Do the Pats have a second half problem?

[letekro]

Until further notice (hopefully, Monday Night/Tuesday Morning) the Pats also have a ROAD problem.

 

[mayoclinic]

We seem to have a 3rd quarter problem more than a 2nd half problem.

- Buffalo: Pats down 14-10 at the half, score 0 points in the 3rd quarter.

- Jets: Pats up 9-7 at the half (putting up 197 yards in offense but settling for 3 field goals on 3 long drives and killing another with an interception), but are shut out in the 2nd half. The generate just 42 yards of offense in the 3rd quarter and never get past the Jets 45 yard line, killing themselves with 25 yards worth of penalties (2 delays of game, and a 15 yard face mask) on the last series. In the 4th quarter they generate just 59 yards of offense, and never get the ball past their own 38.

- Atlanta: Pats up 13-10 at the half, score only 3 3rd quarter points before putting the game away with 10 points in the 4th.

- Baltimore: Pats up 17-7 at the half and dominant, let the Ravens back in the game in the 3rd quarter on a Terrell Suggs sack of Brady leading to a fumble and a TD. Pats respond with a 3rd quarter TD. In the 4th quarter the Pats drive to the Baltimore 9 and then are lucky to get 3 points out of the drive after a fake punt is nullifed on a motion penalty. Pats have to hold off the Ravens in the last seconds to pull out a win that should have been iced long before.

- Denver: Pats dominate the first half and are up 17-7, but again score 0 2nd half points on the road, eventually falling in overtime. Pats give up 424 yards to a very average Bronco's offense, 268 of it coming in the 2nd half. Pats mount only 2 drives in the second half: one in the 3rd quarter results in a Stefan Gostkowski missed 40 yard field goal; one late in the 4th quarter is killed by an Elvis Dumervil sack of Tom Brady resulting in a fumble.

- Tennessee: Game over well before halftime, with the Pats up 45-0. Pats score only 14 2nd half points, but it's irrelevant. Pats generate 619 yards total offense. Could have been 72-0.

- Tampa Bay: Pats lead 21-7 at the half, shut out the Bucs in the 2nd half. Score one TD in each of the last 2 quarters. 2nd half largely irrelevant.

- Miami: Pats lead 16-10 at the half after blowing multiple red zone opportunities, then let the Phish take the lead 17-16 in the 3rd quarter before putting the game away and winning 27-17.

- Indianapolis: Pats threaten to pull away in the 2nd quarter, lead 24-14 at the half. Scoreless 3rd quarter with drives killed by a TB interception and a Maroney fumble inside the Colts 1 yard line. Pats put 10 points on the board in the 4th quarter and lead by 17 with 12 minutes left, but the defense gets soft again and gives up 21 4th quarter points to the Colts. Pats blow another red zone opportunity to ice the game, settling for 3 points. Colts win, 35-34. Pats put up 477 total yards, but get only 183 in the second half.

- Jets: Pats again threaten to pull away, up 24-0, but let the Jets back in the game with a blocked punt for a TD. Gostkowski misses an easy 39 yard FG attempt at the buzzer. Pats come out soft again in the 3rd quarter and allow the Jets their only drive of the game, narrowing the lead to 10 points before interceptions by Bodden (#3 of the game) and Meriweather allow the Pats to put it out of reach. The offense puts up 31 points and 410 total yards, but misses several opportunites. Pats go scoreless in the 3rd quarter, gaining only 46 total yards, and gets only 131 out of 410 total yards in the 2nd half. Jets put up 226 total yards, but get 183 of them in the 2nd half.

We've trailed at the half in only 1 game, the opener to Buffalo. Clearly the second half has been much weaker than the first this year. But the 3rd quarter has been particularly poor. We've scored 0 points against Buffalo, Denver, Indy and the Jets in the 3rd quarter, and have never only once scored more than 8 points in the 3rd quarter in any of our 10 games so far (14 against Tennessee, with the game already out of reach). We've several times allowed teams back into the game (Baltimore, Miami) with soft defense.

Totally unacceptable. What must be going on at halftime?

 

[tombonneau]

I think its the lack of a running game which is the cause for our 2nd half woes. We have been trying to have long sustained drives, by buring clock, but we dont have the running game to do that so that is the cause for our 2nd half woes. I think once we get Morris, Taylor, Neal and Light back our running game will improve and we can now put games away in the 2nd half but having long drives that eat up a ton of time and punch it in the end zone.

I would argue that it isn't so much a lack of a running game, as an obstinate decision to run 50% of the time out of the shotgun.

