Will Patriots DEFEAT the Jets Again? w/ Connor Rodgers of NBC | Patriots Daily - video Dailymotion

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Taylor Kyles from CLNS Media is joined by Connor Rodgers of NBC Sports in the latest edition of Patriots Daily's "Behind the Enemy Lines." Together, they dive into the upcoming divisional showdown between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. With the Patriots boasting a 14-game winning streak against the Jets, can they extend it to 15? Tune in as Taylor and Connor delve into the possibilities.  EPISODE TIMELINE: 0:00 Welcome Connor Rodgers! 1:05 Optimism for Zach Wilson? 4:30 Jets allowing pressure - Who is to blame for it? 7:40 How can Jets address the issue? 10:30 Dalvin Cook usage -- Is he the same back? 20:00 Patriots Offense vs Jets Defense  This episode of the Patriots Daily Podcast is brought to you by:  Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. NEW customers can bet $5 and get $200 in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Now is the best time to join FanDuel! The app is easy to use and you can be on everything from spreads to player props and more! So, visit FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season with an offer you won’t wanna miss. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.  Factor! Visit https://factormeals.com/PATSDAILY50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.  Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter Download the Odds-R App! They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. I've been absolutely loving the experience, and I think you will too. Especially since Patriots Press Pass viewers get a 30-day free trial! Elevate your game day and join the smart betting revolution! Go get it at https://oddsr.com/presspass

Transcript

00:00 Patriots Daily is brought to you by FanDuel,

00:02 the exclusive wedgering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

00:05 - What's going on everyone?

00:08 It's Taylor Kels here from CLNS Media,

00:11 and it's Jets week.

00:12 Patriots are coming off a tough division loss

00:15 against the Miami Dolphins,

00:16 but they'll have a chance to change their season around

00:19 after an 0-2 start against the Jets,

00:21 who they are 14-0 against in their past four meetings.

00:26 So hopefully a bit of a confidence boost for them there.

00:28 And to preview this game,

00:30 going behind enemy lines with a friend of the show.

00:33 He's a man of many names,

00:34 covers the NFL Draft and fantasy football for NBC Sports.

00:38 He's the Jets pre and post game show host for SNY,

00:42 and he's the co-host of the NFL Stock Exchange for PFF.

00:46 Impressive, impressive resume.

00:48 My pal, Connor Rogers.

00:50 Connor, how you doing tonight, pal?

00:52 - I'm great, Taylor.

00:52 Thanks for such a nice intro.

00:54 Listen, you could have said just Jets pre and post game,

00:56 there would have been no hard feelings.

00:58 So I really, really do appreciate that, man.

01:00 It's always fun to chop it up with you.

01:02 - I need to make sure that people know

01:03 who they're dealing with, though.

01:04 - There we go, yeah.

01:05 - All right, so obviously, Jets season kind of took a turn.

01:09 We spoke about it briefly before the show.

01:11 Aaron Rodgers goes down.

01:13 Even, you know, as someone who's covered the Patriots

01:15 for a long time, that's tough.

01:16 You hate to see a good player,

01:18 a franchise that was so excited

01:20 have to deal with something like that.

01:22 But just wanted to start off with Zach Wilson.

01:24 Now he's someone who's been, you know,

01:25 an easy punching bag 'cause he turns the ball over

01:28 and the numbers aren't great in his favor.

01:30 So I wanna know, is there any, you know,

01:32 maybe sign of optimism for Zach Wilson?

01:34 Has he maybe improved in year three

01:36 and given the Jets something to latch onto

01:38 and be a little optimistic about?

01:39 - I think he looked better this summer.

01:41 And I think, honestly, the first three quarters

01:43 against Dallas before they were way out of that game

01:46 and they had to start taking insane chances,

01:49 it's hard to put all of that on him.

01:51 I know it was easy to put it on him

01:53 when the line doesn't block anyone

01:54 and the defense gets completely outcoached.

01:57 I mean, you're gonna be out of the game.

01:58 It doesn't matter what the quarterback does.

02:00 So this goes a couple of different ways, right?

02:03 I think a lot of people have lost faith in Zach Wilson

02:06 being what he was expected to be as the number two pick.

02:08 And I think that's completely justified.

02:10 And now you need him to be a capable backup

02:13 with the floor that you feel like your run game

02:16 and defense can still win you games.

02:17 And that's the question the Jets are trying to answer

02:19 as they, you know, they need time right now.

02:22 They need time.

02:23 And it's not, I'm not saying they need time

02:24 because they're praying for a miraculous

02:26 Aaron Rodgers return in January.

02:28 They need time as well, because let's be real,

02:30 what veteran quarterback with a high floor

02:33 is available at this time of year.

02:35 Even the bad teams aren't just selling off

02:38 their capable backup because that sends the wrong message

02:41 to their locker room that you're quitting

02:42 on the season as well.

02:43 So the Jets, you know, they're saying they have confidence

02:46 in Zach Wilson.

