Teh Official Pats v Ravens Game Day Thread - Div Round Playoff Edition

[Beaglebay]

Would have been crazy if the first play of the game was an INT of Flacco.

 

[chevss454]

Here's a great video with BB breaking down the key plays of the game, including the one above, with Zolak. There's no option to embed the video, so it's a link only.

http://www.patriots.com/media-cente...t-Ravens/42df1ca8-4621-4457-81f0-91e7104c50cc

BB said they worked on that play in practice.

2. Harmon's good angle on interception. Belichick broke down the game-sealing pick by safety Duron Harmon, pointing out the man coverage on the four receivers and a double-team on tight end Owen Daniels over the middle. Harmon is the single deep safety. "This is an excellent play by Harmon, the angle that he takes right for the ball. and going up to high-point it. It's well played and something Coach [Brian] Flores and the safeties worked on very hard this week -- the deep balls, the angles, the high-pointing the ball and taking it away from the receiver. ... The angles for the safeties, taking the proper angle, the right landmark and getting to the spot of the throw is so important. He did a great job of it."

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...776254/lots-to-digest-in-belichicks-breakdown

 

[chevss454]

This is by far the smartest & best breakdown of the 3 ineligible receiver plays that shows just how sophisticated the plays are with 1 setting up the next which sets up the next. All the while, the Ravens, confused and out coached, stay in the same ineffective coverage scheme with no adjustments whatsoever. The author shows that Harbaugh had plenty of time to make adjustments but he had no clue what to do to defend it.

Excellent article by this guy

James Mastrangelo

James Mastrangelo is a graduate of Amherst College and holds a doctorate in political science from Rutgers University with an emphasis in political philosophy, making him either a scientician or a sophist depending on how you look at it. He has taught politics, philosophy, law and statistics at institutions large and small and is now trying to be useful for a change by working on elevating the discussion of football on the internets.

http://soshcentral.com/nfl/nfl-playoffs/2015/01/14/reporting-ineligible-appreciation/

 

[Beaglebay]

Those formations left Harbaugh stunned and paralyzed.

Another BB scheme for the HOF?

 

[Beaglebay]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/01/14/ray-lewis-tom-brady-is-only-known-because-of-the-tuck-rule/

BOSTON (CBS) — Ray Lewis spent 17 years toiling in the NFL, building himself a surefire Hall of Fame resume in the process. Because of that work on the field, Lewis is now a full-time football analyst, working for ESPN and dispensing his thoughts every week on the events of the NFL.


Sometimes, that endeavor works out, and other times it does not.
And if there’s one thing that’s evident in the opinions expressed by the former linebacker, it’s this: thick, purple Baltimore Ravens blood still courses through his veins.


That much was clear on Tuesday, when he joined Stephen A. Smith’s show on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio. Lewis was talking about the controversial incompletion ruling on Dez Bryant over the weekend, and perhaps because he still feels the sting of seeing the Patriots beat his Ravens, Lewis took the opportunity to try to tear down Tom Brady.
(Please excuse the punctuation. It’s difficult to punctuate Ray Lewis sentences.)


“Listen, not to go all totally out of conscious [I believe he meant ‘context’], but just think about this, Stephen A., honest to God,” Lewis said. “When we — the first time we created something called a tuck rule, it’s the only reason we know — I’m just being honest! — the only reason we know who Tom Brady is, because of a tuck rule! There’s no such thing as a tuck rule! If the ball is in your hand, and I knock it out your hand, whether it’s going backwards, forwards, lateral, sideways, however it’s coming out, that’s a freaking fumble!
“But guess what we created? We created a freaking tuck rule!”


Hearing Lewis say that the tuck rule is the only reason we know about a man who’s won three Super Bowls, has twice been named NFL MVP (including the first-ever unanimous MVP), has made 10 Pro Bowls, has three times been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Year, owns the best winning percentage of all time and has been the one constant on the field in arguably the longest sustained run of success any one team has endured in NFL history … Stephen A. Smith had to ask: Did you really just say that?