I'd love to see when they get a lead the Pats line up in an I and run some good old fashioned football plays. Toss. Off tackle. Playaction. Waggle. But even with 20 point leads they are in the shotgun spread which seriously limits your options, especially in the run game.

 

[aluminum seats]

When you're up by 3 scores going into the 2nd half, 7-7 isn't a tie.

The second half was played to a tie even if the Pats were ahead by 100. Look, it doesn't mean that they lost--they didn't, obviously. The point is, the Jets suck, and it's important come playoff time to put teams away, to control the second half. The stats are just the foundation here......actually watching the game, there was a different feeling, to me, in the 2nd half than what I had in the 1st half. The Jets got to within 10, and if their quarterback wasn't terrible, they could have made a game of it. When you're up 24-0, that shouldn't happen.

 

[PaulThePat]

I blame that bum Brady. If we'd kept Cassel we'd be racking up 30 points in the second half of every game. What was Bill thinking about letting Matt go to KC

 

[Patspsycho]

I do. Do you really expect a team thats up 49-0 at the half to score just as many points in the 2nd half? How about 24-7? Theres no need to go out and beat teams by 60 points. You score enough to put the game away, and then you kill the clock.

Tell that to BB. I'm sure he'll agree with you about taking your foot off the gas at all.

 

[Synovia]

The second half was played to a tie .

No, it wasn't. The goal in the 2nd half isn't to score as many points as possible. Its to end the game while you still have a lead. IE, a drive that goes 35 yards and eats up 6:00 of the clock is a good one, despite the fact that it doesn't get you anything near the end zone.

 

[Patspsycho]

We seem to have a 3rd quarter problem more than a 2nd half problem.

- Buffalo: Pats down 14-10 at the half, score 0 points in the 3rd quarter.

- Jets: Pats up 9-7 at the half (putting up 197 yards in offense but settling for 3 field goals on 3 long drives and killing another with an interception), but are shut out in the 2nd half. The generate just 42 yards of offense in the 3rd quarter and never get past the Jets 45 yard line, killing themselves with 25 yards worth of penalties (2 delays of game, and a 15 yard face mask) on the last series. In the 4th quarter they generate just 59 yards of offense, and never get the ball past their own 38.

- Atlanta: Pats up 13-10 at the half, score only 3 3rd quarter points before putting the game away with 10 points in the 4th.

- Baltimore: Pats up 17-7 at the half and dominant, let the Ravens back in the game in the 3rd quarter on a Terrell Suggs sack of Brady leading to a fumble and a TD. Pats respond with a 3rd quarter TD. In the 4th quarter the Pats drive to the Baltimore 9 and then are lucky to get 3 points out of the drive after a fake punt is nullifed on a motion penalty. Pats have to hold off the Ravens in the last seconds to pull out a win that should have been iced long before.

- Denver: Pats dominate the first half and are up 17-7, but again score 0 2nd half points on the road, eventually falling in overtime. Pats give up 424 yards to a very average Bronco's offense, 268 of it coming in the 2nd half. Pats mount only 2 drives in the second half: one in the 3rd quarter results in a Stefan Gostkowski missed 40 yard field goal; one late in the 4th quarter is killed by an Elvis Dumervil sack of Tom Brady resulting in a fumble.

- Tennessee: Game over well before halftime, with the Pats up 45-0. Pats score only 14 2nd half points, but it's irrelevant. Pats generate 619 yards total offense. Could have been 72-0.

- Tampa Bay: Pats lead 21-7 at the half, shut out the Bucs in the 2nd half. Score one TD in each of the last 2 quarters. 2nd half largely irrelevant.

- Miami: Pats lead 16-10 at the half after blowing multiple red zone opportunities, then let the Phish take the lead 17-16 in the 3rd quarter before putting the game away and winning 27-17.

- Indianapolis: Pats threaten to pull away in the 2nd quarter, lead 24-14 at the half. Scoreless 3rd quarter with drives killed by a TB interception and a Maroney fumble inside the Colts 1 yard line. Pats put 10 points on the board in the 4th quarter and lead by 17 with 12 minutes left, but the defense gets soft again and gives up 21 4th quarter points to the Colts. Pats blow another red zone opportunity to ice the game, settling for 3 points. Colts win, 35-34. Pats put up 477 total yards, but get only 183 in the second half.

