Watched the game again this morning.

[Stop Being A Jerk]

I don't know what happened to this team. The teams they've played recently aren't exactly great, but this defense made friggin' Kyle Boller and A.J. Feeley look like pro-bowl caliber players. This is not good, especially as the offense seems to have simultaneously regressed to a regular standard. I can't figure it out.

 

[letekro]

I don't have DVR but I guess I'm not missing much. Hobbs had the poor coverage on the TD in he EZ, but he was the last line of defense against the run a lot and he made those stops. Asante was MIA all evening except for when he was guessing wrong on a costly reception or whiffing against the run. But whatever, we'll just blame it all on Ellis because Asante is elite...the definition of which around here is he tends to clean up against crappy QB's. Off nite I guess.

You DO understand that it's a good thing when a cornerback is "MIA", don't you?

 

[sebman2112]

Really, do some of you people put blinders on while watching the games?


For the most part I thought it was a mixed bag for NE defensively.

You had Sanders coming up with that INT when Boller threw it right to him, but he also made a few bad plays.

Seymour burst through the line to make a nice play, and looked good a few times, but then he'd get completely shutdown on other snaps.

Mike Vrabel made a few nice tackles, but for the most part he wasn't that effective.

Bruschi had 12 total tackles, but let's just say a few of those came five or 10 yards downfield.

Seau made a few good plays (especially that tackle in the backfield), but like most of the Patriots defense, his game could have been better.

Asante's play not being outstanding at least four different times during that game helped lead to the Ravens offensive success. Samuel gave up a couple receptions he shouldn't have. He also took a bad angle on the sideline, which allowed the WR to put a move on Meriweather (Brandon then took his own bad angle). Samuel als took a bad angle when trying to come up in run support against Willis at least twice that I counted. He did have very good coverage on other plays, and he made some other nice plays against the run.
My point isn't to bash Samuel, it's simply to point out that his play also could have been better, and it doesn't seem his mistakes get mentioned as much around here.

Hobbs had his own share of bad plays, but he had to clean up for missed tackles by other players a few times. Did you see him pounding his fist off the turf? he was pissed because the Patriots LB's and Safeties continually tackled for sh*t, and he was the guy there to clean it up at least three times that I counted. Ellis also recorded a nice pass breakup, and showed some toughness when the came back on the field after leaving in what seemed to be extreme pain.

Meriweather like most rookie players made a few mistakes, but his being on the field a lot more in this game (especially during key plays) suggest those talking up recent wispers concerning Brandon might have been talking out of their respective ***es. This will sound strange, but early in the game I had this thought regarding Meriweather coming up with an important INT later in the game. When the ball was flying in towards Meriweather I was thinking "are you serious?" as I couldn't believe what I had though of just earlier was about to happen. Only, it didn't happen, as Brandon dropped the INT.:bricks: I'll say that he should have made the pick (duh), but at least he was on the field, and in the right place to make a play on the ball. In late game situations like that you're tought to knock it down (which Meriweather did), but I think his intent was to intercept that pass.


Rodney made a few nice plays in coverage/run support, but he got beat a few times, and washed out a few other times against the run.

Wilfork was getting double and triple teamed almost every play, which suggest some of the contentions from league sources of late were true. I've thought Vince was underrated but when I heard scouts and league insiders claim Vince was the Patriots best D-linemen I thought they might be incorrect. See, I've thought Seymour and Warren (to some extent) were better, even though I've always really liked Big Vince. All I know is the Patriots cannot allow Wilfork to hit free agency, as some scouts are starting to call him the best NT in the NFL, and great nose tackles aren't so easy to come by.

AD made six tackles, and one tackle for loss. A few times he got pressure on Kyle Boller from the edge, but kyle was able to avoid the sack, and get the ball out. The pressure was good as it could have forced Boller into a bad throw, but it would have been nice if those were sacks, not pressures. In pass coverage Adalius almost knocked down one of the Ravens TD passes, and Rodney started barking at him after the play. I watched that play three times, and I actually think both AD and Rodney should been in better position. Against the run Thomas made a few nice plays, and got washed out as well.


Now, in the fourth quarter the Patriots defense did turn it around a bit as they stopped the Ravens a few times, and Willis wasn't able to run them over nearly as much. So, again it was a mixed bag defensively. I'll add that I'm not used to seeing a Belichick led defense get pushed around like that, but hopefully they can get some of these issues fixed for the playoffs.

 

[sebman2112]

Apparantly you don't have a TV either.

Actually his post was quite accurate, sorry.

 

[OnTheHeights]

The three-man crew of Rodney, Junior and Tedy seem woefully slow when trying to defend the pass in the red zone, how many red zone passes this year have gone right between two of them as they flailed wildly?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

You DO understand that it's a good thing when a cornerback is "MIA", don't you?

Not when they're picking on you. They went after our all world corner last night, and he didn't make many plays. Gave up several.

