Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Defeat New York Jets: Matthew Judon, Christian Gonzalez and More: POSTCAST

Starting point is 00:00:00 The New England Patriots ground out a 15-10 victory over the New York Jets in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium. It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win. Stick around, you're about to be locked into this postcast episode of the Locked On Patriots Podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Don't forget to download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts to ensure that you get the latest episode as soon as it's available.

Starting point is 00:00:58 I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on Twitter, on the Bird app at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at L-O underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, thank you for joining me here on this postcast, post week three episode.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Special shout out and a tip of the cap to all of you everydayers out there. All of you who make Lockdown Patriots possible. Thank you so much for all of your support. And Patriots fans, your New England Patriots finally did it. They got into the win column, a 15 to 10 victory over the Jets, extending the streak to 15 straight victories over those J-E-T-S with a win in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium.

Starting point is 00:01:50 Patriots quarterback Mac Jones completing a season-high 58-yard touchdown reception while the team added six points off the leg of rookie kicker Chad Ryland, one of which went for 51 yards, by the way. Lastly, linebacker Matthew Judon earning a late safety to secure the victory on what

Starting point is 00:02:07 was a soggy Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford. And we're going to get into more on Matthew in just a minute here on today's show. But even though it's a good thing that the Patriots are 1-2 as opposed to 0-3, and they came dangerously close to being 0-3, folks, They still squandered a late 13-3 lead by surrendering an 87-yard touchdown drive from struggling quarterback Zach Wilson. And yeah, folks, if you saw the game, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Zach struggled through this one from start to finish, only putting together that one drive at the end.

Starting point is 00:02:42 And that drive was really thanks in part to a Broadway flop from Randall Cobb. Yeah, that's right, folks. I said it. Broadway flop. He put on a pretty good acting job. Miles Bryant, a questionable shove there, but he was whistled for a costly pass interference call, and that gave New York a fresh set of downs at the goal line.

Starting point is 00:03:01 Wilson and the Jets capped the drive with a touchdown rush from fullback Nick Bowden, and in the process, the Jets cut the Patriots' lead to 13-10. Just like that, we had a ball game in the Meadowlands, folks. But Judon Sack gave the Patriots the 15-10 lead. All was looking pretty good, but the Jets would get the ball back at their own 45 with 156 remaining and needing a touchdown. Credit to the Patriots' defense who really played this game well. They held when they needed to.

Starting point is 00:03:30 The game really effectively ended when Kyle Duggar tackled Jets tight end Tyler Conklin for a two-yard gain. That set up fourth and 10. And the Jets had one last chance for a miracle. And on New York's final play, dare play dare i say folks they almost got it wilson's last second attempt at securing a hail mary win was nearly deflected into randall cobb's hands yeah you can't script these any better folks it fell to the ground instead maybe a little bit of karma there but in any case the patriots are leaving new jersey winners in week three and they now move

Starting point is 00:04:03 to one and two on the regular season. And again, even though New England held on to earn the victory and their first win of the season, there are plenty of lessons to be learned as the team prepares for week three. And here in this abbreviated episode of Locked On Patriots today, I'm going to share with you my observations taken from Sunday's matchup in the Meadowlands. The four corners of my week three Patriots Jets notebook when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Lockdown listeners, these days every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for

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Starting point is 00:05:39 Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked on Patriots. It is a special postcast edition of Locked on Patriots, bringing you a brief recap of the Pats' 15-10 victory over the New York Jets in the Meadowlands on Sunday, as well as my observations. And don't forget, folks, later on Monday, a more comprehensive, deeper dive into the Patriots' victory will be had here on Locked On Patriots. And the legend himself, Mr. Thomas Murphy of E2G Sports, going to join me here on the

Starting point is 00:06:11 hot seat. We're going to take mailbag questions, talk about the Patriots' offensive line, the dominant performance by the defense, and the whole Bill Belichick seems to have over Zach Wilson. All that and more, so be sure to stay locked into Locked On Patriots. But first, folks, I wanted to share with you the four corners of my Patriots notebook. My initial observations taken from that soggy MetLife Stadium field on Sunday afternoon, and where else would we start, folks? Quarterback play. And while some of you are probably very happy with the result, I know a handful of Patriots fans are still

