Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots - October 16, 2019: Crossover Wednesday with Locked On Jets

Episode Date: October 16, 2019

It’s Crossover Wednesday! Join hosts Mike D’Abate of Locked On Patriots and John Butchko of Locked On Jets as they preview the Monday Night matchup between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets from MetLife Stadium. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all you fans of both the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. Welcome to your crossover Wednesday edition of Locked On Patriots and Locked On Jets. My name is Mike DeBate and I am the host of Locked On Patriots. And my name is John Butchko and I'm the host of Locked On Jets. And we are here to let you know exactly what to be watching for this Monday night when the New England Patriots and the New York Jets do battle in the Meadowlands on Monday Night Football. First off, 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. So the Pats and the Jets will meet for the second of two matchups in 2019 this week at MetLife Stadium. That's right, folks. The Patriots will travel to East Rutherford, New Jersey to face the Jets on Monday night, this Monday night, October 21st. Now, the first time these two teams met, Tom Brady connected with his receiving core for two touchdown passes. New England running back Sonny Michel and Rex Burkett each added a rushing touchdown for the Patriots.

New England's defense did not allow a defensive touchdown. The Jets were down to their third-string quarterback, Luke Falk, and the Jets' offense struggled to move the ball. They went 0-12 on third down. The result was a 30-14 victory for the Pats that was really more one-sided than the final score indicated. But the Jets of Week 7 are not the Jets of Week 3, and Sam Darnold is back in action. The Jets' defense is impressive, folks.

Top 10 in DVOA, and this matchup promises to be a lot more competitive than the first go-round in Foxborough. However, before we get to that, I have a question for you. Yes, you 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 game winning touchdowns on two minute drives running backs racing down the sidelines with no one to stop them there's's nothing else like the NFL. And there's no better way to make the games even more exciting than to bet on them.

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welcome john in in a minute to give the jets perspective but first we'll start off with these new england patriots and the pats have definitely looked great through the first six weeks of action the defense is playing at an elite level while the offense has shown flashes of great potential but it's no stretch to say that new england is going to face more than capable opponent this The defense is playing at an elite level, while the offense has shown flashes of great potential. But it's no stretch to say that New England is going to face more than capable opponent this week in the New York Jets. For starters, the Patriots are hurting at wide receiver. Julian Edelman is playing through a rib injury. Anyone that's watched a Patriots game this year knows every time he brings a ball in and cradles it, he grimaces.

He's definitely playing through some bruises in his chest and he's in some pain folks it was actually against the jets that he suffered the injury the first time around so julian's been suffering the last three weeks with this and it'll be interesting to see how they continue to use him however he's not the only one that's banged up on the patriots roster josh gordon suffered a knee injury and phil Philip Dorsett missed the majority of the past two games with a hamstring injury. He was out for the entire Giants game. Now, Edelman should play. He's been active since the injury happened. Gordon and Dorsett are questionable for Monday night's game, although Dorsett was at Patriots practice today, and he did tell reporters that he is hopeful to play on Monday, so look for him to give it a go. However, none of that trio is going to be at full strength, so New England will need

to turn to their depth. And a name that I think Pats and Jets fans should keep their eye on this weekend is undrafted rookie wide receiver Jacoby Myers. He can play. I mean, we've discussed several times, or I've discussed several times on Locked On Patriots, that Myers is a crafty receiver. He does all the little things right and really catches most of what's thrown his way.

Anybody that's watched a Pats game over the last few games, especially in the Giants game, saw that he turns his head around. He is always aware of his surroundings, always aware of where the defender is. That's very, very unusual for a guy with limited nfl experience like jacoby myers so the patriots may look to lean on him a little bit he isn't the most athletic guy in the world but he is an nfl caliber player and he will succeed if given an opportunity

and he should have the opportunity to exploit the new york jets secondary a little bit the patriots were able to do so the last time look for a big big game from Jamal Adams for the Jets as well. He might be a guy that's moved up into coverage and try to put some pressure on the Patriots wide receivers. Also, it should be noted that the Patriots will have tight end Benjamin Watson back in action for the team. He is now re-signed. He comes in, brings a veteran presence and a pass catching

threat that tom brady has not had at tight end in quite a while now new england's defense on the other side of the ball is absolutely ridiculously good for lack of a better term uh they've already scored more points than they've actually allowed which is amazing when you consider that we're at week six that sort of performance is not really sustainable over a full 16-game season, so there will be some letdowns. And the Jets, I'm sure, are going to hope that that letdown comes this week. The Jets have the potential to be one of the better, if not the best, offense that the Pats have faced so far.

