Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Locked On Patriots September 12, 2017 - What Did We Learn Week 1?

Episode Date: September 12, 2017

Mark Schofield breaks down what we learned about some upcoming Patriots opponents, including the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and New Orleans Saints, during week 1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Talkspace.com slash BOOM. B-O-O-M. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily podcast on the New England Patriots, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Good morning and welcome to Locked On Patriots for Tuesday, September 12th. Mark Schofield with you in the big chair as always. And yes, this is a Patriots-centric show. I bring you information about the Pats every single day of the week. Trying to get stuff to your ears as much as I can, as much information into your mind as I can about this team.

Now, the Patriots have been off since Thursday, and we had a full slate of NFL action both Sunday afternoon as well as last night with two games. And so we're going to do a little What Did We Learn Tuesday about some of the games we saw this weekend, but focusing on Patriots' future opponents. And I want to look at two games. First, the AFC East tilt between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. And secondly, last night's game between the New Orleans Saints against the Minnesota Vikings. Obviously, the Saints, the upcoming opponent this next weekend for the New England Patriots.

And we'll get to that game and what we learned about the New Orleans Saints in a second. But first, I want to talk about three things we learned about both the Bills and the Jets in their week one meeting. This was a game that, honestly, the AFC East was on the line. With the Patriots losing on Thursday night, the winner of this game, obviously Miami had the bye. So the winner of this game was going to come out of that contest in first place in the AFC East. And that winner was the Buffalo Bills. They go, open their season, the home victory over the New York Jets, 21-12. And I don't think the final result was really much of a surprise.

Obviously, there are a lot of question marks about the New York Jets at a variety of positions, and we'll get to them in a second. But what three things did we learn about the Bills? And we learned a lot, but I want to focus on three. First, one of the question marks coming into this season for the Buffalo Bills, who won't see the Patriots until December, but it's still worth talking about an AFC East opponent in the current first place Buffalo Bills. But one of the questions about this team coming into the season was Tyrod

Taylor, their quarterback. Buffalo making a transition to a new style of offense under new offensive coordinator Rick Dennison. Taylor, from the studying that I've done of him at the quarterback position, has always seemed to be someone more suited for a vertical style pass attack. Somebody that when he gets a chance to push the ball down the field, he's going to have success in the downfield passing game. Obviously, he had a lot of success with Sammy Watkins, but that's not what Denison wants to do from a schematic standpoint. Denison wants to attack the intermediate areas of the field. He wants to attack over the middle. He wants to use boot action and things like that to get the

quarterback out of the pocket, give him some nice half field reads, cross and route, drag route, release to the flat from the tight end perhaps, to sort of simplify the read structure and progression structure for the quarterback. So it's a different sort of offensive scheme that looks to attack in the intermediate area of the field. And that's an area where, albeit with a small sample size, Tyrod Taylor has struggled. You know, if you look at his splits, throw it in sort of that 11 to 21 yard range, he's sort of been one of his, perhaps his Achilles heel over the past couple of seasons. So a big question mark coming into this year was,

how was Tyrod Taylor going to respond and adjust to life in Rick Dennison's office? Well, first thing we learned, he adjusted fairly well. Going through and studying that game, Tyler Taylor acclimated himself fairly well to that offense. Completed 16 of 28 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, a QBR of 92.0. The interception came on a red zone play on Buffalo's opening drive for the game. He has a wide cross concept where he has tight end Charles Clay coming across the formation from right to left.