02:47 I do think they like the strides he made this summer,

02:50 but then you also have to kind of go back to the fact

02:52 that he's played his worst against New England

02:55 and Belichick.

02:55 There's no way around that.

02:56 So as you're looking to see, you know, against Buffalo,

03:00 some moments, also some struggles against Dallas,

03:03 not a good game for the entire team.

03:05 When you're looking for that get right game,

03:07 is it New England?

03:08 'Cause it never has been New England throughout his career.

03:11 So the good news for Zach Wilson is

03:13 if he has a really good game,

03:15 then you actually can start to sell yourself on,

03:17 okay, maybe he can get us through this little bit

03:19 until we, you know, we're gonna give him more opportunity.

03:23 The, you know, glass half empty look is,

03:26 he has not been able to produce against the Patriots so far.

03:29 So that's kind of where we stand with Zach Wilson.

03:32 This is, it might be, I know it seems cliche

03:35 and it might even seem like a little hyperbole.

03:37 This is a pivotal moment in his career

03:39 because no matter how you slice it,

03:41 if the Jets end that 14 game losing streak

03:44 against the Patriots, number one, right?

03:46 It does a lot of things.

03:47 It ends a 14 game losing streak

03:48 that is bad for the franchise.

03:50 It sends this year's Jets to two and O in the division

03:52 because they did beat a Buffalo team.

03:55 And then everybody kind of starts to believe,

03:57 okay, we're gonna get through this.

03:58 We're gonna find a way to scratch and claw through games.

04:01 We started off two and O in the division.

04:03 Yes, we'll have the Chiefs the following week,

04:05 but then we have the Broncos.

04:06 The Jets can find a way to get to three and three

04:09 out of this brutal start they have.

04:10 It kind of changes the entire picture of this.

04:13 If you lose to New England for the 15th time in a row

04:15 and Zach Wilson still can't figure out

04:17 how to be not great, not good,

04:19 just mediocre against Belichick's defense,

04:23 I mean, that's where you're starting

04:24 to kind of look at it a different way.

04:26 So this is a huge, huge game for Zach Wilson and the Jets.

04:30 - Yeah, and a lot of Wilson's mistakes against the Patriots,

04:33 some self-inflicted, some due to pressure.

04:35 Now, when you look at the pressure numbers

04:37 for the Jets this season, they're not good.

04:39 They're actually quite abysmal.

04:41 But as we know, when it comes to pressure,

04:43 some of that could be on the quarterback

04:44 and some of that could be on the offensive line.

04:46 I've been asking the Patriots,

04:47 "What do you see from this front?"

04:49 They mentioned they're versatile,

04:50 they're athletic, and they're physical.

04:52 Do you think that the numbers reflect how this unit's been?

04:55 Also, in terms of the run blocking,

04:57 how effective have they been in both phases?

04:59 Or do you think that some of that kind of falls

05:01 on the quarterback in his maybe holding onto the ball

05:03 or getting himself into trouble?

05:05 - I mean, Taylor, this is the situation.

05:07 When a metric is this bad, right, it's everyone.

05:11 There's no one individual, there's no one unit,

05:14 there's no, when a metric is this bad,

05:17 it comes down to the personnel,

05:19 it comes down to the coaching and play calling,

05:23 and it comes down to the guy under center, right?

05:25 Because things, if one of those three are capable,

05:30 then it won't be that bad.

05:32 If two of the three are capable,

05:33 it will be a little better than that.

05:34 So, and we can get into some of that, right?

05:37 When you look at Hackett has not done,

05:40 okay, so some of it also is the fact

05:42 they did play the Dallas Cowboys,

05:43 who they're gonna slaughter a lot of fronts this year.

05:46 I'll be out in front with that.

05:47 Micah Parsons is probably a locked

05:48 to one defensive player of the year,

05:50 but they did nothing to help themselves against them.

05:52 And the run game is the weird one to figure out

05:55 because against Buffalo, they ran the ball effectively.

05:59 Brees Hall had some big runs,

06:00 Dalvin Cook had some solid runs.

06:02 They ran the ball against Buffalo

06:03 and they got their tight ends involved in the run game.

06:05 Against Dallas, they couldn't even get anything going

06:08 on the ground, but they couldn't pass protect at all.

06:11 They didn't help, you know,

06:13 they have an old left tackle in Dwayne Brown

06:14 that needs help against the top tier guys.

06:16 I'd put Matthew Don in that category as well.

06:18 You gotta start shipping these edge rushers.

06:20 They don't do that for them.

06:22 They got away from 13 personnel.

06:24 They were successful with it week one.

06:25 They got away from it in week two.

06:27 They got away from Jeremy Ruckert being on the field.

06:30 They have not stressed the back end of defenses

06:32 by putting McCall Hardman speed on the field.

06:34 Another one that I can't explain.

06:36 So there's a personnel issue.

06:38 That's the coach's fault.

06:39 There's an execution issue.

06:41 That's the coach's fault.

06:42 There's a quarterback issue of, hey,

06:44 the thing is with Zach Wilson, right?

