Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots May 16, 2018 - Processing Speed, Brady to Gronk against Buffalo, and Rudy

Episode Date: May 16, 2018

Mark Schofield talks about Tom Brady and his processing speed, breaks down a big TD from Brady to Gronk, and gets sentimental over Rudy. Oh, and there's a 300th Episode celebration. Of sorts... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning and welcome into Locked On Patriots for Wednesday, May 16th, 2018. Mark Schofield back in the big chair at Mark Schofield on Twitter, inside the pylon, head writer, pro football weekly loaded show. Today we're going to talk little Brady to Gronkowski in Week 16. We're going to talk Rudy. We're going to talk process and speed from Tom Brady. But first, yeah, fire off the killers, baby. Woo-hoo!

Show 300. This is Episode 300 of Locked On Patriots. Oh, we got the confetti flying here. It's amazing. I just, so many people to thank. And, you know, I got to stop. What's that? Oh.

Oh, this is just the 300th episode. Not 300 with me. Oh. Oh, like two seven. So who's going to clean up this? Okay. Wish I didn't buy those confetti cannons Alright so I guess it's not the 300th episode of Locked On Patriots

Well it is the 300th episode of Locked On Patriots It's just not my 300th show I'm like 272 or something like that I got all this confetti to clean up As I said though Loaded show today We're going to talk Rudy We're going to talk Brady DeGronk in Week 16 against the Bills.

But first, we're going to talk process and speed with quarterback Tom Brady. And for those of you that know this show, that listen to this show, you know that the bulk of my work is studying and evaluating quarterbacks, whether at the NFL level for Bleach Report and the NFL 1000 Project or for Inside the Pylon and other spots where I evaluate quarterbacks for the college game and the draft. And one of the traits that you have to examine when you're studying quarterbacks is process and speed. And, you know, it's one of those terms of art that gets thrown out all the time. People say, oh, he's got good process and speed. This guy needs to speed up his process and speed. But I've been doing some videos on Twitter at Mark Schofield in the past couple of days showing different traits and plays from different quarterbacks, both pro and college. And I did a video a couple of days ago on process

and speed featuring Tom Brady. And it's a play against the Raiders, that game down in Mexico. It's a touchdown pass to Deion Lewis. And when I first sort of watched this play way back when, it blew my mind about how Brady was able to sort of react to the information the defense showed him. And to sort of define process and speed at the quarterback position, basically when you look at other positions, defensive end or center or things like that, sometimes you evaluate them on basically a snap to finish, snap to whistle basis, right? It's much different at the quarterback position because at the quarterback position,

you've got to see what every defender is doing sort of in that pre-snap phase because you get to that line of scrimmage. Sometimes you might have two calls played and you've got to run the right one of the line of scrimmage based on what the defense is showing you. Sometimes you've just got one pass and play called, but you need to make the right read based on the coverage. And so from the second you break the huddle as a quarterback, you're looking at every little piece, every little clue, every little indicator you can in the pre-snap phase to figure out what the defense is doing.

And now sometimes the defense makes it easy on you. They don't really shift or adjust either before the play or at the snap of the football. And so that's an easier situation because you can just confirm that all your sort of pre-snap indicators were right. And then you can go on and make the decision you need to make with the football. But then there are other times when the defense either rolls their coverage or they adjust it right at the snap or they you know flip the coverage in some way or it's just a completely different look than you were expecting or there's a blitz or something happens in the moment right before the ball is snapped or right after the

ball is snapped that changes your entire diagnosis of the situation and how quickly you do that determines whether you're good a good quarterback or a great one you know because you can still be a good quarterback but be a little bit Because you can still be a good quarterback, but be a little bit slow in that process and speed aspect of playing in the position. But the great ones are able to make those snap-second determinations and judgments with the football. The play I highlighted, it's over at LockedOnPatriots.com. It's also on my Twitter feed as well.