Tyrod Taylor does stare that route down a little bit, but he puts a good throw on Charles Clay and kind of clans through Clay's hands and gets tipped to a defender in the back of the end zone for the interception. And, you know, that was his mistake but when you go through their script a lot of quicker concepts tosser concept for example two slant routes a lot of spacing type concepts where you've got all curl routes from all of the receivers in the pass pattern gives the quarterback the chance to pick the best area of the zone to attack or perhaps the best matchup in a man-to-man coverage game to attack they did do some vertical stuff here um not a lot of and most of their stuff was shallow cross route flat

concepts out concepts or again those are similar to sort of that curl route concept or that spacing concept where you have all out patterns from all of the receivers and again you pick the softest area or the zone to attack or the best man-to-man matchup to attack. A lot of curl flat stuff where you get quick curl routes from the outside, quick flat routes from guys in the slot. A lot of situations where Taylor could get the ball out of his hands quickly. And he had success with it. You know, through the two touchdown passes, got the ball out of his hands quickly. And the thing to think about with Taylor going forward, particularly looking down the road to when these teams meet in December and with perhaps the AFC East on the line potentially,

Tyrod Taylor is an elusive athlete at the quarterback position. Athletic ability and play strength are two of the staples of his game. When you get a chance to get him to the ground, you have to get him on the ground and get that sack recorded because if you don't, he is dangerous in those situations. The Jets had a number of situations where they could have gotten him to the ground on a sack. They failed to do so. He escapes the pocket, keeps the play of line, does a good job of keeping his eyes downfield and makes things happen in the square

drill. And so thinking about these teams eventually meeting down in December, you've got to be cognizant of if you're a Patriots defender, you get a shot at Tyrod Taylor, you've got to make it count. Second thing we learned about this Bills team, specifically on the offensive side of the ball, LaShawn McCoy is still LaShawn McCoy. He is still dangerous, not just as a running back, but as an offensive weapon. 110 yards on the ground against the Jets receiving yards as well he led the bills on sunday with receptions even though he wasn't targeted a number of an insane amount of times but coy still had a number of receptions for them um trying to get that number for you in a second

he caught five passes for them. And a lot of those receptions were on screens and things like that that were designed to sort of get him the ball in space, getting the ball blockers in front, six targets, five receptions. But he was also a check down outlet type guy for Tyrod Taylor, particularly in those situations where Taylor is trying to avoid a sack, keeps a play alive, keeps his eyes downfield, and makes a big play in the passing game. A prime example of that comes on Buffalo's, I believe it was their second offensive drive

of the game. It was a 3rd and 12 situation with 5.09 left in the first quarter. It's a vertical route concept. They get a chance to get Tyrod Taylor sacked. They don't get him to the ground. He escapes the sack, has the play strength to stay upright, keeps his eyes downfield, hits Sean McCoy with a little check down route

and turns into a 21-yard gain. So you have a third and long situation as a defense. You've got a chance. You've got the quarterback in your grasp. You've got to finish that play. The Jets didn't do what the Patriots need to finish plays like those when they go up against the Bills. Finally, last thing we learned about the Bills, particularly on their offensive side of the ball, this is a running back and tight end focused team right now, particularly in the passing game. You know, I mentioned McCoy, six targets for five receptions.

The receiver who was targeted the most on Sunday was tight end Charles Clay. He was targeted nine times, only had four receptions, did have a touchdown reception, had that interception and kind of went through his hands. But if you look at the receivers, Jordan Matthews was targeted only three times for two receptions. Zay Jones was targeted four times, only had one catch. Andre Holmes, another receiver for them, targeted once for a one-yard reception. I mean, this is a team that looks to be focused right now at the running back and tight end spot, particularly in the passing game.

And so you wonder about the state of the Patriots, what they're going to look like in December when these teams meet. But right now, secondary seems to be a strength. Linebacker, a bit of a question mark, particularly what we saw Thursday night. And so when you start thinking about when these teams go head-to-head, you've got to wonder about what that matchup would look like perhaps between the Patriots linebackers and the running backs and tight end spots

for the Buffalo Bills. Let's flip now and look at the New York Jets. And what did we learn about the New York Jets that could help the Patriots when these teams meet? And these two teams will actually meet quicker than you might think. They're going to meet October 15th, which is six weeks from now.

And then they won't see each other again until much later in the season. But you want to be able to win a game like this. The Jets on paper right now do not look like a team that can truly contend in the AFC East. A lot of people speculating that they're just simply going to tank, try to get themselves sorted out at the quarterback position. That's what we can start with.

