The Official Pats Ravens AFCCG Post Game Thread

Sciz said:

That was absolutely the right move. It was hella windy.

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no one says "hella" anymore

Well, poor executions, play-calling, weird calls, and no heart.

Hell, the week 3 game, the Patriots got more fire.

Just got back from the Razor...sat four rows back...big thanx to Seacoast fan for getting me this tremendous seat.

My take is simply that the Ravens took the game over on OUR field...they piunched the Pats in the mouth and the Pats never got up off the mat.

Talib's injury really changed the way they played their D going forward but the Pats left too many plays out there tonight...too many drops on sure big gains...again, outplayed...the Ravens were the better team tonight...no excuses

Boston Boxer said:

no one says "hella" anymore

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Correction: It was %*#&ing windy.

This game came down to MISSED OPPORTUNITIES.

Pats had plenty and blew em. Throwing on 3rd and 2? Defense was not the same without Talib. Offense played as if the gatorade bucket was filled with semen. Pathetic.

Window is closing very soon unfortunately. Only a few more years to get this with Brady. Need to bring back Welker even though he has midget hands.

Eerily conservative play calling in this one offensively, in particular when it was clear the defense was watered down post Talib injury and they were going to need points. I mean, two punts from inside the Balt 35? Wind or not, what is gained by punting? Maybe 15-25 yards of field position? Game plan was vanilla - chip away, chip away. Yeah, fine, but throw something out there that catches them off guard/makes them honest. Why was Vereen non existent until the 4th? The guy goes from a major X factor one week to not on the field the next? Another case of BB playing a game not to lose. This game felt scared from the beginning - so many of these physical wars have felt this way. TB plays scared, BB coaches scared, team loses. There is no swagger whatsoever.

TB has a couple good years left in him - time to stop playing scared. If you go down, go down gunning.

The lack of depth in the secondary was killer. The drop off after Talib was a cliff. It's amazing how the identity of the Pats has changed so significantly - where back in the SB days it was notoriously about depth and the "next man up", these days, guys go down and the team is crippled.

thanks god kids and wife went to bed , now I can let the tears come out

The Pats would have NOT made any FG's from outside the 30 tonight going TOWARD the lighthouse...I was there and I can attest to this...maybe you can say they should have gone for it on 4thy from the 35 but that is a specious argument...FG's going that way were out of the question, that's just the way it was tonight

Joker said:

Just got back from the Razor...sat four rows back...big thanx to Seacoast fan for getting me this tremendous seat.

My take is simply that the Ravens took the game over on OUR field...they piunched the Pats in the mouth and the Pats never got up off the mat.

Talib's injury really changed the way they played their D going forward but the Pats left too many plays out there tonight...too many drops on sure big gains...again, outplayed...the Ravens were the better team tonight...no excuses

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I think the Pats handed them a lot though, Joker. The Ravens really did not show me much although they do deserve credit for the win. If Talib doesn't go down and Brady is a bit sharper on some of the obvious missed throws, it's a different ballgame.

What frustrated me most tonight: lack of pass rush (blitz generally absent again) and not establishing the running game early.

This team needs DL pass rushing help, greater depth at corner and safety, and a WR who can stretch the field. All glaring holes tonight.

They had zero pass rush and yet...did YOU see any blitzes until the 4th quarter??? I saw a corner blitz that came form twnety yards away and a safety blitz, otherwise...vanilla... have yet to watch the tape but it was like they weren't even ready tro play defense tonight

Re: After Talib went down, and Arrington took over, Patriots were done..

Wes Welker is no longer automatic.

Guy can be counted on for a crucial drop almost as often as a first down anymore.

Does anyone else feel like these losses in big games are getting easier to take?


Almost feels like you've come to expect it?

Never going to jump ship on this team, just venting.

#56300ex said:

Does anyone else feel like these losses in big games are getting easier to take?


Almost feels like you've come to expect it?

Never going to jump ship on this team, just venting.

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Watched the games today with my buddy who's a 49ers fan and was ribbing me all day.

I told him the last 5 years have hardened me against big losses.

Which sucks but it's true.

