DropKickFlutie

What was the point of running Woodhead that many times? He isn't better than Faulk, and even in Faulk's prime he only came in on obvious passing downs (usually 3rd down). It was almost as if before the game ever started the plan was to minimize Ridley and go in spread formations with Woodhead back there. Does Woodhead or Ridley keep the defense more honest? Does running 15 times for 34 yards, most of the time from shotgun, make the defense even care about defending the run?

All that aside, the Pats still had the lead in the 4th. Why still go with Woodhead in shotgun on some of those down/distance neutral situations, when what the team really needed was to grind out some 1st downs and kill the clock?

Also - hope Edelman's hand is okay and love his fire, but he was targeted too much early on. This team's studs are Gronk, Welker, and Branch (plus Ridley). Edelman is a good 4th or 5th option, not the main guy. Gronk and Welker complete over 70% of targets to them which is excellent, while Edelman's is closer to 50-60% (last night was the same%). There isn't a good reason why he has suddenly become a main feature of the offense.

nashvillepatsfan

you forgot a certain WR who caught alot more balls than Gronk last night

also, I agree about woodhead. I want more Ridley

DropKickFlutie

Yeah, not surprised that Welker had a huge game 15 receptions something like 150 yards. It just shows that there was nothing wrong with Welker, just a completely irrational coaching decision to bench Welker in favor of featuring Edelman and Woodhead more in the first two games. Only Hernandez's injury forced their hand to play Welker more.

Also, Gronk was only targeted 3 times last night. Again, makes no sense. Even if the O-line has issues, Gronk is a matchup nightmare who could have been targeted more on quicker-developing plays that did not leave the O-line vulnerable.

Rob0729

Some thoughts:

• Gronk was blocking a lot last night. They also doubled him a lot.
• Edelman had a good game last night.
• The Woodhead running did score the Pats a TD on one drive.
• Ridley doesn't seem to fit into the Pats' up tempo offense. If people want the Pats to run the no huddle a lot, then they have to put up with less Riley and more Woodhead.

nashvillepatsfan

I wasnt talking about Welker, although he had a great game too. I was referring to Lloyd.

hovis

Ridley had 13 carries for 37 yards. That's 2.8 yards per carry versus Woodhead's 2.3. I know Woodhead and Edelman are this board's favorite whipping boys, but the Ravens have one of the best d-line's in the league, and none of our backs ran well against them. He had a few negative plays blown up in the backfield, whose fault is that? The only drive he had semi-decent blocking, he ran down the field for a TD...

If you're looking for goats, try the O-Line, Steve Gregory & Devin McCourty (Keystone cops), and Arrington (abused by Smith).

DropKickFlutie

How many total offensive snaps did Ridley play? Bc if every time Ridley was in the game and he ran, it would be a huge tell for the defense to just stack the box on Ridley.

Also, Edelman did show flashes, but 4 catches for 28 yards isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, especially when he was still around the 50-60% career completion% of targets thrown his way. Most of Edelman's catches were those quick sideline throws, not much past 5-10 yards through the air.

.

sieglo

McDaniels is a moron. For some reason he thinks Woodhead is Jerome Bettis, running him up the gut straight at Ngata over and over again in defiance of all logic. Belichick ought to just fire him after yesterday.

DefenseRules

I doubt that BB will fire him, but I did find his use or over use of Woodhead annoying.

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Sicilian

I think the rational was a combination of things. 1) Woodhead is better in the no-huddle and 2) he's smarter with blitz pickup. That explains why he's on the field in a game like this, and you can't just abandon the run (even when it's not effective), so as long as he's there he's going to get his carries. And as has been pointed out, Ridley wasn't impressive either. It's almost as if the Ravens have a good defense. But that can't be right because only the Patriots control the outcome of their own games.