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

[Rob0729]

I dont see our Pats winning on Sunday. here are my reasons.

First lets stop quoting stats that are for the entire season, they don't represent what teams are doing in December and that is all that matters, do we really think the NE defense or offense is as good as the stats say, no way they are.

The ravens have been playing well the last fours games, a lot like last year. Say what you want about last night but their defense played well, and they were disrupting the Detroit passing game big time. I did think they looked vulnerable to the run which I dont know why Detroit didnt take advantage of but mark my words neither will MCD, he is too stupid to run when you know you should, uh 3rd and 2.....need I say more.

I think TB is going to get killed, our O line is in shambles and between Suggs and Doom I see problems.

Flacco lives and dies by the long ball and they got three guys that run those routes and NE doesn't have the defense to stop it.

I want the Pats to win but I dont see it, probably be a 10 point game/loss.

I don't have the stats for the last four games, but their offense isn't significantly better now than it has been all year.

• They scored 18 points last night and it took a 61 yard field goal to get that many points and werre 0-3 in the red zone and 4 for 14 on third downs.
• Against Pittsburgh, they had 22 points and were 1-4 in the red zone.
• Against the Jets, they scored 19 points, were 3 for 13 on third downs, 0-4 in the red zone, and Flacco was sacked 4 times.
• Even against the Vikings, they were only 6 for 16 on third downs and had a whopping 4.6 yards per pass.

The Pats for all their defensive problems have a decent red zone defense and the Ravens have a horrible red zone offense and still do even in recent weeks.

 

[SVN]

If KT and Dobson play, I am confident we can win this game. If we can win this game, we can win any game here on out IMO. This is a tough as it gets.

I would temper the optimism rookie wideouts being a huge difference. As reiss pointed out, if boyce had caught the ball vs MIA we wouldve won. KT and dobson have had their share of critical drops.Plus ball needs to come out even quicker vs the ravens so there wont be very many deep developing plays. We need to run the ball to make a difference in the RZ. McD hinted today that he didnt want to take away brady's freedom at the line but sometimes its worth trying going 4 times with a run play from the 2 yd line.

New England Patriots Mailbag -- Offensive game plan in question - ESPN Boston

Q. Hi Mike, of course, not having Gronk in the mix made a significant difference this week against Miami. But not having the two rookie receivers also seems like an important loss. How do you feel the lack of options in terms of offensive targets (beyond Gronk) affected the Patriots this week? Thanks! -- Zoe (Tampa, Fla.)

A. I didn't think it was a huge factor, although Dobson's height (6-foot-3) could have been helpful on the final drive. Even then, there have been games where he's active and not playing in those situations. Probably the biggest thing is that rookie Josh Boyce, who stepped in, had two drops. Do Dobson and Thompkins make those catches? No guarantee there. The other factor in the Patriots' inability to execute longer vertical routes on a consistent basis was that the ball was out quick to account for the Dolphins' strong rush.

 

[obgod3]

I don't have the stats for the last four games, but their offense isn't significantly better now than it has been all year.

• They scored 18 points last night and it took a 61 yard field goal to get that many points and werre 0-3 in the red zone and 4 for 14 on third downs.
• Against Pittsburgh, they had 22 points and were 1-4 in the red zone.
• Against the Jets, they scored 19 points, were 3 for 13 on third downs, 0-4 in the red zone, and Flacco was sacked 4 times.
• Even against the Vikings, they were only 6 for 16 on third downs and had a whopping 4.6 yards per pass.

The Pats for all their defensive problems have a decent red zone defense and the Ravens have a horrible red zone offense and still do even in recent weeks.

well I think I would take any of the first three defenses over ours, well maybe not the Steelers but I do think the Jets defense is far better than NE, same for Detroit, I don't have statistics to prove that but I watch all the games and that's just my 02. I might be full of crap also.

