Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - October 1, 2019: First Quarter Thoughts with Traci McCartney

Episode Date: October 1, 2019

The first quarter of the NFL season is in the books, and the New England Patriots are undefeated at 4-0. Joining host Mike D’Abate today is Traci McCartney of Our Turf Football to discuss the aftermath of the Pats/Bills matchup, the controversy surrounding the Jonathan Jones/Josh Allen collision and the Patriots first quarter standouts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all you Foxborough faithful and welcome to another edition of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, analysis, and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. Locked On Patriots, as always, is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's show is brought to you in part by DoorDash. Treat yourself to the meal you deserve and have your favorite restaurants come to you with DoorDash. Right now, our listeners can get $5 off their first

order of $15 or more when you download the DoorDash app and enter promo code LOCKEDON. I am your host, Mike DeBate. I cover the Patriots for FullPressCoverage.com, which is where you can always find my written work, and you can also reach out to me on Twitter at MDAVATEFBC, and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on

Twitter at LO underscore Patriots. It's hard to believe that we are a quarter of the way through the NFL season, folks. September has ended, Green Day is now awake, and the month of October is upon us. And there's a great show for you on the table today here to lend some insight on the Patriots bills as well as some of the MVPs of the first quarter is Tracy McCartney of Artur Football very much looking forward to talking with Tracy today and I'm sure that you are going to enjoy her insight and opinions on the 2019 Patriots so far this year is flying by but that is the reality and your New England Patriots so far. This year is flying by, but that is the reality,

and your New England Patriots, your defending Super Bowl champions, are 4-0, unbeaten thus far, and they're looking like they will be in the mix this year for contending for their seventh. But not everyone's convinced, and even though the Pats defense looked dominant once again in a 16-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. It's the offense that has people worried. And look, some of that is warranted, some of that isn't. But please keep in mind, they're coming off of their biggest test of 2019 so far. The Bills' defense is stout. They are for real.

They kept Tom Brady under constant pressure. He seldom looked comfortable all game. And it wasn't because he looked feeble at age 42. Some have idiotically tried to claim that. He simply had an off game, and that does happen, and Tom admitted as much yesterday in speaking with Jim Gray on his weekly Westwood One interview. He also wasn't exactly getting a ton of support from his wide receivers or his offensive line in this game, and I'm not arguing that there weren't valid criticism of the offense in this game. There certainly was, but it can't all be put on Brady's shoulders, and we all knew it would happen. The Sharks are circling the water on this,

and I for one think that's ridiculous. And we all know who. I'm not going to mention names, but we all know the ones that do the dance of joy when Brady makes even one misstep. And for the sake of argument, everyone has to admit that Brady was not able to find completions on Sunday afternoon. And it's true, we didn't see that typical Brady drive to end the game. But Buffalo's defense simply did not crack. They stayed tough all game. And here's where I'll give Tom credit. While a game like the one he had on Sunday didn't exactly light up the stat board or provide a highlight clip that brings out the oohs and the ahs, there's something to be said for a quarterback smart enough not to force the ball into coverage

and play a conservative game, especially when he knows that his defense can carry the load. In years past, we've seen situations where the defense had trouble getting stops, and Brady might have forced plays into difficult situations. We did see him do that once during this game. He was picked off by Micah Hyde in the end zone. This year, he can refrain from that, and that doesn't lessen his greatness, as much as so many would love to argue that it does. It just shows that he's adapting to his surroundings, and that is the measure of a

great quarterback. I believe as much, if not more, than a 15-second replay clip of making a throw to please the masses. But that being said, there is offensive work to be done this week, and helping the passing game might be on the way. And no, I'm not talking about the Stephon Diggs rumors, folks. I'm going to let those be for a bit, because right now they are just that, rumors, and there's no real substance behind them.

