43 Drop backs 3 pressures

[Sicilian]

The gameplan was clearly to rush a minimum of players and force Peyton to maintain consistent drives to score. We held up alright with Talib in there, things degraded when he was taken out. But this was an all time great offense, with ALL of its weapons healthy, playing at home in conditions so perfect they should be forecasted by saying "A Manning is coming this Sunday". Anyone who expected much less than 26 points allowed was rockin' the ganja.

Where they failed was in producing turnovers to spark an offense that, in turn, did them NO favors by failing to sustain drives or score points to put pressure on Denver's O.

 

[primetime]

Edelman seems to be the only player that consistently shows up in the Playoffs.

Before this season, he had 9 catches in 5 career playoff games. 6 of those catches came when the Patriots were blown out by the Ravens in 09-10.

 

[LasVegasPatsFan]

Im not referring to just catches..but yes he seemed to be the only one who showed up in that Ravens loss. He played DB againts the Ravens in 2011. Anytime he has played whether it be playoffs or regular season he always gave it all.

 

[Boomer B]

Pats should have taken a page from the Seahawks playbook. Corners hit, hold, bump right at the line of scrimmage. Don't let those receivers get off the line and throw off the timing for Manning. Send pressure up the middle. We'd get a few flags for sure, but we also may have got some turnovers or some stops.

The gameplan we had was horrible. It was Chinese water torture. A cruel slow death. Not only couldn't we get a stop but their drives were long and took up a lot of the clock. If Manning can sit back there for 5 seconds he will kill any team.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Hopefully Buchanan spends the offseason to bulk up on his 6'5 frame like Jones did last offseason. We need a 3 man DE rotation so Jones/Ninko don't run out of gas.

Quinn and Jordan made the leaps to All Pro caliber players from year 2 to year 3. If Jones can do the same, that will be huge for the D.

I may be overly optimistic on the potential trio of Jones, Ninko, and Buchanan, but I'd rather not spend a top 100 pick/FA $$$ on a DE considering our needs elsewhere.

 

[IcyPatriot]

BB rushed 3 virtually the entire game. Chandler played okay but was doubled, Ninkovich was a little dissapointing and the rookies inside did literally nothing.

The Broncos barely even spread us out, they had extra protectors and just beat us up the entire game.

I counted 4 most of the time and there were 6 every once in a while.

 

[signbabybrady]

Our decimated defense had ONE chance against DEN. We needed to be able to hit the receivers in the first 5 yards and then play great coverage. We were relying on Talib, Dennard, McCourty, Gregory, Ryan and Arrington. We also were relying on Collins and Hightower. The idea was to keep the DEN offense to about 25 points and have our offense score a bit more. This plan was a reasonable one. Putting much more pressure on Manning was an alternative. IMHO, with his receiving options and his quick delivery, DEN would have scored 50 points with this strategy.

Was it really unreasonable to think that our best chance was to score 26 points against the DEN defense?

THE PLAN FAILED

1) The DEN offense needed to take Talib out of the game. They did. We were done.

2) Our offense was pathetic. Very late in the the third, we had totaled 3 points and decided to go on 4th down, so we could have had 6 points if we chose the field goal instead. DEN stopped the run and forced the game on the back of Brady. They were able to adequately cover Dobson.

BOTTOM LINE

1) We needed Talib. Even then, DEN had the best offense in the NFL behind one of the best OL's in the NFL.

2) We needed Gronk and another receiver threat. A healthy Amendola and Thompkins would have helped some.

3) This game could be replayed 100 times. With Talib getting injured, I don't think that we would win 10% of the time, regardless of game plan.

4) With everyone healthy on both teams, this could have been a truly awesome game.

cant argue with anything you said and to further highlight the point we were actually doing pretty well Vs Peyton until Talib got hurt. Demarius had barely done anything then with in a series or two after the injury had like 100 yards.

The defensive game plan was pretty clear and as you said the pressure was all on the secondary to get it done and when Talib it went down it all fell apart. the defense still fought and tried to give the O a chance but neither was really up for the task.

Its amazingly frustrating that despite all the injuries we dealt with this year had we just not lost Talib in one of the last two AFC title games we likely make one of those SBs.

 

[Kontradiction]

Hopefully Buchanan spends the offseason to bulk up on his 6'5 frame like Jones did last offseason. We need a 3 man DE rotation so Jones/Ninko don't run out of gas.

