Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots June 6, 2018 - AFC West Storylines, Back-to-Back Sacks and "Brian's Song"

Episode Date: June 6, 2018

Mark Schofield talks about some AFC West Storylines, breaks down two quick sacks against the Titans and warns listeners to grab their tissues as he revisits "Brian's Song." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning, welcome into Locked On Patriots for Wednesday, June 6th, 2018. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for this Wednesday installment of Locked On Patriots. Going to dive back into some storylines, looking at the AFC West. We're going to talk play three on our countdown of the top 10 defensive plays of the 2017-2018 Patriots season. And then grab the Kleenex. We're going to talk Brian Son and the football and film segment. But first, reminder to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield.

You can follow the work over at InsideThePylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, among other places. You can check out the video work, YouTube.com slash InsideThePylon is where those videos go up, breaking down quarterback schemes and all sorts of fun stuff. But I do want to start June 6th, obviously a date that probably rings some bells, some memories for a lot of the listeners out there.

It is the 74th anniversary of D-Day. 74 years ago today, hundreds of thousands of young American boys came out of ships to Stormer Beach in Normandy, France, and changed the course of history. And the day had some personal significance. My late grandfather, Angelo Paradiso, was among them. His D-Day pin now rests in a nice case, a display case of all of his medals and badges and insignias and emblems from his time in the U.S. Army during World War II. And I don't want to dwell on it too much, but just remember that 74 years ago today, young men supported by millions of men and women back home

changed the world. As I said, we're going to dive into storylines right now. We've finished the NFC, so it's time to talk a little AFC now. We'll build our way, of course, to the New England Patriots and the AFC East. Let's start on the AFC West. And it's hard not to be excited if you're a fan of quarterback play. It's hard not to be excited for the season ahead from Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, I know the Chiefs have given the Patriots some problems, some fits over the past couple of seasons. Obviously, the opening night lost last year. They are on the schedule this year. So we will get to see Patrick Mahomes up close.

But Mahomes now taking over for Alex Smith. And he was a player that I really, really liked. Coming out of Texas Tech, I thought, certainly showed the arm as well as some of the process and speed you need to excel at the quarterback position. And now they've given the keys to him. It's his show.

How dynamic can that Chiefs offense be now with Patrick Mahomes calling the shots and running the show? And what's interesting when you look at this Chiefs offense, at least on paper, it was built to become a more vertical passing team. This is something I've been saying ever since they made the decision to draft Patrick Mahomes in the first round two drafts ago. Tyreek Hill, obviously a dynamic over-the-top speed demon. Travis Kelsey is also a very impressive vertical threat at the tight end position. They add Sammy Watkins as well, who brings you some of that element to the passing game. And now you have a quarterback in Patrick Mahomes who is not afraid to sling it deep,

is not afraid of a single throw in window or pass in lane that he'll find in the National Football League. So this is the chance to be an extremely dynamic offense. And Mahomes might not give you sort of the steadiness of an Alex Smith, but he's more than willing to make throws that Alex Smith wouldn't. And I think that's the key to how this offense can be. And that's something they've been looking to add to the Kansas City Chiefs. Let's go to Denver now.

A question mark there, a quarterback perhaps answered in the addition of Case Keenum ever since Super Bowl 50. And even during that season, the Denver Broncos have struggled to get sort of consistent production from the quarterback position. I mean, you look back at sort of what Peyton Manning did that season. This wasn't one of your typical Peyton Manning years. He was dealing with the injury. He was dealing with the neck, the nerve damage. He was benched for a period of time. Looking at his numbers, nine touchdowns, 17 interceptions. Career low type numbers. And as I said, benched for a period of time. This was a team that won that Super Bowl in the back of their defense. Vaughn Miller obviously played a huge role in that.

