Idle thoughts - the "good loss" edition

[NYCPATS4LIFE]

I was not disappointed in the O last night. They were moving the ball and marching when Edelman coughed up the ball. We could have gone up 20-17 on that drive but instead they took it to the house and went up 24-13. That killed our momentum and gave it back to them. D sucked overall. Run D was horrible. It is funny how at the beginning of the season our O was stout then injuries and bonehead players have derailed it. TB started the season great then the **** hit the fan and his production went down

Again in my opinion that Edelman fumble is not where momentum was lost. Pats came back and scored a td to make it 24-20 ravens. It was lost in the ravens possession where this so called great defense allowed a long drive for a td. They couldn’t get the stop. A 4th and 4 and the ravens went for it. They had no respect for this defense. Frankly if the other team has 37 points you deserve to lose!

 

[203Pat]

One thing that occurred to me as I watched all the Lamar love in the aftermath of win Sunday night, was the fact that when you put his passing and rushing yards together it only amounted to about 220 yds. Brady on his own accounted for 385.

Now this isn't to denigrate the great job Jackson did. He showed great presence in close situations in that game. He was truly clutch. But the LEVEL of acclaim he's getting is WAY overblown. It's like first it was Mahomes, then it was Prescott, then it was Wilson; every young QB who flashes goes from zero to hero in record time. Of those I mentioned only Wilson has proven he can do it year in and year out. And Jackson hasn't even come CLOSE to doing what Mahomes has. And NONE of them are even close to Brady's league even still

Of the QB's mentioned I would LOVE to have all three run the Pats, though Mahomes would be my first choice. But if I had to win ONE game to save my life, I still take old man Brady this year.

Didn’t Brady throw for 285?

 

[Arialgg]

Philly has a bye this week?

So THREE WEEKS IN A ROW, the Pats play a team that has two weeks to prepare for them?

That's kind of, you know, screwed up.

Except the Patriots also have two weeks to prepare for the Eagles in this case... which should take away any Eagles advantage.

 

[p8ryts]

What killed me about that call was that Brady threw it *BEFORE THE RECEIVER MADE HIS BREAK*, and it looked like an option route. Brady read it one way, the receiver read it another way, but because it was a long throw, by the time the ball arrived, the receiver - who broke the other way - was like 10-15 yards away from where the throw landed.

I've never seen another QB get called for that. I've only ever seen Brady get called for that. And it seems to happen to him once every couple of games.

Also: the neutral zone infraction penalty against the Pats' player who barely moved and objectively did NOT enter the neutral zone...like...at all. Those kinds of things just make me crazy.

Stuff happens, it evens out in the end.

 

[p8ryts]

Especially when 2nd and 3rd round rookie wideouts are going off for other teams

It doesn't matter because Tom is only looking for Edelman, Sanu and White. Edelman was gassed, I have to believe that Sanu and Watson were gassed also. Yet, Myers and Izzo didn't get in the game (1 snap combined). Izzo could have dropped the seam pass. Meyers could have fumbled. Bill, Josh and Tommy are the best but every once in awhile they outfox themselves. If Myers and Izzo are so terrible they couldn't be trusted at all then they shouldn't be on the team.

 

[p8ryts]

I did compare the Ravens approach to Russell Wilson at the beginning of my post. I don't agree on RGIII. He was among the most poorly coached young QB talents in NFL history. He had extraordinary skills when he came into the league. He reminded me of Randall Cunningham.

It's interesting that you bring up Wilson who is an effective but cautious running QB. I hope Lamar Jackson develops that sensibility as he matures.

Wilson and Jackson seem more durable

 

[patfanken]

Didn’t Brady throw for 285?

Thanks - fixed it

 

[mgteich]

If the patriots ran a regular offense (with lots of substitution), the defense of the ravens would have been better. Sure, Edelman, Sanu and White were tired. However, the defense of the ravens was much more tired.

Rotating our WR's and TE's, and rotating defensive players of the ravens would have benefitted the ravens.

It doesn't matter because Tom is only looking for Edelman, Sanu and White. Edelman was gassed, I have to believe that Sanu and Watson were gassed also. Yet, Myers and Izzo didn't get in the game (1 snap combined). Izzo could have dropped the seam pass. Meyers could have fumbled. Bill, Josh and Tommy are the best but every once in awhile they outfox themselves. If Myers and Izzo are so terrible they couldn't be trusted at all then they shouldn't be on the team.

 

[DaBruinz]

I thought the lack of rotation among the WR and TE was perplexing especially when they made an active effort to rotate the RBs..

