Well as Tom Brady has said, his favorite receiver is the open one. Moving the ball was not a problem until crunch time for the Pats. Now Gronk didn’t have a big day like he did last year against the Ravens, but if they were trying to take him away it wouldn’t be that hard to do so. Lloyd and Welker both had huge days, so take it for what it is. My concerns are more big picture stuff like the failure to execute when the game hung in the balance, rather than the stats of individual players who were not involved enough for some of our liking. Don’t worry, Gronk will light plenty of teams up this year.
Panic Time?
I have concerns but I’m not panicking, it’s still September. I know we as Patriots fans aren’t used to this but let’s try to remember recent regular season history. The last two years we’re a combined 27-5 in the regular season despite obvious flaws, so maybe some early season trials and tribulations will build a mental resolve that those teams lacked.
What am I concerned about? The complete lack of clutch on both sides of the ball that was frighteningly reminiscent of last year’s Super Bowl. In crunch time the offense punted twice, and the defense gave up two long scoring drives.
But what I’m hoping is that with this happening in game three it can be learned from and corrected. What we have to remember is that this is the young team that just went into one of the most hostile environments in the NFL and almost pulled it out.
Never forget the lesson of 2007. It’s not about winning games now, it’s about building a team to win games in January and February.
Knee Jerk Reactions to Week 3: Pats vs Ravens | Barstool Sports: Boston
Knee Jerk Reactions to Week 3: Pats vs Ravens | Barstool Sports: Boston
Nobody can wrap up a horrible Patriots loss from a fan perspective quite like Jerry Thornton.
Defensive snaps: No safety rotation – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
Defensive snaps: No safety rotation – New England Patriots Blog – ESPN Boston
While the performance on the field looked pretty much like the same old sauce Patriots fans have come to expect in recent years from the defense the difference this year is there’s a core group of personnel now that doesn’t change much.
Part of the fun I’ve had in following the defense closely since 2007 were the whole sale substitutions that would take place from base defense to the sub packages. But now it’s the 4-3 with a lighter nickel front, and the transition to nickel and dime is as straight forward as you can get.
As we’ve pointed out, the concern is can they stop the run with that lighter 4-3 front? Last night not so much.
Thoughts and concerns about the 1-2 Patriots
As we said last night it’s hard to analyze anything too closely without the caveat of how horrid the officiating was but let’s give it a go.
Yes the Ravens offense got a big boost from some timely flags that jump started their momentum, but after three straight forced punts to start the game the defense suddenly reverted to 2010/2011 form.
The pass rush was non-existant from any point and the Pats were chewed up short and long. Everyone knows Flacco will do that to you if he can stand in the pocket and he did just that. Nothing we didn’t see coming, we just couldn’t get him off the spot with Jones, Ninkovich, or even Trevor Scott who got a shot as well.
Kyle Arrington had a rough game all around, and Devin McCourty dropped two more interceptions bringing him to a season total of three. It’s still early but I think replacing Arrington might be an off-season priority.
We were just starting to see why Edelman has potential as an outside receiver when he was lost with a hand injury. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
Brandon Lloyd is really showing that he is everything he was advertised as being. His presence on the outside of this offense made it unstoppable for much of the night.
Are we still going to trade Wes Welker after that 142-yard performance?
Gronk: 2 catches, 21 yards. What’s going on there?
24 penalties total for both teams. Unfathomable. And more defensive holding penalties that I’ve ever seen. One was on McCourty for just brushing the receivers shoulder. An all-around travesty and I’m never a “blame the refs” guy. Even if we had won I wouldn’t have felt good about it.
A lot of 3 TE power sets with Hoomanawanui, Fells and Gronk. Curious to see the numbers on that.
Still didn’t seen enough push from the offensive line in the running game, but that’s a tough front. The pass protection was solid again, only sacks I can remember were just because everyone was covered.
Still some runs got absolutely destroyed behind the line of scrimmage.
This was the first time this season I thought we could’ve used Andre Carter.
Would it be too much to ask for someone to make a play on Kickoff return?
Sterling Moore still playing over Ras-I.
Nice to see Patrick Chung making that impact play on the 4th down stop. Been a while since we’ve seen something like that out of him.
Hard to get too depressed about this one, and in the long run I think it will serve the Patriots well. That’s as tough an environment as you’ll find and our young defense showed their age.
Aside from all the horribleness of the game last night I really need to get one these BB sweatshirt/windbreakers. I just don’t get why he left the sleeves on. Anyone think that might be why we lost?
https://www.patspropaganda.com/aside-from-all-the-horribleness-of-the-game-last/
Patriots-Ravens Drive Summaries
These are always a good way to quickly sum up how it went.
On offense it’s those last two punts that stand out, including the fact that both only lasted 6 and 8 plays respectively. Still they had 5 long scoring drives where they looked generally unstoppable. The offense looks as promising as ever.
On defense it’s the four drives of 80+ yard touchdown drives that tell you everything you need to know. They were shredded for long sustained drives and of everything I take from this game this is the most concerning factor.
People often complain about pass rush when it’s really not that bad but this was one game where it showed what a non-existent pass rush can get you. I’ll be curious to see how if many (if any) pressures the Patriots actually got on Flacco.
But if you want to sum it all up look at clutch time, the last two possessions for each team. Pats punted twice, Ravens had two long drives for a TD and a Field Goal.
