Upcoming Game Thoughts:

[PatsWickedPissah]

Meh. Denver had that game won and let up. And Indy hasn't been anywhere near the team they were in September/October for weeks now.

That is a salient point.
The well coached, well constructed teams improve as the season goes on and win in late Nov through Dec. The Colts are soft and flawed. Denver is well coached and well constructed and should 9 times outa 10 beat the Colts. Rooting for the 10.

 

[letekro]

Some good points Rob, but you should watch that 2013 game again. The Patriots had two good drives in the first quarter then did absolutely nothing until the last drive of the game when Blount hammered down a defense that couldn't cover for a severely injured Flacco anymore. The game was 20-7 with 2 min left and Flacco literally was hobbling around all game. You shouldn't find any solace in that game. Also, yes, the Ravens are weak in the secondary and in pass protection but do we have the personnel to exploit that? Those Giants' secondaries were not very good but it didn't matter because Tom never had time to find anyone. Like you, I hope the unique talents of Gronkowski are the difference, but Ryan has limited him in the past and Pees is a pretty smart cookie. Should be an interesting battle of wits and adjustments as the game goes on between two of the very best coaching staffs in the league.

 

[luuked]

That is a salient point.
The well coached, well constructed teams improve as the season goes on and win in late Nov through Dec. The Colts are soft and flawed. Denver is well coached and well constructed and should 9 times outa 10 beat the Colts. Rooting for the 10.

And because of Luck and Titans/Jax in the same division they will continue making the playoffs and thus keep Pagano as coach & draft around the 20's which will keep them mediocre for a few more years.

 

[pork3]

Those Giants' secondaries were not very good but it didn't matter because Tom never had time to find anyone.

I remember quite vividly claims that because the Giants' secondary was rather pedestrian, that the Patriots would come out victorious. Obviously, it became quite apparent that with pocket quarterbacks such as Brady, being hassled and pressured up the middle pretty much nullifies any secondary weaknesses.

This team and their postseason fortunes will live and breathe by the play of their O-line.
If I see Devey or Kline being substituted at all in any of the games, god help me, we're fwcked.

-Jamman

 

[Rob0729]

Some good points Rob, but you should watch that 2013 game again. The Patriots had two good drives in the first quarter then did absolutely nothing until the last drive of the game when Blount hammered down a defense that couldn't cover for a severely injured Flacco anymore. The game was 20-7 with 2 min left and Flacco literally was hobbling around all game. You shouldn't find any solace in that game. Also, yes, the Ravens are weak in the secondary and in pass protection but do we have the personnel to exploit that? Those Giants' secondaries were not very good but it didn't matter because Tom never had time to find anyone. Like you, I hope the unique talents of Gronkowski are the difference, but Ryan has limited him in the past and Pees is a pretty smart cookie. Should be an interesting battle of wits and adjustments as the game goes on between two of the very best coaching staffs in the league.

The Ravens this year are not getting pressure on QBs with four man rushes like the Giants that gave the Pats' fits. The Ravens are getting pressure by exotic blitzes. That doesn't always work against Brady. Sometimes it backfires greatly even for the Jets who do have his number at times.

And Rex Ryan limiting Gronk is overstated. He limited him because Edelman was out and the o-line was depleted which forced Brady to throw faster and allowed the Jets to give extra coverage to Gronk because they didn't fear Amendola like they would Edelman. The Ravens won't have that luxury this weekend.

And as for the Giants, the one o-line player who usually played horribly against their d-lines is now in Tampa. Mankins even when he was elite, came up small against the Giants.

As for the Ravens game last year, the Pats scored 27 points on offense with only Edelman for a receiver for the most part. They had banged up Amendola and Dobson, but that was about it. With the receiving corp what it was last year by the end of the season, Brady did very well against them. It wasn't like they had Gronk and any other healthy receiver other than Edelman. And what does Flacco being hobbled have to do with Brady and the offense?

 

[letekro]

Rob, Pees has generally played coverage against Brady with good results. Are you sure youre not confusing 4 man zone pressures (eg Webb rushing with Suggs dropping into coverage) with actual blitzes?