“They don’t go to that championship game — they don’t go to that championship game if that tuck rule, if that ball is not called a tuck! That’s a fumble!” Lewis shouted. “Charles Woodson made that man clearly fumble the ball and they named it the tuck rule, something that we’ve never heard in today’s game. So now you’ve got to ask yourself: When did the legacy really start?”


Obviously, Lewis is saying that if Brady had not been bailed out by the tuck rule, then the Patriots don’t go on to face Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game, and they don’t beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI the following week, and then, who knows? Maybe the Patriots still would have won in 2003 and ’04, but Lewis believes it’s worth wondering if the Patriots dynasty ever would have come to be if not for that fateful ruling by referee Walt Coleman.


Of course, Lewis is leaving out the fact that despite his insistence that “there’s no such thing as a tuck rule,” the tuck rule did very much exist. It was put into place in 1999, and even after the famous play involving Brady, it remained on the books until 2013. In fact, the Patriots found themselves on the other side of the tuck rule earlier in that 2001 season, when a fumble was ruled to be an incomplete pass in a game they eventually lost to the Jets.


There’s also the fact that since that Tuck Rule Game, Tom Brady has been pretty damn good at football. Chances are, we would’ve heard of the guy by now, tuck rule or no tuck rule.


Yet it was, indeed, a real rule, despite Lewis’ belief that it appeared out of thin air to help the Patriots. Much like Terrell Suggs’ insistence that it was Brady’s injury and not Carson Palmer’s that prompted stricter rules for hitting quarterbacks, Lewis’ comments reek of contempt, born from that special kind of hatred that’s existed between the Ravens and the Patriots over the past few years.
But as Lewis tells it, he’s just a regular old historian.


“See man, look, I’m a football historian. I love moments. I love moments,” he said. “See, a lot of people watch just the TV from the game and say, ‘Oh, that’s wrong, that’s wrong!’ Go back to the moment from when things started. That’s what I’m telling you we’re creating. When I came into this league there was no such thing as a defenseless player. There was no such thing, Steve! … Man, there are certain rules that should not be allowed to be in this game of football. That’s just the bottom line.”


He continued: “I’m just saying, listen, listen, I only speak about this because I did this. See, it’s one thing when you hear people talk; I did this, Steve. And what I’m telling you is, there’s a bunch of rules in our game that does not belong in our game. … If I’m the commissioner, I leave the game alone. I tell people, ‘Don’t bring me no rules that does not make sense in my game!’ And a defenseless receiver, that don’t make sense in my rules, in my game.”


So there you have it. Lewis has spoken. Normally, the two future Hall of Famers speak pretty highly of one another. But when Lewis is asked to talk about the Cowboys, it’s apparently too difficult for him to resist the urge to try to tear down Brady.


You can listen to Ray Lewis’ commentary here.






One can only imagine what Cray-Ray would be spouting if he too was fooled by BB's ineligibles

 

[EasyBigFella]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/01/14/ray-lewis-tom-brady-is-only-known-because-of-the-tuck-rule/

BOSTON (CBS) — Ray Lewis spent 17 years toiling in the NFL, building himself a surefire Hall of Fame resume in the process. Because of that work on the field, Lewis is now a full-time football analyst, working for ESPN and dispensing his thoughts every week on the events of the NFL.


Sometimes, that endeavor works out, and other times it does not.
And if there’s one thing that’s evident in the opinions expressed by the former linebacker, it’s this: thick, purple Baltimore Ravens blood still courses through his veins.


That much was clear on Tuesday, when he joined Stephen A. Smith’s show on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio. Lewis was talking about the controversial incompletion ruling on Dez Bryant over the weekend, and perhaps because he still feels the sting of seeing the Patriots beat his Ravens, Lewis took the opportunity to try to tear down Tom Brady.
(Please excuse the punctuation. It’s difficult to punctuate Ray Lewis sentences.)


“Listen, not to go all totally out of conscious [I believe he meant ‘context’], but just think about this, Stephen A., honest to God,” Lewis said. “When we — the first time we created something called a tuck rule, it’s the only reason we know — I’m just being honest! — the only reason we know who Tom Brady is, because of a tuck rule! There’s no such thing as a tuck rule! If the ball is in your hand, and I knock it out your hand, whether it’s going backwards, forwards, lateral, sideways, however it’s coming out, that’s a freaking fumble!
“But guess what we created? We created a freaking tuck rule!”


