Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Saturday Night’s Alright for Pats/Titans with Mark Schofield - 1/3/2020

Episode Date: January 3, 2020

The time for the talk has just about ended. 8:15pm Saturday night. Gillette Stadium in Foxboro Massachusetts. As the New England Patriots get set to host the Tennessee Titans in the opening round of the 2019 NFL Playoffs, host Mike D’Abate is joined by Mark Schofield of SB Nation’s Pats Pulpit to preview Saturday Night’s Wild Card showdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all you Foxborough faithful and welcome to your wildcard weekend preview episode of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news, notes, analysis, and the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate and I am your host of Locked On Patriots, which of course is a part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Please feel free to reach out to me and follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC and be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots. Folks, as Elton John once said, Saturday night's all right for fighting. And guess what?

Your New England Patriots, well, they hope it's all right for beating the Titans. But okay, cliches aside, folks, the time for the talk has just about ended. 8.15 p.m., Saturday night, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, the Patriots get set to host the Tennessee Titans, and Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, and head coach and old friend Mike Vrabel will all be coming to town for this wildcard weekend showdown. And for all the talk about this being the last game of the season, and potentially the last game for Tom Brady in New England, that 53-man Patriots roster in Gillette Stadium, and their fans, and I mean the true fans,

they stand united. Together, you're not buying into the negativity. You're certainly not paying attention to these talking heads that are laying down to sleep every night and praying for a Patriots demise. No, folks, the New England Patriots will be ready for this one. And this Titans team is a tough opponent, no doubt about it. The Patriots need to be ready. But guess what, folks? The Patriots are pretty tough themselves. And with all this talk about who's leaving, I thought it was the perfect time to add a little homecoming flavor to the equation for today's episode. You guessed it, folks. Mark Schofield returns to the hot seat today.

And since taking the reins of the show from Mark back in August, I'm always humbled by the support he continues to provide to me. I absolutely love talking football with him. He's one of the very best formations and schemes analysts anywhere on earth. So it's my honor to speak with him today and get his thoughts on Patriots-Titans. And you know that I will be seeking his wisdom and counsel when it comes to quarterback play for both teams. So sit tight, folks, and I hope that you enjoy today's game preview here on Locked On Patriots.

But as always, here are some of the key details that you'll need to know as kickoff approaches. Now, Saturday night will mark the fourth time that the Patriots and the Titans have met in the postseason. This is the first postseason meeting since New England beat Tennessee 35-14. That was in an AFC Divisional Playoff game at Gillette Stadium on January 3, 2018. Now the last game between these two clubs, that came last season and that wasn't so positive for the Patriots. The Pats traveled to Tennessee and they lost 34-10 on November 11, 2018. This year the teams did meet over the summer in preseason. They held joint practice sessions together at the Titans practice facility.

That was prior to the Week 2 preseason game, which the Patriots won 22-17. So even though these two teams didn't play in the regular season, there's plenty of familiarity between these two teams, and that should mean a great matchup Saturday night at Gillette. Early weather forecast for those of you heading to the stadium. Game time temperature is 34 degrees. Rain and snow mix. And precipitation is almost a certainty.

In fact, they're predicting it could even be heavy at times. So it's Foxborough football, folks, and we love it. So again, if you're planning on being in attendance at Gillette, bring the cold weather gear and bring the rain gear along with it. I don't think just the poncho is going to do it this time, folks. You're going to want to bundle up and stay dry. For those of you watching this game at home, this game will be broadcast by CBS. For those in the Boston area and surrounding areas, that's WBZ-TV Channel 4.

Nationally, check your local CBS affiliate. Jim Nance handling the play-by-play duties. Tony Romo is the color analyst. Tracy Wolfson working from the sidelines. And of course, if you like a local flavor, my friend Bob Sose and former Patriot quarterback Scott Zolak, they have the call on 98.5 The Sports Hub on FM radio. Again, folks, I say it all the time, but Bob and Zoe are awesome at what they do. And they really sync well with the TV broadcast.

So as good as Tony Romo is at his job, if it makes you a bit extra nervous when he goes, ooh, Jim, I don't know about this one, you might want to check out the Pats radio team. But the field of battle is where we'll be focusing today, and we start with exactly who will be taking that field. And that means injuries. On Thursday evening, as expected, the Patriots issued their injury and practice participation report, and six players who were limited in practice all week are officially listed as questionable for Saturday's contest.