06:46 He comes out of the game, he comes into the game,

06:48 and he does remember all the things he needs

06:50 to be better at, and he's getting the ball out.

06:52 As the game goes on and the Jets are falling into a hole,

06:55 he starts to hold the ball longer and tries to make a play.

06:58 And you gotta applaud a guy for that mentality,

07:00 because if you don't make a play,

07:01 you're not winning the game anyway.

07:02 But you are holding the ball long and taking some sacks

07:05 that might not be on the offensive line of the play calling,

07:07 and the offensive line simply is not good enough

07:09 in pass protection to play like that.

07:11 So I know it kind of sounds like our pet's heads

07:14 are falling off here, but that's how you get here

07:17 when it's that brutal.

07:20 - So what do you think, I was gonna ask about Garrett Wilson,

07:22 but at this point, I feel like you mentioned,

07:24 they're not putting McCall Harvin on the field,

07:26 they're maybe not putting guys in position to succeed.

07:28 If you were able to take control of this offense,

07:31 just even for this week, how would you maybe put those

07:34 pieces in a better position to give Zach Wilson a chance

07:37 and the offensive line a chance

07:39 to have more success than what we've seen so far?

07:41 - Well, I'm glad you asked this,

07:42 'cause I'm doing this film room for SNY pregame on Sunday

07:45 at 12 o'clock, because, so what I've been looking at

07:47 this week is, this year, it's a small sample size, right?

07:51 But week one, Jeremy Rucker was one of their most effective

07:54 run blockers, week two, they decide that he really

07:57 is not gonna play, it's gonna be CJ Uzama,

07:59 CJ Uzama and Tyler Conklin are not getting it done

08:03 as blocking tight ends, Rucker is.

08:05 So Rucker needs to be back on the field

08:06 as a blocking tight end, because his athleticism

08:09 as a run blocker really opens up those stretch runs

08:12 and those long runs from Brees Hall.

08:15 Rucker is a guy that can get his hands on linebackers,

08:17 safeties and corners and land on his target.

08:20 Those guys, the bad thing with DBs is that they're smaller

08:24 and quicker and harder to get hands on.

08:26 The good thing is they're light, and when they're light,

08:29 they get relocated to the sideline,

08:31 that's what Rucker's good at.

08:32 So second level blocking, Rucker needs to be involved.

08:35 The other thing is, find easier ways to get the ball

08:38 in your playmaker's hands, right?

08:39 And it's funny because one of the times

08:42 where they did a good job of this

08:43 was against New England last year,

08:44 they ran a pitch pass to Garrett Wilson

08:46 at a shotgun and in motion, and Garrett Wilson

08:49 took off up the sideline and got a huge gain off of it.

08:53 They have not done any of that this year.

08:55 You've gotta get him involved and get the ball in his hands

08:58 because he's not just a good receiver before the catch,

09:00 he's a phenomenal playmaker with the ball in his hands.

09:02 And then it's great that Brees Hall

09:04 ripped off some big runs week one,

09:05 Brees Hall needs to be used in the pass game.

09:07 And you look at a route they had

09:08 against the Bengals last year, an angle route,

09:10 where they threw him the ball

09:11 and he makes a couple of guys miss.

09:13 He had the wheel route against Miami.

09:14 Brees Hall's a big time playmaker in the pass game.

09:17 And it's easier for the quarterback

09:19 to throw to the running backs.

09:20 They're usually layup kind of throws

09:22 rather than these longer developing,

09:24 slow developing wide receiver routes

09:26 that Zach Wilson has had his ups and downs with.

09:28 So that is all on Nathaniel Hackett, right?

09:32 We can sit here and take the low hanging fruit

09:34 and pile on Zach Wilson,

09:35 but when you're not doing those things for Zach Wilson,

09:38 you're doing your team a disservice.

09:39 So those are some of the ways that they can get Brees,

09:42 Garrett Wilson, and a more effective run game going.

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10:21 - Funny you mentioned that Garrett Wilson,

10:29 the big play where he got on like a jet pass,

10:31 'cause the Dolphins actually broke a big play

10:34 against the Patriots.

10:35 They've been leaning into more cover zero.

10:36 And I was like, we're gonna see that again.

10:38 It's gotta happen.

10:39 And then in the run game,

10:41 I noticed that people have been saying on the past

10:43 that this is a downhill team.

10:44 I noticed with Brees, it's been a lot of like duo,

10:47 and when it's outside,

10:48 it's kind of bouncing when guys are inside.

10:50 But Dalvin Cook,

10:50 you expect more to be an outside zone kind of guy,

10:53 although he's very good downhill as well.

10:55 He's not one dimensional.

10:56 Do you think that these running backs,

10:59 maybe especially Dalvin Cook,

11:00 is he being used in the best capacity?

11:01 Do you think there's maybe be more outside stuff,

11:03 or do you think the downhill running style

11:05 is what fits best for those guys?

11:07 - So I think the problem with Dalvin right now,

11:09 and you nailed it.

