we had ALOT of drops last night
 

Watson I think had a few and Randy and Gaffney did also. I think this is the most drops I have seen all season.

In past games where we blew teams out almost no drops. I think just a few of these a game for our offense can make any game alot closer than it needs to be especially on third down.

Obviously Watson dropping the TD was bad, I htink it gave Ravens D the confidence it needed. But if you look at the others, they hurt as well. I mean you get the O-line to protect Brady, he delivers and accurate strike you expect the WRs to catch these balls. I dont think they should be overlooked as to why we were in such a close game.

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

the dropped TD by watson and the missed sack and tackle on boller where he ran out and threw a long completion really changed the game .

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

There were a lot of drops. Two in the end zone - Moss and Watson - which is never helpful, but there were others too, Gaffney had at least one as did Faulk. It looked like a tough night for passing, and as the game progressed #12 was really having to throw bullets to get the ball to his guy, making it increasingly hard for them to catch them.

I give a lot of credit to Kyle Boller too. Aside from the Sanders pick he played a nice game, and maybe showed the Ravens enough to given him next year as the starter. I guess finally having McNair out of the picture really helped his confidence. He was brave in the pocket and mostly showed good poise. Time for McNair to retire. He was great once.

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

Tom Brady often talks about "leaving plays on the field". Last night, the Pats left a whole game's worth. That's one kind of silver lining, and I don't mean to disrespect the Ravens (or Eagles last week) - there were a lot of plays the Pats should have made and didn't.

Talking with my buddy last night after the game, he lamented that this Pats team isn't built to play in bad weather - a legitimate concern that showed yesterday evening. My own hope is that our end of season schedule is an advantage. They are all northeast, outdoor games, meaning that the Pats should be conditioned and trained up for a rough weather postseason once those games come around.

We can hope, at least.

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

Brady can pass in terrible weather (see: 2001 AFCCG). Whether or not the receivers can catch in terrible weather is another.

That said, didn't either BB or TB say that the biggest impediment to a passing game is high winds (which they clearly had last night)?

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

yeah but when balls are hitting you in the chest and then dropped, they pretty much already made it past the "wind" factor.

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

I think the wind was the biggest factor. Even if Brady throws a bullet, with the wind conditions as they were the ball will still move around some. Much like a knuckle ball in baseball. It makes it extremely hard to catch. I don't think that the cold will be as much a factor as the wind.

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

It's been said before but needs saying again, it's not the rough cold weather or the snow that's a problem for this Pats team. This team could play in any of the Pats Jan playoff weather games and win. It's the wind. Moss commented that the ball behaved like a knuckler in those freaky high gusty winds, moving just as it approached the hands. He said his eyes were swiveling trying to follow the ball. He said no excuse, just answering the reporter's question.

We will not see freaky winds like that again. Strong gusts at field level will hurt a deep passing team. I'd made that point before the game. During the game, I posted that Josh needed to stop calling the longer ball and focus on short screens and short passes and recognize that game conditions were affecting the game plan. By mid 4th QTR he finally did make those adjustments with the result that Brady overcame the deficit. Unlike your buddy, I'm confident about this O in January conditions.

Re: we had ALOT of drops last night
 

randy's drop was pretty bad, but watson's was worst..both had the balls in their hands and found some way to let go of it..