You remember his performance against Cam Newton in the Super Bowl. And since then, Denver has struggled to get production on a consistent basis at the quarterback position. Last year, they really struggled. Trevor Simeon didn't seem like the guy. Paxton Lynch, whom they drafted in the first round, doesn't seem like he's panning out, although there are some hopes that maybe it's coming together for him

but now they get Case Keenum who at least will give them some stability at that position it seems like Shane Ray on the defensive side of the ball might not be panning out you've added Bradley Chubb so you at least get some defensive edge help there but can Keenum give them the stability? I think he can I think this was an

upgrade at the quarterback position for them. Obviously, time will tell. John Gruden. Has anybody had a more curious, shall we say, reintroduction to life in the National Football League than John Gruden? I don't want to sort of disparage a Hall of Fame coach here, but I'm reminded of that moment when Joe Gibbs came back to coaching in Washington and took two timeouts in a row to try to ice a kicker, not realizing that it was a penalty. And it gave the kicker 15 extra yards before he's drilling a game winner. Now you look at the reintroduction of John Gruden. They draft Colton Miller, a talented, athletic, but raw, very, very raw tackle with their first round pick. He was somebody that was linked to the Patriots at the end of the first round.

Oakland drafts him a lot earlier than that. Then they draft Brandon Parker. And if you listen to Locked On NFL Draft with Trevor Sickenbaugh, quick shout out, by the way, to Trevor, at Tampa Bay Trey on Twitter. Did a fantastic thing on Monday with Cuts for a Cure. Shaved the man bun, helped raise money for pediatric cancer research. Raised over $3,000. He was part of a bunch of people from the front office,

from Tampa Bay Buccaneers players and on down, getting his head shaved to support a cause like that. And knowing Trevor personally, knowing the attachment he has to his man bun, it was impressive to watch the video, the periscope. He periscoped it live of him getting his head shaved. Had a little girl shaving his head. It was an adorable scene.

Shout out to my boy, Trevor you know if you're not following trevor do follow him at tampa bay trey show him some love for what he did you can find the video if you go to his twitter feed but i digress those guys in their draft recap shows talked about brandon parker who the raiders drafted in the third round out of north carolina ant an offensive tackle john led Ledyard knew people in Parker's camp, and they were stunned, stunned, that he was drafted in the third round. They didn't expect to hear his name called until sometime mid to late day three.

And here he is coming off the board in the third round. Maurice Hurst falls to them in the fifth round. Arden Key, they draft him in the third. Just some strange signings all over the place for the Oakland Raiders. And obviously it's allowed for people to make the jokes. Does Gruden think it's 2014 with some of the names that he's brought in? Will it work? That remains to be seen.

Can the reintroduction of John Gruden to the National Football League, will it pan out or are they going to be in the hook for this 10-year deal that they gave him? That's the main storyline coming out of Oakland as they face a transition to Las Vegas. And speaking of teams that have faced transitions to a new city, the San Diego slash Los Angeles Chargers. I know, I'm still calling them the San Diego Chargers.

I've done it a couple of times in the past couple of days on this show. Are they the dark horse favorite in the AFC West? I know there are people out there, Mike Renner over at Pro Football Focus when he's not doing his work on The Bachelorette. He's out there on Twitter stumping for the Chargers being sort of your dark horse team to watch in the AFC West. And you could see a case

for them. Phillip Rivers is still playing the position at a fairly high level. Melvin Gordon, a pretty good running back, obviously a first round pick a couple of years ago out of Wisconsin. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Travis Benjamin, Tyrell Williams. They've got some options in the passing game at the receiver core. Now, they do lose Hunter Henry. That was a tough loss for him. So they've got some questions at the tight end position. Virgil Green. And then some question marks behind them.

You do wonder, Antonio Gates. Do they sort of look to bring him back into the fold now with losing Hunter Henry the way they did? Chargers general manager just recently said that he's a natural fit after the Henry injury. And so you do wonder if they go back down that road. Henry doesn't have a ton. I mean, excuse me, Gates doesn't have a ton left in the tank. But it might be enough.

And speaking of enough, this defense. I know I talked a lot about this Chargers defense and their defensive front and the NASCAR packages and the things that they do on the defensive side of the ball in the lead-up to that regular season game last year. Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram, they can get after the opposing quarterback. Now you add Derwin James, who they added at the safety spot, that gives you Hayward, Phillips, James, and Jason Verrett. That's a stout secondary as well.

