Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots A to Z Part 7 - Locked On Patriots July 2, 2019

Episode Date: July 2, 2019

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Hey there everybody, welcome on into part 7 of Patriots A to Z here at Locked On Patriots. My name is Mark Schofield, happy to be with you as always, back in the big chair. And we got a lot of players to talk about today when i was doing the prep work for this show i was writing out all the names i wanted to make sure i talked about my hand cramped when i was breaking down the m's because there's a lot of them there's a lot of m's to get to also we're going to talk some plays as well as a city that has helped some patriots moments along the way before we do of that, your usual cavalcade of reminders. Please do follow along the hijinks on the Twitter machine,

at Mark Schofield on there. You can check out the work, variety of places included, InsideThePylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, and of course that trio of SB Nation websites included included Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, where I co-host the one and only QB Scope Show with the Michael J. Kist man himself. And of course, Pat Spalpin. And for those of you who've been wondering, Mark, pause, that's great and all, but where's

the written content? Now that the kids are back at camp, they had two weeks of daddy camp. Now they've started camp it's day camp but it still gives me a chance now to finally get back to writing so i'm going to be doing some more writing so you can look for work at all of those great websites and perhaps some other places now again thankfully now let's dive into it now got a lot of players to talk about not a lot of time to do it ryan mallett off the top quarterback out of the university of arkansas drafted first round talent drafted in the third round 74th overall the 2011 nfl draft and he was the player that sort of created that whole patriots can draft somebody then flip them kind of thing although matt castle i guess you could

say did that as well spent three seasons in new england four passing attempts appeared in four games over that three-year period. Spent time with Houston and Baltimore and Baltimore again. Bounced around the league a little bit. But Ryan Mallett, first-round talent, third-round draft choice. Also,

Logan Mankins, stalwart for the Patriots on the offensive line from 2005 to 2013. Drafted out of Fresno State. First round, 32nd overall in the 2005 NFL draft. Obviously paired in two Super Bowls with the Patriots after the 2007 and 2011 seasons.

He was then traded to Tampa Bay where he spent his final two seasons. Lawrence Maroney. Gotta mention him first round skill position player spent 4 years in New England started 14 games for the Patriots

appeared in 45 for them his best season might have been his second year or his rookie year he had 2 good years to start off with in New England when he appeared in 14 games as a rookie, 745 yards and six touchdowns. His 2007 season appeared in 13, started six, 185 rushing attempts for 835 yards, which was his career high, again six touchdowns.

Did get nine touchdowns, appearing in 15 games with five starts in the 2009 series. Nine would be his season high, his career high for a season. Scored 21 touchdowns on his career, all of them as a Patriot. His final season was spent with the Denver Broncos. Speaking of running backs, Curtis Martin spent some time with the Patriots. The first three years of his career, the bulk of his career was with the Jets, but did appear in one Super Bowl. Then he followed Bill Parcells to the Jets, but a Hall of Famer.

His best year as a pro, probably 2004, when he led the league in both Russian attempts with 371 and yards, 1,697, scored 12 touchdowns. That came with the Jets. But his two best Russian touchdown seasons both came in New England, his rookie season and his second season. Had 14 to peach in each of those years for the Patriots. Gerard Merrill, former linebacker, now head coach. I mean, not head coach, now defensive coach for the New England Patriots.

Gerard Merrill back in the fold with this franchise. Good to see Gerard back. Spent a number of seasons with the Patriots his entire career from 2008 to 2015. He was a 10th overall selection in the 2008 NFL draft, started all 16 games as a rookie, appeared in 103 games, started 93 of them during his time in New England. Willie McGinnis, now you see him on the NFL network, but another staple type player of this Patriots defense for seasons. Willie McGinnis, the linebacker for New England and a player that made some huge plays. You think of some of those games

against Indianapolis, some of the big tackles that he had. He finished his career with Cleveland, but everybody remembers him for his time spent in New England. Rod McSwain, member of the Patriots for a number of seasons. Rod McSwain was a