Yet, should they become more serious, I'll definitely address them, but for the time being, we'll just keep them on the shelf. What I'm talking about is tight end Benjamin Watson, and he is back from suspension, was back from suspension as of yesterday. However, the Patriots are going to have a few extra days to decide which player he'll be replacing on their 53-man roster. As a standard in these situations, the NFL granted the Pats a roster exemption for Watson as he returns from his four-game suspension. This was confirmed by Bill Belichick yesterday on his weekly interview on WEI on Monday with Ordway, Marmolone, and Fourier. Now this means that the team can wait until this weekend to officially

add Watson to their roster. That delays the need for a corresponding roster move. In order to be eligible to play Sunday against the Redskins, Watson must be activated by 4 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. So with the lackluster production of Matt LaCoste and Ryan Izzo thus far, Watson should be his site for sore eyes in Foxborough and hopefully bring some pass-catching productivity back to the position. That's something the team has been lacking so far in 2019. So who might the odd man out be? There's speculation out there that it might be newly signed quarterback Cody Kessler. He would probably make the most sense. Some have speculated that it might be someone on the offensive line, maybe a Caleb Beninock or a Corey Cunningham. Seeing how the offensive line is thin right now, I would probably say that's unlikely,

but it's definitely possible. However, the Patriots do have until Saturday to make that decision, and in the meantime, Watson can practice with the team. So keep a sharp eye on the Pats roster this week. It will be interesting to see how Watson is going to be brought into the fold, but definitely look for him to be brought in, and he's likely to be a key component in the offense going forward. So before I welcome Tracy to the show in just one moment, I have a question for you. Yes, you, listening out there. Do your weekend plans involve watching football? What a ridiculous question, right? Of course they do. At the end of a hard week, it's great to sit down, take some time off, and watch some football.

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And once again, one quarter of the NFL season for the New England Patriots is in the books. And there's never a shortage of storylines for the Patriots, folks. And today to help me break it all down is a writer and a columnist whose work I've admired for quite some time. She covers the Patriots for Our Turf Football, which is a site that is among my go-tos when it comes to content and analysis. All the writers over there do a great job. I highly recommend checking them out.

It is my honor today to have Tracy McCartney as my guest. Tracy, thank you so much for joining me today. Welcome to Locked On Patriots. Thank you so much for having me, Mike. I'm a big admirer of yours as well, so it's an honor. Well, thank you. I really do appreciate that, and this is going to be a great discussion today, and I know

our listeners are really going to enjoy hearing some of your wisdom and counsel, bringing that to this brief but eventful 2019 so far for the Patriots, and they're off to a 4-0 start, and despite looking dominant in three out of four games, really the defenses look dominant in three out of four games,

really the defenses look dominant in four out of four games, there are some that feel that the Patriots got exposed on Sunday. And having watched Sunday's game, do you feel that they were exposed? Because all I saw was a subpar game on offense, but a defense that can pick up the slack when needed. So I'll open the floor to you. What was your take on the Patriots' performance on Sunday? Well, I agree with you on that, Mike.

I think the defense, they're just amazing right now. They are really, really playing well. And the offense, you know, here's the thing about the offense. I think the Bills' defense, we need to give them a lot of credit because although when I'm watching the game, I'm streaming it because I'm in California, so I don't get to go back and watch over and over and see what's going on. And I have to say, I think CBS has been not very good about camera angles and

replays and the commentary has been awful. But I think the defense for Buffalo played really well. And with Edelman coming back and injured, I don't think he was 100%. So it's hard to say what was going on in the offense as far as receivers. I think they were probably just pretty well covered. Buffalo had a really good game plan defensively. So I think were they exposed? I don't know if I would use that word.

I think that they had a tough defense that they played against, and I think that that was not the case in the first three games. And I agree. I think that's a very level-headed approach, and I do agree that they were not exposed on Sunday. I think they ran into a very stout Bills defense, and again, they just did not crack. They kept the pressure on, made Tom Brady look very uncomfortable at times, and they really kept that pressure up all game. They really didn't get exposed in terms of their defense, Buffalo's defense meaning. They really didn't give any type of a give that you normally see sometimes with Patriots offenses.

