One Small Change & It Would Have Been a Blow-Out

[aluminum seats]

Third and short! There were FOUR times when it was 3rd and short--three times it was 3rd & 2, and once it was 3rd & 3, and the Pats didn't convert. That failing gets to most of the issues everyone here had with the game: Brady not being himself, questionable play-calling, etc.

In each of those situations, the Patriots passed, unsuccessfully--twice to Welker, once to Moss, and once to Watson (the pick in the endzone.) The pick was especially egregious because it was clear by then 1) Brady was off, and 2) the running game was very successful. Maroney there, even if the Pats had to give it to him twice, would have probably pounded it in. I also don't think Heath Evans was stopped once when they gave it to him. Either would have worked.

But the earlier cases were huge too. On one of the incompletes to Welker, I think right before the end of the first half, the instant replay showed a receiver (I don't recall who) WIDE open in the middle of the field, but Brady forced it to Welker.

The Pats convert on 2-3 of those situations, the game would have been a romp. Game of inches.

 

[Clonamery]

Third and short! There were FOUR times when it was 3rd and short--three times it was 3rd & 2, and once it was 3rd & 3, and the Pats didn't convert. That failing gets to most of the issues everyone here had with the game: Brady not being himself, questionable play-calling, etc.

In each of those situations, the Patriots passed, unsuccessfully--twice to Welker, once to Moss, and once to Watson (the pick in the endzone.) The pick was especially egregious because it was clear by then 1) Brady was off, and 2) the running game was very successful. Maroney there, even if the Pats had to give it to him twice, would have probably pounded it in. I also don't think Heath Evans was stopped once when they gave it to him. Either would have worked.

But the earlier cases were huge too. On one of the incompletes to Welker, I think right before the end of the first half, the instant replay showed a receiver (I don't recall who) WIDE open in the middle of the field, but Brady forced it to Welker.

The Pats convert on 2-3 of those situations, the game would have been a romp. Game of inches.

shoulda, woulda, coulda....


Or The Chargers could have scored TD's instead of FG's......

 

[aluminum seats]

shoulda, woulda, coulda....


Or The Chargers could have scored TD's instead of FG's......

Sure, you can always go back & forth and look at things. But failing in third and short situations repeatedly is unusual for this Patriots team, so it's more valid to examine than other "shoulda coulda" deals.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

But the earlier cases were huge too. On one of the incompletes to Welker, I think right before the end of the first half, the instant replay showed a receiver (I don't recall who) WIDE open in the middle of the field, but Brady forced it to Welker.
.

gaffney, i remember seeing it on the replay.

but yea these are what killed us. 3rd and 3 is something we should convert at least 4 out of 5 times with the weapons we have. and we were 0 for 5 passing on 3rd and short, just inexcusable and i doubt that happens again. some of it was on brady, some of it was drops. but if we at least convert a few of those 5 we win easy considering how our defense played yesterday.

 

[denverpatsfan]

I could not agree more with you on this point. I was nashing my teeth over those failed conversions at the game. Or that could have been my teeth chattering from the cold. Poor play calling. Bad decisions. Good defense. Whatever. They needed to make those plays.

 

[DonBlackmon55]

gaffney, i remember seeing it on the replay.

but yea these are what killed us. 3rd and 3 is something we should convert at least 4 out of 5 times with the weapons we have. and we were 0 for 5 passing on 3rd and short, just inexcusable and i doubt that happens again. some of it was on brady, some of it was drops. but if we at least convert a few of those 5 we win easy considering how our defense played yesterday.

3rd down drop be Welker before half at 50yd and Brady endzone INT were the ones we shot ourselves in the Foot. Else we score 31 easy. Welker drop allowed SD to quickly drive down at they got a FG from it....6 point swing at least...

 

[Ring 6]

That was the biggest thing that frustrated me during the game, the mear miss 3rd downs. Very uncharacteristic THIS YEAR, but something that happens all the time to every team, including us prior to this year.

On the topic of 3rd down, I havent seen anyone discuss our 3rd down D, which allowed something like 3 of 13 conversions.

 

[patsox23]

Welker's drop on 3rd and short was a HUUUUGE play.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

And I think that each one of those 3rd and shorts started with an incomplete or no gainer on first down.. On the plays when they gained 5 or 6 yds on first down, it made ( stating the obvious here) it easier to convert. Gaining 6 or 7 on second down then gets first down eliminating any third down versus the 3rd and short which isn't 100%.......
Most were in the first half IIRC or before they went to 2 and 3 TE and the yardage piled up on first down....

 

[PatsDeb]

Third and short! There were FOUR times when it was 3rd and short--three times it was 3rd & 2, and once it was 3rd & 3, and the Pats didn't convert. That failing gets to most of the issues everyone here had with the game: Brady not being himself, questionable play-calling, etc.

In each of those situations, the Patriots passed, unsuccessfully--twice to Welker, once to Moss, and once to Watson (the pick in the endzone.) The pick was especially egregious because it was clear by then 1) Brady was off, and 2) the running game was very successful. Maroney there, even if the Pats had to give it to him twice, would have probably pounded it in. I also don't think Heath Evans was stopped once when they gave it to him. Either would have worked.

But the earlier cases were huge too. On one of the incompletes to Welker, I think right before the end of the first half, the instant replay showed a receiver (I don't recall who) WIDE open in the middle of the field, but Brady forced it to Welker.

The Pats convert on 2-3 of those situations, the game would have been a romp. Game of inches.

Have to agree. We were in the stands on several 3rd & shorts yelling "give it to Maroney! or Faulk! or even Evans!" Nope, pass, incomplete. Bad play calling on 3rd down several times. There was one 3rd & short late in the game where Welker made a nice catch in traffic, but that was the only one that looked good.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Have to agree. We were in the stands on several 3rd & shorts yelling "give it to Maroney! or Faulk! or even Evans!" Nope, pass, incomplete. Bad play calling on 3rd down several times. There was one 3rd & short late in the game where Welker made a nice catch in traffic, but that was the only one that looked good.

poor play calling or poor execution ?

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

right before halftime faulk went out of bounds instead of knowing where the 1st down was. he did a ton of great things. well this brough up 3 and 2 with which the pats didn't convert with a welker drop. well they punted and the chargers drove to a field goal.

 

[aluminum seats]

poor play calling or poor execution ?

Well, I think a little both--if those passes are completed, obviously the 3rd downs are converted. But I think I'd look at the calls first, again, particularly on the goal line. One of the best characteristics about this team is the flexibility--which was shown again yesterday, by going more to the ground game. It just fell a little short on those 3rd down calls.