11:09 When you look at Dalvin right now,

11:11 12 downhill rushes, five outside, right?

11:16 That seems like a bad ratio for him.

11:18 But what I will say to be fair to Nathaniel Hackett,

11:21 Dalvin Cook isn't where he needs to be yet.

11:23 He got into camp late.

11:25 He had a shoulder injury

11:27 that he wasn't ready to practice right away.

11:29 He's not humming on all cylinders right now

11:32 to be that outside zone threat with juice

11:34 that we're used to.

11:34 So I think that's a big part of it.

11:36 With Brees, it's a little bit more even.

11:38 And I like that with Brees,

11:40 because if you get too stretch happy

11:42 and outside zone happy with Brees,

11:44 it can become a little predictable.

11:45 If you keep him running inside and outside

11:47 where he's effective,

11:48 you have the threat of his speed.

11:50 So I think the problem is Dalvin's not ready

11:52 to be that guy yet.

11:53 With Brees, teams know it's coming

11:55 so they can kind of sit on it.

11:56 Sometimes it doesn't matter.

11:57 That's just how talented Brees Hall is.

11:59 So I think that's kind of where they are

12:00 with the backfield right now is that,

12:02 I'm guessing this, Taylor,

12:05 they came into the year and they knew

12:07 Dalvin Cook doesn't need to be

12:09 peak Dalvin Cook in September

12:12 because we have Aaron Rodgers

12:13 and we can plan around that.

12:14 And then in October,

12:16 we're gonna be firing all cylinders

12:17 with peak Dalvin Cook, peak Brees Hall,

12:19 Aaron Rodgers in the pass game.

12:21 You get hit with a haymaker four plays into the season,

12:24 Aaron Rodgers is out for the year.

12:26 Now you turn around and you Dalvin Cook to be Dalvin Cook.

12:28 You need Brees Hall to be ramping up the workload,

12:30 coming off a torn knee.

12:32 So that's kind of the catch 22

12:35 of where the Jets are at in this run game

12:37 is that they might not be ready

12:39 to have the explosive run game we think they can have,

12:41 but they also don't really have a choice right now.

12:44 - So moving on to the defensive side of the ball,

12:47 things are a little more optimistic for the Jets.

12:50 One thing that Patriots coaches and players

12:53 have been harping on is the depth in the defensive front,

12:56 especially the line.

12:57 And that pretty fair,

12:59 because other than I'd say maybe the Eagles,

13:01 this is the deepest defensive front in football.

13:04 But for clarity, how did their rotations work?

13:07 'Cause you know, there's some teams that have like a group

13:09 that they use for run situations, some for pass.

13:11 And with so many bodies who can do different things,

13:14 how do those rotations work

13:15 and where do the different pieces fit into the puzzle?

13:18 - Right, so the Jets, while they do come at you in waves

13:21 and it's an insane group, it's a very talented group.

13:25 It is easy, maybe it's easy for me

13:27 because I studied this team literally nonstop

13:30 throughout the year,

13:31 but I would imagine an offensive coordinator

13:33 is going to know what roles guys have.

13:36 It's just a matter of if you can actually stop it.

13:38 So you look at their front,

13:39 we'll start with the headliner, Quinton Williams.

13:41 He doesn't need to come off the field.

13:42 Run, pass, it doesn't matter.

13:44 He's a dream three tech and shade nose

13:47 for any defensive coordinator.

13:48 You can even have him line up at five tech.

13:50 It just doesn't matter.

13:52 Quinton Williams would be the guy to me

13:54 that I would say is the most well-rounded player up front.

13:57 And John Franklin Myers might fit into that mold too.

13:59 He's a power rusher, but he's a good run defender.

14:02 Then you have Jermaine Johnson.

14:03 He plays a little heavier.

14:04 They trust him on earlier downs to set a hard edge

14:07 and rush with power.

14:08 Then you have Carl Lawson,

14:09 who does a little bit of the same thing there,

14:12 but then you get away to the other guys on the team, right?

14:15 Quinton Jefferson is their pass rushing

14:17 interior defensive line.

14:18 And ironically, they both came from Seattle.

14:20 Al Woods is their run stuffing, two gapping,

14:24 nose tackle, space eating,

14:26 nobody's running my way kind of player.

14:30 And then you look at maybe a guy like Bryce Huff,

14:33 who's a wide alignment rusher with speed.

14:36 He's gonna take your tackle wide on an Island

14:38 and try to cross his face or try to dip and rip.

14:41 Same can be said for Will McDonald,

14:42 who was inactive last week.

14:43 I think he's gonna be back up this week.

14:45 Will McDonald looked really good over the summer.

14:47 His explosiveness, his speed,

14:49 he can rush very similar to Bryce Huff,

14:50 but the difference is Will McDonald has really good length.

14:53 Bryce Huff does not,

14:54 but Bryce Huff is a little bit more polished

14:56 at what he does right now in terms of winning

14:58 with that speed and leverage.

14:59 So this is a deep, deep group.

15:02 They have guys that can rush.

