Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots May 28, 2018 - Memorial Day Edition

Episode Date: May 28, 2018

Mark Schofield talks about the meaning of the day, debuts "Storylines," chats about a big defensive play from Super Bowl LII and Football in Film rolls on with "Invincible."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good morning, welcome into Lockdown Patriots for Monday, May 28th, 2018. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for this Memorial Day edition of Locked On Patriots. Reminder to check out the work over at InsideThePylon.com where I'm one of the lead writers. Pro Football Weekly where I'm a happy contributor over there working on some stuff on Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson as we speak. You can also check out the video work, youtube.com slash inside the pylon. Follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield, where I'm always happy to hear from listeners and fans or even critics of the show. A couple of things on tap today. We're going to start a new series, storylines, looking at team by team, division by division, and my thoughts on the biggest storyline

or biggest question mark facing each team as we look ahead to the 2018 NFL season. We're going to continue with our countdown of the top 10 defensive plays of the Patriots' last campaign, and football and film rolls on with a look at Vince Papale. But first, a couple of thoughts as we begin here on this Memorial Day Monday, and I hope that all of you listening have had a wonderful and safe and pleasant Memorial Day weekend. I do hope you took some time to sort of pause and reflect about the deeper meaning, the true meaning of today. You know, it's nice to have a three-day weekend. It's nice to sort of kick off summer. I know a lot of you are traveling or probably still traveling, and I do

hope you're having a wonderful time wherever you are. But I do think it is important to sort of pause and reflect on the deeper meaning of the day. And, you know, as somebody who's both of my grandparents, my father, you know, served in the military, whether it was World War I, World War II, you know, when my grandfather, you know, I still have his D-Day pin, among other sort of, you know, mementos and awards and medals that he earned. My father served on, you know, the USS Enterprise in Vietnam. And I'm grateful for their service. And I thank them, you know, especially my father, who is still with us, thankfully, for his service.

And I do hope that, you know, wherever you were, among your travels, among your weekend, you took some time to reflect about those that, you know, we don't get to thank in person now because they gave the ultimate sacrifice, which is the meeting of this day. And at a time when things may seem divisive, at a time when it seems like our perfect union might be struggling or might be under sort of pressure because of the day and the time in which we live

and the, you know, the sort of, I'd say, ability to sort of allow people to retreat into their positions and to sort of root for laundry when it comes to the deeper problems facing our country, whether it's, you know, right versus left or however people sort of divide themselves in sort of tribalistic ways. You know, I do think it's important to remember on a day like today that, you know, this nation has stared down challenges before. This nation has faced difficulties before and come through it because of the character of our people, including those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. And so I hope that you did

get a chance to reflect about that, reflect about the men and women who've worn the uniform and have lost their lives in the line of duty and service to this country. And remember that whatever this nation ultimately faces, it's the courage of people like that that have allowed us to overcome any challenge, whether it's in the past or in the future. And so let us remember them all. Let's start with some storylines now. We're going to start in the NFC West, work our way through the NFC, then to the AFC, we'll culminate with, of course, the AFC East,

being the Locked On Patriots podcast. We want to start with the Arizona Cardinals. And I think everybody can sort of agree that the biggest storyline, the biggest question facing the Cardinals is who's going to take the snaps for them. And that's not just me, quarterback guy. That's not just me, quarterback scout who had Josh Rose in QB1. I think for a team that's so sort of unsettled on the offensive side of the ball with the additions that they've made.

They lost all their quarterbacks that were on the roster last year. They have four new quarterbacks on their roster. Sam Bradford from Minnesota, Mike Glennon from Chicago, Josh Rosen, who they drafted with their first pick in the first round. Their only pick in the first round with the 10th overall selection. And Chad Knopf, who, yes, I'm a fan of. I talked about him a lot on this show and other places. And so that's the biggest question mark, I think, facing this team.

Who's going to start week one for them? And I think Josh Rosen has a very good chance to start week one for the Arizona Cardinals. And part of the reason for that is the marriage of offensive coordinator and quarterback. Mike McCoy, his offenses in the past have been sometimes criticized as being too complex, too difficult, too much going on. Josh Rosen, one of the red flags on him was that he was a millennial. He was almost too smart. He had interests away from the game. You had to challenge him from a mental standpoint to keep him engaged, to keep him interested. I think the parent of those two is absolutely ideal. They are lucky in the

sense that they don't have to run him out there right away. They do have the aforementioned Bradford and Glennon, who they can run out there week one if they want to. They could play it slow with Josh Rosen. But I think what they're going to find out as we get into sort of training camp and mini camp and things like that, Rosen's going to be the guy that you're going to have to keep off the field because he's going to push for that job. Rosen's going to be the guy that you're going to have to keep off the field because he's going to push for that job. He's already saying the right things. I think he's going to approach this the right way.

