Do the Pats have a second half problem?

[The Dynasty]

maroney fumbles too much too. he's still a decent back

He really doesnt fumble that much, check the stats...

 

[aluminum seats]

He really doesnt fumble that much, check the stats...

yeah, I think that poster is a kid.......wish there was a way to get an age restriction here.......

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

It's a definite concern. 3 losses and 10 total points in the 2nd halves combined. 7 of those came off a punt that put us on the opponent's 10 and the other 3 came off an INT that put us in FG range. Offense is supposed to be the strength of this team. Our opponents are adjusting better in the games, that's a big one on the coaching staff. I can't see how people can completely dismiss that knowing that we have a first year OC.

 

[The Dynasty]

It's a definite concern. 3 losses and 10 total points in the 2nd halves combined. 7 of those came off a punt that put us on the opponent's 10 and the other 3 came off an INT that put us in FG range. Offense is supposed to be the strength of this team. Our opponents are adjusting better in the games, that's a big one on the coaching staff. I can't see how people can completely dismiss that knowing that we have a first year OC.

We are playing the 2nd half of games not to lose instead of playing to win. Our play calling gets very conservative and we try to burn clock and have long sustained drives. We dont have the personnel to have long sustained drives, especially with Neal, Light, Taylor and Morris out. I would like to see some agressiveness in the 2nd have and take some shots down field and maybe some more creativity such as flee-flickers, reverses, end-arounds, etc...

 

[SVN]

The aftermath: Goodbye Jets, hello Saints

The one stat to live in mortal fear of? Second-half scoring. It’s been pretty well-established this season that the Patriots are a mess after the break. Even in Sunday’s breezy win over the Jets, New England managed just one touchdown in the final two quarters and New York closed the gap to 10 and had the ball in the third before Mark Sanchez did his thing and ruined their chances.

That’s a show we all saw against the Jets the first time around, at Denver, at Indy and even in the Miami and Baltimore wins. In fact, if you take out the Titans, Bucs and Bills games, the Patriots have been outscored in the second half this season 72-61.

The Saints are outrageous after the break. They’ve outscored opponents 188-79. In the fourth quarter, they’ve outscored opponents by 81 points (105-24). The Patriots have a 10-point fourth-quarter edge (55-45).

Now we’ll throw in another stat. In true road games this season (forget the mess in London against Tampa), the Patriots have been outscored 47-10 after halftime. That’s 13-0 against the Jets in Week Two, 13-0 against Denver in Week Three and 21-10 against Indy in Week Ten.

The Saints' greatest strength is that they get better as the game goes on. And that’s New England’s biggest weakness. So when you go looking for matchups that matter, the conversation starts and ends right there.

 

[The Dynasty]

Of course its an issue, and this thread has addressed reasons/solutions for the problem

 

[chevss454]

I see this issue as either lack of 2nd half adjustments by our offensive coor., a change to conservative play calling, or lack of a consistently productive running game. More likely it's a combination of the 3 things.

What concerns me most about the Saints game is their RZ offense and defense (3rd and 4th) vs the Pats RZ o & d (23rd and 25th).

Field goals won't get it done against the Saints!

 

[PatsBoy12]

I'm sure it's been said, but I am very afraid of the Pats in the second half of games. Realistically, that's the difference between perhaps undefeated vs. three losses. Before I get reamed, I'm not saying I wanted 16-0, I'm just saying that the Pats had control of the game in the first half of all three losses.

 

[TennesseePatriot]

31 running backs in the league average 4 or more yards per carry, none of those players on are the Patriots.

And they say that those of us who dislike Maroney have no stats to show for it.