Ridley Fumbles - Let's not let facts get in the way

[RayClay]

And of course the reason Ridley's stands out amongst the 11 fumbles is he somehow once again manages to fumble in the most cinematic and fantastic ways possible. OF COURSE his fumble is the one that balleticly soars through the air to be picked up by a Denver All Pro defender and returned for his TD.

And while his ball security is preventable, there is simply no way to blame Ridley for the post-fumble results like that, and unfortunately they just further magnify the error.

I hope he gets it together. He's going to be a very good RB for some team in this league. To those who think fumbles aside he is still an average RB, I don't know what to tell you.

If he was average, why would be having this conversation?

 

[RayClay]

I don't understand why Blount is getting free pass he has two fumbles lost this season one of which could have cost us the Bengals game, all I know is if you're going to petition in here Ridley to be cut or traded you should be writing a duplicate post for Blount who has more career fumbles total and lost then Ridley despite having less career carries.

Do you thin Blount was using poor technique when he fumbled last night?

 

[reflexblue]

Ridleys a very talented RB, but its gotten to the point that one: its become a psychological thing with him. Like the pitcher or second baseman that can't throw to first without it being an adventure;
Second: teams are focusing on stripping him more than lets say Bolden or Vareen.

 

[MassPats38]

I don't understand why Blount is getting free pass he has two fumbles lost this season one of which could have cost us the Bengals game, all I know is if you're going to petition in here Ridley to be cut or traded you should be writing a duplicate post for Blount who has more career fumbles total and lost then Ridley despite having less career carries.

I think the cut or traded thing is goofy. Ridley is going nowhere. The question now is when or if he plays for the Pats with this issue. He is hurting rather than helping the team win right now.

Ridley let the ball fall away from his body and it flew upwards with the direction and speed of the defender hitting him (that was not a launch type hit, so when the ball flies up in the air it is not being gripped very tightly). Blount looked like he got knocked out and the ball fell freely to the ground as Blount fell.

I am not sure Blount was kept out because of the fact he took that hit and still looked groggy on the bench. There is no physical way to avoid that fumble if you are unconscious. If Ridley fumbles because he gets knocked out, then he will get a pass on the fumble. Tolerance drops when you are not holding the ball correctly and have fumbled in two prior games, having cost the Pats 14 points in prior games as a result of your fumbles.

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

Sorry if others have mentioned it already, but what bothers me is that he did it last night early in the game after such a big fumble last week. He should have been extra careful last night.

I don't know the first thing about proper technique. Whatever is proper technique, though, what he was doing on the fumble last night looked really wrong to me -- it looked like he was just begging to have it fumbled.

My uneducated view on what he does is that he holds it pretty unsecurely away from his body when he thinks he's in the clear, and then he tries to secure it when he thinks he's going to get hit. That causes problems in situations like last night, where someone basically missed a block, so contact came before Ridley was ready for it, and he was still holding the darned thing like a loaf of bread.

 

[moosekill]

Do you thin Blount was using poor technique when he fumbled last night?

I thought of Blount's fumble last night, just like I thought of Ridley's fumble against the Ravens last year. If you get knocked out it simply is luck if you hit the ground before, or after the ball comes loose.

I did not think that way about Ridley's fumble last night, or most all of his fumbles this year.

I still haven't gotten the hate people here have for Blount anyway, he seems to be a damn good runner, and much better than Bolden. My guess is we will see lots more of him for the next couple weeks. So long as he holds onto the damn rock.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I thought of Blount's fumble last night, just like I thought of Ridley's fumble against the Ravens last year. If you get knocked out it simply is luck if you hit the ground before, or after the ball comes loose.

I did not think that way about Ridley's fumble last night, or most all of his fumbles this year.

I still haven't gotten the hate people here have for Blount anyway, he seems to be a damn good runner, and much better than Bolden. My guess is we will see lots more of him for the next couple weeks. So long as he holds onto the damn rock.

The hate is that Blount has fumbled twice in 82 carries here and for his career he fumbles once every 48 touches. His ball security skills are sub-standard.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I don't understand why Blount is getting free pass he has two fumbles lost this season one of which could have cost us the Bengals game, all I know is if you're going to petition in here Ridley to be cut or traded you should be writing a duplicate post for Blount who has more career fumbles total and lost then Ridley despite having less career carries.

Blount got a bad headache at best and a concussion at the worst last night which is likely why he never came back.

 

[TriplecHamp]

VS

I chose Frank Gore because I feel him and Ridley have very similar running styles. Frank knows how to run through traffic and how to protect the ball at the point of contact. Ridley seems to always have 1 hand on the ball in high volume areas whereas Gore has 2 when he knows he's about to be hit. There are instances where 2 hands aren't necessary, Ridley seems to feel like this is all the time though.

 

[Nunchucks]

After Ridley's benching the first time, he came back with 2 hands on the ball, that didn't last, obviously.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

let's hope the coaching staff works with him and his career turns out like Kevin Faulk. I remember being frustrated with KF when he first came up, he always seemed to put the ball on the ground but they worked with him and he ended up being one of the most dependable players with the ball.

 

[Fencer]

The Patriots seem to have gotten Kevin Faulk over this problem and he was notorious for this early on. Maybe they should ask Kevin to coach Ridley.

Different running style, I think. He may need to rebuild his style almost how a batter or golfer rebuilds his swing. That's why I suggested splitting the rebuild -- have him change up a lot of what he does when plowing into the line, while leaving his style alone for when he's running at full speed.

 

[Bella*chick]

Stevan Ridley Says He Will Consult Kevin Faulk to Try to Fix Fumbling Issues | New England Patriots | NESN.com

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

When should hold our verdict until the end of the season. Yes he has a fumbling problem, but we don't have anyone better than him right now. He has that burst that the other backs lack, at the same time we can depend on him too much in January we when really have to pound the ball.

 

[Mark.]

Stevan Ridley Says He Will Consult Kevin Faulk to Try to Fix Fumbling Issues | New England Patriots | NESN.com

Hope Kevin can help him-he drove me crazy early in his career, but was able to fix it and became one of my favorite Patriots.

 

[CelticPatriot]

Anyone see his interview on Patriots.com? He looked really really pissed/depressed

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Anyone see his interview on Patriots.com? He looked really really pissed/depressed

Not surprising, he seems like a good guy. Hopefully he can address the issue.

 

[RayClay]

Stevan Ridley Says He Will Consult Kevin Faulk to Try to Fix Fumbling Issues | New England Patriots | NESN.com

Good. Willingness to address the problem and the camaraderie of a fellow LSU player who had a worse problem.

Different styles, but there's no doubt Faulk worked through this and saved his career.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I am not sure Blount was kept out because of the fact he took that hit and still looked groggy on the bench. There is no physical way to avoid that fumble if you are unconscious. If Ridley fumbles because he gets knocked out, then he will get a pass on the fumble. Tolerance drops when you are not holding the ball correctly and have fumbled in two prior games, having cost the Pats 14 points in prior games as a result of your fumbles.

And that's the key difference. Ridley's fumble was because of carelessness after making a flashy spin move. Blount's fumble was because he was basically knocked out on his feet. The latter is a lot more excusable, not to mention that Ridley has fumbled 3 games in a row and that was Blount's first in that same time span.

I'm not sure what to do with Ridley, but I think he needs to ride the bench for at least 1 game. He cannot be our starter next week, or he won't get the message. Ridley's mistakes could end up costing us close, winnable football games.

 

[Nunchucks]

And that's the key difference. Ridley's fumble was because of carelessness after making a flashy spin move. Blount's fumble was because he was basically knocked out on his feet. The latter is a lot more excusable, not to mention that Ridley has fumbled 3 games in a row and that was Blount's first in that same time span.

I'm not sure what to do with Ridley, but I think he needs to ride the bench for at least 1 game. He cannot be our starter next week, or he won't get the message. Ridley's mistakes could end up costing us close, winnable football games.

Like the Panthers game, oh, he already cost the patriots a game.