They can expose the holes in an opposing team's defense. I don't think we saw that on Sunday. So it wasn't a situation where I think the Patriots were exposed. I think that they did run into a very stout defense, and you were absolutely right. They didn't get a whole lot of production out of the wide receivers. Julian Edelman was definitely hampered by his injury. I know the broadcast, they had mentioned that he was wearing a protective guard.

I think Ian Eagle or Dan Fouts, I can't remember who it was, called it a flak jacket. I don't know why they called it a flak jacket. Every time I hear a flak jacket, all I can think of, it just brings up memories of Jack Bauer and watching 24 for me when I was younger. Right. And seeing that, that's something typical of what you would see there. But in any case, I do think that he was definitely hampered by that.

Dorsett has been their most reliable wide receiver. Buffalo knew that. They came in there. They took him away. He did not have a productive game. And the running game really needs to get going. We've seen flashes of it from time to time, but I don't think we've really seen it click yet. So I think overall, I think the Patriots defense had a subpar game again. And I agree with you. I don't think they were exposed. I think they just ran into a very good Bills defense. Now, Tracy, we did see the collision between Josh Allen and Jonathan Jones. And this has really been a polarizing subject. But yesterday here on Locked On, I tried to address the hit and tried to clarify the notion that it was a dirty hit. In the replay, you can see that Allen came in with his head lowered.

Jones turned and did not lower his head. So I do agree that it was an unfortunate hit. No one ever wants to see a player get injured. I think I join you in wishing Josh Allen the very best. No one wants to see anybody get injured, and we hope he's going to make a speedy recovery and be back on the field very soon. But the hit, to me, did not look dirty, and in all of the replays that I've seen, it only confirms that every single time I watch that.

What was your opinion of the hit, and do you believe that it was dirty, or at the very least, do you believe it was unnecessary? I don't, and I'll tell you, I've watched it many times also. And I think what happened was that Josh Allen, who is known for getting out of the pocket and using his feet, was trying to get to the first down marker, and he was a runner. And he put his head down. He was trying to gain yardage.

And he was, I think Jonathan was coming in, was trying to stop him from getting the first down. Josh definitely lowered his head. And you can see in the replay, I can see in the replay, Jonathan turning his shoulders a little bit. It looked like he was trying to avoid that collision. But, you know, this is football. And when you're going at full speed and you're trying to prevent your opponent from gaining yardage,

this kind of thing happens. I don't think it was intentional. I don't think of pattern with dirty hits. I mean, he's a good defensive back. I don't think that it was intentional at all. And, of course, Josh Allen, I mean, the kid's good. I really like him. I think he's talented, and he's going to be good. And, of course, I don't want to see anybody get hurt. It was just an unfortunate hit. he's talented and he's going to be good. And of course, I don't want to see anybody get hurt.

It was just an unfortunate hit. And I, you know, I feel awful. And I feel awful for Jonathan Jones, too, because I know he didn't mean to do that. Yeah. And you could see that right after the game. Jones immediately showed contrition for this. He said that he would be reaching out to Allen. I don't have any confirmation as to whether or not that happened, but Jones seems to be a man of his word. And if he said he was going to reach out, I'm sure he probably did. Or if he hasn't, he will do so. But you could see the contrition in his voice, in his eyes after the game about something like this. And I do agree with you. Look, Allen did come in lowering his head. It was a rookie, and I don't want to say a rookie mistake because he has been in the league now for a year head. It was a rookie, and I don't want to say a rookie mistake, because he has been in the league now for a year,

but it was a young quarterback's mistake, and it's something that he's going to have to learn. He definitely loves to extend plays with his legs. He loves to be able to drive and to scramble. As a matter of fact, he's very known for looking down. If he doesn't see his first option, he's going to always have that instinct to scramble. And I think that's exactly what you saw. He was going for the first down. Jones came in and I do not see how that hit was unavoidable. Even Tony Dungy in his analysis on

