Look, they got off to a horrendous start. And overall, the numbers aren't terribly pretty. But a closer look might give us a little different spin on things.
First, the horrific start. Baltimore's first two drives, 16 plays, 150 yards, two touchdowns. Good grief. So at the 4:44 mark of the first quarter, 11:16 had been played and the Ravens' offense was *dominating* the Patriots' defense.
But after that, the Patriots allowed, over the next 49:44 of game time, just 283 yards of offense (not counting a few penalties, which we'll get to). After Flacco went 9-10 for 99 yards, 2 td, 0 int in those first two drives, he went 19-35 (54.3%), 193 yds, 2 td, 2 int after that. HUGE, HUGE difference.
Over the last 49:44, the Patriots allowed just 17 points and those 283 yards of offense. Of those 17, 7 came largely thanks to a terrible Patriots' turnover (the Brady INT) and a very, very sketchy pass interference call against Revis.
Moreover, the Pats' D made at least five HUGE plays over that stretch:
- Chung knocking the ball away from Daniels in the end zone, forcing a Ravens FG instead of a TD.
- McCourty's interception of Flacco.
- Harmon's interception of Flacco at the end.
- Collins' strip sack of Flacco. That one got called back because of the holding call on Revis, but still, the Pats' defense did make a huge play.
- The Hail Mary knock away, especially the part where Ryan knocked Torrey Smith to the ground, preventing him from getting the rebound (not sure he would have gotten to it anyway, but still, great play by Ryan).
I know over the entire game this wasn't the defense's best effort, but maybe rust was a huge factor early, and after that, they really came to play.
All in all, I think the defense played better than it sure felt like they did.
Baltimore's last 4 drives of the game (not counting the Hail Mary):
- 3 plays, -1 yards, punt
- 2 plays, 2 yards, interception
- 16 plays, 73 yards, field goal
- 9 plays, 53 yards, interception
While the Ravens, over the last 25:22, were mustering 3 points, the Patriots scored 21, taking them from a 28-14 deficit to a 35-31 victory.
The defense, when it mattered most, came up big.
*Note, on the two key penalties on Revis. First, the PI. I think it was a very tough call on him. He *clearly* earned the inside position, having run the route better than the receiver did. And Smith more pushed Revis than Revis pushed him. A very tough call on Revis that I think could have gone either way but which he gets 99% of the time, as he should. Second, on the holding that negated the huge Collins strip sack of Flacco…definitely held him. But what pisses me off about that call is that they didn't call the holding or PI on Moseley when he grabbed *both* of Gronk's arms preventing him from catching the ball in the 3rd quarter, NOR did they call Webb for any penalty at all when LaFell ran a route to the right and Webb literally wrapped both arms around him in a hug. So yes, Revis held, but when they call that but don't call the others, it's a lot harder to take.
Take away those two penalties (like when they swallowed the flags on the Moseley and Webb plays), and the Pats' defense not only doesn't give up points at the end of the first half, they also deny the Ravens the field goal in the fourth quarter (that's 10 points), AND they basically give the Pats' offense a touchdown, since the ball would have been at the 3 yard line (+7 for the Pats). So those two penalties - neither of which could have been called based on the non-flags on Ravens' defenders on far more egregious plays - cost the Patriots 17 points yesterday.
First, the horrific start. Baltimore's first two drives, 16 plays, 150 yards, two touchdowns. Good grief. So at the 4:44 mark of the first quarter, 11:16 had been played and the Ravens' offense was *dominating* the Patriots' defense.
But after that, the Patriots allowed, over the next 49:44 of game time, just 283 yards of offense (not counting a few penalties, which we'll get to). After Flacco went 9-10 for 99 yards, 2 td, 0 int in those first two drives, he went 19-35 (54.3%), 193 yds, 2 td, 2 int after that. HUGE, HUGE difference.
Over the last 49:44, the Patriots allowed just 17 points and those 283 yards of offense. Of those 17, 7 came largely thanks to a terrible Patriots' turnover (the Brady INT) and a very, very sketchy pass interference call against Revis.
Moreover, the Pats' D made at least five HUGE plays over that stretch:
- Chung knocking the ball away from Daniels in the end zone, forcing a Ravens FG instead of a TD.
- McCourty's interception of Flacco.
- Harmon's interception of Flacco at the end.
- Collins' strip sack of Flacco. That one got called back because of the holding call on Revis, but still, the Pats' defense did make a huge play.
- The Hail Mary knock away, especially the part where Ryan knocked Torrey Smith to the ground, preventing him from getting the rebound (not sure he would have gotten to it anyway, but still, great play by Ryan).
I know over the entire game this wasn't the defense's best effort, but maybe rust was a huge factor early, and after that, they really came to play.
All in all, I think the defense played better than it sure felt like they did.
Baltimore's last 4 drives of the game (not counting the Hail Mary):
- 3 plays, -1 yards, punt
- 2 plays, 2 yards, interception
- 16 plays, 73 yards, field goal
- 9 plays, 53 yards, interception
While the Ravens, over the last 25:22, were mustering 3 points, the Patriots scored 21, taking them from a 28-14 deficit to a 35-31 victory.
The defense, when it mattered most, came up big.
*Note, on the two key penalties on Revis. First, the PI. I think it was a very tough call on him. He *clearly* earned the inside position, having run the route better than the receiver did. And Smith more pushed Revis than Revis pushed him. A very tough call on Revis that I think could have gone either way but which he gets 99% of the time, as he should. Second, on the holding that negated the huge Collins strip sack of Flacco…definitely held him. But what pisses me off about that call is that they didn't call the holding or PI on Moseley when he grabbed *both* of Gronk's arms preventing him from catching the ball in the 3rd quarter, NOR did they call Webb for any penalty at all when LaFell ran a route to the right and Webb literally wrapped both arms around him in a hug. So yes, Revis held, but when they call that but don't call the others, it's a lot harder to take.
Take away those two penalties (like when they swallowed the flags on the Moseley and Webb plays), and the Pats' defense not only doesn't give up points at the end of the first half, they also deny the Ravens the field goal in the fourth quarter (that's 10 points), AND they basically give the Pats' offense a touchdown, since the ball would have been at the 3 yard line (+7 for the Pats). So those two penalties - neither of which could have been called based on the non-flags on Ravens' defenders on far more egregious plays - cost the Patriots 17 points yesterday.
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