Oswlek
Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
- Messages
- 9,086
- Reaction score
- 5,955
Just a sprinkling of the snipits that are rummaging through my brain:
* I keep hearing about how tough Jax is and how their "physicality" is going to give NE trouble. I chortle to myself almost every time I hear this because playing physical almost never actual works against NE. The Ravens gave NE a hard time this year this way - in a road game that was the 3rd of three straight night games - and the Giants, with a far, far better DL, gave NE some problems. Other than that? Nada. The other teams that gave NE problems did so with a lot more than just being physical.
This is historically the case as well. Pitt gave a beat up NE team some troubles in the Halloween beat-down, but NE took it to them later that same season. I recall the 2004 Ravens game when Baltimore was supposed to "punch NE in the mouth" and run all over them. NE killed that team. Over and over again, NE rises to the occassion when teams supposedly have an edge in making games a "street fight". NE players love that schit. They love that grind and they live for the battle. Sure, you can't let them bully you around if you want to have a chance, but you need to come with more than just being physical.
* Also, with regard to NE being susceptible to the running game, I don't see this as being the case. Sure, NE has allowed a mediocre ypc, but that number is terribly inaccurate when you really look into things. First off, that number is inflated by teams either a) running when the game was out of reach against a NE defense ignoring the run (Miami, Pitt in the second half) or b) teams that NE played almost the entire game in nickle (Indy, Dallas).
Second, go through the list of close games:
Indy, Philly, Bal, NYJ, NYG
Of those games, only Indy and Baltimore really used the run as a primary weapon. And Indy was mostly successful with the run because NE - despite Indy's success - never once had less than 5 secondary players on the field. Only Baltimore was able to run successfully against a NE defense that was trying to stop the run and make a close game out of it. And, again, Baltimore was a road game that happened to be the 3rd of three straight night games. It was THE PASSING GAME that kept the Giants and Philly (and, to a lesser extent, the Jets) in their matchups, not the running game.
Third, alright, so the Ravens ran the ball very successfully in a narrow defeat. The Steelers also ran well (although some late game yardage makes that look worse than it really was) and kept the game close for a half. Who else ran the ball well against the "tired and old" NE defense down the stretch? Philly didn't. The Jets didn't, with the exception of a run or two using the option set. For all the huffing and puffing about the Giants, wasn't Jacobs held to single digits in the first half? Where was this susceptibility against the run again?
* A few other bits and pieces
1) BB has never lost an opening playoff game.
2) NE has allowed scores of 13, 14, 3, 3 and 16 in their opening playoff games.
3) NE has gone to the SB every single season that they opened the playoffs with a bye.
and one last one for Indy's benefit (stolen from footballoutsiders)
4) Only three teams in the history of the league have followed up a championship season by winning more regular season games. All three went on to repeat as champions.
* I keep hearing about how tough Jax is and how their "physicality" is going to give NE trouble. I chortle to myself almost every time I hear this because playing physical almost never actual works against NE. The Ravens gave NE a hard time this year this way - in a road game that was the 3rd of three straight night games - and the Giants, with a far, far better DL, gave NE some problems. Other than that? Nada. The other teams that gave NE problems did so with a lot more than just being physical.
This is historically the case as well. Pitt gave a beat up NE team some troubles in the Halloween beat-down, but NE took it to them later that same season. I recall the 2004 Ravens game when Baltimore was supposed to "punch NE in the mouth" and run all over them. NE killed that team. Over and over again, NE rises to the occassion when teams supposedly have an edge in making games a "street fight". NE players love that schit. They love that grind and they live for the battle. Sure, you can't let them bully you around if you want to have a chance, but you need to come with more than just being physical.
* Also, with regard to NE being susceptible to the running game, I don't see this as being the case. Sure, NE has allowed a mediocre ypc, but that number is terribly inaccurate when you really look into things. First off, that number is inflated by teams either a) running when the game was out of reach against a NE defense ignoring the run (Miami, Pitt in the second half) or b) teams that NE played almost the entire game in nickle (Indy, Dallas).
Second, go through the list of close games:
Indy, Philly, Bal, NYJ, NYG
Of those games, only Indy and Baltimore really used the run as a primary weapon. And Indy was mostly successful with the run because NE - despite Indy's success - never once had less than 5 secondary players on the field. Only Baltimore was able to run successfully against a NE defense that was trying to stop the run and make a close game out of it. And, again, Baltimore was a road game that happened to be the 3rd of three straight night games. It was THE PASSING GAME that kept the Giants and Philly (and, to a lesser extent, the Jets) in their matchups, not the running game.
Third, alright, so the Ravens ran the ball very successfully in a narrow defeat. The Steelers also ran well (although some late game yardage makes that look worse than it really was) and kept the game close for a half. Who else ran the ball well against the "tired and old" NE defense down the stretch? Philly didn't. The Jets didn't, with the exception of a run or two using the option set. For all the huffing and puffing about the Giants, wasn't Jacobs held to single digits in the first half? Where was this susceptibility against the run again?
* A few other bits and pieces
1) BB has never lost an opening playoff game.
2) NE has allowed scores of 13, 14, 3, 3 and 16 in their opening playoff games.
3) NE has gone to the SB every single season that they opened the playoffs with a bye.
and one last one for Indy's benefit (stolen from footballoutsiders)
4) Only three teams in the history of the league have followed up a championship season by winning more regular season games. All three went on to repeat as champions.
Last edited:
