Is Rex in the head of Pat's coaches and/or Brady?

[tombonneau]

I'm specifically pointing to the aggressive play calling with a big lead - snapping play clock with 20 seconds left in fourth with big lead is just wtf - as well as the much discussed fourth down calls.

I find it very hard to believe that had we been playing Jax last week in exact same scenario Pats are not making those play calls and are running out clock, playing it safe and getting on the bus.

To that effect, sadly, I think Ryan running his mouth actually worked as it possibly led to Pats making some bad game management decisions and inexplicably had Bills in position to tie.

Hopefully coaches play with their heads next time and learned a valuable lesson.

Again, not talking about whole game, obviously it had a bad effect on his own gram with the penalties, but I think it definitely influenced Pats thinking a little.

 

[ausbacker]

The fourth quarter had little to do with the Bills and all to do with the Patriots. They went conservative on D and probably didn't play as intelligently as they should have on O. That's nothing to do with Rex and all to do with their own approach.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Call me crazy but I feel that the Bill's previous hc, Marrone, would have put up a better fight. Outside of Darby, Rex hasnt done much and beating a soft Colts team doesnt prove anything.

I think our coaches saw this as an easy win in all phases. Bills couldnt play st without a flag, Brady wasnt confused, and Tyrod struggled when contained. Sit Fletcher and they probably dont score more than 20 points.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

The thing about the clock is it's basically never a good idea to go change your plan to burn it except maybe in the last 4-5 minutes.

Let's say a team with a lead does this, they burn 2 minutes, don't get a first down, and give the other team good field position.

13:00 now, the team behind runs quick passes. They score or they don't but burn only a minute doing hurry up. 12:00.

2:00 later we're at 10:00 with the team behind with good field position again.

Cycle again they're at 7:00
Cycle again at 4:00

Throw in TOs and 2 minute warning and they get 2-3 more possessions.

If the team behind started with the ball first then it's another possession. So the opposition gets 6-8 drives in one quarter with good field position if you don't get a first down. Even if they only score on half those you'll lose.

You need first downs to burn clock. If you've determined the best way to get them is plan A, then the best way to get them is not plan B. A couple five minute drives puts the possessions to more like 4, now they probably need to score every one to win- not likely.

So IMO the whole run for running sake in the 2nd half or fourth quarter isn't a good idea. When I watch most any team I don't see them do it either until the end of the fourth.

 

[Jackson 2]

Just my opinion, but I think you have it backwards. There's far more evidence to suggest that the reverse is true.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

I saw it more as stick to the plan and give opponents more to think about when facing the Patriots. they'll have to practice stopping those 4th and shorts outside of goal line stands.

 

[wizwor]

Just my opinion, but I think you have it backwards. There's far more evidence to suggest that the reverse is true.

The two aren't mutually exclusive. I don't think Rex is in the head of the Pats in the sense that they fear him. I do think the Pats were hoping to put an exclamation point on the win and did not execute. The Bills got lucky on the strip sack and again on the incompletion on 4-1, the Pats got lucky on the interception to end the contest.

 

[1960Pats]

It's amazing how some people want to make Ryan into an NFL HC. He clearly isn't HC material.

 

[DarrylS]

Do not see this at all, the Pats had a late game let down.. due to a bunch of factors: Trying to run up the score?? Playing soft on Defense?? Only rushing 3 instead of the 4 they were successful with??

As poorly coached as Buffalo is, they are still an NFL team that can play competitively on any Sunday.. the Pats should have kept their foot on their throat, instead of letting them get a second wind.

 

[dburgwin]

This topic resides in Bizarro world. Rex is in Bill's head? Rex is in Brady's head? I agree with Jackson above. It is the exact opposite.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Call me crazy but I feel that the Bill's previous hc, Marrone, would have put up a better fight. Outside of Darby, Rex hasnt done much and beating a soft Colts team doesnt prove anything.

I think our coaches saw this as an easy win in all phases. Bills couldnt play st without a flag, Brady wasnt confused, and Tyrod struggled when contained. Sit Fletcher and they probably dont score more than 20 points.

