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- Jul 11, 2005
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I was dead wrong about this game. If I was stubborn I would make a case that the Ravens got "all the breaks", but their offense was much better than I thought. Lots of good things. Lots of bad things. One thing for certain, things are going to have to get better if we are going to move on from the AFCCG. Lets begin in no particular order.
1. Good thing = I was very pleasantly surprised how well Josh Kline held up after Stork got hurt. It was probably he best showing this season - Good thing too because he'll likely get the start next week.
2. Good thing - I was very impressed how the Pats spread the ball today. There were FOUR receivers who had more than 60 yds and 6 that had 4 or more receptions. FINALLY Brady finally gave Hooman a look and he didn't disappoint.
3. Good thing. Danny Amendola continues to expand his role, and show us what he might have offered us as a slot guy, if Edelman hadn't taken advantage of his opportunity and run with it.
4. LaFell continues to simply do his job better than anyone expects. He made a great one handed catch on the winning TD. A one handed catch he had to make because his other hand was being held by the defender with no call (once again
)
5. Bad thing - One of the biggest surprised I had when I went through the stats, was finding the number of penalties and yards were almost exactly equal. I was surprised because while watching the game I never had a stronger feeling that the game was being officiated more one sided that that one. It seemed to me that every key call or non-call was slanted against the Pats, starting with the reversal of a key 3rd down pass on the Pats first possession. I didn't see the ball move in any of the views I saw that gave CONCLUSIVE evidence that it should have been over turned.
I would concede that by the letter of the law, you could have called Revis' PI legit. In fact I was surprised Revis even bothered since he was in such good position. My problem was that it was called in the context of the game. Gronk was literally mugged just the series before on a 3rd down play with no call. Revis did have his hand across his chest, but it didn't interfere with Smith's ability to catch the ball, unlike the grab of Lafell's hand.
It was the same way his tug on Smith's shirt on the HUGE TO on the GL play was a foul by the letter of the law, but not in the context of the game, It ultimately never interfered with Smith's availability to be a target for Flacco, as he shrugged off Revis' tug. In the same vain, time and time again I saw Lafell and Gronk being constantly grabbed and hit 10 yds or more down field without calls. The only call I saw in the Pats favor was the Steve Smith unsportsman like conduct when he got caught retaliating to a Browner late push.
BTW- When was the last thine there was an NFL game where offensive holding wasn't called on either side. Because there wasn't one called last night, though there certainly could have been a few on the last 2 Raven's driives
6. Really Bad thing - The DL/LB's- Didn't get to the passer, didn't stop the run. Cant't get much worse that that. Although they were marginally better on both counts in the 2nd half. Vince looked like an old man for much of this game, and he wasn't alone.
I couldn't have been more surprised the Ravenz were so successful running the ball. The ravens had a great scheme and they executed it almost flawlessly, and without much resistance from the Pats front 7. THIS is what would be my first order of business this week to fix.
7. Good thing - The secondary (including LB's) in coverage. By and large the coverage was was farily good, except for backs out of the backfield. Flacco had a lot of early luck throwing the ball in to VERY tight windows. Ir looked like Revis got a piece of Smith's TD. And Hightower actually had his hand on the ball as Daniels made his TD catch. Both were perfectly thrown balls. Flacco had a lot of them last night to his credit.
Chung was particularly good last night I thought. He and McCourty were our most consistent DB's. At any right, he certainly made his extension signing look good.
8. Bad thing - It wasn't a stellar coaching job to start the game. To me it looked like it was the Ravens who had the 2 weeks to prepare and not the Pats. The Ravens came out and did exactly what they wanted in those first 2 drives. They seemed to know exactly what to expect from the Pats D and exploited every advantage.
That being said, while I would have given the Pats coaching staff a D- for the first half game plan on both offense and defense, I'd have to give them a solid B for the way there were able to adjust in the second. The only thing that drops that mark for a B+ or A- are those few 10yd runs they continued to give up.
9. Bad thing - The Ravens got only 2 sacks last night, but they both came on consecutive plays and knocked the Pats out of FG range. In the first one Timmy Jernigan blew up Wendell and Brady had no chance. the second on I felt Brady had time to get rid of it and held on too long. That being said, while Brady got hit far too much in the first half, the protection was much better in the second..
10 Bad thing - the 4 man pass rush didn't do any thing. The only time the Pats got any pressure at all was with a blitz, and even on those, no one got in clean. THAT will have to improve
10. Great thing - This team proved again it has great mental toughness. It can overcome adversity (twice). It doesn't show up one the stat page, but it isn't something that should be neglected when you adding up your assets and liabilities. This is a BIG asset.
