NFL Playoff: Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots

 

In the Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots game, several things helped New England beat Baltimore 27-21, not the least of which was the Pats’ ever-better defense. The current feeling all week is that defense will determine the result of this game. And it is what comes about. But New England’s underestimated unit and not Baltimore’s much-rated bunch that lived up the biggest when it was needed. Holding on to a six-point lead with only five minutes to go in the match, the Patriots twice got the Ravens on fourth-down attempts, once near midfield and the other in Pats red zone. While the Pats defense had a hard time to stop the Ravens Ray Rice second-year running back on the afternoon with 11 carries for 103 yards, plus a 50-yard gallop, Baltimore decided to throw the ball to Willis McGahee the backup on fourth-and-one from their own 45 at the 5:17 mark. Gary Guyton Linebacker and Brandon McGowan safety joined to stop McGahee just short of the necessary spot.

The last effort came with just thirty seconds remaining. Baltimore had run from their 20-yard line down to New England’s 20. On first down, Joe Flacco quarterback threw a pass into the end zone to Mark Clayton that was too far for his arms. Kelley Washington a former Patriot picked up six yards with a reception on the next play. Flacco’s next pass was secured inside the 10 by the Pats secondary. After, on fourth down, Clayton almost had first down yardage, but the pass went off his body and Patriots defenders tapped it away and the game ended. That is situational football, said Adalius Thomas. Being able to assess the situation and knowing how to respond.

The Patriots defense has now apprehended opponents to 17, 16, 10, and 14 points in four games; this does not include the two Tom Brady turnovers that resulted in opponents’ scores. They continue to look for ways to help the team win, even with injuries and first-year players coping up to the system. The defense is great right now, said Logan Mankins a guard. You can say a lot about the guys since they made a good job. I think a lot of plays were left out there, Thomas added. But we made it. It was not great, but you will have to take it and try to learn from the mistakes and get better. We are all having fun, concluded Meriweather. We are getting used to play as one. We are learning what kind of stuff each player can do. This is the reason why the Patriots have a 3-1 score. This is what the match between Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots is made of.

Backups fill Patriots’ Super Bowl roster in 2004

No-names are in, and egos are out on Bill Belichick’s team. That’s a major reason why the New England Patriots have won 14 straight and will attempt to claim their second Super Bowl in three seasons Sunday against Carolina. Despite a sudden increase of injuries, they have been able to close in vague substitutes and keep on winning. The run of backups in fact began two years ago when Tom Brady stepped in at quarterback for the injured Drew Bledsoe and led New England to the Super Bowl in a thrilling 20-17 upset of St. Louis. Two years afterward, he is, as owner team owner Robert Kraft put it Tuesday, ”the poster boy for our team.” Unlike Brady, most of this year’s injury subs will never be poster boys for anything. But in a league where almost every team suffers when starters get injured, the Patriots have thrived; 43 different players have started in 18 games and almost all have done well.

In Sunday’s Super Bowl, New England will be missing three offensive linemen who were starters when training camp began: center Mike Compton, left guard Damien Woody and right tackle Adrian Klemm. Replacing them will be center Dan Koppen, a rookie; guard Russ Hochstein, who started the season on the practice team; and tackle Tom Ashworth, who was dormant for 15 games last season and a tight end in the one game he did play. No one seems concerned, even though the Carolina defensive line is questionably the best in the NFL.

Jets Beat Brady At Home For First Time

Rex Ryan sent a message to the Jets fans while his New York Jets delivered one of their own. Rookie Mark Sanchez outplayed Tom Brady and the Jets backed up their big mouths, shutting down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 16-9 on Sunday. So huge, in fact, that Ryan said he was giving the fans a game ball that would be placed in the team’s trophy case.

The win was the first for the Jets over Brady at home and the first over the Patriots at the Meadowlands since 2000. And, it came after a week through which Ryan reiterated his offseason remarks that he didn’t come to “kiss Bill Belichick’s rings” and sent a voicemail to season ticket holders, telling all of them to be loud. The fans obviously answered the call, causing a rough time for the Patriots’ offense all game as Brady was forced into consecutive delay of game penalties in the third quarter.

Brady rallies Patriots past Bills

Mediocre doesn’t define Tom Brady. That’s not what all those long rehab sessions and months of preparing for his return to the NFL were about. So while Brady’s performance was pedestrian for much of Monday night’s season opener, when the spotlight was at its most intense, he lived up to the advance billing. A year after being on the sidelines with torn knee ligaments, Brady resembled a out of form game manager more than the invincible record-setting quarterback who guided the Patriots to a perfect 2007 regular season. Yet, he threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 as New England defeated the Buffalo Bills 25-24.

These are still the Patriots, who have not lost a regular-season game with Brady at quarterback since Dec. 10, 2006. And they still have all those threats in the passing game, from Randy Moss to Wes Welker to tight end Watson. Although Brady had those remarkable stats, he never looked deep and struggled to convert key plays until the final moments. Maybe his team was uncomfortable in the throwback red uniforms or being introduced as the Boston Patriots for the first of the NFL’s tribute games to the old AFL. Something wasn’t right in Foxborough, until the final play.

