Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots December 31, 2017 - Glorious Victory Edition

Episode Date: January 1, 2018

Mark Schofield has the Great, Good and Bad from New England's Top Seed-Clinching victory over the New York Jets in the regular season finale.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good evening and welcome into a glorious victory edition of Locked On Patriots, a New Year's Eve glorious victory edition of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield here in the big chair with you on New Year's Eve, December 31st, last night of 2017. And the Patriots, they go out in style. 26-6 win at home in frigid Foxborough. Patriots lock up the top overall seed in the AFC. Again, Mark Schofield here with you. Follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com.

Bleacher Report, where I am the quarterback guy, the quarterback scout over there. Final end of season, end of year quarterback rankings drop this Tuesday. Also check out LockedOnPatriots.com. Over the next week or so, I'm going to be counting down the 10 best plays on both sides of the ball. Five offensive, five defenses.

So the 10 best plays from the Patriots this year. We're going to start that on the offensive side of the ball. But first, we're going to talk about how the New England Patriots locked up the number one overall seed over the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will come in as the number two seed. And they did it with a 20-point win over the Pittsburgh Steelers who will come in as the number two seed and they did it with a 20-point win over the New York Jets we're gonna have our great our good and our bad from this game we'll start with the bad there were a couple of things to point out first we'll start with the Jets just for a second here.

And in a game like this, with not much to play for near the end, the fact that we just simply did not see Christian Hackenberg, I think, tells you everything you need to know about where Christian Hackenberg is as a quarterback right now. I was lucky enough to be on Play Like a Jet There podcast quickly when this game ended and you know the question sort of becomes what do the Jets do with both Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg and the fact that in a game like this with Petty struggling as we kind of thought he would particularly on routes over the middle, the fact that Hackenberg couldn't get on the field tells you all you need to know about where he is as a quarterback.

But enough with the Jets. Let's look at some Patriot stuff. Staying with some bad stuff. And first, Johnson-Batamosi. You're not going to win any Oscars anytime soon. I'm referring, of course, to a play along the sideline when Johnson was on the sideline, Jets were on offense. Pass to Robbie Anderson along the boundary.

Anderson cannot complete the catch and bounce. Angrily spikes the football, which bounces up and hits Johnson in the face mask, who then gives you the delayed flop. Not the best acting job. And I'm a pretty bad actor, so I know bad acting when I see it. We'll talk some more about Mr. Badamosi in a minute when we get to some of the good we saw today. But it wasn't the best acting job. Also, in terms of injuries, just a quick note.

Landon Roberts was shown coming off the field at one point. We'll have to keep an eye out on that. Finally, the last bad thing we will talk about. The performance from Tom Brady. But more so the reaction to it. Now Brady was 18 of 37 for 190 yards, a pair of touchdowns. Average of 5.1 yards per attempt.

Quarterback rated him 82. Not a great game from Tom Brady. But more so, sort of the reaction to that in real time as people start to wonder oh, he's coming off five straight games with an interception,

doesn't throw a pick today, but missed on some throws. And he did miss on some throws, to be sure. But people start to overreact a bit. Let's sort of calm down here. Remember a couple things. One, this game was played in not the greatest of conditions. Frigid game up in Farksboro. He's also playing without Chris Hogan,

playing without Rex Burkhead. The Jets did a great job of containing Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski did not have a target in the passing game. Was held without a catch. They were bracketing him with double coverage on almost every pass pattern.

So they took Gronkowski away. Brady had to go to other guys. And we've seen that at times this year. We might see it again in the playoffs depending on who the Patriots face. But other guys did step up. Brandon Cooks, five catches for 79 yards

and a touchdown. Amendola, four receptions for 43. Deion Lewis, who we'll get to a lot more in a minute. Six catches for 40 yards and a touchdown. Philip Dorsett, three catches for 26. Brady had to spread the ball around a bit. Yes, there were some missed throws. There were some throws he underthrew.

He had a vertical route to Brandon Cooks where he missed it. Cooks was open along the left sideline. Pass was too far inside and broken up. He had Cooks on a mesh concept the second time they ran that in the end zone. They hit it for a touchdown earlier to Cooks. They came back to it later in the game. Brady had it wide open and he missed that throw. So a shaky performance from Brady. The overreaction, just as bad if not worse. I think given the fact that this team finished at 13-3 with the number one overall seed that they locked down today, they get a chance to rest for a week.

