Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots October 16, 2018 - Tape Tuesday

Episode Date: October 16, 2018

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello there everybody, welcome on in to a Tape Tuesday edition of Locked On Patriots. Mark Schofield sliding into the big chair on this Tuesday, October 16th, 2018. We're getting close to Halloween, friends. Hope all you parents out there have the little ones, get their costumes all lined up. As I've mentioned before, my son, he's going as Carson Wentz. And yes, as a Patriots fan, it stings a little bit. But as somebody that studies quarterbacks and has liked Carson Wentz since I started studying him during his days at North Dakota State University, I kind of dig it. And look, we're doing it upright.

We've got the black arm sleeve like he wears. We've got the play sheet wristband. I even, you know, set up a couple of sheets in there. The actual plays he's been calling out, you know, Patriots plays because I'm using a Patriots playbook to do it. So he's pretty excited about it. So that's pretty cool. But you guys don't want to hear me talk about my kid in Halloween.

You want to hear some football chat. And that's what we're going to do today on this Tape Tuesday installment. Before we dive into a loaded show, remind that you're following me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work at places like insidethepylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, which is going to come in handy. This is going to be a busy week, friends, because Pro Football Weekly, I do a lot of Bears coverage over there. So that's going to come in handy. In addition to Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's rookie scouting portfolio, Big Blue View, part of the SB Nation, the SB family of websites. As I said, loaded show for you today, taped Tuesday. We're going to talk odes to two different players.

I'm getting big on the odes after the Shaq Mason one last week. So we're going to talk a little Dante Hightower. Also, a little bit later, we're going to talk about an early look at the Chicago Bears. Again, because I've been covering the Bears and Trubisky this season for Pro Football Weekly, at least part of my work over there is Bears specific. I've got some thoughts on Chicago. We're going to kick it off, though, with a little ode to James Devlin. But first, I want to remind everybody about what we've got going on here

at Locked on Patriots week to week. I want to remind everybody of the weekly lineup. It starts Sunday morning. Your NFL week, your football week starts with me Sunday morning. I've got your Sunday morning tailgate show where I get you ready for that day's slate of games. We're going to do some last-minute injury news and notes, some DFS recommendations for you guys and girls out there

that are doing the weekly stuff, that are doing the daily fantasy stuff. And then we're going to have a recap of college football action with a look at some of the important games, some scouting stuff. So that's your typical Sunday show. Monday is going to be your recap, hopefully, many, many glorious victory editions of Locked on Patriots. Tuesday is like this. Tuesday is your Tape Tuesday where we revisit the film.

I take a look at the coaches tape, the all 22s, talk about some stuff that jumps out to me. Wednesday, we've got our great Locked Over crossover shows on Wednesday. This week with Lauren Cox over at Locked On Bears is going to be a great show. Thursday is our take show.

Either timeline takes and hopefully a lot more listener questions. Last week's listener questions episode of Locked On Patriots was the most popular of the week. So we're going to keep bringing that back week to week. And then Friday is your game day show. Getting you ready for what to expect on Sunday. Let's dive in though. We're going to talk about the Patriots offense here.

Again, it's going to be an ode to James Devlin. But first, I do want to mention some other numbers. Pro Football Weekly, the great folks over there, send us a little sort of digest on each Patriots game, late Sunday night, early Monday morning on the Pats game. So here's some of the numbers from them. First on the offensive side of the ball since we're going to start there. Just when the Patriots needed it, Tom Brady turned in his highest graded performance,

