Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Resilience: New England Patriots Offensive Line Excels | All-22 Takeaways

Starting point is 00:00:00 The O-Line passed a huge test on Monday night, and they did it with flying colors. We'll start by telling you how they did it. This is Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New York. England been covering the paths for the past 16 years. Also, the co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports radio veteran. Welcome to Lockdown Patriots, part of the lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network in this country, your team every day. On today's episode, a trio of back-end defenders stood out and helped the paths win decisively on Monday night. Also, we'll tell you why Monday night was one of Stefan did. his most impressive games as a Patriot, even though he finished with just three

Starting point is 00:01:05 catches. But first, let's discuss the big boys up front for the offense, getting the job done, especially given the difficult circumstances. Today's episode is brought to by Fandul. Right now, new customers can bet just $5, and if your bet wins, you get $300 and bonus bets to use across the app. A huge question heading into Monday night was how would the Patriots offensive line perform? No Will Campbell, no Jared Wilson. What would the offensive line look like? Would it actually hurt the offense? Would it hurt Drake May's performance? Would it get in the way of the 11th win of the season? Now we know because we are removed from the game that the Patriots won their 11th game of the season. But this offensive line, I want to hone in after watching the

Starting point is 00:01:55 all 22 because the offensive line on Monday night against the Giants responded. The offensive line on Monday night was really good. I said in the live post game, I don't want to get too far beyond what I see in real time because sometimes you go back, you watch the film, and the struggles are real. Sometimes you overlook certain things. Sometimes you actually underrate certain players, certain performances. So I wanted to watch the film and I wanted to keep. a close eye on the offensive line, and I am here to tell you, I thought the offensive line was

Starting point is 00:02:31 even better during the rewatch than I thought they were in real time. Now, when I go through the All-22, I grade every player. It's a very simple process, learning it from Greg Bedard, you know, just his system. It's just a plus-minus system. When a player makes a good play, stands out, they get a plus. The opposite, they get a negative. My offensive line, on Monday night really tell you what you need to know. Vedarian Lowe, replacing Will Campbell, finished with a plus one on the night. So the entire 60 minutes, he finished with a plus one. That's how he graded out.

Starting point is 00:03:09 Some plus, some minus at the end of the day. He was a plus one. Ben Brown, replacing Jared Wilson, was a plus three. Garrett Bradbury was a net neutral, zero. Now, he had a tougher second half in the run game, but he was going against. against Dexter Lawrence, a big imposing interior defensive lineman who is very good at football. So I will take a net neutral from Garrett Bradbury in that matchup. Mike Owenu, we talked about Mike Owenu playing some of his best football over the past couple of weeks,

Starting point is 00:03:42 according to pro football focus. Well, on Monday night, Big Mike was good again. Michael Wenu, looking at migrating system, was a plus three. Morgan Moses was a plus four. Even Thayer Mumford, who came in just a few days ago, Thayer Munford finished with a plus one. So there wasn't a single offensive lineman that finished with a negative grade on Monday night. That's some really good football given the circumstances. I thought the offensive line, they were moving people in the first half.

Starting point is 00:04:14 In the run game, they were getting the better of the Giants defensive line consistently. And the two guys who stood out the most in the first half when the Patriots were running the ball well. Again, Ramadre Stevenson in the first half averaged six yards of carry. Trayvion Henderson averaged 5.8 yards per carry in that first half. And when you look back, Morgan Moses and Michael Wenu were really, really good on the right side of the offensive line. So shout out to those guys. I mean, I just thought that the run game was there because the big boys were moving the people up front. And they also held up in pass protection.

Starting point is 00:04:53 Again, looking at the pressures. How many pressures did I have for each offensive linemen? I thought Vadarian Lowe was the only guy that I had written down with multiple pressures given up. And Abdul Carter is a very, very tough responsibility for Vadarion Lowe. He gave up two or three pressures. It wasn't like he was a disaster. You'll live with that. Michael Wen, who gave up one pressure.

Starting point is 00:05:18 Morgan Moses gave up one pressure. Garrett Bradbury gave up one pressure. Ben Brown, I did not see anything on the rewatch. Now, maybe I missed something, but I had Ben Brown with a clean sheet and pass protection. Other players, Trayvion Henderson gave up a pressure on a blitz. He got pushed back into the lap of Drake May. And I actually gave Drake May and Ramandre Stevenson a pressure as well. on a blitz that was not picked up.