They include linebacker Juwan Bentley with a knee injury, linebacker Jamie Collins with a shoulder injury, to no one's surprise, wide receiver Julian Edelman with both knee and shoulder injuries, and then a trio of defensive backs, all listed with groin injuries, Terrence Brooks, Jonathan Jones, and Jason McCourty. And this could be significant, as one of the biggest strengths of the Patriots' defense all season long has been their defensive backfield, primarily the cornerback position. Patriots need to be as healthy as possible going into this game, especially if they hope

to contain the productivity of Ryan Tannehill in the passing game. They'll need all hands on deck and as healthy as possible, especially when defending receivers like A.J. Brown and Corey Davis. Also, tight end Jonu Smith can make things happen. But one guy the Patriots won't have to worry about defending against on Saturday night is wide receiver Adam Humphreys. Humphreys has had some recent struggles with an ankle injury. He hadn't practiced all week, and on Thursday afternoon, Titans made it official he is out for Saturday's game.

And this is not really a revelation, the Patriots probably figured this was coming, but does eliminate one of Ryan Tannehill's most prolific weapons, especially in the slot. So that means if the Patriots have a full contingent of cornerbacks and safeties, they can utilize a member of that arsenal to provide double coverage in case one of Tannehill's targets gets hot. So Thursday's report gives us a clear picture as to who we will not be seeing on the field on Saturday, and right now that's only Adam Humphreys. The rest of those listed?

All questionable. And at this point, it'll probably be up until the inactives are released on Saturday evening that we know for sure who suits up in this one and who will not. But what about the action on the field? What can we expect to see from a game planning perspective? Well, I'll be welcoming Mark in in just a moment, and we will let you know exactly what to watch for in this showdown between the Patriots and the Titans.

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Once again, folks, even though we're only three days into 2020, today was a perfect day to do a homecoming of sorts here on Locked On Patriots. And my guest today honorably occupied this very chair for two years. Each and every day, I'm still trying to get this right in his honor. He is one of the most talented sports writers and analysts anywhere for platforms such as Inside the Pylon, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green, and Pat's Pulpit of SB Nation, just to name a few. His podcast, The Sko Show, an amazing listen. I'm a huge fan. I highly recommend it. it's my honor to be joined today by my friend mark scofield mark welcome back to the show and thank you so much for joining me today

oh michael great to be back happy new year to you sir and excited to talk a little football because i'm surprised well surprisingly i think we've got a wild card game to talk about we absolutely do we've got a wild card game and it's wild card weekend here in new england and we're not used to that up here mark you know that it's it's just it's kind of foreign territory for fans of the new england patriots there hasn't been a wild card game here in over a decade so this is going to be interesting and it's going to be a fun one to break down on saturday but before i get into that uh this man on the other side of the microphone folks uh celebrated a birthday yesterday and i would be remiss if i did not mention that Saturday. But before I get into that, this man on the other side of the microphone, folks,

celebrated a birthday yesterday. And I would be remiss if I did not mention that. Mark, happy birthday. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for all of the support that you provided to me throughout the year. I wish you nothing but the best in this new year and, of course, in this birthday year for you. Oh, Mike, thank you so much for that and for the kind words you had on Twitter and elsewhere. I do appreciate that, buddy. And, you know, like I said before, you've done such great work here with Locked On Patriots. I'm so proud of the work

you've been doing. I couldn't be happier for you, my friend. Absolutely. And you know that total poster always remains on the wall. And just be thankful I didn't go with my original plans of singing Happy Birthday, Mr. President, to you. That could have been a disaster for everyone involved. You know what?

I think our listeners and everybody are grateful I didn't go that direction. Absolutely not. Nobody wants to see that. Nobody wants to hear it. Definitely nobody wants to see it. All kidding aside, buddy, we mentioned playoff football is back in Foxborough, and the Pats have more than a formidable opponent against the Tennessee Titans. And, folks, the Scowman and I will be breaking it all down for you.

And Mark, let's begin with the Titans offense. And the Patriots look at this Titans team. They see Derrick Henry. They see the Titans pass catchers like Corey Davis and A.J. Brown and even John Smith, who is a very productive tight end for this team. And there's a lot to like in all of them. But the biggest surprise here, I think, has been the play of Ryan Tannehill. And since taking over from Marcus Mariota, 22 touchdowns

versus six interceptions in 12 games, he set career highs in completion percentage at 70.3 and a league high rating of 117.5. That's the fourth highest total single in a single season among qualified passers in NFL history. Excuse me, has 19 touchdowns, 16 passing, three rushing in the past seven games. At this point, you can definitely say that Tannehill has been the breath of fresh air when it comes to the Titans offense. And people can point to a better supporting cast. They can point to superior coaching and all of those are really good factors but in your opinion what's been different about Ryan Tannehill's quote-unquote game this year and the season that's made him so successful in Tennessee

primarily some of those packages that they've been running so effectively yeah it's a great question it's obviously one that Bill Belichick and Steve Belichick and Gerard Mayer are going to be struggling with to try to figure out this week and into tomorrow, into Saturday. I think when you watch Tannehill on film and you look at how he's run this Titans offense, there's a couple of things that stand out. There's the success on play action. And like you said, we know all about Derrick Henry and what he brings to this Titans offense and how tough he is to stop in the run game. But the Titans have been able to build a play action offense off of that run game that has been largely effective and has been very influential and very important for Tannehill's play this season.

