Just got through with the Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots game. One of the most exciting, dramatic, well-executed games I have ever seen. Some observations: 1. I feel better when you lose because the other team played better than you than when you shoot yourself in the foot. The Pats beat the Ravens today. No Lee Evans dropped pass. No Cundiff choke. I would give both teams an A for the game and the Pats were just that much better. 2. Joe Flacco was awesome. I know he threw the two INTs, but he also threw 4 TDs and was as good as Brady, if not better. I think the Kubiak system is perfect for Flacco and with a consistent offensive line, I expect even bigger numbers next year. 3. Torrey Smith was disappointing. I dont blame him for the loss, but he did give up too easy on both INTs. He could have broken up both passes. Poor execution by Torrey. 4. The Ravens defense was great for almost the entire game. Especially the run defense which was amazing all year. Still, I barely heard CJ Mosley mentioned at all. CJ was incredible this year, but his play really tapered off the last few weeks. I think the long season took its toll but I also suspect hes been nicked up by injury and that impacted his play. But he is the real thing and a healthy Moseley might have been the difference today. 5. Its too easy to blame Flacco for the game and I think its a bit superficial. I LOVE Harbaugh and Deen Pees, but I give credit for the win to the coaching staff of the Pats and they out-coached the Ravens. The game was controlled by the Ravens until the Pats second possession in the 3rd quarter. Thats when it all changed. I have several examples. a) The run attack was completely shut down by the Ravens and so the Pats just stopped running. They have 4 rushes in the 2nd half. One was a Brady sneak and the other three were kneel downs. It takes guts to just throw it every down but they pulled the trigger and it worked. The Ravens did not adjust. b) The Pats had brutal pass protection and the longer plays were not developing so they just started throwing the ball quicker. It worked. The pressure could not slow Brady and the short throws ate up yardage. The Ravens did not adjust. c) The game was really decided by two brilliant play calls by the Pats. The first was the Vereen ineligible receiver play. (By the way, I almost freaked out when he seemed to fumble the game away - again. Bernard Pollard is cackling somewhere.) Its an ingenious design, legal, and the Pats executed perfectly setting up the touchdown. The second was the Edelman TD pass, which you know Belichik has been saving for 15 years but could never use due to the presence of Ed Reed. It was a gutsy call, it was the perfect call, and it worked. The point is that the Pats came out with significant adjustments after halftime. Credit to the Pats coaching staff. And as you know by now... the Ravens did not adjust. Great season. Looking forward to next year. The Ravens are part of the group of teams that will be in contention the next few seasons and they will be in the hunt again next year. Thank you to the Ravens for all the entertainment, the joy, the misery, and some of the most fun I have with my boys. (And in my opinion, Ravens fans should be rooting for the Colts)
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 04:43:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015