idle thoughts...."Oh the grass is always greener...

[ausbacker]

Fair enough though on the blocking point, was BJGE and Riddley receiving different blocking on all their plays?? However, I see your point regarding this game being reminiscent of that game where BJGE was going no where and Riddley was tearing it up. Many, including me, thought we have to get Riddley more reps versus the Jets. Then the Jets came and BJGE was lights out. However, Riddley looked like a slasher again vs the Broncs and, you'll have to admit, BJGE has not been tearing it up (not this week, last week, etc) With Riddley twice now showing that quick-elusive-slicing ability, let's see if this is something that can work week to week? He's a rookie and he needs some reps to show what he can do in the playoffs.
I'm a BJGE fan. The guy is a Patriot player. But with the defense as shaky as it is, adding a quick slashing/knifing RB to our compliment of plays/weapons would be very nice for our offense.

I don't believe it to be a foot issue at the moment, more a technical one. I have a suspicion that Green-Ellis is being too patient waiting for the linemen to perfectly execute their blocking rather than smashing the gap when it presents.

I firmly believe Green-Ellis is our best runner but only a fool would argue against the effectiveness of that three headed monster yesterday. Green-Ellis, Ridley and Woodhead all looked fantastic at one time or another.

 

[Willie55]

yeah...I saw the LB's being leveraged out on the wrong side of the O linemens shoulders in the first quarter...I was sitting with my older brother and said "Bill better get this straightened out fast...there's a flaw in the D gameplan.."..well, BB did get it straightened out and if you noticed he was constantly getting the D unit together and instructing them on the sideline during the second quarter...in the third quarter I could see the game was over barring unforeseen turnovers...the last seven minutes of socalled "Tebow Time" was a clinic on rush and contain by the D front. One thing I think is very fortunate for this squad THIS season is the depth on the D line...keep your fingers crossed it stays that way

I noticed it mostly in the fourth quarter, I'm not sure if they did it earlier, the Patriots were sending linebackers over the guard positions. They would rush straight ahead until they were even with Tebow, and then basically take a ninety degree angle towards him. I assumed this was to keep him in the pocket and not let him get outside.

I think this is the same tactic they use against Roethlisberger, keep him contained in the pocket.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

Thanks Ken.

wonder what happened to the many so-called non-ostrichs, especially after that dismal first Q.

And before DI slams me, let me confess that I still have significant concerns on our D, especially now that Carter is also gone, but am not going to let that affect me from enjoying a nice W and rooting for our D to step up when needed, stats be damned.

Go PATS!!

 

[ivanvamp]

I don't believe it to be a foot issue at the moment, more a technical one. I have a suspicion that Green-Ellis is being too patient waiting for the linemen to perfectly execute their blocking rather than smashing the gap when it presents.

I firmly believe Green-Ellis is our best runner but only a fool would argue against the effectiveness of that three headed monster yesterday. Green-Ellis, Ridley and Woodhead all looked fantastic at one time or another.

I'll happily take 36 rushes, 141 yds, 3 td, and 0 fumbles from our running game come playoff time. If they do that, I don't see any way they lose, unless the D gives up 48 points.

 

[patfanken]

Anderson, yes. Ninkovich was a prime culprit in the first quarter defensive meltown. I'm a big Ninko fan (and he played better in the 2nd half), but every run that Denver broke outside in Q1 went right past Ninkovich. He had no clue on how to set an edge.

And yeah, he rushed the passer on a few plays - problem is, you actually need to tackle him once you get there. Ninko bounced off him. Watch Tebow's first touchdown, he shrugs off Ninkovich like he's not there.

I spent most of the 1st quarter cursing out Ninko at my house, so it was ironic that he fell on the first Denver fumble. And to his credit he seemed to play better after that. Hopefully these are correctable lapses as you talked about.

I think you are focusing too much on the first quarter results, PP and not enough on the entire game. However even in that horrid first quarter I think you are too harsh. On the missed tackle on Tebow, I would be more forgiving and give Tebow more of the credit than Ninko the blame. Tebow is NOT easy to tackle. Ninko isn't the only one who had trouble getting Tebow to the ground over the last 7 games,

And then there was the 2 plays that went wide around him. I didn't think it was that bad. On at least one of those plays there was either a mistake or flawed structure that created a situation that caused there to be ZERO outside support. On those plays no other DB came into the picture until the RB was 8 yds down field. That shouldn't happen. You don't ask the OLB to cover all the way to the side line.

I think you don't understand the concept of "setting the edge". The concept is to force the RB deep and wide, with the idea that having the RB run laterally give the rest of the defense to support the point of attack. There WAS no support, and THAT was the problem.