This is going to be one of the better defenses in the league, at least sitting here right now in June looking at it on paper. This could be an incredibly talented defense. They can get after the quarterback. They can harass you in the secondary. A lot of things point to Mike Renner's point at pff underscore Mike on Twitter. This could be the team to win the AFC West. So those are your AFC West storylines. Up ahead

we're going to get to play slash plays three of our countdown of the top 10 defensive plays of the 2017-2018 season. And then I warned you. I've been putting this one off, but it's time to grab the box of Kleenex. We're going to talk Brian's on a little bit later.

That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots. their average over the full course of the game. It's a great catch last week by Decker in Kansas City, though, wasn't it? Yep, it was the game winner, but look at this. Speaking of a catch, Ricky Jean-Francois is able to catch up with Mariota in the backfield. Just miscommunication on the left side of the line by Tennessee. Oh, boy, that was a backbreaker, you can see. Look at this cool graphic you see. He gets up the field.

Does a great job. Quarterback. That's his first sack as a member of the Patriots. And suddenly it is second and twenty three. And suddenly it is second and twenty three. And Mario is in trouble again

and he's decked at the two this time. Marquis Flowers. Flowers is going to be on a delayed bid. Blitz from the left side. Luan got to turn the head He just gets his eyes in the wrong spot And Luan just doesn't quite get back out there

Okay, so I cheated just a little bit But Mark Schofield back with you there And what you just heard right now Were the two sacks of Marcus Mariota Early in the third quarter of the Patriots' divisional round win over the Tennessee Titans. And to set the stage a little bit for these two plays, which I love because they're right back to back, and I love the play call and what the Patriots did from a schematic standpoint. You probably remember the crazy sort of end into

the first half where the Patriots get a touchdown. They stop the Titans on a fourth and one. They end up, you know, up getting into field goal range, but Gostowski misses a 53-yard try to take a 21-7 lead into the halftime break. The teams start the second half. Titans get the ball first. They punt after a failure to even get a first down. Patriots on their next possession.

They manage one first down, but they punt as well. Now the Titans take over first and 10 on their own 23 yard line and as you heard at the beginning of that call from nansen romo eric decker jumps offside so it sets up a second and 15 at their own 18 yard line and that's the ricky jean francois sack and what was beautiful about this play was a well executed well-timed twist up front between francois who starts the play head up over left guard Quinton Spain, who, if you remember, came into this game with some back issues. It was a question of whether he was going to even play. He was fighting a back problem that he had been

fighting in the end of that season, as well as Trey Flowers, who's lined up outside the left tackle, Taylor LeJuan. Those are the two players that stunt, and Francois does a great job getting in between the left tackle and the left guard at the start, while Flowers really does a good job of engaging LeJuan, occupying him. And then when the two players switch, when they twist, Spain does a pretty good job of passing off Ricky Jean-Francois and then taking up Flowers, but since LeJuan had occupied the space with him and Flowers, he was so focused on him, he can't rotate over and take Francois. Francois gets home, sacks Mariota, and as the play ends, you see LeJuan and Spain screaming at each other. So those two

guys aren't in the right place mentally. So what do the Patriots do? They come right after them again on the next play. It's now second and 23 at the Titans 10-yard line. They bring down Marquis Flowers sort of on the edge, that wide nine alignment well outside LeJuan. And they put Trey Flowers now in the gap between LeJuan and Spain. So he's now in that B gap between the left guard and the left tackle. And what do they do? Flowers, who had been spying Mariota for most of this game,

he delayed blitzes. Flowers comes upfield, tries to split that B gap between the two guys. Both Spain and LeJuan engage him first. Flowers takes a step back, shows like he's going to drop, and then blitzes. And LeJuan, who had been trying to help in that B gap on Flowers can't rotate over in time.

