Report from Baltimore

[Tunescribe]

Still trying to calm down from the game, a few observations from sec. 130 row 15, not far from Gaffney's winning catch:

* Ravens fans and players are angry and bitter over this one. An old guy decked out in Ravens gear a row down from me was crying afterward and the young drunks were throwing things, screaming obscenities at the refs, etc. It was wild in there. The Ravens players were trying to pick fights with Patriots on the field after Gaffney's score, lots of pushing, shoving, etc.

* Raven fans felt Gaffney didn't have control of the ball when he stepped out of bounds during the touchdown. Too bad for them.

* Raven Samarie Rolle said on the radio he is going to file a complaint with the league and talk to BOTH his agent and a lawyer about a referee (No. 110) who referred to him as "boy" several times on the field.

* Couldn't understand why we didn't have Gostkowski squib kick on that last kickoff instead of force the touchback.

* The Patriots played without passion most of the game and the Ravens clearly wanted it more ... for the first three quarters, at least. We were getting manhandled on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Ogden is gigantic and McGahee looks bigger and stronger than he did with Buffalo -- maybe that's because I was seeing him up close. I was amazed at how easily the Patriots were getting pushed around.

* Bruschi is no longer a force; he is constantly getting beat physically out there. Seymour is still showing very little ... The whole defense looked like it was sleepwalking for most of the game -- defensive backs whiffing and letting guys get wide open a la Philadelphia last week. We were lucky, lucky, lucky that Baltimore played not to lose at the end and lost its composure with stupid penalties. Also very lucky the Ravens called timeout right before Brady got stonewalled on fourth and one. Otherwise, game over.

* Fans were LOUD and very into it. Nobody in the lower bowl sat down the entire game.

* Weather was much colder outside the stadium; bowl shape and close confines kept a lot of the wind out and most of the crowd noise in.

* Ravens were introduced as a team, Ray Lewis didn't do his introductory 'hood dance.

* Ravens marching band does a halftime show and plays between quarters from seats in the south end zone. Sort of a weird college-style vibe that seems out of place.

* Our cheerleaders look a lot better than theirs, plus they have male cheerleaders along with them that sort of takes the edge off wanting to watch them much.

* I came away feeling like we stole one, but you just knew Brady would pull it out after so many chances given us at the end with Baltimore continually shooting itself in the foot.

* I want to see us stick to the running game more, if for no other reason than to give the team some toughness and chew up a bit of clock.

 

[frankiesfly]

You made it out of there alive with Patriots gear on?

 

[sanvara]

* Couldn't understand why we didn't have Gostkowski squib kick on that last kickoff instead of force the touchback.

Gives the opportunity for a big return.

 

[captain stone]

Great POVs from the belly of the beast, TS. I'm going to sleep now; I'll post some replies tomorrow (= later today).

One question: should I wear my NEP sweater in public here in Baltimore, without fearing for my life?

 

[Tunescribe]

You made it out of there alive with Patriots gear on?

Yes -- hat and jacket. I watched my back, believe me. The buddy I went with is a Ravens fan. I kept my celebrating to myself. There were Pats fans there, but not thousands like in Buffalo.

One question: should I wear my NEP sweater in public here in Baltimore, without fearing for my life?

Your call. These folks are pretty pissed. They went into the game not expecting much, then really believed they could win, then when we snagged it from the at the end, their whole season came crashing down on their heads.

 

[captain stone]

Gives the opportunity for a big return.

Extremely, extremely unlikely.

The coverage would have been all over whoever first touched the ball.

 

[PonyExpress]

This lack of passion is disturbing. Is it the age of the D, the long season weighing on veteran players? Otherwise it is strange. Usually this is the time of year the Pats kick it into gear. But the D has been leaky for weeks, disguised by blowout after blowout. But in the big games, against the big teams, they have made numerous physical errors, slipshod tackling, etc. It is so unlike BB's defenses (other than 2005, and even that D kicked it into gear down the stretch). To not get up for MNF is bizarre. This team will have to win the SB with offense. The D is proving surprisingly mediocre. Right now Indy looks more solid on both sides of the ball, with young energetic players on defense who enjoy physical contact. Hopefully BB can correct this, if he has enough to work with.

