Game Thoughts: The Ravens are Nevermore Edition

[Rob0729]

Here we go:

• For all the talk about the o-line and the Ravens defensive front, the Pats basically won the battle other than a few exceptions in the first half. The Ravens did get pressure on Brady early especially on the back to back sacks early in the second quarter, but Suggs, Dumervil, and Ngata all had a relatively quite night (3 tackles, 2 QB hits, and a half a sack from all of them combined with Dumervil being shut out of the stat sheet all together). Yeah, a lot of it is Brady and McDaniels making the rush irrelevant.

• Never in my wildest dreams did I think this game was going to be a shoot out. I figured the Pats would score 30 plus points (my prediction was 31-20, Pats), but I was shocked about how well the Ravens moved the ball tonight. The weird thing, the Pats were incredible on third down defense tonight (Ravens converted 1 of 9 third downs or 11.1%).

• On that, I think Joe Flacco is the anti-Manning. He is a mediocre regular season QB and very good post season QB. Yes, his two INTs were throws to the Pats receivers (heads up plays by the Pats each time) but otherwise, he played far better than I thought he would. The problem is for the Ravens is that they will have troubles getting into the playoffs with Flacco, but they certainly can win in the playoffs riding him. Even with the two INTs, he did enough to win the game, but the Ravens defense didn't have the answers for the Pats' offense.

• Rumors of the Pats' offensive demise has been greatly exaggerated. This team has more receiving weapons than Brady may have had since maybe 2007 or 2008. Amendola is emerging at the right time. Gronk is a machine. Edelman is solid. LaFell is dependable. And Vereen can catch the ball out of the backfield. I think if they continue to play like this, few defenses can stop them. The best part of the offense is that they can morph it into whatever they need to exploit the weaknesses of the other team.

• I am kinda surprised that it took this long into Edelman's career for him to make a pass. I guess it couldn't have come at a better time and maybe in hindsight it might be good that the Ravens didn't think it could have been a possibility of happening. It certainly gives other teams something to think about going forward.

• Glad we may never have to see Steve Smith Sr. ever again. He gives even the Pats' best CBs fits.

• I still hate the inconsistency they call PI, illegal contact, and holding. If CJ Mosely wasn't interfering with Gronk on that third down pass on the first drive of the second half, I don't know what PI is anymore. There were other defensive contact calls that were far less than that on both sides.

• Harbaugh looks like an amateur continuing biatching about the play where Vereen was declared ineligible. The play was legal. Vereen reported eligible. The ref announced it to the defense. The Ravens just got outcoached and to top it Harbaugh lost his cool and cost his team a penalty.

• Kudos to McDaniels. His play calling was awesome today even with the Pats abandoning the run. It certainly wasn't perfect, but he dug into his bag of tricks and came up with a bunch of things that the Ravens had no answers for. I know he is a lightning rod on this board, but I really hope he doesn't take a head coaching job. Unfortunately, I think tonight might have moved him up on team's list after the game he called tonight.

• Congrats to Brady for setting the QB post season win record and TD record. Well deserved.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Pats need to be able to run the ball and get some pressure next week...they won with neither today. Lucky in that aspect

 

[The Gr8est]

Here we go:

• For all the talk about the o-line and the Ravens defensive front, the Pats basically won the battle other than a few exceptions in the first half. The Ravens did get pressure on Brady early especially on the back to back sacks early in the second quarter, but Suggs, Dumervil, and Ngata all had a relatively quite night (3 tackles, 2 QB hits, and a half a sack from all of them combined with Dumervil being shut out of the stat sheet all together). Yeah, a lot of it is Brady and McDaniels making the rush irrelevant.

Disagree about winning the o-line battle. I think they gave Brady the time he needed for the most part, but the Pats couldn't run at all; there were no holes to run through and the RBs consistently stopped to look for a hole when the reached the line. Then they gave up trying to run the ball at all.

I do give a lot of credit to Ryan Wendell for moving to center once Stork went down, as I didn't see much difference when he moved and Josh Kline came in at RG. If Kline can continue like this we have one less reserve spot to need to fill next year. We still need a top pick for the interior OL though and he can take Jordan Devey's spot.