defensive back for the Patriots from the 80s. Obviously was a part of that Super Bowl 20 team, although he did appear in all 16 games. He did not start any. He only started 17 of his 90 games when he was with the New England Patriots

out of Clemson. David Meggett. Obviously Meggett's most known for his time with Bill Parcells and the New York Giants, but he did spend some time with the New England Patriots, so we acknowledge him here. Also, Brandon Merriweather, the Big Bang Clock, drafted out of Miami, spent a couple years,

four seasons with the Patriots, first round selection, 24th overall, the 2007 draft. They bounced around from a couple of different teams, the the Patriots, first round selection, 24th overall the 2007 draft. They bounce around from a couple of different teams. The Bears, Washington, the Giants. Known for some big hits and some outlandish behavior and some creative hats at times. Zoltan Mesko, a punter.

Gotta show a little punter love. Lawyer Malloy, big safety for this team. However, when you think of Lawyer Malloy, you often wonder and you often think about when he gets traded by the Patriots after that 2002 season, you get Tom Jackson saying,

this is a team that hates their football coach. Well, what do the Patriots do? Go on to win the next two Super Bowls. But Lawyer Malloy, member of the Patriots for a number of years. Malcolm Mitchell. You do wonder what could have been if his injury history didn't turn out the way it did. But when you think about Malcolm Mitchell,

I always come back to Super Bowl 51 when he was a go-to guy for Tom Brady as a rookie in the Super Bowl. And just when you talk about what he did in that game, six catches, 70 yards, averaging 11.67 and a lawn of 18. And I just remember, look, throwing hitch routes to him against press coverage on third and six. Tom Brady targeting a rookie during that comeback. I will never forget Malcolm Mitchell in his game. Plus, I remember seeing him at that Senior Bowl the year prior.

So Malcolm Mitchell, good to see him. Stanley Morgan, speaking of receivers, longtime receiver for the New England Patriots, part of that Super Bowl XX team, as well as, of course, Randy Moss. Now, I know we sort of went long there. I mean, we went sort of seven minutes off the top, right, talking about some of the M's throughout history.

But we got current M's as well. Obi Melonfonwu, Jason McCourty, Devin McCourty, Sonny Michel, Jacoby Myers, Calvin Munson, a linebacker of San Diego State. A lot of M's in Patriots history. And not to be outdone, we've got three coaches, Ron Meyer, John Mazur, and Dick McPherson, who are all coaches for the New England Patriots. M, a lot of rich, rich history of the New England Patriots. Also, N, not as many. Jim Nance. No, not the CBS guy that we hear all the time.

The running back out of Syracuse. Jim Nance, a longtime running back for the Boston Patriots, who then became the New England Patriots in 1971 when he was still with the organization. But big-time running back out of Syracuse for this team. He was selected in the 19th round of the 1965 AFL draft as well as the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Bears, 45th overall. But he signed with the Boston Patriots and he was a big-time running back for this franchise. In 1966, he led the league with 299 rushing attempts, 1,458 yards, and 11 touchdowns. Those were all league highs.

In 67, 269 rushing attempts for 1,216 yards. Again, those were league highs. 69, 193 rushing attempts. Again, league highs. So Jim Nance, when you hear Jim Nance, think of the running back first, not the guy we hear with Tony Romo. At least that's what I try to do. Steve Nelson, long-time linebacker for the Patriots through the 70s and 80s

from North Dakota State. Carson Wentz, not the only NDSU grad that had some time in the NFL. Steve Nelson, a linebacker, part of that Super Bowl XX team. Steven Neal, obviously an offensive lineman from 2002 and then 2004 through 2010. He was injured for 2003, but started at 81 games for the New England Patriots. Included 14 during that 2004 season. Eight games in that 2007 season as well.

Steven Neal, offensive lineman for the New England Patriots out of Cal State Bakersfield. Who else? Rob Ninkovich, linebacker for the Patriots, edge defender out of Purdue. And Tom Neville, an offensive tackle out of Mississippi State, had two separate stints with the team, 65 through 77, first with the Boston Patriots, then with the New England Patriots. So those are the two different stints. I kind of misphrased that a bit.