You look at some of his advanced numbers, he's got a difference in completion percentage of 9.2 percent from non-play action to play action plays which is fifth in the league you know amongst passers and you look at some of his deeper splits on play action plays you know nine touchdowns just two interceptions he's got a yards per attempt of 13.5 on play action plays which is highest in the league I mean he's really done extremely well with play action. When it translates to film, you can see a lot of what they do are in breaking routes off of play action. And that's one of the things that gives me serious pause about this game, Michael, is that concept and how that has had success against New England's defense in the past couple

of weeks. If you look back to that game against Miami, when they couldn't get pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick, they would bring pressure with blitzes. If they couldn't get home with four, they would bring pressure with blitzes and play man coverage. The problem there is you don't have somebody in the middle of the field, either near the line of scrimmage or in the intermediate area, to help on the inside against those in break and routes i'm imagining that we are going to see a ton of that from tennessee on saturday and what gives me also pause is we know how much bill balachick loves to play man coverage

loves cover one loves cover zero ryan tannehill can beat you with his legs and anytime he sees man coverage and he sees the backs of those defenders running away from it with their intended target receivers, he can just tuck and run. And so there's a lot of things that he can do, both play action, both on thrown routes in the middle of the field and with his legs, that could give this defense some problems. Absolutely. And the fact that you mentioned the ability of Tannehill to be able to extend plays with his legs beat you on that record. That's something that is very, the Patriots fans definitely need to keep a close eye on that this weekend, especially in the red zone. And on third down situations, Ryan Tannehill is the type of player that will, like you said, he'll tuck it and run. He'll take it to the Patriots defense.

And they have had difficulty with mobile quarterbacks that have that type of a dual threat. But I think you gained some great insight as to what is different between tannahill this time and what is different between the tannahill that we've seen in the past because let's face it mark we're looking at ryan tannahill from a patriots fan perspective and we're seeing okay oh and six lifetime against the new england patriots first career postseason start this is something where the patriots should be able to feast on this guy, not the same player. He's got, I think, a little bit better coaching than he's had

in the previous years that he's played. He definitely has a better supporting cast, but he's elevated his game, and he deserves a lot of praise and a lot of accolades for that, and I'm glad that you've mentioned that. As great as Tannehill has been and as much of a of an argument that you made for it and him being able to take this game over my assessment is I still think the Pat's best bet is to put the game in his hands make him beat you and I think that's true whether the rain is a factor or not and to me that's because of Derek Henry who is the

definition of the word force he can be that power back that you need him to be he can also be finesse runner, which a lot of people don't give him enough credit for, but he's quick and he's able to make breaks and is able to find seams. And if he does, he can take off for big yardage and get junk yardage. Now the Patriots run defense, I think has been better as of late without question. And that's really because of the play of guys like Lawrence guy, Danny Shelton, even Adam Butler has been a good addition to this front. And he's, I think, elevated his game. To me, I think this is going to be the key for Saturday night's game is trying to control Henry and trying to limit his productivity. Because we know the Titans are going to want to run the ball.

They want to keep Ryan Tannehill in manageable situations, like you said, where he can get short yardage and maybe even extend plays with his legs. Because I think if Henry gets it going, it could be a long night. What can the Pats defense do to try to contain him? Because I don't think you're going to be able to stop him completely. Yeah, I think that's a great way of putting Michael. And he's sort of a complete package when it comes to the running back position. He has the ability to beat you with power. He has the ability to beat you with quickness,

with burst, with footwork. He has the knack to find small creases, to get skinny through holes. He has great vision as a ball carrier as well. You know, there's a reason why they've put the offense in his hands. When you look at trying to slow him down,

I think you're going to have to basically, like you said, put this game into Ryan Tannehill's hands. And that means conceptually, schematically, you're going to have to load the box a bit. You're going to have to put seven or eight in the box at times. You're going to have to bring Patrick Shook down into the box,

play him down near the line of scrimmage. And that means a lot of man coverage situations that also sort of leaves you vulnerable on the back end. You know, I'm sure we'll get into A.J. Brown, Stephon Gilmore, how they're going to handle that situation. But you're going to have to load the box against them. And you're going to have to dare Ryan Tannehill to check to throw in the football rather than handing it off to Derrick Henry.