Sunday night said that he didn't see anything that the defender could have done differently. So I agree. I really think it's time for people to take a level-headed approach to this. I think the fact that Jones wears the uniform that he does automatically is going to elicit anger in people and make it seem like this was something where it was targeted or anything like that. If you look at the replay, it clearly wasn't, and I join you in your assessment. So hopefully we're bringing a little bit of, I don't want to say education to the masses here, but just if you still think that there is a difficulty here with the hit, I do recommend going back and actually looking at the hit once more

because it really doesn't seem like there was anything sinister going on there. So thank you for your analysis on that because that's exactly what I saw. Yeah, and you can understand from a Buffalo fan point of view why they would be so emotional and so upset about it. Obviously, they love their quarterback. He's a good player, and they were really excited about their season. They were 3-0, and they came into this game. I understand the emotional response and the

anger, but, you know, I agree with you. You have to kind of try and be a little bit impartial. And I was actually very happy to hear Tony Dungy when I watched the Sunday night game because, you know, he doesn't have a dog in the fight. He's able to look at it objectively, and to see that he agreed with that, I was happy about that, because I really hate to see somebody get hurt like that, and it was awful. I mean, hopefully he'll be back soon.

Yeah, it truly was, and I'm glad that you brought up the point about Buffalo being protective of their quarterback fans, meaning, and it's true. That absolutely is the case. I know if the situation were reversed, Patriots fans would be up in arms as well. You never want to see your quarterback go down. He's the face of the franchise. And absolutely, to lose him for any period of time, whether it's one game, whether it's two, whether, you know, it's always, always difficult to see your star player go down. So, yeah, there's definitely an understanding of the emotion, but after looking at it and whatnot, I mean, you definitely want to be able to let people know that it did not look like something that was intentional on Jones' part

or really avoidable on Jones' part. I think that's really the key here. It's not so much that there was intention. I don't think anybody has been arguing that Jones was intending to hurt Josh Allen, although I'm sure there are some, but I don't think the majority of people that I've seen, even those that are vehemently criticizing the hit, are saying that, oh, well, he did have another option. He really should have done this. I don't think there's anybody that is, you know, really, most people aren't saying that there was an intent to hurt him, but it's just, you know,

whether or not he had other options. I really don't see another option in all of the replays that I've seen. So as always, things are going to take their course and we'll see what happens as a result of that. If there's any type of a fine or anything coming, I don't believe so. Al Riveron and the officiating crew have pretty much come out and said that this hit was not something that warranted an ejection. We'll see. We'll always keep tabs on that and we'll see what that brings.

At this point, we're going to turn the corner a little bit and talk about something a lot more positive, I'm sure. That is that this season has been eventful so far, Tracy. You and I both know that. They've had peaks. They've had valleys. We've even had Antonio Brown arrive and depart in Foxborough during these last few weeks, which seems like it was so far away, but in reality, it really wasn't. Absolutely. So what have been some of the highlights for you so far as we've

watched this 2019 Patriots team? And in the interest of putting you on the hot seat, who have been your team MVPs thus far in the first quarter of the 2019 season? That's a good question. I will tell you that this last game, the Buffalo game, was the roughest for me. It was a tough, tough game. And I'm a very emotional person when I watch football. I live with a – my husband is a – well, he was a San Diego Charger fan. And now he's kind of a man without a team.

But he – it's very difficult to, I'm screaming at the TV. I have to get up and leave the room. I get very emotional. That was the roughest game for me. I think probably I enjoyed the Miami game because I really enjoyed the offense and the defense in that game. I think, I don't know if I could pick my favorite. I really can't. I really enjoy it when the defense intercepts and runs for a touchdown.

That's always awesome for me. I would say as far as my favorites or my MVPs, I think that, first of all, I'm really, really impressed with the offensive line this year. And I'll tell you why. Because, first of all, they're not the starting offensive line. I mean, we lost David Andrews, we lost Isaiah Wynn, and I still think they're doing a really good job. So that to me is, you know, we always kind of have issues with offensive line, moving people around, and I think they've done a great job.