So look for the Patriots to be tested this week, especially on defense. They do want to continue that run of dominance that they've been having. Sam Darnold is a solid quarterback, and he played very well in his return game on Sunday against the Cowboys. Two touchdown passes, very impressive coming back after having missed a few games. New England has to win in the trenches and apply constant pressure to Darnold. If they do that, they will be able to control the tempo of the game defensively. Jonathan Jones, who's the slot corner for the Patriots, he will try to look to take away Jamison Crowder and expect Stephon Gilmore to match up and try

to neutralize Robbie Anderson. If the Jets struggle to move the ball, the Patriots' defense is too good not to take advantage of that and they will look to come away with at least one or maybe even two turnovers but that's going to be something that the Patriots have to keep constant pressure on the key to the pats right now is to contain Le'Veon Bell they did a fairly good job in the first game keep in mind however Bell was their primary and really even only option at times they will have other options with Darnold under center, so it may be a little more difficult this time around to control and neutralize Le'Veon Bell.

If they disrupt his rhythm and he chip him at the line of scrimmage, then you're going to look for the linebackers to allow Jamie Collins to drop back and assist the secondary in coverage, and then Kyle Vannoy, John Simon can come up and give Dietrich Weiss some help in rushing Sam Darnold. The Patriots have the personnel to provide that stifling defense in all three units, the line, the linebackers, the secondary, but the Jets will be ready, and to me, this

is going to be a great, great matchup. But if the Jets are going to be able to have success in this game, to me, the key for them is New England's offensive offensive line which really has been a problem for the patriots over the last few weeks david andrews done for the season isaiah win is on short-term ir marcus cannon is not 100 he struggled this year so because of this the offensive line has definitely struggled to protect tom brady and give him time you've seen him under constant pressure for the last three weeks the line's going to need to bounce back in week seven, and they're facing a Jets defense that is definitely capable of giving them some fits.

So there is a lot to watch for in this game if you're a Patriots fan. The Jets have a great pass rush. A lot of their strength comes from the interior and quinn and williams is a very capable rookie but he's still working on adjusting to the nfl so if i'm the patriots i'm gonna put joe tooney and shack mason try to make things tough on him and try to challenge him to be able to get after the quarterback and make things happen marshall newhouse is the patriots left tackle and he hasn't quite equaled Isaiah Wynn and he never will but he will be tasked with trying to slow down Jordan Jenkins and Leonard Williams talk to ask I know folks but it's going to be something that he will need to do Newhouse is

going to need to have a big game he needs to slow them down long enough for Brady to be able to complete those quick passes to Julian Edelman and open up things and play action. If Brady's going to have a big day, Newhouse has to provide that protection. Brady has felt strong pressure for the last three weeks. The Patriots are at their best when they open up the running game a little bit and get into play action. If the Jets control that, then they may be able to have some success in this game. And this game could end up being a toss-up in the Meadowlands,

and look for the Jets to give the Patriots all they can handle on Monday night. That's a little bit from the Patriots' perspective, and John's going to join us in just a minute to give you the Jets' perspective. However, before I proceed with that, I wanted to take a moment to address all you guys out there. And ladies, you'll appreciate this too. Now, this is a topic that is often taboo but always commands your attention and that is performance in the bedroom now you can increase your performance and get that extra confidence listen up blue

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Now I'm going to give you the rundown on the Jets. And, I mean, the first thing I'll say to you, Michael, is that the last time we spoke, Jets were bringing Luke Falk into the game as their starting quarterback. And I think we made a joke because Falk was the 199th pick of his draft class, just like Tom Brady. We made a joke that maybe 18 years from now, the Patriots would be going to MetLife Stadium

and Falk would still be playing quarterback. And that's not the case. Falk actually has been waived by the Jets. He was waived before the Dallas game last week. So it obviously did not go very well. And I remember the last time we did our crossover show before the third week of the season, I said that the Jets had no shot at winning that game.

