Why do teams come out flat?

[The Dynasty]

Who? The D-Line is supposed to be a strength, but it's been nothing short of terrible for weeks. Favre isn't any good. It's basically Peterson, Harvin, Hutchinson, Moss up until this past week, and some solid players throughout the rest of the roster. Minnesota doesn't have nearly as much talent as people give them credit for.

Their d-line has talent but has struggled yes I agree with that. Favre showed today that he has something left in the tank. Peterson is a top 3 RB in the league. Harvin is a stud and Shiancoe is one of the better TEs in the league. The Vikings are a talented team, they just have one of the worst coaches in the league

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I don't get the sense we came out flat so much as they came out on fire as only an underdog can while we came out not sharp. The first drive was overcomable. What happened on the heels of it created essentially a 14 point swing that was not overcomable because we were not sharp. That's on the players and execution (or lack thereof).

Zo said in his postgame comments that he thinks some of the youngsters are reading the teams and their own clippings and they didn't put the effort into this week because they didn't feel that sense they needed to. That is on coaching to an extent, although you cannot always get through to the younger guys in particular...they have to learn some things the hard way. On offense he said that Brady was diagnosing the coverage and the line was handling the pressure but the receivers were confused by it post snap. Guys were cutting off routes they shouldn't have based on what Brady saw vs. what they thought they saw. Then of course there were the drops, coupled with which they could not establish any rhythm.

And while pass protection was pretty good run blocking wasn't sufficiently good to get a guy like BJGE going. That's going to continue to be an issue. Woodhead is sneaky/slippery enough to mitigate that to some extent, but he's not the workhorse and if he has to carry the load he won't last long. Taylor/Morris is killing them. It's really something Bill should have addressed in the off season - particularly since he had to be thinking about moving on from Maroney for some time. If the best they can muster running on first down is a couple of yards max it puts pressure on the passing game to overcompensate. Schematically they have the horses to do that in theory, aka it's not the game plan or the play calling, but if guys don't execute consistently theory is doomed.

 

[Haley]

I think anyone that has seriously played a sport knows that there are days when things just don't work the way they usually do. Off days in a solitary sport are very common, but in a team sport where you rely on a team connection, the problem is exacerbated.

 

[Sicilian]

Like most things in sports and life, it's a combination of things. This Sunday, I really think it was just a perfect storm of awful:

- Starts in practice. Wilfork said it wasn't a good week, and with so many young players on the team it wouldn't surprise me if having the best record in the NFL went to their heads a bit. It doesn't even have to be obvious, but if they were even a little unfocused in practice all week it can add up come Sunday.

- The Browns not only had a lot of personal motivation amongst the coaching staff, but were coming off a major confidence boost against the former Super Bowl champs, AND had an extra week to prepare and rest. A lot of advantages for a team.

- Whether due to the practice point above or just one of those fluky brain farts, the miscue on the kickoff immediately put the Pats behind the 8 ball. If they were executing sharply, that's overcomable. Since they weren't, a 10 point lead, even early, can just create a downward spiral.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

People have good days and bad days.

And with a team sport involving 50 plus people odds are some of them are going to be having a good day and some are gonna have a bad day. Problem occurs when the too many of them are having a bad day or the wrong people are having a bad day.

Let say on a kick off return. If only one of the 11 are having a bad day and that one is a guy blocking on the opposite side of the field. It might be the difference between a 25 vs. 27 yard return. OTOH, if the guy field the ball is the one having a bad day vs a good day, could be the difference between returning the kick off for a TD and fumbling with the other team recovering.

Or on the offense. If a back up RB is in a funk on a couple of plays the rushing game is gonna get stuffed but the offense overall can still be highly effective. If the QB is in a funk the offense is gonna do much of all.

Also it is impossible to get to the same level of intensity every week for 16-20 weeks every year. Playing a 2-5 team is not as exciting as game against a tied division rival. Plus many Patsfan.com posters were more focused on where Randy Moss was going to land on Tuesday than doing the job they get paid to do. I bet that was also true for his actual friends.

 

[QuinielaBox]

I would have to say that it was poor preperation for the physical nature of the matchup the Patriots were facing. Plus Mangini had two weeks to prepare for the Patriots and the Cleveland team is full of confidence after smashing the defending Super Bowl Champions on their home field.

Oh and the Patriots next two opponents are the Colts and the Steelers so this was a trap game......

Plus we are at week 9 which is a natural lull period before the home stretch.....

It was a combination of things plus Mrs Q looked up Tom Brady's biorhthyms and all were negative.

I had a horrible feeling going into the game and I was right.

 

[Ring 6]

Obviously, the Pats didn't play well today, and I don't want this to turn into a "Cut X" and "Bench Y" thread. Heck, I don't even want to single out the Pats, because it's not like they're the only team ever to do this.

My question is this, especially for those of you who've been involved in football: why do good teams sometimes come out playing like they'd rather be playing golf? In other words, why do you have games where it seems like most people on the team woke up and said "I'll just go through the motions"?

I think 95% of the time that the term is used, it is wrong.
When things don't go well for a team, there is a tendancy to snowball.
The Pats are a good example. They are used to being ahead or at least close. When they fall behind 10-0 its a different game, and they look like a different team.
On top of that, its about matchups. The Cleveland OL manhandled the Patriot front 7. There are different ways to defend teams and if you dont expect a physical mismatch, you can play into. By the last couple of drive we were playing guess run D, and the floodgates broke.
Offensively, really we just left plays on the field. Misconnection between QB and receiver. Its not like we didnt have time to throw, didnt run somewhat, didnt have open receivers.
When it snowballs like that, 'flat' gets thrown around, but I think its not an accurate description.
Football is a game of collisions. If you start a game somewhat ambivalent you get pounded and lose the ambivalence. Anyone who has played the game and played well knows that one 'embarrassment' ends any lack of desire to play. No football player is going to get beaten into the ground for 60 minutes because he just didnt feel like playing.

 

[Ring 6]

BB talked about it during one of his pressers earlier in the week, but it's something that happens to every team, whether game by game or half by half or even quarter by quarter. At the end of the day, they were more prepared and wanted it more than us.

That is a great point. The focus and determination in preparation and practice are much more variable than whether the players are giving effort on the field.

 

[Krugman]

The $64,000 question.It happens on pretty much every team in every sport,IMHO.A case in point I remember when Pitsburgh had its dynasty they would beat every team in the league,then lose at Cincinnati when they were lousy....teams will have these letdowns.Hope this is the last one for the Pats this year.....