Official Patriots/Ravens Postgame thread

[IcyPatriot]

I'd like to see us get back to the shorter move the ball down the field offense we had earlier. We moved to it this game and it works ... we were just to far behind.

I don't see this team being a stretch the field team.

 

[JFK]

Why we didnt play Springs and Sanders early in the season is a mystry...

Because McGowan is better than Sanders and I am sticking to that.
Meriweather on the other hand is a talented dimwit.

 

[condon84]

Sanchez didn't face the pressure he did - let's not reach that conclusion yet. Otherwise the next few months will be unbearable.

There were times that Brady had time to throw but made some awful decisions. Even when he was pressured, his decision to throw it up in the middle for Chris Carr was horrendous.

Brady was unprepared mentally and it showed. Maybe he doesn't have the fire anymore. He sure didn't play like it today.

 

[JoeShmoe]

Belichick needs to swallow his pride and get a real DC and a real OC.

Ray Lewis talked about how jus from watching the Pats on TV, he knew what plays there were going to run based on the formations we got into. If we are that predictable, then something must change.

Never mind Ray Lewis, my dog could tell you what we were going to run

shotgun, shotgun, draw, punt

What the hell happened to getting under center, some play action etc

Hate to say it but they could do a lot worse than sit down and look at Manning and Colts this offseason for how to run a well balanced offense with one star receiver, an average running back and some rookies

 

[thechris]

Need to consider one sobering possibility...maybe TB never is the same as pre injury TB.

He was dreadful today worse than Sanchez

I tend to agree with this. I don't know if it's because he's hurt or what but Brady has seemed off all season long. Not just inaccurate but consistently making bad reads, throwing into coverage, throwing off balance, etc etc.

 

[Mongo Heathen]

...What a train wreck, and rather indicative of the whole season. Soft on defense (poor tackling, no pass rush), no recieving to speak of outside of Moss/Welker/ Faulk (although Edelman, with a bit more seasoning, will be a major keeper - he plays with attitude and guts) - can't win on the road and choke in the 4th quarter. That, and what the hell is going on with Brady. This is the worst I can remember him playing. I'm willing to give him the doubt and chalk this up as a rehab year with him getting his 'legs' back. This off season this team best get on the stick and make max use of their draft picks - otherwise it will be to the back of the pack in a big hurry. Miami and NYJ are making all the right moves to contend in that division - so there can't be any sleeping at the switch.

...I'm going with Baltimore the rest of the way out, cant stand the rest of the teams....

 

[Seymour93]

Maroney is a joke.... he gave to many games away, too many turnovers...

He didn't even get a chance to give this game away. After he whiffed on one block he was basically benched for the rest of the game. Shame, because I think he keeps the opposing defenses honest and is a threat as a receiver.

 

[furley]

It does no good to complain now. But, I've to ask this... Why would you defer after winning a coin toss if you're playing against a strong defense? I mean doesn't common sense say that you'll want to score early considering that it'll be tough to score points against a tough defense. Belichick has seemingly deferred after winning the coin toss a lot this season. Perhaps, that has always been the case with him. I don't know, I've noticed this season.

 

[sieglo]

This is the first Pats playoff loss in the Brady era where the team was actually outplayed and deserved to lose. So disappointing. Hope they have a hell of an offseason, hope that the Ravens upset the Colts and SD smashes the Jets.

 

[Deus Irae]

He knew the offense was screwed with out Wes Welker...


Maroney is a joke.... he gave to many games away, too many turnovers...

Thomas- Dont let the door hit u on the way out...

the o line someting needs to change... Vollmer at lt


If we were thinking Sam Aiken , Jullian Edelman and Matt Slater and a gimpy Bradon Tate our are Wr of the future, we are in trouble...


Why we didnt play Springs and Sanders early in the season is a mystry...

The only game where you could even pretend that a Maroney fumble was remotely responsible for a Patriot loss was the Colts game.

 

[PatsBoy12]

The offense needs an overhaul . . . and I'm not talking about the players necessarily. When I can sit on my couch and pretty much know what's coming, there is no reason the Ravens (or any other team) that watches film and gameplans can't figure out what's coming from this predictable offense. It's awful to watch.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

Well, I think certain things are cyclical.

Just as we did after 1999, we need to do just about the same in 2009.

Everybody's job is up for grabs now except for a few spots where there are young players.

 

[Run DMC]

DRC just got a pick. Pat who? Our drafts have been atrocious for the past 6 years.

 

[patriotfan]

It boils down to leadership, stopping the run, and aggressiveness.
None of that was shown today.

 

[HEY BRO! WHAT UP?]

DRC just got a pick. Pat who? Our drafts have been atrocious for the past 6 years.

Get ready to get blasted like I have for saying the same thing.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I'm doing my best to keep some perspective.

I'm distinguishing between my feelings about the performance today and my feelings about the season.

On the performance today, as someone who lives in NY, it's simple: I've been telling friends in New York that a BB team would NEVER lie down the way the Giants lay down the last two weeks of their season. Well, now I have to eat crow.

There's no way that, as fans, we shouldn't be angry and disappointed at how the team played today. I know that none of us have ever laced them up and stepped between the white lines on a Sunday afternoon in the NFL, but I think it's fair for us to expect the team to show up for a Playoff game (for any game after the preseason, but especially for a Playoff Game?!). They didn't. For the first time in the BB era, a Patriots team just didn't show up to play and they did so in the biggest game of their season. We have a right to be furious and disappointed and if we shelled out money for a ticket to feel ripped off. It was embarrassing.

As for how I feel about the season, I disagree with those who say it was a waste and whatever else people are saying about it in these threads. I think, and recorded this in weekly posts in Andy's thread, that the season turned out about like I expected: division title but not 13 or 14 wins.

They were clearly trying to rebuild the Defense on the fly with the Seymour and Vrabel trades at the same time they lost Rodney and Brewski to retirement and they were getting young in the secondary and at the same time their QB was coming back from a major injury. From that perspective, the season itself probably worked out about as well as we could have (reasonably) expected. If your perspective was that this was not the time to do that all at once, well I might disagree with you but I can't argue with you either.

But none of that changes how I feel about how they played today. For the first time in a decade+, I was embarrassed to be a Pats fan, just for the day, but truly embarrassed. We'll be back. There's too much talent and too much (hopefully) anger not to be back. We can only hope that they have a great Draft/FA period, clean house in some areas and are ready to make another run next year when Tommy is 33 before a possible strike year, which would make him 35 at the start of a 2012 season.

 

[nyjets1]

tough game guys. i was looking forward to seeing the pats advance in hopes of a rematch.

 

[j00fek]

i wish the pats didnt make the playoffs, so i would have to deal with this sh**

 

[fumbrunner]

Everything is cyclical including success in the NFL. The stars aligned earlier in the decade with a 6th rounder turning into a hall of famer and a dressing room stocked full of character guys that blindly followed the teams mantra. It is difficult to maintain that, especially with coaches being poached and poor drafts.

Here's hoping that the stars begin to align again, but there is no doubt that the strategy has to change somewhat. Time to start paying your best players (hello Wilfork) and start taking advantage of draft position instead of trading down for value. There are alot of holes to fill.

 

[Seymour93]

i wish the pats didnt make the playoffs, so i would have to deal with this sh**

Yeah, contrast this season with last season. It's criminal that the gritty Cassel-led team didn't make the playoffs due to a stupid tiebreaker, while this underacheiving team stumbles into the playoffs and lays down once they get there.