Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots January 31, 2019 - Take Thursday

Episode Date: January 31, 2019

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Hey there everybody, welcome on in to a Take Thursday installment of the Locked On Patriots Podcast. Mark Schofield sliding back into the big chair for today, January 31st, 2019, last day of the month, last Thursday. Final Thursday before Super Bowl 53. Got a ton of your questions to get to today. Before we do that, a reminder to follow me on Twitter, at Mark Schofield.

Check out the work at places like InsideThePylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, Big Blue View, part of the SB Nation family of websites, friends as I've said. If there's an outlet covering football, odds are, I'm doing some work about this game we love for them. Variety of our questions that came in via the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. You might want to be a part of that for Sunday Super Bowl 53.

Again, hit me up for an invite at Mark Schofield on Twitter, or you can send me an email, mark.schofield at insidethepylon.com. Also, don't forget, I'm going to be doing a special Sunday morning tailgate, sort of at the Super Bowl kind of deal. I would love to hear from you via Twitter, via the Locked On Patriots phone line, 240-670-6016, or the Locked On Patriots phone line, 240-670-6016, or the Locked On Pat Slack channel about what this game means to you, how you're going to be watching it.

You know, whatever's on your mind. Again, I want to turn this show over to you for Sunday. You know, the last game of the season, the big one, the whole enchilada, the big burrito, however you want to term Super Bowl 53. Let's kind of ease our way in to the questions today. And what I want to do, where I want to start is with a question from Andy Likens, again, via the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. What is your game day ritual for a big game like this? And what's interesting is, even though obviously I'm nowhere near the field I'm just like you I'm basically

just a fan I do tend to be sort of a bag of nerves as these games get closer and closer to kick off and part of it is what it's like being a fan you know short for fanatic and I'm going to talk a little bit more about this on the Sunday morning tailgate show. But having watched Tom Brady over the years, there is that sort of sense of wanting to see him succeed because of what he's meant to this organization. So I do tend to be a bag of nerves. I remember before Super Bowl XLIX, and that was the year that I just started doing stuff like this, I remember I probably descaled the Keurig in our kitchen 72 times that day. I just needed

something to do with all that sort of nervous pent up energy. And remember that now, whereas before I could blow off a little bit of steam, say with an adult beverage or two, now, no matter what happens, I have to sit down and do a show. And perhaps that was the hardest part of last year's Super Bowl was having to sit through that without any sort of way to take the edge off. You can't have a beer or anything. It's a work night. I've got to be able to talk about everything that just unfolds in a matter of moments once the game ends.

And in a way, that's good, though, you know, because I get to sort of, you know, savor and understand and sort of study in the moment each and every aspect of the game. I will say this. There is one part of the Super Bowl big game ritual that will not happen this year. And it's not because of anything I decided to do. It's because of what they decided to do. Last year for Super Bowl 52, my parents, who listen to the show, hi, Mom and Dad, they came over to the house for a little Super Bowl party. They were here for Super Bowl 51 as well.

But seeing the team lose, my parents, they decided that, look, don't invite us over for Super Bowl 53. You know, if it has anything to do with us coming over and watching the game, you know, Patriots fans, Red Sox fans, they tend to be a superstitious lot. They said, no, you know what? Don't invite us. So that is one part of the big game ritual that will be different this year. This time, the parents will not be in attendance. Next question to get to is sort of another non-Super Bowl question,

and it's from John Lamarakis, a longtime friend of the show, friend of Inside the Pylon via the Locked on Patriots Slack channel. And he sort of proposes a hypothetical, and it makes a little bit of sense given the fact that we've heard some rumblings about these first two players we're going to mention. And so John asks, If you had a situation, how would you feel long-term if Gronk and Devin McCourty left after the Super Bowl but we retained Trent Brown and Trey Flowers?

Could you live with that trade-off? If you would ask me that question back in August, I would have said, no, not in a million years. No, no, look, you need Gronk for what he means to this offense. You need Devin McCourty for what he means to this defense. This is a defense that uses a ton of multiple safety packages that puts a lot on Devin McCourty's plate.

