How Can the Pats Stop the Ravens?

[aluminum seats]

Wth is the sf/ravens game at 1? Always tough for west coast teams to play that early in the East

 

[Ring 6]

I feel like the QB position is changing, shifting I guess.
Like I said, I think even bill sees this pattern because he was interested in this guy.
Look around the league, there are way more "mobile" QBs that can throw. We face another this week.

He passed on him twice. What indicates he was interested?

 

[Le Numéro Douze]

Jules fumbling the ball was indeed the turning point.

We had them figured out by the second quarter and were going to take the lead when Jules fumbled the ball. Everything went to **** after that. It was a back breaker moment.

I am confident that with plenty of tape on them + the game in Foxboro, we would win. Hell, I think we could take them in Baltimore as well. I won't be easy either way, but if we can stay healthy, we can do it.

Their offense is very productive, but it is also quite simple. BB will figure something out. We probably won't stop them completely, but I am confident that we will slow them down enough to give the offense a chance... and there lies my biggest worry: the offense will need to sustain drives and control time of possession... AND END DRIVES WITH TDs! But defensively? We will figure something out.

 

[Soliel]

Stop the run

 

[PP2]

Jules fumbling the ball was indeed the turning point.

We had them figured out by the second quarter and were going to take the lead when Jules fumbled the ball. Everything went to **** after that. It was a back breaker moment.

I am confident that with plenty of tape on them + the game in Foxboro, we would win. Hell, I think we could take them in Baltimore as well. I won't be easy either way, but if we can stay healthy, we can do it.

Their offense is very productive, but it is also quite simple. BB will figure something out. We probably won't stop them completely, but I am confident that we will slow them down enough to give the offense a chance... and there lies my biggest worry: the offense will need to sustain drives and control time of possession... AND END DRIVES WITH TDs! But defensively? We will figure something out.

The other back-breaker was White getting tripped just right before getting into the EZ. If Thuney hadn't tripped him, he had a clear path.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Wth is the sf/ravens game at 1? Always tough for west coast teams to play that early in the East

It allows the WC team to get back home at a somewhat reasonable hr.

 

[ivanvamp]

I don’t think you are following. The way you defend the option is one defender has the qb and another had the pitch. You simply make sure the unblocked guy has the qb and plants him. You aren’t sacrificing anything, you are accounting for one of the 2 potential runners.

Sounds great.

If only it was that easy.

 

[sambam94]

Pats need the #1 seed. They must match the Ravens the rest of the way to get it.
Not only does this mean the ravens would be coming to Foxboro, would also most likely mean they would have to play KC first. I rank KC miles ahead of the next best team.

 

[Gronk]

If it wasn't Harbaugh and the Ravens, it would be soooo much more enjoyable to watch what LJ is doing. I wish it was like, Cleveland or Detroit or Cincinnati, it would be more fun that way.

@patfanken already made this thread from a strategy perspective with his post, and that all seemed sound to me - Bill isn't fooled by this, it's about getting the DL/LBs in the right positions and then executing. But it's not realistic to expect them to hold up for 70 plays...more of an unknown at this point is whether the offense can/will be in a good enough place to hold up their end by putting some points on the board to make the Ravens play from behind, and to at least sustain some drives to keep our D from being fatigued at the end.

I think a lot of what many posters are saying - Jackson being a runner does put him at more risk for injury, maybe the Ravens are peaking too soon, that the league will catch up to this offense - that's all true. But that doesn't help NE beat them in January. I mean, it starts to seems like people are just hoping he gets hurt or that someone else will beat them? Do people get a prize for predicting that Lamar Jackson is an injury risk because he runs? That's easy to say, and a little bit of a lazy way to approach what he's doing. He has been incredible this year - I'd vote for him for MVP myself if I could. Just because it won't last forever doesn't mean you can't appreciate it, and it certainly doesn't mean his team won't whip NE's ass this year if they don't bring their A-game. I want to play them, and I want to play them healthy, and then have it out.

But I do want to play them in Foxboro Where this potential game is played will likely matter greatly, less for the defense than because I think that this year's version of the offense needs the relative quiet and support of a home crowd more than last year's did. Whatever improvements they can make, they won't be the Gronk/Develin/Allen and fully healthy OL battering ram that went to Arrowhead last year. Even that game, they dominated out of the gate, gave the lead back, made some dumb plays (Jules), tried to give it away again, got a fortunate penalty call, and still needed OT to win. It was as tough a road game as they've ever won and they aren't nearly the squad offensively that they were a year ago.

 

[bigballas]

i think we have to go 5-2-4 with double spy. lots of man depend on the 4 in the secondary to take out brown, andrews, snead. they have no one else to worry about in receiving

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

We used JJ like this a few times. Purposely flushed LJ out to him.

 

[Ring 6]

Sounds great.

If only it was that easy.

Well you still have to deal with a very good ol and 3 very good blocking TEs. Nothing is easy if you lose one on one battles and are overmatched.
But hit the option qb has worked for 50 years since I believe it was Darrell royal (could be wrong) figured it out.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

No one knows if the Pats will even play the ratbirds again this season.....on to Houston

 

[RobertWeathers]

3-4, 4-3, 5-2-4 w Chung way up. Mix it up. The key is controlling the gaps.

Crash the LoS, hit Jackson every single time when he is scrambling with or without the ball. His 210lb frame will feel it eventually... especially in January.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

Yes actually.
There's no evidence to support that claim at all.

In fact look at "bigger" QBs, most of them are banged up too.

@Ring 6 what exactly are you disagreeing w? It's not opinion.

There's 0 evidence to suggest that "running/mobile" QBs get hurt more/are more likely to get hurt.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I don’t think you are following. The way you defend the option is one defender has the qb and another had the pitch. You simply make sure the unblocked guy has the qb and plants him. You aren’t sacrificing anything, you are accounting for one of the 2 potential runners.

You do take a defender out of coverage, no?

 

[Vindicate]

Brady has to be Brady. The defense will do it's part. Brady needs to step up and be Brady of old. He can't keep getting 3-and-outs, making the defense get trucked for 85+ snaps.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Baltimore is playing great. They can definitely beat us on any given day. However, I’m pretty sure the Pats can beat them too.

Let’s put Newhouse at LT for them and see how they do? Provided Wynn and the oline can stay healthy the rest of the way and the offense improves plus a knockout game plan, I think they can be stopped.

 

[Teej]

They'll be tough to beat. I'm not hoping to see it, but Action Jackson is one Steve Grogan keeper away from IR, and that'll end the championship dream for them as well.

 

[mosi]

I think the Chargers Ravens WC game-tape needs to be absolutely dissected by every team in the league.

Lamar looked completely lost that day. No one else has come close to making him play like that since.

Very different team in 2018. They went from Marty Mornhinweg as offensive coordinator to Greg Roman, who has really changed this offense. The guy knows what he is doing. Made Kap look good. Heck, he made Tyrod Taylor look good. Tyrod Taylor!

With that said, the playoffs are different. I think the Pats can do it. Really do. They were close in that last game.