How we should attack the Patriots

[Justlovemybirds]

Out of my ass?

Last five games?

Impressive: Freeman, Palmer, Flacco, Weeden/Mcoy, and Quinn. That is your supporting argument?

Damn, when did QB's start running routes?

[PGCountyRaven85]

Having Jones in does create a dillema. You have to double Smith and I would bracket Jones and put Talib in Man on Boldin in that situation. I don't think you will see them bracketing Rice, I think they will have a speedy LB (Tracy White) spying him out of the backfield. Mayo is not slow, Hightower is big but solid in coverage. Spikes is the weak link in the LB coverage.

The middle of the field is where Flacco has to be good. I just don't think he can do it. It seems it is either all or nothing with Flacco. Meaning he either hits for the big play or you guys putter out. The drive charts over the past two weeks point to that, only 4 drives of 7 or more plays and of those four drives only one resulted in points (FG).

I think your LB's have a bigger problem in coverage, Ellerbee is a huge liability in coverage, Ray is far to slow to be affective in coverage. I know it might be no no to say that on here. But don't believe me go back and watch him the last two weeks.

If Talib is covering Boldin, that means he's moving into the slot which is where Boldin plays the vast majority of the time in 3 receiver sets. I don't recall seeing him play slot that often, as I thought Kyle Arrington was your slot guy? As for your linebackers, I think we can attack them down the seams with Pitta, Boldin and Rice. We'll find out just how well they can cover.

Ellerbe is actually pretty fast and is decent in coverage, IMO.

[mgcolby]

Before our game there was nobody who, throughout the 16 game season, questioned whether or not Bailey was capable of shutting Torrey down. There's a reason the Broncos felt confident leaving him in man with no Safety help.

Also, if you focus on taking Boldin and Smith out, fine, but none of the linebackers can keep up Rice, Pitta or even Dickson.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

You have no reason to know this, but I had you guys beating the Broncos.

And your LB's can cover Welker, Hernandez, Woodhead, Ridley and Vereen? They couldn't cover Moreno and Stokely.

[lovefootball]

Pats season was full of wins against bad teams, though one bad team beat the pats early in the season. Playing the jets, dolphins and bills was a no brainer,but several games were close. Titans and jags was easy for the pats. Against postseason teams the pats lost to 49ers,Ravens, and seattle. Only winning teams the pats beat were the colts,broncos, and texans. At home has it's advantages.Texans imploded at end of season and colts were in a division that was average at best.Broncos had a soft schedule and beat the teams they should have.
The Ravens play a tougher division, beat the broncos and colts like they should have. Playing in denver should have been a disaster for the Ravens, but they hung tough and won. Two teams, bengals and Ravens made life tough for the no 1 defense and kept those guys at home this year. Losing to houston and denver came at a time where the Ravens had a problem with back up players and coaching change. Tough year for the Ravens(injuries, coach change, and losing three games by 3 points or less), and dealing with a tough division.
In summary, pats had to deal with teams that did not stand a chance against them, won big time against teams with losing records and is in a soft division. No pressure on pats because they were favored from the start. Ravens, meanwhile ,lost Suggs before the season, lost Webb and Ray Lewis during the season, played without key other players(Ellerbe, Yanda, Ngata, Smith, and other players), had a OC who couldn't use his offense properly, and still won the division. Yea, they weren't favored to, most had them missing the postseason. Flacco has evolved in the last 3 games that he played in, receivers are more in sync with Caldwell program, and the Oline has done wonders recently.
I'll leyt the game be played and deal with whatever happens. Will the pats posters be back to discuss the game? We 'll see how it turns out to find that answer.

[mgcolby]

Damn, when did QB's start running routes?

Really? That is your response. You are funny. Haha! I see where this conversation is going to go.

[mgcolby]

If Talib is covering Boldin, that means he's moving into the slot which is where Boldin plays the vast majority of the time in 3 receiver sets. I don't recall seeing him play slot that often, as I thought Kyle Arrington was your slot guy? As for your linebackers, I think we can attack them down the seams with Pitta, Boldin and Rice. We'll find out just how well they can cover.

Ellerbe is actually pretty fast and is decent in coverage, IMO.

You are right, Arrington is the slot guy. But having him one on one with Boldin doesn't give me a warm fuzzy.

Ellerbee was not good in coverage against the Broncos.

[Ravenswintitle]

You have no reason to know this, but I had you guys beating the Broncos.

And your LB's can cover Welker, Hernandez, Woodhead, Ridley and Vereen? They couldn't cover Moreno and Stokely.

go back and look at last week's stats; no idea why you chose those players

[lovefootball]

You have no reason to know this, but I had you guys beating the Broncos.

And your LB's can cover Welker, Hernandez, Woodhead, Ridley and Vereen? They couldn't cover Moreno and Stokely.

Covered moreno well enough,he left the game and didn't return. Stokley was covered well enough (interception against him in OT?).Ravens hit hard, maybe too hard, thats why the refs are quick with the flags. Ravens will hold their own against those guys. Remember Pollard, bet your receivers do, ask Gronk.Your armchair views are interesting, but the game has to be played on the field, not on the internet. Any gameday,something will go wrong or go right for a team to win. Hell, denver got 14 points on returns, well it helped out, but not enough to overcome the Ravens team desire to win.

[mgcolby]

go back and look at last week's stats; no idea why you chose those players

Because I watched the game on the all 22 and Stokely was there for Peyton nearly all game long. Graham made two plays against Stokely and both were terrible throws by Manning. The first pass break up by Graham was a throw behind Stokely, but Graham was beat. The pick in OT should not have been thrown. I chose Moreno because he too was open quit often out of the backfield and beat Ellerbee for that TD. But that was as much on Reed as Ellerbee. Reed bit hard on a pump fake and was late in helping over the top. But it was clear that Ellerbee had him in Man-2.

