A fork in the road

[Patspsycho]

I have to say this is downright ridiculous.

The convergence of events leading up to tonight is just too coincidental. Brady loses his first home game since 2006, and the first 2 losses in a row since 2009, and to whom? The Giants, Brady's nemesis. If that isn't pouring salt on your wound, I don't know what is. First, the embarrassing end to 2007, and the missed season of 2008, the slow comeback of 2009, the so-close call of 2010.

This can't be a coincidence- I think it has to be some kind of character test.

2011 is still salvageable, but it remains to be seen if Brady can climb out of the dark valley he's been in since 2007.

I have to say that the first thing that popped in my head after the game, was Aaron Boone's homerun in the 11-inning game 7 of the 2003 ALCS which was an insult on top of an insult on top of an insult. Perhaps the parallel is a bit stretched, but I can't think of a more psychological insult than what happened today; today was sort of a microcosm of the problems that has haunted Brady since 2007.

It's just downright ridiculous; and that being said, I think we are at this point, past the X and O's- it's not this or that player, and neither is it a whodunnit or whatdunnit. I don't think it's fair to blame the defense. They played extremely well in the first half, and only unraveled in the last few minutes which is typical of a young team that just isn't quite there in terms of being able to mentally play 60 full minutes. But I think they are getting there. Losing Spikes was huge, but we also lost Mayo and Guyton on the last few snaps. That was White who gave up the game winning TD.

I really don't think the team can sink any lower than this. From this point on, there are two roads to take- one is a repeat of 2009, and the other is to find a solution to the sudden increase in man coverage played against us, and for Brady to drop his balls and stop playing off his heels and to get his poise back, get back on track strong and finish this season strong. This is a character-defining moment. He didn't just have a bad day today, he also had a bad day last week. He has to get out of this funk.

Also, when you look at the numbers, the playcalling was once more out of balance. I have repeated this so many times, but when the run/pass is not in balance regardless of how well Brady plays, it's automatically a loss, and has been for the last two years.

Today: 75 plays, 51 pass, 24 rushes. BJGE had 12 attempts, and Ridley had 3, and yes, that's just three, attempts. That is unbelievable. I don't count Woodhead because he's not a true back. Until that changes, we're not going anywhere. That's the bottom line.

I think the balance of the season hangs on next week's game. How we play in that game will show which fork in the road the team has taken.

 

[fumbrunner]

I agree 100%. I'm not sure if it's Brady's influence on the offense, or the play calling, or whatever. This team needs to COMMIT TO RUN THE BALL!!! The offense has become so predictable. It's a copy cat league and teams will just continue jamming the receivers and disrupting the timing of routes. Until this team commits to running the ball, and passing off play action, they are going nowhere fast.

 

[Joker]

Watching the Rats play today, I had an ephiphany...they run this weirdo defensive set where the LB's and DB's are walking all around the line and giving looks and then, when the ball is snapped, a LB like Pace jumps a route by the WR while a corner takes the TE...they confused the Bills all day with it....I believe the way to attack that "amoeba" defense is set up with a pass play look, to get their "amoeba" defense walking all over the line like you saw today, but when the ball is snapped...RUN a gap...blast the holes where a LB would be in their normal defensive set...catch them at their own weirdo scheme and FORCE them out of it. The Patriots can have success on this team running the ball and Brady can have success passing...the Pats just have to DICTATE to and not be dictated to by their defense.

Every new defensive wrinkle has its flaws...Buddy's 46 was eventually taken advantage of by NFL offenses...this recent Ryan concoction is flawed too and I believe hitting them with runs when they are playing this amoeba pass defense and then passing when they're in a normal set is the way to have success on them.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

It's really no use anymore, I don't know what history our playcallers have been watching when they call tehse games and expect to get anywhere with this one dimensional BS. We'll never get back tot he promised land until we make some sort of effort to establish BJGE and Ridley and threats that defenses need to respect. And at this point I'm honestly convinced it's just never going to happen, no point getting worked up over it anymore.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Watching these games the past 2 weeks is equivalent to a Fork In The Ass

 

[Hardly Dykes]

It's really no use anymore, I don't know what history our playcallers have been watching when they call tehse games and expect to get anywhere with this one dimensional BS. We'll never get back tot he promised land until we make some sort of effort to establish BJGE and Ridley and threats that defenses need to respect. And at this point I'm honestly convinced it's just never going to happen, no point getting worked up over it anymore.

BJGE and Ridley will never lead any team to the promised land - the only chance is Tom Brady's arm.

 

[Mossed]

I agree, we definitely need to start running the ball more.

I think the reason why we seem to get away from it in games like this is because when we try to run it in an important situation, it usually doesn't work out.

I think the problem behind this is we make it so obvious when we're trying to pound it. Green-Ellis is pretty close to 1 dimensional, Solder comes into the came, Gronk motions to FB... The defense knows it's a run, and by this point has 8 or 9 guys in the box.

We need a better variety of run calls, because we definitely have the lineman and the talent to get it done.