Brady Faces Former Coordinator For First Time

Josh McDaniels spent two seasons running the New England defense so he knew what he was up against when he became the Patriots quarterbacks coach in 04. Now, as head coach of the Broncos, he should have a great idea of what he’ll face when Denver hosts Tom Brady and the Patriots on Sunday. McDaniels spent the previous three seasons with the Patriots as the offensive coordinator. But for Brady, knowing what to expect doesn’t always lead to victory. The Patriots could line up Sunday in an arrangement they used the previous year to run a certain play. But they could change that and run a diverse play out of it.

While the Patriots’ defensive players have changed radically this year, more or less all the offensive starters are the ones who started under McDaniels. Brady hasn’t been nearly as dominant as he was in 2007 when he threw 50 touchdown passes for an offense, masterminded by McDaniels that set one more league record with a total of 589 points. So far, Tom Brady has only thrown four touchdown passes and is just 17th in quarterback rating. Right now, the Patriots don’t have an offensive coordinator, so Bill Belichick has a large role in running the offense.

Vince Young: Time to Buy a Fantasy Sleeper?

We’re now four games through the 2009 season, and the Tennessee Titans don’t have a win. After finishing last year with the best record in football, it’s safe to say this season has started as an huge disappointment. While the Titans lost their defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, to the Detroit Lions and the glue of their defensive line, Albert Haynesworth, to Washington as a free agent, the offense has been really poor so far this season. The next two weeks don’t get any easier for the Titans. They’ll host the Colts in Sunday Night Football next weekend before travelling to New England. Based on their year-to-date performance, there’s little reason to think the Titans won’t be 0-6 when they reach their bye week.

Which is why coach Jeff Fischer might strongly consider making a move under center, re-inserting Vince Young as the team’s starting quarterback. Even with Young as QB1, the Titans likely won’t turn things around on a dime. The Colts and Patriots are both playing great football right now, and will be tough to beat, even on Tennessee’s best day. But as an advice to fantasy owners of any player on the Titans offense is to watch the waiver wire for any changes that might be made in Tennessee. If Young becomes the starting quarterback for the Titans, depending on your roster, he might merit a roster spot.

Lewis, Reed Avoid Fines

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and Safety Ed Reed will not be fined for their post-game remarks criticizing the officials in the team’s 27-21 loss to the Patriots. Who would’ve thought that there were no fines, I guess you could do anything you want now. Lewis for one just went off on the officials in the game. He just snapped in their face and at first thought he might’ve wanted to hurt them in some manner. But in reality, both players were criticizing the league’s recent moves to protect quarterbacks. As Lewis sees it, the new rules and interpretations make it unfeasible for a player to hit a quarterback without getting flagged.

No word yet on whether John Harbaugh will be fined for his in-game antics, which drew a personal foul, and his post-game remarks which were analogous to Lewis and Reed. I would expect Harbaugh to see a hefty fine by this week.

Winless Chiefs Facing Many Woes

Just as the Kansas City Chiefs were running out of the passageway onto the field this past Sunday, a horse used in pre-game ceremonies did what usually horses do. While many in the crowd cheered, a man in a dazzling red shirt came running out and cleaned up the untidiness. Just a few minutes later, Jamaal Charles fumbled the kickoff and the New York Giants grabbed a hasty 7-0 lead in a game that suggests the guy trailing the horse and Chiefs coach Todd Haley have something in general. Haley is also trying to fix a mess as fast as possible. The Chiefs are 2-29 going back to 2007 and last in the NFL in 3rd-down conversions. The problems here run deep, really really deep.

The defense seems to have been better by a bit from last year’s 2-14 record with the addition of linebacker Mike Vrabel, who came over from New England along with quarterback Matt Cassel. But a destroyer for the offense game after game has been an incapability to convert on third downs. It’s a statistic in which the Chiefs rank dead last among the 32 NFL teams.

Roughing The Passer Rule Needs To Change: Why Tom Brady Needs to Stop Complaints

Football is and will forever be a tough game. There’s a reason there are only 16 games in an NFL season. Players need time to recuperate from being crushed for 60-minutes every week. But, if breathing too hard on a quarterback is a penalty now then do they really need a week to recover? For those that haven’t seen the plays in the Patriots-Ravens game on Sunday, there were two very questionable roughing-the-passer calls. Terrell Suggs barely touched Tom Brady’s leg and Brady started complaining like Tonya Harding hired someone to come after him.The second was when Haloti Ngata grazed Brady’s helmet. Maybe Brady was worried Ngata would mess up his hair because again Brady begged for a flag to be thrown.