11. Good thing (relatively) The D finally gave up a 2nd half TD on the Raven's first drive of the 3rd quarter. However that would be the last one. 10 points in the 2nd half on a day the defense isn't playing that well, against a team with a great scheme and a hot QB is't a bad result.
11. Good thing - The Ravens where held to 1-9 on 3rd down.
13. Bad thing - They were 3-3 on 4th down
General Comments:
a. I was all for spreading out the Ravens D. I just wish we would have designed a more creative running attack to run out of that formation. I suggested earlier this week having Blount in the backfield from one of the spread formations and have him running a few plays from that formation. Never happened. IIRC, we used to run very effectively out of spread formations a few years ago. I'm beginning to wonder if that was a BOB thing.
b. That was a pretty rare mismanagement of the last 1:39 . We COULD have run out the clock had we actually run a play or two that would have taken 5 or 6 seconds.
c. BTW - how many people at your bar were calling for the Allen to take the ball, and run into the endzone and run around for a few seconds before taking S. I know there were several at my bar, including myself. I was proud to see so many knowledgeable people who were aware of that option. I know I wasn't alone here.
d. Very impressed with the Ravens OL. I thought they did an outstanding job starting 2 rookies. When they get back all their DB's next year, I predict they will be our biggest threat in the AFC. Suggs is a despicable person, and their organization should be punished severely for their cover up in the Ray Rice case, BUT that is a very well run football operation from the GM down to the HC.
e. I fully expect the Broncos to be coming back to NE next Sunday. The bad news is that the Broncos are a deeper more talented team that the Ravens. The good news is that their QB isn't as good.
f. Browner didn't return to the game, but stayed on the sideline. That's usually a good sign. I'm hopeful he'll be back. Stork didn't return and I would be surprised to see him ready for the AFCCG. I'd be happy to get him back for the superbowl.....if we get there.
g. BTW- if we thought there would be a negative narrative last week. Just wait if Denver soundly beats the Colts
h. BTW- the Seattle bandwagon is going to get very heavy after their win tonight. I'm all for it. Its great cover for our guys. They STILL haven't faced a decent offense that they beat for more than since late September.
OK that's it for a start. Now I look forward to reading everyone else's comments, I hope I wasn't too redundant,. Enjoy
1. Good thing = I was very pleasantly surprised how well Josh Kline held up after Stork got hurt. It was probably he best showing this season - Good thing too because he'll likely get the start next week.
2. Good thing - I was very impressed how the Pats spread the ball today. There were FOUR receivers who had more than 60 yds and 6 that had 4 or more receptions. FINALLY Brady finally gave Hooman a look and he didn't disappoint.
3. Good thing. Danny Amendola continues to expand his role, and show us what he might have offered us as a slot guy, if Edelman hadn't taken advantage of his opportunity and run with it.
4. LaFell continues to simply do his job better than anyone expects. He made a great one handed catch on the winning TD. A one handed catch he had to make because his other hand was being held by the defender with no call (once again
)5. Bad thing - One of the biggest surprised I had when I went through the stats, was finding the number of penalties and yards were almost exactly equal. I was surprised because while watching the game I never had a stronger feeling that the game was being officiated more one sided that that one. It seemed to me that every key call or non-call was slanted against the Pats, starting with the reversal of a key 3rd down pass on the Pats first possession. I didn't see the ball move in any of the views I saw that gave CONCLUSIVE evidence that it should have been over turned.
I would concede that by the letter of the law, you could have called Revis' PI legit. In fact I was surprised Revis even bothered since he was in such good position. My problem was that it was called in the context of the game. Gronk was literally mugged just the series before on a 3rd down play with no call. Revis did have his hand across his chest, but it didn't interfere with Smith's ability to catch the ball, unlike the grab of Lafell's hand.
It was the same way his tug on Smith's shirt on the HUGE TO on the GL play was a foul by the letter of the law, but not in the context of the game, It ultimately never interfered with Smith's availability to be a target for Flacco, as he shrugged off Revis' tug. In the same vain, time and time again I saw Lafell and Gronk being constantly grabbed and hit 10 yds or more down field without calls. The only call I saw in the Pats favor was the Steve Smith unsportsman like conduct when he got caught retaliating to a Browner late push.