The Patriots want to throw an in route to Brandon Cooks. They have three receivers set to the left side of the formation. Dion Lewis is the running back to the right of Tom Brady, who's in the shotgun. And Rob Gronkowski is the tight end to that side of the field as well. What they do is the middle receiver is tight end Dwayne Allen. As an aside on the video, I flipped Gronkowski and Allen, so I kind of screwed that part up initially. Apologies for that. The premise is the same though, because Allen is the middle

trips receiver. He runs sort of a corner route and he's got a defender right over him in press coverage. And the defense shows sort of cover four, like four deep. And Brandon Cooks doesn't have anybody right across from him and that cornerback is about eight yards deep. And so as the play begins, Brady sees this defender over the tight end, Dwayne Allen, it's sort of press coverage, and it looks to him like even though it's four deep, that defender is going to stay on him because he jams him and starts to carry him vertically, stay with him as he begins that route. And so when Brady sees that, he opens to that side of the field

expecting that once Brandon Cooks cuts underneath that, in towards the middle, there's going to be nobody there because that defender, that slot defender, is going to stay with Allen. And so Brady starts to throw. He's anticipating that break. He's going to get the ball out so when Cooks turns and starts to come towards the middle, the ball is going to be on him. He'll have space to run after the catch, right?

Well, as Brady starts to throw, that defender, that slot defender, peels off the tight end at the very last second and starts to cover Cooks. And as Brady basically reaches the release point in his throw in motion, he tucks the ball back in. He gets to the point where he's going to release it and he he tucks it back and pulls it down. And that is just an absolute split-second decision based on a subtle movement from that slot defender. It's an incredible play because he then pulls it down, quickly flips his eyes to the other side of the formation where he has Dion Lewis in the flat. At this point, he has some pressure in his face,

but he makes sort of an off-structure, off-platform throw to Lewis in the flat, and he gets it to Lewis quickly enough that he's able to make a move after the catch, evade a tackle, and get into the end zone for a touchdown. And big fan of the show, big friend of the show, Jim Rettles, at studio underscore Jim on Twitter, responded to that video on Twitter saying, quote, that's like Tiger in his prime stopping his driver on the downswing.

Not many athletes can make those split-second decisions. Amazing focus by the GOAT. And Jim's exactly right. And thanks for reaching out, Jim, and for listening to the show all 272 or how many episodes I've done of this show. Again with this confetti. But it's just one of those snap-second, split-second decisions

that make the difference between a good quarterback and a great quarterback. And that's part of the reason that Brady's a great quarterback and perhaps the greatest of all time is because he has that ability to process that subtle adjustment by that slot defender, make a quick decision not only not to throw but to pull it down and then make another quick decision to get the ball to throw, but to pull it down and then make another quick decision to get the ball out to Deion Lewis.

And so when I talk about process and speed at the quarterback position, when other people talk about it, that's sort of a play to keep in mind. The ability to sort of read and diagnose that subtle movement from the defender, get the ball out, make a different decision. And so I wanted to highlight that play. Again, if you want to see this in action, see the video, you can go to my Twitter feed at Mark Schofield or check it out on LockedOnPatriots.com. Up next, we're going to talk play four of our top 10 offensive plays of the 2017 season.

A little later, it's time for Rudy. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this Wednesday edition of Locked On Patriots and yes the confetti is still waiting to be cleaned up. I guess I'll do that when I'm done recording here but before it's time to clean up some confetti we got some more business to attend

to. We're going to talk play four on our countdown of the Patriots top ten offensive plays of the 2017 season. We're going to go week 16. A lot of things on the Patriots' plate as they entered week 16. Chief among them was continuing the big momentum that they had coming off that sort of miraculous win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 15.

Also on the plate of the New England Patriots and their tight end Rob Gronkowski was, would there be retaliation? If you remember back to week 13, the Patriots in that 23-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills, but the late penalty, Rob Gronkowski with his, perhaps a view to his future, the WWE style move on Tredavious White, the rookie defensive back along the sideline.

Gronkowski get a flag for that. A lot of people wondered if Gronkowski would be suspended, and he was suspended for the week 14 loss against the Miami Dolphins. So that was on everybody's mind as the Patriots and Bills kicked off on week 16. And the game itself, while the Patriots ended up winning this thing going away a little bit, you know, it didn't get off to the best start for the New England Patriots. The game was 3-3 later in the first quarter when Brady got fooled on a route, got intercepted by Poyer, the safety, and Poyer returns it for a touchdown, giving Buffalo a 10-3 lead.

That was the score of the game until midway or so through the second quarter when Brady and the Patriots had a chance to perhaps get on the board. They were back in the red zone, and they were facing a situation where they do what they love to do. They get Rob Gronkowski. They split him out wide to the left. They try to take advantage of a matchup. In this case, Gronkowski is split wide against Micah Hyde, a defensive back.