You're going to have to make Derrick Henry run through crowded boxes. If New England does win this game, I think in large part it will be due to guys like Lawrence Guy and Danny Shelton, what they can do up front. The play of Lawrence Guy down the stretch here, I think, is an underrated aspect to how good this defense has been. I think he's been extremely impressive at the point of attack. I think he's been good even as a pass rusher at times. And if he's able to sort of get going and, you know,

limit what Derrick Henry can do, and this turns into a game where Ryan Tannehill has to win it with his arm, you know, I feel a lot better about New England's chances. But I think we're going to see a lot of, you know, 23 down in the box. We might see a lot of the bare front where they're really going to sort of clog the interior and force Henry to the edges a little bit, try to get him going east-west more than north-south. He does have quickness, but I'd rather him running sideline to sideline than getting vertical quickly.

And so I expect to see them go with that, you know, bare front at times, force him to the edges, you know, and try to limit what he can do. That is such a good point. And Tyler Rowland of Locked on Titans and I had the crossover earlier this week on Wednesday, and we talked a little bit about that and knowing what Tennessee absolutely wants to do. They want Derrick Henry to be their feature. Obviously, it's the bread and butter of their offense.

It's how they're predicated. And as good as Ryan Tannehill has been and what he's done for this team, it still runs through Henry. So the Patriots are going to look for that. Bill Belichick is not going to be surprised by the fact that all of a sudden the Tennessee Titans are going to look to utilize Derek Henry. They expect it. They know it's coming. It's one thing to expect it. It's another thing to stop it. And before we transition over into the Patriots' offensive side of the ball, Mark, I just have one more question for you on the defense. And you mentioned Stephon Gilmore and his ability to match up with either A.J. Brown or maybe even Corey Davis, who was a Patriot killer the last time these two teams

faced off. In your opinion, with what we saw from Gilmore on Sunday, which I believe to be more of the exception rather than the rule with Stephon, I think Devontae Parker got the better of him in this game. I don't expect to see the type of separation he allowed in the Dolphins game that allowed Parker to really, I think, make a lot more freer catches and be able to make some of the prolific plays that he's made. Where do you expect to see Stefan playing? And as a result of that, do you think that's going to mean more difficult matchup problems for some of the other corners like a JC Jackson or a guy like Jonathan Jones or even Jason McCourty who are hobbled by groin injuries? Yeah, it's, it's interesting. It's always fun to sort of play

the matchup game before a game kicks off because we always try to predict what Belichick might do from a matchup perspective and we always get it wrong but it's still fun to do that anyway and I would be you know and getting ready for this week I took a look at the Titans offense over the past couple of weeks and really studied some of what they do both throwing the ball and running the ball and this one play Mike out in my mind. It's a play against New Orleans. And Marshawn Lattimore, the talented Saints cornerback, was matched up against A.J. Brown for a large part of that game and limited him really to one catch. But he didn't do it alone. And there was one play where A.J.

Brown was split to the left and he just runs a simple slant route, a slant-flat combination. And pre-snap, Lattimore is pointing to the safety in the middle of the field and then pointing to A.J. Brown, meaning, look, I've got him over here. You need to help me on this because they're running zone coverage. The ball is snapped. Brown runs a slant. Lattimore jams him, stays on him as long as he can, but then releases to the flat to handle his zone responsibility.

A linebacker brackets Brown underneath. Safety comes over the top to bracket Brown on a slant route. So you basically bracket him after a lengthy jam from your most talented corner. What did he do? What does Ryan Tannehill do? He throws a deep comeback route to Corey Davis on the other side of the field working against Eli Apple. And he's wide open. And so if you think about Bill Belichick and his knack to sometimes take away what you do best,

I think we might see one of those old school Belichick game his knack to sometimes take away what you do best, I think we might see one of those old school Belichick game plans where he says, look, Stefan, you're our best corner. And I know you're probably chomping at the bit to cover A.J. Brown, but I need you to lock down Corey Davis because if we're going to expend some resources on covering Brown, we're going to put J.C. Jackson on him with some dedicated safety help shaded over there. We're going to put JC Jackson on him with some dedicated safety help shaded over there we're going to run bodies at him and then you have to lock down their second option because if Ryan

Tannehill's primary read in AG Jackson is double teamed in a sense and he wants to go elsewhere now he's thrown against perhaps the best corner in the game right now that's a matchup I'm happy with obviously the problem becomes if you're then also stacking the box you're really leaving yourself vulnerable somewhere else. And they have good tight ends. They even have a good fullback to worry about. You know, Blasengame has done some things with them out of the backfield at the fullback spot that concern me. And so it's a tough matchup.

