Five keys to victory - Page 2 - New England Patriots Forums

PATSYLICIOUS · 01-09-2010, 09:34 PM

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Originally Posted by Brady'sButtBoy

Aren't you a smarty pants! Folks like you give fun a bad name. Don't you have to go ruin someone's party?

Alot of research and hard work went into my post and quite frankly I'm offended by your comments. I don't know what your deal is "Brady'sButtBoy". 2 weeks ago I compiled a similar list for the Jacksonville game and lo and behold when the Patriots executed the points on my list, we won convincingly. So why don't you put that in your pipe and smoke it.

deroc5050 · 01-09-2010, 09:49 PM

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Originally Posted by Patspsycho

1) Establish/ control the run games: Baltimore has a hard time with the run game and tends to allow 100+ yards runners more often than not. When we first played them, they had not surrendered a rush TD, and we scored two on them, and that led to them getting unraveled. Maroney is rested, Taylor is fresh, and Morris is uninjured. So hopefully we will get solid big games from all three. My binky for tomorrow is Taylor who has traditionally performed well against the Ravens. On the other end, our run defense in the RZ must be solid, because Ravens are tied with most rush TD.

2) fast start/solid offense: It's that same old tired adage, get out to a fast start, but in this case, it is even more important, because the Ravens have an undisciplined defense that loves to gamble and try to intimidate (they lead with most penalites). Their defense, however, excels in the lateral game, so look for us to veer away from the screen game, and playing more vertical short gains, especially when we draw Lewis inside. Baltimore is terrible when playing from behind- when they are in such a position, they tend to abandon their game plan. We must enable this. I see us fake zone and go to man under, especially if Heap becomes Flacco's binky for the day, because Heap is awful when identifying coverage. He can get caught in running zone routes in man coverage. Look for us to mix it up on our fronts, especially throwing them zone looks which makes Flacco drool.

3) Seal the edges: That is the one awful weakness we have on defense, and one that Rice will be sure to exploit. He lives by the sideline gains. We have had a lot of trouble neutralizing the kick out block because of lousy two gap technique from our linebackers who have had too much trouble shedding the block and grabbing ahold of the runner. My hope is that BB will have a safety slant in behind the kickout to kill the gain, as a secondary stopgap, in run plays. We will be camping out on the edges anyway (see #4) so I am sure there will be multiple responsibilities up front. We'll probably divide our time between the 3-4 and 4-3 with the occasional dime, and don't be surprised to see the zero five dime to try to get in Flacco's head, especially if their OL doesn't play a sharp game.

4) Flush Flacco from the Pocket/take away Mason: Like Brady, Flacco stinks once he is outside the pocket. Those of you who love the sexy looks we put out on defense will be happy to see more of that coming tomorrow- with multiple blitzes and rushes, especially on the outside. For all the hubbub over Oher, he just desn't pick up the edge rusher very well at all. Make all the guys hot and force Rice into protect to reduce his impact. 3-4 OLB is overrated as a blitzer, but in this particular game and scheme, it will be critical; watch for safeties to come to the LOS in dime with McGowan in spy on Rice. If we can force Flacco out, his propensity for turning the ball over just spikes. When we take away Mason, Flacco's game takes a dip, so I would say, look for the over/under bracket type of coverage we brought in the Atlanta game against Gonzalez.

5) Edelman/Faulk picks up Welker's slack: It is not as obvious as it looks- not only must they pick up the offensive slack, they must also contribute to taking heat off Moss and Brady the way Welker did. Without Welker, Moss has zero TD's. That's a testament to how much attention Welker draws to himself. Brady's comp % really drops without Welker in there, especially on 3rd downs. Welker is the king of the underneath routes with his uncanny feel for coverage and his hands, and nobody can duplicate this. Look for Faulk and Edelman to share the duty of forcing Baltimore to respect the underneath game and try to take the heat off the deep game, e.g., Moss.

I disagree that Welker takes heat off of Moss.. Moss takes the heat off of Welker. A defence is always going to take randy away first and foremost for obvious reasons.

The big thing I am worried about is 3rd and 5+ yards to go and you need to keep the chains moving.. without Welker I hope we dont see 3rd and long much this week. The last time I remember the pats playing without Welker was against the Jets??? Brady looked a bit lost out there. I know Brady had some rust on him at that point in the season but I have absolutly no idea how this offence is going to respond.

BillBelichickFan79 · 01-10-2010, 02:00 AM

1. Brady must bring his "A" game. - The Pats go as Brady goes. Time for Brady to step up like he usually does in the playoffs. He is the one player that will decide how far we go. Just like the Colts with Manning, you always have a chance if you have a great QB. If Brady is playing at the top of his game, this team can go deep in the playoffs. Protect the ball, make smart decisions, sustain drives, and be efficient in the red zone.