 

[ClevTrev]

This lack of passion is disturbing. Is it the age of the D, the long season weighing on veteran players? Otherwise it is strange. Usually this is the time of year the Pats kick it into gear. But the D has been leaky for weeks, disguised by blowout after blowout. But in the big games, against the big teams, they have made numerous physical errors, slipshod tackling, etc. It is so unlike BB's defenses (other than 2005, and even that D kicked it into gear down the stretch). To not get up for MNF is bizarre. This team will have to win the SB with offense. The D is proving surprisingly mediocre. Right now Indy looks more solid on both sides of the ball, with young energetic players on defense who enjoy physical contact. Hopefully BB can correct this, if he has enough to work with.

My take as well. This is particularly disturbing as Pats get ready to host a Ravens clone at the Razor on Sunday that uses a similar strategy but is much better than the Ravens. The D needs attention ASAP!

 

[reflexblue]

This lack of passion is disturbing. Is it the age of the D, the long season weighing on veteran players? Otherwise it is strange. Usually this is the time of year the Pats kick it into gear. But the D has been leaky for weeks, disguised by blowout after blowout. But in the big games, against the big teams, they have made numerous physical errors, slipshod tackling, etc. It is so unlike BB's defenses (other than 2005, and even that D kicked it into gear down the stretch). To not get up for MNF is bizarre. This team will have to win the SB with offense. The D is proving surprisingly mediocre. Right now Indy looks more solid on both sides of the ball, with young energetic players on defense who enjoy physical contact. Hopefully BB can correct this, if he has enough to work with.

I couldn't agree more with your statment concerning the defense usually coming toghether at this time of year. In the past when people complained about the D I responded "its early,the defense doesn't start really jelling until Nov, or Dec." Well its Dec. and it hasn't happend yet,but it better happen soon.

 

[Tunescribe]

I couldn't agree more with your statment concerning the defense usually coming toghether at this time of year. In the past when people complained about the D I responded "its early,the defense doesn't start really jelling until Nov, or Dec." Well its Dec. and it hasn't happend yet,but it better happen soon.

The problems, as I see them:

* Defensive backfield looks a bit uncoordinated, and Rodney is getting picked on in coverage.

* Seymour is not Seymour.

* Bruschi and Seau are showing their age. At least Seau is a bit more physical than Tedy, but we're just not tough up the middle.

* We're already missing Colvin.

* The pass rush isn't materializing into something to be feared.

 

[Bella*chick]

Tune, you were in the same section as my brother.

I was in section 100, row 14, behind the Pats bench. Luckily surrounded by Pats fans. We celebrated, but not excessively. But you are right.....Ravens fans are ***holes. Luckily, we were friendly with them early on, so they didn't kill us later. They wanted to though.

After that fourth quarter game winning drive, I was so exhausted, I had to sit down and put my head between my knees. Everyone thought I was about to pass out.

I'll write my own thread and post my pics later. This was a lucky one. I don't understand the defense, but we sure could have used Rosie out there.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Defense does look questionable lately, but late in the 4th quarter in both games (Eagles and Ravens) they have made the plays when they had to.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Great POVs from the belly of the beast, TS. I'm going to sleep now; I'll post some replies tomorrow (= later today).

One question: should I wear my NEP sweater in public here in Baltimore, without fearing for my life?

I have a Pats window cling on my car. I received the middle finger salute at least a dozen times driving to work this morning...

 

[upstater1]

Still trying to calm down from the game, a few observations from sec. 130 row 15, not far from Gaffney's winning catch:

* Raven Samarie Rolle said on the radio he is going to file a complaint with the league and talk to BOTH his agent and a lawyer about a referee (No. 110) who referred to him as "boy" several times on the field.

Just to be clear about this, the ref they were referring to was African-American.

* The Patriots played without passion most of the game and the Ravens clearly wanted it more ... for the first three quarters, at least. We were getting manhandled on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Ogden is gigantic and McGahee looks bigger and stronger than he did with Buffalo -- maybe that's because I was seeing him up close. I was amazed at how easily the Patriots were getting pushed around.