What did we learn about the Jets? They still don't have an answer at quarterback right now. Josh McCown, to his credit, when this game was sort of on script for them and close and they could do what they wanted to do from an offensive play calling standpoint. McCown was serviceable. Look, he ended the day 26 of 39 for 187 yards, no touchdowns, but he did have two interceptions. Those interceptions came later in the game when they were trailing by nine. They needed to sort of up the tempo a bit, get the ball downfield,

try to move quickly. He's not a quarterback that can push the ball downfield. He's not a quarterback that can play, come from behind football from an offensive standpoint. And so they still need to sort out the quarterback position. Obviously, McCown's the guy right now. If that's who the Patriots go up against in that first meeting in October, best way to sort of get the game into their hands is get on top early, force McGowan to try to make those throws

because the interceptions he threw, they were throws that were made into coverage, throws that were made when he doesn't have the arm strength to drive the ball into tight throwing windows, particularly on the boundary. So if you force him to try to play that kind of game, you can force some turnovers from a defensive standpoint. So that's the first thing we learned about the Jets.

Second thing we learned about the Jets, the Patriots should have in mind when these two teams meet. Running game is also a big question mark right now. Bilal Powell, seven carries, 22 yards. Matt Forte, six carries, 16 yards. From a Russian standpoint as a team, 15 carries for 38 yards. And this was a game that, you know, it was fairly close. You know, it was a two-point game until the fourth quarter

when the Bills finally wrestled this game away and sort of salted it away. Becomes, you know, a nine-point game. McCallum throws the two picks. But, you know, they still had a chance to establish the run, and they just couldn't do it. Part of that's probably the Bills' defensive front, but running game is also a question mark.

And so if you're thinking about the Patriots matching up against the Jets right now, what you've got to think about is, you know, can they get on to an early lead, slow down the running game that seems to be non-existent right now, and then maybe force Josh McCown into some of those mistakes. So that's the second thing we learned about this team. Third thing we learned, Jets used their first two selections on two young safeties, and they seemed to be acclimating themselves well to the professional game.

Marcus May, Adams, the other safety that they drafted, these guys played pretty well. These guys played pretty well. I mean, Adams, let's see, you know, he had five tackles, four solo, one tackle for a loss, broke up a pass. You know, Marcus May had seven tackles, four of them solo. You know, Deron Lee, the linebacker that they drafted last year out of Ohio State, he had ten tackles, seven solo, one sack as well, a tackle for a loss and a pass defense. So, you know, this defense that was sort of going to be the hallmark anyway of the Jets, even before the Sheldon Richardson trade, it still looks like they're young and athletic. And so that's something to keep in mind as well when

these two teams meet. They've got some strong guys sort of in the middle of the field, the linebacker, those two safety spots. When you think about the additions that the Patriots have made offensively, obviously they added Brandon Cook, you add Phillip Dorsett. You know, those are guys that are going to be boundary type guys, the sort of attack on the outside. And so if you start thinking about a potential Jets-Patriots matchup, that's probably where the Patriots might look to attack first and foremost, on the boundary with those two speed guys. And so those are the things that we learned about those two teams, those two AFC East rivals in this game, both the Bills and the Jets. We learned some things about both teams.

Obviously, we won't see the Bills for a while. We'll see those New York Jets in a couple of weeks here. But first and foremost, before we get to those guys, we're going to get to the New Orleans Saints. And we'll talk about them and their Monday night opener in just a few seconds. But before we do that, again, I want to just throw a shout out to all my listeners out there. Thank you so much for listening to Locked On Patriots here with me, Mark Schofield. And thank you again for tuning in all the time. I know you

have a number of podcast choices out there. And thank you for letting me into your homes, you know, each, you know, five days a week to talk about this team. And it means a lot to me. And so, you know, thank you again. Always hit me up on Twitter with questions. You can reach me at Mark Schofield. That's how to find me on Twitter. Hit me up on there as well. I'm always happy to answer your questions. And we're going to have another sort of mailbag edition in a couple of days as we start to get ready for the New Orleans Saints. So thanks again to all the listeners. And now let's talk a little bit about the New Orleans Saints and their game last night against the Minnesota Vikings. The Saints go up to Minnesota and struggle a little bit in a 29-19 loss. And so what three things did we learn about the Saints in this game?