Joker said:

They had zero pass rush and yet...did YOU see any blitzes until the 4th quarter??? I saw a corner blitz that came form twnety yards away and a safety blitz, otherwise...vanilla... have yet to watch the tape but it was like they weren't even ready tro play defense tonight

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That's why losing Talib had a domino effect on the entire defense. You lose the one guy who can play tough man-to-man (allowing someone else to blitz), and everything goes into semi-prevent mode. It shouldn't have to come to that but it does because of inadequate defensive backfield depth. Arrington is not going to get it done. Gregory is just a JAG. Dennard is just a rookie but did OK -- not great.

We also lost Kyle Love early, and I don't think Chandler Jones played. Wilfork was not a force tonight. Nobody else on the d-line did anything except for brief flashes by Ninko. The linebackers can't do it all themselves.

mb6592 said:

What has happened to unflapable playoff Brady?

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Age, kids and a b*i*t*c*h* on the side.

What a bad way to end the year. Terrible attempt all around. Unexcusible.

The Ravens deserve to go to the superbowl. They simply were better at pretty much everything, as much as I hate saying it.

Once again our OFFENSE let us down. Dropped passes killed us and there were no where near enough screens called in this game.

I felt like Han Solo watching this game..."I have a bad feeling about this."

The feeling started early as the Pats shut down Baltimore's offense in the 1st quarter, but the Pats just couldn't capitalize. The 3-0 lead after one seemed like one huge lost opportunity to take command of the game. Even though Baltimore scored to take the lead, the Pats responded quickly to retake the lead and after getting the ball back late in the half, they seemed poised to put themselves in great position...

...then Hernandez didn't get out of bounds. Then Brady scrambled for a few, never called timeout and did an awful job getting the team to the line to run another play. It took BB to call a TO (and avoid any possible false start/illegal motion penalty in haste to snap the ball and runoff the clock a la the Seattle game) to set up the disappointing FG. That was the most deflating 2-minute drive that resulted in points that I can remember.

After stopping Baltimore's opening possession of the 3rd, it seemed imperative that the Pats score. How many wasted opportunities could the Pats withstand before having to pay for them? Pats were driving, then on 3rd down Welker drops the easy 1st down conversion and thanks to the wind, the Pats had to punt from otherwise long FG range. Of course Baltimore scored to take the lead. The game was starting to shift.

Pats get the ball back and desperate to regain momentum, convert a 3rd and 2 to Woodhead...but holding on Solder wiped it out. The ensuing 3rd and 12 went nowhere and back the ball went to the Ravens, who of course drive the field and score for the 8pt lead. You just knew the missed opportunities in the 1st half and the blown 3rd downs this quarter were going to be killers.

Then things went to poop after Ridley got popped. That was the "this game is about over if the D can't cover for that" moment. And Baltimore scored again. Even then, I still held out hope they could pull off the comeback and after the Pats got deep into Ravens territory the longshot comeback seemed real. Then Brady's pass got batted straight into the air to the Ellerbe and that was pretty much all she wrote. Any chance after that was in the miracle category.

Flacco played superbly in the 2nd half and his OL did a great job giving him time to hit those huge 20+ yarders. It took a halftime adjustment to do so, but he did a great job taking advantage of Talib's absence. His play magnified the blown chance just before the half and the nightmare 3rd downs in the 3rd quarter; When the other team is executing, you have to execute and the Pats didn't. It cost them the game. You could feel it throughout.

Regards,
Chris

Hard to say it, but wished we hit hard enough to take out players to at least somewhat make up for the hits our own players take.

By the fourth quarter Welker was limping around and Vereen was running scared.

Re: Drop Welker

deters said:

he's so good he dropped 2 critical passes. one because he is too short and the second because he hands turned to stone on a easy pass.

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he also made multiple critical plays and if that ludicrous tipped interception hadn't happened and the pats had come back to win then you would have been praising him to no end for that 30-something-yard reception he made. give it a rest jesus

Re: Drop Welker

Ravens deserved it. no harm done, this frenchise is still d best in the nfl and i hope this years loss and last years will bring the passion and the fire in TFB's eyes once again cause he ( and thr entire team with him) seem to lose it. Id rather not to talk about x's and o's cause i dont find it useful, i consider our loss as a more mental (although our high powerd O sucked and our D kept being suckish) one. I hope for a vetter season next year and most imporently: GO PATS.