The Official Pats Ravens AFCCG Post Game Thread

[chasa]

I don't really see how you blame Ridley for that fumble. Dude got knocked out.

What boggled my mind was the scarce use of Vereen. Now that was inexplicable.

he wasn't doing anything before that fumble either.

 

[jnug]

The Pats did not execute cause it is not a team that should execute in those sorts of circumstances. This is not an issue of a team having an off night. The kind of team you are going to face the deeper into the playoffs you go is the kind of team that is going to expose your weaknesses. If they are deep weaknesses then you get exposed like the Pats got exposed last night.

Ours....an offense first oriented team with only one real offensive threat, an offensive threat much exposed to injury potential because of the position he plays and no answers if he is out. Welker is past it....Lloyd is just another version of what the Pats have always had. Good defenses can hone in on Hernandez and its over for the Pats. More use of Vereen might have helped but I doubt it. Just another one of those things that BB has just been to stubborn about. Either he gets with it or does not.

Just like the DB's...either he stops drafting these cookie cutter DB's that are all a bunch of dwarfs or he does not. The one athlete he had back there he had to get on a mid-season deal...(how often do you get a chance to bail out that way) and once Talib went down, our DB's went right back to what they were before he came...only now in a post season game.

So the only reason I am contesting this "execution" thing is because it makes it appear that if this cast of characters just played better, they would have won. This "team" did what it was destined to do against good competition. Either BB stops being so stubborn about some of this stuff or this same scenario already repeated more times than I want to think about will just be repeated over and over again.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

I don't really see how you blame Ridley for that fumble. Dude got knocked out.

What boggled my mind was the scarce use of Vereen. Now that was inexplicable.

Maybe it was just my perception, but it felt like they didn't use PA much at all this game. It seemed like the book was out that PA and misdirection are very effective against the Ravens, but it felt like the Pats used such plays on fewer than 10 of their 82 snaps.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

Ridley was down before he fumbled. Refs f'd the call up, probably because they knew he was knocked out and probably figured he lost control of the ball when he lost consciousness. I disagree. The ball popped out of hand when his leg hit the ground and forced it up into the ball.

 

[jnug]

Jeez was this game not lost long before the Ridley play or not? This game effectively swung when the ball slipped through Welkers hands. You have to have experienced it to understand what those kinds of momentum swings mean to a football team....both sides of the ball....the whole football team.

 

[sambam94]

^ I agree...how can it not be down by contact when his leg is on the ground...don't know why this isn't being discussed more.

 

[harrylime70]

One word: Gutted

Just managed to watch the re-run of the game (without knowing the score) as I was in the air between London and Singapore during the game. Felt the Ravens were the better team and deserved the W. It was hard to pinpoint any real blame. Obviously there were a few errors (clock management end of half) and a bit of bad luck (the Ridley fumble), but once again the opponent just had more intensity on the night.

Regardless of the above, I am deeply disappointed with the loss as it was another big chance to get that fourth ring TB/BB deserve. The window is closing and it will be devastating if they retire without another one after the two SB losses that really swung on a couple of miracle throws and catches. It is unthinkable as a Pats fan that we will not get another ring in this era but time is slowly catching up to us.

Anyway, maybe its a combination of the post match disappointment (that you all suffered hours ago) and jet-lag that is making me feel this way. We have every chance next year if we can stay injury free in key positions and continue to improve our secondary. However, we also know that things have to fall into place during January (Ravens, NYG, Green Bay etc) to get that tiny bit extra that is needed to be Champions.

Fingers crossed for next year and a pat on the back for the great support you have all given the team this season. Enjoy the off season if you can.

 

[jnug]

OK so since nobody is willing to give this up let me make it easy for you. Overturn requires that the official see enough to DEFINITIVELY overturn the call made on the field at that time. I actually think that even the league treats replay in error. There is to much reliance on replay when in fact the requirement that the call can only be made based on evidence that is definitive and conclusive still means plays can fall on either side of the fence regardless of what we might see on the replay itself. So in this case you are asking the official to say DEFINITIVELY that Ridley was not losing his grasp of the ball as he was losing control of his limbs as his mind went black from the hit. Did Ridley still have his hand on the ball...no question....could you say without question that his hand had control of the ball....no way. The ball could just have easily been cradled their in his hand with that hand have as little control over the ball as a pedestal would have if the football was resting atop it.