15:04 And the thing is with the Jets,

15:05 they're not an injury or two away

15:07 from not being able to rush the passer.

15:08 That's how deep they are in this group.

15:11 The run defense, I think it's been good.

15:14 I think Al Woods has really helped with that.

15:15 You still have CJ Mosley in the middle.

15:17 I am curious to see the middle of this defense

15:20 against New England coming into this game,

15:22 because I think the Jets defense is really good.

15:25 They can rush the passer with four.

15:26 They can cover on the back end.

15:28 Quincy Williams and Michael Carter are banged up.

15:30 That's your off-ball linebacker in your slot.

15:34 They're the guys that I would think can try to

15:36 not stop or contain, but maybe neutralize a little bit,

15:39 Ramondre Stevenson and Hunter Henry.

15:41 That's the number one thing to watch in this game,

15:43 is how does this Jets defense in the middle of the field,

15:45 they're Chuck Clark's out for the year,

15:47 Tony Adams is probably out for this game,

15:49 so you're down two safeties already.

15:51 We'll see if Quincy Williams and Michael Carter

15:53 can give it a go in this one,

15:55 but that would really hurt the middle of their field

15:56 as well, and I would think that's where New England

15:58 wants to attack with Mac Jones.

16:00 - I was watching the tape.

16:01 I saw Quincy Williams has some pretty impressive plays

16:06 when offenses try to single him out in one-on-one coverage

16:08 to take advantage of him.

16:09 He blew up a screen.

16:10 - He's gonna run.

16:12 - Yeah, he's fast, he's recognition and everything.

16:14 So I was gonna ask about him,

16:16 but now if you're saying he might not play,

16:17 Michael Carter also one of the--

16:19 - I think he'll leg through it.

16:21 - Okay, okay.

16:22 - I think he's gonna leg through it.

16:23 I know he got banged up last year.

16:26 If he's ruled out, they'd be in big trouble.

16:28 I don't think they'd beat Buffalo without him,

16:30 but I think he's gonna play through it.

16:33 - Okay, so then in that case, and Michael Carter as well,

16:35 'cause I feel like those are two pieces of this defense

16:37 to get overlooked, because you got CJ Mosley

16:39 and then a linebacker, obviously, Saucy, and DJ Reed,

16:41 I feel like is starting to get the recognition he deserves,

16:44 but can you maybe touch more on Quincy Williams?

16:46 'Cause again, I was watching today and I was like,

16:49 he's always been explosive and had all that,

16:51 but it feels like maybe he's taking a step this year,

16:53 and then Michael Carter, just show him some love as well,

16:55 so people understand what a presence he is in the slot.

16:58 - Without a doubt.

16:58 I think when you look at Quincy,

17:00 so what teams wanna do against the Jets,

17:02 who run a lot of quarters, plenty of cover one,

17:06 they're a team that it's gonna be hard

17:08 to throw outside the numbers against them.

17:10 Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed

17:12 are one of the better corner duos in the league,

17:14 and you do have a pass rush cooking

17:16 that you're gonna wanna really look at your outlets,

17:20 or try to find a soft spot as a zone.

17:21 And what Josh Allen was trying to do

17:24 before he got a little reckless was,

17:26 I'm gonna dump it down to James Cook,

17:27 because he's got speed,

17:29 I'm not gonna challenge these corners

17:31 as much as I might want to,

17:33 and I'm gonna make a linebacker come up

17:34 and tackle him in space one-on-one.

17:36 And Quincy answered the bell.

17:38 He really, really did.

17:39 They couldn't get those check down runs going.

17:41 I mean, to put it in perspective, Taylor,

17:43 he was around 10 catchable targets week one,

17:46 and one of them went for a first down, just one.

17:48 So this is, and he didn't miss a tackle in the past game.

17:51 So this is somebody that the click and close,

17:54 the speed, the pursuit,

17:55 and the tackling looked really, really good week one.

17:58 I think the tackling took a step down in week two,

18:00 but once again, the Cowboys are gonna make

18:02 a lot of teams look bad.

18:03 So that's the pivotal role with him on the field.

18:06 With Michael Carter, it goes back to my argument of,

18:10 nobody really wants to challenge those outside corners

18:13 across four quarters of a game.

18:14 They'll pick their spots,

18:16 but they're not gonna go into a game going,

18:17 we're gonna go after Sauce Gardner 10 times.

18:20 We're gonna go after DJ Reed 10 times.

18:22 Then you look at Michael Carter, who's a small slot.

18:24 Maybe you can put a tight end out there

18:26 and try to get a matchup

18:27 that he struggles against the size of him.

18:29 But to Carter's credit, he's another sturdy tackler.

18:32 He's very sticky in coverage.

18:34 He's hard to get away from.

18:36 He's got good change of direction out of the slot.

18:39 I mean, he's a guy that you can rely on in there,

18:41 and he's a part of their base defense as well.

18:43 So, they ask a lot of those guys in this defense,

18:47 and they usually answer the call.