2. Stack the box and shut down the run - Rice and McGahee are an explosive and powerful tandem at RB. Wilfork and Warren will need to be very solid in the middle. I expect a big game from Mayo with a lot of tackles. It will be important to wrap up and go low on both of these RB's b/c they can both break tackles. The safeties will have to come up and make plays in the box. We cannot let them get their running game going because then we will have to deal with play action. Flacco has a cannon to go deep on play action and sometimes Meriweather is a little too aggressive and likes to bite on fakes.

3. Control the tempo - The Pats cannot let Baltimore control the tempo with a slow, grind it out, low scoring game b/c that is when they are at their best. We have to come out and make it sort of a track meet. Make Flacco and his offense have to try to keep pace with Brady and our offense. The Ravens can't match us in the passing game. Brady > Flacco and our WR > Balt's WR.

4. Good play and communication O-Line - First off, Vollmer has to get the start over Kaczur. O-Line has to keep Brady upright and give him time to operate against a secondary that has limited depth. Contain Suggs, who is their best pass rusher. O-Line and Brady will need to communicate well and adjust protections at the line. Ravens bring a lot of exotic blitz packages like the Jets, so making audibles to slide protections will be essential.

5. Play good situational football -
Offense: Be able to score in the last 2 minutes of the halves. This has been a key trait of our team over the last decade and we will need to do it in the playoffs in order to be successful. Be able to ice the game by moving the chains in the 4th quarter with the running game. Sustain drives with key 3rd down conversions. Be efficient in the red zone - need TD's. Take the points when you can get them - don't go for 4th and 1 at the 10 yard line, kick the FG.
Defense: Be able to get off the field on 3rd downs - continue to use the five and dime package to cause confusion and get heat on 3rd and long. Do not go into prevent defense and do not let them score at the end of halves. Hold them to 3 points when they get in the red zone.

Final Thoughts
Not a guy in this room feels any pressure. You apply it. 60 minutes of speed and precision. Win the turnover battle, be the more physical team, and be aggressive. Meriweather and Sanders need to the lay the wood on the WR's and TE's early to set the tone. No one beats us in our house. This is our time. Let's ******* go.

***mayoclinic*** · 01-10-2010, 04:02 AM

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Originally Posted by PATSYLICIOUS

Well I unfortunately forgot to post my 5 keys to victory last week and the Patriots ended up losing. When I posted my 5 keys vs Jacksonville, they executed all 5 IMO and ended up winning convincingly. Thankfully you reminded me with this thread. So after hours of film study on Baltimore I came up with 5 in-depth keys for this week:

1. Run the ball well
2. Defend the run well
3. Pass the ball well
4. Defend the pass well
5. Limit the mistakes

I firmly believe we win tomorrow if we stick to the 5 keys. If we don't, we could be in trouble!

You forgot the part about scoring more points than the Ravens.

My keys:

1. Control Ray Rice. Like MJD in the Jax game, Rice is an explosive weapon who can break tackles and cause devastating big plays. Pats need to tackle well and be disciplined.

2. Run effectively. Baltimore has a top 5 rushing defense and I don't expect the Pats to run wild, but they need to be able to move the ball. I expect Fred Taylor to be key.

3. Avoid defensive breakdowns.

4. Spread the ball around. Baltimore's secondary is vulnerable, but TB has to spread the ball around. I assume Moss will be doubled. I'd like to see the TEs heavily involved.

5. Offensive line play. If the Pats OL can win the war against the Ravens DL, then I think we win the game.

But we'd better not forgot the part about scoring more points.

***DarrylS*** · 01-10-2010, 04:23 AM

My key is simple play 60 minutes, not 30, of good steady Patriots Football.. keep moving the chains, add a very healthy dose of the short pass run game... Faulk, Watson etc.

Do not give up any big run plays...

slash83 · 01-10-2010, 04:25 AM

I wonder if the Pats will come out in a base 43 defense like they did the first meeting. That was the first game of the season where the Pats came out with that attacking mentality game plan, they knocked Joe Wacco around all game.

JoeShmoe · 01-10-2010, 05:29 AM

For me its quite simple

Our Run D has always been good but everyone knows you can pass on the Pats now - team after team is putting uo 300 yards against us

IF Flacco gets all day back there (like every QB seems to have had) we will get killed - the D must find some way of getting some pressure on Flacco and our secondary must play well (i.e. no wilhite

)

***mayoclinic*** · 01-10-2010, 01:08 PM

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