• Never in my wildest dreams did I think this game was going to be a shoot out. I figured the Pats would score 30 plus points (my prediction was 31-20, Pats), but I was shocked about how well the Ravens moved the ball tonight. The weird thing, the Pats were incredible on third down defense tonight (Ravens converted 1 of 9 third downs or 11.1%).

I was surprised at how well the ravens moved the ball too. I didn't expect them to have much luck running the ball, but I was wrong as the Ravens easily won the battle of the trenches. The Pats tacklers consistently made contact after the RB had already gained a couple of yards. Hopefully that is attributable to rust and not playing a meaningful game in a while. We won't continue winning being dominated like that. This was not VW's best game.

• On that, I think Joe Flacco is the anti-Manning. He is a mediocre regular season QB and very good post season QB. Yes, his two INTs were throws to the Pats receivers (heads up plays by the Pats each time) but otherwise, he played far better than I thought he would. The problem is for the Ravens is that they will have troubles getting into the playoffs with Flacco, but they certainly can win in the playoffs riding him. Even with the two INTs, he did enough to win the game, but the Ravens defense didn't have the answers for the Pats' offense.

I heard a comment attributed to Steve Young that Flacco has a consistent heart rate of about 30 per minute. It is why he seems to lack the passion you'd like early in the season, but is also the reason he seems to have ice water in his veins during the playoffs. It's just his personality.

Interesting thought.

• Rumors of the Pats' offensive demise has been greatly exaggerated. This team has more receiving weapons than Brady may have had since maybe 2007 or 2008. Amendola is emerging at the right time. Gronk is a machine. Edelman is solid. LaFell is dependable. And Vereen can catch the ball out of the backfield. I think if they continue to play like this, few defenses can stop them. The best part of the offense is that they can morph it into whatever they need to exploit the weaknesses of the other team.

I LOVED the way Brady went back to having his favorite receiver being the open guy, as his throws to Amendola and Hooman stood out today contrasted with how few balls were thrown in their direction during the season. This will pay big dividends going forward. Not only will it make the Pats harder to defend, it will alos means less wear and tear on Gronk and Edelman.

Now if we can just find Tim Wright.

• I still hate the inconsistency they call PI, illegal contact, and holding. If CJ Mosely wasn't interfering with Gronk on that third down pass on the first drive of the second half, I don't know what PI is anymore. There were other defensive contact calls that were far less than that on both sides.

Agreed. I actually agreed with the penalties called on Revis; they were legit. The PI on Gronk was obviously missed, and I'd like to see a new rule change on offensive PI. Jamie Collins was interfered with when he tried to get that deep pick. It wasn't called, but even if it was it would have been what, a 5 or 10 yard penalty?

If a team can heave up a bomb and hope for a cheap 50 yard penalty, then they should accept the downside of a 2nd and 60 to go, drive killer. That needs to work both ways. Interfering on Collins like happened is a no-brainer considering the downside.

• Harbaugh looks like an amateur continuing biatching about the play where Vereen was declared ineligible. The play was legal. Vereen reported eligible. The ref announced it to the defense. The Ravens just got outcoached and to top it Harbaugh lost his cool and cost his team a penalty.

Yup, Harbaugh just got embarrassed. He's got nothing to complain about.

• Kudos to McDaniels. His play calling was awesome today even with the Pats abandoning the run. It certainly wasn't perfect, but he dug into his bag of tricks and came up with a bunch of things that the Ravens had no answers for. I know he is a lightning rod on this board, but I really hope he doesn't take a head coaching job. Unfortunately, I think tonight might have moved him up on team's list after the game he called tonight.

Seems inevitable that he won't be here much longer. Pats get top assistants more than just about anyone. There ought to be some compensation to the team losing an assistant that they developed.

• Congrats to Brady for setting the QB post season win record and TD record. Well deserved.

Congrats Tom!

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

As I mentioned in the post game thread, couldn't agree more with not expecting this type of game. Figured it'd be a tough one but really suprised our defense played that poorly, equally suprised our OL held up despite being one dimensional and playing from behind, without Stork at that. If not for the 2 picks I'd say it may have been Brady's best game in memory. I know he's had better stats and accuracy in other games, but given the stage and situation this was truly a memorable performance when the margin of error was slim to none. McDaniels deserves credit as well. Heck, the entire offense does.

If Stork/Browner are okay for next week, you can't ask for more. A win and plenty of mistakes to learn from as we prepare for our next opponent(s).