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19:42 - You mentioned up against tight ends.

19:47 I'm going off script a little bit here,

19:48 but the Patriots, last week we saw a spike

19:51 in their 12 personnel usage.

19:52 There were a lot of 11 personnel,

19:53 especially against the Eagles,

19:54 they really had to come back.

19:56 Do you think that the Jets are gonna match?

19:58 You mentioned that safety depth has been tested

20:00 'cause they've had some injuries.

20:01 Do you see them matching in just a standard nickel

20:03 when the Patriots send out Kesicki and Hunter Henry together

20:06 or are they maybe gonna go traditional base

20:08 where it's like a true three-four?

20:09 How do you think they're gonna kind of respond

20:12 to that chess match?

20:13 - It's a really interesting question, right?

20:14 Because when you look at it, week one,

20:17 they didn't seem too afraid of Dalton Kincaid.

20:20 They didn't start to try to completely change things up

20:23 that much.

20:24 When you look at week two, once again,

20:26 I mean, Jake Ferguson out there,

20:28 like the Jets haven't gone into this mold

20:31 and maybe it changes with Hunter Henry

20:32 because he's been such a great threat

20:34 these first two games of the season and a good player.

20:36 But you're also, you wonder, right?

20:38 Like if they were fully healthy,

20:40 then maybe they'd throw that third safety out there.

20:42 And they have Adrian Amos on this team,

20:43 which is really good depth for them,

20:44 but now Adrian Amos needs to start.

20:46 So if you had Tony Adams and Jordan Whitehead out there,

20:50 okay, well, let's bring in a big nickel, right?

20:52 And Adrian Amos, and one of the safeties,

20:54 probably Adams is gonna bump down and cover Hunter Henry.

20:57 Now, I don't know if they have that luxury anymore

20:59 where you gotta maybe just see what Michael Carter could do.

21:02 Maybe you have a linebacker bump at the line of scrimmage

21:04 and have somebody still cover on the backend.

21:07 This is a game where it's, I call it a learning game, right?

21:09 Let's see how they react to this

21:11 because this is a different offense.

21:13 Here's the thing, week one, Stephon Diggs,

21:16 week two, CeeDee Lamb.

21:17 Those are guys that can carry a passing attack

21:20 on their own with volume.

21:21 And now the Jets go against a team in New England

21:25 that they have a volume of pass catchers,

21:28 but they don't have a Diggs or a CeeDee

21:29 that can take over the game as a number one wide receiver.

21:32 They're gonna look to throw to their running backs.

21:34 They're gonna look to throw to their tight ends.

21:36 It might be more spread out.

21:38 It might be more trying to find space

21:40 more so than ever in the middle of the field.

21:43 So will that change their personnel usage?

21:45 Will they, you know, they're not gonna do this yet.

21:48 And I wonder if some point they start to.

21:50 Will they get creative with Soss Gardner?

21:52 He plays a side, they don't move him.

21:55 I get it, I really do

21:57 'cause the defenses worked for them in the past,

21:59 but I also am an advocate for if you have a great player,

22:03 how do you ring out and maximize who he is, right?

22:07 And if Soss Gardner is always playing a side,

22:11 a good coach is just gonna say,

22:12 "Cool, we'll look somewhere else.

22:14 We don't care."

22:15 So I wonder, and this won't be the week,

22:18 but Hunter Henry goes for eight and 80

22:21 and a touchdown or two touchdowns.

22:23 Does it start to make you rethink

22:25 how static your defense can look at times?

22:28 - If you're the Patriots,

22:30 where do you see as the areas

22:33 where you may be able to attack this defense?

22:34 I know we mentioned over the summer,

22:36 it's kind of, it was probably safeties

22:38 just because again, the corners are so good,

22:40 athletic linebackers,

22:42 there's just not a lot of places that you really look at.

22:44 And you're like, "Yes, I like that matchup."

22:46 One thing I was thinking of was, okay,

22:48 like you mentioned, Soss stays to one side.

22:50 You need a big play,

22:51 maybe you put Devontae Parker on DJ Reid's side

22:54 'cause he's very good,

22:55 but Devontae Parker, you know,

22:56 that's his whole bread and butter.

22:57 'Cause if I'm bigger than you,

22:58 I'm probably gonna be able to outjump him.

22:59 - Yeah, Reid's 5'9".

23:01 - Exactly, but on a consistent basis even,

23:03 how do you see these matchups going

23:05 and where can New England look

23:06 to try to get some big plays and conversions?

23:08 - I think honestly, you look at the Dallas film

23:10 and you go quick game,

23:12 you gotta neutralize the Jets front.

23:14 You don't wanna be taking these long drops

23:16 that feeds into what they're good at, right?

23:18 You don't want Mack Jones taking these long,

23:20 slow developing plays that they can open the door

23:23 for a strip sack or start getting hits on him.

23:25 I would think about neutralizing that with a quick game.

23:29 I would get the screen game involved.

23:30 I would run a lot of rub routes and picks

23:33 to try to open up space.

