The 2011 New England Patriots

[amherstblackbear]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Hope the Ravens don't think Brady is going to throw wounded ducks like TJ was doing all day.

What a shame looks like Ed Reed hurt himself on the hail mary

I think the #1 reason why the NE defense is near last in yards but close to average in points allowed is that they're actually half-decent at ball-hawking.

Flacco takes more risks than Tebow does. A couple picks would be nice, and if NE's pass rush is 1/3 as good as they were against Denver, Flacco's the sort of guy who can deliver them.

 

[walrus]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

I think the #1 reason why the NE defense is near last in yards but close to average in points allowed is that they're actually half-decent at ball-hawking.

Flacco takes more risks than Tebow does. A couple picks would be nice, and if NE's pass rush is 1/3 as good as they were against Denver, Flacco's the sort of guy who can deliver them.

Flacco isn't great that's for sure, get a lead, stop ray Rice and Flacco might just do that

 

[Jason A]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Weather forecast for Sunday in Foxboro is sunny, with highs in the mid-40s.

Pats open as a touchdown favorite.

Things are getting interesting, aren't they? I wrote a friend this week that while I don't think the Patriots are a great team by any standard, I'd never seen a 13-3 team get s@@t on as much as this one. (And I've been just as guilty as anyone.) Well, here they are with four teams left.

Baltimore is definitely going to be the best team they've played this year, but they've got a chance.

 

[walrus]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Weather forecast for Sunday in Foxboro is sunny, with highs in the mid-40s.

Pats open as a touchdown favorite.

Things are getting interesting, aren't they? I wrote a friend this week that while I don't think the Patriots are a great team by any standard, I'd never seen a 13-3 team get s@@t on as much as this one. (And I've been just as guilty as anyone.) Well, here they are with four teams left.

Baltimore is definitely going to be the best team they've played this year, but they've got a chance.

How many teams did they beat that ended up with a winning record?

 

[ScottK]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Weather forecast for Sunday in Foxboro is sunny, with highs in the mid-40s.

I wouldn't count on that. I've looked at 3 different forecast models that go out that far and two of them have light rain and upper 30s, while the 3rd one has rain coming in at night with temps in the lower 40s.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Going. So I guess the "just which the earth would open up and swallow both teams" wish is off the table

 

[Jason A]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

I wonder if Saturday's game might cause Belichick to rethink the decision to defer to the second half when they win the coin toss. They used to always take the ball, but during the 2008 season their philosophy changed. Given how they've been plagued by slow starts all year, and given Saturday night's fast start which was created when Denver deferred, maybe they'd consider taking the ball first if they win the toss on Sunday?

 

[CLS]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

I wonder if Saturday's game might cause Belichick to rethink the decision to defer to the second half when they win the coin toss. They used to always take the ball, but during the 2008 season their philosophy changed. Given how they've been plagued by slow starts all year, and given Saturday night's fast start which was created when Denver deferred, maybe they'd consider taking the ball first if they win the toss on Sunday?

Be interesting to see. IMO, the fact they’ve been able to recover from slow starts almost makes it more likely for them to defer because they’re not afraid to play from behind . Deferring means they retain the tactical advantage of possibly getting two consecutive possessions, with the second one coming after they’ve had a chance to make halftime adjustments. Also, they’re up against a so-so offense so if they can force a three-and-out to begin the game, they start out with a field position advantage.

I am somewhat surprised that Denver deferred, because for them, playing from behind was something that I’d think they’d want to avoid. Was Fox trying to play mind games?

 

[NMU8405]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

How many teams did they beat that ended up with a winning record?

Look at who they lost against, not who they beat. Loss vs Buffalo (Bad team), Pittsburgh and NY Giants. Their schedule partners were the NFC East, who had a very down year, and the AFC West (who they went 4-0 against).

 

[CLS]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

How many teams did they beat that ended up with a winning record?

If you do the logical thing and consider opponents' records against teams other than the Patriots, they played nine (more than half) games against eight teams with winning records and went 7-2 in those games. They played seven games against five teams with losing records and went 6-1 in those games.