Hearing Lewis say that the tuck rule is the only reason we know about a man who’s won three Super Bowls, has twice been named NFL MVP (including the first-ever unanimous MVP), has made 10 Pro Bowls, has three times been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Year, owns the best winning percentage of all time and has been the one constant on the field in arguably the longest sustained run of success any one team has endured in NFL history … Stephen A. Smith had to ask: Did you really just say that?


“They don’t go to that championship game — they don’t go to that championship game if that tuck rule, if that ball is not called a tuck! That’s a fumble!” Lewis shouted. “Charles Woodson made that man clearly fumble the ball and they named it the tuck rule, something that we’ve never heard in today’s game. So now you’ve got to ask yourself: When did the legacy really start?”


Obviously, Lewis is saying that if Brady had not been bailed out by the tuck rule, then the Patriots don’t go on to face Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game, and they don’t beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI the following week, and then, who knows? Maybe the Patriots still would have won in 2003 and ’04, but Lewis believes it’s worth wondering if the Patriots dynasty ever would have come to be if not for that fateful ruling by referee Walt Coleman.


Of course, Lewis is leaving out the fact that despite his insistence that “there’s no such thing as a tuck rule,” the tuck rule did very much exist. It was put into place in 1999, and even after the famous play involving Brady, it remained on the books until 2013. In fact, the Patriots found themselves on the other side of the tuck rule earlier in that 2001 season, when a fumble was ruled to be an incomplete pass in a game they eventually lost to the Jets.


There’s also the fact that since that Tuck Rule Game, Tom Brady has been pretty damn good at football. Chances are, we would’ve heard of the guy by now, tuck rule or no tuck rule.


Yet it was, indeed, a real rule, despite Lewis’ belief that it appeared out of thin air to help the Patriots. Much like Terrell Suggs’ insistence that it was Brady’s injury and not Carson Palmer’s that prompted stricter rules for hitting quarterbacks, Lewis’ comments reek of contempt, born from that special kind of hatred that’s existed between the Ravens and the Patriots over the past few years.
But as Lewis tells it, he’s just a regular old historian.


“See man, look, I’m a football historian. I love moments. I love moments,” he said. “See, a lot of people watch just the TV from the game and say, ‘Oh, that’s wrong, that’s wrong!’ Go back to the moment from when things started. That’s what I’m telling you we’re creating. When I came into this league there was no such thing as a defenseless player. There was no such thing, Steve! … Man, there are certain rules that should not be allowed to be in this game of football. That’s just the bottom line.”


He continued: “I’m just saying, listen, listen, I only speak about this because I did this. See, it’s one thing when you hear people talk; I did this, Steve. And what I’m telling you is, there’s a bunch of rules in our game that does not belong in our game. … If I’m the commissioner, I leave the game alone. I tell people, ‘Don’t bring me no rules that does not make sense in my game!’ And a defenseless receiver, that don’t make sense in my rules, in my game.”


So there you have it. Lewis has spoken. Normally, the two future Hall of Famers speak pretty highly of one another. But when Lewis is asked to talk about the Cowboys, it’s apparently too difficult for him to resist the urge to try to tear down Brady.


You can listen to Ray Lewis’ commentary here.






One can only imagine what Cray-Ray would be spouting if he too was fooled by BB's ineligibles

Hey Ray, and if the legal system worked the way it should have, the only football you'd have played last decade was in the prison yard.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/01/14/ray-lewis-tom-brady-is-only-known-because-of-the-tuck-rule/

BOSTON (CBS) — Ray Lewis spent 17 years toiling in the NFL, building himself a surefire Hall of Fame resume in the process. Because of that work on the field, Lewis is now a full-time football analyst, working for ESPN and dispensing his thoughts every week on the events of the NFL.