I think Josh Rosen starts week one for the Arizona Cardinals, but who starts week one for them is sort of the biggest storyline as they look ahead to training camp. Looking around this division, perhaps no team made as many moves this offseason to get themselves into a position to go beyond where they were last year than the Los Angeles Rams.

And can they achieve that? Can they live up to the hype that is building around the Los Angeles Rams right now? I think that's the biggest storyline. How far can they go? Can they make it to an NFC Championship game? Can they make it to a Super Bowl? You look at the additions on the defensive side of the ball.

Add in Aqib Tlaib. Add in Adamic and Sue. I've heard from some people who are out at OTAs for the Rams, watching them, that Sue looks like a madman right now. Just a man possessed. You add Marcus Peters as well. You bring in some help through the draft on the offensive side of the ball as well. You had Joseph Knopum from TCU, Brian Allen, an interior offensive lineman.

They didn't have a ton of picks, but they added some nice pieces. John Kelly, the running back, who maybe doesn't get a ton of time for that, but a lot of people were really high on John Kelly. Luis Perez, the Division II quarterback, got invited to rookie mini camp, rookie tryout, and now he has a training camp invite. So a lot of things to watch on the Rams. But I think the ultimate question with them is can they live up to the hype now? Oh, I forgot the Tigre Scales too, who I loved from Indiana. So

I think that the Rams on paper look so talented. Brandon Cooks, and tell me you saw that video that was floating around of Sean McVay being blown away by Brandon Cooks' speed, just talking of Jared Goff to Wade Phillips, anybody who would listen how fast he looked. And I know as Patriots fans, you probably don't want to hear that. The hype is real about the Rams. Now, can they live up to it? That's the question. Speaking of hype, is the hype over Jimmy Garoppolo real?

That's the question facing the San Francisco 49ers right now because that certainly took off once Garoppolo took over. And now we're seeing sort of quarterback lists, quarterback rankings that have Garoppolo as maybe a top 10, top 8 quarterback in the National Football League based upon the limited action that he saw last year. I know a lot of Patriots fans probably believe that he's playing at such a level, and he is that good.

But now you look at some of the additions they've added. Mike McGlinchey, they had a nice tackle so that offensive line gets a boost. level and he is that good but now you look at some of the additions they've added mike mclinchy they had a nice tackle so that offensive line gets a boost dante pettis in the second round a nice addition to their receiver core a lot of people you know brad kelly who does some good work somebody you should probably be following on twitter he's a pats fan so he's definitely worth the follow there but he does tremendous work sort of studying and evaluating wide receivers he is at brad kelly 17 he was a wide receiver in college so you can definitely and he's coaching the position now as well at the high school level so he knows what he's talking about

he had pettis as his wide receiver one and so i think that that speaks to how good he could be and so looking at the additions that they made f Fred Warner, who we talked about on this show on the defensive side of the ball, this could be a really, really good team. But is the Garoppolo hype merited? I think we're going to find out what it is. And finally, the Seattle Seahawks,

the team that has been good for years, the Legion of Boom, now this is Russell Wilson's team. You know, the Legion of Boom has undergone some changes. Richard Sherman's gone. They still have Cam Chancellor. They still have Earl Thomas. But there are some different names on the defensive side of the ball.

They add Rashad Penny in the first round, who I know was kind of a pick that Raised some eyebrows But this is Russell Wilson's team And the big question is Can they protect him? They didn't really add a ton In terms of offensive line help They have Jamarco Jones

They draft him in the fifth round They need to make sure That they can keep Russell Wilson upright Because behind him they have Austin Davisco Jones. They draft him in the fifth round. They need to make sure that they can keep Russell Wilson upright because behind him they have Austin Davis and Alex Magoo, who I talked about on this show, who I like a lot. And Alex Magoo could win the backup job. I think that's a really great spot that he landed in. But can they keep Russell Wilson upright? And can they, I can't believe what I said,

can they stay competitive in the NFC West? Obviously, we're looking at Arizona being a couple years away, but the Rams look loaded. The 49ers seem like if Garoppolo lives up to the hype, they could be extremely competitive. Are the Seahawks the third best team in this division? I guess we're going to find out. Those are some NFC West storylines, kind of where my head's at looking at these teams.