91.3 of the season so far it, Tom Brady turned in his highest graded performance, 91.3 of the season so far in a shootout against the Chiefs. Brady was pressured on just nine of his dropbacks and when kept clean, he went 21 of 29 for 300 yards and a 105.5 passer rating. In addition, they point out that Sonny Michel ground out 61 yards, 6-1, 61 yards after contact of his 106 rushing yards with only three 10-plus yards on the day, 10-plus yard runs on the day. Sonny Michel forced just one missed tackle, but that was helped from a huge day from right guard Shaq Mason, surprise, surprise, who finished with a 90.5 run block rate. He was named

to PFF's team of the week with the highest grade of the right tackle spot that they saw last week in week six. But the ode today is to a Mr. James Devlin, a player whose path to the National Football League is rather unlikely. One of the more unlikely stories that you have probably heard of in the National Football League. He went to Brown University, got zero invites to training camp in 2010 when he was leaving Brown University. He was looking for an engineering job. You know, he was going to basically be an electrical,

he was enrolled in Brown, get this, electrical engineering, thermodynamics, and quantum physics. A smart dude. Played offense, thermodynamics, and quantum physics. A smart dude. Played offense, played defense, played some defensive end. His junior year, he was second team all, Ivy League. His senior year, he had 53 tackles, five sacks, and an interception. Couldn't even find an agent. He ended up with a cousin of a neighbor, Jim Ulrich.

He had a tryout with, get this, a lower-run arena football league team named the Oklahoma City Yard Dogs. He got the invite to that team via a Facebook message, borrowed money from his parents, flew there. He made half a tackle on special teams in his first game and then was promptly released. Then he lined up a gig in the United Football League with a team, the Florida Tuskers, owned in part by Joe Theismann and coached by a young Jay Gruden.

They gave him a chance to try out at fullback. He pretended he played fullback before he had not, but he learned and won the starting job. And since the UFL season ended in the middle of the NFL season, he got an immediate call from the Bengals. He spent the team on, he spent the 2011 season on their practice squad. He was cut before the next season. Tampa Bay called and so did New England. And then he faced a choice.

He could go to Tampa Bay. He could go to New England. And what sort of sold him on New England was, and this was the point that his agent made, if Devlin signed with Tampa Bay and was cut, his career was likely over. If he was cut by New England, there was a chance that another team might sign him strictly because Belichick had shown even mild interest. The rest is history. And it brings us to an ode to James Devlin, who had, by my estimation,

a simply, simply, simply fact-tastic night going back and looking through the film. And obviously, he was used primarily as a run blocker. He did have, I believe, two receptions on the game. But he does what he does so well. You know, you look at a play in the first quarter, the 826 mark of the first quarter. It's a first and 10 situation. The defensive line shifts late up front. There's a late shift on the interior. On this play in particular, the interior of the offensive line, Dooney, Andrews, Mason, they all immediately get to the second level. He has to block the nose tackle, number 91. He makes

a solid block at the point of attack. Sonny Michel for an eight-yard gain. And what's impressive about that is with that late shift and that late movement, he's going to read, react, and diagnose on the fly similar to like a quarterback does. And he did it and did it extremely well. So that was impressive. First and goal. The touchdown run by Sonny Michel, a four-yard touchdown run.

It's an offset eye formation. They run a little counter look. Sonny Michel uses sort of counter step and footwork to where he sort of steps back to the right and then runs to the left. Shaq Mason pulls around, and he's aligned. Devlin's aligned in an offset eye, so he's staggered to the right side behind the right tackle. He comes from right to left behind Mason. He drives right into Anthony Hitchens, number 53, makes a critical block there,

helps bring this for a touchdown run for Sonny Michel, another four-yard touchdown run there. They came back to this later in that first quarter. They did it with Kenyon Barnum, same exact play, that offset eye. Again, you get Devlin on Hitchens, just a huge block that just erases him in the hole, and Barnum picks up 10 yards. So they trust him as a lead blocker, which is, again, when you're dealing with the New England Patriots,

whenever there's a level of trust in a player, it means that, look, they believe in you more than anybody else. And if they come to a design like this with the weapons that they have with Tom Brady and they're going to run the ball behind James Devlin, it tells you how much they trust this guy. I want to talk to you now about a play. This is a fullback lead at the 849 mark of the third quarter. It's a first and 10 situation.