Oh, there was a year where he was hurt. That's why it came up two different stints. He was hurt for the 75 season. So he played with them in 74 and then 76, but he was hurt for the 75 season. That's Tom Neville, who was selected by the Boston Patriots in the 7th round of the 65 AFL draft, as well as the 9th round of the 65 NFL draft by the as well as the ninth round of the 65 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. But he stuck it with the Boston Patriots.

Also, we do have, I believe, a current Patriot. No, we don't. No current Patriots with the letter N. Imagine that. So that will do it for the players, the people, the coaches. Up next, we've got some plays to talk about. That's ahead on this Part 7 installment of Patriots A-Z, sponsored by the letters M and N.

Mark Schofield back with you now here on Part 7 of Patriots A-Z here at Locked on Patriots. And let's do some nerdy football stuff. We're going to start with a single receiver route. We've just got one of those to talk about. And that route is called middle read. This is a slot receiver route. We've just got one of those to talk about. And that route is called middle read. This is a slot receiver route. So you're not going to see this one from outside receivers and the inside route. You take a vertical stem to 12 yards. You plant off your outside foot and run a post route

at the near upright, staying just outside of the nearest hash mark. Coaching point number one, stay thin. What does that mean? You're not drifting across the field at all. This is basically used to try to get up at the seam. You want to get, because the way this route is run, you break up field to 12 yards. You take a step to the outside. Make that outside defender,

if there's a cornerback out there to think, you're going to run a corner so they widen. And then you break to the post, but you aim for the near upright and you stay outside of the nearest hash. That's what they mean by staying thin. You're not coming across the middle. You're not expected to cross the safety's face if there's a middle of the field safety. Coaching point. You want to get hit in the back, not the mouth. What does that mean? You're basically running a vertical route. If you're going to come across the field, you're going to be looking at the quarterback.

That's when you get hit in the mouth. You want to get hit in the back. This is a vertical route, period. Don't get thick. Don't get across the formation. Stay thin. Take the ball in the back, not in the mouth. That's what they mean by that.

We've also got a two-man concept called Ninja. Now, Ninja is a two-man concept that is part of their Inside Stutter series. The Patriots have a couple of different two-man combinations that have the inside receiver running no matter what an inside stutter route and that's kind of that like shoot route we've talked about as well shoot is where you stay across the field but stutter is similar to shoot in both routes you diagonally to six yards and vertically to get to 12 and then you break over the field 12 to 15 now on shoot you just stay running on stutter inside stutter you can break back you can check up so you either like sit down versus zone or you can break back to the outside if you get walled off now they have this sort of series where they have samurai which is one route

from the outside receiver there's dragon which which is one route from the outside receiver. There's Dragon, which is a different route from the outside receiver. There's Poster, which is, as you might expect, a post from the outside receiver paired with that inside starter. But Ninja, you run a comeback route. So, Ninja and Samurai are basically the same route concept. On both of those, the outside receiver runs a comeback, which can convert to a go route against rolled coverage. But on Samurai, that's a 2x2 formation. So, you're going to have two receivers to each side. On Ninja, it's 3x1.

So, what you will see is Ninja and then that third receiver is going to get tagged with a different route. But Ninja is out of a 3x1 is going to get tagged with a different route. But Ninja is out of a three by one. Samurai is out of a two by two. Again, this is why when people say, oh, the Patriots, sometimes it's hard for receivers to pick it up. This is why. Samurai and Ninja are basically the same thing, but you have to remember that once a two by two, those are the three by one. Now having Ninja H Flair might help you remember that this is 3x1, but still, that gets into the trickiness here. And with this route concept, again, like so many of them, they have different elements built in to beat different coverages. So if you get here a zone coverage, that inside stutter is going to sit down versus zone. If you get maybe a safety in the middle of the field or a tamper 2 look where you wall off that starter route coming across the defender can then break back i mean the receiver can then break

back to the outside so that is ninja part of the patriots playbook now we get some three receiver route concepts to break down we got three in particular we've got missile we've got nod and we've got magic now remember when i talked about some of the three receiver concepts, they have some team stuff that they name things after. We'll get to that, but first is Missile, which is the 1-1-1 receiver runs a squirrel route. That is not an Edelman reference. It is a route.