Starting point is 00:06:45 concerned by what they saw out of Mac Jones. And there are still some concerns, folks. But what I will say is at the end of the day, it's better Mac than Zach. And based on how these two quarterbacks played, most of you out there would agree with that. Even though Mac Jones turned in his lowest statistical single game output of the season, he still helped the Pats to a gritty yet unprepossessing victory. And folks, just in case you're wondering what unprepossessing means, yeah, it means one word, ugly. It was an ugly victory. There's no question about it.

Starting point is 00:07:16 But again, a win is a win. And he did so against what is a very formidable Jets defense. Mack finished the day having completed 15 of 29 for 201 yards, one touchdown. He didn't throw an interception in this game. He wasn't sacked, and he connected with nine different pass catchers, including three impressive third down conversions. He had one to Kendrick Bourne, one to Devontae Parker, one to Demario Douglas, all of which went over 15 yards. So not a bad day at the office for Mack when you consider the weather and you consider the fearsome defensive front that he was going up

Starting point is 00:07:50 against with the Jets but that being said there are still question marks on Mack and a lot of them come from his ability to be able to run the deep game for the New England Patriots in attempts in which the ball traveled at least 20 yards through the air, Mack was 0 for 5 on Sunday. Now, the rain and the wind can be a big part of that, so please do not discount that. Where I think the bigger concern should be with Mack is some of these intermediate throws that are almost finding their way into the hands of defenders, and there were a few of them on Sunday against the Jets. Bill O'Brien is still going to cater to Max Strengths in that quick intermediate game. That's where he's at his best.

Starting point is 00:08:30 Bring the defense up, keep it honest, and then be able to play your game and allow your receivers to get yards after the catch. But that being said, in the latter part of the game, and I know we all saw this on Sunday, you still need to hit some deep shots to be able to keep defenses on their heels. And unfortunately, the Patriots are not doing enough of that right now. My guess is this week in practice, Bill O'Brien is going to be testing that ability of Mac Jones. I think he's going to have him try stretching the field, especially in clutch situations. It's hard to simulate that in practice, but I think they're going to try to get Mac's

Starting point is 00:09:04 mindset and his skill set to be able to come together and put together those types of drives at the end of games that allow you to close out your opponent the patriots had the jets on the rope several times on sunday and really didn't do a very good job of trying to keep them down they came out with the win but better quarterback play on the opposite side may have spelled a different result. And that's something that the Patriots need to shore up. If they're going to win these close games, Mac Jones has to deliver in the short game and in the deep game. And he also has to facilitate the run.

Starting point is 00:09:36 And we're going to go back to that in just a moment. But for all the nitpicking that we want to do in Mac's performance overall, I thought he played a good game under the circumstances. And again, I think we can all agree that his performance was far better than what we saw from his Jets counterpart on Sunday once again he looked nervous he looked intimidated and in some cases I thought he looked like he had already lost his battle against that Belichickian mystique of the Patriots defense before he even took one single snap on Sunday. He didn't throw an interception in this game. He was sacked once by Christian Barmore and twice by

Starting point is 00:10:11 Matthew Judon, including that safety. And again, folks, we will get into more on Matthew's sack in just a moment. But even though he was able to find a slight rhythm on the Jets' 87-yard fourth-quarter drive, Wilson continued to show poor poise, poor decision-making, and ultimately that doomed whatever little momentum that the Jets were trying to build as they were trying to pull this one out in the game's closing minutes. He finished the game with a 61.9 quarterback rating, completed 18 of 36 passes for only 157 yards. And look, folks, bottom line, Zach Wilson's performance on Sunday is a big reason why the New England Patriots were able to gut out the win. But if I'm a Jets fan, and if there are Jets fans listening to this, if Zach Wilson is

Starting point is 00:10:58 going to be effective, he needs to work and work hard this week. It needs to start tomorrow, and it needs to continue into the next week and into the next, he has to eliminate that pre-snap intimidation. He's got to make decisions much more quickly, he's got to be more accurate, and he needs to take greater leadership of his team at the line of scrimmage. These are areas, by comparison, in which Mac Jones has shown significant improvement this season, which is why you're seeing the Patriots taking a step in the right direction, where the Jets may be taking two steps back. The loss of Aaron Rodgers is tough, and I completely understand that.