Give credit to Baltimore, they play us tough no matter what. Flacco's had his seventh straight excellent playoff game dating back to the 2011 AFCC. As mediocre as he is in the regular season, his playoff career makes him worth the contract including the games before this stretch.

Needless to say, we gotta do better on D if we want another lombardi. Admittedly, I could hardly celebrate the last TD because all I could think was Flacco has 5 minutes and 4 down territory all around to get the game winner. Luckily Harmon came up huge on an iffy decision. Don't get me wrong I'll gladly take it, but I have a hard time understanding what Baltimore was thinking going for it all there on 2nd and 5, felt like we were on the ropes there defensively.

 

[Rob0729]

You take away the Brady runs, the Pats ran 7 times all game. How can we judge the run blocking on seven plays?

 

[everlong]

This game took years off of my life. I don't know how many posts I read on facebook by people or their wives saying their stomachs hurt or they couldn't eat or the blood pressure was through the roof. That was as intense of a game as there can be. The swing of down 14 twice and back to even. When we scored to to up by 4 with over 5 minutes left I kept thinking that's way too much time. They have to get a turnover.

Front 7 was pretty bad. They better find a pass rush and sure up against the run. Revis and Browner also not great.

 

[zipster9]

"No quarterback I'd rather have than Tom Brady," Belichick said after the Patriots advanced to the title for the fourth straight season with a 35-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.

 

[rochrist]

Here we go:

• For all the talk about the o-line and the Ravens defensive front, the Pats basically won the battle other than a few exceptions in the first half. The Ravens did get pressure on Brady early especially on the back to back sacks early in the second quarter, but Suggs, Dumervil, and Ngata all had a relatively quite night (3 tackles, 2 QB hits, and a half a sack from all of them combined with Dumervil being shut out of the stat sheet all together). Yeah, a lot of it is Brady and McDaniels making the rush irrelevant.

• Never in my wildest dreams did I think this game was going to be a shoot out. I figured the Pats would score 30 plus points (my prediction was 31-20, Pats), but I was shocked about how well the Ravens moved the ball tonight. The weird thing, the Pats were incredible on third down defense tonight (Ravens converted 1 of 9 third downs or 11.1%).

• On that, I think Joe Flacco is the anti-Manning. He is a mediocre regular season QB and very good post season QB. Yes, his two INTs were throws to the Pats receivers (heads up plays by the Pats each time) but otherwise, he played far better than I thought he would. The problem is for the Ravens is that they will have troubles getting into the playoffs with Flacco, but they certainly can win in the playoffs riding him. Even with the two INTs, he did enough to win the game, but the Ravens defense didn't have the answers for the Pats' offense.

• Rumors of the Pats' offensive demise has been greatly exaggerated. This team has more receiving weapons than Brady may have had since maybe 2007 or 2008. Amendola is emerging at the right time. Gronk is a machine. Edelman is solid. LaFell is dependable. And Vereen can catch the ball out of the backfield. I think if they continue to play like this, few defenses can stop them. The best part of the offense is that they can morph it into whatever they need to exploit the weaknesses of the other team.

• I am kinda surprised that it took this long into Edelman's career for him to make a pass. I guess it couldn't have come at a better time and maybe in hindsight it might be good that the Ravens didn't think it could have been a possibility of happening. It certainly gives other teams something to think about going forward.

• Glad we may never have to see Steve Smith Sr. ever again. He gives even the Pats' best CBs fits.

• I still hate the inconsistency they call PI, illegal contact, and holding. If CJ Mosely wasn't interfering with Gronk on that third down pass on the first drive of the second half, I don't know what PI is anymore. There were other defensive contact calls that were far less than that on both sides.

• Harbaugh looks like an amateur continuing biatching about the play where Vereen was declared ineligible. The play was legal. Vereen reported eligible. The ref announced it to the defense. The Ravens just got outcoached and to top it Harbaugh lost his cool and cost his team a penalty.

• Kudos to McDaniels. His play calling was awesome today even with the Pats abandoning the run. It certainly wasn't perfect, but he dug into his bag of tricks and came up with a bunch of things that the Ravens had no answers for. I know he is a lightning rod on this board, but I really hope he doesn't take a head coaching job. Unfortunately, I think tonight might have moved him up on team's list after the game he called tonight.

