Ravens vs Pats

[supafly]

Since Brady historically has been less than stellar against Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and co. AND on top of that his OL is highly suspect AND the fact that Ridley is the most talented RB behind him since Dillon tells me McDaniels needs to set the game plan to run then pass and not vice versa.

It needs to be a game that the offense grinds the clock...Brady is not going to beat the Ravens throwing 35 times next weekend.

While part of me (most of me) certainly agrees with you, this kind of sounds like the gameplan that we used for 3 1/2 quarters today against a gritty and tough defense, except it didn't work too well until they started passing once they were down 20-9.

Not that the passing game worked too well either..

At any rate, I'm likely sure that the gameplan will be to utilize the run vs BAL, but it needs to be a nice blend.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

I was listening to the end of the Baltimore-Philly game on Sirius and the announcers were saying that Baltimore did everything to win that game but benefited from a ton of Philly turnovers in the first half and were it not for those (two in the red zone I believe), that it could have been a rout. Also, they were saying that the defense played well but got no pass rush on Vick, not sure if that was by design or not. Either way, it isn't like they are the 2000 Ravens defensively, still plenty good but not freakishly so.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Not to be argumentative, but it doesn't get that much easier, at least not immediately anyway.

Week 3 AT Baltimore

Week 4 AT Buffalo

Week 5 vs Denver

Week 6 AT Seattle

Week 7 vs NYJ

Week 8 AT London against STL

It looks to me like there is a lot of traveling, with only 2 home games before the week 9 bye, and those are at home vs DEN and the NYJ, both of whom can be quite challenging to the best of TFB/NE teams.

I'm not saying that anyone should panic, but I'm not sure if I would take a lot of comfort that the schedule will allow us much of a growth period either.

I don't get it. We were all sitting here 2 weeks ago talking about the easy schedule. Now after 1 loss we all question it? If the pats play their game and execute they can beat every team on that list. Especially Buffalo, Denver and Seattle. Seattle may be tough but them beating up on the cowboys should be taken with a grain of salt here

For some reason though i just can't see balt losing 2 in a row especially going back home but who knows. Hope i am wrong

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Last season, after losing to NYG and Pittsburgh consecutively, the Patriots went into New York to play the Jets on a Sunday night. On the WEEI pregame show, Dale Arnold astutely pointed out, "the Patriots will win this game because by looking at it, they have no business doing so."

Even if the Patriots lose on Sunday to Baltimore and panic sets in, this will be the mentality I will take going into Buffalo.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Last season, after losing to NYG and Pittsburgh consecutively, the Patriots went into New York to play the Jets on a Sunday night. On the WEEI pregame show, Dale Arnold astutely pointed out, "the Patriots will win this game because by looking at it, they have no business doing so."

Even if the Patriots lose on Sunday to Baltimore and panic sets in, this will be the mentality I will take going into Buffalo.

This board will be unreadable if they lose on sunday which i think they will. But stranger things have happened. (yesterday )

 

[Kontradiction]

If we come out and execute on offense like we did yesterday, we are going to get crushed. The defense has played well through two games, but this is going to be the biggest test yet. Control the line of scrimmage and shrink Rice's interior running lanes and the front seven should be able to do enough on the defensive side of the ball to help the offense win it... should they be able to sustain a drive and not choke in the red zone.

And please, Bill, for the love of God bring back Branch or Gaffney or both.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

If we come out and execute on offense like we did yesterday, we are going to get crushed. The defense has played well through two games, but this is going to be the biggest test yet. Control the line of scrimmage and shrink Rice's interior running lanes and the front seven should be able to do enough on the defensive side of the ball to help the offense win it... should they be able to sustain a drive and not choke in the red zone.

And please, Bill, for the love of God bring back Branch or Gaffney or both.

yeah if they play like yesterday they will get crushed. I have a feeling they will play much better on O. But i am not sure it will be enough. If they come out saying they had a good week at practice..i will be much more confident.

 

[Kontradiction]

This board will be unreadable if they lose on sunday which i think they will. But stranger things have happened. (yesterday )

You've just made me feel very good about our chances. Think I'll put down $100 in Vegas on the Pats.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

Pats OL MUST step up and play well this week or it's going to be tough to win.

 

[condon84]

Brady typically struggles against top defenses like the one he had yesterday and the one he will see on this Sunday night.

However Brady has not had the talent behind him like he has with Ridley who is by far the best looking RB in NE since Dillon so maybe it's time to spread the run vs pass a bit closer and less on Brady carrying the team.......that's one of the reasons Brady and co. has come close but has not won a title since 2004.... He has had little to no running game,I think he has one now.

Any decent running game and the Pats would have won at LEAST one of those Super Bowls against NY.