Obviously, the Patriots passing game, Robert Gronkowski is a huge part of that. What he means to Tom Brady is almost irreplaceable obviously the Patriots passing game Robert Gronkowski is a huge part of that and what he means to Tom Brady is almost irreplaceable in terms of the security blanket that he provides in terms of what he can mean in the passing game and the mismatches he could create in terms of the fact that he's an incredible blocker and we've talked a little bit on this show about how when he goes into the hall of fame he best get a world of credit for how effective he is as a blocker. I've talked about this at length. And so had you asked me that question, John, back in August, I would have said, absolutely not. I'm not making that trade.

We don't know what we're getting in Trent Brown. Yeah, we kind of like Trey Flowers, but we've got other guys in the mix that they might be able to get some edge rush from. So no, I'm not making that trade. Sitting here right now on the final day of January 2019, I'm fine with that now. I'm fine with that now. I think, number one, we've seen what Trent Brown can mean to this defense. We've seen the idea of pressure equals production. We've seen how in this playoff run, Trey Flowers has sort of led the way. I think I said Trent Brown when I meant Trey Flowers, but you know what I mean.

Trey Flowers has sort of led the way, led the charge, getting after Phillip Rivers, putting some pressure at times on Patrick Mahomes. I expect if they get pressure on Josh Rosen, I mean Jared Goff, but the slip-up is for a reason. James Coe, formerly of NFL fantasy, now tweeted out some next-gen stats on Wednesday that when facing pressure this year, Jared Goff's numbers are equal to that of Josh Rosen's.

And so I expect Super Bowl 53 to be another example of that pressure equals production mindset that we've seen from the New England Patriots. And then there is Trent Brown, who I slipped up and started talking about before I segued into Trey Flowers. I think Trent Brown has become the kind of left tackle that you need in today's National Football League. He lived up to every little bit of hype that there was around him, and more so, he's been more athletic. Remember back when we were talking in the preseason, my concerns a little bit about him and his athleticism. He's put those concerns to rest. He's been part of this offensive line, which has been a rock in the postseason. And so right now, if that's the trade,

I'm okay with it. Maybe ask me after this game, and depending on how it ends, how I feel, maybe some sentimentality might get the best of me you know it might be one one of those that kind of moments and I know that some locked on Patriots listeners have been you know talking to me you know in the DMs and stuff about how you know there's some sentimentality when you're looking at this game and looking at this team and thinking about how you know the the window might be coming to an end because of where Gronk is and where Brady is and now we're hearing rumors of Belichick retirement and now Devin McCourty thinking about it.

So we might get a little sentimental in the end, depending on how this game goes down. But sitting here right now, you know, with a clear mind, clear heart, I'm okay with that. Up next, we're going to get more into the Super Bowl X's and O's a little bit, thanks to some of your questions. We've got a lot to cover here, so it's going to be super fun. But before we do that, folks, you've heard my prediction. You know how I feel about this game. Maybe we'll do some prop bet discussions a little bit later,

but no matter who you bet on, no matter what props you bet on, you got to be doing it over at my bookie. Who you're betting on, yeah, it matters. Where you're placing your bets, that matters more. That's why I always tell people to bet with my bookie trust me everybody they are your best bet this super bowl weekend they have been in business for years they have great reviews online and their mobile site is so user-friendly so lay down some cash and win big today now i would only recommend a service to my listeners that's been good to me that's why i'm urging you way to make your way to my book you win they pay they have in-game live betting the most rewarding player perks in the business. And for you fantasy men and women out there, you can even bet the over

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on this Take Thursday installment of the Locked On Patriots podcast. And I'm supposed to tease some stuff up. We've got a lot to get to, but I do want to remind everybody draft season is upon us if you want to be ready for the draft thinking about who the Patriots might pick with the number of picks that they have this year you have to be listening to two great shows on this network draft dudes with Joe Marino Kyle Krabs locked on NFL draft with Travis Sikama John Ledyard those guys do such great work covering the draft you gotta check

those shows out let's get into our next question, starting to get more of a Super Bowl 53 focus. Ian McDonald via the Locked On Patriots Slack channel asks, We always hear about Sean McVay's offensive genius, but how is he at in-game adjustments on either side of the ball? Usually such a strong unit for New England, such a strong suit for New England, but we saw Kansas City completely turn the game around both games this year. And Ian, it's a great question. This may be another example of halftime adjustments matter

because we sometimes see, look, you look back at that Panthers-Patriots Super Bowl, which some people might make the case was still the best Super Bowl ever. That was a defensive struggle, halftime adjustments, offensive shootout type of game. That can happen sometimes when you get that bye week. Defenses get an extra week to prepare for everything we've seen offensively from these teams on tape. And then the offenses have to make those adjustments at halftime.