Quinn and Jordan made the leaps to All Pro caliber players from year 2 to year 3. If Jones can do the same, that will be huge for the D.

I may be overly optimistic on the potential trio of Jones, Ninko, and Buchanan, but I'd rather not spend a top 100 pick/FA $$$ on a DE considering our needs elsewhere.

Buchanan has a world of potential. He does need to bulk up so he can be trusted on run downs. He also has to know when he can and when he can't rush far upfield. I thought this game would have been a good one to give him some more reps since Manning is about as mobile as some sap running down an oak tree, but I guess Belichick disagreed.

 

[stelfans]

Anyone who tought Jones, Siliga, Ninko and Chandler would hold up in the playoffs after playing almist every defensive snap of the regular season is delusional.

Injuries are not the only excuse.
I know is easy to forget about him but Bequette is wasting a precious roster spot.

 

[primetime]

Pats should have taken a page from the Seahawks playbook. Corners hit, hold, bump right at the line of scrimmage. Don't let those receivers get off the line and throw off the timing for Manning. Send pressure up the middle. We'd get a few flags for sure, but we also may have got some turnovers or some stops.

This requires the right kind of personnel. The Seahawks have big, physical corners. Talib was the only Patriot corner big enough to go toe-to-toe with Thomas, and when he got hurt they could get Thomas into space where he's basically unstoppable.

And, on that holding call that Decker drew on the Broncos first touchdown drive, they did bump him and played him perfectly legally, holding within 5 yards to great effect, and still got called on it. That was a killer penalty, and a terrible one.

 

[goheels22002]

Chandler Jones had an awful playoffs he was a non-factor in both games.

Jones needs to keep working on his game this offseason and add some more muscle and if he does 2014 will be something really special.

Chandler Jones is extraordinary, and better this year than last year.

The Patriots were in Luck's grill all game long in the divisional round, and extra attention to Chandler Jones freed up guys like Collins who too advantage of open lanes.

The Patriots rushed three guys all game against Denver. What do you expect? Jones was double-teamed on virtually every down. As the game wore on and the Broncos ground out 7+-minute drives, I was amazed the Patriots didn't do more blitzing to at least change up the look at the line.

I'm sure they saw so much tape of Manning burning blitzes for TDs that they decsided to lay back, but it backfired.

 

[mayoclinic]

Chandler Jones had an awful playoffs he was a non-factor in both games.

Jones needs to keep working on his game this offseason and add some more muscle and if he does 2014 will be something really special.

Jones and Ninkovich played too many snaps during the regular season (98.1% and 95.6%, respectively). It helped with all the instability at the DT position, but ultimately they wore down. Chris Jones probably played too many snaps, too - he was explosive when he first came on, but after playing an enormous number of snaps once Wilfork and Kelly went on IR he slowed down quite a bit.

You need to have waves to guys you can rotate in to keep people fresh - "pass rush by committee".

 

[nekromantique]

Chandler Jones had an awful playoffs he was a non-factor in both games.

Jones needs to keep working on his game this offseason and add some more muscle and if he does 2014 will be something really special.

He was on top of Luck almost every pass. Did he get the sack? No, but he was consistently beating his man.

I saw him doubled a lot against the broncos, and tripled occasionally.

Though he didn't get too much done when singled either, but the broncos line was the best or one of the best pass blocking lines all year.

 

[Brady6]

I wasn't disappointed in Chandler Jones' season at all. I thought he made a second-year improvement that approximated what I was expecting.



I think mayo nailed it though in pointing out that we simply don't have the horses at any spot on the line, and that really caused the starting four to wear down/diminish in effectiveness as the season went along. Jones and Ninkovich took what, essentially all of the snaps, spelled occasionally by the ghost of Andre Carter?



Getting a better rotation along the defensive line should be a priority to keep these guys fresher come playoff time.

Chandler Jones had a great regular season, his playoff performance was not very good but I think you raise a terrific point with how many snaps him and Nink played this season wearing them down. I would also say that Chris Jones was a victim of to many snaps in the early and middle parts of the season too. Also they used Jones a lot inside this season which is likely even more tolling on the body.

It's interesting how things that go unnoticed or aren't consider major concerns early on comeback around to hurt you when it matters most; the failure by Bequette to even get on the field this season coupled with the failure by Cunningham, Francis, Benard and Armstead to make the 53 man roster either due to injury or just their being cut ended up coming back to hurt us through our starters being worn down in the playoffs.