And the collision here between Devlin and Hitchens, it's just amazing. You're going to hear it shortly after Michael stops talking for a minute. You're going to hear a loud clap. And again, it's one of these fullback lead plays. The linebackers cross. Number 59, Reggie Ragland, goes away. And then Hitchens replaces him, crossing behind him. And the collision between these two players here is just stunning in its violence um you do you know it's one of those moments where

you're reminded that this is a violent game played by rather large men moving at incredible speeds um but the block here uh from devlin on hitchens is amazing i'm just gonna play the audio for you did you hear it? Did you hear that loud clap shortly after Michael stopped talking and the play began? You heard the cadence there from Tom Brady. That was James Devlin just erasing Anthony Hitchens again in the hole. Just a tremendous block from him.

And I could go on and on about the game that James Devlin had on Sunday night. I could go on and on about what James Devlin has done for this team over the past couple of years. And we talk about sort of unsung heroes for teams. We talk about unheralded guys who may not get the limelight. They may get Pro Bowl invites and things like that. And Devlin certainly is in that category. He's had some Pro Bowl invites to his career. It's been a long, strange journey for him. But what he means to this offense and what he can do and the role that they use him in and how well he excels at that is certainly something to appreciate.

And I'm a huge James Danforth fan. I said Sunday night that I would consider writing a book about him and Shaq Mason. And I actually did have somebody on Twitter say that they would read that. I want to give a shout-out to, at Q-U-A-N-N-E-H. Stizzy Superfan is the Twitter name. At Q-U-A-N-N-E-H is the Twitter handle. He said, for what it's worth, I would read your Devlin Mason book.

Maybe I'll do it then. Like I tweeted back to him, that makes it four because you'd have Mason, Devlin, my mom, and now my new friend on Twitter. And so maybe I will do that. But seriously though, James Devlin just does tremendous work for the New England Patriots. I could go on and on and talk about him, but I got to move on to a different topic. We're going to get into Dante Hightower next.

But first, guys and girls, maybe this is something you might want to listen to as well. It's time to talk about sex. Good sex. Guys, remember the days when you were always ready to go? Well, now you can bring those days back. Now you can increase your performance to get that extra confidence in bed. Thanks to our great friends over at Blue Chew. That's blue like the color blue.

Blue Chew brings you the first chewable with the same FDA-approved active ingredients as Viagra and Cialis, so you know that they work. You can take them anytime, day or night, even on a full stomach. And since they're chewable, they work up to twice as fast as a pill, so you can be ready whenever an opportunity arises. Blue Chew is prescribed online and ships straight to your door in a discreet package so no in-person doctors visit no waiting in line in the pharmacy which means best of all no more awkwardness they're made right here in the USA and since blue choose prepares and ships direct they're cheaper than a pharmacy right now they have a special deal for our listeners here visit blue chew calm and get your first shipment free that's fr e. When you use our

special promo code LOCKEDON, just pay $5 to ship. And again, that's blue, B-L-U-E C-H-E-W dot com promo code LOCKEDON to try it free. Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, faster choice, and we thank them for sponsoring the Locked On Patriots podcast. Up next,

an ode to another warrior on the defensive side of the ball. That's ahead on this Tape Tuesday edition of Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now and do not adjust your listening device, your phone, however you're listening to this show right now. You have not stumbled onto Locked on Skyrim.

Yes, that is Dragonborn from the Skyrim soundtrack. Yes, I am a huge video game nerd. I cop to that. Guilty as charged, that's fine. But when I was re-watching this game, and even when I was watching it live, I jotted down a couple of times, you know, Dante Hightower, the warrior, and I just felt like a little Dwarven King was necessary. So there you go. You've got some music there from the Skyrim soundtrack, which, as an aside, is a very, very impressive video game soundtrack. Video game soundtracks are getting better and better.

