Any confidence going into the Week 16 game vs the Ravens?

[RayClay]

We got into the end zone with slot receivers and a RB only. I think we'll be decent with Dobson and or Thomkins.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I fear seeing Rice run on this D.

Not the same Ray Rice we've seen in the past though. 3.1 YPC, worst in 5 years, and he hasn't seen the endzone in a month. I used to fear him (his disgracing us in that '09 WC game still stings), but no longer.

 

[SVN]

As others point out, I am not sure why you are comparing Thompkins and Dobson to Boyce. Boyce is only playing because Dobson and Thompkins are out.

Also, Thompkins and Dobson have become a lot better at catching the ball than earlier in the season. Dobson was coming on as a go-to WR before he was injured.

No offense, but this is an example how I was saying you are down on this team. You seem to be trying to find reasons why this team can't succeed. Boyce drops a critical pass so Thompkins and Boyce can't be trusted.

Not saying they are the same . Point was they are rookies who have made the same mistakes of dropping balls. And its not just me. Even reiss echoed the same thought .Granted he is no gospel of future neither am I. If i was down on the team, I would say these all players suck. They dont. They are green and have shown tendency to make mistakes and I dont fault them . They are being asked to do more than most rookies do in their first year with almost zero veteran help except maybe brady. I really dont need to justify why Iam not down on the team , if you think so ,so be it but I almost always never say 'X' player sucks or X is a bad player especially rookies. Its just my opinion that people putting pressure on dobson and KT and getting excited of them coming back and being RZ threats, a lot of them are the same people who will call him dropson when he drops a catch. I dont. Just because I dont say we will beat X team because they are not any good or provide stats who the other team isnt any good either doesnt mean Iam down on this team. Anyone who thinks that this beat up/banged up team is as good(not less resilient) than any other team which is healthier is entitled to that opinion .
Iam down on the rotten luck with injuries of this team . If anything I advocate getting back ridley - fumbles or no fumbles.

 

[SVN]

They have the best redzone D in NFL...without gronk..we have one of the worst redzone O....

I think this will be the key. I also see Pitta having a good day

Pats couldn't stop campbell and tannehill...flacco will have over 300 yards

Well..regarding tannehill , sometimes you need to credit the player. He is decent, not a bad QB. Campbell - he was hardly touched by our DLine and got 2 TDs on 2 freak broken plays. Pitta could be flacco's go to guy so I bet BB puts talib on him in critical situations.

 

[TonyTucker]

So the thing about the ravens is that key players there really hate the patriots, I mean not for fun but deep down really hate them and they play that way.

I don't know why the pats can't play mean and nasty like that, but the ravens will next Sunday.

It's an attitude thing and I feel sometimes the pats don't use that kind of attitude themselves.

I don't know, T Sizzle definitely has a ''thing'' for Brady. And it's not hate.

 

[SVN]

So the thing about the ravens is that key players there really hate the patriots, I mean not for fun but deep down really hate them and they play that way.

I don't know why the pats can't play mean and nasty like that, but the ravens will next Sunday.

It's an attitude thing and I feel sometimes the pats don't use that kind of attitude themselves.

Lions front is as mean and dirty as any , attitude wise. They dont seem to be doing any great. All this hate and stuff goes out once play begins. Still need go out and play the defense which is called. Its not WWE.

 

[MossWelkowski]

Does anyone know what injuries Thompkins and Dobson even have? To me it seems like Dobson is a soft reciever

 

[supafly]

Well..regarding tannehill , sometimes you need to credit the player. He is decent, not a bad QB. Campbell - he was hardly touched by our DLine and got 2 TDs on 2 freak broken plays. Pitta could be flacco's go to guy so I bet BB puts talib on him in critical situations.

Talib has been rather pathetic since his return, not that I think it's all his fault.

Numbers since he came back:

29 targets / 21 completions / 358 yds / 2 TD's / only 2 passes defended/ 0 INT's/ yds per target = 12.3


Numbers prior to being injured:

33 targets/ 13 completions/ 186 yds/ 1 TD/ 5 passes defended/ 4 INT's/ yds per target = 5.6

 

[obgod3]

Talib is not healthy and won't be the rest of the year. Just how things have gone for the pats this year. I'm still enjoying the season, seeing the pats in the playoffs every year is great! I remember the pats in the 80's and 90's, don't really remember much from the 70's, was a teenager ha ha

 

[PittPatriot]

Yeah, Pats are going to win this game for sure. By 10 at least.

Edit: and BTW, I picked them losing in Miami. I do pick them to lose some games. But they win this one.

Since 2003, everytime we went into a game as a wounded underdog...somehow, we found a way to fight to victory.
It would be the cruelest of fates to lose to the hated Ravens (that would 3 in a row). I feel like the Patriots find a way.

 

[MossWelkowski]

Since 2003, everytime we went into a game as a wounded underdog...somehow, we found a way to fight to victory.
It would be the cruelest of fates to lose to the hated Ravens (that would 3 in a row). I feel like the Patriots find a way.

Can I just witness a pats blowout win for once? I feel like it's been foreverZ

 

[JMC00]

Talib has been pathetic since his return.

Numbers since he came back:

29 targets / 21 completions / 358 yds / 2 TD's / only 2 passes defended/ 0 INT's/ yds per target = 12.3


Numbers prior to being injured:

33 targets/ 13 completions/ 186 yds/ 1 TD/ 5 passes defended/ 4 INT's/ yds per target = 5.6

Ask Charles Clay if he was pathetic.

But let's take a look at who Talib (clearly not 100% right now) has gone up against

Steve Smith
Demaryius Thomas
Andre Johnson
Josh Gordon

Does it note anything about how the Pats played zone defense against the Texans? Just saying whoever posted this might think because Andre Johnson got open it was on Talib when in reality Talib was staying in his zone.