That's how I felt, and I think it proved to be accurate. The Jets scored two touchdowns. Neither was on offense. I think the Jets have a chance to win this game. I think the Patriots should be favored. They're probably more likely to win the game, but the Jets do have a chance to win. I think it starts at the quarterback position. I think the return of Sam Darnold is

just a huge deal for the Jets. The offense looked, it was night and day last week with Darnold back in the lineup. It had been really a hopeless situation with Falk in there. Falk really, and part of it, it wasn't entirely Falk's fault because heading into the previous game against the Eagles, they didn't even give him any first team reps coming off a bye, which, you know, if you can figure that one out, let me know. But Darnold's return to the lineup really sparked the team. He, I mean, the Jets have some issues, have had some issues on the offensive line, but Darnold's ability to move within the pocket helped the Jets avoid those a little bit. His ability to spread the ball around, read defenses, change plays at the line, but Darnold's ability to move within the pocket helped the Jets avoid those a little bit. His ability to spread the ball around, read defenses, change plays at the line. It was just

a totally different situation. He spread the ball around well. Jets had three receivers with over 60 yards in this game. They hit a 92-yard pass to Robbie Anderson. It was just a stellar performance. I don't know that Darnold's going to do this every single week, but it shows you where the, what sort of potential is there. It shows you what the future could look like for this team. And he's a 22 year old. There are going to be some growing pains. This is going to be a tall order. This is a tremendous Patriots defense, but it's a, it's just a different vibe around the Jets now with Darnold back. Now, if you look at the Jets' offensive line, as I said, there are some issues. They played probably their best game of the season on Sunday against Dallas, but it's been rough all year,

and they've had some injuries. They've had to shuffle some people around. In fact, left tackle Kelvin Beecham, he left the Dallas game in the second half. Brandon Schell took over for him. Schell's been the Jets' starting right tackle for the last two, three years. He actually was benched recently. It's a tall order. He doesn't really have the athleticism to play left tackle. At left guard, Colaccio Semoli started the season for the Jets. At that position, he's hurt. He will miss the rest of the season. The last two weeks have been started. Alex Lewis has been the starter. Jets got him preseason in a trade. Traded the late round, picked the Baltimore for him.

But a pleasant surprise, though. I think he's actually been an upgrade on Osemaly, who's really struggled. So, you know, left guard looking a little bit better for the Jets. Center has been just rough. You know, it really looks like Ryan Khalil does not have much left in the tank. And in that first game, if you watch the film, Belichick was constantly putting a nose tackle on him just to try and give him a tough time, and it worked. Next to him at right guard, Brian Winters is a guy

who's always been up and down, and there's been more downs than ups for Winters. He's a guy who's not strong at the point of attack, not overly physical. And I think you could say the same thing about Chuma Adoga, who was a third-round pick. He's the right tackle. He's a guy who's an athletic guy, a little bit raw, really rough debut against the Eagles when he took over the starting job for Shell. He played a little bit better against Dallas.

I don't think he was great against the Cowboys. He gave up some pressures. He gave up some... He was responsible for stuff on the goal line. He's a guy the Jets, I think, are hoping to bring along for the long term. You talk about weapons, I think it starts with Le'Veon Bell, who statistically is not having a great year, but again, I think a lot of that goes back to run blocking. I think if you actually look at some of the more advanced stats that show you, he's doing a good job running

past contact. He's doing a good job forcing guys to miss tackles. And he's a guy that I think the Jets would like to get involved in the receiving game, perhaps a little bit more than they have so far. If you look outside, you have Robbie Anderson, great deep threat, 92-yard touchdown last week. They've got Demarius Thomas from the Patriots in the trade a few weeks back. Thomas put together a pretty solid game against Dallas. In the middle of the field, you have Jamison Crowder working out of the slot, and you can tell he really missed Darnold. He had 14 catches in his debut for the Jets week one against Buffalo. He was kind of an afterthought in the offense and