Up ahead, play eight in our countdown of the top 10 defensive plays of the 2017-2018 Patriots season. And then we're going to look at the 2006 film Invincible. That's all ahead with me, Mark Schofield, and Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you on this Memorial Day edition of Locked On Patriots. We're going to talk now a little defensive highlights from the 2017-2018 Patriots season. We're counting

down our top 10 defensive plays of the Patriots prior campaign. We're on play 8 now. Just to recap briefly, play 10, Jonathan Jones against the New Orleans Saints back in week two. He had two impressive pass breakups in that game. Play number nine, Eric Lee, his early interception on the goal line against the Buffalo Bills

when the Bills and the Patriots met for the first time last season, the first game being up in Buffalo. This was a pretty important play early in that game to help set the tone for that regular season matchup. And we're going to have a little bit of symmetry here with play eight, because if you remember to our countdown of the top 10 offensive plays, play eight was a play Tom Brady and Robert Gronkowski in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 52 to give the Patriots finally their first and short-lived and only lead of Super Bowl 52. So here at playout on the defensive countdown,

our one and only defensive play from Super Bowl 52. And it's an interception by Deron Harmon, mid-minute, well, I guess about the five-minute mark or so of the second quarter, thanks in large part to help and a big assist from Stephon Gilmore. From the 44 on first down, foals going deep down the sideline, and it is jutted and intercepted by Harmon

at the three-yard line. Jeffrey couldn't handle it, and New England gets the takeaway on a deflection into the arms of Harmon. First turnover of the game. He couldn't one-hand it. New England has the ball. Al Michaels, Chris Collinsworth there on the call for NBC. And this play comes with about 5 minutes and 14 seconds left in the second quarter of Super Bowl 52.

Eagles face in a first and 10 at the Patriots 43-yard line. And they look to take a deep shot. They put Alshon Jeffrey out to the right. He's matched up against Stephon Gilmore. And Foles basically just takes a deep shot. They put Alshon Jeffrey out to the right. He's matched up against Stephon Gilmore. And Foles basically just takes a deep shot here. Gilmore is in coverage. Has good inside leverage here. He's right with him in phase as we talked about a couple of days ago.

And it's basically a jump ball. And Jeffrey looks to have the inside track on it because Foles puts it in a pretty good spot. But Gilmore does not give up on the play. He keeps fighting through, and he fights sort of up through the pocket like we talked about that Matt Patricia clinic. He gets sort of, as they're fighting for it,

rips at it with both hands. He tips it into the air, and Harmon rotating it over from the safety spot is able to get there off the tip, off the deflection, pick the ball off, get both feet down, and get race and upfield perhaps with a chance to get some additional yardage. And this comes when it's 15-6. The Eagles have the lead. They're looking to add more.

And so the fact that the Patriots are able to force a turnover here, it was a big moment in that game because when that pick is made, you're thinking if you rule anything like me, okay, now they're going to get a chance. They're going to go down the field. They're going to score. They're going to sort of take the lead, go it into halftime. It's going to be great, right?

Well, that's kind of what happened. Patriots go downfield. James White, left guard, 26 yards, touchdown. Kostelski misses the extra point. So now it's 15-12. And what happens after that? Well, Eagles go right down the field and score. And they get the extra point.

So it's 22-12. At the moment this interception happened, I'm thinking, hey, it's going to be great. And they do. They go down the field. They score. Everything's going to be great. But they miss the extra point.

The Eagles come right back and score. It's just emblematic of how that game basically shook out in the end because the Eagles, yeah, they made the mistake here. Got a good defensive play from Harmon and Gilmore. Patriots couldn't fully take advantage of it. That's the situation. You get a turnover slash stop. You want to score and then force another three out, get another stop.

It really changed the course of that game. Patriots couldn't fulfill all of that. And in the end, they couldn't fulfill their Super Bowl dreams. But it's still a big play. So it's our eighth play on our countdown of the top 10 Patriots defensive plays of the 2017-2018 season. Up next, we're going to continue with football and film. I'm going to talk about Invincible, the 2006 movie starring Mark Wahlberg

covering the life of Vince Papale, a Sandlot football player turned Philadelphia Eagle. That's ahead with me, Mark Schofield and Locked on Patriots. Just want to thank you for sticking with me for this long, Coach. Why don't you hang on to that for a few more months? Welcome to the Eagles. Where's the last time you've gone two days without you needing a jump? Sorry, I tried peeping.

You kidding me? This car's worse than yours. You'd both be stuck here. Your cable's good. Looks like you got a charge. Hey, buddy, you sure this thing won't start? You kidding me? You kidding with me right now? Nope.

You're a freaking eagle, aren't you? You're a freaking Philadelphia eagle! I wanted you in there first. This is huge. This is bigger than when Tony Pantolato came back from Nantes with the Bronze Star. Give me the keys. Go to Max's. You're buying.

