6-0 the rest of the way? Let's look at the signs. - New England Patriots Forums

JSn · 11-15-2008, 10:27 AM

Warning, this post is probably kinda boring if you're into the more sensational topics. Just thought I'd share my findings from a skim of the box score from Thursdays heart-attack game.

Offense:

One thing that has gone slightly unnoticed in the Jets game is the first come-back.

End of 2nd - TD
Only score of the third - TD
Opening the 3rd FG

That's 17 unanswered points, folks.

Another interesting figure about TD drives:
TD#1 - 10 plays, 68 yards in 1:29
TD#2 - 7 plays, 78 yards in 2:25
TD#3 - 8 plays, 62 yards in 1:03 (no timeouts)

Who got the points? Gaffney (TD, 2pt Conv), Moss, Watson

Who were the receivers in the final drive?
1) Watson for 9 yards
2) Watson for 11 yards
3) Welker for 17 yards
4) Welker for 14 yards
5) Moss for 16 yards

Still mad at Watson?

Well they obviously stopped us from running the ball, right? Wrong.
We went aerial because we were behind.

We had 3 more rushing first downs than the Jets.
We had only 15 fewer yards rushing than the Jets.
We had 14 fewer rushing plays than the Jets.

We had a higher red zone efficiency, as well.

So the mistakes hurt us, but they didn't kill us. Watson and Koppen aren't headed for the doghouse, they'll be making corrections.

Why did we lose?

Defense? I'll say no. Flog me if you will.

Our defense faltered stopping them on third down giving them 56% efficiency (9-16) versus our 28% efficiency (4-14).

Aside of that, our defense had better numbers all around allowing lower gains on almost all other offensive statistics!

Average gain per pass: Jets - 6.5, Pats 7.1
Average gain per rush: Jets - 3.6, Pats 5.0

My feeling is that the botched Kick coverage, much more than our defense, cost us this game. We know we have good special teams, they just haven't been real special the last couple of weeks. Correct that and spend next week working through the fundamentals with the D and we have a very real chance of matching our toughest competitors.

I expect that we will be chasing the red-zone harder now than we did in any game prior to Thursday night and the plan has to be to get ahead early and the slow the game down. Not rocket surgery, but we have to tools guys.

We stop that kick return and we probably win that game. But because we played from behind we got an eye-full of Cassel and that will only make things better from here on in. Not one team ahead of us can write him off.

A picture to make the post more interesting:

This is Brett watching us tie it up with one second left. Warms my heart.

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***fgssand*** · 11-15-2008, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSn

Warning, this post is probably kinda boring if you're into the more sensational topics. Just thought I'd share my findings from a skim of the box score from Thursdays heart-attack game.

Offense:

One thing that has gone slightly unnoticed in the Jets game is the first come-back.

End of 2nd - TD
Only score of the third - TD
Opening the 3rd FG

That's 17 unanswered points, folks.

Another interesting figure about TD drives:
TD#1 - 10 plays, 68 yards in 1:29
TD#2 - 7 plays, 78 yards in 2:25
TD#3 - 8 plays, 62 yards in 1:03 (no timeouts)

Who got the points? Gaffney (TD, 2pt Conv), Moss, Watson

Who were the receivers in the final drive?
1) Watson for 9 yards
2) Watson for 11 yards
3) Welker for 17 yards
4) Welker for 14 yards
5) Moss for 16 yards

Still mad at Watson?

Well they obviously stopped us from running the ball, right? Wrong.
We went aerial because we were behind.

We had 3 more rushing first downs than the Jets.
We had only 15 fewer yards rushing than the Jets.
We had 14 fewer rushing plays than the Jets.

We had a higher red zone efficiency, as well.

So the mistakes hurt us, but they didn't kill us. Watson and Koppen aren't headed for the doghouse, they'll be making corrections.

Why did we lose?

Defense? I'll say no. Flog me if you will.

Our defense faltered stopping them on third down giving them 56% efficiency (9-16) versus our 28% efficiency (4-14).

Aside of that, our defense had better numbers all around allowing lower gains on almost all other offensive statistics!

Average gain per pass: Jets - 6.5, Pats 7.1
Average gain per rush: Jets - 3.6, Pats 5.0

My feeling is that the botched Kick coverage, much more than our defense, cost us this game. We know we have good special teams, they just haven't been real special the last couple of weeks. Correct that and spend next week working through the fundamentals with the D and we have a very real chance of matching our toughest competitors.