23:35 The reality is, right?

23:36 And if I'm wrong on this, I'm wrong.

23:38 But I don't think, I don't expect

23:41 these Patriots receivers to just be running away

23:43 from the Jets corners in one-on-one situations.

23:47 I don't.

23:48 If you come into the game knowing that,

23:49 well then help them out, right?

23:50 Clear out space, clear, give them rub routes,

23:52 give them some, get Ramondre Stevenson going

23:55 on delayed slip screens, right?

23:56 Because for as good as the Jets front four is,

23:59 they also are very aggressive and they will overrun plays.

24:03 And we've seen them get a little pass rush happy

24:06 where they will, you know, they kind of start drooling

24:09 when they see an alley to rush through

24:11 and get the quarterback.

24:12 And then the running back could slip out

24:14 and catch a screen.

24:15 The same could be said for other skill groups as well.

24:17 So I think for me, if I'm New England,

24:20 I come out of this game and saying,

24:21 okay, what will they give us?

24:23 And let's try to take that right away.

24:25 And I know the Jets will not give up, you know,

24:28 these long plays against them.

24:30 They're just, it's not, when they run quarters a lot,

24:33 that's not how they're built.

24:34 They're built to neutralize those big plays

24:36 and make you run longer drives

24:38 so they can try to get a takeaway.

24:40 So if you're in New England,

24:41 you counter with a slow and steady approach instead.

24:43 And I think New England has no problem doing that.

24:45 I'm really fascinated by this game

24:46 because it feels like the Jets defense will,

24:49 the way they play kind of plays

24:51 into what New England wants to be on offense.

24:53 And what New England has been on offense

24:55 the first two weeks to me, Taylor,

24:56 is not what they want to be.

24:58 I don't think they want Mac Jones

24:59 dropping back a million times.

25:00 Hey, let's air it out.

25:02 Let's run into these games that we're in.

25:04 I wouldn't call it a shootout, but we're in,

25:06 and we're into, we got to score a lot of points

25:07 and we got to score them quickly.

25:09 Jets-Patriots feels like that grinded out,

25:12 ugly field position matchup

25:14 that both sides have no problem trying to get into.

25:17 - Yeah, 'cause I mean, the Patriots have been trying

25:19 to get some downfield stuff going

25:21 where they could just manufacture it

25:22 and take the opportunities into their own hands.

25:24 They haven't been able to finish.

25:25 So then it's become, okay, well, the offense,

25:28 you know, if we're going to be this 10 play drive

25:30 type of offense, we can't make mistakes.

25:32 And that's where, for me, this is a learning game

25:34 where it's been two weeks where they have slow starts,

25:36 they turn the ball over

25:37 and they don't capitalize on opportunities.

25:39 Against the Jets, if you manage to fix those things,

25:43 then you could actually have a pretty productive day

25:45 against a good defense

25:46 because they're trying to stop something

25:47 that you're not really great at,

25:48 which a lot of the downfield stuff,

25:50 but they continue to make those mistakes.

25:52 If they continue to stop themselves,

25:54 like I think Saw said,

25:55 it's not a complicated offense or anything like that.

25:57 And that's by design.

25:59 They try to get you more personnel and formations,

26:01 but they do it very well.

26:03 And I think he was being a little generous,

26:05 but we will see, we're going to learn from this.

26:08 And you mentioned last year, we had some very ugly games.

26:11 The ugliest might've been the game at Gillette

26:13 where Marcus Jones just kind of released us all

26:16 from the prison of what that matchup was

26:18 with the return touchdown to put it away.

26:20 Do you think this is another game

26:22 where special teams could be the difference makers?

26:25 - That's well, fortunately for the Jets

26:27 and unfortunate for Marcus Jones,

26:30 you know, I know he's dealing with the torn labrum

26:32 from the Dolphins game.

26:33 So the horror of reliving that might not exist,

26:37 but there's always somebody ready to go, right?

26:40 Yeah, yeah.

26:40 So, and ironically, the Jets did it to the Bills week one,

26:45 right, with Xavier Gibson.

26:46 So I would be insane to think special teams

26:49 don't play a big factor into this.

26:50 And a problem for the Jets is they have found

26:53 a great consistent kicking game with Greg Zerline.

26:57 And of course he gets her at practice last week.

26:59 We don't know if Greg Zerline's going to play in this game.

27:00 He didn't play against Dallas.

27:01 So I think it could have blocked punt,

27:05 play a big factor into this game.

27:07 Could some kind of return, you know, maybe from Gibson,

27:10 who would actually return now for new England

27:14 in this scenario?

27:15 - It could be Demario Douglas.

27:15 Maybe it makes sense.

27:16 - That makes a lot of sense.

27:17 - Maybe it's a situation, Stugger or somebody like that

27:19 where they just like,

27:20 with the ball in his hands,

27:21 might be able to beat Demario.

27:22 - As a man of the NFL draft,

27:23 I know Pop Douglas very, very well.

27:25 So that, I should have known the answer to that right away.

