What bothers me: We dominated for 3 quarters

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

When the Pats scored early in the 4th to make it 31-14, BB likely figured the Colts need 3 scores in less than a quarter, so playing some soft D may give up the yards, but it will also keep the clock going as the Pats weren't going to let any quick scores over the top. Inbetween Colts drives, the Pats would kill several minutes off the clock as evidenced by their last length-of-the field and clock-consuming drive in the 3rd quarter (despite Maroney capping it with a fumble). Therefore, the Colts wouldn't have the time needed to score 3 times. Game...set...match, right?

Whoops!

Regards,
Chris

 

[Bledsoe11]

What last night did was convince me once and for all who the better team and better QB for this decade is. It shames me to say this, but there is no disputing anymore who the best QB of his generation is, and it is, indeed, Mr.Peyton. On the last possession of the 4th quarter, all Brady and the offense had to do, was gain 10 yards on 4 plays. Peyton had to gain 30 yards and get into the endzone. I think that was the basis of Belichick's decision: which hall-of-fame QB will make the plays to win the game. Peyton succeeded where Brady had failed. Even the most hardcore Brady homer has to give Peyton his due.

 

[condon84]

We dominated for 50 or 55 minutes if you ask me. Take away that bogus PI call and you most likely have a crystal-clear 34–21 or 34–24 victory.

That said, Pees once again did his best to destroy his own defense's chances at winning the game. The pattern's rather obvious. In the fourth quarter, the secondary starts to play farther off the receivers. The defense kicks ass through three and a half quarters, and so Pees pulls this crap AGAIN? He did it with the Ravens. We got out of that one by the skin of our teeth. He did it with the Broncos. We did not get out of that one by the skin of our teeth. And now he does it with the Colts. I swear, Dean Pees is a f*cking saboteur. His philosophy was far more devastating than Belichick's 4th down call.

It's not solely on Pees though. BB makes the final call and if he thinks Pees is calling dumb plays, BB would step in. The fact that BB approved what Pees was calling confirms that that's what he probably wanted our defense to do.

 

[condon84]

What last night did was convince me once and for all who the better team and better QB for this decade is. It shames me to say this, but there is no disputing anymore who the best QB of his generation is, and it is, indeed, Mr.Peyton. On the last possession of the 4th quarter, all Brady and the offense had to do, was gain 10 yards on 4 plays. Peyton had to gain 30 yards and get into the endzone. I think that was the basis of Belichick's decision: which hall-of-fame QB will make the plays to win the game. Peyton succeeded where Brady had failed. Even the most hardcore Brady homer has to give Peyton his due.

I don't know about better team for this decade because we do still have the most SB wins, but the better QB argument has definitely tilted to Manning's way.

If you were to ask me 5 years ago who I wanted as a QB with 2 minutes left and we needed a TD, I would have said Brady all day. Now though, only the biggest homers would pick Brady.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

The greatest irony of the game is how conservative and non-aggressive the team got on both sides of the ball in the fourth, then BB allows the game to be decided on the most aggressive, non-conservative play call in team history.

I agree. Some more aggressive play calling earlier in the quarter would make this all moot.

What is really annoying is how effective we were, and why would we get away from it when we're doing so well?

Kudos to the Colts for not quitting, but I think our biggest enemy moving forward is ourself. If we can learn to not relent, we will beat anyone. And if we don't, it's going to be a short season.

 

[HarkDawg]

This Manning however... is not present in the playoffs. Why?

 

[condon84]

I agree. Some more aggressive play calling earlier in the quarter would make this all moot.

What is really annoying is how effective we were, and why would we get away from it when we're doing so well?

Kudos to the Colts for not quitting, but I think our biggest enemy moving forward is ourself. If we can learn to not relent, we will beat anyone. And if we don't, it's going to be a short season.

I think we can beat any other team besides the Colts. Hopefully, some other team takes them out in the playoffs because I cannot see our team going into Indy and winning a playoff game. No way.

 

[mayoclinic]

I agree. Some more aggressive play calling earlier in the quarter would make this all moot.

What is really annoying is how effective we were, and why would we get away from it when we're doing so well?

Kudos to the Colts for not quitting, but I think our biggest enemy moving forward is ourself. If we can learn to not relent, we will beat anyone. And if we don't, it's going to be a short season.

Bingo.

What bothers me is that we haven't learned from the past.

We were predictable on offense and passive on defense against the Jets and lost 16-9 after leading 9-7 at the half, scoring 0 2nd half points.

We were predictable on offense and passive on defense against the Broncos and lost 20-17 after leading 17-7 at the half, scoring 0 2nd half points.

We had the Ravens down 17-7 at the half and let them back in the game with critical turnovers, and were lucky to get a win.