- Jets: Pats again threaten to pull away, up 24-0, but let the Jets back in the game with a blocked punt for a TD. Gostkowski misses an easy 39 yard FG attempt at the buzzer. Pats come out soft again in the 3rd quarter and allow the Jets their only drive of the game, narrowing the lead to 10 points before interceptions by Bodden (#3 of the game) and Meriweather allow the Pats to put it out of reach. The offense puts up 31 points and 410 total yards, but misses several opportunites. Pats go scoreless in the 3rd quarter, gaining only 46 total yards, and gets only 131 out of 410 total yards in the 2nd half. Jets put up 226 total yards, but get 183 of them in the 2nd half.

We've trailed at the half in only 1 game, the opener to Buffalo. Clearly the second half has been much weaker than the first this year. But the 3rd quarter has been particularly poor. We've scored 0 points against Buffalo, Denver, Indy and the Jets in the 3rd quarter, and have never only once scored more than 8 points in the 3rd quarter in any of our 10 games so far (14 against Tennessee, with the game already out of reach). We've several times allowed teams back into the game (Baltimore, Miami) with soft defense.

Totally unacceptable. What must be going on at halftime?

Great analysis.. that about captures it perfectly.

 

[The Dynasty]

I would argue that it isn't so much a lack of a running game, as an obstinate decision to run 50% of the time out of the shotgun.

I'd love to see when they get a lead the Pats line up in an I and run some good old fashioned football plays. Toss. Off tackle. Playaction. Waggle. But even with 20 point leads they are in the shotgun spread which seriously limits your options, especially in the run game.

I dont think we ran the ball much out of the shotgun yesterday, I could be wrong though.

 

[Synovia]

The point is, the Jets suck, and it's important come playoff time to put teams away, to control the second half.

Are you arguing that they didn't do that, because to me, thats exactly what happened.

 

[The Dynasty]

Then nobody in the NFL has a good running game.

31 running backs in the league average 4 or more yards per carry, none of those players on are the Patriots.

 

[Synovia]

I dont think we ran the ball much out of the shotgun yesterday, I could be wrong though.

Seriously. They had probably 6 or 7 rushing attempts where there weren't even any WRs on the field (or where a WR was motioned to TE). I'm not convinced half the people on here have any idea what they're watching.

 

[mgteich]

We do indeed have 2nd half issues. We just don't put opponents away this year. THREE teams have come back to beat us in 2009. It has been reported that before this season, Belichick's patriots have allowed that to happen just once. Miami did it in 2004.

 

[mgteich]

I don't think that average yards is the issue. We used to be fine with Smith who averaged less than 4 yards per carry.

31 running backs in the league average 4 or more yards per carry, none of those players on are the Patriots.

 

[Synovia]

31 running backs in the league average 4 or more yards per carry, none of those players on are the Patriots.

Averaging 4 or more yards a carry does not mean consistently being able to get 4 yards.

Here is an example:

1,1,1,1,33,1,1,1,1,1 = 10 carries, 40 yards, 4ypc

I'd rather have this guy, which is closer to what Maroney is:

3,5,3,4,5,2,7,4,4,3 = 10 carries 40 yards, 4ypc.


The first guy kills drives, the 2nd one doesnt.

 

[NSpatsfan]

The reality is that we have about the 3 or 4th rated O, a top 5 Defense.. and a margin of victory second only to the Saints... things are pretty good.

This should be attached to every post made on this forum...I do see that in every win or loss that there is room for improvement. This team that we are watching is a very very good team top 3 for sure, able to win on any given Sunday. I have been a fan of this team for a very long time and remember clearly that making the playoffs and being considered a super bowl contender yearly is a relative new proposition. As a fan I have gotton used to this success and I fear it has affected my expectations every Sunday, this was a good win and if we had pasted the Jets like this 9 years ago there would have been a parade. Maybe I was feeling abit mushy or maybe it was the beer but yesterday I got to thinking we are very lucky to be fans of this team, with such great players and coaching, lets celebrate this win cause it was a good one and get ready for NO....and unlike the ending at Indy we are gonna lay one on that team in the Superdome!!!

 

[The Dynasty]

Averaging 4 or more yards a carry does not mean consistently being able to get 4 yards.

Here is an example:

1,1,1,1,33,1,1,1,1,1 = 10 carries, 40 yards, 4ypc

I'd rather have this guy, which is closer to what Maroney is:

3,5,3,4,5,2,7,4,4,3 = 10 carries 40 yards, 4ypc.


The first guy kills drives, the 2nd one doesnt.

Makes sense, but I dont think Maroney is that guy, he has too many 0 or negative yardage plays.

 

[The Dynasty]

I don't think that average yards is the issue. We used to be fine with Smith who averaged less than 4 yards per carry.

We just need a back that can grind out 3 or 4 yards on every play. Maroney has too many 0 and negative yardage plays. Taylor and Morris are those kind of guys, we really need them back.