Starting point is 00:05:50 We'll talk about that more in a little while. Now, Vadarian Lowe, speaking with the media on the pass protection, this was transcribed by Evan Lizarre. Vedarian Lowe said, quote, just getting off the ball. They make a lot of plays just beating guys off the snap, you know, especially when it's talking about Brian Burns and Abdul-Carter, getting off the snap, staying inside out, allowing Drake May to step up, running them by,

Starting point is 00:06:14 letting Drake May do what he does best. And we talked about this on the previews, show. When you look at the New York Giants and you look at their pass rush, it's all about get off. It's all about get off. And they were the 10th best defense when it comes to get off in the pass rush, which means they're extremely explosive. We talked about dealing with that. We talked about using the Giants' aggression against them. And that's what Vedarian Lowe is discussing when he says running them by because they're going to get so far down field, you don't have to block them and stop them in their tracks, you can push them even further down the field,

Starting point is 00:06:53 which will allow Drake May to step up. And I saw that several times rewatching the game. Greg Bedard wrote about the pressure or lack thereof. According to Next Gen stats, the Patriots allowed a pressure rate of 25%, which was the second lowest mark of Drake May's career. And from a clean pocket, Drake May completed 21 of 25 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. You keep him clean. He kills the defense. And a great job by all of these guys up front, great job being ready. It also helps when you have Drake May being decisive. He was great in his decision making. I only had Drake May for two and a half questionable decisions slash plays. I thought the ball placement to Trayvion Henderson on a second and goal on their first

Starting point is 00:07:44 drive. It was a swing pass. You probably remember it. It was a little low and behind Trayvion Henderson. So I give Drake May a negative on that. Second and 11, first drive of the third quarter, first drive of the second half. Drake May took a deep shot to Kay Sean Booty, who was in double coverage when he had Hunter Henry wide open underneath. Unnecessary shot. and could have taken the profit, went to his tight end. So I graded that as a negative play. And then you have the blitz that wasn't picked up second and five at the Giants 14 yard line, fourth quarter, 440 left.

Starting point is 00:08:22 And I give a half a point towards May, a half a point towards Ramandre Stevenson. So negative 2.5 plays the entire night. If you're wondering, Drake May finished with eight plus plays. He was practically flawless in the first half. Pro football focus had him for zero turnover worthy plays. That's the first time that's happened since the Tennessee Titans game, according to Taylor Kiles, of CLNS. And this was a coaching master class, a coaching master class.

Starting point is 00:08:54 Josh McDaniels overloaded the giants with all sorts of different formations and all sorts of different looks. Andrew Callahan posted, Patriots' offense worked out of 11 personnel on roughly two-thirds of their snaps, but Josh McDaniels also used seven other personnel groupings, including various six offensive linemen packages. And that doesn't, as Andrew Callahan points out, that doesn't reflect different player combinations within the personnel groupings. Like, you know, all three wide receiver, one running back, one tight end groups, that's

Starting point is 00:09:33 11 personnel. But New England rotates its wide receivers for, specific 11 personnel sub-packages. So it's eight different groupings viewing players only as running back, full-back, tight-end, wide receiver, offensive linemen. And when you watch the film, I watched it earlier today, offensive line versatility. Thayer Montford out there as a sixth offensive lineman.

Starting point is 00:09:59 Josh McDaniels at times would actually slide Vedarian Lowe to right tackle, and everybody would slide over one spot. They'd have a tight end set up at left tackle. Pretty fascinating. Shout out to Doug Marone, Jason Hotailing, Robert Coogler, your offensive line coaches obviously had these guys ready and they were on the same page. The communication was great. And we discussed on the preview show.

Starting point is 00:10:24 Another part of this was the quick game. We spent a couple of seconds on it in the post game after Monday night. But Phil Perry, NBC Sports Boston, he wrote, according to, next-gen stats, Drake May got rid of the ball in an average of 2.57 seconds, which was his quickest release time of the season. Get it out of his hands. We talked about it on the preview show. Taylor Kyle's posted that Drake May was 12 for 15 for 66 yards in a touchdown on quick throws. He was 12 for 16 for 216 yards in a touchdown when he held the ball for at least two and a half seconds. So getting rid of the football. Why was the offensive line so good

Starting point is 00:11:09 against the Giants on Monday night? You give credit to the guys up front. They were ready to play. You give credit to the game plan and Josh McDaniels and the offensive line coaching. And you give credit to the overall execution. When you combine all three of those things, you get a really good football game from an offensive line that everybody was questioning before kickoff. all right stephan digs showed out in the second half without catching many footballs we'll explain that and more next this is locked on patriots part of the locked on podcast network your team every day the holidays are officially here which means gift hunting season is on and if you want something meaningful personal and guaranteed to get a reaction or frames is the gift

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Starting point is 00:12:51 Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first list of the day. Thank you for making lockdown the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. And don't forget if you're watching on YouTube to click that thumbs up, we always talk about it. Don't forget to like. That helps us with the algorithm. Don't forget to throw a comment in your thoughts on the offensive line. And also subscribe as we march towards 8,000 subs. The first half against the Giants, after watching this game a second time, that was the best offensive half of the season in my mind.

