Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots December 7, 2018 - Gameday Edition

Episode Date: December 7, 2018

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Hey there everybody, Mark Schofield here with a game day edition of the Locked On Patriots podcast slotted into the big chair on this Friday, December 7th, 2018. Obviously can't say that date without thinking about December 7th 1941 a day which will live in infamy the attack on Pearl Harbor just as 7 a.m hit out in Honolulu I mentioned last year that that is a site that I have visited taking that little ride over to the USS Arizona still seeing the oil sort of coming to the surface there. It's something I'll never forget. Obviously, take a moment if you can to think about that day. But we've got some football to talk about.

We're going to talk my expectations, what I'm going to be watching, stuff I've learned looking at the Dolphins over the past couple of games and looking back at Week 4. We're going to talk about some of the other Week 14 actions, some big games up and down the NFL slate. And a little later, some leftovers, some tidbits, some other stuff I wanted to mention before we lock it down for the week. Before we dive into all of that, though, the reminder to follow me on Twitter, at Mark Schofield. Check out the work at places like Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's Rookie

Scouting Portfolio, Big Blue View, part of the SB Nation family of websites, and of course, inside the pylon. Let's start with the patriots now on offense and i think the way to begin is sort of to look back at that week four matchup now remember where we were back in week four back in week four the new england patriots they were one two and the dolphins were coming in and theins were in pretty good shape. Miami Dolphins, they were not 1-2. They were 3-0.

And there was the possibility, the possibility that the Dolphins could take a commanding, a commanded three-game lead in the AFC East, which was mind-boggling at the time. But the Patriots, however, they took care of business. And part of the way they did that was on the ground. The Patriots rushed the ball 40 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns in that contest.

Fantastic job by the ground game up front. You look at the Patriots on the ground. Sonny Michel had a big day in that game. Michel carried in the football 25 times for 112 yards, one touchdown for a lot of 23, which is a play we're going to talk about here in a minute. James White, he chipped in eight carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. He had a lot of 22.

And this sort of set in motion, something that the Dolphins have sort of been struggling with not kind of all season long but it really sort of this was the first big one they give up 175 yards rushed in that game two weeks later against the Chicago Bears now granted this game went to overtime they give up 164 they gave up 248 and a loss to the Lions back in week 7. 188 and a loss to the Texans in week 8. 195 and a loss to the Packers back in week 10. After they come off their bye they play the Colts. They lose at Indianapolis. They give up just 118 but last week in a win against the Bills they give up 198 yards rushing. This is a run defense that has struggled.

And you can look back at that game between these two teams back in week four and see both how the Patriots were able to get it done on the ground as well as how the Dolphins sort of struggled. And it doesn't take you too long in that game to find some examples of the New England Patriots sort of having their way when it comes to rushing the football you go to their first drive of the game they have a first and 10 at their own 34 yard line Sonny Michelle up the middle for nine yards on a power blocking play fantastic execution here here. You get 21 personnel. James Devlin on the field.

You get run to the inside. Like I said, up the middle. Devlin with the lead. You get a cut block from David Andrews. You get a great work by Jothuni to get to the second level here. Inside run. Gate of nine.

Also on that drive, you get crack toss. First and ten at the 950 mark. This is a Sonny Michel run to gate of nine. Also on that drive, you get cracked toss, first and 10 at the 9.50 mark. This is a Sonny Michel run to the right end. For 14 yards, Gronkowski cracks down on the defensive end, which allows both Devlin and the right tackle, Marcus Cannon, to pull outside. You get Devlin on the linebacker.

Cannon, for some reason, decides to block the cornerback. You know, you can think of the old Alex Gibb adage, we don't block bleeping cornerbacks in the run game. But Cannon blocks him here. It's fine. You get a 14-yard gain, first down. Also on that drive, 10-24 mark. This is the play before the crack toss.