I mean, even recently, Far Cry 5 soundtrack, I kind of dug that for a while. Although, again, I've talked about how great this fall is for video games. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is fantastic. But I digress. Back to Dante Hightower, The Warrior. Wanted to play that. I thought it sort of fit the mood here. Quick, some PFF insights before we get into Dante Hightower here. From PFF, our great friends over there, Eric Rowe returned to the lineup and recorded 17 snaps, 16 of which were in coverage. He was not targeted. Dante Hightower earned the highest coverage grade, 81.8 on the day, allowing 5 of 7 completions for 56 yards,

an interception, and a 55.4 passer rating against. Huge day from Hightower from PFF stats. Do remember, though, they missed on that wheel route to Kareem Hunt early in the game. That could have been a huge play. They missed it. So that doesn't show here. Also, Kyle Van Nooy did not have his best day. We talked about that in the recap show. Failing to record a stop on 54 snaps and missing three tackle attempts. Van Nooy did add two quarterback hurries of the cleanup variety. Adrian Claiborne led the team with four pressures. Derek Rivers played one snap and run defense, four snaps total, and made a tackle for no gain. Let's get into Hightower here

briefly because I know, again, look, shocker. I'm going long on a show. Who's seen that coming? But with Hightower, what I liked about him from his game against Kansas City was how they used him. And they used him all over the field. For example, quarter one, 9-minute-14 mark of the first quarter, third and eight situation. They align him on the edge. He jams Travis Kelsey and then drops into an underneath zone coverage.

He helps to take away Kelsey. We talked about that in the recap show. They used him as a way to slow down Travis Kelsey. You saw it there right away. The 5-12 mark of the first quarter. It's a first and 10 play. He lines in the A-gap over the left guard. He shows you a cross dog.

And then he drops, gets underneath the cross for the interception. Makes a great return as well. And what was even better about that play was the incredible hands and adjustment and then he drops, gets underneath the cross for the interception. Makes a great return as well. And what was even better about that play was the incredible hands and adjustment he showed on that play to make the pick. But you see him in just those first two plays we talked about. First play, he's aligned on the edge, jams Kelsey and drops into the zone. Second play, he's over the A-gap, over the left guard. Shows you a cross-dog blitz where he's coming from the left guard

to the right guard, the right A gap, but then drops. Mahomes never sees him. And then he has the athleticism to make that interception, which if you go back and look at that pick, that's a tough play to make because he's got to twist back to get it. It's a hands catch type situation. You'd be impressed if you saw Josh Gordon making that catch, let alone Dante Hightower. So I was very impressed on that. Third and four play at the 333 mark of the first quarter. Again, he's in the A-gap. Shows blitz between the left guard and the center.

But then he drops and helps on all people. He helps on a route from Tyreek Hill, who is running a pivot route against a zone look. They've got a zone look. They've dropped into a zone. This is a play where they missed Travis Kelsey. Hightower wasn't involved in chipping him. He shows blitz, drops into a zone. He and

Van Noy take away a pivot route. Now, yeah, it's third and four. You might want to throw a pivot route to Tyreek Hill, but Hightower and Kyle Van Noy erased that. I thought that was an impressive play from those two. Midway through the second quarter, the 6-30 mark. It's a 36 down into the red zone.

Again, we see him aligning over the left tackle, Eric Fisher, on the edge. He comes off the edge. He pressures Mahomes, helps to force Mahomes to climb. But what he does there is even more impressive. After that, he mirrors the climb extremely well he forecloses the opportunity for Mahomes to sort of escape right up the middle forces him to then make a throw that pass falls incomplete very impressive play for him late in the second quarter at the 121 mark it's a first and 20 play they get a running back screen to

Spencer where he aligns at the middle linebacker spot. He and Flowers sniff this one out, get it stopped before it has any sort of chance to get going. That's some foreshadowing there of a play we're going to talk about a little bit later. Then the interception by Daron Harmon at the end of the first half. Travis Kelsey aligns in a trips. It's a trips open formation. So he's detached from the line. He's got a split between him and the left tackle. But he's basically where you'd see slot receivers. And Hightower follows him out there.