then became a focal point again with Darnold back in there working the middle of the field. One of the big questions for the Jets is will they get Chris Herndon back at tight end? Herndon had a really solid rookie year for a fourth round pick, suspended the first four weeks of the season, suffered a hamstring injury near the end of his suspension, so he missed the Dallas game, still waiting on his season debut. Ryan Griffin, who was really just playing very poorly for the Jets, he had a good game against Dallas. He actually had three catches and a touchdown, but Herndon is the one tight end on this roster who can threaten the seam. The offense is much more dangerous with him in there because he can threaten the deep part of the field down

the middle. So it'll be interesting to see whether he gets back. And I think given the corners the Patriots have, Herndon could end up being a pretty valuable weapon for the Jets in this game. Now, as you mentioned, Michael, Jets defense is overachieving. And this is not a group with a tremendous amount of talent. And they've had some injuries. T.J. Mosley, who might be the best player,

one of the top two players on the defense, hasn't played since week one. The fact that they're having this success speaks volumes about the job Greg Williams is doing, I think. Some guys who kind of have no names really stepped up last week, really were disruptive. Not many sacks, but the Jets were constantly in Dak Prescott's face. Kyle Phillips, a young guy, full of runs, who fought a late-round pick a year ago, played a pretty good game. Jets had some guys play well. Leonard Williams has been a bit of

a disappointment this year, but he started to make an impact last week against the Cowboys. Quinnen Williams, you know, you mentioned him. He had a big stop on a fourth down play. That was a big swing in the game because Dallas was in the red zone, trying to go in for a touchdown to take a lead. And instead, Jets got the stop on the next play was the touchdown to Anderson. It's not clear whether Mosley's going. At linebacker, the Jets have Neville Hewitt, who was a backup, because Jets starting linebackers were supposed to be Mosley and Avery Williamson. Hewitt was supposed to be a backup.

Williamson got hurt in preseason. Hewitt stepped in. He's played effectively. Blake Cashman, fifth round rookie, not been quite as effective as Hewitt. I think he's been okay. He's been up and down. I think he's been better than I expected. I expected the guy who was totally lost. He's not been spectacular, but I think there have been points where he's been solid. At the edge spot, Jets are kind of mixing and matching. Jordan Jenkins got back from an injury last week. He has two sacks on him.

He had a big sack in the fourth quarter. It was kind of a coverage sack, kind of a hustle sack, where Dak Prescott was kind of flush from the pocket, but he hustled. He's probably the best edge rusher the Jets have. He's not a stellar edge rusher, but he's probably as good as the Jets have. They also got Brandon Copeland back from suspension last week. Copeland, again, not a stellar guy, but probably an upgrade over what the Jets have. You look at the corner position, it's been very up and down this year,

and again, mostly down. Trumaine Johnson has just had a really rough go of things. Daryl Roberts has been, uh, he's been erratic. And I think, I think part of this goes back to scheme. I think Greg Williams realizes not work. He doesn't have much to work with.

So he's kind of gone vanilla. He's running some very conservative coverages that kind of deemphasize the corner position. So these guys are giving big cushions. I don't know whether that's going to change this week. It might have to, uh, I will say this, the slot corner,

Brian pool has been very, if I, he's been a very pleasant surprise that got him in free agency from Atlanta. And maybe the strength of the defense is the safety play. You have Jamal Adams, who was a second team all pro last year, had a pick six in the first meeting between the teams, really starting to come into his own. He saved the game for the Jets. He had a pressure on a blitz on Dak Prescott on a potential game-tying two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter, forced an early and erratic throw. And Marcus May, who is very solid in the back of the Jets' defense, he's the guy who will play deep middle more often than not. A really good safety tandem that the Jets have. So that's my rundown for the Jets. Absolutely. And again, it's definitely always a pleasure to join you on the microphone, John. You bring a great knowledge of the Jets team. I hope I was able to bring a little bit of knowledge on the Patriots as well to Jets fans and to give our predictions of exactly what might happen i'm