What's interesting to me, and this is just me, I'm sure others might disagree, but watching McVay's offense this year, I haven't been blown away by defensive adjustments. Part of that might be the fact that with a rookie quarterback or a young quarterback like Jared Goff, it's hard to sort of make adjustments immediately. You might say, well, Mark, well, what about Patrick Mahomes? I mean, I don't think that what Reed did in sort of the second halves of those games was more adjustment as in more i'm just going to start calling some different stuff because now i've figured out what they're doing to me with mcveigh we saw it in that lions game we saw it in that

you know chicago bears game we saw it in that game against the eagles once team sort of figured out how to handle the motion and slide in response to it, but yet sort of take away some of what they were doing. And maybe part of it had to be, you know, girly banged up. The in-game adjustments aren't as concerning to me. I don't think I'm worried about it. Now, Wade Phillips is another creature. He's been around the block. He might be able to figure some things out at halftime. Remember, at the Super Bowl, you get more time because of the extended halftime show. I will say that McVay's ability to sort of reinvent this offense around C.J. Anderson and get away from all that outside zone stuff and get into more of an inside zone team with a guy that runs north-south, that's been

impressive. So his sort of post-season, end-of-season, fourth or third act, however you want to term it, has been very impressive to watch. Next question comes to us from Kelvin S via the Locked On Patriots Slack channel. And he asks, and this is a great question. I saw recently that the Rams wide receivers struggle against man coverage compared to zone. What do you think Belichick will stick to defensively knowing this, knowing that McVay will most likely try to scheme away from the man coverage? Lots of rub routes and quick passes and screens.

And I think it's a fantastic question. It's a brilliant little bit of insight. The fact that the Rams wide receivers have struggled a little bit against man coverage. And part of that is, again, the quarterback. Because with man coverage, you get tighter throwing lanes. You get tighter windows that you've got to fit the ball into. And sometimes younger quarterbacks aren't as adept at that. And so that's part of it.

I do think that, look, the Patriots, they want to play man coverage. They're a man coverage team, a cover one team. They'll wick some zone, I'm sure, to try to confuse Jared Goff, but they're going to stick with what they've been doing. And so McVay is going to need to counter that. I think the first thing he's going to do is get back to the usage of motion that we've seen from him all year long, to try to make sure that Jared Goff knows exactly that it is man coverage and from

there sort of set up some sort of half field reads some quick throws slants screens and things like that where you can either get that natural rub you know motioning into a stack slot for example similar to whether the way the Patriots do it or you just give Jared Goff some quick-defined half-field man-beater concepts, whether it's slant-flat or whether it's sort of a two-man flood or two-man sail where you can get either that sort of two-level concept where you're throwing that out route

or you're throwing that speed out. So I think that's what McVay's going to look to do early on. Try to find some ways to sort of beat man coverage and get Jared Goff's confidence level up. But it's a fantastic question. Next question comes to us, again, from our friend John Limorakis via the Locked On Patriots Slack channel. Who is your biggest worry when it comes to the Rams, whether it's concepts, a specific player, a route design, whatever, that the Patriots will have trouble countering.

And I am worried in a sense about if the Rams do get back to that outside zone stuff because so much of what they've done this year is built off of that. If they can get Gurley running downhill to the edges, it sets up so much of what they do off of boot action, so much of what they do off of play action. It's just a big concern for me. And so I do want to see if they come out and have success with that early, that's one of those, oh boy, uh-oh kind of moments.

