Coach42

that is true but sizzle had 14 and nobody else had more than 6. Point being that this isn't some team like the 07 Giants the that had 4 or 5 guys capable of 10 sacks a season. Ravens only have 1

NEP4Life

Philosophically, I think bumping up the protection works against the strengths of Brady and this talented group of receivers. You want the receivers out making plays whenever possible.

Go with screens (especially my beloved WR screen), quick slants/ins (but one-step type passes are too dangerous IMHO because they can be batted/deflected at the line) and of course, run the ball. Eschew the empty backfield, which so often allows defenders to tee off on Brady.

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borg

0.5 sacks more /game than the "awful" NE pass rush........

Suggs had 3 monster games statistically....Pitt, SF, Indy....averaging 3 sacks and 2 FFs

The major fear BB will have vs Balt is the fumble issue , especially if it is Brady get popped all day. It will be interesting to see how conservative BB gets in deploying his RBs. Verses Pitt, BB opted to use Faulk, despite being his first game back from injury. BB sacrificed offensive output to protect Brady. Looking back, Faulk added nothing and in fact stifled the offense. We all know how BB trends towards aggressive....4th down attempts, pass first goal line approach, etc. So the question becomes, how far will BB deviate from his usual pedal to the metal approach. Emphasizing BJGE over Ridley is expected and trends conservative....but deploying Faulk and his pass blocking skills will scream that BB is scared of the Balt pass rush.
It is possible that BB will work the sideline passes because the safeties will have their hands full guarding the center of the field and our TEs. This will also limit the ballhawking opportunities of the D

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"In the end, Belichick juiced Moss like an orange, and once all the good pulp was squeezed, he tossed Moss aside. "


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NEP4Life

Ridley has likely played himself into the doghouse at least temporarily, because of his fumbles.

BJGE is not a big play threat that would cause an aggressive team to honor the run.

Faulk's tank is empty. Tangentially, I see them motioning Gronk/Solder to the interior before Faulk gets significant snaps due to his pass protection ability.

Therefore, despite his shortcomings (pun intended) it's Woody time!

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Buchanty

This is going to be a hard fought game against the best all-round team in the AFC IMHO. Their defense is particularly strong in 3rd down and red zone situations, not that the Patriots are poor in these areas, but this is something to be mindful about. Their defense also contains 3 high motor game changers that I am sure we would be delighted to have playing for the patch. This may well be Ray-Ray's last opportunity for a SB berth and a ring, and I have seen few people more motivated or motivating than him, so I don't expect him or Tsizzle or Ed Reed to spare the horses. Furthermore they are not the only talents on the D so this is no cake walk.

On the offensive side they are not too shaky - other than at QB, depending on which Flacco turns up. Sometimes he reminds me of Sanchez with his lack of pocket awareness, poor reads and inaccurate throws, but even Sanchez can look golden in the playoffs, which means that our D cannot take him for granted. In fact I think the key to the game is ensuring that we get Flacco out of rhythm as early as possible and give our O maximum time to establish control. If the D from the Denver game can repeat. especially Spikes who had a monster game, limiting Rice as much as possible, and forcing 3rd and longs with Nink and Anderson off the edges I will be delighted.

Whether it will happen or not depends on how practiced and intense the D will be on the day. I hear the echo of another great passing O that stomped heavily on Denver in the playoffs several years ago, who came to Foxborough without punting in the playoffs and they laid an egg. I believe that Wilfork will be pitching "this is for MHK" to the utmost, which should avoid repeating that history.

I am not dismissing the importance of the O-line, it is indeed critical to success, especially in helping TB get into his rhythm as you cant run the hurry-up offense without that being established. If Vollmer can play this weekend I think we have a great opportunity for us to load the O-line until Brady is in the groove.

However in my mind the D is where we need to shine. If we can keep the Ravens O off and the D on the field, we can tire them out with the hurry up and pressure Flacco into mediocrity.

JGaffney

IMO this is why home field advantage was huge to get this year for the playoffs, even more so than usual.

Belichicknumber1

Mangina made a good point and i think the ratbirds will try and do what he said. He said that the way you fool Brady is to not get in set position which means the defense will be walking around the line of scrimmage and to not show him a set look, he said that they this to them(the pats) when he was there and he said it confused Brady. The way you counter that is by what all you smart fans are saying which is.... the hurry up. You let them dance around and get tired while your running the spread and hurry up. He said this yesterday on 1st and 10 with tebows bff Skip Bayless. Also i expect Spikes to be huge in this game. He has fresh legs and loves to hit. Seems like Spikes bring the Cox nastiness to the D which other seem to feed off of. Make the ratbirds play your game dont play theres and you will win. GO PATS!!!!

Ice Cold Bruschi

Its times like this that I'm glad we drafted Solder. Hope Vollmer is back as well.

patsfan13

IMO Miller/Dumerville are as good with the pass rush from the outside as Suggs/whoever, the OL was up to the task of handling them. Ngata is an excellent player however with our guards we can control him in the pass rush.

As always the off the charts football IQ of Reed and Lewis is the issue. Brady making good decisions and avoiding Ints. will be IT.

I can't see the Ravens winning unless they are +2 in To's. If Brady isn't fooled by Lewis/Reed we will win possibly going away.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Double TE

If the pass rush is so good why was Yates never sacked?