[rlh445]

Because I watched the game on the all 22 and Stokely was there for Peyton nearly all game long. Graham made two plays against Stokely and both were terrible throws by Manning. The first pass break up by Graham was a throw behind Stokely, but Graham was beat. The pick in OT should not have been thrown. I chose Moreno because he too was open quit often out of the backfield and beat Ellerbee for that TD. But that was as much on Reed as Ellerbee. Reed bit hard on a pump fake and was late in helping over the top. But it was clear that Ellerbee had him in Man-2.

Meh suffice it to say I think you'll be surprised come Sunday. Our guys are deffo not the BEST of the BEST in coverage, but we hold it down most of the time.

[Ravenswintitle]

Meh suffice it to say I think you'll be surprised come Sunday. Our guys are deffo not the BEST of the BEST in coverage, but we hold it down most of the time.

and it's hard to find the open receiver when the QB is running for his life

Should be a nail biter till the end

[Justlovemybirds]

You have no reason to know this, but I had you guys beating the Broncos.

And your LB's can cover Welker, Hernandez, Woodhead, Ridley and Vereen? They couldn't cover Moreno and Stokely.

If the thread topic is about how do the Ravens attack the Patriots, what does our LB's ability (or lack thereof) to guard these guys have to do with it?

Really? That is your response. You are funny. Haha! I see where this conversation is going to go.

My point is, Champ guards WR's not QB's and he's had a great year doing that, hell he already shut Torrey down once this year, bet he wasn't old and overrated then.

[mgcolby]

and it's hard to find the open receiver when the QB is running for his life

Should be a nail biter till the end

That is what you guys need, pressure from only sending 3-4 allowing you to drop 7-8 into coverage.

I have no reason to think it will be anything other than a nail biter given the two teams recent past.

Not sure how much more I will be here, maybe some tomorrow if work isn't to busy but that is about it. So I want to say I like your avatar: Titties and Beer brother.

[mgcolby]

If the thread topic is about how do the Ravens attack the Patriots, what does our LB's ability (or lack thereof) to guard these guys have to do with it?

Good point. Got caught up in the conversation.

My point is, Champ guards WR's not QB's and he's had a great year doing that, hell he already shut Torrey down once this year, bet he wasn't old and overrated then.

Right, I understand that but it all starts with the QB. And I don't think he shut Torrey down as much as your line struggled in that first game and Flacco didn't have much time to go deep. My memory on that maybe incorrect. Look Bailey is a solid corner but not what he was and his speed has dropped off considerably over the past two years. That is all I'm trying to say. I'm not taking anything away from Smith. And my larger point is Belichick won't leave Talib on an island without safety help like Del Rio did for much of Sunday's game.

[Justlovemybirds]

Good point. Got caught up in the conversation.





Right, I understand that but it all starts with the QB. And I don't think he shut Torrey down as much as your line struggled in that first game and Flacco didn't have much time to go deep. My memory on that maybe incorrect. Look Bailey is a solid corner but not what he was and his speed has dropped off considerably over the past two years. That is all I'm trying to say. I'm not taking anything away from Smith. And my larger point is Belichick won't leave Talib on an island without safety help like Del Rio did for much of Sunday's game.

Gotcha

[Teavo]

Talib and Dennard are at CB and have made a huge difference. Now we have McCourty at Safety where we can use his athleticism while letting him react to the ball in front of him. Gregory is a big upgrade over Chung in the coverage area, not so much in the big hit, run stuffing role. And Arrington has been very good inside in the slot. It is not the same secondary.

This abundance of superlatives seems more than slightly incongruous to the #29 rank in pass defense (total yards) and #28 rank in pass yards per play that the New England Patriots defense earned this year.

As a person who lives in New England and has watched the Patriots likely as closely as you have, please allow me to remove the exuberant homerism and wishful thinking from your paragraph to arrive at something closer to the truth:

Talib and Dennard are at CB and have made a modest difference. Now we have McCourty at safety where we can use his athleticism while letting him react to the ball in front of him. Gregory is a minor upgrade over Chung in the coverage area, not so much in the big hit, run stuffing role. And Arrington has been vulnerable inside in the slot. It is not the same secondary. It has improved from awful all the way up to mediocre.

There, I fixed it for you.

[Ravenalytics]

Brady is going to pick on Ray in coverage allllll day.

[iggyman555]

You have no reason to know this, but I had you guys beating the Broncos.

And your LB's can cover Welker, Hernandez, Woodhead, Ridley and Vereen? They couldn't cover Moreno and Stokely.

lol which LBs were covering stokley...did u watch tape???

[bacchys]

You are right, Arrington is the slot guy. But having him one on one with Boldin doesn't give me a warm fuzzy.

Ellerbee was not good in coverage against the Broncos.

Having anybody one on one with Boldin shouldn't give you a warm fuzzy. It's probably giving Bellichek fits.

Ellerbe wasn't great in coverage with Moreno. He'd have problems with Woodhead or Vereen, especially if they attack down the field. That's something Pees is going to have to account for.

[Paintballguy]

McCourtey runs a 4.3 and Smith runs a 4.4???

I don't think Flacco can get it done with consistancy, but that is what it will take for the Ravens to win. If they can move the ball over the middle without Flacco making mistakes it will be tough for New England.

All passes over 10 yards from PFF.com (3 zones)

Outside the numbers, left: 18 / 62 / 377 / 5 / 0 -- 79.3
Between: 38 / 71 / 973 / 9 / 1 -- 132.4
Outside the numbers, right: 38 / 77 / 930 / 5 / 4 -- 93.53