not sure if i want to put you on the spot right away to give you a score projection i don't know if you wait for later in the week to do that or if you wanted to do that now but what do you look for in terms of gameplay and how this is all going to play out on monday night i mean i think a lot of it comes down to darnold like i said, his presence just totally transformed this Jets offense. Now, this is a tall order this week because Jets receivers, it's going to be tough for Jets receivers to get open against this Patriots secondary. I think Herndon could be a big, I think looking at, can Herndon play? I think Herndon is a guy they really missed in that first meeting. And on the defensive side of the ball, it's an interesting matchup because I know the Patriots' offense maybe hasn't been firing on all cylinders,

but I always say that when you go against Brady, you want to make sure you never give him the same look twice, and I'm not sure that's feasible with the guys the Jets have back there right now. I think they've been running some very conservative coverages, so can the Jets figure out ways to mix things up without leaving the corners exposed? I think those are some of the things I'd look at from the Jets' side. because that's going to be the biggest key and the biggest difference between this time around as opposed to the last time around. The Jets were very one-dimensional on offense.

It was easy for the Patriots' defense to zero in on exactly what they wanted to do, held Le'Veon Bell in check, put the game in the hands of Luke Falk, and it was a mismatch from start to finish. This game will not be like that. Darnold is capable of making plays. He does have playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, so the Pats defense will have a test. On the offensive side of the ball for the Patriots, again, I think the Patriots' ability to control this game does begin and end

with Tom Brady. How are the Jets going to attack that? Are they going to keep him under pressure? If they can keep Brady under pressure, keep him uncomfortable in the pocket force him out of the pocket it forces him to make throws that he doesn't always like to make and that can lead to turnovers we saw it happen against the buffalo bills we've seen it happen now against the new york giants the other night that is the catalyst and that is the key so brady and the patriots are going to need to establish the run early they're going to need to come out and establish play action as well. When they do that and they start getting the short passes down the field, start moving the ball, utilizing Julian Edelman.

They may even use Jacoby Myers a little bit on the slot. I think that could be a big key for them as well. So I agree. I think this is going to be an interesting matchup, definitely a lot closer. And I'm looking for a really close game and a good game in the Meadowlands on Monday night. This could end up being a fun one, and we hinted at this the last time that we spoke, that this one could end up being the interesting game of the two where the first one was really kind of one that was decided before it even started. This one, I think there's still a lot of uncertainty, so it'll be interesting to see how both teams come

out, and I, for one, I'm really looking forward to it. Yeah, I would be surprised. I'd be disappointed if this was not a tight game. I think that this is going to be a game in the fourth quarter, unlike the first meeting between these teams. Yeah, absolutely. I definitely see that as well. I think the Jets defense presents looks to the Patriots offense that can neutralize them,

keep them out of the end zone, and make things things interesting and maybe even force a turnover or two. Consequently, I do think that Sam Darnold will have his hands full with the Patriots defense as well. So I think this is really going to come down to two defensive, you know, stands in terms of these teams, which offense is going to be able to break through and move the ball, whichever one does is the one that's going to come out on top sounds simplistic folks it sounds very elementary but it's what works it's exactly and i think that's exactly how this one's going to play out all right well michael great chatting with you you know when we just face an nfc opponent i

talk to the host of that show i say man it's too bad we only get to do this once every four years i'm glad we get to do this twice a year. Absolutely. I always enjoy it. We'll definitely look forward to it. Hey, who knows, with the way the Jets are stacked and they're capable of rattling off wins, this is a team that a lot of people had playoff expectations for. Anything and anything can happen in the NFL, so this may not be the last time that we speak this season.

We might be doing one of these again come playoff time, so who knows. But got the two matchups early on in the NFL. So this may not be the last time that we speak this season. We might be doing one of these again come playoff time. So who knows? But got the two matchups early on in the season over with early. And usually I like the dichotomy between having an early season matchup with the Jets and then a late season matchup. It always kind of builds the expectations. But all in all, it's been a pleasure to share the microphone with you these last couple of crossovers.

And I look forward to doing it again, whether it's next season or whether it's in the playoffs. It'll be a lot of fun. Thank you, John. And thank everyone for joining us today on the Locked On Podcast Network. Please be sure to join myself on Locked On Patriots and John on Locked Onets, each and every day on the Locked On Podcast Network. Thanks for listening, everyone. Have a great day. Absolutely, my friend.

You take care.