Teams dont fear Edelman. webb could single him up while they flood the middle for Gronk and take their chances with Lafell. Pees is not one of these clowns thats going to let Gronk run free.

Your third point is that Mankins was the problem all along? Not sure im buying that.

Your last point is that the Pats did Ok on offense considering the guys they had out. Ok, but thats a bit of retreat from saying that we blew them out. And Flacco being hurt helped our offense because it gave us more possessions. for a number of reasons, that game doesnt tell us much

 

[RobertWeathers]

If I see Devey or Kline being substituted at all in any of the games, god help me, we're fwcked.

Yea that would not be a good thing. Not. At. All

 

[obgod3]

Not sure I can add much but Ill give it a try.

Big Ben was sacked 5 times this weekend, all when the Ravens rush only four guys...not a blitz at all.

I dont care about last year, five years ago etc. except that I think the Ravens play NE tough more so because of great coaching and that hasn't changed.

Jump balls, yeh it worries me, yes keep Browner away from Smith, thats a fight waiting to happen, unless Browner does the Hanson triplet power slam on him.

NE has to sore TD's in the Red zone, I dont know how they rank but the Ravens are what number one preventing TD's? Ravens actually are good regarding Net Points at 107 (409/302) and Pats at 155 (468/313).

 

[PATS16N0]

• It is a fallacy that Brady and the offense always struggles vs. the Ravens. They scored 41 points last tie they met (granted it is on the legs of Blount). In the regular season of 2012, the Pats scored 30 points and the Ravens won on a questionable field goal by the Ravens at the end of regulation.

Let's also not forget that the replacement officials sustained THREE Raven scoring drives that game with phantom PI calls so atrocious they had Chris Collinsworth apologizing on the air and saying things like "The league is going to have to do something about this," which is basically unprecedented for an announcer.

With proper officiating, the would of been a Patriot blow out win in the Ravens own stadium.

One of those PI calls that kept the Ravens alive didn't even have contact, which is when the announcers really started pouring it on

That game had as much to do with getting the real officials back as the Seattle/Packer game.

 

[dales804]

Not sure I can add much but Ill give it a try.

Big Ben was sacked 5 times this weekend, all when the Ravens rush only four guys...not a blitz at all.

I dont care about last year, five years ago etc. except that I think the Ravens play NE tough more so because of great coaching and that hasn't changed.

Jump balls, yeh it worries me, yes keep Browner away from Smith, thats a fight waiting to happen, unless Browner does the Hanson triplet power slam on him.

NE has to sore TD's in the Red zone, I dont know how they rank but the Ravens are what number one preventing TD's? Ravens actually are good regarding Net Points at 107 (409/302) and Pats at 155 (468/313).

Baltimore was second this year at 42.1% allowed. KC was first.

 

[PatsDeb]

Haven't you heard, this year, those classic Slater bombs have been replaced with the sparse but ever so efficent Tyms bombs. Admittedly, Tyms is actually a receiver, so the chances of a successful play there, taking into account Brady's questionnable accuracy on deep throws, is actually more than 5%.

-Jamman

Yes, and it's especially effective when you put Tyms in for one play per game and send him long. No way they are going to guess that an inaccurate bomb to Tyms is what's coming next (see Jets game - sack of Brady on first down).

 

[PatsDeb]

Let's also not forget that the replacement officials sustained THREE Raven scoring drives that game with phantom PI calls so atrocious they had Chris Collinsworth apologizing on the air and saying things like "The league is going to have to do something about this," which is basically unprecedented for an announcer.

With proper officiating, the would of been a Patriot blow out win in the Ravens own stadium.

One of those PI calls that kept the Ravens alive didn't even have contact, which is when the announcers really started pouring it on

That game had as much to do with getting the real officials back as the Seattle/Packer game.

I forgot about this atrociously officiated game. I believe it's true that this game was the deciding factor in bringing back the regular refs and quick! Wasn't it a Sunday or Monday night game?