Gronkowski's got some size over him. And so what do they do? They hook up on a beautiful one-handed catch on this throw from Tom Brady. Inside the 20 with a new set of downs. Hey, Brady. Pass. What a catch!

Gronkowski. Touchdown. The coverages that Buffalo wants to play. That's why we just talked about majoring the rest of the day. New England in this formation. Get Gronk outside. You see him on Micah Hyde. And if you're going to play with no safety help, Brady's going to come out and throw that ball, and I think he's probably in there. What's the second foot, though?

Look at that one-handed catch. Amazing catch. He's in there. I think he's in based on that view. Jim Nance, Tony Romo from CBS on the call, and upon the review, the touchdown stood. The Patriots were able to tie up that game now, and they would go on to win that Week 16 matchup,

putting them on path towards not only a divisional title, but of course the number one overall seed, which they would secure. And that play, emblematic of what the Patriots do, we've talked about so much here on this show and elsewhere, getting matchups and then exploiting them. In this case, you put Rob Gronkowski, you split him out wide, you get him on Micah Hyde.

It's a situation where the Patriots feel that they obviously have an advantage in that sort of matchup. And when you look at the numbers on paper, I mean, it's a situation where, yeah, Micah Hyde, he's a good defensive back, but he's six feet even. Rob Gronkowski gets six inches on him.

That's a route that they're going to want to throw. That's a route that they're going to want to throw. That's a matchup they're going to want to sort of try and take advantage of. And Brady puts the ball to the outside. Gronkowski makes a tremendous one-handed grab with that big right arm of his pulling it in, and there's nothing Micah Hyde can do about it. He's in perfect position. He's in good coverage overall,

but it's just very, very hard to defend that type of play. And so for a number of reasons, the potential for retaliation, the fact that this was week 16, the fact that the Patriots were trailing at this moment, the fact that they were coming off that victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the execution and the fact that it goes to all the things we've talked about here at Locked On Patriots. That's why that play, this throw from braided Rob Gronkowski, a touchdown in Week 16 against Buffalo, was play four of the 2017 Patriots' top ten offensive plays.

We've got seven down now. We've got three to go. And I'm kind of cheating because on one of these, it's going to be a bunch of plays. A couple of plays. But you probably have a good idea where the next three plays are coming from. Maybe you don't. Maybe you do. Hit me up on Twitter, at Mark Schofield.

As always, you can find me there. Up next, it's time to go to South Bend. It's time to talk Rudy. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots. Tell Jake to make sure the top's ready. We'll check with the weather service by five and we'll

make a decision then. Hey, hey, hey, hey. What you doing here? Don't you have practice? Not anymore. I quit. Oh. Well, since when are you the quitting kind? I don't know. I just don't see the point anymore. So you didn't make the dress list.

There are greater tragedies in the world. I wanted to run out of that tunnel for my dad to prove to everyone that I worked. Prove what? That I was somebody. Oh, you are so full of crap. You're five feet nothing, a hundred and nothing, and you got hardly a speck of athletic ability. And you hung in with the best college football team in the land for two years. And you're also going to walk out of here with a degree from the University of Notre Dame. In this lifetime, you don't have to prove nothing to nobody except yourself. And after what you've gone through, if you If you haven't done that by now, it ain't gonna never happen. Now go on back.

I'm sorry I never got you to see your first game in here. Hell, I've seen too many games in this stadium. I thought you said you never saw a game. I've never seen a game from the stands. You were a player? I rode the bench for two years. Thought I wasn't being played because of my color. I got filled up with a lot of attitude. So I quit.

Still not a week goes by I don't regret it. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out letting them get the best of you. You hear me clear enough? Sean Astin, Charles S. Dutton from Rudy. Rudy tells the story about Daniel Rudy Rudiger, who grew up with the dream of playing for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Couldn't get into Notre Dame. Barely played for his high school team.