Brady's been sacked three times this season. That's it. I've seen other quarterbacks get sacked three or four times a game, so I'd say we're in pretty good shape there. I'm very impressed with Philip Dorsett and Josh Gordon. I was looking at the stats, and Gordon has 221 yards. He's averaging 15.8 yards a reception, which is pretty awesome. The running game, you're right. We talked a little bit about the running game. It hasn't gotten started, but I think it's going to be a good –

I think Sonny Michel is going to be good. I saw him doing much better running up the middle than off tackle. I don't know how you feel about that, but I noticed that he was much better when he was going up the middle. I wonder if there's any stats on that. But as far as the defense is concerned, the defense has just, they've been playing out of their minds. And Jamie Collins, to me, is a real standout.

So is Kyle Vannoy. And Kyle Vannoy has two and a half sacks, and he was out a game. So I'd say that's pretty good numbers right there. And, of course, Devin McCourty has four interceptions, four interceptions this season so far, which is amazing. I'm just really impressed with pretty much everybody on the defense, to be honest. As far as special teams goes, I think if I had to pick, I would say Jake Bailey.

I was really, I didn't, along with everybody else in Patriots Nation, I was wondering what they were doing. Well, I should never question Belichick. But, you know, Ryan Allen had such a great game in the Super Bowl. And then when they picked up, when they drafted Jake Bailey, I was like, what are they doing? But the kid has done great. You know, he's averaging 45, almost 46 yards a punt. And he's been really dropping them inside the 20-yard line.

It's been great to watch. And I think field position in this game is so important. It was so important in the Super Bowl. I think it's underrated. It's an underrated position, the punters. It truly is. And it's funny that you mentioned about Bailey, and you made some great points that I want to hit in just a couple of seconds.

But staying on Bailey for a moment, you weren't the only one that had that reaction when Bailey was drafted. I was in the media room when Bailey's draft pick was announced, and everybody just kind of looked around and went, what, a punter? Are you serious? And Ryan Allen just almost put in a Super Bowl MVP performance, and he drafted a punter. But when you saw this kid in training camp, and I had a chance to see him up close and personal in training camp a few times, booming these punts that just seemingly were up there and never came down, it was amazing. It truly is, and he's really lived up to expectations when it comes to that.

He's got a very, very big leg. He's got a lot of poise and a lot of intelligence for a rookie, and that's something that is big for Bill Belichick. So for him to draft, especially a right-footed guy, it's really something interesting to watch. And I think Bailey has definitely been a great choice. And I was a big Ryan Allen fan. I was sorry to see him cut, but at the same time, when I watched this kid's prowess in training camp, he definitely looked like someone that was not going to be on the outside looking in in the roster bubble.

And another thing that I wanted to hit on was your point on Sonny Michel, and I think you're absolutely right. Seeing Sonny emerge over the course of the past couple of games, that really, I think, has been a great progression. You're seeing him hit the holes in the seams a little bit better, and they're able to get a burst. I think Jakub Johnson, who has been filling in for, obviously, James Devlin lost for the season so far,

unless he comes back from IR. He's done a fairly good job. I think that having him in there, I looked at him being able to put a few blocks, he threw a key block this weekend, that allowed Sony to find the seam and find a run up the seam for 10 yards. So these are the types of moves that I think you're going to see the Patriots make as the season progresses. And don't forget, we also have Benjamin Watson coming back now. That's going to be a big addition for them as well in terms of getting some pass-catching prowess

out of the tight end position and something that I don't think the Patriots have seen. Putting you on the hot seat one more time, Tracy, before I let you go today, as we look ahead now, we turn the page from Buffalo, and we turn our attention to Washington this weekend. Washington's a team right now that looks to be in disarray, and on paper, again, the Patriots look to be the team that would come out on top in this one. What are you going to be looking for in this game

as a building block now for the Patriots, and also not taking anything away from the Washington Redskins, because we know they play the games every single week, and anything can happen on any given Sunday. So what do you look for from the Patriots, and do you see this being either an easy victory or something that they may have to claw a little bit for? Well, I hate to say any game is an easy victory

because, you know, that always comes back to bite you in the butt. But I agree with you. I think that the Redskins are in a little bit of disarray. And I believe their backup, isn't it their backup playing now? Yeah, at this point. Exactly, at this point. We might see some case cam. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how that's going to be.