He aligns across from him. And then they've got Chun and Harmon. They basically jam him with Hightower. And you've got a double coverage bracket on him behind it. And that's his job. So he's going to do that. But with some players, that would be it. But no, not with Dante Hightower. Then he gets the pressure on Mahomes.

Then he's the guy that flushes Mahomes to the right. Then he's the guy that has a fistful of that 15 jersey in one of his hands as Mahomes trying to make this throw while running for his life. And the pass, of course, gets intercepted. You could say that he was directly responsible for both interceptions of Patrick Mahomes in that game. And those were huge, huge plays. One set the Patriots up for a first and goal at the four and they punched it in on the next play. The other prevented them from getting points at the end of the first half. And if they punch it in for seven there, it's in a completely different game at halftime. Even if they get a field goal, it's a completely different game. Two huge plays, huge plays, and he's responsible for them. Finally, that other screenplay comes at the 525 mark

of the fourth quarter. It's a first and 10. And I've talked about this concept before on this show, that concept of eye candy, whereas in offense, you show a bunch of different stuff at a defense. Your movement, shifting, motion, enderrons, all sorts of crazy stuff, but you're just running something basic, something vanilla, and you hope that the eye candy distracts them. On this play, they align with a bunch to the left. They pull Travis Kelsey across like it's a split zone run and play. They fake inside to Kareem Hunt going to the left. So if you see Kelsey go from left to right, running back on left, you might think, oh, split zone run and play. They fake inside to Kareem Hunt going to the left. So if you see Kelsey go from left to right, running back going left, you might think, oh, split zone. Then they fake the end around deep to Tyree Kelsey. You've got all this stuff going in a bunch of different directions. And if you're a Patriots defender, you see Kelsey and now Hill

working from your right to left. You might want to flow that way. But then they throw the throwback screen to Kareem Hunt, who they fake that run run to and aligned at his linebacker spot across from the left guard is dante high tower and with all of this eye candy happening with all of this movement all of this distraction trying to get him to go one way or the other the guy barely takes a step. He barely takes a step in response to it. He like jab steps once with his left foot towards the left side. That's it. He barely, he doesn't even move the right foot. So he's basically in the same spot, like a statue, like a statue. And then he sees the screen pass go into his right to Kareem Hunt. He breaks on it. He chops it down. Trey Flowers comes off after pressure in Mahomes. He peels back and helps as well. And it

goes for a five-yard loss. I mean, excuse me, it goes for no gain. Just an incredible play. I think nine out of 10 other linebackers would have at least taken a couple of steps to the left. He doesn't even move. Just an impressive play. and as the pff numbers show just a tremendous outing from from dante hightower who i was ready i said it last night in yesterday's show in the recap show in the glorious victory episode when that game started you saw him get beaten the we're out you're just thinking man i just don't know if this is going to be the game for him it turned out it was and scofield stopped talking about defense you don't know if this is going to be the game for him. It turned out it was. And Schofield, stop talking about defense. You don't know what you're talking about.

Okay, I won't stop talking about defense. Maybe you don't know what I'm talking about, but I won't stop talking about it because I got a job to do. Ain't no use in complaining when you got a job to do. Up next, we're going to take a quick look ahead at Mitchell Trubisky and Company. That's right, the Chicago Bears. That should be a fun one. We've got a locked and loaded week for you to get you ready for that one. But I did want to

break down two warriors, James Devlin and Dante Hightower. Before we do that, though, you might want to place a bet on this game between the Patriots and the Bears. And if you do do that, I might have some insightful advice for you when it comes to the game, but my better advice is going to come with respect to where you place your bets. Who you're betting on, yeah, it's important. Where you're betting, much more important. That's why I always tell people to bet with MyBookie. Trust me, guys and girls, they are your best bet this season. They have been in business for years, they have great reviews online,