 

[sebman2112]

Not when they're picking on you. They went after our all world corner last night, and he didn't make many plays. Gave up several.

Exactly, and it's nice that someone else on here had the sense to notice this. After the game coming on here and seeing people say "that game just proved how important Asante is", and that "NE should do what ever needed to resign him" kind of left me scratching my head. Yea, the guy is very important to the Patriots defense right now, but I doubt Asante believes that game to be among his better outings.

 

[mac]

The defense is getting god awful slow. I think the reason the defense is so bad in the redzone is due to that speed. The LB's don't have the "suddeness" or "quickness" to defend in space.

In my opinion thats what I see when offenses get down into the goaline area and run the quick ins and HB checkdowns. Teams are clearly attacking them in those areas. By the time the LB's get there the opposing offenses have gained 6-7-8 yards.

To me, the constant use of zone is the problem. Receivers are never pressed or bumped and can find gaps rather easily. Why not man up?

 

[Slagathor]

Really, do some of you people put blinders on while watching the games?


For the most part I thought it was a mixed bag for NE defensively.

You had Sanders coming up with that INT when Boller threw it right to him, but he also made a few bad plays.

Seymour burst through the line to make a nice play, and looked good a few times, but then he'd get completely shutdown on other snaps.

Mike Vrabel made a few nice tackles, but for the most part he wasn't that effective.

Bruschi had 12 total tackles, but let's just say a few of those came five or 10 yards downfield.

Seau made a few good plays (especially that tackle in the backfield), but like most of the Patriots defense, his game could have been better.

Asante's play not being outstanding at least four different times during that game helped lead to the Ravens offensive success. Samuel gave up a couple receptions he shouldn't have. He also took a bad angle on the sideline, which allowed the WR to put a move on Meriweather (Brandon then took his own bad angle). Samuel als took a bad angle when trying to come up in run support against Willis at least twice that I counted. He did have very good coverage on other plays, and he made some other nice plays against the run.
My point isn't to bash Samuel, it's simply to point out that his play also could have been better, and it doesn't seem his mistakes get mentioned as much around here.

Hobbs had his own share of bad plays, but he had to clean up for missed tackles by other players a few times. Did you see him pounding his fist off the turf? he was pissed because the Patriots LB's and Safeties continually tackled for sh*t, and he was the guy there to clean it up at least three times that I counted. Ellis also recorded a nice pass breakup, and showed some toughness when the came back on the field after leaving in what seemed to be extreme pain.

Meriweather like most rookie players made a few mistakes, but his being on the field a lot more in this game (especially during key plays) suggest those talking up recent wispers concerning Brandon might have been talking out of their respective ***es. This will sound strange, but early in the game I had this thought regarding Meriweather coming up with an important INT later in the game. When the ball was flying in towards Meriweather I was thinking "are you serious?" as I couldn't believe what I had though of just earlier was about to happen. Only, it didn't happen, as Brandon dropped the INT.:bricks: I'll say that he should have made the pick (duh), but at least he was on the field, and in the right place to make a play on the ball. In late game situations like that you're tought to knock it down (which Meriweather did), but I think his intent was to intercept that pass.


Rodney made a few nice plays in coverage/run support, but he got beat a few times, and washed out a few other times against the run.

Wilfork was getting double and triple teamed almost every play, which suggest some of the contentions from league sources of late were true. I've thought Vince was underrated but when I heard scouts and league insiders claim Vince was the Patriots best D-linemen I thought they might be incorrect. See, I've thought Seymour and Warren (to some extent) were better, even though I've always really liked Big Vince. All I know is the Patriots cannot allow Wilfork to hit free agency, as some scouts are starting to call him the best NT in the NFL, and great nose tackles aren't so easy to come by.

AD made six tackles, and one tackle for loss. A few times he got pressure on Kyle Boller from the edge, but kyle was able to avoid the sack, and get the ball out. The pressure was good as it could have forced Boller into a bad throw, but it would have been nice if those were sacks, not pressures. In pass coverage Adalius almost knocked down one of the Ravens TD passes, and Rodney started barking at him after the play. I watched that play three times, and I actually think both AD and Rodney should been in better position. Against the run Thomas made a few nice plays, and got washed out as well.


Now, in the fourth quarter the Patriots defense did turn it around a bit as they stopped the Ravens a few times, and Willis wasn't able to run them over nearly as much. So, again it was a mixed bag defensively. I'll add that I'm not used to seeing a Belichick led defense get pushed around like that, but hopefully they can get some of these issues fixed for the playoffs.

Better blinders than blind. Most of your post is repeating everything I said.

Harrison's defense against the run in the 4th qtr is why we won.

Why do some folks post crap like this. They accuse folks of not watching the game correctly and then sound like fools.

 

[aluminum seats]

In late game situations like that you're tought to knock it down (which Meriweather did), but I think his intent was to intercept that pass.

Unless he was trying to knock it down with his stomach, yeah, I think he was trying to intercept it.