Marquis Flowers gets right past him, gets to Martiota for the sack to set up a third and 31 of the Titans' own two-yard line. Those two plays called back-to-back just were brilliant to me because you could see those guys on the left side of the line. They're frazzled. They've made a mistake. Now they're deep in their own territory, haven't just given up a sack. So what do you do? You show them a different look. You use a delayed blitz. You're in their heads already. So you attack them some more. I love that play call from Matt Patricia. It was just a fantastic way to get after those guys using that to play blitz.

And to me, that game ended right there. The Patriots would go on, obviously, and win 35-14. But to me, any hopes of the Titans getting back into that game ended with those two plays. You could just tell that the Patriots were going to have their way now with those guys up front. And that's why, to me, those two plays, they're in the top three of defensive plays for the Patriots season because I just love the mentality, the way they attack them mentally, and it just showed the result that the Patriots got. So, for me, there you go. Plays

3A and 3B of your top 10 defensive plays of the Patriots 2017-2018 season. Up ahead, it's time for Brian Son. That's next with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. You all know that

we hand out a game ball to the outstanding player. Well, I'd like to change that. We just got word that Brian pickle is that is sick very sick and it looks like, uh... He might never play football...

Again. Or, uh... For a long time. And I think we should dedicate ourselves to give our maximum effort to win this game. Give the game ball a kick. We can all sign it. and take it up

in the house. Oh my God. Billy Dee Williams as Gayle Sayers addressing the rest of the Chicago Bears from the 1971 TV movie Brian's Song, which tells the story of Brian Piccolo, a white running back from Wake Forest University played by James Caan, and his friendship with Gayle Sayers, obviously an African American running back played by Billy Dee Williams. They became close, close, close, close friends. They were roommates, which was a first in the National Football League, roommates of different races, rooming together the way they did.

They were different players, different backgrounds, but they were true friends. And what you hear there is the moment in the film when Gale Sayers addresses the rest of the Bears, let them know that Brian Pickle had been diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly after turning pro. And he wants them to go out, play this game, and no matter what happens, give the game ball to Brian. And I cheated here in a bit in the sense that

when you do football and film, you think about big screen movies, right? This was a made-for-TV movie that did get the big screen treatment after its initial reception was so positive. It got produced and distributed by Columbia Pitchers. It had a big premiere in Chicago, but it was later pulled from the big screen because people had already seen it, basically, and people weren't going to really see it again.

But you can't do a football movie list without including Brian Son. It's arguably the best TV movie ever made, arguably the best football movie ever made, arguably, you can make the case it's the best sports movie ever made because of the sentimental nature to it. And when I say sentimental, look, it's one of a 2005 Reader's poll taken by Entertainment Weekly said it was the seven of the top, quote, guy cry films ever made.

And in revisiting this movie, watching this movie again, I get choked up every time I see a bunch of these scenes. And it's hard not to. And in particular, there's a scene near the end of the movie where Gale Sayers is given the George Hallis Most Courageous Player Award. And he goes up and he gives his speech. And if it doesn't at least get a little bit dusty while you hear this, man, I don't know, because it gets me every single time. I'd like to say a few words about a guy I know, a friend of mine. His name is Brian Piccolo, and he has the heart of a giant.

And that rare form of courage which allows him to kill himself and his opponent. Cancer. He has a mental attitude which makes me proud to have a friend who spells out courage 24 hours a day, every day of his life. And you flatter me by giving me this award. But I say to you here now, Brian Piccolo is the man of courage who should receive the George S. Hallis Award. He's mine tonight, and Brian Piccolo. And I'd like all of you to love him too.

And tonight, hit your knees. And I'll be your man. And I'll be your man. And I'll hit your knees. Please ask God to love him. Billy Dee Williams there again as Gail Sayers. And I'm sure you've seen Brian's song. If for some reason you haven't, please, please check it out. Have the boxes of tissues ready.

You will shed some tears. It will get dusty, but it's a fantastically well-done story. Tell them really the true story of the relationship and the friendship between these two men. It's well worth your time. Please check it out. Again, Brian Song. That will do it for today's show. I will be back for a Thursday installment of Locked on Patriots.

Try to do something a little bit more uplifting, at least in the football and film segment. But until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.