We had the Dolphins down and didn't put them away, and let them come back to take the lead 17-16 before finally putting them away.

We dominated the Colts for almost 50 minutes by being aggressive on defense and mixing it up on offense, and then got conservative on both sides of the ball and threw the game away. We turned the ball over twice on scoring drives in the 3rd quarter, coming away with 0 points. And we got passive when in the red zone in the 4th quarter and only got 3 points.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

When this team plays aggressively on both sides of the ball, and uses play action mixed with a balanced running attack, we are the best team in football. No one can hang with us, not Indy, not NO. When we get passive and predictable we fool no one and aren't good enough on either side of the ball to beat the good teams.

It's really up to the coaching staff to take the brakes off and keep them off. We're only holding ourselves back.

As far as I'm concerned, poor coaching has been a major factor in all 3 losses this year. We could easily be 9-0 if we didn't stop ourselves.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Bingo.

What bothers me is that we haven't learned from the past.

We were predictable on offense and passive on defense against the Jets and lost 16-9 after leading 9-7 at the half, scoring 0 2nd half points.

We were predictable on offense and passive on defense against the Broncos and lost 20-17 after leading 17-7 at the half, scoring 0 2nd half points.

We had the Ravens down 17-7 at the half and let them back in the game with critical turnovers, and were lucky to get a win.

We had the Dolphins down and didn't put them away, and let them come back to take the lead 17-16 before finally putting them away.

We dominated the Colts for almost 50 minutes by being aggressive on defense and mixing it up on offense, and then got conservative on both sides of the ball and threw the game away. We turned the ball over twice on scoring drives in the 3rd quarter, coming away with 0 points. And we got passive when in the red zone in the 4th quarter and only got 3 points.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

When this team plays aggressively on both sides of the ball, and uses play action mixed with a balanced running attack, we are the best team in football. No one can hang with us, not Indy, not NO. When we get passive and predictable we fool no one and aren't good enough on either side of the ball to beat the good teams.

It's really up to the coaching staff to take the brakes off and keep them off. We're only holding ourselves back.

As far as I'm concerned, poor coaching has been a major factor in all 3 losses this year. We could easily be 9-0 if we didn't stop ourselves.

Fortunately, this is all correctable.

A question for you Mayo

Do you think BB punts if Warren, TBC, and Green are playing?

Is the game close is we have our compliment of non IR players?

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

I think we can beat any other team besides the Colts. Hopefully, some other team takes them out in the playoffs because I cannot see our team going into Indy and winning a playoff game. No way.

I can, they don't play way this in the post season.......... or they'd have about 4 rings now.

Bottom line. We played 3 quarters of great ball, then went into........ "soft, keep the ball in front of you" prevent DEFENSE and OFFENSE. Then, we "try" to GO FOR THE WIN on 4th and 2.

Personally, I knew after the BS DPI call that it wasn't gonna end well for us.

 

[mayoclinic]

Fortunately, this is all correctable.

A question for you Mayo

Do you think BB punts if Warren, TBC, and Green are playing?

Is the game close is we have our compliment of non IR players?

No, I don't think he punts. And I don't think it would have gotten to the point of being an issue if those guys had played. Green's loss didn't bother me. Losing Warren as well decimated our DL. Losing TBC decimated our pass rush. Our line wore down by the 4th quarter, and the Colts took full advantage of it.

As you say, it's all correctable. But we still haven't corrected it after the earlier losses. That's what disturbs me. We're the only team capable of stopping ourselves, and we've done so 3 times so far in 9 games. Do it once in the playoffs and we're done.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

As far as I'm concerned, poor coaching has been a major factor in all 3 losses this year. We could easily be 9-0 if we didn't stop ourselves.

QFT.

It's not just poor coaching, but arrogant coaching and I'm not talking about the 4th down call. It's the repeated use of shotgun, often with empty backfields, broadcasting to the world what's coming. It's a dare. The offense is declaring, "We have Tom. We have Randy. We have Wes. We're showing our hand and you cannot beat us anyway. We dare you to stop this obvious pass we're about to run."

Guess what, Bill? The Jets stopped it. The Broncos stopped it. The Colts stopped it when they needed to.

The Pats' spread offense is a world-beater when either the opponent sucks or the OL can keep Brady clean. Once the D starts getting pressure, especially with only 4 down linemen (Hello, Robert Mathis!), suddenly the spread doesn't look so potent.

Go back to the Atlanta gameplan, Bill. The Falcons were guessing left and right what the Pats were running with Brady under center most of the game. Fittingly, the Pats stalled several times in the redzone in that game and lo-and-behold...right when they went to the spread. Teams catch on to this stuff, Bill.

