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

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Smudger said:
I agree Hoodie.

It's also true that there were several "Oh ye of little faith! Ravens suck. Pats smoke them by four scores. Stop worrying!" posts made in the last week, which would look equally crazy if bumped now too.
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Wait I said 17... never went 4 scores unless you thought I was thinking a td w/ 2 point conversion with 3 fg


:D
 
John Harbaugh was seen leaving the visitors locker room at Gillette Stadium with a checkers game under his arm.
 
Beaglebay said:
John Harbaugh was seen leaving the visitors locker room at Gillette Stadium with a checkers game under his arm.
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I don't wanna brag or anything, but I have yet to be defeated in the game of checkers. Im what you would call a checker master.


I made that up, but I do like checkers :)
 
TylerD said:
I don't wanna brag or anything, but I have yet to be defeated in the game of checkers. Im what you would call a checker master.


I made that up, but I do like checkers :)
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Coat checkers or hat checkers?
 
Beaglebay said:
John Harbaugh was seen leaving the visitors locker room at Gillette Stadium with a checkers game under his arm.
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In the meantime BB is seen leaving the Pats locker room with a chess board.../ Check and mate...:coffee:
 
mikiemo83 said:
Wait I said 17... never went 4 scores unless you thought I was thinking a td w/ 2 point conversion with 3 fg


:D
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No. I thought you meant 2 TDs w/2 Missed extra points; 1 field goal and a safety.

Cheers, BostonTim
 
:LOL:

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Have to admit, I was confused at the end of the game when the clock gave them a last play. I thought maybe BB had screwed up and hadn't done the math. But he said to Mike Reiss.

Mike Reiss @MikeReiss
On end-of-game vs. Ravens, Bill Belichick says team didn't want to risk handoffs. Knew would be punting & would have to defend 1 play.
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Really interesting and informative "audibles at the line" from FO for the game with special emphasis on the brilliance of the ineligible receiver plays.

Aaron Schatz: The Pats just sent off Josh Kline, the replacement for the injured Bryan Stork, and somehow used Shane Vereen as an offensive lineman on a play.
Then they did it with Hoomanuwanui. They announced him as ineligible and then put him out wide? What weirdness is this?
Ben Muth: If you get beat on a inside slant in man-to-man inside the 5-yard line you should be fined for conduct detrimental to the team. As soon as Baltimore showed that blitz, everyone in the stadium knew Brady was going to Gronk. Have to make them execute a fade, can't get beat inside like that.