It might be a game-on situation. But if the Patriots either stop that early or if the Rams get away from it and rely more on C.J. Anderson, I do think that sort of plays to New England's strength because if they become more of a 12-personnel inside zone running team than we've seen from them in the past couple of weeks as opposed to the way the season started, I like New England's ability with guys like maybe a Malcolm Brown and a Landon Roberts to sort of stop C.J. Anderson before he gets going. You know, the caveat to that is also that great point by Justice Mosqueda, which I believe I've talked about. If I haven't, I should have talked about it earlier. But when you run that outside zone play, the quarterback, he puts his back to the defense. So it's tougher to pick up whether the quarterback has the football or not. It's tougher for that second and third level defenders. But if they run an inside zone and then play action off of that, the quarterback doesn't turn his back to the defense. And so it's easier for the linebackers and the third level secondary players to figure out that he still

has the football. And so if they become more of that inside zone North-South team, I think it plays to what New England does well. So I'd be happier to see that. Last question we'll get to in this segment. It's a great question from Ricky Keeler via the Locked On Patriots Slack channel. We all know both of these teams love to run trick plays like the Rams with the fake punts and the Patriots nearly winning last week on a flea flicker. Plus, we know the Philly special from last year. What kind of trick plays can the Patriots look from the Rams outside of the punter? And Mark, if you were Josh McDaniels, what would be your go-to trick play? I think from the Rams' point of view, yeah, we know the fake punts, the fake field goals, and things like that.

I'm not so sure if they've got anybody of those wide receivers that can throw. And the fact that I don't know, that scares me. The fact that I don't know if Brandon Cooks or Robert Woods or Josh Reynolds, I don't know if they're right-handed or left-handed, that worries me. I'm worried about sort of a double pass situation with one of those guys. So that's kind of the thing that worries me. You know, they start hitting a couple of screens here and there, and then they throw one of those screens where you just see it unfold.

That guy drops back a little bit deeper, and you just know he's going to throw the ball. So that sort of scares me. From New England, we've seen so much with their jet sweep stuff, the way end arounds with Patterson. They love doing it with Edelman at times. I've got to think that something is coming off of that. I know there were a couple of times this year when it seemed like

they were getting ready to do something wonky off that, and maybe they pulled it down at the last minute. What I don't want to see is them throwing the ball to Tom Brady. It didn't work in last year's Super Bowl. It may have tweaked his knee against the Titans. Whatever that play they call it, rip it out of the playbook, burn it. I never want to see it again. Up next, some final questions from you guys,

the great listeners to Locked on Patriots. And then we're into game day. Once we shut this one down, it is your game day edition, then Super Bowl Sunday morning tailgate edition. So get your thoughts in too. I want to hear from you for that show as well. So get those in either via Twitter at Mark Schofield, the Locked on Patriots Slack channel,

email at mark.schofield at insidethepylon.com or Locked on Patriots phone phone line. It is still open. 240-670-6016. Alright, Pats Nation. Now I'm excited to talk to you about our great partners over at Low-KI. You need a little extra swag for Super Bowl Sunday? Low-KI

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Mark Schofield back with you now. I'm going to quickly close out this Take Thursday installment of the Locked on Patriots podcast. Got a couple more questions to get to as well as a couple other things that I wanted to make sure you were all aware of. First, got a fantastic question the other day on Twitter from at gopats79. He heard me on Locked on NFL with Matt Williamson and had a fantastic question. Just listened to you on Locked on NFL with M-Dub. Great stuff. Talking JC Jackson you on Locked on NFL with M-Dub. Great stuff.

Talking J.C. Jackson playing on boundaries as CB2. If so, what is Jason McCourty's role now? Is he playing the slot CB role? Thanks. And it's a fantastic question. And, again, you can't overstate the importance of the growth and emergence of J.C. Jackson over the back half of this season to this defense because what it's done, it's given Brian Flores, Bill Belichick,

some flexibility that they usually don't have in the secondary to really sort of put their best matchups onto the field. If you remember all the hubbub about Malcolm Butler not playing at Super Bowl LII again, what they were trying to do was get the guys that matched up best to those Eagles receivers on the field. The problem was they didn't have the talent to truly do it. Now they do.

