Why can't the O close things out?

[R_T26]

It seems when the other teams qb gets hot Brady goes cold. He tightens up, throws bad balls at feet or trys to force passes. This has been a Brady trend post knee surgery.

 

[BTTA]

I've got the same question, but not focusing it on Brady. They just don't seem to have a counter to the pressure and speed that the defenses bring to those late game, desperate situations. There are new defensive vulnerabilities present but the coaches don't seem to have an answer, and the players seems to have a drop in adrenalin just as the other teams are picking theirs up.

 

[IllegalContact]

Simple. They do not stick to the plays that got them the lead in the first place.

 

[BradyManny]

They closed out against the Steelers, Ravens, Vikings, Miami, etc., etc.

Really, the offense has done quite well in 4th quarters this year. Yesterday was the aberration.

If they call PI when Branch was mauled yesterday on 3rd and short, it's a different story. I'm not too worried about it.

 

[DaBruinz]

They closed out against the Steelers, Ravens, Vikings, Miami, etc., etc.

Really, the offense has done quite well in 4th quarters this year. Yesterday was the aberration.

If they call PI when Branch was mauled yesterday on 3rd and short, it's a different story. I'm not too worried about it.

That was the only bad missed call during the game, honestly. The refs surprised me, overall..

 

[shmessy]

Simple. They do not stick to the plays that got them the lead in the first place.

Bingo.

Same thing that happened in the 2006 AFCCG and last year's game against the Colts - - the play calling changed dramatically once they felt the pressure of a comeback.

Like a turtle retreating into it's shell.

 

[DaBruinz]

Bingo.

Same thing that happened in the 2006 AFCCG and last year's game against the Colts - - the play calling changed dramatically once they felt the pressure of a comeback.

Like a turtle retreating into it's shell.

2006 ACFFG, the Pats were without their TOP 3 RBs by the 4th quarter. You are also forgetting the bogus "Face guarding call" and the Missed call on Hayden mauling Caldwell in the endzone.

 

[BradyManny]

That was the only bad missed call during the game, honestly. The refs surprised me, overall..

Completely agree 100%. That was the best ref'd Colts-Pats game in ages. The refs were a non-factor. I'll take that non-call against Branch any day if it means no phantom-PI calls against our guys.

 

[ATippett56]

It seems when the other teams qb gets hot Brady goes cold. He tightens up, throws bad balls at feet or trys to force passes. This has been a Brady trend post knee surgery.

On the second to last offensive series in the fourth quarter, the New England Patriots offense should have run the ball on first down.

1-10-NE 23 (7:51) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass incomplete short left to 83-W.Welker.

2-10-NE 23 (7:49) (Shotgun) 39-D.Woodhead left guard to NE 29 for 6 yards (27-J.Lacey). IND-27-J.Lacey was injured during the play.

3-4-NE 29 (7:20) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass incomplete short left to 84-D.Branch.

 

[aluminum seats]

I think no matter how much an offense is spreading things around, it's good to have a go-to guy at the end of the game during the "close out" drive. Don't think that guy has emerged yet--my thought/hope would be it becomes one of the rookie TEs.

 

[West Philly Patriot]

That was the only bad missed call during the game, honestly. The refs surprised me, overall..

yeah I'm with u here as well. The refs didn't influence the outcome of this game which is all you can ask for given the past history of these games.

I think they lack that go to short yardage back the coaches feel comfortable enough sending up the gut for those tough yards at the end. If you notice on BJGE's second run in that last series the play went off tackle, when the sweet spot all game has been up the gut.

I just think BB and BOB don't have the trust in BJGE to get those really tough yards when we must have them. Just my opinion

 

[patsfaninpa]

On the second to last offensive series in the fourth quarter, the New England Patriots offense should have run the ball on first down.

1-10-NE 23 (7:51) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass incomplete short left to 83-W.Welker.

2-10-NE 23 (7:49) (Shotgun) 39-D.Woodhead left guard to NE 29 for 6 yards (27-J.Lacey). IND-27-J.Lacey was injured during the play.

3-4-NE 29 (7:20) (Shotgun) 12-T.Brady pass incomplete short left to 84-D.Branch.

You nailed it TIPP. Up 31-21 with 7 minutes left and the ball. I'm ecstatic. Our OL was mauling them. Empty backfield at that point was idiotic. Nice play on 2nd down. Branch held on 3rd down. Should have been penalty. But agree. We should have been running on this possession.

 

[PAPatsjunkie]

If they call PI when Branch was mauled yesterday on 3rd and short, it's a different story. I'm not too worried about it.