The fact that they played so many teams that were within a game of .500 means that the good teams weren't as good as usual, but it also means that the bad teams weren't as bad as usual.

Not trying to make them seem better than they were. I agree that this is a defensively flawed team that could very well lose Sunday. Just think the "record against teams with winning records" thing is misleading.

 

[BCeagle]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

New England's best defensive player is Tom Brady.

If the Pats get off to a quick start, it makes it a lot easier for the defense to pin their ears back and play the pass. Especially when the opposing QB has, ahhh, limited skills and a depleted receiving corps (that wasn't all that deep to start).

There's no reason to think New England can't do it again. Houston's QB is unproven and Joe Flacco has been ordinary on the road, to put it charitably. But those teams also have much more ability than Denver to prevent that quick start.

I'll take the Pats against either the Texans or Ravens, but I wouldn't put money on them.

Hopefully the Pats won't turn the ball over early via a pick or fumble and if they get the early lead, I think that is huge. Sometimes Brady will throw a pick when trying to thread a pass early in the game.

Also, I would like to see them start with a no huddle, not allowing defense to huddle and substitute. They seem to do better with the no huddle, especially against a D that is as good as Baltimore. Certainly, the Pats running game is no big deal as they don't have a runner close to 1,000 yards this year. I'd expect to see some passes to Faulk coming out of the backfield with his experience.

 

[Rover]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

While an early lead would be great, I think the team can wear down an aging Ravens D by the second half as long as they aren't giving up easy points in the first half via turnovers and blown coverage. If they went into the locker room tied with a low score, I could live with that because I'd expect the Pats to make the better adjustments and figure out the coverage quicker than Flacco will be able to.

But having said that, a start to the game much like the Denver contest works for me.

 

[pirate]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Look at who they lost against, not who they beat. Loss vs Buffalo (Bad team), Pittsburgh and NY Giants. Their schedule partners were the NFC East, who had a very down year, and the AFC West (who they went 4-0 against).

As the packers and steelers demonstrated, if you play badly enough, you can lose to anybody in the playoffs. If the Pats are clicking then I think they will get out ahead of the Ravens, force Flacco to throw the ball, force Cameron to call more bad plays and eventually wear the Ravens D down. Usually when the pats lose you can tell in the first 10 minutes it is going to be one of those days. this year they did the opposite in many games, get out to big lead and lose to Buffalo and/or get out to big deficit and come back (see Buffalo and several others).

Seems trite but I'll be looking for what kind of start the pats have, if Brady is 3 of 8 for 13 yards then I'm worried. 7-8 for 110 yards and I'm optimistic. That may seem obvious but when they do poorly it seems to be because the other D has come in with the right game plan and the Pats sometimes struggle to overcome it. it also means our D is out there a lot and that turns into a bigger liability as the game wears on.

Since I'm going to be in Indy for the big game either way, I'm sure hoping it isn't Ravens/Giants. That has the potential to be a 12-9 barnburner.

 

[Jason A]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Well, today's the day. Both teams seem pretty healthy for game 18. Should be a competitive game.

 

[Jason A]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Vollmer, Ochocinco, and Ridley are among today's inactives.

 

[NMU8405]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Im a little worried about leaving the Ravens receivers open downfield. If there was a hallway decent QB on Baltimore they would be winning

 

[rufus]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

Sheesh, the Pats did everything they could to give this game away, and Baltimore just couldn't finish the job.

 

[walrus]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

I'm so ****ed at Brady throwing that INT in quadruple coverage, W T F was he thinking

 

[pirate]

I'm so ****ed at Brady throwing that INT in quadruple coverage, W T F was he thinking

Even a sack would have been better.

 

[Jason A]

Re: The 2011 New England Patriots

That was really something. "It's a quarterback league" is repeated over and over, and yet the Patriots overcame mediocre QB play today to win. The D? Really? Yep, they got it done.

And the Giants are going to pull this out as usual, aren't they? Of course they are. Dips**t runs over just far enough to have the ball go off his knee. Brilliant! Oh well, that's probably better: this will be true redemption, once and for all, or the Giants will get the last laugh again and they'll deserve it.