So the previous play, outside zone to the right, just straight zone. Excuse me, outside zone to the left. Great job. Everybody flown in unison. Great job by Trent Brown on the edge. Sort of getting outside, getting that edge defender sealed off. Sonny Michelle left end for 13 yards and a fresh set of downs. So the Patriots were able to run the ball extremely effectively against this Miami Dolphins defense. And you heard Travis Winfield this week talk about how they got poor defensive tackle play. So I expect the ground game to be a huge part of what they do. In the past game, look, we've heard about Zayvon Howard. He might not even go. Mankie Fitzpatrick has been great. Our good buddy, friend of the show,

Michael Kist, he had a fantastic, fantastic tweet that he put out, putting together some PFF numbers. And what Michael found and put out was this. Cornerbacks, lowest quarterback rating allowed, minimum 50% of their defensive snaps per pro football focus. Number five, Dallas' Byron Jones, allowing a quarterback rating of 65.3. Number four, Chris Harris from Denver, 63.6. Number three, Buffalo Stradavious White, just 63.5. Number two, Zavian Howard, 62.6. And number one, Minka Fitzpatrick, 56.2. The top two quarterbacks in lowest, excuse me, top two cornerbacks in lowest quarterback

rating allowed, Fitzpatrick and Howard, the two Miami corners. Travis told us this week, Fitzpatrick has been playing more on the boundary and he has been. Now, the Patriots did get Howard for a touchdown. Dorsett did get him on a touchdown late in the first half. Deep sort of out route. It was a red zone play. They got him

for some reason. Howard was using inside leverage and he still got fooled on a route of fake to the inside. Dorsett gets open on the out route. So I think they'll pick their spots on the outside, particularly if Howard can't go. But I think you're going to see a lot of quick game stuff, a lot

of stuff to the running backs. Indy did a lot of that. Indianapolis against them two weeks ago, they did a lot out of quads. They did a lot of stuff where they would go either three by one with a running back shaded to the three-man side. So you basically got four on one side and then just one receiver to the other to really overload things. Sometimes they went straight quad formation. Empty, gone, locking the shotgun by himself, four receivers just to one

side of the field or the other, really trying to overload that Miami defense. Some other stuff they would do, they would go that three-by-one look with the running back shaded. They would release everybody vertically and then bring that backside receiver underneath on a shallow. So you're running off those good corners, then you're working underneath

against those linebackers, something to watch, see if the Patriots incorporate that into the game plan. But I think mainly they're going to try to establish the run, run the ball, work that defensive line, grind this thing out, just get out of there with a W. When the Dolphins have the football, I think the key on Tannehill is get pressure on them.

We saw this back in week four, their opening drive, there was a play. I mean, opening quarter, the 528 mark, they get a play-action play. He gets flushed out of the pocket, passes off incomplete. Another play later in that drive, a third and 10 at the 342 mark of the first quarter. Kyle Van Noy flushes him. He's got Stills that's kind of open, but one hops it to him, two hops it to him, and the pass falls incomplete. What have they been doing in the past couple of weeks?

They've been banged up. They're doing a lot of stack stuff with Kenny Stills, really trying to get him some free releases. There was a play against Buffalo in Week 13, 13-10 mark of the first quarter. They put him in a stack slot and just run a basic spacing concept. They'll do some Haas stuff with the mirrored seam and hitch on the outside. They did that against Buffalo as well.

The name of the game is just to pressure Tannehill. I think the more pressure you get on him, the more he's going to struggle and the better chance you have at getting out of there with a W, which after all is what we all want. Up next, we're going to talk the rest of the Week 14 action, some fantastic stuff, and a little bit later, a little bit

of leftovers. That's ahead on this game day edition of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this game day installment of the Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this game day installment of the Locked On Patriots podcast. And I think we need to sort of take a spin around the league and look at the rest of the Week 14 action because Week 14 is shaping up to be what could be a pivotal week

for a lot of teams here in the National Football League. And obviously the Week 14 got started last night. Titans, Jags. Let's just move on, shall we? It was one of those games where I literally said this in the Lockdown Patriots podcast when somebody, I think it was our good friend John Lamarakis, posted, you know, posted it, you know, wondered if, man, I'm struggling with that word, was wondering if people were excited for that.