I don't think you just put a good RB back there and expect to be good at running the ball. The line has to be able to block consistently. Even if we had Ridley back there, those Giants DL would still kick our OLs behind all over the place. Our OL isn't built for smashmouth football then and it isn't built for it now.

 

[condon84]

Last season, after losing to NYG and Pittsburgh consecutively, the Patriots went into New York to play the Jets on a Sunday night. On the WEEI pregame show, Dale Arnold astutely pointed out, "the Patriots will win this game because by looking at it, they have no business doing so."

Even if the Patriots lose on Sunday to Baltimore and panic sets in, this will be the mentality I will take going into Buffalo.

It's game 3 and we still have the best QB and the best HC in the league.

 

[ensoul]

I had the pats going 12-4 this year. Losses against the Ravens, 49'ers, texans and one WTF loss.

Well the WTF loss was yesterday, much sooner than expected. I predicted a loss against the Ravens and I am sticking with that. Ravens are not the monster defense of the past but they are still good and their offense is much improved.

Not that the Pats are happy after the loss but I think between what happened last season and what happened yesterday the Ravens will be out for blood. Have to stick with my original prediction that the ravens will win this game.

 

[Brady2Gronk]

This is a huge game and a win will do wonders for this team. I really hope the O shows up, bc if the D contines to play the way they are this team would be hard to stop.

 

[holyredeemer]

Our running game does well when defenses are anticipating a pass. We still don't have the OL that can open up holes when defenses know we are going to run. That was evident today. We just don't have those types of guys. I think it's silly to try to force them into becoming that kind of unit.

The offense we've been running the past few years has run roughshod against almost everyone in the league. We lost games not because of our offense, but because our defense couldn't get off the field. Now that we have a D that can give our O more opportunity, why change what worked on O?

This is a gamble that is unnecessary.

I have a hard time agreeing with you on this one. Ridley has had some great holes in obvious running situations through two games now, and if we hadn't gotten so far behind he would've easily had another 100 yd. game. We are changing back to who we "were" and who we were won Super Bowls. The team you wanna see hasn't done **** but racked up W's yr. after yr.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

A W there would be huge for them. But a loss isn't a season killer by any means. Not even close.

Anyone know how bad pollard is hurt?

 

[goheels22002]

A W there would be huge for them. But a loss isn't a season killer by any means. Not even close.

Anyone know how bad pollard is hurt?

Answer to your Pollard question is: Not as bad as we want.

As to the Ravens game itself, I think the Patriots will be getting chewed out all week long after the debacle in Foxboro and all the screw-ups.

The Ravens are going to have a very determined and fired up offense to contend with and this defense is way better than what they have seen from the Patriots in the last couple of years.

Patriots 24 - Ravens 21.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Answer to your Pollard question is: Not as bad as we want.

As to the Ravens game itself, I think the Patriots will be getting chewed out all week long after the debacle in Foxboro and all the screw-ups.

The Ravens are going to have a very determined and fired up offense to contend with and this defense is way better than what they have seen from the Patriots in the last couple of years.

Patriots 24 - Ravens 21.

i hope the pats are the underdogs in this game..i miss those games

 

[everlong]

Some early thoughts.

1. Conolly playing is huge. Ngata is a load and they're going to need their best guys on him.

2. Vollmer playing a full game is huge. Yes no Suggs but Kruger and Co can still get after it.

3. Baltimore is in the bottom third against both the pass and the run yet the top third in points. That's because they have 6 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 interceptions and a TD as a defense. Patriots must protect Brady and the ball.

4. Baltimore has a high YPG passing than NE and NE a higher YPG than Baltimore running the ball.

5. Bill likes to take away what teams do best. Normally that's Rice and probably still is but too much focus and Flaco might not be top tier but I think he's moved solidly into that next tier.

6. That fan-base is rabid to finally get the Patriots down there again. It's going to be beyond loud. I think back to the signals on the signs vs the Jets and pray we don't see that disaster again. Brady is going to have a really hard time audibling.

7. This is really the first time the Ravens have played the Pats when both teams are good when the Pats have a decent running game. Mixing the play calling will be huge. I pray Josh puts away all the draws, screens and pitches this week. Those types of plays don't work vs this defense. Ray might be old but he's smart. He sniffs that stuff out and make them negative plays.

8. Coming out running with some quick counts might be a smart idea to settle things down. The last few times against the Ravens it's seemed Brady was facing the swarm from the get-go and couldn't get into a grove.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Spy Flacço on the boot leg and stop ray rice.

15 targets to Pitta last game. Big part of flaccos emergence. Need to stop the wannabee Gronk.

I think Ridley will have success running ball.

Keep Brady clean.

Just a few thoughts for now.

 

[Big-T]

Ravens fans already hating on Dean Pees and his insistence on playing "cover 3 zones all game long"...that sounds familiar!