Starting point is 00:11:33 But at the same time, you're an NFL quarterback, and you need to give your team a chance to win. Zach Wilson, at almost no point on Sunday, did that for the New York Jets. And ultimately, folks, that might have been the difference between winning and losing. But Mac Jones showing slow signs of improvement was not the offensive highlight of the day. Now, that belonged to Farrell Brown. And for those of you that didn't have Farrell Brown scoring the biggest touchdown of the year so far for the Patriots, yeah, I think you're in good company.

Starting point is 00:12:02 I don't think anyone could have predicted that. But Bill O'Brien definitely is going against the grain this year, folks. And he proved it on Sunday. He's not been shy about infusing a greater amount of 12 personnel into his offensive sets this season. But he added a slightly new dimension on Sunday by incorporating the use of a fullback. And we all know that Bill O'Brien is not overly enthralled about employing the services of a fullback. And we all know that Bill O'Brien is not overly enthralled about employing the services of a fullback, but he kind of skirted around it a

Starting point is 00:12:31 little bit, folks. A third tight end came in and played the role, and that was Farrow Brown. Farrow is known primarily for his blocking. He's one of the better blocking tight ends in the league, so when the Patriots brought him in, you knew it was for a specific purpose but maro also let everyone know that he has a pass catching ability that other teams need to take notice of showcase the speed showcase pretty good hands and the ability to gain yards after the catch which you know bill o'brien's loving to complete a 58 yard touchdown jones i thought put this perfectly on the mark this was was a great pass from Mack Jones, but that three tight end set, again, caused the Jets a little bit of confusion. And credit the Patriots, Bill O'Brien, Mack Jones, and Farrell Brown, all three of them took advantage of it.

Starting point is 00:13:16 Jones froze the Jets with a pretty nice play fake to Ramondre Stevenson, and then he heaved that pass down the middle to Brown. He dove over the goal line. That gave New England its biggest play of the season. Not only was it the Patriots' longest scoring reception of the season, it was also the longest scoring reception of Brown's individual career as a pro, and he also set a new career high for receiving yards in a single game with 71. So a figurative tip of the cap to Farrell Brown. Great game for him, but he wasn't just a pass catcher in this game. Brown was deployed as a lead blocker as well, and because of that, the New England Patriots were finally able to gain some much-needed yards on the ground. I

Starting point is 00:13:56 wouldn't say the ground game completely came alive. This was a tough day to play offense, folks. The weather was not conducive, and that field was not in good shape however the patriots did collectively rush the ball 40 times for 157 yards that is their highest output of the season so far and again some credit to ezekiel elliott who led the positional group with 80 yards on 16 carries those of you wondering whether or not ramondre looked fantastic he did 59 yards on 19 attempts few miscues but again you have to take the weather under account. I'm not making excuses for these guys, folks, but having played in those conditions, not easy to secure the football, not easy to get footing. Yes,

Starting point is 00:14:36 they're professionals, but they're also human beings. We all need to remember that at times. I do want to give a little extra credit to Ezekiel Elliott here. I thought he was particularly effective in the second half, and that's when New England was trying to hold the lead by draining time from the clock. This is something that Zeke did very well when he was with the Dallas Cowboys. Grind out yards, keep the chains moving, keep the clock ticking, eventually you wear down your opponent. And don't think the new england patriots didn't do that with an eye on next week's schedule the dallas cowboys just happen to be coming up on new england's week four slate and if i'm being honest it would not be a surprise for me or a lot of you

