Patriots at Raiders post-game thread

[PatsFanSince74]

Bottom line and very simple.

Based on what we thought about our opponents before the opening night kickoff, if you'd told me that we'd have a more than reasonable chance at this point of going into the Bye 5--1, I'd have taken it in a flash.

 

[ivanvamp]

Offense looked alright. Lot of missed opportunities and Brady didn't look sharp.

Could have been very ugly if not for a lucky interception.

Happy to have a win though

I've been saying since last year that this team needs to be able to find ways to win when Brady isn't at his best. That means (a) a running game that can hammer the opposing defense, and (b) a defense that gets stops.

The D wasn't great yesterday (though I will say that they held a pretty good offense to 13 meaningful points yesterday, so there were some good things out there) but the running game was what got me very excited. BJGE was his usual steady self. Ridley is going to be a tremendous player. Good speed, very powerful, not easy to bring down. Love watching that guy run.

Brady wasn't great. Not bad, but not great. But the running game allowed him to not be great and the Pats could still win pretty comfortably.

Next week against the Jets, I think - especially if Hernandez is still out - that Brady will have a hard time throwing. That'll mean that the running game will once again be critical. Today was a very good sign that they have the ability to run when they need to.

 

[FCB02062]

Good win, although these injuries are really starting to become worrisome. Brady seemed off and I wonder if that a function of no Hernandez? At any rate, solid conference win on the road - kudos to the team. The defense still scares the sh#t out of me because they give up so many freaking yards up and down the field.
Now, lets get ready for Sunday at 4:15 PM...hopefully none of our diminutive receivers make any attempts at humor leading up to this game....

 

[Patriot to the Core]

Excellent win! Defence needs a bit more work but did so well to keep the raiders under 20pts. Maybe more work on stopping the easy first downs though.

Welker is a legend but Brady needs to try and get Ocho and co more into the game as we cannot rely on Wes every game.

 

[condon84]

You are absolutely right! I wish the Pats performed like the Jets defense and gave up 34 points, but far less yards. The Pats would have lost because their dominant defense, but it would far more satisfying to know we have a great defense that gives up 34 points than a horrible defense that gave up 19 points to the the same team.

We're fortunate that Campbell is Campbell. Our defense still needs work. Lots of easy 3rd down conversions and long drives by the Raiders.

We'll win a lot of these games against average/bad teams. But against elite teams in the playoffs, they're not going to shoot themselves. Can't play defense HOPING the other team makes mistakes in the playoffs.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

We're fortunate that Campbell is Campbell. Our defense still needs work. Lots of easy 3rd down conversions and long drives by the Raiders.

We'll win a lot of these games against average/bad teams. But against elite teams in the playoffs, they're not going to shoot themselves. Can't play defense HOPING the other team makes mistakes in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, that's how I see it as well. As I was watching the game yesterday, all I could think was "I hope that Jason Campbell is still Jason Campbell and makes a mistake soon." Thank goodness, he did and more than once.

The Pats still have plenty of time to fix the various problems, but they got zero pressure on Campbell 95% of the time yesterday.

 

[Fencer]

There is no way of allowing the same number of points that is any better than any other way.

I disagree.

Allowing 21 points and also getting three INT returns into the red zone is better than allowing 21 points and not getting any turnovers.

Allowing 3 points on a drive that the opponent starts in your red zone is a better accomplishment than allowing 3 points on a drive that starts on their own 20.

 

[shmessy]

Carolina put up 543 yards on the Bears defense today

they lost by 5 points to the Bears, who only put up 317...

what's wrong with THAT picture "Pats"fan 1982....?

Philly put up well over 500 yards in offense today...they lost ...to SF of all teams...

Patsfan1982 = Fantasy Football Legend.

Obviously, Fantasy League mentality is at work there. The reality of the NFL is different.

If he got his eyes off of his computer for a second, he would have seen that the Pats secondary were playing a zone coverage and truly keying off of playing the run to contain a top-3 running attack. They just so happened to keep that running attack to 19 yards under its average (and, outside of one 40 yarders and a trick-play 30 yarder, WAY under its average).

Defensive Einstein Rex Ryan would have given his wife's right foot for that kind of defensive performance last week against the Raiders.

The Pats did nothing more than a classic Belichick defensive strategy - - taking away the one strength of an opposing offense while letting the weak part pick up easy crumbs.

The fact that Patsfan1982 does not know that this is BB's modus operandi for decades says much about his/her ignorance of the subject.

.......but keep focusing on the fantasy football league yardage!


So Patsfan1982 - - the best I can suggest to you in your Fantasy league games is this:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have a player going up against a Patriots team:

1) if the player is the star of the offense - - sit him down that week - - the Pats will key on him and shut him down

2) if the player is a #2, #3 or #4 option - -START HIM - - he will have one of his best games of the season.

 

[DaBruinz]

after reading your sarcastic post i now realize how stupid i am for calling the 32th ranked defense in the NFL bad

Again, that is based on Yards allowed, ONLY. But, AGAIN, Yards without points doesn't mean JACK.

The Pats are 21st right now in points allowed..They allowed a whopping 3 points more than the Jets have over 4 games.. Yet the Pats are 3-1 and the Jets are 2-2..

Putting things into context instead of just slapping the stat sheet and saying "But look, they allow all these yards" would help A LOT.