And I said, oh, it's a Red Dead 2 night. And it kind of was. But let's look at the rest of the schedule, though, because you look at some of the games on this slate and you see playoff implications up and down. Obviously, we're going to have our eyes on the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins at 1. Some people might be watching Donald Allen at 1,

that game between the Jets and the Bills, maybe not too many. Very interesting game out in Kansas City. Ravens at Chiefs. Some questions if the Chiefs are going to be able to hold off, contain Lamar Jackson, then put up the points that they usually do. Going to be a fascinating way to watch that one. I'd imagine, I said this on the radio

yesterday, I'd imagine that Lamar Jackson's probably going to be doing a lot more carrying the football than any. Probably a chance for them to sort of grind the clock a bit, work the clock, keep Pat Mahomes on the sideline. Another game at 1 o'clock with some playoff implications, the Colts, the Texans, that's a one down in Houston. Wrote a piece this week for the score talking about Deshaun Watson,

his growth and maturation as a quarterback. You can check that out over at the score. It talks a lot about his pocket movement, his presence, and all that kind of nerdy football stuff. You can check that out over at The Score. We talked a lot about his pocket movement, his presence, and all that kind of nerdy football stuff. You can check that out. Atlanta and Green Bay, those two teams pretty much seem in free fall. Carolina and Cleveland, two teams that are technically on the outside looking in but still have some playoff hopes alive here.

You look at the Carolina Panthers right now. They'll need to get some help. Obviously, they've got some teams above them. For example, the Seattle Seahawks that they've lost to. So they'll need to get a little bit of help. But they're currently the seventh seed at 6-6. You've got the Vikings and the Seahawks. We'll talk about the game in a minute.

One of those teams could lose. Panthers win. They might get themselves right back into the playoff mix. But they'll need to hold off the Browns, who at 4-7-1 are technically still alive, as are, believe it or not, the Jets, the Jags, and the Bills. The Browns are technically still alive, but they need to win

and get a lot of help to get themselves into the playoff mix. Saints, Bucs, Saints probably want to shake off what happened to them a Thursday night ago, dropping a game to Dallas when the offense looked bad. They get the Bucs, which the team traditionally has given up some points in bunches, made some quarterbacks look good. So it would be fun to watch that game, see if the Saints figure it out.

Then when you get into the afternoon slate, you've got two and a half really good games, I'd say. Detroit Cardinals, they will play a game of professional football. Then you've got the Bengals and the Chargers the Chargers coming off that win against Pittsburgh do they have a letdown they probably shouldn't home game against Cincinnati the Cincinnati Bengals seem to have a lost season can't imagine the Bengals traveling well to LA so Chargers should technically get an actual home game out in Carson City and so expect the Chargers to win that one. Chargers right now, they're the projected fifth seed, but they need some help to get above the Chiefs.

But right now, it's still possible, so they need to get a win in that one. Bengals, obviously, are going to bangle this thing. You get Steelers at Raiders. Now, Raiders are, yeah, they're out. But they've looked a little bit better the past couple of weeks. Obviously, dealing with a ton of injuries. The past couple of weeks, though, they've looked better,

even though they're sitting at 2-9 and they haven't won. They beat the Cardinals back in Week 11, and then it's not since Week 4 against the Browns when they've actually won a game. But Carr is playing a little bit better. He had 442 yards last week against the Chiefs, a game that they lost just by seven, kind of going toe-to-toe with the Chiefs at home.

Could they steal one from Pittsburgh? It's not outside the realm of possibility. And you look at the Steelers this year. They lost a game at Denver that they probably should have won. They tied a game at Cleveland in the season opener. They've lost two straight. Is there something going on in Pittsburgh? Could they possibly look forward to this game against New England?