• Congrats to Brady for setting the QB post season win record and TD record. Well deserved.

For all it seemed that Steve Smith was everywhere, he actually didn't have a great day. Before the game, Michael Irvin predicted that Gronk would get more yards than the 'Smith Bros combined'. He did. 108 to 106 combined for the two Smiths.

Also, too: It appears Hooman can catch the ball when called upon. 4 for 43.

 

[Ross12]

Love the "nevermore" reference.

 

[Rob0729]

BTW, I didn't think the call for Flacco to go deep on the Harmon INT was a bad call per sea. Picking on Logan Ryan wasn't a bad idea especially since Smith burnt him bad and it was just a heads up play by Harmon. Where they really screwed up was it would have given Brady plenty of time to score.

 

[Rob0729]

For all it seemed that Steve Smith was everywhere, he actually didn't have a great day. Before the game, Michael Irvin predicted that Gronk would get more yards than the 'Smith Bros combined'. He did. 108 to 106 combined for the two Smiths.

Also, too: It appears Hooman can catch the ball when called upon. 4 for 43.

Steve Smith did beat Revis a lot in the first half. Torrey Smith may have had more yards, but I think he was far less effective being targetted more.

 

[BHSL2]

I was thoroughly disgusted with our defensive effort at times, but we showed some grit. Flacco believes a little too much in his arm, and we finally have DBs who can make him pay on those jump balls.

 

[Fencer]

OL success and pass rusher failure were exaggerated for both teams, I think, by the refs' refusal to call even egregious cases of holding (e.g., grabbing Collins and throwing him to the ground, bear-hugging Jones from behind, etc.) That said, the specific cases I recall were ones in which the Pats were victimized.

 

[FourierSeries]

D played better in the 2nd half. I'm willing to chalk up the poor play in the 1st half to rust. Hopefully that's all it was.

 

[patfanken]

Nice job, Rob. I just posted my missive and ran to read your's. We're pretty much on the same track.

Its interesting that most people are going to blame Flacco for those 2 picks, but in reality IMO they were both accurate throws, and were picked because the FS successfull jumped the route. It was best shown in a replay of the Harmon pick. He's on the right defensive hash and correctly reads the QB's eyes and has already taken 2 or more strides to the sideline before Flacco releases the throw. He gets such a great jump on the ball, he is actually slowing down as the ball comes down. Smith had beaten Ryan fairly badly and the ball was fairly accurately thrown, except that Harmon was in perfect position and attacked the ball at its high point,

McCourty's pick was on one of those deep out cuts Flacco throws so well. It too would have likely had been a completion if McCourty hadn't read the route so well.

The penalties were so frustrating because of the arbitrary nature of the way they were being called. What seemed to be a penalty against Revis, didn't seem to be a penalty against the Ravens. Now that's probably being one sided. I'm sure the Pats got away with some stuff too, at least I hope they did. At any rate. If I were a DB, I wouldn't have a clue as to what was a penalty and what wasn't, given how capriciously its called.

In the end, there are a LOT of mixed emotions coming out of this game. The horrible run D. The anemic pass rush. The 2 fourteen point deficits. The lack of a run game. The success of the Ravens offense. While at the same time the 35 points was more than we should ask, especially when there were 2 drive where we left points on the table. The flexibility and dependability of the receiving corps. The excellence of coverage (including the LB's) The play of Pat Chung. The play of Josh Kline. The pass protection in the 2nd half. And finally the fact that FINALLY when Brady gave a lead to the defense in a big game for the final drive, they came up with one.

In the end, its good to have a tough game in the divisional round. Remember to the Titan game in 2003. In a 17-14 game and the Titans with the ball round mid field. The Titans' IIRC, had a near reception in FG terrritory to end the game.

Anyway, lots to talk about next week,

 

[supafly]

1) Great team effort from some of the lesser known role players, as I mentioned in the post-game thread.

2) I agree with Rob that the OL held up much better than most here expected, including myself.

3) I stated a couple of weeks ago that I felt that we'd need to get the running game going in order to have a chance at the big game, and I definitely still feel the same way. I understand that it was a combination of being down 14 pts twice, as well as the strong front 7 of the Ravens, but we will need to run the ball much more effectively next week no matter who the opponent ends up being.