 

[DaBruinz]

One of the things that people are ignoring is that, going into this game, the Raiders were averaging 30.8 points per game. The Pats held them to 19. When you do that, you should win. And the Pats did. People can make all the excuses they want to try and bash the defense, but the defense held the Raiders to 19 points. That should definitely be considered a win. The Raiders were in the Pats Redzone 6 times. They only scored 2 TDs and 2 FGs. That's not bad considering the other weeks.

 

[mosi]

I have said it before and I will say it again. This is and will be the Pats defense for the year. And today, as they did last week, they did there job. Stop the other team 3-4 times a game, through a punt or turnover and win the game. That is all they need to do. Nobody should expect more.

 

[Rob0729]

We're fortunate that Campbell is Campbell. Our defense still needs work. Lots of easy 3rd down conversions and long drives by the Raiders.

We'll win a lot of these games against average/bad teams. But against elite teams in the playoffs, they're not going to shoot themselves. Can't play defense HOPING the other team makes mistakes in the playoffs.

Jason Campbell has three INTs this year and two of them vs. the Pats.

Campbell also only really had 245 yards vs. the Pats if you take away that garbage time 99 yard TD drive.

 

[Rob0729]

I have said it before and I will say it again. This is and will be the Pats defense for the year. And today, as they did last week, they did there job. Stop the other team 3-4 times a game, through a punt or turnover and win the game. That is all they need to do. Nobody should expect more.

The Pats defense rapidly improved last year. The Pats defense rapid improved in 2001 when they were one of the worst defenses in the league to start the year. This will not be the defense they have all year. It will get much better as the year goes along. It may never be a good or great defense, but it will be significantly better than it was.

 

[condon84]

Jason Campbell has three INTs this year and two of them vs. the Pats.

Campbell also only really had 245 yards vs. the Pats if you take away that garbage time 99 yard TD drive.

So you have no issues with the way our defense played?

 

[shmessy]

So you have no issues with the way our defense played?

Read post #148.

It's the way BB operates.

And yes, a team that came in averaging 30.8 points per game scored only 13 in a home game before the Pats went to prevent injury D in the last two minutes.

 

[condon84]

Unfortunately, that's how I see it as well. As I was watching the game yesterday, all I could think was "I hope that Jason Campbell is still Jason Campbell and makes a mistake soon." Thank goodness, he did and more than once.

The Pats still have plenty of time to fix the various problems, but they got zero pressure on Campbell 95% of the time yesterday.

We had them a couple of times in a 3rd and long situation but we just couldn't get off the field. If we can somehow generate a pass rush on obvious passing downs our defense will be so much better. Those third down conversions are killing us.

BTW, was Cunningham inactive yesterday or did he play?

 

[shmessy]

We had them a couple of times in a 3rd and long situation but we just couldn't get off the field. If we can somehow generate a pass rush on obvious passing downs our defense will be so much better. Those third down conversions are killing us.

BTW, was Cunningham inactive yesterday or did he play?

Once again, Condon - - they were making the weak link beat them!!!!!!!! Did you see McFadden burning them on any third downs yesterday???? It was always Joe Montana-Campbell finding the weak spot.

It's the reason Sanchez has had some of his best games against the Pats and Peyton Manning has had some of his worst. It doesn't always work, but it's how BB rolls.

The sooner you, and some others, understand that, the sooner you will stop wasting everyone's time with "yeah, look at all the yardage" baloney.

It's the strategy that has made them the most consistently successful franchise of this century.

Some people can't digest strategic planning.

Once again, if anyone is in fantasy football Leagues, don't play stars against the Patriots. Play second and third tier players and watch them have solid games. Play your stars against other teams.

 

[DaBruinz]

We had them a couple of times in a 3rd and long situation but we just couldn't get off the field. If we can somehow generate a pass rush on obvious passing downs our defense will be so much better. Those third down conversions are killing us.

BTW, was Cunningham inactive yesterday or did he play?

Cunnigham played most of the 4th quarter, opposite Mark Anderson in the 4-3..

 

[Rob0729]

So you have no issues with the way our defense played?

I didn't say that. I saw improvement from the defense. The Raiders scored 69 points vs. the Bills and Jets and the Pats held them to 19 (really 13 plus a garbage time TD). That is improvement even with some key players missing. The defense isn't going to turn into the 200 Ravens overnight.

You want progressive improvement every week. We saw improvement yesterday. Hopefully Dowling, Bodden, and Haynesworth will be back and we will see more improvement next week.

Yesterday wasn't as bad as you make it out to be. The Raiders got 100 yards in garbage time and their offense scored scored 13 points before garbage time after averaging 34.5 points the previous two games.

 

[condon84]

Once again, Condon - - they were making the weak link beat them!!!!!!!! Did you see McFadden burning them on any third downs yesterday???? It was always Joe Montana-Campbell finding the weak spot.

It's the reason Sanchez has had some of his best games against the Pats and Peyton Manning has had some of his worst. it doesn't always work, but it's how BB rolls.

The sooner you, and soem others, understand that, the sooner you will stop wasting evryone's time with "yeah, look at all the yardage" baloney.

It's the strategy that has made them the most consistently successful franchise of this century.

Some people can't digest strategic planning.

Whether it was McFadden or not, an 8-13 third down conversion is not a good percentage. McFadden ran for 5.4 yards per carry so it's not like we shut him down.

The Raiders employed the "lets beat the Pats by passing" strategy, which isn't really a bad idea considering how awful our pass defense is. Campbell's INT to Chung int he end zone was a gift. I don't know how else you can look at that. And the other INT was a great play by Wilfork. But otherwise, our defense needs a lot of work. If you don't think so, then I we'll agree to disagree.