Now I’m all for protecting the quarterback, if you’re an offensive lineman. I understand that quarterbacks have to stand in there and take hits when they are basically defenseless. And roughing-the-passer should absolutely be called when a quarterback is hit hard late. But looking threateningly at a quarterback is not a penalty. At what point do we just give these guys a red jersey and make it a game of touch-football? If quarterbacks don’t stop complaining every time someone gets near them, maybe they should just wear those pink shoes and wristbands every week.

The New England Patriots: Spooking the NFL One Week at a Time

The Pats have gone out and tamed two first-class sophomore quarterbacks in consecutive weeks. Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco played respectable games. Even the New York Jets’ win over the Patriots seem a bit off. The whole game looked like New York was waiting for New England to prevail; all the Jets could do was blitz all the time and pray that Tom Brady would not find his gait.  When Brady was knocked out at the start of last season there was a scuttle to reorganize the AFC pecking order. When New England regenerated itself, Miami had just squeaked by them in the East. A sense that the league had been given a brief break from Brady, Belichick, and the Ark of the Covenant they keep stored under Fox borough.

The New England Patriots status has preceded them this year. Tom Brady is still on the road to recovery from his knee injury. Brady must remember that hit every time he drops back. But Brady is slowly recapturing his form, and in the meantime the rest of the NFL is praying that Matt Cassel just dreamed that he left for Kansas City. If teams would like to pound New England they need to go out there and strike them in the mouth. You have to act, instead of just reacting to what the Patriots settle on showing up.

Pats Beat Ravens

Mark Clayton was open and waited for the 4th-down pass that could keep the Ravens’ hopes alive. Joe Flacco reached his target inside the Patriots 10-yard line and past the first-down marker, but Clayton didn’t hold on with 28 seconds remaining. New England did—eking out a 27-21 victory over Baltimore on Sunday. The game was certain when Clayton dropped the ball and the Patriots ran out the timer as they kept their unbeaten record against the Ravens with their fifth win.

Brady completed 21 of his 32 passes for a total of 258 yards, one TD and no interceptions. Flacco, on the other hand, went 27 for 47 for a total of 264 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Trailing 17-7 at the half, Baltimore made it 17-14 when Terrell Suggs hit Brady for a sack and knocked the ball loose. Dwan Edwards recovered the football in the end zone for a touchdown with 6:19 left in the third quarter. But Brady led the Patriots on their next possession, a 79-yard drive ending with his 14-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss.

Former Patriots LB Seau Wants to Come Back

Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau is trying out some fresh careers this fall as part of a television show called “Sports Jobs.” What he really wants is his former job back. Seau has previously come out of retirement twice to play for New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Last year, the 12-time Pro Bowl selection joined the team in December after it was hit by injury bug; this year Jerod Mayo is already gone for 6-8 weeks with an injury. Junior Seau’s show, which will premiere on Versus in December, features some of the jobs behind the scenes in sports. On Thursday he will be working as the Capitals’ equipment manager.

Let’s go Junior! I think you know that the Pats need you right now. Bill Belichick should make it work. The Patriots’ weakest link is their defense and I think it can vastly improve with Seau back. Even if it’s only a dream, let’s see him back for at least one more season eh Pats?

Saints Vs. Jets

Two unbeaten teams square off here in what should be an interesting match-up of one of the NFL’s top offensive teams against what looks like one of the NFL’s best defensive teams. New Orleans was the NFL’s best offense last season and the Saints have averaged 6.6 yards for every play and 40 points in 3 games against teams that would combine to allow 5.2 yppl to an average team. New York, on the other hand, has yielded just 4.2 yppl and 11 points per game to good offensive teams Houston, New England and Tennessee – who would combine to average 5.9 yppl against an average defensive team. The Jets would actually have an advantage over New Orleans’ offense based on this year’s games (NO is +1.4 yppl on offense and NYJ is +1.7 yppl on defense), but my ratings actually give the Saints a slight 0.1 yppl benefit when they had the ball. New Orleans is an improved team this season because their defense has changed from worse than average to good, and allows just 4.9 yppl to teams that would combine to average 5.3 yppl against an average team. New York rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez is getting a lot of praise, but he’s averaged his 6.3 yards per pass play against teams that would combine to allow 6.8 yppp to a normal quarterback.

The Jets’ rushing attack has also been below average and New York’s offense has been 0.6 yppl worse than average through 3 games (5.2 yppl against teams that would allow 5.8 yppl to an average team). In fact, after scoring 6.6 yppl against Houston’s horrible defense in the opener, the Jets have managed just 4.3 yppl. The Jets may be able to slow down the Saints to league average fabrication but their offense is probable to be held below 20 points and ratings favor the Saints by 7 points with a total of just 42 1/2 points. The unbeatable Jets may not be getting sufficient respect here and unbeaten teams (3-0 or better) are a perfect 9-0 ATS as underdogs of 7 points or more the last 17 seasons. However, studies have resulted that very good offense has an advantage over very good defense, especially at home, and New Orleans applies to a 54-24-3 ATS statistical match-up indicator that is based on that premise. I’ll lean with the Saints at -7 or less.

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