Some good observations, as usual. I, too, was particularly impressed with the depth of the defense. In a physical game that goes deep into overtime, the ability to rotate 6 effective DLmen and 5 to 7 effective LB (I'm reserving judgment on Guyton and TBC until I watch more tape) adds up to a much more effective defense at the end of the game. Despite Baltimore having 40+ minutes of possession (or perhaps because of it and NE's depth), the NE defense looked stronger along the LOS at the end of the game than the beginning.
3. The Pats IMHO got a good break from the officials on that last challenge by BB. It looked to me that when Flacco's knee hit the ground the ball was at the first down marker, not a half yard short.
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5. For 3 quarters it looked to me that the while the Pats were a "good team", the Ravens were clearly a little bit better. So while we ended up winning a GREAT game, I don't think this elevates the Pats into the "elite" of the league.
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I doubt there are more than just a couple of teams in our upcoming schedule where anyone would be shocked if we lose. Thats how strong the schedule is.
This is a VERY young team, especially on defense, and VERY young teams make mistakes, and are often inconsistent. While I keep hoping for consistent improvement on a week to week basis, it would be pretty unrealistic to think that this team won't throw a few stinkers at us before the regular season is over.
On the replay, Flacco looked just barely short of the first down to me, unless the ref used the shin down, which almost never happens in the run of play, but could on a replay. If they used the knee, it would have been inches short (assuming they could even measure that with the sticks already moved), and the Raven's might have gone for it, although with our run D yesterday, perhaps not. I felt like Harbaugh had a few spots where he could have won that game, if he would just be a little more aggressive. The Pats might have tied it up earlier, then, but passivity is death in the NFL. That conservatism was a blessing for the Pats.
I agree about not calling the Pats an elite team yet. Of course, I didn't think the Pats were an elite team in 2001 until JR Redman caught a handful of passes on that last drive of the SB, so that doesn't really temper my expectations.
Most every game is going to be tough. Even the Bills game is likely to be close. That just seems to be the way the Pats play these days, and it's the way the league is.
Green-Ellis is what we have. I believe that he similar to Antowain Smith.
I think he's faster than Smith, but he's ~30 pounds lighter, so against a stacked defense like yesterday, he's only good for a yard after contact, instead of 2 to 3.
Woodhead impressed me yesterday with his decisiveness and ability to cut back. People are calling him Faulk 2.0, but there are ways in which he's better (and ways in which he has a long way to go to prove himself). He's decidedly faster and much quicker. The way he bounced up and started running after catching that ball on the ground at the end of regulation was impressive. He did a credible job in pass protection, although it doesn't look like he has the size to be anywhere near as good as Faulk or even BJGE in that department. He picked up an opposite side blitzer on one of the Ngata sacks, but did it so close that Brady had nowhere to go when Koppen got turned and Connolly was caught looking the other way. The other time, he cut Lewis, but Brady unloaded the ball before Lewis stood up and crushed him. It will be tough to go deep against a blitz with him in there.
On the subject of Connolly, there were a couple of plays where he had me glad that Mankins is coming back. He pulled and missed Ray Lewis on a couple occasions, one where he just ran past him and one where he didn't get to the point-of-attack in time. Don't know if Mankins will be an upgrade in pass protection, but the running game won't be hurt by his reappearance. I think there's a job waiting for him. He'll be a good late-season pickup.