Who knows? They're going to be without James Conner as well. It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Steelers lay an absolute egg. It wouldn't surprise me. Then that 425 one that a lot of people will probably be watching. Eagles-Cowboys, a game that might decide the NFC East. Carson Wentz may be getting back to form. Cowboys coming off a mini bye and a big win against the Saints.

That's going to be a huge game to watch. Excited to watch that one. And then Sunday night, Rams Bears is probably the game I'm most excited to see this week. Vic Fangio trying to figure out what they can do defensively against Sean McVay and all the stuff he does. If you want to see some nerdy football stuff, check out a piece I did over at Pro Football Weekly

talking about the madness of Sean McVay, what he does from dictating personnel to using motion to jet motion and just one drive, three plays from one drive where he just strung play calls together in just a brilliant way. If you like nerdy play calling madness, check out that piece over at The Score. So really excited to see that game. Mitch Trubisky coming back.

And what's interesting about that game, you get the blueprint versus the copycat. Because the blueprint, Sean McVay helping Jared Goff develop your young quarterback, build around him, load up for a run, right? The copycat, Matt Nagy, develop your young quarterback, and Mitchell Trubisky build around, and load up for a run. This might be the first of many important meetings between these two teams over the next couple of years as Goff and Trubisky play out their rookie deals.

And finally on Monday, Viking Seahawks, two teams currently in game at Seattle. Always a tough environment. People know that field, very, very tough place to play. The 12s get after it. They get loud. It's always pretty crazy up there. It's a big game because these two teams, Vikings right now, they're in at six.

Seahawks, they're in at five. But a loss and an Eagles win or Redskins win or Panthers win and teams shift. So whoever loses this might be on the outside looking in come Tuesday morning. And so obviously a massive game there. But a loaded slate of football. I'm super excited. I love sort of the December time frame when it comes to the football NFL season because now, you know, like Belichick has said, the season really starts in earnest after Thanksgiving

and we're seeing some of that right now. Up next, we're going to talk some leftovers. We're going to talk a little Alex Smith and some horrific news. We're hearing about his leg and the status of his career. A little Army-Navy action. I got to mention Army-Navy and some Brett Rippon news. I might have to pour something out for this one. That's ahead on this game day edition of Locked on Patriots.

Mark Schofield back here now to close on this game day edition of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back here now to close out this game day installment of your favorite Daily Patriots podcast. And I say your favorite Daily Patriots podcast because, you know, I'm the only one, I think, the only Daily Patriots podcast, or one of the

only ones. So maybe I'm not even your favorite Daily Patriots podcast, but you're listening so i thank thee let's clear out the desk with some leftovers here we'll start with alex smith obviously he had the the brutal leg injury now we're hearing that there have been some complications he's still in the hospital dealing with some infection to his leg. And this is a bad situation gone worse because the injury to Alex Smith was so severe that he had suffered basically a twisted fracture to his spine, to his back, because of the torque that was generated

in that injury to his lower body, to his leg. And the injury itself was generated in that injury to his lower body to his leg and the injury itself was bad but now Ian Rappaport and others reported that he's battling an infection related to the surgery he had in his broken fibula and tibia sources say it's premature to what this means for his playing career but it is being handled with care and dealt with seriously by doctors. Now, that's not good news. And it's a bad time, let's face it, it's a bad time to need a new quarterback. And while on the one hand we hope and we pray that Alex Smith can recover to the point

where if he wants to, he can return to the National Football League, Washington needs to prepare for the potential that he might not be back. And so I don't think Colt McCoy and Mark Sanchez and Josh Johnson, fresh from the AAF, are going to be the long-term answer here. And so where do you go?

Do you try to get Blake Wardles, Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Tannehill. Those guys might be available, but there's a reason why those guys might be available. And so you look elsewhere, and as much as it pains me to say that, this might not be the year to need a rookie who can come in and start right away. Maybe if Haskins comes out, he could be that guy. But, and this is the other thing with washington right now if the season ended today they'd be picking 16th and you look at teams that might go quarterback oakland at two giants at seven. Jags at nine. Tampa Bay maybe at 12.