Well, first, Drew Brees and his receiving core, they are still dangerous, as you would expect. They put up a lot of yardage last night. Brees completed 27 of 37 passes. That's a pretty good sort of completion percentage there for 291 yards and a touchdown. And he's got some talented receivers to throw the football to. I mean, Michael Thomas, second-year receiver out of Ohio State. You probably remember that while he ran against Virginia Tech, that sort of double move, that stop-and-go route. Very good route runner.

You've got two other guys out there as well. Ted Ginn. You know, he's a guy that obviously you have to respect the speed with Ginn. You know, Ginn had four catches for 53 yards. 27-yarder was a big one. You know, the 27-yarder came in the fourth quarter. He was in the slot, run sort of a fade slash wheel route from the slot,

bending on a boundary. He also had a catch on a deep comeback route late in third quarter. Runs that deep comeback route because you have to respect Ginn's speed. You give him that cushion, then you just end up giving him that easy comeback route where he breaks back to the sideline.

And Tommy Lee Lewis, don't sleep on that guy as well. I mean, he only had two catches for 52 yards. One of those came on a double move where he beat Trey Waynes. It was on a fake toss play. Here's a double move there where it's a stutter and go. Even draws a defensive pass interference penalty. So this team can move the ball through the air. The one thing that sort of stands out,

they didn't get into the end zone until the fourth quarter The one thing that sort of stands out, they didn't get into the end zone until the fourth quarter. They had a number of red zone possessions where they got into the red zone and they couldn't punch it in. A couple of factors at play there. One, when their strength is the receiving core like it is, it's tougher to throw the ball in the red zone. It's tougher to throw the ball down near the goal line because everything's sort of constricted. The throwing lanes are tighter. And so if you're relying on getting the ball to your receivers, sometimes it's tougher to find good throwing lanes. The other issue is this team struggled to run the football.

Obviously, the addition of Adrian Peterson, people wondered what he could bring to the running back spot. Mark Ingram's there as well. Alvin Kamara, the rookie out of Tennessee. Well, Kamara had seven carries for 18 yards. Peterson had six carries for 18 yards. Ingram had seven carries for 18 yards. Peterson had six carries for 18 yards. Ingram had six carries for 17 yards. Those aren't great numbers.

And up front, the Saints struggled a little bit. Ryan Ramsey, the rookie, left tackle. He got beaten for a sack by Everson Griffin. You know, they seem to have some protection problems at times. They seem to have some run blocking problems. And so, you know, that run game might be sort of a thing to remember as these teams meet up. You know, wondering about the depth up front, the depth of the linebacker spot for the New England Patriots.

It looks like from a run game perspective, you know, New Orleans is going to struggle to run the ball. At least they did on open at night when they went up against the Vikings. Vikings probably have a bit of a better defense right now than the Patriots do, particularly up front. They've got some guys up front that can really play. Everson Griffin is one of the best in the league at defensive end. And so that might be a thing to remember, that, look, this is just a better defense. But on this night, New Orleans struggled to run the ball.

And so as we look forward to next Sunday down in New Orleans, we have to wonder if the Patriots are going to have that sort of bend but don't break type game where they'll give you big plays. New Orleans is going to have their big plays in the passing game. But as they get down into the red zone, if they're coming away with three, not seven, that's usually a way to make good things happen as a team. When you're holding high-powered offenses to three and not giving them, you know, seven points each time they get down in the red zone,

that's usually a recipe for a victory, particularly on the road. And so that's something to consider. Can the Patriots sort of keep them out of the end zone, give up some big plays, but keep them out of the end zone and sort of stifle that run game, similar to what Minnesota did. Another thing from a running game perspective that we learned, defensively, the Saints might struggle a little bit to stop the run. Dalvin Cook, the rookie out of Florida State, 22 carries for 127 yards.