Then they can start looking ahead to whoever they play. That's still to be determined, of course. I think it's okay to sort of pump the brakes on the overreaction just a bit here. Would have been great to see Tom Brady come in and throw for 417 yards and four touchdowns in a great first half performance and then sit the entire second half, of course.

But sometimes things don't work out that way. The Patriots got the win, and that was job one. So that was your bad. In a second, we'll get to the good and the great from this game on a New Year's Eve edition of Locked On Patriots. And before we do that, just a reminder, check out all the shows across the Locked On Podcast Network. Some great shows, Locked On Draft, Locked On Steelers, Locked on Eagles, Locked on Jaguars.

You're probably going to want to listen to some of those shows, particularly on the AFC side as we get ready for playoff time. So do check those out. Also, in case you haven't missed it, we've got Locked on NBA shows, Locked on Celtics. It's a great show. You should check that out as well. Now let's talk about some of the good stuff we saw today. And I want to start with play design.

There were three plays in particular that I loved from the New England Patriots today. First was, as I mentioned earlier, Mesh Concept. Air Raid Staple. The Pirate. Mike Leach. Out at Washington State. Loves to run it. I've read more than I should probably care to admit.

I've read more from Mike Leach about that one play than I should care to admit, but he coaches it up very well. Great design. We've got two crossing routes, two shallow crossing routes, one from each side of the field. You can do a lot of cool stuff on the outside with it as well. But at its core, it's those two crossing routes, two shallow crossing routes, one from each side of the field. You could do a lot of cool stuff on the outside with it as well. But at its core, it's those two crossing routes. And the Patriots ran it twice in the red zone today.

First time they ran it, Danny Amendola from the right side crossing over the middle and Brandon Cooks from the left. What it does is it creates traffic. When you get man-covered situations, you might see what we saw in the first example. Both defensive backs collided. Both Cooks and Amendola were open. Brady took the throw to Cooks for a touchdown. Again, they came back to it later in the game. Cooks was open, this time crossing from right to left.

Brady just missed the throw, led Brandon Cooks too far. But I loved seeing that mesh concept. They had great execution on it the first time. They missed it on the second, but still liked seeing mesh concept. Another play I loved seeing from them today. That sprint right throw to Deion Lewis in the right flat for Brady's other touchdown pass. That was a beautiful design, and this is a nice example of how the NFL is a copycat league.

Because this is similar to something that Sean McVay ran a couple of weeks ago against the Seattle Seahawks up in Seattle in a game that the Rams won big. Todd Gurley running the quick flat route out of the backfield. It's a man-covered situation. You've got Bobby Alexander, who is dealing with a hamstring injury. What do you want to do to create traffic for him? You run tosser, two slant routes right over the middle. That creates a little bit of traffic. Linebacker Bobby Wagner has a tough time fighting through it. Todd Gurley wide open in the right flat for a touchdown. This was very similar.

Patriots run that tosser with two slants from the outside. Deion Lewis to the flat. This time they just sprint Brady out a bit, make it a little bit of an easier throw. But those two slant routes create a ton of traffic, and it's tough for man coverage to fight through that. Lewis wide open, dances into the end zone for six. Loved that play design as well.

And one more play that I loved. This was a third down play in the third quarter. Patriots had Brandon Bolden in the backfield next to Brady, who was in the shotgun. Bolden to the left of the quarterback. They have Amendola motioning around, and then they shift him back into the backfield right before the snap, and they show a fake handoff to Amendola coming from right to left,

and then they swing Brandon Bolden out towards the right sideline. So you have the fake handoff and then a little swing screen route to Bolden with a blocker in front of him. Picks up four yards. Touch pass from Brady. I loved the design of that play. Another little wrinkle that we haven't seen a lot of this year. So those were some wrinkles that the Patriots haven't run a ton of.

And you've got to think that they're showing whether it's Jacksonville whether it's the Chiefs whomever they're going to end up playing in the divisional round now there's a little bit more that they have to game plan for particularly down in the red zone like we saw on mesh or that flat route to Dion Lewis for a touchdown or in third downs when you get to wonder about that little swing screen with that fake inside handoff. I liked seeing both of those. Other good stuff we saw. Matt Patricia, the troll in chief.