Anyone have video/photo of this play? Someone is trying to tell me that they were both 'jostling' each other for position. From my memory I thought the defender was wrapping up Branch before the ball got there.

 

[Kulko]

You nailed it TIPP. Up 31-21 with 7 minutes left and the ball. I'm ecstatic. Our OL was mauling them. Empty backfield at that point was idiotic. Nice play on 2nd down. Branch held on 3rd down. Should have been penalty. But agree. We should have been running on this possession.

Hmm wasn't running on first down exactly what put them in the coffin on the next drive?

In order to have success, you need to keep the defense guessing, so an simplistic answer like "they should have run" is never going to be the correct answer.

Maybe they should have audibled after seeing the coverage, or maybe even taking a timeout to reconsider their options. But all in all they should just have executed their plays a bit better and they would have won.

 

[IllegalContact]

2006 ACFFG, the Pats were without their TOP 3 RBs by the 4th quarter. You are also forgetting the bogus "Face guarding call" and the Missed call on Hayden mauling Caldwell in the endzone.

yeah, but there has become this effect of the pats changing their calls later in the game the last couple of years. look at the colts game last year.

they're not sticking to the plays that allow them to control the ball earlier in the game.

I think the defense has evolved to have a better tendency to make the big play, but they should not be depending on that when they have a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter.

the fact that the colts even had a chance late was pretty inexcusable to me.

they simply could have gone big and cranked out 4 yards a carry against the colts. that was the high percentage play that eats up the clock.

 

[WhiZa]

Anyone remember Dillon? If we had a RB like that again we could kill the clock and close things out. BGJE is a solid RB, but if we're honest with ourselves he isn't going to be what we need to consistently get 10 yards every 3 downs late in the game.

 

[IllegalContact]

Hmm wasn't running on first down exactly what put them in the coffin on the next drive?

In order to have success, you need to keep the defense guessing, so an simplistic answer like "they should have run" is never going to be the correct answer.

Maybe they should have audibled after seeing the coverage, or maybe even taking a timeout to reconsider their options. But all in all they should just have executed their plays a bit better and they would have won.

you have to sell the run in that situation.

going 5 wide on 1st down at that juncture is silly. asking for trouble is all it is.

at least with BJGE back there, you can sell the run on a play-action.

if you ran on those incompletions, you would have taken an additional minute off the clock. if you get a couple of first downs. the game is over.

the otehr strange thing was with the clock ticking, brady taking snaps with 17-18 seconds still left on the clock.......

glad for the outcome, but some things seemed strange

 

[vyrago]

Completely agree 100%. That was the best ref'd Colts-Pats game in ages. The refs were a non-factor. I'll take that non-call against Branch any day if it means no phantom-PI calls against our guys.

There was a PI call on the Colts fairly early on and I just could not believe my ears. I thought the ref was confused. In fact the ref mistakenly called a penalty against the Pats that he quickly corrected himself on on a return that also shocked me. Maybe they didn't get Polian's memo.

 

[West Philly Patriot]

Anyone remember Dillon? If we had a RB like that again we could kill the clock and close things out. BGJE is a solid RB, but if we're honest with ourselves he isn't going to be what we need to consistently get 10 yards every 3 downs late in the game.

This is exactly my stance. I'm big a fan of BJGE, dude is doing a ton with alot less. I think we can all appreciate that as everyday people.

But this fact along with the trust that a back like Dillon got in those situations to get those yards changes the play calling significantly.

 

[Kulko]

you have to sell the run in that situation.

going 5 wide on 1st down at that juncture is silly. asking for trouble is all it is.

at least with BJGE back there, you can sell the run on a play-action.

if you ran on those incompletions, you would have taken an additional minute off the clock. if you get a couple of first downs. the game is over.

the otehr strange thing was with the clock ticking, brady taking snaps with 17-18 seconds still left on the clock.......

glad for the outcome, but some things seemed strange

Agree on that one, especially the time on the clock.

But in general, when you want to milk the clock and the Defense is guessing Run, it is actually better to go short pass. When you run twice you are probably sitting in 3rd and 6, have to pass and the Def is blitzing. And the most likely result is an incompletion anyway.
But when you manage to complete on first down against a run defense you are in 2nd and 3 and have an 80% chance of getting the first with two more runs, or even the option of a 4th down attempt.

You are probably right, that going 5 wide is taking it too far at this point, but sticking to about 30% passes on first down is probably a lot wiser in modern NFL.