He was an undersized kid, but always had heart. And so it's based in truth. It tells a story about a real guy who then went to junior college at Holy Cross near South Bend, near Notre Dame, worked as a groundskeeper, met D-Rob, played by Jon Favreau, finds out he has dyslexia. You know, D-Rob is working as his tutor, basically. He's a teaching assistant at the junior college. Finally, they have him tested. They find out that Rudy has dyslexia. He learns how to overcome his disability, becomes a better student,

finally gets admitted to Notre Dame during his final semester of transfer eligibility. He's able to walk on and earn a spot on the team as a practice squad player. He's promised by Eric Parsegian that he's going to be able to dress for one game his senior year so he can tell his dad, who still didn't believe that his son was on the Notre Dame

football team, to show his dad that he was actually a member of the Fighting Irish. Rudy's promised by Parsegian that he's going to get a chance to dress so he can show his dad that, but Parsegian steps down before Rudy's senior year, and Dan Devine comes in from the NFL. And Devine keeps Rudy on the team, but never lets him dress, and he's not on the dress list for the team's next-to-last game, which is a home game. Obviously, they're not going to let him travel. And so that's when Rudy's distraught. That's when he decides to quit. And the senior you just heard there was Charles S. Dutton, who plays the groundskeeper that he was working for, Fortune, and talks him out of it and basically tells him, look, you know, I quit. Don't do that.

And Rudy plays. And then there's sort of the climactic scene of the movie where Rudy finally gets on the field. Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Oh, my God! What you heard right there was sort of the climactic ending of the movie where Notre Dame is going to run out the clock, but in, I guess, a bit of dramatic license. We'll talk about some of the stuff they took some license with, but they score one last touchdown rather than kneeling on it so Rudy can get a chance to perhaps see the field.

And they put him out there for the kickoff against Georgia Tech when they're up 17-3. There's a pile. He doesn't get anywhere really close to the action. They let him stay on for the last snap, and what did you know? Rudy gets a sack, and he gets carried off the field by his teammates. And that's only happened one time since. It was the first time it happened ever for a Notre Dame player.

And some of these things did happen. He did get a sack. He did get a tackle on that final play. He was carried off the field. Was there some dramatic license with other bits? Yeah. There's a moment where the captains and the rest of the players on the team offer their shirts to Devine,

saying that Rudy can dress in their spot. And apparently Dan Devine agreed to sort of be the bad guy in this movie, but was interviewed after the movie came on and said, look, that's just simply not true. That did not happen. Senior players on the team did come and tell Devon that they wanted him to dress. He was told before the game, before the final practice, that he would dress. So there's obviously some dramatic license with that part.

But a lot of it did happen. Joe Montana was on this team, and he told Dan Patrick in an interview a couple years ago that while the stadium wasn't chanting, like you heard there for Rudy in the movie to come on to see the field, he did get on the field. He did play in the final play. He was carried off the field. And it doesn't matter what was true.

What matters is this is one of those sentimental movies that if you're like me, even the worst of movies, like take Armageddon by Michael Bay. It doesn't matter. I know what happens. It's not the greatest movie ever. But if it's on, I will watch it, and I will watch it, and I will tear up when Bruce Willis gives himself up. To this day.

Rudy's the same way. You don't even have to like Notre Dame football. I particularly don't like Notre Dame football. As a kid growing up in the 80s, obviously there was a part of me, you got to see him every Saturday, you wanted to play for Notre Dame. I visited Notre Dame when I was doing my college tour. I had, way back in the day, these dreams of playing for Notre Dame and watching Tony Rice

and the Lou Holtz teams. But you get older, you get away from that. It doesn't matter. You watch Rudy. I re-watched this movie just to do this episode. And sure enough, at the end, yeah, it was dusty in there. That's the hallmark of a good movie. If it can get you like that years later, that's the hallmark of a good movie.

And it's a true story. And if you haven't seen Rudy, I don't know what you're waiting for. Get on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, wherever. Cue it up. It's a nice little story. Some interesting people in it as well. D-Rob is played by Jon Favreau, the second Jon Favreau mentioned in this football and film series. Imagine that. Vince Vaughn's by Jon Favreau, the second Jon Favreau mentioned in this football and film series. Imagine that. Vince Vaughn's in it. As we mentioned, Charles S. Dutton, Sean Astin, as Daniel Rudy Rudiger is. It's just a great movie, a great story, a great football film that really sort of gets in because a lot of football movies talk about, you know, guys that aren't on the practice squad, guys that aren't walk-ons, right?

And you see sort of the guy that won't quit, the guy that won't give up, the person that just won't take no for an answer. It's a great story. That will do it for today's episode. Tomorrow we'll do some timeline takes at the outset. Then we'll talk play three of our top 10 offensive plays of the 2017 season. Then football and film roll on. Let's see what movie is next on the list.

Oh, this is a fun one. We're going to go to high school for a bit. Until then, keep it locked right here with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on P.