Starting point is 00:13:27 Now, why is that? It wasn't just the 30 points that they put up on the board. Of course, seven of those points. You can thank Marcus Jones. It was because when you look at the entire first half, every member of the offense that touched the field, I personally did not have one negative overall grade in the first half for anyone on offense. Everybody was at least a net neutral, if not a positive, in the first half.

Starting point is 00:13:57 that is bananas. And I want to talk about Stefan Diggs. You can look at Stefan Diggs and say, what do you finish with? Three catches, 26 yards. Whippity-doo? Well, I'm telling you, this is why it's so important for me to rewatch these games. And to look at the All-22 perspective to see what guys are doing

Starting point is 00:14:18 when they might not necessarily be getting the football or directly involved with the play. And watching Stefan Diggs, In the second half, I thought he was excellent. First half, he was mostly quiet. But in the second half, I thought he was terrific with his overall game. You have the obvious, the fourth and six conversion. How many times have we seen Stefan Diggs do work on third and fourth down, helping Drake May and the rest of his offense move those chains?

Starting point is 00:14:48 We've seen it countless times this season. And again, we saw it on a fourth and six. It gets open. No big deal. them chains. But here's where I draw the line with Stefan Diggs, and I say to myself, that was one of his best halves of football. And it wasn't because of his receiving. It was because of his blocking. I actually had Stefan Diggs for four really good blocks in the second half. And when you go back and you watch Travion Henderson, late fourth quarter, the runs that we discussed

Starting point is 00:15:22 in the live post game following Monday night football. When you go, back and you watch Travion Henderson's late game success, I would like you to watch Stefan Diggs on those plays. He is responsible, or at least partially responsible, for at least two of those runs because of his blocking, getting down field, and helping, making the initial contact within five or six yards to spring Travion Henderson free. And so for a a guy who was known as a diva, like a lot of number one receivers are, a lot of questions about what motivates Stefan Diggs, is he really a team leader, all those things that were discussed before the season on a night like Monday night when Stefan Diggs is not a huge part of the

Starting point is 00:16:16 receiving game plan. When he has three catches for 26 yards, I think it says everything you need to know about where Stefan Diggs is mentally and how he has bought in to Mike Vrable and he has bought into this locker room and he is absolutely a leader because on a night 13 straight games coming off an ACL injury and surgery on a night he caught only three footballs he's out there blocking his tail off in the second half and that hasn't always been the case consistently this year to be fair I'm talking about Monday night, and he was blocking on Monday night, and you love to see it when he's quiet as a receiver, that he is embracing that role, and he's out there doing what his teammates need him to do. Kishon Booty, meanwhile, was even better.

Starting point is 00:17:11 I thought Kishan Booty was terrific in this game, and you can look back, again, the easy stuff, right? The touchdown. That was a great catch. But the second and 21 route that he ran to help get it to, what was it, third and eight, I believe, when Drake May inevitably hit Kyle Williams for the touchdown downfield. That was a great route by Kishan Bouti. Dan Rolofsky on Twitter actually posted a video and mentioned how great the route was from Kishan Bouti on that play. So the route running has been much better.

Starting point is 00:17:47 Obviously, he's scoring touchdowns. But much like Stefan Diggs, Kishon. Booty was run blocking. He was fully engaged, and he looked like a legitimate number two receiver yet again on Monday night. Meanwhile, let's talk about the running backs. The snaps. Now, we understand that against Cincinnati, Ramandre Stevenson's first game back, the split was more dramatic than I thought it would be. Travion Henderson played, I think, about 65% of the plays or so. Well, against the Giants on Monday night, Ramandre Stevenson was again the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to snap count, snap rate at running back. Remandre Stevenson finished with

Starting point is 00:18:34 58% of the snaps. Trevion Henderson played 49% of the snaps, and that is exactly what I expected upon Ramandre Stevenson's return. We talked about this idea that Trayvion Henderson, could he be, should he be the leadback. And I think we all understand what Trayvion Henderson's role is. He's been much better lately. He's giving you some of that explosivity. Part of the reason why he was so good late in the game against the Giants is because he was not overused early.