But I do think we might see more of the J.C. Jackson on Brown with some dedicated help. And then Gilmore responsible to locking down Corey Davis. And, you know, to put a point on this, I was talking with Matt Waldman yesterday, who does a lot of skill player study, you know, his rookie scouting portfolio. We were doing a show together. And he was saying that, look, when you study A.J. Brown, both at Mississippi State, I mean, at Ole Miss,

and then now as a rookie, the teams that have had success with him have run bodies at him. He's a physical guy, but if you get to make him work through one or two different players on a given route, that's when he struggles. And so he also believes that, look, JC Jackson with some dedicated safety help is probably the way to go. Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. And I think that that's such good insight in terms of what we're going to see. I agree with you. I do think that we're going to see Gilmore probably against Davis for a lot of different reasons. One of the, one of the big reasons why, and don't I caution my listeners and our listeners here not to discount this,

the last time these two teams played Stefan pretty much got, I don't want to say owned by Corey Davis, but Davis had a pretty prolific game against him. If you don't think these guys have long memories and they want to erase a little bit of that, that's something that I think Stefan is definitely chomping at the bit to do now at the same time, that's not how Bill Belichick coaches. He's not going to put Stefan Gilmore on Corey Davis and say, go out and get revenge. If he thinks it's going to be better for him to play against AJ Brown, that's where he's going to be playing. But this is a matchup I'm looking forward just from a pure fan perspective of seeing and i think stefan's going to have a little extra motivation maybe a little and maybe a little extra pepper in his cleats this time around to try to go out there

and want to perform at a high level and i think he's up to the challenge but again you mentioned the tight end position and that's something that the patriots have had difficulty defending against as well they're going to need superior safety play from guys like Pat Chung, Daron Harmon coming up, and maybe even Devin McCourty covering back there a little bit in order to be able to contain them, because John O'Smith has had a very good second half of the season. And again, there are some defensive matchup problems here for the Patriots. So you know they're going to scheme.

You know they're going to develop that game plan. It's going to be whether or not they're going to be able to put it into action. Mark, excellent insight as always. And we transition now to the Patriots offense. And it's really the subject that I think of much malignment. We'll get into a little bit of that in just a moment, but let's start with the running game. And I think the running game for the Patriots this year have been sort of Jekyll and Hyde. I know a lot of people have said that it's been their Achilles heel and they've been terrible. I think that's a little harsh. I think they've shown flashes of being able to be very effective. They played very well against Buffalo two weeks ago, but for the most part, they really haven't produced the way most of us had

hoped. Now the Titans defense has been solid against the run. They ranked 12th overall and seventh in terms of yards per carry. But in my preparations for this week, and of course I listen to the Scosho, that's where I go when I need some expert analysis. You pointed out something that I wanted to pick your brain on a little bit today, and that was the opportunities that are there for the Pats to exploit. The Patriots to you, and I agree with this, would be wise to attack the bubble, run weak side, run toss plays, and look for cutback opportunities against a Tennessee linebacker group that can be slow to get into those run fits. If they can do that, I think it could provide a whole other level of production for the Pats on

offense. Take us through exactly what the Patriots would need to do on the run to be able to establish that. Yeah. And you know, it is interesting because I think it's one of those instances where they look great numbers wise, they look great statistically, but when you dip into the film, you do see some flaws. And, you know, first of all, the idea of, you know, attacking the bubble and running weak side and watching their run defense over the last half of the season, I saw a lot of instances where, you know, they're a base 3-4 team, but you usually have a four-man front because they'll bring one of the linebackers down on the line of scrimmage. And typically on the weak side, they'll have somebody outside the tackle

and they'll have, you know, a defensive tackle then, you know, either in the A gap between the guard and the center or even just kind of shaded on the center. And then you've got the linebacker off ball. So you've got that little bubble between the tackle and the guard that you can run to. And a lot of teams like the Texans and the Saints had a lot of success attacking that bubble, maybe, you know, showing you a bunch or a trip set to one side, you get the overload to that side,

and then you run weak side, attack that bubble, and you've got a natural hole that's created by the defensive alignment. So that's one thing. The other thing I think is extremely important, those run fits. Look, Rashawn Evans, Jaron Brown, Brown 55, Evans 54, they're very slow to get into their run fits. And I'm not an expert on defensive run fits. It's not my strength, but I pick the brains of a lot of coaches this week, showing them clips, emailing them plays like, look, who screwed up here? And every time it was either 55 or 54. They're slow to get into their lanes. They're slow to get into their gaps. Sometimes they overrun gaps. And what it really enables is some cutback opportunities. And whether it was