Aaron Schatz: Next drive, Pats go back to zones. The defensive coverage just keeps changing.
Cian Fahey: Feels like the Patriots are getting the momentum here now.
Aaron Schatz: Cian, please be kidding. :)
Vince Verhei: As long as he's using "momentum" as a descriptive term for past events, I'm fine with it.
Cian Fahey: Belichick broke out a high school playbook to get back into this game. Vereen ineligible in the slot to throw to the left tackle, then the lateral to Edelman in the flat for the receiver-to-receiver touchdown pass. Ridiculous.
Andrew Healy: And I think that's Edelman's first career pass even though he played quarterback in college. Looked like a former quarterback, too. Right on the money.
Ben Muth: Great job by Patriots staff throwing everything they have at Baltimore. They're a little outmanned up front so they're getting creative on the play-calling with the sneaky ineligible receivers and now a double pass. This has been a wildly entertaining game through three quarters.
Aaron Schatz: Pats have also gone back to the no-huddle despite Ryan Wendell replacing Stork at center.
Despite the 28-28 score, Brady still underthrowing the ball. Just missed an open Gronk by throwing too low.
And Belichick's ridiculous conservative play-calling continues. Just punted on fourth-and-10 from the 37-yard line instead of trying a long field goal or what they should have done -- tried a draw on third-and-long to get a shorter field-goal try. Lousy punt by Ryan Allen went out of bounds at the 20, effectively a touchback. Completely wasted an interception by Devin McCourty.
Vince Verhei: At the end of the third quarter, it's tied at 28. Semi-random stat note: the Patriots have the edge in yards per completion, 13.3 to 10.5. That's surprising, because it feels like the Pats are throwing tons of quick hitches, but I guess those Gronkowski seam routes have made a big difference.
Andrew Healy: To echo Ben, this game has been wild. Jamie Collins came up with what looked like a huge play, forcing and recovering a fumble on the Ravens' 3-yard line. But a hold on Revis brings it back and the Ravens are driving as the third quarter ends.
Excellent offensive coaching on both sides. Kubiak with the deep throw on fourth-and-6 on the Ravens' first drive of the second half. And the truly original four-offensive linemen sets from the Patriots that led to repeated throws down the left seam. Great stuff all around.
The Ravens are dominating with the run as the fourth quarter begins. They have won at the line of scrimmage and it feels like the Patriots are the underdogs.
Cian Fahey: If the Ravens defensive backs could even play average football, this game probably wouldn't be close. The tackling in particularly has stood out as woeful.
Vince Verhei: Brady specifically telling Edelman when to "STOP!" and when to "GO!" in motion is my favorite thing he's done all day.
I take it back. Dropping that fade pass in the bucket for the Brandon LaFell touchdown, THAT was my favorite thing he's done all day. Made it look so easy and smooth.
Aaron Schatz: This game is nuts. Both teams have made amazing plays and horrible ones. Both teams have gotten away with penalties and gotten BS penalty calls. Both coaches have made great decisions and terrible ones, though the Patriots have only made terrible ones when it comes to fourth downs. 35-31 Patriots, five minutes to go. I have no clue how this ends.
Vince Verhei: Andrew noted, the Ravens have been running well all night. They need to remember they're only down by four, with more than five minutes left. No need to go one-dimensional now.
Andrew Healy: Agreed on that. Patriots' pass rush continues to be close to non-existent. No sacks and just three knockdowns of Flacco all game.
Scott Kacsmar: Dick LeBeau's "tackle the catch" philosophy would be fine today if Baltimore actually tackled well. Lot of credit to the effort of Amendola and Edelman in this one.
Vince Verhei: Ravens fans sing "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes.
Patriots fans sing "Your Love" by the Outfield.
If I had known that, I'd have been cheering for New England all night.
Aaron Schatz: Why the hell do the Patriots take a timeout when Ravens go for it on fourth-and-3 instead of throwing the red flag? That previous incomplete by Flacco was possibly a sack-fumble. Ravens recovered but would have lost yardage on the play, making it a longer fourth-down attempt. I understand trying to save the timeout, but if you decide to use the timeout, why not just throw the red flag? What do you have to lose?
Cian Fahey: Are they allowed to after the Ravens have taken a timeout?
Vince Verhei: Can they challenge in the last five minutes?
Aaron Schatz: Sure. They can't challenge in the final two minutes. As far as I know, the only question is whether they can challenge after Baltimore has taken a timeout, but I don't see why not.
I can't tell you the amount of anxiety that was in the air at Gillette. The Patriots ended up in the exact same situation as Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. Small lead, two minutes left, other team driving. The difference between this team and those teams was supposed to be the defense. This defense was supposed to hold that lead. And it actually did, as Duron Hurmon picked off Flacco deep to end the game.
Vince Verhei: Well that was wildly entertaining. Ravens' subpar secondary finally ended their season.
Somebody check on this -- I don't think any New England running back (and Lord knows there's enough of them) carried the ball in the second half.
Ben Muth: Really great game. I thought the Ravens had a damn good plan on both sides and executed well, they just didn't have the personnel in the secondary. If they get anything from the back end, I think they win comfortably. But between the bad tackling and playing way too soft because they were scared of getting beat deep, the secondary was just too much to overcome. But everyone knew that was their weakness all year, so I guess it's not surprising.
I was surprised how bad New England looked up front, particularly on defense. Baltimore dominated the Patriots' front seven in a way that has to be concerning. I'm going to write about this game this week, but I expect I'm going to have a lot of nice things to say about the Ravens offensive line.
Great job by New England's staff with adjustments as the game went along. No matter how bad the other team's secondary is, it's tough to win when you lose the battle up front on both offense and defense, but New England found a way. Opened up the playbook with some trick plays, and abandoned the run completely in the second half (something most coaches don't like to do) so they could attack where they had an advantage.
What a game!
Scott Kacsmar: No rushing plays for New England in the second half besides Brady kneeldowns. Fewest rushing yards (14) in playoff history by a winning team. Previous record was 29 by the 1999 Rams against the Titans.
Reflects poorly on Dean Pees for not going to tighter coverage on the outside. Look at the cushion they were even giving Vereen. Have to acknowledge the Patriots don't throw deep well, so make them make those throws. Totally one-dimensional offense and they let it beat them.
Horrific job by Flacco to force that bomb. Every week when I can, I write about how a team shouldn't force the low-percentage deep bomb for the touchdown in that situation. Play the clock and try to score as late as possible, because we know how quickly teams can answer. This was even more egregious since a touchdown only would have put Baltimore up three, and the Patriots still had Brady and Gostkowski with a good 90 seconds to answer. I don't think this evens up anything for Flacco, since the Sterling Moore play in 2011 kind of cancels out the 2012 Rahim Moore play, but this was just a really bad throw. And it was obvious earlier in the quarter when Baltimore's run-heavy, time-consuming drive ended with a field goal that it was in trouble. Field goals get you beat in Foxborough. Have to score touchdowns, which New England did.
Another team is gone after having their main weakness exposed. That's usually how it happens in the playoffs.
Tom Gower: Kudos to Baltimore's offense, particularly Gary Kubiak, the offensive line, and Joe Flacco. I didn't think they had the ball-handlers to seriously threaten New England's defense, and if the Patriots got to 21 or so New England was a lock to win. Instead they started out playing really well, had the great stretch before and after halftime, and really just kept the team in it the entire time. The last pick from Flacco was bad, but on the whole he did a nice job the rest of the time navigating what pressure there was, extending plays, and hitting tight windows. I could easily be missing some plays, but offhand I don't recall him really missing anything when he was in the pocket outside of getting too aggressive on the picks (the last one, it's second-and-5, don't try to force something if it's not there!).
Andrew Healy: After the game, I talked with guard Dan Connolly about the four-offensive lineman sets that the Patriots ran. He said that it was something that they had specifically in the game plan for this week. Note that I don't know that this means they saw something on the Ravens to exploit. I think it's more likely that they thought this would work against anybody, although it's possible that the Ravens' patchwork secondary would be more likely to respond with confusion.
Also, Connolly surprised me when he said the formation had been used before. He said not in the NFL, but in college. I don't know college well enough to know where that would have been.
One last thought on the four-lineman plays: I just watched the broadcast of that drive. They almost entirely missed what was going on, as far as I can tell. First, they don't really give you what the referee was announcing before the plays, which was that No. 34 as ineligible on two plays, No. 47 on the other. On the last two of the three plays, the referee also actually announced something close to "Don't cover that receiver." Second, they missed Hoomanawanui, then Gronkowski, and then Hoomanawanui lining up as the eligible left tackle on those three plays. Maybe they explain things later in the game, but I'm kind of surprised they missed this so completely. There was a reason Hoomanawanui was all alone on two of those plays and Edelman was uncovered on the other. The Patriots were doing something original and I would have expected Collinsworth to see it.
Andrew Potter: It's not exactly the same due to rules differences -- in college, your ineligible players must wear a number between 50 and 79 -- but here's Alabama doing basically the same thing against LSU.
Andrew Healy: Awesome! Makes a ton of sense that it was Saban.
Aaron Schatz: Notice also that the lineman in the slot steps backwards at the snap and waves his arms like he's going to get a screen pass. I believe Hoomanuwanui did this as well on at least one If the three plays.
Going back and reading, it's clear we were just as confused about what was going on at the time as the Ravens were. But what clever strategy. I love stuff like that. It was all I could talk about after the game.
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http://www.footballoutsiders.com/audibles/2015/divisional-round-audibles
 