Sometimes, that endeavor works out, and other times it does not.
And if there’s one thing that’s evident in the opinions expressed by the former linebacker, it’s this: thick, purple Baltimore Ravens blood still courses through his veins.


That much was clear on Tuesday, when he joined Stephen A. Smith’s show on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio. Lewis was talking about the controversial incompletion ruling on Dez Bryant over the weekend, and perhaps because he still feels the sting of seeing the Patriots beat his Ravens, Lewis took the opportunity to try to tear down Tom Brady.
(Please excuse the punctuation. It’s difficult to punctuate Ray Lewis sentences.)


“Listen, not to go all totally out of conscious [I believe he meant ‘context’], but just think about this, Stephen A., honest to God,” Lewis said. “When we — the first time we created something called a tuck rule, it’s the only reason we know — I’m just being honest! — the only reason we know who Tom Brady is, because of a tuck rule! There’s no such thing as a tuck rule! If the ball is in your hand, and I knock it out your hand, whether it’s going backwards, forwards, lateral, sideways, however it’s coming out, that’s a freaking fumble!
“But guess what we created? We created a freaking tuck rule!”


Hearing Lewis say that the tuck rule is the only reason we know about a man who’s won three Super Bowls, has twice been named NFL MVP (including the first-ever unanimous MVP), has made 10 Pro Bowls, has three times been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Year, owns the best winning percentage of all time and has been the one constant on the field in arguably the longest sustained run of success any one team has endured in NFL history … Stephen A. Smith had to ask: Did you really just say that?


“They don’t go to that championship game — they don’t go to that championship game if that tuck rule, if that ball is not called a tuck! That’s a fumble!” Lewis shouted. “Charles Woodson made that man clearly fumble the ball and they named it the tuck rule, something that we’ve never heard in today’s game. So now you’ve got to ask yourself: When did the legacy really start?”


Obviously, Lewis is saying that if Brady had not been bailed out by the tuck rule, then the Patriots don’t go on to face Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game, and they don’t beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI the following week, and then, who knows? Maybe the Patriots still would have won in 2003 and ’04, but Lewis believes it’s worth wondering if the Patriots dynasty ever would have come to be if not for that fateful ruling by referee Walt Coleman.


Of course, Lewis is leaving out the fact that despite his insistence that “there’s no such thing as a tuck rule,” the tuck rule did very much exist. It was put into place in 1999, and even after the famous play involving Brady, it remained on the books until 2013. In fact, the Patriots found themselves on the other side of the tuck rule earlier in that 2001 season, when a fumble was ruled to be an incomplete pass in a game they eventually lost to the Jets.


There’s also the fact that since that Tuck Rule Game, Tom Brady has been pretty damn good at football. Chances are, we would’ve heard of the guy by now, tuck rule or no tuck rule.


Yet it was, indeed, a real rule, despite Lewis’ belief that it appeared out of thin air to help the Patriots. Much like Terrell Suggs’ insistence that it was Brady’s injury and not Carson Palmer’s that prompted stricter rules for hitting quarterbacks, Lewis’ comments reek of contempt, born from that special kind of hatred that’s existed between the Ravens and the Patriots over the past few years.
But as Lewis tells it, he’s just a regular old historian.


“See man, look, I’m a football historian. I love moments. I love moments,” he said. “See, a lot of people watch just the TV from the game and say, ‘Oh, that’s wrong, that’s wrong!’ Go back to the moment from when things started. That’s what I’m telling you we’re creating. When I came into this league there was no such thing as a defenseless player. There was no such thing, Steve! … Man, there are certain rules that should not be allowed to be in this game of football. That’s just the bottom line.”


He continued: “I’m just saying, listen, listen, I only speak about this because I did this. See, it’s one thing when you hear people talk; I did this, Steve. And what I’m telling you is, there’s a bunch of rules in our game that does not belong in our game. … If I’m the commissioner, I leave the game alone. I tell people, ‘Don’t bring me no rules that does not make sense in my game!’ And a defenseless receiver, that don’t make sense in my rules, in my game.”


So there you have it. Lewis has spoken. Normally, the two future Hall of Famers speak pretty highly of one another. But when Lewis is asked to talk about the Cowboys, it’s apparently too difficult for him to resist the urge to try to tear down Brady.