 

[RIpats88]

I would temper the optimism rookie wideouts being a huge difference. As reiss pointed out, if boyce had caught the ball vs MIA we wouldve won. KT and dobson have had their share of critical drops.Plus ball needs to come out even quicker vs the ravens so there wont be very many deep developing plays. We need to run the ball to make a difference in the RZ. McD hinted today that he didnt want to take away brady's freedom at the line but sometimes its worth trying going 4 times with a run play from the 2 yd line.

New England Patriots Mailbag -- Offensive game plan in question - ESPN Boston

Dobson amd thompkins are at another level of development than boyce.

Dobson was one of bradys favorite targets before the injury...boyce hasnt had the type of games that dobson and thompkins have.

Yes they will help.

Im starting to think that survey is right and we are the most unstable fanbase! So much doom amd gloom before the ball is even snapped.I think we have the ability to beat the ravens

 

[Archeryaddict12]

I would temper the optimism rookie wideouts being a huge difference. As reiss pointed out, if boyce had caught the ball vs MIA we wouldve won. KT and dobson have had their share of critical drops.Plus ball needs to come out even quicker vs the ravens so there wont be very many deep developing plays. We need to run the ball to make a difference in the RZ. McD hinted today that he didnt want to take away brady's freedom at the line but sometimes its worth trying going 4 times with a run play from the 2 yd line.

New England Patriots Mailbag -- Offensive game plan in question - ESPN Boston

Dobson and KT aren't the same receivers from week 1&2. They are darn good receivers that can stretch a field and be critical on key downs.

We could have won easily Sunday, but mental mistakes killed us. Dropped passes, letting MIA drive at the end of each half killed us. Mia didn't beat beat us. They turned our mistakes into points. Just think, if we scored 1 TD instead of 1 of the FG's, its a different game. Get Dobson and KT to be RZ targets, and we are golden.

 

[moejr]

The fact that it is on the road is the thing that does concern me. I never b.tch about ref's because you have to overcome everything to be a winner, and that includes the ref's, however if their is one thing that is consistent in a really strange season it is that the ref's always give the calls to the home team's, especially late and in the biggest moment. If it comes down to a final drive the Ravens are going to get the calls no matter whether they are on defense. the Patriots are going to have to put them away earlier than the last five minutes.

We saw those "home calls" in Miami on our last drive.

 

[Wheelman]

Dobson and KT aren't the same receivers from week 1&2. They are darn good receivers that can stretch a field and be critical on key downs.

We could have won easily Sunday, but mental mistakes killed us. Dropped passes, letting MIA drive at the end of each half killed us. Mia didn't beat beat us. They turned our mistakes into points. Just think, if we scored 1 TD instead of 1 of the FG's, its a different game. Get Dobson and KT to be RZ targets, and we are golden.

Aaron Rodgers is that you?

 

[RayClay]

Any team that can beat Detroit 18-16 and look crappy doing it...how can we possibly beat them?

 

[wolverinejoe80]

Any team that can beat Detroit 18-16 and look crappy doing it...how can we possibly beat them?

limiting lions to 16pts at their cozy dome in a must win situation is no easy task.

and no, they didn't look crap yesterday. lions have great D as well. it was a defensive slugfest and they came through.

ravens are for real.


and we can beat anybody, but lose to anybody at this point.

 

[RayClay]

limiting lions to 16pts at their cozy dome in a must win situation is no easy task.

and no, they didn't look crap yesterday. lions have great D as well. it was a defensive slugfest and they came through.

ravens are for real.


and we can beat anybody, but lose to anybody at this point.

So, 7-7 in a lousy division is a world beater? How do you figure that?

 

[wolverinejoe80]

So, 7-7 in a lousy division is a world beater? How do you figure that?

they are 8-6.

i don't care what happened september & october. just look at some of the past SB champions - packers, giants, and ravens last year. some teams peak at the right time and figure things out. ravens is not a world beater, but you gotta respect what they've overcome this year. their oline was sh1!!ty, but now they are protecting flacco. there D was toothless, but now they are starting to look like ravens. and you can starting to see the championship swagger from them. they are good coached team with good vertical threats.

but i want them badly in the playoffs. i want us to beat the ravens fair and square. it would be the most gratifying feeling in the world.