There is no reason the Pats couldn't have rotated in Izzo for Watson and Meyers for one of Dorsett/Edelman/Sanu to give them breathers and without interrupting the momentum. Especially since they rotated White/Burkhead.

 

[supafly]

If the patriots ran a regular offense (with lots of substitution), the defense of the ravens would have been better. Sure, Edelman, Sanu and White were tired. However, the defense of the ravens was much more tired.

Rotating our WR's and TE's, and rotating defensive players of the ravens would have benefitted the ravens.

So, was keeping the same personnel in purposely gameplanned, or was it an attempt to stay vanilla for a potential rematch in January? I’m guessing a bit of both, although Brady just came out and stated that he had never experienced a game where they were forced to use the same personnel the whole time, a couple of weeks ago.

 

[p8ryts]

So, was keeping the same personnel in purposely gameplanned, or was it an attempt to stay vanilla for a potential rematch in January? I’m guessing a bit of both, although Brady just came out and stated that he had never experienced a game where they were forced to use the same personnel the whole time, a couple of weeks ago.

I don't believe any of these theories about "saving something for January".

 

[50-yard-line]

Again in my opinion that Edelman fumble is not where momentum was lost. Pats came back and scored a td to make it 24-20 ravens. It was lost in the ravens possession where this so called great defense allowed a long drive for a td. They couldn’t get the stop. A 4th and 4 and the ravens went for it. They had no respect for this defense. Frankly if the other team has 37 points you deserve to lose!

The 4th and 4 play was a blatantly illegal pick. Like 5 yards from the line, pick. Even Volin called it out.

 

[50-yard-line]

Thought I'd put this here...I'm down at Disney, watched the game in the ESPN club.

The next day, in my Pats' hat, several people gave me a bit of grief. Finally came up with an answer.

A lady from Baltimore good-naturedly rubbed in in (while I was taking a picture of her group as a favor), so I said, "I envy you. I miss the days when I gave a crap about football games not played in February."

The entire Baltimore contingent tipped their hats to that one. it's my new go-to.

 

[borg]

Thought I'd put this here...I'm down at Disney, watched the game in the ESPN club.

The next day, in my Pats' hat, several people gave me a bit of grief. Finally came up with an answer.

A lady from Baltimore good-naturedly rubbed in in (while I was taking a picture of her group as a favor), so I said, "I envy you. I miss the days when I gave a crap about football games not played in February."

The entire Baltimore contingent tipped their hats to that one. it's my new go-to.

They didn’t set your car on fire and loot you?

 

[borg]

So, was keeping the same personnel in purposely gameplanned, or was it an attempt to stay vanilla for a potential rematch in January? I’m guessing a bit of both, although Brady just came out and stated that he had never experienced a game where they were forced to use the same personnel the whole time, a couple of weeks ago.

More likely....
Same personnel so as to be ready and on the same page for the no huddle attack , a necessity to minimize Brady’s chances of getting pounded into middle earth

 

[supafly]

I don't believe any of these theories about "saving something for January".

I think there’s definitely some thought to facing the opponent in the postseason, although who knows if it had any bearing on this particular game.

 

[Sicilian]

Again in my opinion that Edelman fumble is not where momentum was lost. Pats came back and scored a td to make it 24-20 ravens. It was lost in the ravens possession where this so called great defense allowed a long drive for a td. They couldn’t get the stop. A 4th and 4 and the ravens went for it. They had no respect for this defense. Frankly if the other team has 37 points you deserve to lose!

The 4th and 4 call wasn't about not respecting our defense, it was about Harbaugh and his love for analytics. They've been aggressively going for it on 4th down and going for 2-pt conversions all season. They look at those win probability stats and make a lot of calls just based on that. If the numbers told them that they'd have a higher % chance to win by punting, regardless of opponent, they would have punted.

 

[PatsGirl2011]

I think there’s definitely some thought to facing the opponent in the postseason, although who knows if it had any bearing on this particular game.

Same. There’s no guarantee we even see Baltimore again. If this was KC, maybe. Baltimore? Nope. Their defensive strategy just didn’t work. Next....

 

[scout]

I don't believe any of these theories about "saving something for January".

I heard that BB held strategy back for a possible later date. That sounds logical.

 

[Betterthanmost]

I can only imagine the pain it would have been had we not faced them in the season and rather faced them during the post season where. Now we know who they are and can be better prepared for them later, we may not win in the rematch but we will not be all over the place on defense. The plan will be well understood.