Starting point is 00:19:04 You kept them somewhat fresh. And I'm not surprised. 50-50, 55-45, 65, 65, 60-40. It's going to be bouncing around those numbers. So don't be surprised when Trayvion Henderson plays 49-1-10. percent of the snaps. It's more than what he was getting before Ramandre Stevenson's injury, which is the good news. But ultimately, we've discussed their role, and their role is their role. And at 11 and 2, I can't yell too much about what they're doing going into these

Starting point is 00:19:36 games. So Stevenson at 58 percent, Henderson at 49 percent. What happened in the second half? The run game, especially in the third quarter, wasn't as good as it was in the first half. I talked about it for a minute or so in the live post game. Again, this is why we do the rewatch, and I wanted to pay specific attention to the run game in the second half and see what happened. Well, there were two plays on the running backs. I thought Ramandre Stevenson had bad vision on one of his runs. I thought Trayvion Henderson had bad vision on one of his runs. So two of the bad running plays in the second half were on the running backs. I thought Garrett Bradbury, again, had a pretty rough second half.

Starting point is 00:20:17 half and he gave up a couple of plays in the run game. So Garrett Bradbury had to be better. The Patriots, when you look at, you know, what they were running up against, and this was my feeling in real time watching the game on Monday night. And it was confirmed by watching the film over again. The Giants in the third quarter, they played a decent amount of one high safety. So they were playing more guys in the box. they were playing the run and the Patriots ran into that stacked box a few times,

Starting point is 00:20:53 which hurt the run game. And then you had kind of sporadic misses in the blocking from Hunter Henry missing a block. Mack Hollins missed a big block. Morgan Moses missed a block or two. So that's why they weren't as good on the ground in the second half until Travion Henderson got it going. And when you look at Travion Henderson late in the game, and how they got it going, they were blocking it better,

Starting point is 00:21:18 and Trayvion Henderson individually made some really nice moves. By the way, Pop Douglas, he played 34% of the snaps against the Giants, and when you look back at that game, Pop Douglas individually was to blame for two or three bad run plays. He just whiffed on his blocks. And that's the biggest question about Pop Douglas, and that will continue to limit his potential, it will continue to limit his snaps

Starting point is 00:21:48 because the Patriots cannot trust Pop Douglas to consistently make blocks at the line of scrimmage or even within five yards or so. So he missed a couple of blocks. Not great in the run game for Pop Douglas. But overall, it was fun watching the film. All right, finally, we saw something that I thought we'd see much earlier this season.

Starting point is 00:22:10 What was it? We'll find out next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, It's part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. NFL Sundays, they move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fandul so exciting. You're not just watching the game, you're reacting to it in real time. With Fandul, you can place bets as the action unfolds, every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment.

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Starting point is 00:23:05 visit fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Again, the website is fandul. fondle.com. Fandle, the game moves fast, and well, so can you. In case you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. I appreciate every single one of you, whether you're watching on YouTube or you're getting this podcast elsewhere. We love you. We appreciate you. I thought the defense of the Patriots this season would be led by their cornerbacks. The idea of Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis on the outside Marcus Jones at the nickel and the slot, I thought the cornerbacks would be the story

Starting point is 00:23:45 of the defense. That has not been the case, really. The story of the defense has been the defensive line. Think about it. Milton Williams, his huge impact. Christian Barmore playing well for most of this season. Harold Landry's start before he got banged up. Calvon Chase on had a stretch of seven or eight games where he was a monster. Even the linebackers, Robert Spillane, had a stretch of really, really good football. Monday night, Christian Ellis, yes, he was all over the place. But I am here to tell you that on Monday night against the Giants, the cornerbacks were the strength of this defense overall.

Starting point is 00:24:22 This was a defense going against Jackson Dart in his rookie season that decided to blitz a lot early, then not blitz much at all in the second, third quarters, in most of the fourth quarter, and then they blitzed a lot late. so they blitzed early and they blitzed very, very late. You go back to that last possession for the Giants, Zach Core defensive coordinator,

Starting point is 00:24:45 or at least defensive play caller with Terrell Williams out. He was sending dudes on that final possession. But Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, Marcus Jones, all three of those guys I thought were really good when I watched this game back. Christian Gonzalez had sticky coverage multiple times against Darius Slayton, who is the best wide receiver, I think.