Cincy maybe at 13. Miami maybe at 14. So there's a number of teams that you might have to get ahead of to get perhaps one of one good options for a quarterback for next year. That's not to say that there aren't guys that could be there at 16 that could develop into starters. Look, a guy like Drew Locke or a guy like, you know, see, I'm still struggling here, but you know, you want to say Jared Stidham, Ryan Finley. Those are guys that I will probably have maybe late first, early second to third round grades on, you know, dependent.

I'm not done with my work by any means on these guys. But they might be there, but those are guys that might need some time to develop. So Washington is in a bad, bad spot right now. You know, signing guys off the street. They got a very uncertain future at the quarterback position. Also, look, this weekend, if you were to put in front of me a piece of paper and said, look, give me your football bucket list.

Give me the things you want to go see, cover, whatever. And you could take the Super Bowl. You could take the NFL draft, the combine, AFC championship game at Gillette, things I'd love to cover. Yeah, sure, those would be nice. Army-Navy. Like, that for me is a bucket list thing that, you know, I've applied a couple of times to get credentials to.

Hasn't worked out. But that's one of those games that before I'm done, I want to cover in person. Kyle Krabs at the Draft Network, he covered it a couple years ago. He said it was just an incredible, incredible experience. Army-Navy is this weekend. Obviously, it's one of those games that wherever I'm at, I stop and

watch because of the bigger picture, so to speak, with the Army-Navy game. So that is Saturday. If you're out at TV, get a chance and watch some of it. Look, these are guys that know this is their last football game, and they're going to go on and do something that's bigger than themselves once their college days are over.

And it's an incredible thing to watch, and it's an incredible event to watch, and it means so much. So that's why I always want to get an Army-Navy. Finally, something was brought to my attention a little bit Thursday afternoon-ish. Jim Nagy, the current head director of the Senior Bowl, who I had been pestering about Brett Rippon, he, out of the blue, followed me on Twitter. And I knew something was up.

I got that followed. I said, oh, man, something is about to happen with Brett Rippon. And sure enough, two minutes later, it was announced that Brett Rippon accepted his invitation to the East-West Shrine game, not the Senior Bowl. And so it looks like what has happened is now with Locke accepting his invite, that gives us seven.

So we've got Clayton Thorson, Ryan Finley, Jared Stidham, Gardner Minshew, Drew Locke. I'm blanking on guys now. Oh, McSorley. There's one spot left here there's one spot left here and it looks like they're holding that for Daniel Jones to make up his decision whether he comes or not

and so Rippon was put in this situation where he had to at least accept that Will Greer is the other guy. I knew I was going to get there. This wasn't going to be an oops moment. So you got Drew Locke, Will Greer, Gardner Minshew, Trace McSorley, Clayton Thorson, Ryan Finley. Yeah.

And Brett Rippin's not going to be there. You know, with Jared Stidham. So for guys like Michael Kist that are in the St. Pete's area, the other guys from the Draft Network that are going down to the Shrine game, they'll get a chance to see Brett Rippon, who I think should be in Mobile, but is not going to be there. And that's okay. Because if I were advising the Rippon family,

I would just say, look, tell them to go down there, light it up, do the best job possible. In this day and age, if you do a good job wherever you're at, the Skeletons are going to find you. So the Brett Rippin immobile dream seems to be on life support, but who knows? Stranger things have happened. You know what's about to happen, though? I'm about to shut it down. Look, we are done until, oh, that's right, Sunday.

I will be back Sunday for your Sunday morning tail morning tailgate show some last minute news and notes some dfs stuff and probably recap a little bit of army navy and stuff like that but really you know it's going to be a quicker show now with the college football slate done for a little while we'll start recapping bowl games and things like that and maybe we'll start working in some draft because let's face it the draft is fun it is it's fun that will do it for today i will be back sunday morning enjoy the weekend enjoy the games on this weekend with army navy and some of the other stuff and until then keep it locked right here to me mark and locked on topic