Scott Kacsmar said:
Another team is gone after having their main weakness exposed. That's usually how it happens in the playoffs.
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So is this him admitting Peypey is a team's main weakness? ROFL
 
Unfolding the game saving int by Harmon.
While you're watching the play, check out the great coverage on the other 4 receivers by Pats' DBs. Flacco had no one other than Torrey Smith to throw to even though the play was for TSmith against Logan Ryan all the way.

The ball was just 36 yards away from the end zone. And the Patriots were 1:46 away from the AFC Championship Game. It was time to take a shot. The Ravens identified a window that had been open before.
“It was something that we had kind of seen them doing against Green Bay there a little bit, playing kind of man-one-high look, but rolling a guy over to someone that might be getting the ball,” Flacco said in his postgame press conference. “They had a new corner in there [Logan Ryan] and that safety [Harmon] was cheating that way a little bit.”
What the Ravens identified was a single-high look with four safeties.
There was no Brandon Browner across the field from first-team All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. But there was Ryan, who played alongside Harmon in the Rutgers secondary for a total of 36 games between 2010 and 2012. And there was free safety Devin McCourty, who anchored the outskirts of the Scarlet Knights’ defense over the four years prior, lined up in the slot.
Then there was Harmon, who was prepped to take in the five-wide situation from 15 yards off the line of scrimmage.





From a zero-back, one-tight end set, Baltimore aligned and Flacco took the snap. And having completed 50 passes of over 20 yards and seven of over 40 yards on the season, he saw what he wanted to see to complete another.
“I thought I might be able to sneak the ball in there and take a shot at the end zone and get us some points on the board there, with Torrey on a good matchup, even though they were cheating to his side a little bit,” Flacco said.
He dropped back and launched one as he sensed linebacker Jamie Collins breaking at his feet. Harmon flipped his hips and headed on his way to track the ball 25 yards down field.
When he got there, he headed up.


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Beyond the wide receiver and beyond his former college teammate, Harmon secured the fourth and most important interception of his career.
It kept Smith from his 13th touchdown of the year, and it kept New England in the playoffs.

​
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http://patriotsobserver.com/2015/01...cret-no-more-in-patriots-secondary/#more-1717

How many times have we seen our safeties get to that play a split second too late or not turning their heads once there? Harmon got there in time for the int. and it's good to see our guys finally getting "it".
 
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