 

[Rob0729]

I would temper the optimism rookie wideouts being a huge difference. As reiss pointed out, if boyce had caught the ball vs MIA we wouldve won. KT and dobson have had their share of critical drops.Plus ball needs to come out even quicker vs the ravens so there wont be very many deep developing plays. We need to run the ball to make a difference in the RZ. McD hinted today that he didnt want to take away brady's freedom at the line but sometimes its worth trying going 4 times with a run play from the 2 yd line.

New England Patriots Mailbag -- Offensive game plan in question - ESPN Boston

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.

 

[Rob0729]

they are 8-6.

i don't care what happened september & october. just look at some of the past SB champions - packers, giants, and ravens last year. some teams peak at the right time and figure things out. ravens is not a world beater, but you gotta respect what they've overcome this year. their oline was sh1!!ty, but now they are protecting flacco. there D was toothless, but now they are starting to look like ravens. and you can starting to see the championship swagger from them. they are good coached team with good vertical threats.

but i want them badly in the playoffs. i want us to beat the ravens fair and square. it would be the most gratifying feeling in the world.

The only difference between the Pats the last three weeks and the Ravens is that Brady didn't complete his final pass on Sunday. That is about it. The last three weeks, the Ravens have barely beat three teams (two with losing records and one who lost four out of their last five). The Pats barely beat two teams (two bad teams) and barely losing to a playoff contender. The Pats finish that drive on Sunday and the have the same winning streak as the Ravens.

It's funny, the Pats and Ravens have been barely beating average to below average teams lately and since the Pats lost a close game in the last second, the narrative is that they are struggling and the Ravens are peaking.

And the Ravens' offense still sucks. Other that in the fourth quarter against the Vikings two weeks ago, the Ravens can't even buy a TD in the red zone. They will have to win on defense because if they get into a shootout, they will get killed.. They are literally one of the worst offenses in the NFL and I am talking about November and December, not September and October.

 

[RayClay]

they are 8-6.

i don't care what happened september & october. just look at some of the past SB champions - packers, giants, and ravens last year. some teams peak at the right time and figure things out. ravens is not a world beater, but you gotta respect what they've overcome this year. their oline was sh1!!ty, but now they are protecting flacco. there D was toothless, but now they are starting to look like ravens. and you can starting to see the championship swagger from them. they are good coached team with good vertical threats.

but i want them badly in the playoffs. i want us to beat the ravens fair and square. it would be the most gratifying feeling in the world.

I'm not down playing te Ravens, they are always tough. However, people here are freaked out with red zone offense when our two biggest receivers are out. Well, 6 field goals, the last of 81 yd is hardly great red zone offense.

Let's appreciate our own team as well. Gronk was out early and late and we've still piled up wins.

 

[JMC00]

If Dobson and Thompkins are full go in this one, I think the Pats win.

 

[obgod3]

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.

 

[Rob0729]

I'm not down playing te Ravens, they are always tough. However, people here are freaked out with red zone offense when our two biggest receivers are out. Well, 6 field goals, the last of 81 yd is hardly great red zone offense.

Let's appreciate our own team as well. Gronk was out early and late and we've still piled up wins.

In their last four games, the Ravens' offense are 4 for 14 in the red zone. If you take away the fourth quarter against the Vikings where it turned into a Madden-like shootout in the last 2 minutes, the Ravens are 2-12 in the red zone over that same time period. It is almost like the best way to defend against the Ravens' offense is let them get into the red zone because they are almost guaranteed not to score.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

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

 

[Bhelmet]

I fear seeing Rice run on this D.

 

[Rob0729]

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

They also have the worst red zone offense in the league.

And I am not expecting Pitta to have a big day. It is a miracle the guy is even on the field and they are using him sparingly.