the Saints, whether it was the Texans, whether it was the Raiders, whether it was the Texans a week ago, there are opportunities to cut back runs, whether it's zone or even power designs. These guys are slow to get into their alleys, slow to get into their gaps and fits. And it's only Michelle Rex, Burkhead, James White, if he gets some action in the run game, they'll have opportunities to cut things back to the other side of the formation. And so those are the two areas where I really think they can run the ball on these guys, attacking weak side, attacking that bubble, and then looking for cutback opportunities. Absolutely. And look, I mean, there's no question about it. The Patriots, in order to be effective in this game, are going to have to establish the run at some point. The

problem is, is first of all, the weather is going to be a factor for both of these teams. Looks to be a pretty, you know, rainy forecast in Foxborough for tomorrow night, looking like there probably is going to be some heavy rain at times. So, you know, both teams are Foxborough for tomorrow night, looking like there probably is going to be some heavy rain at times. So you know both teams are going to be looking to run the ball, and both defenses are going to be looking to contain the run. That being said, the Patriots passing game is going to need to be on alert five, as we like to say here, and they're going to need to be ready to go. Now, according to the national narrative, Mark,

the Patriots passing game seems to have been driven off to the middle of nowhere and left for dead. Kind of like what Clark Griswold wanted to do with cousin Eddie. Right. You know, um, my opinion here is that I think Tennessee is going to be ready for that. And that is really, I think because of Dean Pease and his familiarity with Bill Belichick's coaching style and also with Tom Brady, he knows that pre-snap disguise is going to be a must against Brady. And if for any reason, the Patriots running game can't get going against the Titans front, this is going to be on Tom now to put together. And I think he's going to need his best game of the season. The good news for Brady is that the past protection has been better. We've seen him have more time. I think he can trust that he'll have the time to go in and be able to have that

confidence to get, you know, that, that, that he'll be able to get the confidence, excuse me, that he'll need in order to make the plays that he needs because his blockers are going to be there. Obviously that starts with Tom, but what else needs to happen in this passing offense, other than Julian Edelman making his catches for new England's passing offense to be effective on Saturday night. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to think about this game and not have flashbacks to week 10 of last year. And we remember that game before the bye and what Tennessee did in that game in terms of pre-snap disguise.

Like many other examples of teams using pre-snap disguise against New England, it's not so much you're trying to confuse Tom Brady because you're not going to confuse him, you know, 20 years in the league, you know, you're not going to show him something he hasn't seen or won't be able to figure out. You're trying to confuse other people. You know, we talked about the Buffalo Bills and how they'll rotate their coverages and spin their safeties to the snap. It's, you know, they're trying to get you to think it's cover three and then they run cover two and Tom Brady reads it fine but he doesn't have a receiver that makes the same read and he runs what he expects to run against cover three but Tom Brady throws what he's going to expect to throw against cover two and it's an

incompletion as a result I mean that's why you do these things to try to confuse other people what Tennessee did last year was that sort of amoeba look you've got everybody in a two-point stance you don't know who's coming or going. They still would end up getting into their cover three looks. This is a predominantly single high cover one, cover three team, three deep, three underneath, but you don't know who's dropping and from where. Now as an offensive lineman, you don't know who's coming and going,

and you might have a gap responsibility and somebody's not coming there, and then your next job is to help out and you help out too late. And there's an overload blitz to the other side and you can't get there in time. And that results in pressure and sacks. And we saw that last year. And so the offensive line is going to have to sort of be ready for anything. But I think conceptually, schematically, you know, we might see, you know, whether conditions aside, thing but i think conceptually schematically you know we might see you know weather conditions

aside them try to get into more of a quick pass and gain because there's one thing you can do to sort of neutralize that it's to get the ball out of your hands quickly you know so you might see a scenario where they might try to spread tennessee out at times and say look you want to show these different looks so we don't know who's coming and going fine we'll go empty we'll just max protect with the five we We've got, we'll block to the inside, force everything outside. And hopefully by the time those guys get home,