He had his longest of 33. Some of his best runs came on sort of that stretch zone, that outside zone design. And so a name to think about as we start looking forward to Sunday, Rex Burkhead. Why? One of New England's better runs Thursday night came in the fourth quarter when they were down by one.

They needed to sort of get a drive going. They faced a lawn yardage sort of situation. They ran that same thing, that stretch zone to the left side with Burkhead, picked up a nice run to get them another set of downs. And so when you look at how the Saints struggled to stop that run game, to stop the stretch zones, again, some of Dalvin Cook's best runs came on that stretch zone design. Think about Rex Burkett. Also, again, guys like James White and Deion Lewis, they can run that as well.

Burkett was the first name that popped into my mind, given what he did on Thursday night. But New England might be able to establish a little bit of a running game, particularly on that stretch zone design. And so that's another thing we learned from the New Orleans Saints on Monday night when they went up against the Vikings. Finally, the secondary still looks to be a weak spot for this Saints defense. Sam Bradford, 27-32 for 346 and three touchdowns.

Adam Thielen had a big night, nine receptions for 157 yards. Stephon Diggs, seven catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns. They were doing some things off of play action. They were doing a lot with crossing routes. They had a nice little stuttering go with Diggs for a touchdown. They had a corner out with him off of boot action as well for a touchdown. We won't probably see boot action from Tom Brady next Sunday down in New Orleans, but when you think about Brandon Cooks and what he can bring to this offense, when you think about Chris Hogan and hopefully Danny Amendola coming back and even working Philip Dorsett in.

And, of course, Rob Gronkowski. They can make some plays against this secondary if they get time. The Saints have two guys up front that you need to be aware of. Cameron Jordan, look, 46.5 sacks in his career over the first six years. He had another sack last night. Sheldon Rankins, a three-tech defensive lineman out of the University of Louisville. He got hurt with a broken leg last year

his rookie season, but he was back at a tackle for the loss in the third quarter. Somebody that's going to be a problem for New England in the interior. As a three-tech, he sort of usually lines up on the outside shoulder with the guards. And so, you know, center Dave Andrews

and the guards, Shaq Mason, you know, they're going to have to be aware of where Rankins is make sure he's blocked up because if he can apply immediate pressure to Tom Brady that's usually what gives Brady the most problems there's immediate pressure from the inside and so that's something else that we learned secondary is a weakness they've got some good guys up front but you'd think that New England should be able to make some plays both in the pass game and in the running game and so those are some of the things we learned from those two games. With the Bills and the Jets, we learned some things about some divisional opponents that we're going to see down the road.

But last night in that game between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings, we learned a lot about what the New Orleans Saints can do offensively, spreading the ball out to their receivers and making big plays in the pass game. But we also learned that they struggled to run the ball. Hopefully those struggles continue. On the defensive side of the ball, they gave up a lot of yards on the ground to Dalvin Cook, particularly on

that stretch zone, which is a design that the Patriots can use. They also struggled in the secondary as well with Adam Thielen and Stephon Diggs having big nights as well. Those are some things we learned here for this Tuesday edition of Locked On Patriots about the upcoming opponents for our New England Patriots. We're going to have more on this upcoming matchup between the Saints and the Patriots

as we get into the week. Again, send questions in at Mark Schofield. Let me know your thoughts about the state of the New England Patriots right now. We're going to be talking to some more people as well, getting you ready for this Saints game on Sunday. Patriots need to get off the schneid, get back to.500, and hopefully start to turn this season around here. A bit of a struggle in the opener, but we're on to New Orleans. Until then, keep it locked right here with me, Mark Schofield,

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