That may be true but the fact is, the Ravens were tackling and holding our D-linemen all game. It wasn't even funny. They didn't maintain gaps because they were manHANDled, emphasis on the HAND part. And yet the refs decided to kill one of our drives into Ravens' territory with a very late holding call on Dan Koppen. B-S.

One other thing. The play with the Ravens' coaches blowing the whistle before Brady tried to sneak the ball was a first down buy Kevin Faulk. Bad bad spot by the refs. That sneak should have never even happened. If Faulk thought he didn't have the edge, he wouldn't have run out of bounds.

10 characters

 

[JustWinBrady]

The patriots biggest problem on "D" last night was Tackling. They seemed to be fundamentally flawed. It seems every single time the "d" was tackling high on the player and then either gettting dragged for an addtional 5 yards or just not not able to wrap a player up. Belichick needs to start spending more time teaching the team Tackling 101.

 

[hodgey]

Yes -- hat and jacket. I watched my back, believe me. The buddy I went with is a Ravens fan. I kept my celebrating to myself. There were Pats fans there, but not thousands like in Buffalo.



Your call. These folks are pretty pissed. They went into the game not expecting much, then really believed they could win, then when we snagged it from the at the end, their whole season came crashing down on their heads.

Well my 11 year old son & I were in sec. 152 row 9 which was 35 yard line right behind the Pats bench. I would like to thank the Ravens fans for their outstanding sportsmanship. We were able to openly express spontaneous emotion without any retribution. The highs and lows from this game were killer. It was my sons first pro game so I was very thankful we pulled it out despite not playing particularly well. The most glaring problem we must sure up to make a legit run in Jan. is winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. On boths sides of the ball we lost the battle in the trenches, especially in the running games. Another thing that stood out was how much time Brady had on many pass attempts with nobody coming open. He as usual was phenomenal at buying time in the pocket.

I was a little concerned prior to going to Baltimore for this road game not knowing how the home fans would treat us. I would highly recommend M&T stadium to anybody for their visiting team. If anyone posts on a Ravens site please pass on my sentiments.

 

[fgssand]

Thanks for the reports everyone - especially Tunescribe (who I hope is finally sleeping).

I think we just need to face the facts that the other teams come to play as well and this is the NFL.

God teams make the plays when they absolutely must, and we did.

We also have Tom Brady.......

12-0 12-0 12-0

 

[NYCPatsFan]

As a fan, it is unsettling to find that our defense can make average QBs like AJ Freely and Kyle Boller, both playing for teams with average offenses, look amazing. Makes us wonder how we managed to stop the Colts and the Boys (maybe because those games were indoors?).

Anyway. I hope the last two games were a great learning experience for us to fix the issues before the playoffs begin. Maybe even a nice way to set a ruse that our defense sucks...

That said, I expect us to have a great performance against the Steelers.

 

[ClevTrev]

My son attended the game in Pats colors and said the Ravens fans were class all the way, even at the end when it became chaotic and inevitable that their team was having a meltdown after playing so well.

 

[bradmahn]

This lack of passion is disturbing. Is it the age of the D, the long season weighing on veteran players? Otherwise it is strange. Usually this is the time of year the Pats kick it into gear. But the D has been leaky for weeks, disguised by blowout after blowout. But in the big games, against the big teams, they have made numerous physical errors, slipshod tackling, etc. It is so unlike BB's defenses (other than 2005, and even that D kicked it into gear down the stretch). To not get up for MNF is bizarre. This team will have to win the SB with offense. The D is proving surprisingly mediocre. Right now Indy looks more solid on both sides of the ball, with young energetic players on defense who enjoy physical contact. Hopefully BB can correct this, if he has enough to work with.

While I don't disagree (wholly) with your take on the Patriots' defense, I do completely disagree with your take on the Colts. The Jaguars were able to move the ball up and down the field on Sunday, the Colts pass rush has seriously weakened with the loss of Freeney, they've had a game with six picks, a game with a total offensive output of 13 points, and their STs are still trash. But because the Colts beat up on the 3-9 Falcons and were gifted with officiating against the Jags, they're back to being great.