You are looking at things through significantly Pats-colored glasses. The only one of those calls that I don’t 100% think was correct was the no call on OPI and even that I think is 50-50 by NFL guidelines. Some of those penalties you listed would have gotten officials suspended if they hadn’t been called.
The frustrating part is that when Brady has had an extra half second in the pocket, he's looked really good and our receivers get open, even with the tight end deficiency. But the offensive line can't give him that extra time and the lack of a run game just makes it so much harder, especially when the field gets compressed in the red area. There were times when the Ravens were daring them to run, and they just can't open holes. Small sample size, but it really doesn't seem to have anything to do with which runner gets the ball. White was 9 for 38, with a long of 8. Burkhead was 4 for 18 with a long of 6. Michel was 4 for 18 with a long of 8. Allen, Gronk and Develin opening holes and Trent Brown creating an immovable object on the line made everything easier last year, and to lose all 4 is expensive.
LOL wait, so the "neutral zone infraction" call against Butler, when all he did was flinch and never even came close to, you know, entering the neutral zone, you think was 100% a correct call? You think the pick that happened FOUR YARDS DOWNFIELD was 100% legal and the correct call? It was the same kind of play that caused Belichick to throw his tablet in last year's AFCCG. Even Collinsworth on the telecast pointed out that it was an illegal pick play (but legal because they didn't call it).
Let me bum you out even more: at 4.4 yards per carry, that was the second-BEST rushing performance by the Patriots all season (4.8 YPC vs Washington; every other game has been at 3.5 or worse).
It would not have been overturned based on the exceedingly high review standard that’s being employed for PI, so throwing that flag is hoping for them to disregard that standard arbitrarily.
Until he is actually responsible for a loss or a catastrophic Brady injury, I would much rather give Wynn as much time as he needs to make sure that he is healthy enough to potentially finish the season.
Do we have evidence they are neglecting pick plays though? Nearly every challenge I have seen has been downfield. Kitchens challenged an OPI last week but it was for a flag that was thrown, and the play was quite clearly beyond 1 yard past the LOS, so they upheld the call. Wondering how many pick plays that weren't called on the field have been challenged. Pick plays are far, far more objective to officiate than any other type of PI.
This is where I'm at as well. When the Ravens came out up 17 points, they looked three steps faster on every play. It was fresh legs against tired legs in that first quarter. The bye comes at the perfect time for this team. I'd expect them to be flying all over the field against Philly in two weeks.
I wanted him to challenge it. Not because I thought it was winnable, but because the Patriots actually got called for a pick play by replay earlier this year (Josh Gordon got away with it live but then was called on replay). It was obvious. A bit more obvious than last night. Still, in the same ballpark.
Four of the last seven are at home. The three road games: at Philly, at Houston, at Cincy.
I remember the Gordon play, it was the Miami game. Good comparison. I'm going to to look at that now.
Well, let's look at the tape...Here's the NZI: View: https://youtu.be/sA_vw3nBLl8
It was called against Gordon in week 2 in Miami after a challenge by Miami. Can you bring up that play on video? I just watched it but I don't have game pass. The plays look nearly identical to me.
Here's the play.
Thanks. See I thought Gordon looked like he was trying to jump out of the way, but maybe that's Pats colored glasses on my part. Both plays were instances of the WR running into the defender. Not using their hands or "blocking" so to speak, just running into the guy to bump him off course. Both plays are PI. BB should have challenged.
He flinched, moving forward an inch. And he wasn’t “on the ball” - he was lined up in front of the left guard/tackle. Unless “on the ball” means being a down lineman no matter where on the line you actually are.
I disagree on all of this. First, there's an excellent chance they would have punted; there were still 13 minutes left and they were only down 10. Second, at the time he threw it, there was no "3-6 yards" option. Burkhead was well-covered in the flat, Watson was blocking, everyone else was downfield and covered, and there was a defender bearing right down on Brady (he was actually hit as he threw). It was either throw it away, toss up a jump ball, or take a sack. Or maybe throw a pick-six to the guy covering Burkhead. I think it was totally defensible, though I wish he'd thrown it shorter to give Sanu at least a chance to win a jump ball.