Hey, how you doing with the strike and everything, all right? I'm good now. I'm good now. Philadelphia Eagles! That right there, Greg Kinnear as Eagles coach Dick Vermeule and Mark Wahlberg as new Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale from the 2006 film Invincible. And this movie tells the story, a true story about Vince Papali,

who comes to an open tryout for the Philadelphia Eagles. He's a guy a little bit down on his luck in life and makes the team. And that scene right there is when, you know, Papali, he's fighting for the last roster spot with a veteran. He goes into Dick Vermeule's office, convinced that he's going to lose his spot. He's going to get cut. He's turning in his playbook. And Vermeule tells him, you're going to need this because you're now an Eagle.

And what does he do? He calls one of his buddies under the guise of he needs a jump start, you know, at the parking lot at Veterans Stadium. But he doesn't need a jump start. He just wanted to tell him first that he was a new member of the Philadelphia Eagles. And I love this movie for a couple of different reasons. Obviously, any sort of true heartwarming underdog story, that gets to me.

I mean, I still, you know, Rocky and movies like that still love him to this day, except for Rocky V, that didn't happen. Rocky IV, though, that still stands, even though it's a strange sort of look at the Cold War and thought that Rocky could end the Cold War by himself. But that's enough. Back to Invincible.

I like the football scenes. And I like the special team scenes I thought were really well done. Sort of the climactic, so to speak, game against the Giants at the end of the movie. You see some of the tackles on kickoff returns. And Vipalli, running his lane, running his alley. I thought those scenes were really well done. Football scenes are tough to shoot from a movie perspective. Special team scenes are tough to shoot, especially kickoffs,

because you've got a lot of moving parts like you do in any play. But it's spread out, but you want to sort of capture the one-to-one aspect to a lot of those moments and so I thought the football scenes were done the ultimate play in this movie is sort of the you know the big hit fumble touchdown by Papali And I'm going to play the audio from that now. What you don't really get to really feel is, just from the audio, is how they set this up. They set it up with an early meeting, early in the training camp, where he's meeting with, he's rooming with the center,

and the center sort of like grabs him by the throat at one point, drags him down near floor level, and then gets in a three-point stance. And he asks him, what color are my knuckles? And they show the guy's knuckles, and they're white. And he's like, if it's white, it means I'm attacking you. And then he like eases off and eases back a bit. Now I'm not white.

Now they're not white. That means I'm not coming after you. And then you come to this moment, and Papali sees white knuckles when he's on the punt team on the end, and he knows that the Giants are going to come after them. They're going to try to block this punt, so he helps call an audible. They change it pre-snap.

They change their protection call and how they're handling this punt. It gets Papali a free release down the field, and, well, you'll hear the rest. Watch for the Giants to go for the block it appears the Eagles are calling a last-second audible, changing the play. What the hell is he doing? Here we go, kids. On the face. And McCally with a tremendous break on the ball.

Buffalo! Come on, Vince. Come on, Vince. He got the ball! The power is at the 40! The 30! The 20! the 10. Go, go, go, that's it. Unbelievable.

This is just unbelievable! So there's the audio from that play. And obviously there's a lot of other stuff in this movie. The relationships that he goes through. His buddies and his dad. In that scene, you've got his friends and his new girlfriend at the game who's a Giants fan obviously getting some grief in the stands from wearing a Giants shirt to Veterans Stadium to watch this game you've got his dad at a bar with with his buddies watching the game and so between the way they do the football scenes and how they sort of set them

up and handle some of the nuance of them to how they do the football scenes themselves to the fact that there's the sentimental nature of this movie and the fact that it's a true story. I think it hits a lot of the notes you want to see from a good football movie, from a good sports movie, and I'm a big fan of it. And so, you know, I couldn't do any sort of top 20, let alone perhaps even a top 10 countdown of the best football movies without including Invincible. I think it's a fantastic film. If you haven't seen it, check it out right now.

That will do it for today's Memorial Day show. I do, again, hope all of the listeners out there have had a fantastic, safe, happy Memorial Day weekend. I do hope you got a chance to reflect for a few minutes, for just a few moments, about the deeper meaning of the day. I think it's important to do that. Important to remember that while at times, you know, things might seem difficult, things might seem hard here in the States, while it might seem like the fabric of the nation might be under stress and strain right now as sides are fighting all the time and there's constant back and forth and bickering and it can be hard at times. But remember that the character of this nation underlying it, it's still great.

The state of our union is still strong, even as we strive every single day to make it a more perfect union as we all should be trying to do. That will do it for today's show. I will be back tomorrow. Until then, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.