15 Carries, 34 Yards - Why Run Woodhead Rather Than Ridley?

Rob0729 said:

[*]Ridley doesn't seem to fit into the Pats' up tempo offense. If people want the Pats to run the no huddle a lot, then they have to put up with less Riley and more Woodhead.
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Why? Ridley's a better runner, a better pass block and has shown to be a reliable receiver and couple that with Woodhead not being used much in the passing game and I see no reason he shouldn't take Woodhead's place in the hurry up. The only reason I can come up with is Ridley doesn't know all the calls well enough to process the offense on the fly like that but there's no real evidence to support that.

everlong said:

Why? Ridley's a better runner, a better pass block and has shown to be a reliable receiver and couple that with Woodhead not being used much in the passing game and I see no reason he shouldn't take Woodhead's place in the hurry up. The only reason I can come up with is Ridley doesn't know all the calls well enough to process the offense on the fly like that but there's no real evidence to support that.

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I agree that there is no evidence that Ridley is a poor pass blocker or doesn't know the plays.

I suspect the reasons why Woodhead played more are weak.... similar to all the rumors about why Welker was playing less than Edelman (not a lot of good reasons). Some of the recent moves haven't made a lot of football sense, those players were basically bumped down just bc the coordinator wants to feature other players more (for whatever reason, even if the reason is weak).

Rob0729 said:

then they have to put up with less Riley

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Pat? With the greased hair?

DropKickFlutie said:

I agree that there is no evidence that Ridley is a poor pass blocker or doesn't know the plays.

I suspect the reasons why Woodhead played more are weak.... similar to all the rumors about why Welker was playing less than Edelman (not a lot of good reasons). Some of the recent moves haven't made a lot of football sense, those players were basically bumped down just bc the coordinator wants to feature other players more (for whatever reason, even if the reason is weak).

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It's called training camp and practice. If BB/McD don't put him in many of those situations, it's probably because they've observed a deficiency in that area. I don't know about you, but I still trust Belichick's judgment.

Are you guys new to the Patriots way? Have you not paid attention in past seasons? BB never counts on just one back. Love it or hate it, the Patriots are a "running back by committee" team. They always have been even when they had Antoine Smith and Cory Dillon. Last year, there were a lot of games where Green-Ellis got just a few carries because he wasn't being effective. Ridley wasn't gaining anything in his first few carries. I know everyone likes a feature back that gets the ball 25-30 times a game. You know what happens to those guys. They disappear in the playoffs.

Let's not overlook the fact that the last 2 weeks, the Patriots played against 2 of footballs toughest front 7s. The O-line weren't opening many holes, so the backs had to get what they could. Let's lay off Woodhead.

Bill B. said:

Let's not overlook the fact that the last 2 weeks, the Patriots played against 2 of footballs toughest front 7s. The O-line weren't opening many holes, so the backs had to get what they could. Let's lay off Woodhead.

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I agree that the Oline has faced tough battles with the last 2 opponents, but you will never convince me that Woodhead is a better option running the ball than Ridley. I don't buy for a second that he can't play in the hurry up offense.

hovis said:

It's called training camp and practice. If BB/McD don't put him in many of those situations, it's probably because they've observed a deficiency in that area. I don't know about you, but I still trust Belichick's judgment.

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You're backwards rationalizing and assuming evidence that may not be there. Welker sat oddly the first two games, until Hernandez got hurt. Is it because his skills regressed? No, based on his game3. Who knows what the reason is. This offense seemed hell bent on forcing the ball to Edelman, Lloyd, and Woodhead the first three games. It may not mean anything negative on Welker, Ridley, or even Branch other than that the OC wanted to feature other people more for whatever (irrational) reason.

Woodhead is a good option for the shotgun sets.
Woodhead is a good option for the 3-1-1 sets.
Woodhead is a good option for any 4-0-1 sets.
Ridley is a better option for the 2-2-1 sets.
Ridley is a better option for the 1-3-1 sets.
Ridley is a better option for the 1-2-2 sets.

Going from there, and looking at last night's formations,

BALTIMORE -- A look at the positional groupings utilized by the Patriots in their 31-30 loss to the Ravens:

3 WR/1 TE/1 RB -- 60 of 82
2 WR/2 TE/1 RB -- 17 of 82
1 WR/3 TE/1 RB -- 5 of 82

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http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4730723/positional-groupings-back-to-3-wr

it's pretty easy to see why Woodhead was getting PT he got. For those who wish to argue against Woodhead, feel free to take a look at what Ridley did on the last drive of the night. If there's a question about the running last night, that question should be more along the lines of

"Why did they run the ball so much last night, when they were going up against the Ravens and were dominating them with the passing game?".

Tanbass said:

I agree that the Oline has faced tough battles with the last 2 opponents, but you will never convince me that Woodhead is a better option running the ball than Ridley. I don't buy for a second that he can't play in the hurry up offense.

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But who knows what the original calls were when Woodhead was in. Brady was calling audibles all night. The plays may have started as passing plays bet when Brady got to the line, he seemed to be calling a lot of runs.