PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

Patriots strategy notes from the AFC Championship vs. the Ravens

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With the help of ProFootballFocus I took a look back at some of the stats from the AFC Championship game to see if I could find any nuggets of interest that may be applicable for the re-match this weekend.

– As you might expect it was the Gronk/Hernandez/Welker show, with Hernandez being targeted the most (10 times).

– However Gronk averaged 17.4 yards per reception.

– Dannell Ellerbe really struggled in coverage against our tight ends, allowing 4 catches on 4 targets for 70 yards, including 34 yards after the catch. Seems like it was a concerted effort to target him and Pollard with the tight ends.

– Not surprisingly the Pats did most of their damage in the passing game on passes from 0 – 10 yards where Brady completed 16 of 18 passes. Will Brandon Lloyd’s presence make a difference this time?

– They tried just two passes beyond 20 yards, both to the middle of the field and both incomplete. Ed Reed factor.

– Brady was 4 of 11 on passes between 10 – 19 yards.

– In the running game the Pats attacked the right side, with 10 of their 23 runs going behind the right guard or right tackle. They avoided running off tackle left. Terrell Suggs factor.

– They were best running behind Brian Waters, picking up a 4.3 average on 4 rushes.

– It was pretty obvious Vince Wilfork played the game of his life, pulling a 7.0 overall. Brandon Spikes was second with a 2.0. Both will need huge games this weekend.

– Mark Anderson had 6 QB hurries and 1 sack. Can Chandler Jones produce similarly?

– Patrick Chung was dreadful in coverage with a -3.8. Steve Gregory will be an interesting key player to watch when the Ravens go “bombs away”.

– Joe Flacco was Baltimore’s best offensive player despite the loss. Their bottom three were all offensive linemen (Oher, Grubbs, Birk). Pats will need to dominate those guys again to get Flacco off the spot.

– Ray Lewis was a -3.0 overall. Kinda disappointing for him, especially if you’ve watched his episode of A Football Life. Doubt we’ll get that kind of performance again.

ESPN’s Pats-Ravens prediction roundup

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ESPN’s Pats-Ravens prediction roundup

19 ESPNers and simulations pick the Ravens. Mike Ditka picks the Patriots which almost makes me forgive him for Super Bowl XX and the whole Fridge touchdown thing.

Remember when Rodney Harrison used to always say “no one believed in us” but you knew that really just about everyone actually did? Well yeah, now…

NO ONE BELIEVES IN US FOR REALS!

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS | Word of Muth: Cards Won’t Budge

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FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS | Word of Muth: Cards Won’t Budge

Interesting read about how the Pats o-line struggled to generate any push up front in the run game. The pass protection has been generally graded out as solid, but this shows where the problems are…

The biggest problem by far for New England’s running game was their inability to knock anyone off the ball. It isn’t that they gave up a lot of penetration, because, with the exception of a couple memorable third-down failures, they didn’t. It’s just that they weren’t moving any defenders off their spots. The Cardinals were in a 2-4-5 alignment for a large portion of the game. The only two defensive linemen Arizona had in this set were Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett. Whichever one of them was on the play side got double-teamed on just about every running play. Despite a 2-on-1 advantage, the Patriots were unable to budge either Campbell or Dockett for most of the game. Left guard Logan Mankins in particular struggled to generate any type of movement.