There are some oddities to what they faced last night but a lot of it came down to things that are as old as the game itself. They lost the battles on the line of scrimmage way too often and too many times 1 or 2 guys didn't do their job. Against a spread type of attack with option principles, each player in the front seven has a job to do and if one person screws up it can go for a long gain. That's true in every game but even more so against what they faced last night.
He's right though.
I have so many issues with this. The defense's problem wasn't that it was gassed. It gave up a TD on the first drive of the game, and it gave up a TD on the first drive of the second half when it had a ton of rest. The reason the D faced so many runs is that it could not stop them and get off the field. When you suggest this team - with Tom Brady at QB and a horrible running game - should have run more, I wonder whether we're watching the same game. "Repeated three-and-outs?" The defense had to defend Baltimore on exactly one drive after an offensive three-and-out - the Ravens' second drive of the game.
And the official would have been suspended for not calling that ridiculous grounding penalty on Brady? That gets called on no quarterback ever in football except him.
This is a direct result of being down Trent Brown / Wynn, Andrews, Develin, and Gronk (and maybe Dwayne Allen too). When you look back at those playoff games the O line + Gronk/Develin were just mauling people. As McDaniels said on the DYJ special, line up, power I, run for 6 yards, line up, do it again. This team is down 4 key pieces, 3 of which aren't coming back.
They were 15th in red zone O last year. That said, I agree with you; it's a problem. The total inability to run the ball is the killer here I think, but they haven't passed well in close either.
Thought BB missed the chance to challenge one of the big plays in the Ravens second half TD drives. There was a pretty blatant pick that led to a significant gain. If that is overturned (perhaps unlikely given the way they are ruling on them), there is a good chance the drive ends differently.
The line is the problem in the red zone. They can't run block well enough to consistently get yardage when everyone knows they are running. They can't pass block long enough to run crossing routes or similar routes that take some time to develop. The lack of size in the receiving core hurts too. There isn't anyone big and physical enough to throw fade routes to. The Ravens doubled Edelman on most snaps inside the 5 so he couldn't get open quickly. Sanu got open on a pick play for the TD but that was really it. Hopefully if Harry is able to do anything he can just post up the defender on him and bully people into red zone catches.
Yes. Pro-Football-Reference.com has the 2018 Pats with 34 TDs on 57 red zone trips, 59.6%, which ranked 15th in the NFL last year.
Conceptually, Wynn and Harry solve a lot of problems for this team. Wynn gives Brady more time and likely improves run blocking. Harry gives Brady a good red zone target. It’s not great to have to rely on unproven guys but it’s also reassuring that we have realistic options in house.
Yes hopefully Wynn will help but Mason is having a down year and is banged up. Karras is hit or miss. Cannon is also having a down year and is probably playing hurt. It's not just Newhouse that is struggling although he's the biggest culprit.
It would appear that Burkhead was the outlet and a pass to his outside shoulder was a very safe play there. Much safer than throwing the duck to Thomas. For 36 to pick off that pass he'd have to run through Burkhead. If Burkhead can make his guy miss he probably picks up 5yards easy and gives them a very makeable 4th down.
The defender is all over Burkhead. Throwing late to the outside is how pick-sixes happen.
Do you think that Mason having a down year has anything to do with Andrews not being there? I.e., is Mason covering up / helping out Karras more? I am hoping (perhaps unrealistically) that Wynn's return has a downstream effect - Thuney won't have to help out Newhouse, Thuney/Mason can help Karras more, etc. Not sure how realistic that is.
It seems like Andrews' absence is huge. He is in charge of making all the protection calls and was so good at it since he got here. Not having him does have a trickle down effect. Having minimal injuries to the OL last year was huge in terms of continuity. It takes time for a 5 man group to act as one. But to me Mason just isn't performing at the level he was last year when he was playing at a Pro Bowl level.
Not if the defender isn't playing outside leverage which based on your diagram appears to be the case. This isn't a 10yard out across the field he would need to make. This would have been a pass to the LOS to a RB in space single covered. I don't think those passes are picked off at a high rate and the end result of the play was a pick that was returned to the 30 and resulted in a long TD drive effectively ending the game. A pick 6 there at least gives you some time back on the clock.