For the love of football (and winning), PUH-lease sit his ass down. In fact, kick him off the damn roster. It's a TD or long pass as soon as he's in the game. It has happened in both games and it happened to him in damn near every game with Philly. His "decline" is so puzzling. He was in line for a big pay day at one point, and now he languishes as a third/fourth corner, and he's not even good at that. Sorry to focus less on your main point, but I saw this and immediately had to post. LOL

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I don't understand this. If the intent is to burn clock, then you need to keep the ball.

Running 3 times into the line and punting might kill 2 minutes, but if snapping before increases your odds of getting a 1st, then that's better.

Consider what happened:

4th quarter, 11:42: Patriots take the ball over, hold it for 3:32 over 7 plays, make one first down, almost make another. I think people remember this worse because of the 4th down stop, but consider the actual game conditions. Punt nets 20 to 40 yards of field position. Conversion means another minute or two of clock-chewing and points. Fault the play call or execution, but the decision to go for it was sound.

4th quarter, 5:27: Patriots start off with a pass to Gronk and gain 8 yards. The fumble on 2nd down sucks obviously, but they had obviously been incredibly successful in the passing game all day so I hardly find fault with this.

4th quarter, 4:16: Patriots could run 3 times and kill clock and burn 2 minutes off the clock, but they were aggressive until they got to FG range. Instead, Brady threw 5 times, going 4/4 for 46 yards (aided by that ridiculous Amendola catch) and drawing a pass interference penalty for 22 yards. They forced Buffalo to burn their last 2 timeouts during this time. Then they ran 2 times to kill clock but didn't convert so kicked the FG instead of icing the game with a TD. The purists think running twice was killing clock so good, but what if we passed twice and missed once and got the 5 yards on the second? Then another set of downs with no Bills timeouts ices the game.

So holding the ball until the last second and pounding the ball into the D-line can kill some clock, but holding the ball from converting 1st downs is really the best way to accomplish your goal. If it means snapping with time on the clock to avoid letting the defense key up, so be it. Maybe they will snap with 10 seconds instead of 20, or wait until 5, but I really have no problem with the passes. They averaged 3.7 YPC and 7.9 YPA. I'm okay with them relying on the pass.

 

[Ring 6]

No

 

[Kontradiction]

No. They were trying to blow the Bills out and make a statement and Brady got strip sacked after Solder whiffed.

 

[The Brandon Five]

So holding the ball until the last second and pounding the ball into the D-line can kill some clock, but holding the ball from converting 1st downs is really the best way to accomplish your goal. If it means snapping with time on the clock to avoid letting the defense key up, so be it. Maybe they will snap with 10 seconds instead of 20, or wait until 5, but I really have no problem with the passes. They averaged 3.7 YPC and 7.9 YPA. I'm okay with them relying on the pass.

Isn't it possible to let the play clock run down and still try to get the first down? Can't you pass the ball with the play clock running out?

 

[Kontradiction]

Isn't it possible to let the play clock run down and still try to get the first down? Can't you pass the ball with the play clock running out?

They were clearly trying to run up the score. That's why they completely disregarded the play clock.

 

[Rob0729]

466 yards, 3TDs, 0INTs. Statistically the second best game of Brady's career. Rex has Brady seeing ghosts.

 

[Oswlek]

I don't really question the play calling much (I probably would have simply ran it instead of going for the kill shot to Julian), but it was odd to see them snapping the ball with 10+ seconds on the play clock several times. I wonder if being unpredictable with the snap was part of their game plan to help the OL.

 

[shmessy]

The fourth quarter had little to do with the Bills and all to do with the Patriots. They went conservative on D and probably didn't play as intelligently as they should have on O. That's nothing to do with Rex and all to do with their own approach.

Bingo.

It was more the D, not the O.

We (and more importantly, the coaching staff) got to see alot of Freeny and Rufus Johnson in that 4th quarter.

That being said, the folks making the point about snapping with 20 seconds left on the play clock have a very good point, but I don't think it is Rex that is the motivation for that.

The Patriots have a bigger target audience for that kind of stuff.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Bingo.

It was the D, not the O.

We (and more importantly, the coaching staff) got to see alot of Freeny and Rufus Johnson in that 4th quarter.

Apparently, giving up three TDs in a quarter is what they are looking for as they just extended Freeny's contract.