The Official Pats Ravens AFCCG Post Game Thread

Lots of overreaction in this thread. But I guess its understandable.

I am very sad, very cold, and bummed I flew 2500 miles to see the worst game of the year. There is a fair amount to say about the Patriots. The defense really fell apart in the second half and reverted to who we thought they were. McDaniels was poor. And I thought Welker's drop at the start of the second half was enormous. Going in to make it at least a 9 point game, dropped, and before you know it the Ravens put up 21 in about 10 minutes.

So, there is plenty to say about the Pats, but tonight was about the Ravens. They played better and were better coached, and that really is that. They were stout one the Patriots crossed the 50, and they turned the best takeaway team in the league 2-0. They got a lead and then we pressed and they pounced. That game felt like dozens of big games I have seen in the last decade, except the team that wore purple looked more like the team I am used to seeing. Congrats to the Ravens. They beat the three best other teams in the AFC, and that's about all there is to say about that. Injuries didn't help, but the best tesm won.

Welker had one big drop for huge gain on first drive as well.
We need to stretch the field more we can use so many in the slots, only way for him to stay is to take a 5m á year contract :bricks:

Crap performance on both sides, plus unlucky bounces and poor management = losing bad, suprised it was just 15 points.

That said, team should enter next season as one of the favorites again, capable of going the distance. We add Gronk and hopefully he'll be healthy in the biggest games for once. It's crushing to see us lose after coming so close again, but on the bright side despite the bad bounces it wasn't a fluky loss - the Ravens kicked our ass up and down the field. Deserved to win.

Talib's importance couldn't have been highlighted more by the defnese pre and post him going out of the game. Still, I'd be hesitant to offer him anything more than $4-5M a year and heavy incentives, guy seems to not be durable whatsoever and you can't ignore the off field issues. Still, it's very unsettling that Jim Caldwell or whoever is behind Bmore's offense straight up made BB and Patricia look silly. Knife through hot butter doesn't do justice for how bad our defense was in that 21 point stretch.

I really don't think Brady played that bad, although it wasn't a vintage Brady performance. The Welker drop was devastating when it looked like we could've really taken control (deja vu *sigh*, and he converted a key 3rd down after Baltimore took the lead only to have it come back on holding, making it a very low % 3rd down play. Pick was just bad luck. That and Ridley's fumble were total momentum killers when it seemed we had finally gotten something going, just one of those days.

Gotta find a KR.

And... hate to say it but Welker with a major drop (actually two drops) today. He went down a few notches in my book today. He has a role to play on the Patriots but he does not seem to be superstar material.

The Beast said:

A discouraging loss for sure, but we'll be back and better next year. A healthy Gronk, a healthy Talib, a healthy Jones and this game might've been a lot different and if we have those next year we are even better. We also made too many crucial mistakes (drops, penalties, time management etc.) and the Ravens took advantage of them and outplayed us. Oh well onto next year and go the 49ers.

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Lets not hold our breath. we have consistantly been the most injury prone team every year in the playoffs.

3 Super Bowl wins = Spy Gate. There is an asterisk for those wins. It's no different than the steroid era in baseball and Lance Armstrong's doping. Cheaters eventually get exposed. I love it!

To the clowns who take the time to sign up on an opposing teams message board to rub in a loss you truely do have pathetic lives.

A few things i'd like to see next year:

1) Use the money you'd pay Welker and go after Greg Jennings. This offence needs someone who can make plays down the field.

2) Draft or sign a LB who can cover. We can't cover TE's and RB's.

3) Re-sign Talib. He made the secondary better. Too bad he got injured.

4) God, please let Gronk be healthy for the playoffs next year.

Hey all. I have no brilliant analysis to offer. I can't add much to what has already been posted except to provide this quote from Hemingway:

“life breaks us all but in the end we are stronger in the broken places”

Observer said:

I have to say - if you are going to build the team around the offense and field a subpar defense year after year then you HAVE TO DO TWO THINGS:

1. Find a legit #1, tall, fast wide receiver
2. Get a stud offensive lineman or two to help the running game

Without these things, the team is neither here nor there. It is neither a winner on offense nor a winner on defense. Currently it is just a consistent team which is among the best in the league.

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The running game wasn't awesome today, but it wasn't terrible. 28 attempts, 108 yds, 3.9 avg. Again, not great, but really, not awful either. And they had 24 attempts for 122 yards against Houston for a 5.1 avg. So all told in the playoffs, they ran 52 times for 230 yds, 4.4 average. That's solid.