You can listen to Ray Lewis’ commentary here.






One can only imagine what Cray-Ray would be spouting if he too was fooled by BB's ineligibles

I'll pass on listening.

Just reading it made me feel infinitely more stupid.

Thank god there's professional sports. Because the numbers of folks living in cardboard boxes under overpasses would expand exponentially.

 

[Roberto71]

Who really takes Ray Lewis seriously? Apart from the U window lickers?

 

[HSanders]

I stand by my "Ray Ray ordering a cheesburger" post I wrote a few years ago.
DRAMA
KING

 

[patsRmyboys]

Hey Ray, and if the legal system worked the way it should have, the only football you'd have played last decade was in the prison yard.

Semi-pro's a joke...

 

[AkPatsFan]

Never was much of a fan of Lewis, after reading that article, he's a whole lot dumber than I imagined. A historian of football? Now that's TFF!!

 

[Beaglebay]

Who really takes Ray Lewis seriously?

Ray does. That's what makes him so funny.

 

[TommyD420]

Where's the white suit, Ray?

(Why he isn't asked this every time he's in front of a microphone is beyond me)

 

[chevss454]

Andrea Hangst ‏<s>@</s>FBALL_Andrea <small class="time"> 1m1 minute ago </small> The question is if the Ravens can afford it. Need to restructure/release Ngata. Restructure Flacco. Bring back Forsett, maybe Daniels.




The Ravens' breakup is just beginning.

 

[chevss454]

Identical plays.

Brady throws a TD to LaFell to take the lead.







Flacco throws an int to Harmon to seal the game.

The differences?

Harmon broke quickly and Stewart didn't.

Brady's throw led LaFell to the sideline away from Stewart.

Flacco's throw led Torrey Smith away from the sideline toward Harmon.

One executed perfectly with good protection, the other was a poor throw by Flacco who got pressured and fell to his left as he threw. Inches.

 

[DeweyTime]

I didn't realize how close he was to dropping that catch on the touchdown.

 

[Michigan Dave]

Identical plays.

Brady throws a TD to LaFell to take the lead.







Flacco throws an int to Harmon to seal the game.

The differences?

Harmon broke quickly and Stewart didn't.

Brady's throw led LaFell to the sideline away from Stewart.

Flacco's throw led Torrey Smith away from the sideline toward Harmon.

One executed perfectly with good protection, the other was a poor throw by Flacco who got pressured and fell to his left as he threw. Inches.

True, but the angles were different and Flacco's throw had more time to hang in the air and allow for the initial break by Harmon to be meaningful because of the distance. Flacco floated it up deep whereas Brady's was more of a throw on a rope. That throw by Brady...amazing.

 

[(P - shoulder)]

Identical plays.

Brady throws a TD to LaFell to take the lead.




The differences?

Harmon broke quickly and Stewart didn't.

Brady's throw led LaFell to the sideline away from Stewart.

Flacco's throw led Torrey Smith away from the sideline toward Harmon.

One executed perfectly with good protection, the other was a poor throw by Flacco who got pressured and fell to his left as he threw. Inches.

It seems to me the Balt. safety shuffled and then broke on the route with the same timing as Harmon, but the difference was that Harmon was cheated over to that side a bit more to begin with. Either he knew he wasn't responsible for the other side of the field, or he recognized what was coming up and cheated over on it - either way I chalk it up to coaching: putting the guys in a position to succeed.

And yeah, Brady threw one of the best balls I've ever seen on that one. Thing of beauty. JoJo just cradled the baby in the bassinet (we'll ignore how it almost slipped through his arms)

Question for our local savants: why was Harmon out there at such a critical juncture rather than DMac?

 

[theotherNE]

If I remember correctly from that coaches film thing, he was lined up near the line of scrimmage on Daniels. They had 7 DB's in to go along with the 4 LB's

 

[HSanders]

*bump*
That moment when you are in a grocery store in Ohio yesterday and "Your Love" comes on over their speakers and you start choking up...and not a soul in that store understands why.