27:29 Yeah, I mean, without a doubt,

27:30 I think both teams have no problem

27:31 taking the field goals in this game.

27:33 I'd be very surprised if you saw either side

27:35 in the first half go for it on fourth down

27:37 on that opposition's territory.

27:39 I think they'll say,

27:39 now where the Jets kicking games

27:41 might actually play into that too,

27:42 how confident they are in a backup kicker.

27:45 But yeah, I think the special teams is huge in this one

27:47 because with Jets Patriots,

27:49 it just feels like every single little ounce of the field

27:53 will matter so much because this doesn't feel like a game

27:55 that ends up 31-28.

27:58 - Yeah.

27:59 - Watch that be the final score now that I give that quote.

28:01 - Knock on wood for everybody.

28:04 All right, I'll get you out of here with this.

28:06 You don't have to give a score prediction,

28:08 but if you got one in your head,

28:09 feel free to throw it out.

28:10 And how exactly do you see this game playing out?

28:13 - I won't, I can't even,

28:15 and I'm never afraid to do this.

28:17 Like I picked the Jets to win week one against the Bills

28:20 when I thought Rogers was still playing,

28:21 got a little help there.

28:22 - Okay, fair.

28:23 - I did not pick them to beat Dallas.

28:25 I thought, and honestly, this is crazy.

28:27 I don't think the Jets beat Dallas with Rogers.

28:30 Honestly, I just thought they were

28:30 that outmatched in that game.

28:32 This one, it's so hard to pick a side

28:35 because it is such a learning game for us.

28:38 I do think the score will be very much

28:41 in the 13-10 kind of range.

28:44 Like I literally think each side maybe scores one touchdown.

28:48 Maybe, that's where I'm at in this game.

28:50 I think each side has no problem letting it go like that.

28:55 I'll leave it like this without actually picking them.

28:58 If the Jets, this is a pivotal moment for Robert Sala.

29:01 If the Jets can't end this New England winning streak now,

29:03 and I get it, Zach Wilson, it's not Aaron Rogers anymore,

29:06 but you're at home.

29:07 This game's not in Foxborough, right?

29:09 You are coming off a tough loss to Dallas.

29:12 You're trying to salvage this season.

29:15 Like if you're Robert Sala,

29:16 you really gotta have this one,

29:18 or else you're just never gonna hear it, the end of it.

29:20 And this is what I said all summer.

29:22 The Patriots have a really good defense.

29:25 The Jets on paper have more talent,

29:28 but that hasn't meant anything right now

29:30 because they've been outcoached by Belichick,

29:32 and Zach Wilson has had his worst games against the Patriots.

29:35 So this is the ultimate test of, okay,

29:39 the talent has caught up to where you think you needed it

29:41 to be able to start taking over from New England

29:44 in this division, or trying to at least go one-on-one

29:47 against them, win your home games.

29:49 You gotta win your home games in your division, right?

29:51 I said the same thing about the Bills.

29:52 They had to beat the Bills at home

29:53 'cause you've gotta win those games.

29:55 If you don't do it now,

29:57 larger questions are gonna be raised.

29:59 But there's no, man, there's no way I see a blowout

30:02 on either side of this game.

30:04 - I hope you're wrong, man.

30:07 It doesn't have to be a blowout necessarily,

30:09 but if we have to go through another game where,

30:11 yeah, just point, just point.

30:12 - I don't think it'll reach the Foxboro one last year.

30:16 Nothing could honestly match that.

30:19 - Subterranean bar is what that was.

30:21 Hopefully we exceed that,

30:23 just get a little closer to ground level.

30:25 Connor, fantastic time as always.

30:27 Thank you so much for joining.

30:29 Please let the people know where they can find you

30:32 and what fantastic work you're gonna be coming out with

30:35 this week.

30:37 - Yeah, so we're on Fantasy Football Happy Hour for NBC

30:39 on Peacock, YouTube, every single Monday to Friday,

30:42 12 to one.

30:43 If you need fantasy help or you just like absolute nonsense,

30:46 we have a really good time with that.

30:48 For all the draft stuff, NFL Stock Exchange on PFF,

30:50 my podcast with Trevor Sykema.

30:52 And then everything else is just @ConnorJRogers

30:55 on Twitter, man.

30:56 That's where we're always still cranking.

30:57 I know it's not even Twitter anymore,

30:59 but still holding on, holding on, dude.

31:01 It's always fun to catch up with you,

31:02 especially this week when we get to talk about

31:04 these two teams going at it.

31:05 Let's pray for a much more exciting matchup.

31:08 - Absolutely.

31:09 Thoughts and prayers for the fans.

31:12 All right, thank you again, Connor.

31:14 Appreciate you, buddy.

31:15 Again, great time.

31:16 Thank you all for watching.

31:18 Take care of yourselves.

31:19 Take care of each other.

31:20 We will see you next time.

31:22 Peace.

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Will Patriots DEFEAT the Jets Again? w/ Connor Rodgers of NBC | Patriots Daily

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