They just played an absolutely crappy game today, and I was mystified why they didn't work Vereen into the game plan more.

Re: Patriots got BULLIED again.

I actually agree with this. Don't forget the thru-the-media bullying that two Giants SB teams used effectively.

You can try all of those things, but without a camera Pats are done! lol

Drop Welker

I know this won't be popular, but the Patriot's need to make the right decision and let Welker walk. He's too short of a target for Brady, which would be okay if he didn't drop easy passes, or if he still had the speed to make the most of the passes he doesn't drop. I thought he was a great pick-up from Miami when we brought him here, I have an authentic Welker jersey, even, but he's struggled to bring this team to the next level. He's had enough big game chances, he's not a solution at wide receiver. He's become the next Reche Caldwell but hard to get rid of because his stats are misleading. I feel for him recovering from the ACL tear.

I like him too, but he's not the guy they need.

Sorry.

TheBostonStraggler said:

It's better to not speak and have one suspect you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. This was not a physically out performed day for the Patriots. Both lines did a relatively good job of holding their own. Joe Flacco came up big, Tom Brady didn't. There is the reason for this game. You would have to have been watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta to have missed this obvious conclusion.
And before you open your mouth again make it even worse, fans owe a lot to Brady for the things he has done for the franchise. Today just wasn't one of them. Get over it.....

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The Ravens looked decidedly tougher than New England today. There's no glossing over that.

Brady_to_Moss said:

Suggs already taking about the pats being pricks ect. Here we go...

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The Ravens earned the right to say whatever they like about New England.

Observer said:

And... hate to say it but Welker with a major drop (actually two drops) today. He went down a few notches in my book today. He has a role to play on the Patriots but he does not seem to be superstar material.

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My fear is Welker's drops today may negatively affect his status with New England moving forward.

Re: After Talib went down, and Arrington took over, Patriots were done..

It wasn't Arrington, it was Cole who was the problem. Every time the Ravens had a big play in the second half I looked up and saw no. 23 Cole. I thought Arrington actually played reasonably adequate in Talib's place.

Re: After Talib went down, and Arrington took over, Patriots were done..

it's too bad Cam Cameron wasn't still running their O. Without Talib, that was our only hope.

This is not a troll comment, just bringing up a point how the new age "dual threat" QB may be true.

Wilson/RGIII/Kaepernick score atleast 2 rushing touchdowns where we were down in the redzone.

Re: Drop Welker

well this is the worst overreaction so far. the solution is to pick up better deep threats, not to drop the best slot receiver in the league

Re: Patriots got BULLIED again.

2 things:
1) We have a lot of players who are great in space but we need players to help create that space and Gronk is probably the best one at doing that.

2) Those space players take way too many hits. Riddley is great between the tackles but he's taken some vicious hits this season. He runs too high and he really got burned tonight because of it.

This is going to be an awful 2 weeks.

I'm already seeing ******s bandwagoning San Fran. Someone I have on Facebook for some reason just posted "Let's go 49rs!" - LOL If you're going to bandwagon a team you should at least get their name right! Jesus. This same guy goes from cheering for the Steelers, to Redskins, to Broncos, to Seahawks to San Fran all within the past month.

Also, the non-stop talk about the c*cky Harbaugh idiots and the c*cky Kaepernick idiot might make me puke. Definitely won't be watching any football related segments because I already know that's what they'll be talking about.

Well as for our linebackers, I said earlier this year that they had to keep their run stoppers on the field an inordinate amount of time or they would be swiss cheese against the run AND the pass. This defense had a number of holes and they were all exposed today.

Another controversy should be put to bed as well. Talib made all the difference to that secondary...not the improving secondary as the season dragged on. Since he was the only DB the Pats had that could contest WR's athletically, once he went down they were back to the dwarf brigade. The Ravens just went right over the top of them time and again. Hope BB has learned his lesson here. Stop drafting these dwarf cookie cutter DB's. Need more athletes in that secondary and better balance between smart players that can learn his complicated schemes and just plain old solid athletes that can compete with the modern WR.

As for the offense, without Gronk, the Pats were forced again to depend on Welker and in big games he has been found wanting AGAIN, Football is about players that make big plays. It is not about a zillion meaningless catches during the regular season and that is why Welker is not what you would consider a truly great receiver. He is tough and determined for his size. But he is small, slow and aging...not exactly the prototypical go to receiver for your QB to go to.

In the end, once again it all fell on Brady's shoulders. He needs some help and he does not get much of that now does he.