Now, against rolled coverages, you're going to run a fade. Now, if you get off coverage or something different, you're going to break vertically to 9. Then you're going to run what looks like to be an out route to 12. Then you're going to break vertically to 22, but then you're going to turn it into a deep comeback. That's squirrel. Very shifty route.

So maybe it should be for Edelman. Inside receiver in this three-receiver set runs an inside post, which is like a bowed-looking post route. You start inside the numbers, you work outside to the top of the numbers, then you aim back for the near upright, working back away from the numbers. And then finally, you're going to learn from that number three receiver a cross or shoot. I've heard it described different ways. This is like that inside stutter we were just talking about, except you're not returning, you're not sitting down. You're just staying across. So, diagonally to six, vertically to 12, diagonally from 12 to 22, working across the formation. And again, you see things that can

beat multiple coverages here. If you get a single high look here, what's going to happen? The corner is going to be occupied by that squirrely route that squirrel route haha get it that middle of the field player is going to be occupied by that cross route shoot route not an inside stutter cross route and then you've got that inside post working up the hash marks up the numbers excuse me attacking that seam area there so that is missile a lot going on on that concept then there's not which is another three receiver concept run out of a more, a tighter three-man bunch. Outside receiver runs a scat. Now this is a route where you start inside to about four yards. Then you can either continue across the field, sit down, break outside, or even break

vertically. If the middle of the field is open, you will stay vertical on this and split those safeties. So that's a scat route. Middle receiver, who's the apex receiver, the middle of the field is open, you will stay vertical on this and split those safeties. So that's a scat route. Middle receiver, who's the apex receiver, the middle receiver on the line of scrimmage in this bunch, runs that seven stop. So 10, break outside like it's a corner route, and then stop. So seven stop. That seven is a reference not to the depth or how many steps you take.

In the Coriel systems, a seven route is a corner route. So it's seven stop. It's a shorthand way of saying corner stop and finally the third receiver that inside receiver runs a nod which is as we've talked about i mean not a nod excuse me the diagonal that three yard deep quick route to the flat so that is nod in the patriot system finally magic magic like i've talked about with some of these other route designs that we've been talking about through this series,

it's sort of a reference to a three-level passing game using a basketball team name. So we talked about Jazz. We did Laker. There's also Pacer, Spur, Blazer, which I believe do believe he talked about magic and blazer are very similar they're just mirror images of each other so where blazer you had an in an under and a post and magic that's working right to left and magic you have a post an under and an in and in. So in Magic, the play might be zero near right R134 Magic. The R134 is sort of a reference to the play action component of this. Magic is the post, under, and in from the three

receivers working right to left. So the Z receiver, who's aligned farthest to the right, runs a post. Tight end Y runs the under. Backside, X, runs the in. So Magic is a three-level passing game play for the Patriots off of play action. That R134 is the play action designation for this play. Zero near right is sort of the formation. Zero is your base, two-back formation, pro formation. Near right, meaning strength is to the right and the full back is shaded to the right. R-134 is protection and play action element.

And then magic, again, post, under, and in, working right to left. So that is magic in the Patriots playbook. Excuse me. Again, nerdy football stuff. I know some of you are digging it, so we're going to keep doing it. Plus, I get to read playbooks and study them. It's fun. So that will do it for this part. Up next, we're going to talk about the city of New Orleans. Why?

A lot of Patriots moments associated with the city of New Orleans. That's ahead on Part 7 of Patriots A to Z here at Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now. Going to quickly close out Part 7 of Patriots A to Z.

We're now basically past the halfway point. We've got 17 of these shows to do. Now we're in the final part of Show 7, so that's kind of exciting. As I said, we're going to get through this week and a little bit into next week, and then we're going to be running some best of stuff as Papa Bear takes a little breather to get ready for the full-on sprint that is the upcoming NFL season where we go basically training camp through draft

without a break. It's a grind, but we do it for the love. We're going to talk about the city of New Orleans here for a second. Why? Well, the Patriots' first three Super Bowl appearances were at the Louisiana Superdome. Obviously, Super Bowl XX.