Starting point is 00:25:09 I know Wondale Robinson has put up stats and has more targets, but Darius Slate, to me, is a more dangerous receiver because his ability on the boundary. And Christian Gonzalez was sticky against Darius Slate. And you look at, you know, the stick that Christian Gonzalez put on Wondale Robinson. You all know what I'm talking about. Christian Gonzalez coming downhill and smoking Wondale Robinson. on one play. So I thought Christian Gonzalez was really good. Carlton Davis, who was excellent against

Starting point is 00:25:42 Cincinnati, probably his best game as a Patriot against the Bengals, he followed that up with another good game against the Giants, multiple pass breakups. He had the almost interception, should have had it really. On the sideline against Theo Johnson, he also had that third and three stop where he forced a three-yard loss to running back Tyrone Tracy. Jackson Dart, the Giants, they had the Patriots in a blitz look, and Jackson Dart threw it to Tyrone Tracy, trying to get a little quick screen action, and Carlton Davis read it beautifully, came downhill, and just dismissed Tyrone Tracy. So Carlton Davis was really good, and Marcus Jones was all over the place.

Starting point is 00:26:26 I personally had him for four plus plays in the second half. I thought his coverage was mostly on point. the touchdown that the Giants got on a screen pass. Some of that was on Marcus Jones, took a bad angle along with Jalen Hawkins. And you could argue Christian Gonzalez also could have played that a little bit better. But we're talking about the entire night. And Marcus Jones, especially in the second half,

Starting point is 00:26:53 I thought was really good in this game. And his coverage was there. So the defensive backs, they stood up and they played. some great football against the Giants. Let's talk about the interior defensive line. I am a big believer in Corey Durdon. We've talked about him multiple times.

Starting point is 00:27:12 I am part of the fan club, and I thought he was, again, really good against the Giants. And Mike Vrable mentioned him in the post game. So Corey Durdon was good. Joshua Farmer, I also thought was good. And if I'm the Patriots defensive staff, if I'm Mike Vrable, I'm looking at guys to back up Christian Barmore and Milton Williams. I'm beginning with Corey Durden and Joshua

Starting point is 00:27:38 Farmer. I think those guys, and of course, Kyrie's Tonga when he's available, but I think Cory Durden and Joshua Farmer, who did not play against Cincinnati, Joshua Farmer was out of that game. I think those two guys, those two young guys, have consistently made some plays. I'm not sold on Eric Gregory. I still haven't seen enough from him. I'm not really sold on Jeremiah Farms. So if you're talking about five interior defensive linemen, I'm talking about Milton Williams. I'm talking about Christian Barmore. I'm talking about Kyrie's Tonga. I'm talking about Corey Durden and Joshua Farmer. Those are the five guys I want to see out there on the field. The Patriots continue to have some issues with the four-man pass rush. They did not get much pressure

Starting point is 00:28:25 at all against Jackson Dart. There were some coverage pressures and coverage sacks, but they're not getting those quick pressures with the four-man rush, and that leads them to blitzing a decent amount. I did find it interesting that Elijah Ponder, who, by the way, wasn't very good on the edge against the run. He had been before Monday night. But I thought Elijah Ponder moving inside, the Patriots moved him inside a few times

Starting point is 00:28:52 to use him as a pass rusher, and he actually got home a couple of times. So maybe Elijah Ponder taking that Keon White Roll. that we thought Keon White would have before he fell off a cliff right before the season late in camp. So an interesting wrinkle, Elijah Ponder moving inside from time to time. The second half run defense, I wondered during the live post game why there were some explosive slash good runs for the Giants in the second half after the Patriots doing a pretty darn good job in the first half. Well, looking back at the game, again, edge integrity was an issue.

Starting point is 00:29:28 Elijah Ponder, K. Levan Chase on were two culprits multiple times in the game where they gave up the edge. And really what it came down to, and this is kind of what I thought in real time, was that the Patriots had a huge lead and they didn't want to give up big plays. So they played a decent amount of too high safety in the second half. And the Giants had two or three really good runs against two high safety looks. So they had the advantage at the line of scrimmage. They took advantage of that, and they ended up having a couple of really good runs against two high safety. So it was a mix of edge integrity or lack thereof, you know, Eric Gregory at times and others kind of getting washed out in the middle.

Starting point is 00:30:13 The linebackers getting washed out at the second level. But most of all the Patriots playing those two high safety looks and the Giants taking the yards when they could get them, which was by design from the Patriots defense. So lots of thoughts. Offensive line, offensive, defensive thoughts. Fun game to watch over again on the All-22 as the Patriots improved to 11 and 2. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer.

Starting point is 00:30:42 Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. And don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel, hit that like button and subscribe. And for your second listen, get a double dose of the Lockdown NFL podcast with Tyler the Madman Roland and Tony Wiggins. find lockdown NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a fantastic day and we will see you tomorrow.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Resilience: New England Patriots Offensive Line Excels | All-22 Takeaways

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