BTW- When was the last thine there was an NFL game where offensive holding wasn't called on either side. Because there wasn't one called last night, though there certainly could have been a few on the last 2 Raven's driives
6. Really Bad thing - The DL/LB's- Didn't get to the passer, didn't stop the run. Cant't get much worse that that. Although they were marginally better on both counts in the 2nd half. Vince looked like an old man for much of this game, and he wasn't alone.
I couldn't have been more surprised the Ravenz were so successful running the ball. The ravens had a great scheme and they executed it almost flawlessly, and without much resistance from the Pats front 7. THIS is what would be my first order of business this week to fix.
7. Good thing - The secondary (including LB's) in coverage. By and large the coverage was was farily good, except for backs out of the backfield. Flacco had a lot of early luck throwing the ball in to VERY tight windows. Ir looked like Revis got a piece of Smith's TD. And Hightower actually had his hand on the ball as Daniels made his TD catch. Both were perfectly thrown balls. Flacco had a lot of them last night to his credit.
Chung was particularly good last night I thought. He and McCourty were our most consistent DB's. At any right, he certainly made his extension signing look good.
8. Bad thing - It wasn't a stellar coaching job to start the game. To me it looked like it was the Ravens who had the 2 weeks to prepare and not the Pats. The Ravens came out and did exactly what they wanted in those first 2 drives. They seemed to know exactly what to expect from the Pats D and exploited every advantage.
That being said, while I would have given the Pats coaching staff a D- for the first half game plan on both offense and defense, I'd have to give them a solid B for the way there were able to adjust in the second. The only thing that drops that mark for a B+ or A- are those few 10yd runs they continued to give up.
9. Bad thing - The Ravens got only 2 sacks last night, but they both came on consecutive plays and knocked the Pats out of FG range. In the first one Timmy Jernigan blew up Wendell and Brady had no chance. the second on I felt Brady had time to get rid of it and held on too long. That being said, while Brady got hit far too much in the first half, the protection was much better in the second..
10 Bad thing - the 4 man pass rush didn't do any thing. The only time the Pats got any pressure at all was with a blitz, and even on those, no one got in clean. THAT will have to improve
10. Great thing - This team proved again it has great mental toughness. It can overcome adversity (twice). It doesn't show up one the stat page, but it isn't something that should be neglected when you adding up your assets and liabilities. This is a BIG asset.
11. Good thing (relatively) The D finally gave up a 2nd half TD on the Raven's first drive of the 3rd quarter. However that would be the last one. 10 points in the 2nd half on a day the defense isn't playing that well, against a team with a great scheme and a hot QB is't a bad result.
11. Good thing - The Ravens where held to 1-9 on 3rd down.
13. Bad thing - They were 3-3 on 4th down
General Comments:
a. I was all for spreading out the Ravens D. I just wish we would have designed a more creative running attack to run out of that formation. I suggested earlier this week having Blount in the backfield from one of the spread formations and have him running a few plays from that formation. Never happened. IIRC, we used to run very effectively out of spread formations a few years ago. I'm beginning to wonder if that was a BOB thing.
b. That was a pretty rare mismanagement of the last 1:39 . We COULD have run out the clock had we actually run a play or two that would have taken 5 or 6 seconds.
c. BTW - how many people at your bar were calling for the Allen to take the ball, and run into the endzone and run around for a few seconds before taking S. I know there were several at my bar, including myself. I was proud to see so many knowledgeable people who were aware of that option. I know I wasn't alone here.
d. Very impressed with the Ravens OL. I thought they did an outstanding job starting 2 rookies. When they get back all their DB's next year, I predict they will be our biggest threat in the AFC. Suggs is a despicable person, and their organization should be punished severely for their cover up in the Ray Rice case, BUT that is a very well run football operation from the GM down to the HC.
e. I fully expect the Broncos to be coming back to NE next Sunday. The bad news is that the Broncos are a deeper more talented team that the Ravens. The good news is that their QB isn't as good.
f. Browner didn't return to the game, but stayed on the sideline. That's usually a good sign. I'm hopeful he'll be back. Stork didn't return and I would be surprised to see him ready for the AFCCG. I'd be happy to get him back for the superbowl.....if we get there.
g. BTW- if we thought there would be a negative narrative last week. Just wait if Denver soundly beats the Colts
h. BTW- the Seattle bandwagon is going to get very heavy after their win tonight. I'm all for it. Its great cover for our guys. They STILL haven't faced a decent offense that they beat for more than since late September.
OK that's it for a start. Now I look forward to reading everyone else's comments, I hope I wasn't too redundant,. Enjoy
