999 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

BSL: Previewing Week 14: Balitmore Ravens at NE Patriots

 

BSL: Ravens Should Unleash Matt Judon

 

BSL: Regardless of 2016 outcome, young talent has Ravens primed for big future

[JordanKough]

I'll be interested to see what NEP tries to take away. They are often the best because they take away your strength. 

 

Does that mean they'll play more man, and give more help to the middle of the field? Maybe more focus on Pitta? Based on last game? 

 

Or I wonder if they just go to the drawing board as though last week was a total fluke with a backup plan if we come out and attack the middle of the field again with some success next week. 

[Mackus]

I'll be interested to see what NEP tries to take away. They are often the best because they take away your strength.

 

We got 'em right where we want 'em.  We don't do anything well offensively, so they don't know what to take away!  We get to do all of it!

[Mike in STL]

I'm going to expand more on my article this week. But this is the week to unleash Matt Judon. The name of the game is always be hitting Tom Brady. He's made the most of his limited snaps.

A defensive game plan like they employed in Dallas will assuredly result in a loss. It's no secret by now that you have to knock Brady on his ass.

[JordanKough]

It's kind of true, lol.

 

I think they'll probably focus heavily on Steve Smith and keeping the bit play in front of them. Though that seemed to be Miami's approach and that left big holes in the middle of the field.

 

I'm kind of reminded of the Torrey Smith INT to end our last game with NEP, where they baited Joe into thinking he had a one on one route for Smith and the safety came over and snagged it. It's these kind of situations / attempts that it seems like NEP does a great job of sniffing out and forcing us into. 

 

I wonder if limited tape on nuances and changes Morniwheg is installing will also give us a leg up a bit this week. I mentioned it in the other thread, I felt like we had better and more organized screens last week. 

[JordanKough]

I'm going to expand more on my article this week. But this is the week to unleash Matt Judon. The name of the game is always be hitting Tom Brady. He's made the most of his limited snaps.

A defensive game plan like they employed in Dallas will assuredly result in a loss. It's no secret by now that you have to knock Brady on his ass.

 

Was the game plan all that different in Miami than Dallas? Feels like we only rushed 4 or so all game but from a variety of positions and spots. 

 

Though that wasn't how the Dallas game felt, and we had both Smith and Young in who are capable of playing up a the line and taking plays away. I'd be interested to know / see the differences between those game plans and results as well. 

[Mike in STL]

 
Was the game plan all that different in Miami than Dallas? Feels like we only rushed 4 or so all game but from a variety of positions and spots. 
 
Though that wasn't how the Dallas game felt, and we had both Smith and Young in who are capable of playing up a the line and taking plays away. I'd be interested to know / see the differences between those game plans and results as well. 

At first glance the game plan may not have been much different. Miami's O-line wasn't great so they got away with rushing four. In Dallas they just sat back and didn't try much against their all-world O-line. Kept the LBs spying on Elliott all day which led to his limited production, but also for short passes being completed from a clean pocket all day long. Very long drives that limited the Ravens to just three second half drives.

Jimmy not being in the Dallas game may have been a factor.

Regardless of the personel, the book on beating Brady is to literally "beat" him up.

[Mackus]

Regardless of the personel, the book on beating Brady is to literally "beat" him up.

 

Needs to happen through either cleverly disguising blitzes or just by getting pressure up with the front 4 though, right?  If Brady sees the blitz coming, he's very good at beating it.

[Mike in STL]

Regardless of the personel, the book on beating Brady is to literally "beat" him up.

 
Needs to happen through either cleverly disguising blitzes or just by getting pressure up with the front 4 though, right?  If Brady sees the blitz coming, he's very good at beating it.

Sure. You have to play the chess game. If he makes adjustments and you dont he'll pick them apart. The Broncos recorded 20 hits on Brady in the AFC title game last year. Not sure how many of those he saw coming, but he had to be a sore dude by the 4th quarter.

[JordanKough]

Needs to happen through either cleverly disguising blitzes or just by getting pressure up with the front 4 though, right?  If Brady sees the blitz coming, he's very good at beating it.

 

We don't really blitz Brady much. Heck...we don't really blitz a ton period. 

 

We need packages where you have some combo of Mosley, Suggs, Judon, Dumervil all floating or standing at the line of scrimmage with Jernigan and rush 4 guys with deception. 

 

When we played in 2014, they ran it 7 times from a RB. Gronk had 7 catches for 108 yards. Amendola had 5 for 81. Gronk was targeted 13 times. They really went after 38 (Melvin?) and burned us. 

 

Man, I hate the results of that game, but that was a fun game to watch...

[esporter]

I definitely feel like the Ravens can match up on D. Tavon Young seems like the perfect guy to cover Edelman. On passing downs Jimmy can probably cover Marty Bennett. I'll take my chances with Powers or someone on Kevin Hogan, he's not exactly a mismatch.

 

Definitely a different ballgame with Amendola and Gronk both out.

[SportsGuy]

Mitchell is the one to look out for.

 

Andy Benoit talked about how good Suggs is at chipping the TE off the line.  Look for him to do that to Bennett a lot.

[Pedro Cerrano]

NE has allowed the same number of points that we have.

 

Sorta hard to believe.

 

This one is gonna be really tough to win even without Gronk.  We are playing our best football and have some momentum but, man, I just can't see it.

[SportsGuy]

NE has been very good vs the run this year...awful vs the pass

[BSLChrisStoner]

Will New England run the ball 10 times?

 

Without Gronk, I like our chances. 

[SportsGuy]

Will New England run the ball 10 times?
 
Without Gronk, I like our chances. 

They have been a good running team this year and we struggled to tackle a big RB last week.

Dion Lewis will represent some matchup issues as well. He's going to be a big key I think.

[bnickle]

Will New England run the ball 10 times?

Without Gronk, I like our chances.

Moneyline for Baltimore is +275. If you have faith go make yourself some nice change

[Mike B]

They have been a good running team this year and we struggled to tackle a big RB last week.

Dion Lewis will represent some matchup issues as well. He's going to be a big key I think.

I will be extremely happy if they try to run the ball.  Run it 30 times or more please, that is 30 less times Brady throws the ball.

I am not worried about the dozen carries Ajayi had.  we got the lead quick and were dropping into coverage.  We missed some tackles, but that has been a rarity this year.

If the Pats want to run the ball, fine...to quote John Cena, if you want some come get some.

[B00E00N00]

Brady lost his big deep threat in Gronk and he's not very good at the deep ball anymore.  However he is a master at the short and mid range passing game and the offensive line is better for NE this year than it was last year.  BAL is playing well and seem to always play NE tough so I think it's going to be a close game.  Should be fun...... now if only my Redskins rebound... but that's a story for another time.

[GabeFerguson]

Mitchell has turned into a viable option for Brady. He can be a big play threat that the Ravens will have to account for. If Bennett is healthy he can be a matchup problem as well.

It will be interesting to see how Pees gameplans for this one. On one hand, it makes sense to stick with what has worked.

Pees leans conservative and for the most part it works. Keep it simple and execute. Your defense will make a play or the offense will make a mistake. All it takes is one negative play and the odds tilt dramatically in your favor as the DC.

On the other hand, an offense that executes at a high level with a good plan can beat that type of defense. The Raiders did it, the Cowboys did or, and NE has done it before as well.

So should the Ravens try something different? Maybe go man heavy instead of the zone coverages Pees normally relies on? Blitzing heavily generally is not a good strategy against Brady, but if it can rattle him early it may have some merit.