Patriots make a magical run to get to Super Bowl XX to square off with the Chicago Bears representing the NFC. And, well, things didn't turn out too well. Patriots got waxed in that game 46-10, which was, at the time, the most lopsided game in Super Bowl history. Now, it has since been surpassed, thankfully. Patriots aren't the answer to that trivia question anymore. But then at the end of the 1996 season, the 77th regular season in the National Football League, the Patriots again advanced to a Super Bowl. Super Bowl 31 down in New Orleans against the Green Bay Packers.

You remember the jambalaya. That was sort of the catchphrase that the team was using. The Patriots were the number two seed in that playoffs. Denver was the number one. The Patriots were the number two seed with an 11-5 record that won the AFC East. Both Buffalo and Indianapolis got in. Now, how did that playoff system work? Well, Patriots got a first-round bye, and they hosted

Pittsburgh, who advanced with a 42-14 win over Indianapolis. And they beat the Steelers in that game, 28-3 a game at home. Now, everybody anticipated that Denver was going to make it to at least the AFC Championship game, which they would host.

They were the number one seed. They had a first-round bye as well. They had finished with a 13-3 record. But Jacksonville, not only did they go in to Buffalo and win on the road, 30-27, they go out to

mile high, and they, as the 5 seed, knock off the number 1 seed, advancing to the AFC Championship game, which is now at Foxborough Stadium. The Patriots would win that game 20-6 and advance to the Super Bowl XXXI to take on the Green Bay Packers, who were the number 1 seed,

won their division round game at home against San Francisco 35-14, and then they knocked off Carolina. So you had like two expansion teams making a run to the championship games. But Green Bay knocks off Carolina, 30-13. Settled up Super Bowl XXXI, which was down in New Orleans. And the Packers won, 35-21. Then, of course, Super Bowl XXXVI.

And there was a post-9-11 world. It was down in New Orleans. Robert Kraft, we talked about it yesterday's show, taking the trophy. We are all Patriots. And tonight, the Patriots are world champions. That was, again, down in New Orleans. So the Patriots got a lot of history

with the Louisiana Super Bowl. Also, of course, there was that moment in the 2011 season, I believe. That's off the top of my head where they had a monday nighter down at new orleans and there was that moment on the sideline between belichick and brady where belichick was saying i can't get this team ready to play we talked about that a little bit this season where we were wondering if we would see a similar moment between those two men as it seemed like this team struggled to play on the road. So New Orleans, a big part of Patriots law,

as is the New England region itself. You couldn't get through, and without mentioning New England, this team that has come to embody this region for the past 20 years or so. And those of us who have been longtime Patriots fans probably remember a time when the Patriots were like the number four team in town. I mean, Boston, you could always say that Boston itself

is a Red Sox town, then the Celtics, then the Bruins, then the Patriots in some order. But since this run started, this has become, at least for most of New England, if not Boston itself as well, Boston has become a Patriots town. With the success of some of the other teams, the Red Sox winning some World Series since then,

the Bruins have won a cup, Celtics have won a title. Boston has now named itself the City of Champions. A lot of it has to do with the New England Patriots, but New England, this is a team that represents a region. They've done it pretty well with the New England Patriots, but New England, this is a team that represents a region. And they've done it pretty well over the past 20 years

or so. And we thank them for that. So that will do it today. I will be back tomorrow for part 8 of this show doing the letters O and P. Got a lot of plays. Got a lot of stuff to talk about there. Not a ton of players with a letter, although Gunnar Olswenski, currently a member of stuff to talk about there not a ton of players with a letter

although Gunnar Olswenski currently a member of the New England Patriots we do got a lot of P's to talk about so we'll have that as well and yeah some more plays and some moments and all sorts of the fun stuff you've come to expect here at Locked on Patriots during phase 2 of the offseason program

Patriots A to Z so that will roll on tomorrow. Until then, please do keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.