Starting point is 00:15:15 out there in pat's nation if bill o'brien didn't find a way to get elliot untracked once again this is someone that i believe the patriots can utilize as a solid complement to Ramondre Stevenson. And what better way to kind of set the tone for that than to have him have his biggest game so far as a Patriot the week before he faces his former team. But even though there were a couple of plays on offense that got us off our feet on Sunday, the Patriots defense was the reason why they ground out the win. And two guys in particular deserve the opposite two corners of my Patriots

Starting point is 00:15:48 notebook this week, Matthew Judon, Christian Gonzalez. And I'll explain why when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, if you need fresh groceries for the week, but don't have the time to go to the store, try grocery delivery from DoorDash. You'll get everything you want, delivered when you need it, right to your door. You've trusted DoorDash to deliver your restaurant favorites,

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Starting point is 00:17:21 Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining me here today on this special edition podcast of Locked On Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining me here today on this special edition podcast of Locked On Patriots. Wrapping up, my thoughts, my initial reaction to the Patriots' 15-10 victory over the New York Jets in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Don't forget, later today, our good friend, the account of Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy, will join me for a much deeper dive. We're going to talk about the Patriots offensive line, do

Starting point is 00:17:49 a much deeper dive into the offense and the defense. And we're even going to take a couple of mailbag questions. Folks, you will not want to miss it. So stay locked in to locked on Patriots. But in the previous segment, I revealed

Starting point is 00:18:00 the first two corners of my Patriots post game notebook for the Pats week three victory over the Jets. It feels like Hollywood Squares here, folks. But the first two corners went to Mack Jones and Farrow Brown. Well, now it's time to flip the script and turn it over to the defense, who really deserves the game ball in this one, folks. The defense's dominance from start to finish is the reason why the Patriots were able to

Starting point is 00:18:23 grind out this win. And you can't mention the defensive performance without giving a lot of love to the Patriots rookie, and that is Christian Gonzalez. Christian Gonzalez, folks, has truly arrived. He's a rookie, I know, but he's already playing with a poise beyond his years, and it's showing on the field. For the third straight week he passed his trial by fire by containing one of the NFL's top receivers Gonzalez was charged with covering Jets top wide out Garrett Wilson on nearly half his routes he held him to only two receptions while he was in coverage against him that's pretty impressive considering what Garrett Wilson can do

Starting point is 00:19:02 to opposing defenses now Now Wilson only finished the day with five catches for 48 yards so this was a great plan by Bill Belichick and the Patriots defense but Gonzalez just seemed to be everywhere he needed to be when a big play needed to be made or when a big shutdown needed to be made. He spent his time in lockstep with his targets and that's what a great lockdown corner does. It's very rare to see that happen this early in a cornerback's career, but Christian Gonzalez, I believe, is a cut above the rest. And again, folks, he's showing it on the field each and every week. When Christian was not matched with Garrett Wilson, he spent his time in coverage with some of the other receivers that specifically made a great play against Alan Lazard, a pass breakup that really could have gone for big yardage if the Patriots were not able to stop it.

Starting point is 00:19:50 So once again, Gonzalez is doing his job, and he's doing it quickly. He's assimilating his way into the pro game much quicker than most of us thought he was going to. And I credit his adaptability and his athleticism for that he's well-sized 6'2 200 pounds but again where he's showing that wisdom beyond his years that I was talking about is nothing that's overly complex he's just simply understanding his body he's using his height he's using his length and he's doing that to match up and staying in lockstep with team's top receiving options on the outside he did it with Garrett Wilson on Sunday. You saw him do it against AJ Brown, the Philadelphia Eagles in week one.

Starting point is 00:20:30 And you saw him do it from time to time with Miami's Tyree kill. And we all know that Miami's offense is explosive. They put up 70 points on Sunday. That is amazing. I know the Denver Broncos are struggling folks, but when you put up 70 points in an NFL game, that's an explosive offense. And say what you will about Tyreek Hill. He had a lot of praise and a lot of good things to say about Christian Gonzalez after the game last week.