This is the flaw in the way the NFL uses replay. The league is really relying on replay a great deal these days but the way the rule is written, the evidence must be conclusive that the wrong call was made....it must be conclusive. As long as the rule is written that way, I don't see how the official could have overturned the call made on the field.

I think it if had not been ruled a fumble on the field and Hargrove threw his red flag calling for a replay the official again would have been left unable to overturn that call either.

 

[Seacoast Fan]

Just got back from the Razor...sat four rows back...big thanx to Seacoast fan for getting me this tremendous seat.

My take is simply that the Ravens took the game over on OUR field...they piunched the Pats in the mouth and the Pats never got up off the mat.

Talib's injury really changed the way they played their D going forward but the Pats left too many plays out there tonight...too many drops on sure big gains...again, outplayed...the Ravens were the better team tonight...no excuses

I agree with Jokers take on the game... Not surprising since he honed his theory during the game and shared it with everyone within 20 rows
The only good thing for me that came out of the game was meeting Joker and hanging out with him....a lot of fun and for those of you wondering...he talks just like he posts....funny comments interspersed with insightful commentary mixed in with a "go screw " attitude. :rocker:
I will say, there was a post in the other forum about how pats fans at game gave up early and got out yelled by ravens fans . That was definitely not true in our section, at least not up until the last two minutes.
Also some dubious play calling on both sides....didn't like a lot of those 3rd and two play calls and the lack of creative (or just vanilla) blitzing.

 

[jnug]

I agree for the most part Seacoast Fan. The Welker drop gave the Ravens all the evidence they needed that their defensive "plan" going into this game was sound, well thought out and was working and they never looked back from there.

Had the Ravens started throwing heavy as soon as Talib left the game the end score would likely have been even more lopsided. But once Welker dropped that ball, the air went out of the Pats balloon and went without a lost molecule into the Ravens balloon. Everybody could have gone home at that point cause the Pats were toast and the Ravens were on the way to the SB.

 

[NYinFL]

3 Super Bowls = SPYGATE. Cheaters are eventually exposed; Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, etc. It's much more difficult to win when you don't have the edge that you had in the past. There is an asterisk attached to the Patriots rings. It's over.

 

[ensoul]

Now that it has been a little under 24 hours I am less bothered by the loss and more by the fact that the season is over. God it goes by so quickly. I look forward to Sundays watching the games with friends and family. Now there is nothing on Sundays.

Not a Bruins fan and I think that Baseball is about a much fun as sitting in church. I am a celtics fan but they kind of suck this year.

I dunno, this is just the worst time of the year for me, no football on Sundays and cold weather in MA the next 4 months.

 

[terabthia2]

The following people can all go f*** themselves:

Terrell Suggs
Bernard Pollard
Ray Lewis
Shannon Sharpe
Boomer Esiason
Bob Costas

There. I feel better.

 

[Urgent]

Tough loss.

A lot really comes down to turnovers.

The Pats feasted on turnovers all year. Then they made three last night, and didn't force any.

The Patriots had more payardage - 428 to 356 for Baltimore.
They ran more plays.
They had more first downs.
More yards per play.

How did the Ravens succeed, given all those deficits?
Turnovers. The Ravens forced three turnovers.

Clearly the loss of Gronkowski, Jones, Talib, and Ridley were huge.
But had there been an even tally on turnovers, the outcome could have been quite different.

 

[DocHoliday]

In the CBS broadcast Simms said Harbaugh told him they had figured out the keys and words for the Pats no huddle.

If true it further damns the reliance of the O on things like this.

 

[blackglass3]

In the CBS broadcast Simms said Harbaugh told him they had figured out the keys and words for the Pats no huddle.

If true it further damns the reliance of the O on things like this.

So Harbaugh stole our audible signals? That is illegal, isn't it?

 

[jnug]

In the first place Harbaugh did not say they stole them. He said they figured them out. As long as you do not use means that are banned by the league you are welcome to figure out whatever you can figure out.