Between Gilmore and J.C. Jackson sort of on the outside and some of the other guys that they have in the interior of the cornerback spot, whether it's Jonathan Jones and Jason McCourty, they now can pair these corners with the skill sets of the opposition. And here's a perfect way to look at it. If you look sort of at defensive snap counts over the past couple of weeks, you know, you get into the end of the season and, you know, things flip around a little bit. But look at the divisional round game. In that game, Jonathan Jones had just eight defensive snaps, 11% of their defensive snaps, whereas Jason McCourty used primarily in the slot and sort of in the flats when they ran zone

coverage. He got 92% of their defensive snaps, 65 snaps on the defensive side of the ball against the Chargers. Then last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, Jonathan Jones gets 41 defensive snaps, 79% of them, whereas Jason McCourty, he drops from 92% to 67% just on 35% because, of course, you've got Tyreek Hill, and Jonathan Jones and his speed matches up better with Tyreek Hill, his fastest defensive back on the Patriots. And so that's sort of been one of the keys to this defense gelling and improving over last year is the fact that now they've got some better talent and they can sort of play those matchups. They're a little bit deeper at the cornerback position and it's made for a much, much better defense. Next, of course, a question from a listener we get every week. I'm always

honored that these questions come in from at reluctant underscore trade and Mac on Twitter. Could you identify which offense of the Pats played this year that most resembles the Rams and likewise for the defense? That's his first question. We'll get to his second question in a second. The first question, it's interesting because the Rams have taken on sort of two different identities over the course of the season. For the most part, they've been an 11-personnel, outside-zone-based running team. And a team that I think kind of gels with a team that the Patriots faced in some senses is the Chicago Bears,

because at times the Bears are a similar 11-personnel team. They do some stuff with motion. Matt Nagy, he was hired to be a Sean McVay clone. You've got a young quarterback that you're trying to protect that has some athleticism but still makes some mistakes. So I think you can make a case that of the teams that they've played,

the Bears might be an okay facsimile of what the Rams try to be the most. But now that they've become sort of this inside zone, 12 personnel team with C.J. Anderson, you can make the case that the Tennessee Titans and kind of what they do

and how they try to get Marcus Mariota and company going, they might make some sense for a team to sort of look at. And Patriots fans probably hear that and think, oh boy, probably not what you wanted to hear. But of the teams that the Patriots have played, that might be a good sort of comp for the current version of the Rams offense. As for defense, I think it's pretty safe to say that what they saw against,

you know, Kansas City twice this season was probably a good test for what they're going to see. A lot of cover one, a lot of single high coverage in the secondary. Some guys up front that can get after the quarterback on the interior. Chris Jones, probably not the player that Aaron Donald is, but a good sort of test. Somebody to sort of cut your teeth against with some good guys on the outside as well. And so I think the Kansas City Chiefs and what the Patriots faced in that defense, probably a good prep session for what they're going to see on Super Bowl Sunday.

And Max, second question has been there. Has there been a marked improvement in special teams in recent months, or am I just imagining it? And I think the great thing about the New England Patriots is for the most part they tend to be pretty solid on special teams. They truly stress all three phases of the game and so I think they've tended to be solid. Gostelski has been unless I'm blanking on something he's been pretty solid as well has missed a couple of kicks here and there but you know he's been pretty good. Matthew Slater

has been great. Keon Crossan on kickoff coverage has been great. You know, he had a huge hit to sort of jumpstart things in the AFC Championship game on their first kickoff of the game, and so I think special teams have been fantastic for the New England Patriots, as they tend to be. Last question we're going to get to before two other things I want to sort of let you guys and girls sort of be aware

of. Bill Ricetti, Bill underscore Ricetti, great friend of the show. Didn't get a chance to see him down in Mobile, but hoping to perhaps see him at some point during this draft process. He asked, when watching the quarterbacks at the combine, what should we be looking for? How are they evaluated on the field and how much can we really take away from it? And the first thing is the scouting combine is such a controlled situation that you can't really read too much into it. You know, there are things that I am going to be looking for that I'll sort of outline for a couple quarterbacks in a second.

But it's just, you know, a portion of the job interview. It's a controlled situation where, you know, guys like Josh Allen, for example, are going to light up the combine because they can throw the ball out of the stadium. Other guys, the athletic guys, when you look at the corners and stuff, they can jump out the gym. And so some guys will rise, but you can't look at a combine, particularly on a quarterback in his throw-in session, and think, oh man, got to go get him now and ignore what you've seen on tape. And of course, we'll get into the argument over the radar gun and the RPMs. And I'm even going to mention it for one of these quarterbacks now in a second. You don't read too much into it. You want to see sort of a baseline situation.