And here's what I mean by that. Patriots signed James Harrison. So all the talk. Oh, they're going to use him as a situational pass rusher. He's just going to come in. He's going to give you 10, 15 pass rushing type plays a game. Why did he get cut from Pittsburgh? Well, a number of reasons, but with respect to on the field,

Pittsburgh loves to spot drop their linebackers, drop them into coverage, drop guys like T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree into coverage, but Harrison can't do that much anymore, so we're not going to see him do that. He's going to be a pass rusher. What did Matt Patricia do with James Harrison a lot today, particularly on his first snap as a Patriot? Drop him into coverage.

Did it a couple of times today, and he had one incredible tackle on a shallow crossing route to Robbie Anderson on the third down. He drops into zone coverage, recognizes it, breaks forward on it, chops Anderson down, forces a punt. So Matt Patricia, the troll in chief, but to Harrison's credit, he executed in that phase. And then late in the game, what did we see from him? Situational pass rushing. He had

a strip sack of Bryce Petty. Jets were able to recover that. But on the very next play, he got to Petty again. Two straight great pass rushing plays from James Harrison. Contributing right away as a Patriot. Given some of how things ended in Pittsburgh, you like to see him contributing right away. Good job

all around there. Finally, I mentioned special teams. Johnson Battamosi. He had a nice play on punt coverage. I dinged him for the flop, but I got to give him credit here. Had a great play in pass coverage and on punt coverage, excuse me, where he whiffed initially, stayed with the play, made the tackle from behind. Also, Ryan Allen, Matthew Slater, again, in the fourth quarter, two big punt plays where they pin the Jets deep.

The second time they do it, it results in a safety on the ensuing possession from the New York Jets where Bryce Petty is slow on a dual slant flat concept, starts to flush to the right. Eric Lee brings him down. That safety set up by great punt coverage. There's your great, your good, excuse me, for the Patriots' 20-point victory over the New York Jets to lock down the number one overall seed. Up next, the great from today's game as well as some game balls. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots.

Mark Schofield back talking now about the great stuff we saw from New England's 26-6 victory over the New York Jets. And the place to start, I believe, is Deion Lewis. We've been talking a lot about Lewis this year who has really sort of stepped up to be New England's featured back, particularly here in the stretch drive. And Lewis with a career high, season high, 26 carries, 93 yards, and a touchdown running the football for the New England Patriots today.

But let's not sell short his job as a receiver as well. Six catches for 40 yards and a touchdown, which we talked about as a receiver. And that makes it two straight games with both a rushing and a receiving touchdown for Deion Lewis. The first time that was done by a Patriots. It's 1964. And Larry Gannon. Tremendous effort from Deion Lewis today.

And what really blew my mind, I'll say this, is the Le'Veon Bell type game we saw. From Deion Lewis. The patience as a runner. One play in particular. A run to the left side. Where he really sort of slowed things down. And waited. And just picked his spot. Waiting for Dwayne Allen's block to get set up.

The block comes from Allen from the right to the left creates just enough of a crease so by showing his patience waiting for that block picking his spot he's able to then burst upfield for a big gain

Lewis looked incredible today and he was running strong to an on that playing question not only do we see the patience but then when he bursts upfield he runs over a defender in the open field Remember when we had Nora Princey on He's a tough runner

That's what she talked about And we saw it again today So great job from Dion Lewis Also The defense This was a great defensive effort today From the New England Patriots And just because they're playing against a backup quarterback

just because they're playing against the New York Jets who finished the season at 5-11 doesn't mean they can really take away the job from what the defense did today let's start with this 0-12 that was the New York Jets on third downs today.

When you hand a bagel on an opposition offense on third down, you're doing a great job as a defense. We talked about the safety as well. Set in motion by the special teams play from Ryan Allen

and Matthew Slater. But it was a great job from the Patriots defense as a whole. Jets, 19 rushing attempts for 40 yards, only 2.1 yards per carry. Talked a little bit about it coming into this week. Jets were starting to get that ground game going.