4) As others have mentioned, terribly disappointed in the first half defense--allowing 21 pts on three Flacco TD passes. I'm glad they settled down in the second half by only allowing 10 pts. We'll need to do a much better job next week in this regard. Interesting that our 2 best CBs in Revis/Browner didn't look so hot until they eventually settled down, although I don't think it's worth giving much thought to, outside of maybe Browner's tendency to commit penalties.

5) Still a bit surprised that we haven't seen more of Tim Wright. I thought this was a perfect time for him today, although it's quite possible that his blocking failures had a lot to do with his inability to see the field.

6) Finally...downright shocked that so many here underestimated the Ravens, Flacco, Forsett, etc. Obviously they are the kind of team which presents matchup problems. Bringing up their past results (struggles with CLE, HOU, etc) was totally pointless.

 

[NormZauchin]

Nice job, Rob. I just posted my missive and ran to read your's. We're pretty much on the same track.

Its interesting that most people are going to blame Flacco for those 2 picks, but in reality IMO they were both accurate throws, and were picked because the FS successfull jumped the route. It was best shown in a replay of the Harmon pick. He's on the right defensive hash and correctly reads the QB's eyes and has already taken 2 or more strides to the sideline before Flacco releases the throw. He gets such a great jump on the ball, he is actually slowing down as the ball comes down. Smith had beaten Ryan fairly badly and the ball was fairly accurately thrown, except that Harmon was in perfect position and attacked the ball at its high point,

McCourty's pick was on one of those deep out cuts Flacco throws so well. It too would have likely had been a completion if McCourty hadn't read the route so well.

The penalties were so frustrating because of the arbitrary nature of the way they were being called. What seemed to be a penalty against Revis, didn't seem to be a penalty against the Ravens. Now that's probably being one sided. I'm sure the Pats got away with some stuff too, at least I hope they did. At any rate. If I were a DB, I wouldn't have a clue as to what was a penalty and what wasn't, given how capriciously its called.

In the end, there are a LOT of mixed emotions coming out of this game. The horrible run D. The anemic pass rush. The 2 fourteen point deficits. The lack of a run game. The success of the Ravens offense. While at the same time the 35 points was more than we should ask, especially when there were 2 drive where we left points on the table. The flexibility and dependability of the receiving corps. The excellence of coverage (including the LB's) The play of Pat Chung. The play of Josh Kline. The pass protection in the 2nd half. And finally the fact that FINALLY when Brady gave a lead to the defense in a big game for the final drive, they came up with one.

In the end, its good to have a tough game in the divisional round. Remember to the Titan game in 2003. In a 17-14 game and the Titans with the ball round mid field. The Titans' IIRC, had a near reception in FG terrritory to end the game.

Anyway, lots to talk about next week,

Wasn't that Titans playoff game the coldest game ever played at Gillette?

 

[everlong]

BTW, I didn't think the call for Flacco to go deep on the Harmon INT was a bad call per sea. Picking on Logan Ryan wasn't a bad idea especially since Smith burnt him bad and it was just a heads up play by Harmon. Where they really screwed up was it would have given Brady plenty of time to score.

Picking on Ryan might not have been a bad decision but he misread the coverage and\or left the ball to far in the field of play. If you know the safety is there that ball has to be right on the sideline where only your guy can get it. Even without Harmon there I don't think the receiver is able to make that catch so really I think it was both.

 

[PScottman]

5) Still a bit surprised that we haven't seen more of Tim Wright. I thought this was a perfect time for him today, although it's quite possible that his blocking failures had a lot to do with his inability to see the field.

I wonder if in practice, the seam route - which would SEEM to be tailor made for Wright to exploit as Edelman/Gronk suck coverage to them - he has trouble with "footsteps" or "traffic" and simply struggles to catch these type balls leading to seeing more Hooman instead (who took a couple vicious shots tonight but held on in that circumstance). I know he's shown real good hands all season (Wright) but we simply don't know the practice realities as to why he's not showing up in the game plan.

 

[patriot lifer]

It was a disappointing performance by our defense (not a complete disappointment). The heart palpitations we felt could not be healthy. But on the flip-side, they showed that they could win when the defense under-performed. It's under the theme of "winning in different ways."

Let's hope for a blow-out next week to restore our cardiovascular health.