But in terms of what I'm going to be looking for, with Dwayne Haskins, I do want to see the arm. I want to see sort of how he's throwing the ball, how it pops out of his hands, because I think that's going to be one of his calling cards. I want to see how scheme diverse he can be. For Jared Stidham, I want to see him sort of in the interview room. I think he showed out at Mobile. I wouldn't get access to him in the meeting rooms with the coaches and the chalkboard sessions.

That might be the biggest thing for him, but I want to see him sort of at the podium. With Drew Locke, I want to see his feet on the turf. I want to see the footwork from him. With Daniel Jones, I want to see sort of his mind, his heart, and how he rebounds from what was a bad week for him down in Mobile for the Senior Bowl. For Brett Rippon, a quarterback I love, he's the guy I'm curious about on the gun. A lot of people question his arm strength. They question if he's the guy I'm curious about on the gun. A lot of people question his arm strength. They question if he's going to meet that threshold. I want to

make sure he checks that box. For a guy like Ryan Finley, another guy that I think would fit well in the Patriots system, I want to see how he looks throwing the ball. I was impressed with his velocity in Mobile. I want to see if that carries over. And for perhaps the most exciting quarterback in this draft class, but perhaps the biggest question mark, Kyler Murray from Oklahoma. When he steps on that scale, that's going to be the biggest moment because I've talked about it again. He's an outlier's outlier right now.

We're expecting a quarterback that's going to measure in under 5'10", and under 190 pounds. And I know it sounds almost trivial, but if he comes in at under 5'10 inches and under 190 pounds. And I know it sounds almost trivial, but if he comes in at somehow 5'10 and if he comes in closer to 200 pounds, then you're talking more Russell Wilson type outlier instead of Doug Flutie type outlier. And that might be enough to get him drafted in the first round in today's NFL. So in terms of the combine, those are the things that I'm going to be looking for. Again, you don't wildly move guys up and down as a result of it, but I think you do sort of keep it in mind.

Last thing I want to do, I want to give two kind of sort of real life shout outs to two friends of the show, two listeners to the pod. And kind of interestingly enough, kind of at different sort of spectrums of the life cycle. David Ackman, at David Ackman on Twitter, a tremendous friend of the show, sent me a photograph on the 29th that blew my mind. The tweet read, at Mark Schofield, me and the little man listening to you explain Aaron Donald, destroyer of worlds. His nickname at work is BW for bi-weekend, and it's a picture of his newborn son. That hit me in the feels. I'm not going to lie about it. Getting a little dusty right now to think that somebody would think of me in that way.

Imagine him and his little man now listening to the pod at the same time. That's kind of what it's all about. Everybody's doing well. You can see the tweet if you go through my mentions, and I responded to it as well. I'll even retweet it as well. So you can show your love and your well wishes for David and everybody and

everybody doing well. And it's fantastic to hear that. Another guy I want to mention is Rumford Johnny, at Rumford Johnny on Twitter, who is a great soul, a kind soul, a guy that is a huge Pats fan. He's been incredible to me. He's one of those guys sort of in the fantasy DFS realm that is adamant about giving up that hand, giving somebody the hand up, shouting out people's work. He's been incredible to me in retweeting the show. His father passed away. And Rummy is a guy that if you don't know this, he lets, you know, he welcomes disabled people in to live at his house with his family. That's the kind of person

he is. And he's just a wonderful human being. And I've never met him. I may never meet him, but I feel like I know him and I feel like I love him. And he just is a great person. And like I said, his father passed away and he put out a tweet on Wednesday afternoon that I responded to, and I've retweeted. Dear Twitter followers, my dad loved his cervezas. At me with vids of you tipping one back in his honor. Hashtag please and thank you. Hashtag tip one for Rum's dad. So if you get a chance, for a great Pats fan and a great man who lost his dad, if you could send in your videos to Rummy,

at RumfordJohnny on Twitter, a video of you tipping something in his dad's honor, whether it's beer, wine, soda, whatever, I can tell you it would mean the world to him, and so it would be fantastic to see that. That will do it for today's show. I will be back tomorrow with your game day edition. Until then, keep it locked right here

to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.