Official Pats/Ravens Game Thread

[TruePatriot76]

Congrats to the Ravens - well earned.

Now can we make Medford part of Maryland?

[TruePatriot76]

Fitting end. Should have about a 45-50 for a QB rating. Not that he was helped much today, but he really did nothing to elevate his game.

[AlexPKeaton]

The better team won tonight. Losing Talib really hurt....

[PatsFan2003]

The better team won tonight. Losing Talib really hurt....

yep, that put us back to the bend and bend defense that was plaguing us the 1st half of the season. I still think the Pats were way too conservative in the 1st half too.

[Lester]

the Pats just played a freaking Stinker. Baltimore deserved the win. I cant explain it.

[ZWW]

Well that was a real kick in the d!<k.

Pats D played a beautiful game for the first half and beginning of the 3rd. The offense flat-out NO SHOWED. And what's weird, even before the Ridley turnover, the stats were basically even.....until I glared at the red zone: Baltimore was 4/4, Pats 1/4. Pats gained more yards, more first downs, gave up no sacks and the time of possession and 3rd down efficiency was basically a wash. When it mattered inside the 20s, the Pats folded like a lawn chair.

The Welker drop on 3rd & 8 - I believe Pats were at the Ravens 34 - is where the Ravens never turned back. Pats score and it's 20-7. Instead, Welker drops an easy one, Ravens march down for the TD and the very next drive? Solder negates a big 1st down on 3rd & 2. I think we set an NFL record for not converting on 3rd & 2 tonight.

And we all knew Talib going down was gonna let Boldin or Smith torch us, but it would've helped if the Pats offense did something. Anything?

[metrix]

Sometimes a defense just beats the offense, that's what the Ravens did.

Waiting patiently for the next time the Pats get to leverage this.

[metrix]

All things being equal, the majority of people would have guessed the Pats defense would give up 28 points before the Pats offense only scored 13 points. Plenty of blame to go around but the offense blew it big time.

Hard not to feel this is the game you should expect when your game plan is to play scared on both sides of the ball. Maybe Ed Reed will finally retire and maybe the Pats will draft somebody in the secondary that can actually do something.

[Hyped]

Just some thoughts I wanted to post earlier this week, but didn't because of the stupid virus going around here on KFFL (was on my iPhone all week...and it isn't conductive for long winded posts):

1.) MAD MAD PROPS to the Ravens...they flat out beat us. They deserve to go to the big game. I hope they win...except for Terrell Suggs/Bernard Pollard...those guys can go F themselves as far as I am concerned, LOL. I am rooting for Ihedigbo, Lewis, Reed, Flacco, and etc...I like those guys at least.

2.) With #1 being said...I know this will sound like sour grapes...but I felt that the Pats BLEW this game more than the Ravens took it from them. This is one of those losses that is entirely on the players....it was a total team loss. To be frank, only Ninkovich, Mesko, Veeren, and a few others played "up to par", IMO. Everyone else crapped the bed. Brady sucked despite having good protection. Wilfork was non-existent...I don't care if he was triple teamed...he needs to make his presence known. Mayo missed a tackle on Ray Rice's TD. And those three guys are arguably our best players. This loss is on the players, IMO.

3.) The defense is supposed to limit drives to figgies NOW and THEN...at minimum I expected us to stop one drive and limit the Ravens to 24 points. We didn't...we kept allowing TD's in the red zone. The defense got a F from me, IMO.

4.) The offense moved the ball all day...but couldn't cash out on drives...props to the Ravens D...but c'mon...this offense SHOULD have scored AT LEAST 6 points in the 2nd half, IMO. We had 4 red zone drives...and 2-3 other drives that stalled around the 35-40 yard line resulting in a punt. The offense had favorable field position ALL day...and did nothing...

5.) BB punting it on the 35...I understand that we cannot kick a figgie from there...but c'mon...go for it on 4th down at least 1-2 times..I think it would have been worth giving up 20 yards of field position...I mean our D would just go out there and allow a 1st down on the first set anyway....

6.) The loss was our first losing margin of more than one score SINCE losing to Cleveland early in the 2010 season...basically our first such loss in nearly 2.5 years....

[Hyped]

One more comment:

7.) The above being said...the Pats are still a very good team capable of winning the Superbowl. Heck, if we could play a best of 3 against the Ravens...I'd love our chances of winning 2 in a row against them.... The issue isn't personnel or coaching...we will be back next year with a similar team...and still a contender. This is the NFL...it's all parity these days...and about making the right plays at the right time...for example if the Seahawks stopped one of Ryan's late passes...they could have knocked off the Niners and been in the bowl next week...it's a fine line between winning and losing...

[ItIsWhatItIs]

The decision not to go for it on 4th down on the Ravens' side of the field will eat at me for a while. That was just such a non-Belichick style of coaching. I guess he figured it would be a low-scoring game, but he shouldn't have played into that - the Pats' best chance at victory was a game in the 30's.

[ZWW]

Playing not to lose usually means you're gonna lose. The conservative play calls were agonizing, almost as agonizing as not converting on those 3rd and shorts.

That call will eat at me too.