But did you watch the game, their last game? I didn't get to see very much of the game. I think they may play Colt McCoy. I'm not sure about that. I do think it will be interesting for the Patriots to game plan because I don't think we really know who's going to be playing quarterback. And I do think that in the game in Buffalo, when Josh Allen went out and they brought in Barkley,

it took the defense a little bit to adjust to having the backup quarterback in there. So I do think it's a big part of the game planning, and I'll be interested to see how the defense plays with whoever is going to be playing quarterback there. I don't see that the Redskins, they're not playing very well. I don't think it's going to be a huge issue for the Patriots, but again, we don't get to see the Redskins a whole lot about them other than the fact that they are not playing well right now and that Jay Gruden's job is on the line, which, you know, I'm not so sure that has – I'm not sure if it has a lot to do with Jay Gruden or more to do with Dan Snyder. They always kind of seem to be in disarray, right?

It is. That's always the case. And I think that comes from the top. Yeah, I somewhat agree with you on that as well. I don't think it's necessarily an indictment on Gruden, but I think it might be an indictment at the top of the heap. So we'll see when it comes to Washington. And much like yourself, I'm actually doing some film watching today and trying to break down some of the things that we've seen from Washington.

Obviously, you made a good point about McCoy, and Keenum has struggled. Askins has struggled. Haskins has struggled. So I think there's going to be a real interesting choice to be made as to who might be the starting quarterback this weekend. So again, on paper, it looks like the Patriots are coming into this game, getting the Redskins right at the right time to, you know, kind of right the wrongs maybe that they had on the offensive side of the ball. But again, you can never count on anything. One thing you have to give the Patriots is they do not take teams lightly. Bill Belichick won't allow it. He'll be talking up the Redskins this weekend like he always, excuse me, this week in anticipation

of the weekend like he always does. And it will always be interesting anytime the Patriots take the field. Tracy, again, I really thank you so much for joining me today. Again, you alluded to the fact that you are in California on the West Coast. For you to do the job that you do and be able to cover this team and see this team with a three-hour difference in time is something I take my hat off to. Please let your husband know that I started in this business covering the Los Angeles Chargers. I was actually, when they moved, that was the first team that I covered when I first started in sports media.

So I know the trials and tribulations of covering a team when you're three hours behind on the opposite coast trying to get the information that you need to and be on top of things. So my hat is off to you. Before I let you go today, please just let our listeners know where they can find you or they can find your great work and they can follow you on social media. Yeah, you can find me on Twitter at, at Tracy T-R-A-C-I-A-M-C or an Instagram. You can find me on rturffootball.com.

But I'm usually on Twitter all week and Instagram, so you can find me there. Excellent. And I do highly recommend the follow, folks. Tracy is great and, to me, a must-follow for any Patriots fans. It's always fun talking football with you. And I hope to have you join me here again on Locked On sometime soon. It'll always be great to see

how the season progresses, if we were right this time around, or how some of our predictions will shake out. So Tracy, again, thank you very much, and it was my pleasure to have you on the show today. Thank you so much for having me, Mike. Anytime, anytime. And as

for me, I will be back tomorrow for Crossover Wednesday with my colleague Chris Russell, the host of Locked On Redskins. He puts on an amazing show for Skins fans. Definitely check it out, folks. And we will look ahead to the Week 5 matchup with Washington on Sunday in our nation's

capital. We'll break it all down for you, but as always, make sure to join me each and every day on the Locked On Patriots podcast and subscribe to Locked On Patriots via your favorite podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank you so much for listening today. Have a great day, everybody.