Did Ninko play it perfectly, no. He did get sucked in just a bit one at least one of the plays But it really wasn't as bad as it seemed. And I repeat, the reason it looked so bad was the lack of any support from the secondary

 

[PatsFanNM]

I particularly liked your comments about all the supposedly inferior teams the Pats have beaten over the last 6-7 weeks, and how those inferior teams went out and really kicked some other, supposedly superior, teams' butts. Particularly the Chiefs, Chargers, Eagles, etc.

Of course, when we played those teams they really were inferior. That's the only way we beat them. I guess.

I think TFB's right -- this team has a lot of mental toughness. They've lost, either temporarily or permanently, Branch, Carter, Pryor, Spikes, Dowling, Chung, Koppen, Vollmer . . . that's the basis of a pretty good team there.

 

[Patspsycho]

I'm happy with the renewed emphasis on the running game yesterday- we had an even distribution amongst Ridley, BJGE, and Woodhead which is how it should be.

It's stupid and ridiculous that there has to be a #1 RB. Every RB has their own skill set that can be used whenever needed most (which is not always the case). Yesterday the tempo was best suited to Ridley who could use his speed to defeat the athletic backers on the Broncos.

 

[SanAngeloState]

Ninko was horrible in the 1st quarter. HE was getting washed out by blocks from WRs! They were shredding us bad.

 

[lamafist]

I think you are focusing too much on the first quarter results, PP and not enough on the entire game. However even in that horrid first quarter I think you are too harsh. On the missed tackle on Tebow, I would be more forgiving and give Tebow more of the credit than Ninko the blame. Tebow is NOT easy to tackle. Ninko isn't the only one who had trouble getting Tebow to the ground over the last 7 games,

And then there was the 2 plays that went wide around him. I didn't think it was that bad. On at least one of those plays there was either a mistake or flawed structure that created a situation that caused there to be ZERO outside support. On those plays no other DB came into the picture until the RB was 8 yds down field. That shouldn't happen. You don't ask the OLB to cover all the way to the side line.

I think you don't understand the concept of "setting the edge". The concept is to force the RB deep and wide, with the idea that having the RB run laterally give the rest of the defense to support the point of attack. There WAS no support, and THAT was the problem.

Did Ninko play it perfectly, no. He did get sucked in just a bit one at least one of the plays But it really wasn't as bad as it seemed. And I repeat, the reason it looked so bad was the lack of any support from the secondary

I dunno, in the first quarter, I feel like there were at least a few plays where it was conspicuous how easily the Broncos were sealing Nincovich off, allowing their backs to start veering upfield early and get into the second level untouched with a head of steam, and room to maneuver on both sides. When that happens, it's not really the 2ndaries fault when they get made to look like the Keystone Cops. And since Matt Patricia's 'fix' involved repositioning the defensive front, I think that would suggest that's where he saw the problems originating.

Either way, he definitely played worlds better after the D got the kinks worked out. I think this game was a great testament to Belichick's defensive philosophy. I'm don't think many defenses could rejigger their entire defensive game-plan on the fly like that so successfully, and this ability to make in-game adjustments should make it hard to knock the Patriots out of the game early come the post-season.

 

[lamafist]

I don't believe it to be a foot issue at the moment, more a technical one. I have a suspicion that Green-Ellis is being too patient waiting for the linemen to perfectly execute their blocking rather than smashing the gap when it presents.

I firmly believe Green-Ellis is our best runner but only a fool would argue against the effectiveness of that three headed monster yesterday. Green-Ellis, Ridley and Woodhead all looked fantastic at one time or another.

I would be really surprised if the foot isn't still a big factor in BJGE's lack of decisiveness. Turf-toe lingers like a mo-fo, and robs a player of a lot of his burst, which in turn leads him to wait for the perfect hole.

IMO, running backs are returned to action after big toe sprains too quickly; even if it doesn't necessarily slow their rehab much, their production is usually limited enough to make them barely better than replacement-level, and getting used to favoring a bad big toe can create bad habits that are hard to shake even when healthy.

 

[mgteich]

I agree that we had the worst 1st quarter ever against the run. We do seem to do MUCH better when we are in the base 3-4.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Anderson, yes. Ninkovich was a prime culprit in the first quarter defensive meltown. I'm a big Ninko fan (and he played better in the 2nd half), but every run that Denver broke outside in Q1 went right past Ninkovich. He had no clue on how to set an edge.

And yeah, he rushed the passer on a few plays - problem is, you actually need to tackle him once you get there. Ninko bounced off him. Watch Tebow's first touchdown, he shrugs off Ninkovich like he's not there.

I spent most of the 1st quarter cursing out Ninko at my house, so it was ironic that he fell on the first Denver fumble. And to his credit he seemed to play better after that. Hopefully these are correctable lapses as you talked about.

I'm a Ninko fan too but I was ready to call him Stinkovich in the 1st QTR. I try to control myself in the game threads with all the Cassandras.