I expect that we will be chasing the red-zone harder now than we did in any game prior to Thursday night and the plan has to be to get ahead early and the slow the game down. Not rocket surgery, but we have to tools guys.

We stop that kick return and we probably win that game. But because we played from behind we got an eye-full of Cassel and that will only make things better from here on in. Not one team ahead of us can write him off.

A picture to make the post more interesting:

This is Brett watching us tie it up with one second left. Warms my heart.

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|

Nice post, as usual JSN....however, when team overcomes all to tie it at 24-24 and then again at 31-31 - defense cannot allow drives down the stretch. Much to like about the "D" and totally understand how injuries have taken their toll resulting in patchwork in secondary, LB & now DL. Still, must get off field on 3rd down at key drives down the stretch (would love to see 3rd down stats for the last two drives). They named the season "finish" in the locker room -- if don't start finishing the other team off when we have them, we will be finished.

***blackglass3*** · 11-15-2008, 10:44 AM

Very interesting stuff. Thanks, JSn.

SVN · 11-15-2008, 11:43 AM

3rd down and special teams were cause of the loss.
also , i know watson made plays but his hands are very unreliable.We dont really have much margin for error. i really really hope we use the no huddle more but Jmcd has been inconsistent this season so who knows. at times he calls great series and the calls inside runs to faulk and evans with jenkins bang in the middle.

BoTown · 11-15-2008, 11:51 AM

This past game will be a turning point, in a good way. Flash back to this time 7 years ago, when the Pats battled the Rams in Foxboro but fell short. At that point, the Pats were 5-5 and 2 games behind the Jets for the division lead. But they showed they could hang with the contenders, and they never lost another game that year. Yes, it's different in that the Pats had a better secondary, but the Pats have also pulled through with weaker secondaries (Hank Poteat? Earthwind Moreland?). Win the next 6 and it's 12-4 and looking good.

ayjackson · 11-15-2008, 11:52 AM

our rushing attack was Cassel on scrambles.

This is the second game in three weeks we've lost due to mistakes (Indy). I can see us outplaying the opposition in all six remaining games, but what I've seen is that mistakes will likely cost us some of those games.

MrBigglesWorth · 11-15-2008, 11:52 AM

it sounds like Gost has covered for a bad special teams unit.

the question is why they are not covering kickoffs that well. it's not typical of a BB team

MrBigglesWorth · 11-15-2008, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayjackson

our rushing attack was Cassel on scrambles.

This is the second game in three weeks we've lost due to mistakes (Indy). I can see us outplaying the opposition in all six remaining games, but what I've seen is that mistakes will likely cost us some of those games.

what mistakes? I think some reffing calls were jsut as crucial

Jimke · 11-15-2008, 11:57 AM

I think you are being a tad optomistic even thinking 6-0.

From what I have observed the last few weeks, quarterback is
not going to be a problem. Cassel's progress has amazed me.
Even without Brady, the offense still has a lot of good players.

I differ with you on special teams. The Pats are fortunate that
Gostowski offtimes kicks the ball into the end zone. In three
of the four games I attended this year, the opposition had a long
kickoff runback.

The defense is the problem. They let the opposition off the
hook on third down. They do not apply enough consistent
pressure on the quarterback. This puts too much of a burden
on the linebackers and defensive backs who have to cover the
receivers.

We will get a clue next Sunday as to how the Patriots will do
the rest of the season. The Pats rarely lose back to back games.
A loss to Miami would be a bad omen. It would make it almost
impossible to win the division and might even cost them a wildcard
spot.

JSn · 11-15-2008, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimke

I think you are being a tad optomistic even thinking 6-0.

...

I differ with you on special teams. The Pats are fortunate that
Gostowski offtimes kicks the ball into the end zone. In three
of the four games I attended this year, the opposition had a long
kickoff runback.

The defense is the problem. They let the opposition off the
hook on third down. They do not apply enough consistent
pressure on the quarterback. This puts too much of a burden
on the linebackers and defensive backs who have to cover the
receivers.

I didn't actually, reach this verdict, I don't think. Just looked at some facts from the game.

Also, I think you mis-understand the term differ. The kick-off team needs work, for sure.

The bottom line is we can have "feelings" coming away from the game. I find the numbers encouraging. If anyone can correct those deficiencies with a couple extra days, our guys can. Will they? Hard to say.