Starting point is 00:20:56 Said that he had great speed, was very impressed by his coverage, and called him a pretty good piece that the Patriots can build around for many years to come. It's not often that you see that type of praise go back and forth between two guys that play each other so well, but there's definitely respect. And again, Christian is earning it in so many circles out there in the NFL universe. He really and truly deserves it. And the great thing is, is he's only going to continue to grow. He's always going to be at his best when he's in man coverage. But the one thing that continues to impress me, and I started to see seedlings of this when he was at

Starting point is 00:21:29 Oregon last year, he always maintains eye contact with the quarterback. That makes him an asset in zone coverage as well. So he's not only going to be the type of corner that can only play on the perimeter, as he continues to demonstrate that increased speed, that physicality at the catch point, the Patriots are going to continue to show greater confidence in keeping him at the top of the positional depth chart, and this is really going to allow Christian Gonzalez to mature a lot faster than any of us thought he would. And from what we're seeing, folks,

Starting point is 00:21:56 he definitely looks like he's up to the challenge. Pats fans, that's three out of the four corners of my notebook so far, and you knew it was going to come down to this and who else would get the fourth corner at this point then matthew judon coming through once again when the patriots need him most and he's been doing this since his arrival in foxborough during the 2021 offseason routinely proving that he has not only the versatility and adaptability to earn the spot as the team's number one player on the edge, but also the speed and the skill set to be able to make things happen when the Patriots need him to do it. Shouldn't have really been a surprise that he delivered that key play on Sunday when the Pats needed it most.

Starting point is 00:22:39 Clinging to a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter, Judon blasts through the defensive line, really put a nice spin move on Makai Becton. Love watching that. I'm going to go back and watch that a few times this week without any question. I know you all will be too. Just to see it from a pure logistical standpoint really is a technical move that Matthew put on Makai. And Makai is not an easy guy to bypass either, but that allowed him to get to Zach Wilson. And again, Bill Belichick's defensive strategy is to put the ball in Zach Wilson's hands and keep it there. Murph and I talked about this last week.

Starting point is 00:23:14 That's what you want to do. You want to force him to hold the ball an extra few seconds. It either leads to a poor decision or an errant throw. In this case, he held on to the ball way too long, especially on a third and 15 from the Jets' five-yard line, and he found himself being very quickly dropped by Judon, who is not going to miss that tackle, folks. And once again, you see that on-field awareness that puts him in position, not just to keep runs from reaching the corner on early downs.

Starting point is 00:23:40 That's actually what Matthew does best for this defense, believe it or not. But the speed, the strength, when rushing the quarterback, that's what sets him apart from his peers. And don't forget, he was also credited with a seven-yard sack of Wilson in the first quarter, so Sunday marked his 12th two-sack game. And not only that, because Judon is so good at being able to pursue the passer, the Patriots actually extended their streak to 22 straight games with recording at least one sack. So a good effort all around by the New England Patriots. There's still a lot that needs to be cleaned up. It was not a perfect game. It was not a perfect

Starting point is 00:24:16 win. But at the end of the day, it was a win. The Patriots will take it. They move to one and two on the season. And maybe, just maybe, this might be the spark the Pats need to start climbing back in the conversation of teams that might be in contention once we hit midseason. But be careful because that task is not going to get any easier. And the Patriots are going to remain on the road as they travel to the heart of Texas for a week four matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, who are now two and one, thanks to an upset loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Yeah, the Cowboys are going to have a bitter taste in their mouth, and the New England

Starting point is 00:24:52 Patriots are going to be riding the wave of victory. Is that going to tip the scales one way or another? Well, we're going to talk about the Dallas Cowboys later this week, and we've even got some special guests lined up for you here to do so, So folks stay locked into Lockdown Patriots all week long. But remember, later on on Monday, that Count of Murphy Fisto joins me. And we're going to take a deeper dive, a more in-depth look at the New England Patriots 15 to 10 victory over the New York Jets. We're going to talk offensive line.

Starting point is 00:25:19 We're going to talk strategy. And we're going to talk coaching and so much more, folks. So please stay locked in to Locked On Patriots. Once again, I'm Mike Abate reminding you to stay safe and to stay well and to be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again later on Monday on Locked On Patriots.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Defeat New York Jets: Matthew Judon, Christian Gonzalez and More: POSTCAST

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