I remember Big Brother Bob Emery well. This was going on the January this geezer was born...

Vivid new Battle of the Bulge photos offer never-before-seen look at the war-weary soldiers braving the frigid weather as they fight off Nazi Germany's last major offensive of World War II | Mail Online

Great color photos never before published

 

[DaBruinz]

The run game was fine today. Green-Ellis wasn't his efficient normal self thanks to some poor blocking and penalties negating big pick ups. I was quite pleased with how the Patriots incorporated Ridley, Woodhead and Green-Ellis into the game plan.

This is no different to the comments on Green-Ellis earlier this season before he went Full Metal Jacket on the Jets. People forget things as quickly as they remember.

I'm still trying to figure out how Edelman's BLOCK was considered holding when the defensive player spun himself down..

The run-blocking and the run plays called just weren't good for BJGE. There were several calls where the holes just didn't open up or the defense was in the backfield and BJGE did everything he could just to get back to the line.

 

[DaBruinz]

....in the other fellows yard...."


1. As I kid I snuck into BU field to watch the original 1960 Patriots, before I ever played organized football, and what I saw in the first quarter of the Denver game was the WORST run defense I have ever seen in the entire 52 seasons I have watched this team. Is that bad enough for you.

However, as those of you who participated in the game day thread can attest, I wasn't that worried. Very concerned, but not worried. 2 things I learned in my decade plus of coaching. One, the more a team sees running plays, the better they adjust and start to do better. Two, Very early on I could clearly see the technical flaws that were causing a great deal of the problems

Interestingly enough both were very simple and I have taught them myself on the HS level.
First I saw Tracy White on several occasions and Dane Fletcher on at least one occasion take on their blockers with the WRONG shoulder. When you are playing gap control, you need to take on the blocker with your INSIDE shoulder, keeping our outside arm free. White consistently took on blocks with his outside shoulder, and what that does is open the hole another half gap. And that was why the Denver RBs seem to have such huge holes to run through in that first quarter.

The second was because the ILBs, especially in odd alignments, when they are lined up over the Gs, were NOT reading the basic keys that 3-4 ILBs have been reading since Bud Wilkerson developed the "Okie" defense nack in the early 50's

When a G blocks down or out, the ILB is supposed to FILL that hole and meet the block ON the LOS or, even better, behind the LOS. On several occasions I saw Pats ILBs waiting 5 yds beyond the LOS for the blockers to get to them, instead of attacking the line. By waiting they just open up the hole to the exent that all they can do is arm tackle, if that. Compound that with taking on the blocks with the wrong shoulder and it was clear to me why the holes were so big and the Broncos wracked up close to 200yd are rushing in the first quarter

It was also clear to me that the Pats coaching staff is good enough to see it as well. In the 2nd half I saw a couple of time where Fletcher and Mayo both stepped up into the hole. Not as aggressively as I would have liked, but much...much better than in that first quarter. White never really did it correctly and it shouldn't be surprising since at best he's a coverage LB, whom BB had playing simply because he had some speed to chase Tebow around.

Thus that is why you could see that after the 2nd quarter, for the most part, all those 10-20 yard runs we gave up started to become 3-6 yd runs later in the game, AND when the Pats got 2+ scores ahead, they could almost forget about the option. So by the end of the game the 255 the Bronco's gained doesn't seem so bad when you consider they got over 180 of them in the first quarter.

Ken - What I saw in the first quarter was the opposite in terms of aggressiveness. I saw the Pats LBs being too aggressive and taking themselves out of the plays. Not just the ILBs, but the OLBs as well. That seemed to be Ninkovich's problem. Instead of just committing to holding the edge, he seemed intent on trying to collapse it and took himself out of position. The ILBs seemed to hit the wrong holes and tied themselves up with the guards (hence the wrong shoulder you mentioned).

It seemed to me that the Pats weren't nearly as aggressive later on when they went to the 3-4 consistently.

The other thing is that I honestly feel that Arrington is best covering the Star or Slot. Most of his interceptions came when he was in that position. When he's on the outside, he just doesn't seem to be as effective..

 

[Patriot Missile]

I'm still trying to figure out how Edelman's BLOCK was considered holding when the defensive player spun himself down..

The run-blocking and the run plays called just weren't good for BJGE. There were several calls where the holes just didn't open up or the defense was in the backfield and BJGE did everything he could just to get back to the line.

Agreed, the play calling was also horrible for runs. Better play calling coupled with their turnovers enabled the offense to physically wear down that defense and basically run any formation we wanted to. Woodhead certainly took advantage of his time yesterday.
As much as I like BJGE for his reliability and sure hands I'd love it if he could stay up on his feet on the end of some of his runs. Falling down for 4,5,6,7 yard gains is still being very productive though.