The Game Ball Thread: Wk.12 vs Arizona

[tims4wins]

I agree with everyone else that expects a 2-3 or 3-2 type of finish. I'll go ahead and predict that all 5 games (or at least whatever games they lose) are within 1 score, and at the end of the year there will be a bunch of "what ifs" in terms of losing close games, but end of the day as @cshea pointed out excluding the SF game they are 5-5 with a +1 differential, they are a competitive team but not a good one.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

I thought the defense did a really nice job on the third and short at the end of the game. I think other than the field goal it was the play of the game and probably the difference between a win and a loss.

 

[8slim]

Related to the last several posts, give a game ball to the coaching staff. This team has major flaws all over the place, so to be 5-6 and still in the playoff hunt, is a decent accomplishment. Replace BB with nearly any other NFL head coach and I don't see them being at 5 wins.

 

[joe dokes]

Related to the last several posts, give a game ball to the coaching staff. This team has major flaws all over the place, so to be 5-6 and still in the playoff hunt, is a decent accomplishment. Replace BB with nearly any other NFL head coach and I don't see them being at 5 wins.

I've been thinking that ever since the D throttled Mahomes, Jackson, now Murray. Watson beat them, but he's a cut above murray and jackson, IMO.

 

[BaseballJones]

Elite QBs:
Wilson: 21-28 (75.0%), 288 yds, 5 td, 1 int, 5 rushes, 31 yds, 35 points scored
Mahomes: 19-29 (65.5%), 236 yds, 2 td, 0 int, 8 rushes, 28 yds, 26 points scored (7 by the D)
Jackson: 24-34 (70.6%), 249 yds, 2 td, 1 int, 11 rushes, 55 yds, 17 points scored
Watson: 28-37 (75.7%), 344 yds, 2 td, 0 int, 6 rushes, 36 yds, 1 td, 27 points scored
Murray: 23-34 (67.6%), 170 yds, 0 td, 1 int, 5 rushes, 31 yds, 17 points scored
TOT: 115-162 (71.0%), 1,287 yds, 11 td, 3 int, 109.3 rating, 35 rushes, 181 yds, 1 td, 122 points scored (24.4 avg)

Solid/Decent QBs:
Carr: 24-32 (75.0%), 261 yds, 2 td, 0 int, 2 rushes, 10 yds, 20 points scored
Garoppolo: 20-25 (80.0%), 277 yds, 0 td, 2 int, 1 rush, 4 yds, 33 points scored
Allen: 11-18 (61.1%), 154 yds, 0 td, 1 int, 10 rushes, 23 yds, 24 points scored
TOT: 55-75 (73.3%), 692 yds, 2 td, 3 int, 93.9 rating, 13 rushes, 37 yds, 77 points scored (25.7 avg)

Not-so-great QBs:
Fitzpatrick: 20-30 (66.7%), 191 yds, 0 td, 3 int, 5 rushes, 18 yds, 11 points scored
Flacco: 18-25 (72.0%), 262 yds, 3 td, 1 int, 0 rushes, 0 yds, 27 points scored
Lock: 10-24 (41.7%), 189 yds, 0 td, 2 int, 5 rushes, -1 yds, 18 points scored
TOT: 48-79 (60.8%), 642 yds, 3 td, 6 int, 67.6 rating, 10 rushes, 17 yds, 56 points scored (18.7 avg)

I mean, on the whole...that's not too bad a job by the defense against these quarterbacks. We knew going into this year that the schedule was going to be brutal, and they've faced some pretty good QB competition this season. The D is 12th in overall scoring defense, which, given their losses on D and the competition they've faced, is pretty solid, especially consider that the team is #27 in the league in scoring offense, thus they haven't taken much pressure off the D all season long.

These are the opposing scoring offense ranks:

Sea - 1
KC - 3
Ari - 8
Buf - 10
Bal - 11
LV - 14
Mia - 15
Hou - 17
SF - 20
Den - 31
NYJ - 32

AVG: 14.7
*Only 4 opponents have been "worse" than average in terms of putting up points. Four are currently in the top 10, five in the top 11. Good competition.

 

[Super Nomario]

The D is 12th in overall scoring defense, which, given their losses on D and the competition they've faced, is pretty solid, especially consider that the team is #27 in the league in scoring offense, thus they haven't taken much pressure off the D all season long.

Point taken on competition, but this is missing a lot of context. The Patriots defense has faced the fewest drives in the entire NFL, so while they're 12th in total points (16th in total yards), they're 20th in points per drive (24th in yards per drive). The O has helped the O by possessing and moving the ball (they're 2nd in plays run per drive, 3rd in time of possession per drive, and 6th in yards per drive), so the D has the 6th-best starting field position even though we're seeing a few more turnovers than usual. It's the defense that's been putting the offense in bad positions - the O has the 29th-best starting field position, which is one reason they're 23rd in points per drive despite being 6th in yards per drive. The D played well yesterday, but they've been below-average this season.

 

[steeplechase3k]

I don't feel like digging through the game thread to see if it was talked about there so I'll post it here.

I enjoyed the music selection (I think in Gillette Stadium and not just from Fox) at the end of the first half. After the replay review of the stop had been going on for a while "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" by The Clash was played. I love it because if the play was a TD the players STAY for the extra point, if not they GO into the locker room. It only played for a few seconds, but I noticed it and thought it was funny.

If it was in the stadium, game ball to them too.