 

[RobertWeathers]

We seem to have a 3rd quarter problem more than a 2nd half problem.

- Buffalo: Pats down 14-10 at the half, score 0 points in the 3rd quarter.

- Jets: Pats up 9-7 at the half (putting up 197 yards in offense but settling for 3 field goals on 3 long drives and killing another with an interception), but are shut out in the 2nd half. The generate just 42 yards of offense in the 3rd quarter and never get past the Jets 45 yard line, killing themselves with 25 yards worth of penalties (2 delays of game, and a 15 yard face mask) on the last series. In the 4th quarter they generate just 59 yards of offense, and never get the ball past their own 38.

- Atlanta: Pats up 13-10 at the half, score only 3 3rd quarter points before putting the game away with 10 points in the 4th.

- Baltimore: Pats up 17-7 at the half and dominant, let the Ravens back in the game in the 3rd quarter on a Terrell Suggs sack of Brady leading to a fumble and a TD. Pats respond with a 3rd quarter TD. In the 4th quarter the Pats drive to the Baltimore 9 and then are lucky to get 3 points out of the drive after a fake punt is nullifed on a motion penalty. Pats have to hold off the Ravens in the last seconds to pull out a win that should have been iced long before.

- Denver: Pats dominate the first half and are up 17-7, but again score 0 2nd half points on the road, eventually falling in overtime. Pats give up 424 yards to a very average Bronco's offense, 268 of it coming in the 2nd half. Pats mount only 2 drives in the second half: one in the 3rd quarter results in a Stefan Gostkowski missed 40 yard field goal; one late in the 4th quarter is killed by an Elvis Dumervil sack of Tom Brady resulting in a fumble.

- Tennessee: Game over well before halftime, with the Pats up 45-0. Pats score only 14 2nd half points, but it's irrelevant. Pats generate 619 yards total offense. Could have been 72-0.

- Tampa Bay: Pats lead 21-7 at the half, shut out the Bucs in the 2nd half. Score one TD in each of the last 2 quarters. 2nd half largely irrelevant.

- Miami: Pats lead 16-10 at the half after blowing multiple red zone opportunities, then let the Phish take the lead 17-16 in the 3rd quarter before putting the game away and winning 27-17.

- Indianapolis: Pats threaten to pull away in the 2nd quarter, lead 24-14 at the half. Scoreless 3rd quarter with drives killed by a TB interception and a Maroney fumble inside the Colts 1 yard line. Pats put 10 points on the board in the 4th quarter and lead by 17 with 12 minutes left, but the defense gets soft again and gives up 21 4th quarter points to the Colts. Pats blow another red zone opportunity to ice the game, settling for 3 points. Colts win, 35-34. Pats put up 477 total yards, but get only 183 in the second half.

- Jets: Pats again threaten to pull away, up 24-0, but let the Jets back in the game with a blocked punt for a TD. Gostkowski misses an easy 39 yard FG attempt at the buzzer. Pats come out soft again in the 3rd quarter and allow the Jets their only drive of the game, narrowing the lead to 10 points before interceptions by Bodden (#3 of the game) and Meriweather allow the Pats to put it out of reach. The offense puts up 31 points and 410 total yards, but misses several opportunites. Pats go scoreless in the 3rd quarter, gaining only 46 total yards, and gets only 131 out of 410 total yards in the 2nd half. Jets put up 226 total yards, but get 183 of them in the 2nd half.

We've trailed at the half in only 1 game, the opener to Buffalo. Clearly the second half has been much weaker than the first this year. But the 3rd quarter has been particularly poor. We've scored 0 points against Buffalo, Denver, Indy and the Jets in the 3rd quarter, and have never only once scored more than 8 points in the 3rd quarter in any of our 10 games so far (14 against Tennessee, with the game already out of reach). We've several times allowed teams back into the game (Baltimore, Miami) with soft defense.

Totally unacceptable. What must be going on at halftime?

Great post, Mayo.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't think going from #1 scoring in the first half to #14 scoring in the 2nd half is overrated. Prior to this season we have been 63-1 when ahead at the first half or thereabout, and this season, we've lost 2 of 10 games while ahead.

There definitely is something there, that has to be dealt with. It's hard to put a finger on it, but it is enough of an issue to warrant concern.

Look at some the situations. The Pats scored five TDs vs. the Titans in the second quarter and then took Brady out of the game in the second half. The Pats are up 45-0 at half time in that game. They score 14 more points the rest of the game with Hoyer at QB for most of the second half. That skews the data quite a bit.