Regards,
Chris

 

[vyrago]

What bothers me is I didn't follow my own very good advice and go to bed at the end of the third quarter. That way, I would have at least gotten a good night's sleep instead of the lousy couple of hours I managed.

 

[condon84]

I can, they don't play way this in the post season.......... or they'd have about 4 rings now.

Bottom line. We played 3 quarters of great ball, then went into........ "soft, keep the ball in front of you" prevent DEFENSE and OFFENSE. Then, we "try" to GO FOR THE WIN on 4th and 2.

Personally, I knew after the BS DPI call that it wasn't gonna end well for us.

Last time we played them in the playoffs, they gave us a nice swift kick in the nuts.

Ever since the rule emphasis of no contact past 5 yards for receivers that Polian lobied for, they've owned us. We have been 1-5 against them ever since. It's safe to say that that rule change has greatly tilted this rivalry towards their favor. Our read and react defense is no match against the Colts offense when we can no longer jam their receivers down the field. THat's just reality.

 

[ausbacker]

It's not just poor coaching, but arrogant coaching

Ding ding we have a winner.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I think we can beat any other team besides the Colts. Hopefully, some other team takes them out in the playoffs because I cannot see our team going into Indy and winning a playoff game. No way.

Why? We already almost did it, and quite frankly, we should have. I know that doesn't count, but the Colts have to be thinking they dodged a bullet last night.

Bingo.

What bothers me is that we haven't learned from the past.

We were predictable on offense and passive on defense against the Jets and lost 16-9 after leading 9-7 at the half, scoring 0 2nd half points.

We were predictable on offense and passive on defense against the Broncos and lost 20-17 after leading 17-7 at the half, scoring 0 2nd half points.

We had the Ravens down 17-7 at the half and let them back in the game with critical turnovers, and were lucky to get a win.

We had the Dolphins down and didn't put them away, and let them come back to take the lead 17-16 before finally putting them away.

We dominated the Colts for almost 50 minutes by being aggressive on defense and mixing it up on offense, and then got conservative on both sides of the ball and threw the game away. We turned the ball over twice on scoring drives in the 3rd quarter, coming away with 0 points. And we got passive when in the red zone in the 4th quarter and only got 3 points.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

When this team plays aggressively on both sides of the ball, and uses play action mixed with a balanced running attack, we are the best team in football. No one can hang with us, not Indy, not NO. When we get passive and predictable we fool no one and aren't good enough on either side of the ball to beat the good teams.

It's really up to the coaching staff to take the brakes off and keep them off. We're only holding ourselves back.

As far as I'm concerned, poor coaching has been a major factor in all 3 losses this year. We could easily be 9-0 if we didn't stop ourselves.

I agree with all of this. This team could easily be 9-0, but we haven't developed that killer instinct, and we really need to. I also think the coaching staff hasn't made the necessary adjustments coming out of the half. We seem to not play well in the second half for whatever reason.

The reassuring thing is that we can fix the problems, and we have the talent to compete with anyone. But like you said, these problems keep repeating over and over and over.

Hopefully this loss serves as a wake-up call for us.

 

[loosebearing]

I just finished reading 4 pages of posts and not one person even mentioned the main reason for the offense to bog down. Matthews was going gaga - hitting Brady numerous times but especially in the 4th quarter. Kazur couldn't handle him alone. But for the first three quarters he was getting help from NEIL. Didn't anybody notice that he went out with a head injury at the end of the 3rd qtr (or beginning of 4th). Connelly was't able to do his job and help Kazur. Brady had no time to throw which made the rookie DB's better.

As far as the Defense - that pattern has been going on for years, with the reason being age. There was no age out there so I DON'T KNOW.

 

[TennesseePatriot]

This Manning however... is not present in the playoffs. Why?

Good point. And it's the same reason he never won a bowl game in college. He can't play under pressure. What seems to be neglected is this: The Colts have played two teams this season now with a winning record. Us, and the Texans. They easily could have and arguably should have lost both games.

 

[chris66]

I just finished reading 4 pages of posts and not one person even mentioned the main reason for the offense to bog down. Matthews was going gaga - hitting Brady numerous times but especially in the 4th quarter. Kazur couldn't handle him alone. But for the first three quarters he was getting help from NEIL. Didn't anybody notice that he went out with a head injury at the end of the 3rd qtr (or beginning of 4th). Connelly was't able to do his job and help Kazur. Brady had no time to throw which made the rookie DB's better.

As far as the Defense - that pattern has been going on for years, with the reason being age. There was no age out there so I DON'T KNOW.

They only had 3 dlinemen in the 4th quarter. Wilfork, Pryor, and Wright.