 

[Mark12]

Here we go:

• And about the Ravens' pass rush, people look at Saturday's game and are pointing to that to say Brady is going to be killed. But what people are ignoring is that most of the times they got pressure on Roethlisberger, it was by blitzing. Brady struggles when he is pressured with a four man rush and usually eats apart the blitzes. The Ravens had the advantage against the Steelers to blitz five or six and still drop five or six into deeper coverage because the Steelers had no threat of the run and they were trying to throw down field way too much (both reasons were because Bell was out of the game and he is Roethlisberger's saftey value with the quick dump offs). With the Pats, the Ravens will have to respect the run (at least far more than they did on Saturday) and the short passing game. They cannot play two safeties deep and still blitz or Brady will eat them apart over the center of the field.

I agree with everything else, but this is actually untrue. All the sacks the Ravens had came with standard pressure.

In fact, I don't remember the Ravens blitzing that match to be honest.

 

[patsfanincleveland]

I agree with everything else, but this is actually untrue. All the sacks the Ravens had came with standard pressure.

In fact, I don't remember the Ravens blitzing that match to be honest.

All the sacks last Saturday was the result of Rothlesberger holding the ball way too long. Maybe it was the Bell factor.

However, the needless need to somehow believe that the Ravens got some monster pressure is nonsense.

If that happens on Saturday, that's on the Patriots coaching staff not anything inherent. Besides, the Steelers Oline actually really does suck.

 

[patsfanincleveland]

Rob, Pees has generally played coverage against Brady with good results. Are you sure youre not confusing 4 man zone pressures (eg Webb rushing with Suggs dropping into coverage) with actual blitzes?

Teams dont fear Edelman. webb could single him up while they flood the middle for Gronk and take their chances with Lafell. Pees is not one of these clowns thats going to let Gronk run free.

Your third point is that Mankins was the problem all along? Not sure im buying that.

Your last point is that the Pats did Ok on offense considering the guys they had out. Ok, but thats a bit of retreat from saying that we blew them out. And Flacco being hurt helped our offense because it gave us more possessions. for a number of reasons, that game doesnt tell us much

Yeah, after trying to advance the concept of a 41-7 close, nail biter, one would think it's best to quit while your behind.

This post can prove any better why that's a great piece of advice.

 

[Rob0729]

I agree with everything else, but this is actually untrue. All the sacks the Ravens had came with standard pressure.

In fact, I don't remember the Ravens blitzing that match to be honest.

The Suggs interception was from a blitz, but a lot of the pressure came from the blitzes. There were times when Pees sent upwards to seven rushers. They blitzed quite a bit.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

Watching 5'8 Forsett making those blocks last night made me think Collins might just leap right over him.

 

[obgod3]

The Suggs interception was from a blitz, but a lot of the pressure came from the blitzes. There were times when Pees sent upwards to seven rushers. They blitzed quite a bit.

We are just pointing out the sacks themselves came with four guys rushing only, that's all.

I agree they did blitz on a number of occasions but it wasn't as much as people think it to be. I have no doubt that those same four can can get to Tom if the O line doesn't play lights out.

But I do think they have to be careful because we know Brady can make it painful.

 

[Rob0729]

Well what we are pointing out is the sacks themselves came with four guys rushing only, that does mean that those four guys can get to the WB, regardless of how long he might hold the ball. I agree they did blitz on a number of occasions but it wasn't as much as people think it to be. I have no doubt that those same four can can get to Tom if the O line doesn't play lights out.

Sacks are overrated. Roethlisberger threw that INT because he was pressured with nowhere to go.

I will agree that the pressure that the Ravens got on Big Ben was overrated because he was Bledsoe-like taking 5-7 step drops all game.

 

[obgod3]

Sacks are overrated. Roethlisberger threw that INT because he was pressured with nowhere to go.

I will agree that the pressure that the Ravens got on Big Ben was overrated because he was Bledsoe-like taking 5-7 step drops all game.

Well I don't believe sacks are overrated, when Brady gets sacked on a regular basis he doesn't play well, we have all seen it. Plus losing yards is not overrated, we sure like it when our defense does it.

The pressure on Ben was directly responsibly for that turnover also.

And I'm not trying to start an argument...just think we might see it differently.