 

[Brady6]

He was on top of Luck almost every pass. Did he get the sack? No, but he was consistently beating his man.

I saw him doubled a lot against the broncos, and tripled occasionally.

Though he didn't get too much done when singled either, but the broncos line was the best or one of the best pass blocking lines all year.

I'm not downing the guy at all he is probably the best 4-3 DE in the NFL in terms of being complete, but he wasn't effective in the playoffs, he had 2 total hurries against the Colts and none against the Broncos.

 

[Brady6]

Jones and Ninkovich played too many snaps during the regular season (98.1% and 95.6%, respectively). It helped with all the instability at the DT position, but ultimately they wore down. Chris Jones probably played too many snaps, too - he was explosive when he first came on, but after playing an enormous number of snaps once Wilfork and Kelly went on IR he slowed down quite a bit.



You need to have waves to guys you can rotate in to keep people fresh - "pass rush by committee".

See post #34; I completely agree.

 

[condon84]

Jones and Ninkovich played too many snaps during the regular season (98.1% and 95.6%, respectively). It helped with all the instability at the DT position, but ultimately they wore down. Chris Jones probably played too many snaps, too - he was explosive when he first came on, but after playing an enormous number of snaps once Wilfork and Kelly went on IR he slowed down quite a bit.

You need to have waves to guys you can rotate in to keep people fresh - "pass rush by committee".

Are we really blaming the fact that Jones and Nink got owned by the Broncos OL on fatigue?

 

[mayoclinic]

Are we really blaming the fact that Jones and Nink got owned by the Broncos OL on fatigue?

Not entirely. But I think they wore down over the course of a long season, and that was a factor. I don't think it's any coincidence that Jones has started like gangbusters both of his first 2 seasons and then tailed off considerably.

Jamie Collins had fresh legs. So did Sylvester Williams, for that matter, who made a huge impact for the Broncos next to Terrence Knighton. That helped each of them.

 

[DaBruinz]

I'll admit, I was hugely disappointed with Chandler Jones this year. I've been really high on him since the second he was drafted, but he just didn't show any real improvement in his second season. Statistically, he put out basically the same stat line that he would have had as a rookie if he hadn't been injured. Far from the JPP-type second year leap that we were hoping for. And it definitely showed up in the AFCCG. We already know that Ninkovich is basically an average-at-best pass rusher from the defensive end position, but Jones is supposed to be the elite rusher, and he certainly wasn't this year. He looks the part from time to time, but the consistency just isn't even close to being there.

.

Yep. Let's discount the fact that Jones was double-teamed all year and triple teamed many times and bash on him because of it. Let's bash on Jones because the interior reserve D-linemen weren't ALL-PRO Caliber like Wilfork and so that allowed teams to double and triple Jones.

BTW - 6.5 sacks in 13 games (1 sack per 2 games) is NOT statisically the same as 11.5 in 16 games (1 sack per 1.39 games). If you don't think Chandler Jones improved, the issue is with your understanding of what improvement is.

BTW, most pass rushers are "inconsistent". Even Robert Mathis had 4 games where he didn't get sacks.. Yet he had 19.5 on the season.

 

[mayoclinic]

Yep. Let's discount the fact that Jones was double-teamed all year and triple teamed many times and bash on him because of it. Let's bash on Jones because the interior reserve D-linemen weren't ALL-PRO Caliber like Wilfork and so that allowed teams to double and triple Jones.

BTW - 6.5 sacks in 13 games is NOT statisically the same as 11.5 in 16 games. If you don't think Chandler Jones improved, the issue is with your understanding of what improvement is.

BTW, most pass rushers are "inconsistent". Even Robert Mathis had 4 games where he didn't get sacks.. Yet he had 19.5 on the season.

I think Jones is a Pro Bowl caliber player and one of the most complete defensive ends in the league. I love the guy. He is solid setting the edge and stopping the run and he has great versatility - 4-3 RDE, 3-4 DE, 3-4 OLB, 4-3 interior sub rusher. He gives great effort, and he gets double teamed and held a lot. My only critique is that I think his explosiveness fell off both of the last 2 seasons. The foot injury may have been a factor last year, but this year he was healthy, and I thought that while he continued to give great effort, he wasn't as effective as earlier in the season. I attribute part of that to the enormous snap count he played, the most of any defensive end in the NFL. Obviously, losing Wilfork and Kelly hurt, but by the end of the season Jones and Siliga were playing at a reasonably consistent level, so I'm not sure that explains it.