Patriots have time of possession issues

[Ring 6]

The Pats having a lot of special team TDs have something to do with that. When the Pats blocked the FG in Miami and ran it in for a TD, it gave Miami's offense back to back possessions. When Tate returns a kick off for a TD, it gives means both teams will get more possessions although the offense scored without a possession.

Also, in several games, the Pats were protecting a lead and playing bend don't break defense. That means their strategy was to allow the opposing offenses to have long drives to run down the clock.

Yes. There are many back to back possessions against us after D or s/t scores, and a lot of them occurred when we had big leads and played prevent D.
TOP for this team through 6 games is not an accurate gauge of what it is typically used to judge.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Who coached that team?...Oh wait...He was awful!

That coach was so awful he got fired and the team moved to a new city and changed its name. The pathetic coach had to go crawling back to is old boss and go back to being a defensive coordinator.

 

[AzPatsFan]

Having the worst 3rd and 4th down percentage in the nfl since the 1995 Browns is not a good situation.

Wasn't that the year Belichick had the Browns up to 11-5? As I recall, "the Drive" prevented them from appearing in the SuperBowl. Hang the statistics, winning is what football is all about.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Wasn't that the year Belichick had the Browns up to 11-5? As I recall, "the Drive" prevented them from appearing in the SuperBowl. Hang the statistics, winning is what football is all about.

No. He went 11-5 in '94. In '95 he got fired.

 

[mgcolby]

As others have pointed out the defensive and ST's scores have distorted that stat drastically. They offense had 4 possensions taken away from them in the Miami game. One in the two in the Cincy game etc..

I don't see how this is an issue after six games in which we have scored 6 or 7 non offensive TD's. And that doesn't include the onside kick.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

As others have pointed out the defensive and ST's scores have distorted that stat drastically. They offense had 4 possensions taken away from them in the Miami game. One in the two in the Cincy game etc..

I don't see how this is an issue after six games in which we have scored 6 or 7 non offensive TD's. And that doesn't include the onside kick.

Its not an issue right NOW

It could be an issue down the road.

 

[Deus Irae]

I think what is happening is that we are dealing with too small of a sample size to reach a meaningful conclusion.

I agree that we can't come to a real conclusion. I think that we can look back, with context (Special teams game/Chargers gift packs/etc...) and get a bit of a feel for things to date, though.

To me, that's better than another "Media sucks!", "Mankins needed/unneeded", etc.. type thread at this point.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Its not an issue right NOW

It could be an issue down the road.

Scoring 1-2 non offensive TD's per game is never an issue.

You can have the TOP all you want.

Give me the 7-14 points per game.

 

[mgcolby]

Its not an issue right NOW

It could be an issue down the road.

And it could not be. If not for all of the variety of scoring we have been doing TOP would worry me, unless of course we were still #1 in scoring without the diversity.

 

[mgteich]

So, as long as we score 7-14 non-offense points a game, we'll be fine?

Scoring 1-2 non offensive TD's per game is never an issue.

You can have the TOP all you want.

Give me the 7-14 points per game.

 

[fierce]

So, as long as we score 7-14 non-offense points a game, we'll be fine?

I'd say more often than not...

 

[jmt57]

Scoring 1-2 non offensive TD's per game is never an issue.

You can have the TOP all you want.

Give me the 7-14 points per game.

Pats are currently leading the league with 0.8 non-offensive touchdowns per game, which works out to 5.6 points per game. Last year New Orleans was way ahead of the rest of the league with 0.6 non-offensive touchdowns per game - about 4 points per game.

Expecting 7-14 non-offensive points per game is not very realistic. I don't see how one can count on the Pats to keep up the current pace, especially considering how there is only one more game against Miami and no more against San Diego.

 

[PYPER]

Interesting article and points out that the Pats offense is 28th in the NFL in time possession and giving up ghastly numbers on 3rd down and 10 on defense,yet are off to an impressive start to the season at 5-1

Amazing that the offense is ranked high in almost every catagory except time of possession

New England Patriots are losing time of possesion battle - ESPN Boston

I haven't read the whole thread so this was probably mentioned before. Our TOP is off because two of our six games (Cincy & Miami) were blowouts where we had special teams and/or defensive scores. Add in the SD game where we had a 20-3 lead heading into the 4th quarter when they used an onside kick to get back in it and that means half of our games have had misleading TOP stats. As such it may take until the end of the year for everything to balance out. Of course, considering how bad our offense was last week, especially in the first half, we may have reason to worry. This team needs Tate to step up in a big way and quickly.

 

[mgteich]

You do understand that no team scores more than 7 non-offense points per game?

I'd say more often than not...

 

[JMarr]

I disagree. The W and L record is what is misleading. We are a very overrated 5 and 1 team because our offense is average. If our offense don't improve, there will be a correction to our win and loss record. Remember, we were 5-2 last year before going 5-4 the rest of the way.

+1. We should have lost to San Diego and Special Teams play is responsible for 2 of our other wins. The offense has sputtered more than it has clicked and will continue to do so without a credible running game.

Defense has been way better than expected and kept us in games.
32nd ranked defense is another completely misleading stat--the D has done its job.

 

[fierce]

You do understand that no team scores more than 7 non-offense points per game?

Which is exactly why I answered that the way I did. I don't personally think we can score 7-14 non offensive points per game, BUT if we did we'd be in pretty decent shape.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Time of possession appears to be a very over rated stat, and that's before even considering the differences with how the clock runs on a pass versus a run.

FWIW I checked the Colts stats from 2004-2009 for a team with a comparable offense and their TOP was over 30:00 once in that time period (2005 at 30:21). As you posted, it's an overrated stat for a whole host of reasons....

 

[JoeSixPat]

Although I'm more concerned about seeing the Pats do better on 3rd Down Defense (and they did do better against the Vikings) yesterday's nearly 10 minute difference in ToP is still of concern.

Whether it's statistically relevant or not the teams that control the ball for the longest typically win. Giving the opposing team the ball for an extra 10 minutes isn't good... in yesterday's game with the running game going better, as well as with a lead, one would think we could have run the clock more - but apparently not.

I think the "why" needs to be looked at closer.. probably on a game by game basis, which in some cases could make it a red flag, and in others a red herring... but I'd feel much better if I felt that we could grab a lead and then control the clock down the stretch, winning ToP and the game like we used to so well.

I think the defensive issues and the ToP go hand in hand... one wouldn't want to fault the offense for being so quick and effective putting points on the board, but when there've been chances to get an opposing offense off the field, the D needs to step up more.

The overall stats may never show it given the first half of the season stats, but hopefully the D can get it together by the playoffs.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I disagree. The W and L record is what is misleading. We are a very overrated 5 and 1 team because our offense is average. If our offense don't improve, there will be a correction to our win and loss record. Remember, we were 5-2 last year before going 5-4 the rest of the way.

Well, now the NEP are a very overrated 6 and 1 team and I expect that next week they will be a very overrated 7 and 1 team. Where will it all end???