Brady's already got the ball out of his hands. And so I think time to time to throw, you know, in terms of how quickly Tom Brady gets the ball out of his hands, it's going to be big this week, because if he could start doing some stuff where he gets the ball out of his hands, throw it,

even, even slants, hitches, juke routes, things like that, and really sort of soften it up this Titans defense, they'll have to adjust in response to that. And that's a way to sort of neutralize what they were able to do last year in that week 10 debacle. Yeah, I agree. And again, I'm so glad that you made the point about getting the ball quickly

out of Brady's hands. For all of the malignment that the offensive line has gotten this year they've been better the last few games of being able to give him that time I alluded to that when I asked the question the first time and I'm glad that you reiterated that point because that is to me going to be such a big factor in Brady's success I think it helps his timing I think it helps his rhythm and if he's able to get those short passes and get the ball out of his hands and move the ball effectively down the field, like you said, I think that opens up another dimension for the Patriots offense. And I think they're going to need that this weekend because I think it's going to be tough for the Pats to run rough shot over the Tennessee Titans. You've mentioned a couple

of ways in which they can do it. And in theory, I think that's excellent, but you know, the weather can always be a factor in the fact that the Titans probably know what the Patriots are looking for, it could end up putting the ball in Tom Brady's hands. Mark, always, always great analysis. And lastly, before I let you go, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask this question. And it being one day removed from your birthday, a little birthday present, we actually haven't had to discuss any legal matters here on Locked On Patriots, which every time you've been here, it seems like we always have a legal question for you. But you know what? I'm going to mention law anyway, but in a fun way, because I'm

going to put my Vincent LaGuardia Gambini hat on and one of my all-time heroes, especially, you know, for short Italian-Americans. We love Vinnie Gambini. And I've been the defender here on Locked On Patriots for the last couple of weeks. And my case has essentially been that I don't believe that even with a Patriots loss, that we are seeing the last of Tom Brady in a Patriots uniform. I think at the end of the day, this is the best spot for him to succeed unless he retires, which is a whole other situation. And I can't take that off of the table. That's definitely a possibility. But I just can't see him walking to another team.

In your expert, professional opinion, me being the defender here, does the defense's case hold water? I think it does. I do. And it's hard to envision Tom Brady playing in a different uniform. And so while this might be his last game as a Patriot, it would be his last NFL game. I don't envision him. You've heard this week he might go to the Chargers. He might go to the Bears.

He might follow Josh McDaniel somewhere. It's hard to envision him playing elsewhere. And I know, look, his dad said years ago that it usually ends badly. But I think in many ways that wasn't a prediction. That was more of a, I don't want to say warning shot, but like an olive branch of sorts saying, look, it doesn't have to be this way. It was sort of a way to reach out to the organization and say, we don't want it to be that way. We don't want it to end badly. And Tom Brady is sort of the ultimate competitor. And I know that we recorded the NFL 100 thing before the season started.

But to hear Brady talk about how Belichick is just adamant that he's just going to do what is best for the team. It doesn't matter where you get picked. It doesn't matter your status before. In that moment, who is the best player at each position? And Brady wants to continue to prove day in and day out that he is the best quarterback for the New England Patriots. And I think until he's decided that he himself is not that guy, Brady is going to keep fighting for that spot. And I would be stunned to see him play elsewhere.

I think, you know, he could retire. You know, I do think that is a possibility. We can't rule out. But I think absent that, you know, he's going to find a way to come back for next year you know to make one last run perhaps at it and see what they can do you know next season you know obviously we hope that look ideally they find a way to put it together they string together four next you know four straight wins they win another Super Bowl and he rides off into the sunset like I think that's sort of the ideal scenario and maybe it shouldn't happen last year but maybe it happens this year but you know absent retirement I still think we

see him you know in New England next season excellent insight and I could not agree with you more and that's a lot of the points that you've made are points that I've been making here on Locked On Patriots listen I think it think it's definitely worthy to bring up the fact, and again, folks, I love pop culture references. Anyone who's seen Rocky VI or Rocky Balboa, he constantly complained about there still being stuff in the basement, things that he needed to get out of his system in order to walk away from the game. I think if the Patriots don't have a successful season this year, and by New England standards, that means winning a Super Bowl, I think if the Patriots don't have a successful season this year and by New England standards that means winning a Super Bowl I think there's still going to be some stuff left in the basement I think they still feel like they could have done more maybe with a couple of more prolific

pieces on offense maybe with a complete offensive line things of that nature I don't think he's ready to necessarily walk away and go to a team that all the contending teams have quarterbacks in place I mean Tom Brady if he's going to leave he's going to want a situation where he can go in, win a Super Bowl. He knows he's got one, two years at the max. So to me, that's why it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to see him in another uniform. Barring retirement, I agree.

I think he's back next year. But ultimately, Mark, and I think we can speak for all of Patriots Nation, we hope this isn't the last game for Brady. We hope it isn't the last game for the Patriots. We want to see them make another run, and hopefully they can pull one out against a very tough Titans team on Saturday night. My friend, what can I say?

Thank you so much for joining me here today on Locked On, Patriots. If this is my last preview of an active game in the 2019 season, I can't think of a better way to close it out than to bring you on here. You've been such a big part of this. I look forward to another great year here on Locked On Patriots, and your support is a big reason why. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, my friend, and enjoy the game on Saturday. Thank you, Michael.

Always great to be with you. You've done such great work. Just a blast to be back, and keep crushing it, buddy. Absolutely. Well, I'm trying to get this right in your honor each and every day my friend so i will continue to fight the good fight and thank you for continuing all of your support for me means more to me than words can say buddy of course my friend thank you mark have a great day you too and the time has arrived folks it's time for me to make my weekly prediction and like your

new england patriots i also finished 12-4 in my season picks. And yes, that's because I did predict that the Patriots would win each game they played. But it's a new year and a new season. The postseason. And the Patriots are playing on wildcard weekend for the first time since 2009. If they want to repeat as Super Bowl champions, they're going to have to win four games to do it. And four games to glory has such a nice sound to it, doesn't it, folks? But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

The Titans are a very good football team. And don't kid yourself, folks. They can win even if both teams are clicking on all cylinders. As Mark and I discussed, if the Patriots want to be successful, they need to slow down Derrick Henry and force Ryan Tannehill into obvious passing situations. The linebackers have to have their best game of the year. Bringing down Henry is not an easy task, and the linebackers need to help out with that. The best way to do it is to get him running from side to side at the point of attack.

With the Titans having the deep group of receivers they employ, the Pats defense won't have the luxury of stacking the box like the Titans will be able to do on defense. Their front seven has to stand up and be the immovable object to Henry's irresistible force. If Henry is able to put the Titans on his back and start collecting 2nd and 3rd downs with short yardage, it's going to be a long night in Foxborough folks. On the offensive side of the ball, Tom Brady has to get everyone involved and they need to score points early. They have to try to keep the Titans on their heels.

Defensively, the Titans are going to stack the box to take away the run. They're going to dare Tom Brady to beat them down the field. Expect Julian Edelman to get bracketed all game long. So the Patriots are going to need their secondary receivers, primarily Nikhil Harry, Jacoby Myers, Mohamed Sanu, and Philip Dorsett. Each of them have to step up and produce this week if the Patriots hope to move the ball effectively. My good friend and frequent guest here on Locked On Patriots, Steve Balistrieri,

made a very good point in his column this week. This could be a big game for the tight ends if they can produce. The middle of the field is going to be there for the taking, but neither Matt Lacoste or Ben Watson has really been able to do much this year. If they can hit a few seam passes, that's going to open up a lot of room for the struggling players outside and could add a whole new dimension to the Patriots' offense. Another thing to look for this weekend, and Steve echoed this point as well, is winning the turnover battles. The defense primarily has not gotten any turnovers for the past two games. This is the week that they really could use a few. The Patriots' pass rush has to do all it can to get to Ryan Tannehill,

force a strip sack, or force a throw for an interception. Giving the offense the ball with a short field to work with could work wonders for helping them find their consistency. Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson are ball hawking cornerbacks, and even though we saw them have an off game on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, I expect them to be more competitive this week and maybe try to steal a pass in tight coverage. Also, something I will be keeping a sharp eye on this weekend is special teams. Dave Brown of the Concord Monitor pointed this out on Friday, that the Titans special teams unit ranked 29th in special teams DVOA.

Knowing the Patriots' prowess in that area, that could be something they could look to exploit in the turnover battle. In the final analysis, this is a tough matchup for the Patriots. Make no mistake about it, folks. Coming off of a short week, facing a physical and very hot Tennessee team where the coaching staff and several of these players have a lot of experience in the New England system is a tall task. But as Rudy Tomjanovich once said,

never underestimate the heart of a champion. The Patriots are very tough at home in the postseason. They haven't dropped a home playoff game since 2013. It definitely won't be easy, but look for the Pats to employ defensive looks that prevent the Titans from being able to mix things up on offense and contain Tennessee in the red zone. That's where they're at their best, but as he has so many times before, I predict that Bill Belichick dials it up once again and finds a way to take that strength away. Offensively, I believe Tom Brady will be able to exploit a banged-up Titans secondary, and he'll do so despite the weather.

As a result, I believe New England's offense will score when it needs it most. I predict that the Patriots will move on to the divisional round with a 24-21 victory over the Tennessee Titans. And I will be back on Monday, win or lose, to recap Saturday's Pats Titans matchup I'll break down all the action for you and we'll see if I was right in my assessment as always make sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast subscribe

to Locked On Patriots via your preferred podcast provider once again I'm Mike DeBate thanks again to Mark Schofield for his time and insight today but most of all I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great weekend, everybody, and enjoy the game on Saturday night.