught up the next morning. That's what I'm trying to say here.

You can get caught up on New Year's Day, okay? You're not going to feel that great, okay? Let me sort of soothe you back into feeling good Cook yourself a nice juicy breakfast Get some grease in there Drink more water Drink more water before you go to bed Just trust me on this alright Your boy's been through a couple of these rodeos

Now your boy just Will finish recording a podcast for you all Sit down on the couch Watch Anderson Cooper make fun of himself. Make it to midnight and then probably just go read and go to bed. Because that's what I do. I'm a man. I'm 40 for just a couple more days.

But be safe. Love all you guys for listening throughout the year. It's been a blast. I will be back New Year's Eve. Until then, keep it locked right here. Me, Mark Schofield in Locked on Patriots.