Also it really should be 1 TD 1 INT. Talib got jobbed by the refs when they threw that flag and bailed out Manning.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

Talib has been pathetic since his return.

Numbers since he came back:

29 targets / 21 completions / 358 yds / 2 TD's / only 2 passes defended/ 0 INT's/ yds per target = 12.3


Numbers prior to being injured:

33 targets/ 13 completions/ 186 yds/ 1 TD/ 5 passes defended/ 4 INT's/ yds per target = 5.6

Supa, we played zone against Andre. Gordon was getting away with OPI. Thomas got away with OPI in the endzone. Talib, even sub 100%, has still been pretty good. Get him, dennard and Arrington healthy, the secondary is a strong suit again.

 

[SVN]

Talib has been pathetic since his return.

Numbers since he came back:

29 targets / 21 completions / 358 yds / 2 TD's / only 2 passes defended/ 0 INT's/ yds per target = 12.3


Numbers prior to being injured:

33 targets/ 13 completions/ 186 yds/ 1 TD/ 5 passes defended/ 4 INT's/ yds per target = 5.6

Its a combination of pass rush vs coverage. When you rush 6 and you still dont get there in time , secondary cant do anything. Happened vs cleveland and even vs miami. Campbell was not even touched in the game. Has he had some bad plays ? Sure . But he is not being helped either . We have only Chandler jones as a pass rusher right now with no inside push up the middle. No CB cant hang round for a long time in coverage.

 

[supafly]

But let's take a look at who Talib (clearly not 100% right now) has gone up against

When, honestly, is he ever "healthy?" The guy has never finished out a season at the end of his almost 6 year career, and has been battling the exact same hip issue for 3+ years now.

Obviously he's good for the times when he isn't dealing with something, but he also hurts the team by missing games, coming/going in and out in games like the stretch run last year, and attempting to play injured.

We'll have to see how Bill Belichick feels about the situation when the season is over. I'd like to see him stay for the right kind of deal, but it'd have to be something comparable to Leigh Bodden's pact 4/22 or so.

Steve Smith
Demaryius Thomas
Andre Johnson
Josh Gordon

Not seeing much difference between these guys and the likes of AJ Green, Julio Jones, Jimmy Graham, etc.

Does it note anything about how the Pats played zone defense against the Texans? Just saying whoever posted this might think because Andre Johnson got open it was on Talib when in reality Talib was staying in his zone.

The numbers for the Texans game vs Andre Johnson weren't all blamed on Talib by any means, and they weren't entirely in zone for the whole game either, so that'd be very incorrect. The defense is never going to be entirely zone or entirely man coverage for the entire game (obviously).

Talib gave up 5 catches for 71 yds when matched up in man coverage on Johnson one on one.

Supa, we played zone against Andre. Gordon was getting away with OPI. Thomas got away with OPI in the endzone. Talib, even sub 100%, has still been pretty good. Get him, dennard and Arrington healthy, the secondary is a strong suit again.

Talib gave up 5 catches for 71 yds to Johnson when he was matched up one on one.

Talib, Dennard, and Arrington certainly are talented, but we're not likely to see that talent as much as other years due to the poor areas of the defense not meshing together.

Talib is good when everything lines up properly, and I do hope that he's retained for the future, however he's also been a much different player since he returned, and I don't think there's much debate to that. I'm not saying it's all entirely his fault, but it is what it is.

 

[supafly]

Its a combination of pass rush vs coverage. When you rush 6 and you still dont get there in time , secondary cant do anything. Happened vs cleveland and even vs miami. Campbell was not even touched in the game. Has he had some bad plays ? Sure . But he is not being helped either . We have only Chandler jones as a pass rusher right now with no inside push up the middle. No CB cant hang round for a long time in coverage.

I would certainly agree that the other weaknesses on defense are contributing to his failures lately, but I also think that he hasn't been the same player health-wise too.

Either way, like I said--I hope he stays in the future. I just don't think he's anything close to the same player at the moment due to certain aspects that aren't entirely his fault, as you said.

It's not necessarily about blame. It's more just stating fact, and it's been unfortunate for sure. It also keeps the discussions alive for the future as to how much to reasonably offer him, and what to expect from his ailments moving forward.

 

[supafly]

Ask Charles Clay if he was pathetic.

Just out of curiosity, what does the Miami fullback have to do with Aqib Talib?

I know that he covered him at times, but when you're supposedly a shutdown corner in the NFL who is demanding top dollar, shouldn't you be able to handle a FB/TE?

 

[SVN]

Just out of curiosity, what does the Miami fullback have to do with Aqib Talib?

I know that he covered him at times, but when you're supposedly a shutdown corner in the NFL who is demanding top dollar, shouldn't you be able to handle a FB/TE?

talib was on him most of the game mostly took him out of the game .

 

[obgod3]

The nfl rules have made sure there will never be a shutdown corner anymore.

 

[supafly]

talib was on him most of the game mostly took him out of the game .

No, I understood that comment, but I'm not sure how much that really proves.

It's good to see him handling the assignment with Clay though. I suppose a weapon is a weapon no matter how you approach it, and that was the game plan they went with for better or worse.

I'm not sure that I'd be bragging about it as much as the comment came off, but to each his own. Clay has been dangerous in his own right, that's for sure. For what it's worth, the halftime notes from the game state that Talib had covered him 3-4 times, which is exactly what I thought.

It's also worth pondering if we gambled on that and lost with our best cover corner on Clay, considering that Wallace scored a 40 yd TD right before the half that totally changed the entire complexion of the game and allowed them to totally turn everything around right before the half.