Patriots defense shut them down. And some guys that stood out on the defensive side of the ball. We mentioned Eric Lee. He stood out, obviously, with the safety. You know, Malcolm Brown, another big day from him. The Flowers brothers. Trey Flowers, Marquise Flowers. You know, big days from both of those guys. I'm going to go

through some plays in a minute. Patrick Chun had a big play. A couple big plays in this game. Lawrence Guy as well. Guys were setting the tone up front. And it started early. It started on the Jets opening drive. There's a first and 15 play.

Brown and Guy in on a stop on a first and 15 for a short gain. Next play, it's a zone read type play. Guy, now Trey Flowers, get in on the stop. Hold it for a no gain. And then on third and 14, cover two look. Petty's forced to check it down. Devin McCourty's right there immediately for the stop. Other plays that stood out from these guys on the defensive side of the ball.

Jett's second drive. Malcolm Brown. This was a great play. Oh, excuse me. It was Lawrence Guy. He beats the reach block attempt from the right guard on a first and ten. Drags down the running back for a loss of eight yards. Again, a third and long, a cover two look, designed swing route.

It's Marquise Flowers in perfect position to take away the swing route. Holds them to a field goal try. Jets third drive. Toss play. Marquise Flowers again. He does a great job setting the edge. It's held for a loss of one. Jets' fourth drive, Malcolm Brown, first and ten.

One-yard loss, stop on a run and play to start that drive. And then on third down, pressure from Trey Flowers forces a check down and an incompletion and a punt. Jets' fifth drive, third and 11. Sack from Marquise Flowers. Great job by the defense there. Patriots have just scored a touchdown to take the 14-3 lead. Patriots force a punt.

Coming back with a three and out. Marquise Flowers with the sack. New England gets the ball back with good field position right before the two-minute warning. ball back with good field position Right before the two minute warning And they go down the field and score Great job there by the defense We mentioned this play earlier In the second half

James Harrison dropping into coverage on third and five Reads and explodes on the crossing concept That was a mesh concept play Makes the tackle Forces a punt Those were some of the plays crossing concept. That was a mesh concept play. Makes the tackle force as a punt. Those were some of the plays that really stood out defensively. Want to make sure I get them all.

Stephon Gilmore had good coverage on a slant route to Jermaine Curse on a 3rd and 9. Forced a field goal try late in the game. Just a very good to great, I'd say great, effort from the defense today. And just because it came against Bryce Petty, just because it came against the Jets,

I don't think we should take anything away from it. And maybe you have questions about Tom Brady and the offense right now, but I think the defense over the second half of the season has really sort of stepped up their game, and it was another nice performance from them. So great job by the defense. Finally, last great thing on the day, the Patriots fans.

I mean, it was frigid. 11 degrees. But the Patriots fans stuck through it. Great effort from them. And look, it was 11 degrees. That's how many pass and first downs the Jets had today. Jets had 14 first downs total. It was 11 degrees there.

But the Patriots fans, they were there. They stayed through it. Hats off to them. And we're going to do some game balls, and that's where we'll start. Patriots fans. It's going to be expensive, but game balls for all 96,000 of you. Actually, let's check the attendance here 65,878 A frigid New Year's Eve

96% capacity So it's just great job to the Patriots. So that's a lot of game balls. I don't know if the expense account is going to cover it, but we'll do what we can. A lot of game balls to award Patriots fans for sticking through this one. Also, Deion Lewis, for his effort today, gets a game ball. And finally, Matt Patricia and the entire New England Patriots defense.

Just a great job by them. And that, folks, that will do it for this calendar year of the Locked On Patriots podcast. It has been just a joy coming here five days a week. As I've said, there are a ton of Patriots podcasts. There are some things that I think set this one apart. One, all the listeners, you guys are great. Two, the fact that we do it five days a week, giving you a daily dose of Patriots information

as well as covering some of the other stuff in the league. But it's a blast to do this show. I hope you enjoy it and enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoy doing it. It's just a joy to do this every single day each week. I hope wherever you're listening to this, you're getting ready for a safe, safe New Year's Eve. I hope you have a blast. Don't forget to hydrate. I will be back at some point during the day tomorrow

with sort of a year-end type show, recap show. Do some Black Monday stuff as well. Until then, have a safe, happy, and wonderful New Year's Eve, and I will see you in 2018. Thank you to each and every one of you for listening.

To me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots.