Welcome back to Film Mondays! In a solo episode, Andrew drops all his film notes from the Patriots' upset win at Cincinnati, including their masterful game plan against Joe Burrow. He also shares nuggets from the locker room, his travels and more, hands out game balls and answers your mailbag questions.
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Pats Interference Brought to you by....
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SportsTranscript
00:00Well, a happy Victory Monday to you, even if it is Tuesday, because you know what?
00:20When your football team, your football team, not mine, wins as an eight and a half point
00:24underdog for the first time since 2016, you get to call it whatever day that you want
00:29to.
00:30Patriots 16, Bengals 10.
00:31For the first time this season, we have not only just a film review, but a joyous film
00:35review.
00:36Would you know, if you listen to me on Friday, I did not think it was going to come until
00:39maybe Halloween.
00:40Look at the egg on my face.
00:43Great win for the Patriots.
00:44This was not an ordinary upset.
00:46This is not an ordinary season opening win.
00:48It was a whole lot more.
00:49I wrote a couple of things after, not only about how the Patriots basically found their
00:52formula for the entire season, not that they can do this game after game after game and
00:57especially against good teams, but being in the locker room, how that felt, how it sounded,
01:03what it means to this team, new coach, new offensive coordinator, new quarterback, everything
01:07turning the page was massive.
01:09So we're going to get into that.
01:10We are going to get into the X's and O's.
01:12I've got the personnel groupings.
01:14I got the stats.
01:15I got the play by play.
01:16I got the rates, the pressures, the everything, the success rates, the efficiencies, whatever
01:21you want.
01:22It's all right here.
01:23We're going to go offense today.
01:24We're going to go defense.
01:25We're going to hand out some game balls.
01:26We're going to talk about what would NFL film say?
01:28Everyone's probably lukewarm segment.
01:31I like it.
01:32I know a couple of you out there like it.
01:33Were we inspired by this 1995 VHS that I had as a kid and watched endlessly?
01:39It's called Unfinished Business.
01:40It's about the Domingo Patriots 1995 season.
01:43If they're doing a documentary, which would probably be obviously on Netflix or somewhere
01:46else about this season, what would they say?
01:49We do a week by week by week, trying to guess what that would look like.
01:52If you listen last year, it was obviously sad and pathetic.
01:55I joke many times that the documentary makers probably quit by week 11.
01:59This season, these fictitious documentary makers are not going to quit.
02:03Then we're going to have a new segment, Life on the Beat.
02:05I think you might like to know what it's like on a road trip, what we do, who we hang out
02:09with, what we see, what we do, and then we will get to your mailbag questions.
02:12Sound good?
02:13All right.
02:14Ready?
02:15Break.
02:16The big takeaway right off the top is this.
02:18The new era, as we've talked about in New England, is really finally here.
02:24What Gerard Mayo did Sunday is achieve two things that Bill Belichick did not, could
02:29not over the last four years without Tom Brady.
02:32Win as a two-score underdog and win a statement game on the road.
02:36Gerard did this in his NFL coaching debut.
02:41This is not about Belichick, but if you are someone in that locker room listening to Mayo
02:45about this is how we're going to win, this is going to be the plan, it's going to work,
02:48we're building, but eventually over time, this will work and boom, like that happens
02:52right away, you are bought in.
02:54That's it.
02:55You went on the road as the biggest underdog in week one, something they themselves talked
02:59about in the locker room afterward, and won big time.
03:01Mayo had the locker room before, he's got it in his palm right now, which is the best
03:06thing you can have as a rookie head coach, not to mention everything else that lies ahead,
03:10which is probably still a difficult season.
03:12This makes it that much easier because he's got proof of concept.
03:16He's got buy-in.
03:17He's got something, again, Bill Belichick could not do the last four years.
03:20A lot of times, he was an underdog by eight and a half points or more, 0 and 5.
03:25He won once in 2016, Jimmy G on the road against Arizona, they go ahead and pull it out, Brady
03:29was suspended.
03:30Cool, before that, he hadn't done this, the Patriots had not done this since 2001, which
03:35they did five times that year, which is crazy, and also a reminder that how did they do this?
03:40Well, they won on defense, you hold Joe Burrow and company to 10 points, you won with your
03:45running game.
03:46Reminder, Stephens in 120 yards, a lot more in him later, a touchdown, you won with field
03:52position, excellent special teams, you won with cunning game plans, which again, we're
03:56going to dive into.
03:57This was an old school Patriots win to open the new era.
04:02This was familiar, and this was the first time, the first signs that we've seen from
04:06this team that they might finally get back to those roots.
04:10How many times in the 2022 season, the map pictures of JoJo Duffin's, were we just going,
04:16just don't screw this up.
04:17The penalties, the turnovers, the inexplicable, just mental farts that they had on the field
04:23all of the time, never getting out to a first quarter lead, 2023, all of that's worse, even
04:29with a better coaching staff, theoretically.
04:32This team right away looks smart, tough, and dependable, and it is one game.
04:35I am not projecting anything moving forward.
04:38This could end up being the worst thing in retrospect that ever happens to them, all
04:41this confidence.
04:42Rod Mayo was full of bravado, talking for a full hour to the media this morning, split
04:46between WEI and his morning availability via Zoom with us.
04:49And that's cool.
04:50That's great.
04:51But what I'm saying is the signs, the possibilities that they could get back to that smart, tough,
04:57honestly clutch play, the same way they won at the dawn of the dynasty, they're not relaunching
05:01a dynasty, is encouraging.
05:03Because much like that team was in 01, this team is going to be an underdog week after
05:07week after week, and everyone's going to know the path forward.
05:11They're going to know the tightrope you have to walk, run the ball, play defense, play
05:15from ahead, find an edge on special teams, turnovers, bounces of the football.
05:20Like Marcus Jones scooping that at the one yard line after Kyle Duggar knocked it out
05:24up front at the two in the second quarter, that's a touchdown for the Bengals that goes
05:29back the other way instead and leads to a Patriots field goal.
05:32That's a 10 point swing.
05:34That's the stuff that happened back then that defined the Patriots for so long, right?
05:37We're smarter, we're tougher, and we get a little bit luckier.
05:39That happened Sunday.
05:41That's what made this a little bit more special, not to mention Mayo again, cultivated that,
05:45coached it, and it was a promise kept, which is huge.
05:49Which brings me to the locker room.
05:51Look, I went in thinking, look, I want to talk to the guys like David Andrews, Hunter
05:56Henry.
05:57You got a good relationship with them in the first place, so that always makes it easier
06:00when you're trying to talk to them and ask questions.
06:02But just what did this win mean against the backdrop of those last two seasons?
06:08It's not to bring up old shit, which is exactly how I put to them.
06:12It's just to say, this whole new era is against that backdrop forever.
06:17And you could hear a little bit of a release in there.
06:19Hunter Henry just said, yeah, last year sucked.
06:22We're not going to dwell on it.
06:23We had no fun.
06:24It sucked.
06:25This is great.
06:26These are selfless guys winning on the road, winning week one.
06:31This is what Mayo talked about, righting the ship.
06:34It happened.
06:35Got 16 more to go.
06:37And David Andrews is talking like, yeah, I think so, was his answer when I asked, is
06:41this healing in any kind of way for a guy who not only was just at the literal center
06:44of all the dysfunction, but I went to talk to us at the media every single game last
06:48year as they go four and 13.
06:50So I highlight them because they had to go through this log, which made this all the
06:53sweeter, right?
06:54All the bitterness of the last two years.
06:56But there's also something to be said for just the damn noise I heard waiting outside
06:59the locker room before I got in.
07:01They do the whole, oh, yeah, right, that you've heard and maybe even seen on social media
07:06since.
07:07That was the loudest noise I've heard out of a locker room, and I don't know how long.
07:11And when I got inside, it was maybe the happiest since 2018, which by now, what are we, like
07:18seven minutes in?
07:19You're probably thinking, like, did you leave the stadium, Callahan, with a bag of cash
07:25to just kind of exaggerate all of this stuff?
07:27No, this is what it felt like in the moment.
07:29This was a moment that can stand on its own.
07:32Even if they go one and 16, you'll have this that you could hold on to.
07:35It was both the start of something new in a moment unto itself, because that's what
07:38they felt in there.
07:39And so there were good locker rooms, don't get me wrong, in 2021, especially that road
07:42win in Buffalo.
07:44But this was, it was like a weight lifted.
07:46It was a joy rediscovered, validation.
07:49It was okay, we might be able to do this, and who knows again how far they take it forward.
07:54It was one win, but not all wins are claimed equally, made equally.
07:58This had some oomph, right?
08:00The history gave it meaning, and that's what made it again, Sweden.
08:02You could feel it, you could hear it in that locker room.
08:05Okay, let's get to the X's and O's.
08:07But first, Patriots are playing at home this week.
08:11And I've told you this before, I get to go to games.
08:14It's the greatest perk of the job.
08:15I get to go for free.
08:16Well, I have to work these games in the press box.
08:20But if you want to go, if you want to join me at Gillette Stadium, I'm going to tell
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08:48seat view.
08:49So if you're kind of weighing section 306, row 13, seat whatever, versus I'd rather go
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09:32What time is it?
09:33You know it.
09:34Game time.
09:35All right, offense.
09:37So this is pretty simple, right?
09:39You watched it.
09:40I was there.
09:41You didn't need to be in the press box or even in the stadium to know what's going on.
09:45This plan was pound the rock, kill the clock, and that was it.
09:50Seahawks had 34 minutes time of possession.
09:54That was a fifth highest in week one.
09:56They ran the ball on 76% of their first downs, including the last 10 of the entire game.
10:04So Alex Van Pelt was trying to sit on the ball and let the air out.
10:08Basically when they had a lead in the mid third quarter, we'll get to that in a second.
10:10It's too conservative for me, but whatever.
10:12Here's the thing.
10:13They did it.
10:14All right.
10:15And their best weapon was not Ramindre Stevenson, who again, we'll get to in a second.
10:19He was the best player in the field, but it was this six offensive line grouping that
10:23they use with 12 personnel and 13 personnel, meaning Caden Wallace, who came in as the
10:27extra alignment every single time was either a second or third tight end on the field.
10:33When I go through the success rates for all of their personnel groupings, which they only
10:36use 11, 12, or 13, most of them around like 45 to 50 is like good, not great success rates.
10:42Meaning how often do you stay on schedule?
10:44Get the yards you need to go from first and 10 to second or six or better go to third
10:48and three, you know the deal.
10:52Those were okay.
10:53When they played with a six offensive lineman, that success rate was not 45.
10:57It was not 50.
10:58It was not 60.
10:59It was not 65.
11:00It was over 70% of the time, meaning the Patriots got what they wanted.
11:05Whenever they beefed up, looked at Cincinnati and said, I'm running this down your throat,
11:08which they did.
11:09As you know, at the end going for five yards, nine yards, three yards, and nine more all
11:15behind those groupings to beat the Bengals and run out the last two minutes and 13 seconds.
11:20Now there were some adjustments in and outside.
11:23We talked about this before.
11:24Patriots are going to be an outside zone based on offense.
11:27All the offensive linemen going in unison to one direction or the other kind of running
11:31parallel to the line of scrimmage.
11:33Some double teams and they move up to the second level running back goes, okay, I'm
11:36following the blocking one cut and go.
11:39Since he's defense widened out in the middle quarters and outflank that outside zone.
11:44So as they were going horizontal, the Bengals were already kind of camped out and be like,
11:47yeah, that's cool.
11:48I'm going to set the edge here and I have nowhere to go.
11:51So they pivoted first drive, first or second drive of the third quarter.
11:55Patriots run power twice, which they had not done.
11:57These are man black runs.
11:58You can usually see them with a pulling guard.
12:01They also ran duo, which is power without a pulling guard.
12:05Duo stands for two double teams.
12:07You get up front.
12:08It's very close to inside zone.
12:10But the point is these are more downhill.
12:11Okay, we're coming at you.
12:13We're not going horizontal to the line of scrimmage.
12:15We're coming straight down your throats.
12:16And they did this, not only a reminder of Stevenson's touchdown, but mixed in towards
12:20the end of the game, running it at the Bengals.
12:22Now you can say, hey, Callie, and that's cool that they made these adjustments and you explained
12:28duo, but they only scored six points.
12:30And you know what?
12:32You're right.
12:33That's all they had.
12:34And that is where I get into the conservative play calling where the Patriots did run the
12:39clock out.
12:40They did score enough points to win.
12:41But one offensive touchdown is not going to win many games in the National Football League,
12:45which again, you know, I'm serious because I spelled it out instead of NFL.
12:50They needed to pass the ball a little bit more.
12:53They did not have a great passing plan for a defense that blitz just twice, right?
12:58They only threw one screen.
13:00They only ran play action 17% of the time, which is low for an Alex Van Pelt offense.
13:05So I think they could have spiced it up a little bit more.
13:08But again, the last 10 first down plays that they had run, run, run, run, run.
13:12Okay.
13:13One little boot.
13:14They didn't have a lot of success in the boots, but something to spice that up, I think could
13:17have turned their field goal drives in the second half.
13:20One of which was only started at the Cincinnati 24 yard line, maybe into a touchdown drive
13:24and obviously kind of blown out Cincinnati.
13:26They didn't.
13:27They still won.
13:28That's fine.
13:29And this is the other reason behind that.
13:30Remind Ray Stevenson, spoiler alert, he's getting a game ball, 120 yards, a touchdown
13:3625 carries.
13:39He had touches on more than half of his snaps, 28 out of 51.
13:44So it wasn't flip a coin.
13:46Every time he's on the field, he's going to get the ball.
13:47No, these odds were better than that.
13:49The more impressive number though, is not the ones that I just listed.
13:52It's this, and you might've heard this already, 118.
13:57That is his yards after contact, according to pro football focus, meaning from the moment
14:02he was touched on any given play, he got over a hundred yards after against the Bengals.
14:08Now this kind of counteracts some of the hype that drive may was giving the offensive line
14:11being like, Oh, I told you media was making too big of a deal about the preseason games
14:16and the one practice against the Eagles.
14:17They really dominated to which I would say, remind me, bailed you out.
14:21There's the number 118 yards after contact into the offensive line and were great.
14:25Like I'm winning.
14:26David Andrews absolutely kicks a mass, both of them on the touchdown run with Layton Robinson,
14:31but they also didn't give up a single pressure.
14:33And this is where I kind of draw the line because part of the reason the Patriots only
14:37threw for 121 yards, as I mentioned, more of a limited menu, you're trying to run the
14:41ball was they didn't have good pass protection.
14:46And this is where I go.
14:47It's important to make the distinction of how the offensive line played between how
14:52they run blocked and how they pass protected.
14:54That's really not being discussed generally.
14:56And it's not like a very nerdy or like detailed point to make.
15:01Genius.
15:02I'm just saying there's a very, very important distinction, right?
15:04Because they did a decent enough job run blocking.
15:07They did not pass protecting because they allowed pressure on 44% of their snaps against
15:14the defensive blitz twice.
15:16And on 25% of Jacoby said, he got hit.
15:20So that's not good enough.
15:21So if it wasn't like I want to, and it wasn't David Andrews, who was it?
15:24Well, Lane Robinson, the Patriots thing is going to be a special player.
15:27I'm telling you, I think you should have started.
15:29He finally did.
15:30So congrats to everybody.
15:31He gave up three pressures.
15:33So to Chuck's core for who lasted off a dozen snaps, they got benched at the end of the
15:37first quarter.
15:38Enter Darian Lowe, everyone's favorite pinata.
15:41He ended up giving up four, obviously not good, but mostly to Trey Hendrickson.
15:47And we know he wasn't 100% because he was on the injury report and missed basically
15:50the previous two weeks of practice until last Wednesday.
15:53So I'm going to give him a pass.
15:55So that's where a lot of the pressure came from.
15:57We're not only drawing a line between run blocking and pass protecting, which is obvious,
16:01but somehow being missed in the discourse.
16:03We need to look at the offensive linemen who are performing and those who are not.
16:07Between them, the left tackles, Lane Robinson, David Andrews, is also Michael Jordan.
16:12Practice squad player because he was one of the four players who got cut on cut down day
16:16to make room for their waiver claims.
16:17He only gave up one pressure.
16:19His run blocking to me was so-so.
16:21I think we'll wait and see what his career holds.
16:24I think that's fair.
16:25That's not even on the roster.
16:26He's on the practice squad, but he started, he played every single snap as did everyone
16:31who was not named juke decor for urban area law.
16:34So it's a mixed bag and that's fine.
16:36But again, 44% pressure rate allowed 25% of the drop backs, a lot of quarterback hit.
16:42You can't have it.
16:43That will get a quarterback killed over the course of the season.
16:45The reason Jacobi Bristow was not killed is because he got rid of the ball when he got
16:49attacked once.
16:50And that was a minus one yard sack where he goes three feet further on what was essentially
16:55a scramble.
16:56They have no sacks.
16:57Anyway, one for minus one yard is fine.
17:00He also scrambled for other times for 36 yards in these were massive.
17:06Now I'm not going to go over the top for a guy who was 15 to 24 for 121 yards and adjusted
17:11completion percentage of 68%, meaning he just put the ball where he should have two thirds
17:17of the time.
17:19He did what he needed to do, right?
17:20It was a game manager, aside from that near pick to Hunter Henry in the end zone near
17:24the end of the first half, protected the ball.
17:26These are good things.
17:27The Patriots just need to stabilize her quarterback.
17:30Jacobi Bristow is not often going to drive winning, make plays that lead directly to
17:34victory, but he can ride shotgun and that's what he did.
17:38And instead last year, you know, Mack Jones and Billy Zappi were riding shotgun and then
17:43paying themselves.
17:44So everyone had to turn over and sometimes you had to go back home and couldn't move
17:47forward to get a win, which the defense wanted to do and should have the three times they
17:51held their opponents in the middle of the season to 10 points or less, but we're moving
17:54forward.
17:55Notice being themselves right now in this podcast, we are going forward.
17:57All of which is to say for set was fine.
17:59He did enough.
18:00He did what was expected, which leaves us only with the receivers in the tight ends.
18:06Boring day for both again, 121 passing yards.
18:09No one's breaking out.
18:10No one's starring the top four receivers.
18:12KJ Osborne, Taekwon Thornton, DeMario Douglas, and Jalen Polk all played between 35 to 40
18:19steps.
18:20KJ Osborne had six targets, which was double, at least double all of the other receivers
18:25in this room.
18:26And Brissette really likes him.
18:28Not only because that total number, but because you look at those targets for run third down
18:33and one was in the red zone.
18:34So critical situations.
18:35Where can I go?
18:36Who do I trust?
18:38He was the guy I thought DeMario Douglas would be, as we talked last week on my price picks
18:43picks.
18:44DeMario Douglas, meanwhile, two catches, 12 yards.
18:47The first he beat me in coverage on a nine yard shallow cross.
18:50It's regular drag route.
18:51Everyone runs them.
18:52But overall that catch and his other one contributed to an overall stat line.
18:57This is the most encouraging stat I would say for the passing attack on a day that again
19:00121 yards, not a huge deal.
19:04The Patriots were seven of 10 for 62 yards versus man coverage again, just 62 yards,
19:10but seven of 10 is a huge number for the league's worst offense against man to man coverage
19:16as the worst receivers.
19:17When it comes down to the simplest thing of just separate, can you separate, can you get
19:20open?
19:21They did against Cincinnati who again did not blitz played a ton of zone.
19:25They got a little creative with their pressures and Patriots got a nice day from their tight
19:29ends.
19:30Austin Hooper had a big catch against man coverage.
19:32So some encouraging things there.
19:34I think the Patriots need to get more aggressive on first down with their pass rate.
19:39You need to feed the ball more to DeMario Douglas.
19:42And I think you need to help the offensive lineman who obviously needed help.
19:47That meant pulling a core for him playing, but very low, but laden Robinson, we know
19:51he's a run blocking prospect.
19:52He was now he's a run blocking player in the NFL.
19:55I've compared him to Shaq Mason.
19:57He's following that trajectory for now.
19:59We'll see where it goes moving forward.
20:01But just things to keep in mind as we move forward, this was a good winning game plan.
20:05They executed it, pound the rock, killed the clock.
20:08They did it, but they did not do though.
20:10However, before we get to defense is to fill my DeMario Douglas over a more than, excuse
20:14me, more than 36 and a half receiving yards, which was my price picks, picks last week.
20:19And I would encourage you to go to price picks where you can make money.
20:22I might not.
20:23And I did an episode last month or a couple of weeks ago about how you guys can survive
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20:30You know, in addition to banking on an upset, which we already got one for one and watching
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20:56that's it.
20:57And it could be pop Douglas catches.
20:58It could be reminder of Stevenson rushing yards.
21:00It could be Drake may in time passing yards or Evan McPherson for the Bengals, who I thought
21:04would hit two field goals because the Patriots would stop them.
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21:46When you play $5, you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus.
21:50It's guaranteed.
21:51Price picks run your game.
21:53Okay.
21:54To the defense.
21:55So I love this game plan.
22:00It was a throwback to what they did a lot against Joe Burrow in 2022 when you had banged
22:06up corners.
22:08You had Marcus Jones playing on the outside at all five foot eight, looking up at T Higgins,
22:12like a kid who's in fifth grade being picked on by the eighth grader, the freshman versus
22:16a senior pick your metaphor.
22:18And what they did was they kept spinning the dial like they did then with a ton of cover
22:24Which was out of character for the Patriots back then.
22:27This is a, this used to be a single high man-based defense.
22:30Bill Belichick wants to play man across the board.
22:32They'll mix in some combination coverages, but that's what they were more than any other
22:36team in the league, single high man coverage.
22:39So what they did against the bangles was instead live out of not only just too high, too deep
22:45safeties, but filled it out with more zone coverage.
22:49They played zone on over 60% of their coverage stamps and underneath that blitz, just 15%
22:54of the time.
22:55And when they did blitz, which we'll get this out of the way now, it wasn't often five times
23:01the bangles averaged three yards per play.
23:03And they had a 20% success rate, meaning just one of those plays did they say on schedule?
23:07So good job for DeMarcus coming to sticking to a largely effective game plan, but sprinkling
23:11just a little sprinkle of some extra pressure, which is, I just told you panned out, but
23:15the big thing was the too high coverage.
23:17Now again, this is a big structural pivot for the Patriots anyway.
23:21They also use some cover six, which they hardly ever play.
23:24Meaning you've got two players who are responsible for a deep quarter and another deep quarter
23:28on one half and then another playing a deep half on the opposite side.
23:32So quarter quarter half that's cover six.
23:36And what this did was discourage Joe Burrow from looking deep, right?
23:39This is what you want to do.
23:40The Patriots played this a ton on early downs, like a weird amount on early downs, first
23:45and 10 cover to second and six cover to it didn't matter.
23:49Cover six again was in there and they couldn't march the length of the field.
23:53Because of course, when Joe Burrow is not looking deep, he's checking down underneath
23:57and that's what he was.
23:58He was a check down.
23:59Charlie, let's find the real numbers right here.
24:00Joe Burrow, 21 to 29, 164 yards.
24:05So his passer rating was 86, no touchdowns, no picks.
24:09He had just about the same average as Jacoby Percet on a per completion basis.
24:14And they didn't really get any pressure on him, by the way.
24:16This was not like, oh, I'm overwhelmed.
24:18I need to get rid of it.
24:19The Patriots pressured him about 20% of the time, which is below average.
24:23But the way that they disguise that coverage, the way they spun into cover two and in cover
24:27six with these different disguises.
24:29And if you watch on YouTube, I actually talked to Taylor Kyle's in the press box after I
24:33said, hey, you and I should, you should collab and anyone else that's healing us about doing
24:37some of these video diagrams and we'll explain this and we'll get into it because it's really
24:40interesting the way that the Patriots, it sounds like I'm saying, oh, they just played
24:44cover two and they played cover six and that was it.
24:45No, no, no, no.
24:46They rotated players alignment pre-snap all the time and then switched assignments post-snap.
24:55So the picture was different on the front end.
24:57And then you had players doing different things post-snap on the back end.
25:01So if you're Joe Burrow, of course you're checking it down because you have no idea
25:04sometimes, not all the time, he's a smart guy, obviously a great quarterback.
25:08What's going on here?
25:09And the one player who embodied this the most was Christian Gonzalez, who you again, probably
25:14know by now, shadow Jamar Chase, okay, corner of the ESPN on 20 out of 28 routes that Jamar
25:19Chase ran, Christian Gonzalez was his primary defender.
25:23And my guy, Doug Kind, your friend allowed three catches on these routes for 15 yards.
25:29So a big victory for Christian Gonzalez, but it was not always a man to man, the way that
25:33you used to watch Stefan Gilmore lock up whomever the number one receiver in 19, I've got him
25:39shadows him all over the field.
25:41Now this is not an entirely new wrinkle, because in 2020, as I tweeted today, retweeted today,
25:47they would have Steph shadow week four, they play Kansas City's Tyree kill, who goes into
25:51the slot, and then they drop out into cover two.
25:54And instead of playing a short zone, Steph is running the pole, as they say, which is
25:59this deep zone down the middle to cover the space between the two deep safeties.
26:03This is where teams love to attack cover two, okay, it's a very well known easy space to
26:08target and attack.
26:10So Christian Gonzalez did this, he ran the pole down the middle, he also from the slot
26:13with Jamar Chase, spun to play safety in the deep half.
26:17So when you have this guy shadowing your star receiver, all over the formation, and you
26:22don't know if he's playing man, you don't know if he's going to go down the middle,
26:24you don't know if he's going to be in a deep half, maybe he's just in the flat, it creates
26:28confusion.
26:29And the fact that the Patriots could do this in week one, with all of the disguise and
26:33the changing of the assignments and the changing the alignment, not to mention sprinkling in
26:37a little bit of pressure, to me said they're in meets midseason form.
26:41This was excellent defense, even if Burrow's a little affected by the risk, even if Chase
26:46was a little bit limited, T Higgins was out, we all know we all get it.
26:49It's a more talented offense than the one they've seen all summer, say for one practice
26:53against the Eagles, and they balled out.
26:57Now, it's not like they didn't play man coverage, I told you over 60% of the time, but it was
27:01pretty close to 40 that they did play man when they played man coverage.
27:06So let's say they want to just have Christian Gonzalez turn it to Stephon Gilmore.
27:09These numbers should be encouraging, four of 12 for 41 yards in two sacks around a defensive
27:15pass interference penalty.
27:17That was Joe Burrow against the Patriots man to man coverage.
27:20Now, I mentioned they didn't get a ton of pressure when they did underneath Keon White,
27:24two and a half sacks, had a hurry, Josh Uche, two hurries, Juwan Bentley, half sack, Dietrich
27:28Wise, a hurry.
27:30That was it.
27:31Jelani Tavai had a run stuff, he had a pass deflection, John Jones and Kyle Duggar also
27:35had pass deflections.
27:36Kyle Duggar, of course, with the forced fumble, play the game, 10 point swing ultimately.
27:42That's what we saw.
27:43Again, the game plan to me was most impressive, but it takes the players, the experience,
27:47the understanding, the smarts to pull it off.
27:50Patriots have all of that.
27:51We saw it.
27:52So hat tip to them, hat tap to DeMarcus Covington.
27:55I cannot wait to get in the locker room Wednesday and start talking to these guys and being
27:58like, you're really playing cover six now, you're one of these two high deep zone safety,
28:04two deep safety zone teams that are going to rotate and do all these different things.
28:07I'm sure we haven't seen the half of it yet, but this was encouraging, not just because
28:10of the results, but because of the very complex, detailed process that obviously worked on
28:16Sunday.
28:17Special teams really quick.
28:18This was one of the best performances they've had in years, full stop, which is funny when
28:22you remember that he started on an illegal formation, Ben Ali, Del Pettis, flag out,
28:28welcome to the league, undrafted rookie.
28:30After that, Joe Cardona forced to fumble, there's a long snapper.
28:34Joey Sly was three of three.
28:36He did something Chad Ryland did once all of last year, which is make all of his field
28:40goals when he attempted at least three in a game.
28:42Bryce Berenger dropped three of his five punts inside the 20 yard line and the punt team
28:47finished with a very cool 46 and a half yards net average, meaning whatever they lined up
28:53to punt on average, you just moved half the field.
28:57They just pushed the Bengals back.
28:59You can get a little return, but odds are given how far this punt is going to go and
29:02given Brendan Schooler, according to the next gen stats, ran 22.6 miles per hour in
29:08punt coverage.
29:09You're just not going to get very far and they didn't.
29:11So Schooler also had three tackles, shouts to him.
29:14Let's go to game balls, Andre Stevenson, again, 120 yards, great number, 118 yards after contact,
29:22the second highest of his career, according to PFF, much better number, insane number
29:27helped by the fact that he had 10 tackles that he forced misses or just straight broke
29:33through what you saw right there at the end, dude gets met by Jano Stone, safety at the
29:38line of scrimmage on the last handoff and he goes for nine yards more.
29:42It's the last thing I tweeted before I started recording this podcast, you can find it and
29:44see it there.
29:45It's Mark Scovington, game ball, love the game plan, Christian Gonzalez.
29:50I get it.
29:51Chase is not himself.
29:52You give up three catches for 15 yards near the primary defender, one of the best receivers
29:55in the league.
29:56Hats off to you, Keon White, two and a half sacks.
29:59The one real sack that I loved because he also got pushed over on the touchdown round
30:04the Patriots allowed.
30:05I'm not so worried about the Patriots run defense drives proclaiming today like, oh,
30:09we're always going to have a run defense.
30:11I don't know.
30:12You've been the head coach for one week and I get the history and you were part of it
30:14as a player and as a coach, but if you see how the season goes, cause Daniel Aquale got
30:18also pushed around a little bit late anyway, Keon White had this awesome sack working as
30:24Alex Kappa, the left guard for the Bengals, long arm, just straight into his chest, pushed
30:29him back, dropped Joe Burrow like a sack of dirt.
30:31And that was it.
30:33We just had a text and that says, oh, time for what would NFL film say?
30:36So here it is.
30:37What would NFL film say?
30:40You get all of the contrast between Mayo and Belichick.
30:43You get the, definitely some clip from the media being like, oh, the offensive line's
30:47in trouble and we don't really know what it's going to look like.
30:50Hopefully it's from this podcast, this fictitious documentary as we built this along, but then
30:53boom, right away, you get remind Ray Stevenson through the hole.
30:56Boom.
30:57You get a spin move.
30:58Boom.
30:59There's Michael Wenu making two blocks on the way to a touchdown.
31:02Patriots get the lead.
31:03They get another field goal at the half.
31:04Of course you cut to like the near comeback for the Bengals.
31:07Joe Burrow makes a throw.
31:09They hand it off.
31:10The crowd comes to life, but the Patriots answer with a field goal and you see them
31:13hold on to the same way.
31:14And they come back to remind Ray Stevenson spinning.
31:16You get the slow-mo, the dramatic music cut to them kneeling the clock out, Gatorade bath
31:23for to ride Mayo.
31:24Mayo saying, I'm nothing without the players post game, but of course get the big, oh yeah.
31:29And maybe, maybe just maybe a reminder that the Patriots first win in the Robert Kraft
31:34era was in Cincinnati and the Patriots first win in their first Superbowl season was not
31:41a Cincinnati, but the first game was in Cincinnati in 2001.
31:44So great season opener.
31:45Some parallels to history.
31:46We'll leave it at that.
31:47And the fictitious documentary makers life on the beat.
31:51All right.
31:52This is small stuff.
31:53But again, I think you might have some interest and then we'll get to the mailbag and get
31:55out of here.
31:56So Doug and I flew out midday, Saturday and show up at the gate.
32:00Dan Roach is on our flight.
32:02Mike Reese, Cole Yang, Chad Graff, got a couple of camera guys.
32:05It's like 30% of the B. Chit chat, hang out.
32:08Things are good.
32:09Especially for me, even though I was finishing my story for Sunday, which is about DeMarcus
32:12Covington changing the defense in a way that didn't come through as you just talked about
32:1820% blitz rate doesn't really align with super aggressive.
32:22But Duggar and John Jones telling me, you'll know it when you see it.
32:25I think it might be more than too high, but anyway, I may or may not have gone after it
32:28just a tad too hard the night before.
32:30So the calm, the laughter was good.
32:32Getting the flight Cincinnati smooth.
32:35Doug and I get a rental car.
32:36We stayed in Covington, Kentucky, which is just across the Ohio River.
32:40And if you remember, because he shouted this out, I'd completely forgotten about it.
32:44The Bengals hard knocks from a couple of years ago where they always zoomed in on the bubble.
32:48You could see a rusty bridge and then one that was always used.
32:51Or just on the opposite side of that, like you're seeing the bubble, both bridges, there's
32:55a city downtown.
32:56I naturally want to hang out for a little bit, just chill.
32:59So we watched Notre Dame, Northern Illinois, and I'm also texting with James White because
33:03it turns out he was calling the game for, I think it was a USA radio network.
33:08And you're going to hear him on this podcast in a couple of weeks.
33:10We're catching up going back and forth.
33:12He says he's calling the game and he's also been working with Northern Illinois for a
33:17little bit.
33:18So we're watching the game, recovering, and like they're hanging in.
33:21Okay, now they're winning.
33:22Okay.
33:23They gave up the lead.
33:24They're still hanging around.
33:25Then they beat Notre Dame, top five on the road.
33:27So we're going back and forth.
33:28He's going to come in.
33:29Supposed to meet up that night.
33:30Quick workout, get some food, ready to go for the night.
33:33So we go out with Chris Mason, Mark Daniels, and Matt Slythe.
33:36We're proof that, you know, we tell you that like we're all friends on this beat.
33:40We got like a really good group of people.
33:41This is an example.
33:42Awesome Mexican place.
33:43I think it was called Crown and Cantina.
33:46And you step in and you just know like, okay, they know what they're doing here.
33:50Like this is quality food, well-run kitchen, professional operation.
33:55Get a couple of tacos, some margs, go downtown.
33:58There's this place called Arnold's, which we just kind of walked into that has been
34:02around since 1867.
34:04And it was honestly just the bar that was closest to us.
34:07So we're looking for like a chilled night to 1 p.m. game the next day, obviously.
34:11And so we sit.
34:13Here's some horns coming from around the corner.
34:15This is very old, like worn wooden bar seats, everything you look around, older pictures.
34:22And turns out they have a courtyard around the corner.
34:23So we pop in.
34:24They've got this live jazz band playing all New Orleans style jazz.
34:29And it's like an hour in there.
34:31Awesome venue.
34:32Turns out this place used to be not a speakeasy, but it was around in the prohibition and built
34:36up to a restaurant, family-owned, run, everything.
34:39And they still have a tub upstairs, which is now supposedly a gin bathtub.
34:43I don't know what that means.
34:44I don't know if I want to know what that means.
34:46Anyway, if you're in Cincinnati, incredible liquor list, beer menu, great vibes, good
34:51music.
34:52You should stop in.
34:53So we leave there, go hang out around the ballpark because of where the Reds play when
34:56the Bengals are right on the river.
34:57So basically, again, in line from our hotel, just to check out kind of the bar scene.
35:01Doug had some friends when he was at PFF who lived and worked in Cincinnati because that's
35:05where PFF's headquarters are actually at.
35:07So they recommend a couple of places.
35:09We end up not anywhere on that list, but at a rooftop bar at AC Hotel Marriott that's
35:14right across from where the Reds play, stand up there, chat about football for an hour
35:18and call it a night around midnight.
35:20And so I get up, another workout in the morning, go to the stadium around like 10, 1030.
35:25I remember this press box five years ago, because you know by now, a big diamount dude
35:31guy here.
35:32Only press box in the league as far as I know.
35:33It has it on fountains.
35:34So I'm very excited.
35:35Getting, filling it up, click glass or not glass, ice every time we can.
35:40Game starts, cover it, a little cramped in there.
35:43Awesome locker room.
35:44Talked about it there.
35:45We worked till like 730 or eight.
35:47Went back to the hotel.
35:48I'm still starting on film and the personnel groupings and averages and this and that.
35:52And we go to bed probably around one because I'd done TV with NBC, which is always a weird
35:57ask at the hotel desk being like, hey, I need a conference room at midnight for it to be
36:01clear and closed and quiet.
36:03Can we swing this?
36:04And they're like, what do you do?
36:06That's not TV, but it's via zoom and it's a Sunday night and it's going to be Monday
36:09morning.
36:10Sure.
36:11Uh, I've never had someone try to charge me with Mason and Mark were telling us that someone
36:15did that in Dallas last year for them to record a podcast.
36:17Anyway, after doing that sports Sunday with NBC, again, get to bed, uh, 1230 one o'clock
36:23wake up more film doing this on the flight there and uh, just a good trip.
36:27So not a ton of detail in there, but I, I, I feel like some folks might be curious about
36:32what it's like.
36:33It's one of those bigger cities.
36:34I will say that we go to, or there's more to do or with bigger groups that will be more
36:37exciting than this tale, but every trip that we take on the road, uh, you'll get a little
36:41bit from me.
36:42I did like Cincinnati though.
36:43I hadn't been there for, well, five years ago since the Patriots last played.
36:46And then I went when I was in college and did a ballpark tour with my dad and a buddy
36:49of mine, um, actually snuck into the Bengal stadium and then Cincinnati's university since
36:56the nice athletic headquarters.
36:58That's a story for another day.
36:59So anyway, reminiscing on that felt like a blend of Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, but
37:02that's enough of the travels.
37:03Let's get to mailbag questions and get out of here.
37:05We have one, two, three, four.
37:07Uh, let's start with Mark.
37:10Will the Pats get the number one seed or the number two seed?
37:13I love this.
37:14Uh, how about the number four seed AFC East beats itself up?
37:18They squeak in at nine and eight.
37:20Uh, kidding.
37:21Look, my longterm outlook in this team has not changed.
37:23I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you they would be a good team, a future playoff
37:27team, even if they finished with the number one overall pick.
37:30Maybe it's Cincinnati.
37:31It's not, but I still see them as a four to five win team because I'm just not banking
37:35on a long snapper causing a fumble every single Sunday or you not committing every, any turnovers
37:41and the offensive line giving a pressure at a 44% and you hang in and win not being in
37:44anybody's parade, but there's stuff here that's not necessarily sustainable, which brings
37:49us to the next question.
37:50This is a great one from Casey.
37:52What worked against the Bengals that can work all season long and what worked against the
37:56Bengals that will have to evolve moving forward.
37:59So two parts, uh, one of which we're going to dive into more at the end of this week.
38:03I've got a great guest, first time guest, and there's a small chance we have to reschedule,
38:07but if so, we'll bring it back a little bit later.
38:09Uh, and we'll talk about this, the sustainability part, because it's, it's, it's really the
38:14question to ask weeks one, two, and three, and honestly, sometimes four, because if you
38:18wanted to believe and they win, you're sold, right?
38:21Like we're all confirming our priors.
38:23If you think this team sinks and it gets blown out by whatever you're done, the season's
38:27over cooked.
38:28You're, you're, you're betting against that team.
38:29You were right.
38:30I'm just saying sit tight and wait.
38:31So to your question, I'm super curious of what worked against the Bengals.
38:36Like I think long-term they can give good quarterbacks fits in a way that you haven't
38:40seen a whole lot in the last four or five years, even when the defense has been really
38:43good.
38:44Is it because they play more too high structures?
38:46Um, they make teams earn it a lot of spin the dial stuff.
38:49We'll see again.
38:50I don't think that they can, um, you know, do this all of the time because they're going
38:55to need more pass rush.
38:57Right.
38:58And you'll run into teams that run the ball better.
38:59So if you're sitting back in the two high safeties, that's a light box and teams that
39:02can run the ball better than the Bengals will be like, yeah, we'll take five yards to carry.
39:06Uh, the other part I would think about is to, you know, there are teams that are more
39:10willing to, uh, throw the ball underneath.
39:13Right.
39:14And if they get an early lead, then you can't run the ball.
39:15So there are things like the run game that I think the Patriots want to lean into.
39:19But to your point about what will have to evolve, they're going to have to attack downfield.
39:22And I think they will.
39:23The other thing I told you a lot this summer is the Browns under ABP and Kevin Stavansky,
39:27Alex Van Pelt led the league in intended area art last year.
39:32They were throwing it deep with five quarterbacks more than anybody else in the league and covered
39:37more yards through the air with all of those passes.
39:40So they will need more pass rush.
39:42They will need to attack more downfield.
39:43I think they will.
39:44But as far as, you know, playing clean football, um, having more of a run focus, spinning the
39:50dial on defense, making quarterbacks earn it.
39:52Some of that stuff, I think is a little bit more sustainable, but we'll see Jaeger speaking
39:56of ABP.
39:58Will ABP open up the offense more in game two or will he stick to his parentheses, very
40:02and parentheses conserved approach?
40:05Uh, again, another good question.
40:06I hope that he does open this up.
40:09It will depend on the game script, right?
40:11You're down 10, nothing, uh, or even worse than that, especially in the second half.
40:15You need to throw a little bit more.
40:17I think they're going to try to sit on the ball.
40:19Maybe not from the mid third quarter on again, when their last 10 first downplays were all
40:23runs.
40:24Um, but again, this is a play action, big play passing offense.
40:2817% is going to be low when we look back at all the games this season.
40:32So they do need the old line to settle.
40:34I think they want to know how teams attack them.
40:36Cincinnati had what the last, I don't know, five, six months since the schedule was announced
40:41and they decided four man rush lot of zone that'll do it for us and it did to a degree.
40:48So they need to, again, settle in, um, and get that pressure rate down.
40:52But for him, you know, if reminder, Stevenson's playing like one of the best bags in the league
40:57and that's what he was on Sunday, you ride that guy as long as you can and hopefully
41:01it's for 17 games.
41:02Hopefully he doesn't break down, but they're going to find out.
41:04So he will open it up, but I don't know if it's in the way of like, let's go empty five
41:10wide tuck it deep.
41:11They'll get deep, but it will still look like a shell of the offense that you saw on Sunday.
41:18Last question.
41:19This comes from Ed, a long time, Ed, you, you used to mail bag all the time.
41:24Uh, what was surprising to see out of the pats against the bangles?
41:26Well, how about a win, right?
41:28Like let's start there.
41:30Second thing to throw for 121 yards and win.
41:33And then again, a long snap or forcing a fumble.
41:35Only two catches out of pop Douglas.
41:37Again, apologies to anyone who used the price picks picks, but we're going to keep making
41:40more prize pick picks and bounce back later this week.
41:43I'll also just say, you know, I don't know, just the levity of the locker room.
41:48I get come back to it.
41:49This, this is a game in a moment that we'll be able to stand on its own.
41:52And I didn't expect that this is supposed to be the start of something new, a season,
41:56an era, a coaching staff, a team learning about itself.
41:59And you can keep that win in a time capsule and be like, that was awesome.
42:03Remember that and sit around a fire or some beers or whatever years from now and be like,
42:09that was a cool win.
42:10That felt good.
42:11I didn't expect that probably because we haven't had many of those games to either cover or
42:15enjoy for you at home with the Patriots as a late, but it's a new era.
42:19There are one at all.
42:20And I hope you enjoyed this episode.
42:22If you did, please let me know again, ratings and reviews always help you.
42:26You hear me say this a lot, but it's, it's sincere and look, I know there are episodes
42:30that are some better than others.
42:32So if you think the same way, things you like the four minute drills, we're going to keep
42:34rocking with.
42:35We're going to have more players, new guests again, Friday, big one coming up, James White
42:38is going to come on.
42:39He's going to be here in a couple of weeks after that.
42:41Let me know, email me, drop it on Apple, drop it on Spotify.
42:45It really, really helps.
42:47Until then, I will see you later this week.
42:50Enjoy your victory Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you get to stretch this all, all week, baby.
42:54And thank you for listening as always.
43:09Transcribed by https://otter.ai