and their mobile site is so easy to use. So lay down some cash and win big today. Now, I would only recommend a service to my listeners that's been good to me. And that's why I'm urging you to make your way to MyBookie because you know what? You win, they pay. They have in-game live bet and the most rewarding player perks in the business. And for you fantasy guys and girls out there, you can even bet the over under on how many fantasy points a player will score each and every game. That just sounds fantastic. So join now and MyBookie will match your deposit dollar for dollar. They will match your first deposit 100%, 100, 100%, up to $1,000.

Use promo code LOCKEDON to activate that offer. Visit MyBookie online today. That's M-Y-B-O-O-K-I-E. And don't forget that promo code LOCKEDON when creating your account to claim that bonus. MyBookie, you play, you win, you get paid. Mark Sofio back with you now to close out this tape Tuesday installment of Locked On Patriots. And I just want to touch briefly, just ever so briefly, start to look ahead at the Chicago Bears. Obviously, that's the next test in front of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Although, to be honest, the next test in front of Tom Brady might be Madden. Believe it or not, Tom Brady on Instagram had a fantastic video where he's playing I Will Remember You in the background. And he's standing by his Xbox and you've got the Madden with him on

the cover. He's got the crystal case out of that version of the game. He ejects it, puts it away, and then you see the new Madden with Antonio Brown on the cover, and he puts it in, and he turns to the camera and says, all right, AB, it's time for your game now. Pretty impressive use of the IG there from Tom Brady. But while Madden might be more in his immediate future, standing down the road are the Chicago Bears and there's a lot of time to talk about Khalil Mack and all that stuff but I do want to talk for just

a moment about Matt Nagy and Mitchell Trubisky because as I've said I am covering the Bears I am covering Mitchell Trubisky and Matt Nagy that is my job this year over at Pro Football Weekly I do a piece each week on Trubisky and Nagy and how they're bringing him along in Trubisky's development and Matt Nagy's sort of development as a play caller. And I wrote a piece at the end of last week that I didn't really get a chance to highlight, but I wanted to talk about briefly here. And then it dovetails into their game against Miami because, you know, the Bears were on a bye last week. And so I was basically sort of given free reign to write about something scheme related to Matt Nagy and how he's been using

Trubisky. So I went back and rewatched and then rewatched and rewatched again all of Trubisky's throws, all of his passing attempts from this season, and even back into the preseason. And there were a number of plays that he missed on. A number of opportunities that he missed. And what jumped out at me. And it was almost jarring to see. Was how he would miss on a throw. On a route design. Whether it's an over route.

Or a vertical route. An over route was the first one I noticed it. And Nagy would come back to it. Nagy would come back to either the same exact play or an extremely similar variation of that route design. You know, and it hit me. It flashed me back to a moment in my career, my junior year in college, when we have our inter-squad scrimmage

sort of at the end of double sessions. You know, you've been in doubles for like two weeks you're exhausted but you get the chance to like you know offense against defense and it's obviously it's all scripted and stuff like that and I had screwed up one play and our coach like screamed at me and he said I would you know I wish it this was live on the quarterback so you could get the snot kicked out of you to wake yourself up and then on the next play you know we ran a ran a red zone passing concept and I missed it. And I asked the coach, look, can I get another shot at that? I just want to run it again. And he said, no. I was just like, man, he doesn't even trust me to run it again now. Just one more time. And then I see example after example after example of Nagy going back to designs that Trubisky had missed

and then Trubisky hitting on them. And it hit me that, look, if you as a coach want to instill confidence in your quarterback, go back to these plays. Go back to something he's missed. You know, you can tell the media, and Nagy has been doing this, telling the Chicago media, look, I still believe in this guy. The breakout is coming, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And it's one thing to tell it to the media.

It's another thing to tell it to the rest of the team. Look, you know, he missed on, you know, X989 three times this season. We all know he's missed on it, but we're coming back to him. By golly, the kid's going to hit it. And in the cases as I wrote last week, he does. And so I'm watching his game against Miami,

and in the first quarter, in the first quarter on their opening drive, and they've been, we'll talk about this some more as we get into the Bears this week, but they've been very impressive on opening drives, that sort of scripted 10 situation. They've been really good. They were great on the opening Sunday night game against the Packers. They've been great in other moments.

You know, past two weeks, they've actually been stopped on these opening drives. And part of the reason they were stopped against Miami was they shot themselves in the foot. They have a third and eight on their opening drive. At the 12-30 mark, they put Trubisky in the shotgun, and they have double moves from each wide receiver, one on the left boundary, one on the right boundary. And Anthony Miller, their rookie wide receiver from Memphis,

runs this deep over route, and he's wide open. I don't know why I've looked at this coverage six different times. I don't know if it was a bust or what, but he's wide open. Wide open. And Trubisky misses him. And so I take note of it. I go on and I chart the rest of the game. I'm working my way through the game and I get to a critical, critical moment. It's a 39 situation to 323 mark of the fourth quarter. They're on the cusp of the red zone. They're at about the 23, 4, 5-yard line,

somewhere around there. And it's a 21-21 game. And he hits Anthony Miller on an over route for a touchdown, and it's wide open. And my first exposure to it was just off the TV angle, the broadcast angle. And I'm like, wait, that's an overriding. And I go back and I go back and then I confirm it when the coach is taping.

It's the same exact play he missed. The same exact play he missed on the opening drive with the dual double moves, one on each side of the field and the overriding. And it's wide open again and he hits it. And you can say whatever you want, and we will. Believe me, we will, about the Bears and their scheme and their defense and all that kind of stuff. And yes, they went on and they lost this game.

But I see stuff like that. I see the strides that Trubisky has made as a quarterback this year. And I know many, even after this game, kind of very cool to Trubisky, almost to the point where they're going to write him off, say he's a bust, stuff like that. I'm seeing some development here. And so, look, Patriots just faced an incredible young quarterback in Patrick Mahomes. I'm not saying that Mitchell Trubisky is Patrick Mahomes or anywhere close to that.

What I'm saying is this, his quarterback, excuse me, his head coach is doing a great job so far this season of trying to instill confidence in him. And moments like that, instances like that really stick in my mind. We'll dive into this matchup. We'll cover it six ways from Sunday. But that stands out to me. As a former quarterback, as somebody that studies quarterbacks, when your coach is willing to do things like that, not just telling the media that he believes in you, not just telling the locker room that he believes in you, but just calling the place to show you he believes in you. That matters a ton. So that's been kind of a quick look at Bears type stuff. Obviously, we'll get

into it more tomorrow with Lauren Cox. Remember, Thursday's show is going to be another take. It's going to be our new, we're going to do this every Thursday now. Listener questions and takes from the time. Hopefully, it's more listener questions because I love interacting with all of you guys and girls out there. Get some questions in at Mark Schofield on Twitter, mark.schofield, that inside the pylon.com. And of course, if you want to be a part of the conversation over the Locked On Patriots Slack channel, hit me up for an invite again at mark scofield on twitter mark.scofield that inside the pylon.com for an invite to that the conversation was wide ranging and flowing on sunday night as you might expect during that game those in-game chats are always a ton of fun

except for me because my direct tv now is like a minute or two behind um so i'm always on this like delay and then i see like somebody somebody kind of angry in the chat, and I'm like, oh no, what did I miss? And so I'm now extra anxious watching the next play. But it's still a ton of fun. I mean, there as well. If you want to be a part of it, hit me up. Until tomorrow on the tape in the Crossover Wednesday show,

keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.