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New England Patriots Pass Offense D

Everyone shoulders a little bit of the blame here, and it just seemed like something was off for this offense. Tom Brady didn’t look quite right, but it wasn’t completely his fault. Brandon Lloyd made a few nice plays, but he also only came away with 70 receiving yards on 14 targets. The Patriots lack of a deep threat hurt them in this game, because the offense wasn’t able to get a big play going when they needed it most down the stretch. Wes Welker had an awful drop on third down that killed the momentum, but he played a good game aside from that drop. Aaron Hernandez also made a solid impact in this game on short routes, but you can’t nibble away when you are playing catch-up. I’ve been trying to defend Tom Brady as much as possible, but he will have to shoulder a significant amount of the blame. Just not as much as some people are heaping onto him.

Patriots Run Offense C

The Patriots averaged just under four yards per carry as a team with 108 total rushing yards, but Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen were actually decent in this game. However, it seemed like the Pats restricted Vereen too much and used him too late in the game. I wish they decided to get him involved earlier on, because the Ravens defense (the linebackers, mainly) were having fits with him.

Ridley only averaged 3.9 yards per carry on 18 carries, but that balance was crucial to the Patriots 13-7 half-time lead. He received some excellent blocking from Nate Solder, Logan Mankins, and Ryan Wendell in this one, but I was disappointed with the lack of success from Dan Connolly. I honestly think he should be benched in favor of Donald Thomas next season, but that’s discussion for another post.

The below-average per carry statistics against the Ravens don’t tell the whole story, especially since the Ravens are among the best teams in the league at shutting down the run. However, the Patriots can’t get a higher grade than this, because the Pats running game was simply average.

Pats Pass Defense D+

People will look at Joe Flacco‘s numbers (mainly the three touchdowns and no interceptions) and assume that the Patriots secondary had another rough day, and those people would be correct. They should have done better and they would have had Aqib Talib remained healthy, because he was absolutely shutting down Anquan Boldin. When he was knocked out of the game with a thigh/hamstring injury, Kyle Arrington and Marquice Cole stepped right in and looked overmatch.

On the bright side, both Alfonzo Dennard and Talib were excellent in coverage, which gives me faith in the corners on the outside going into the 2013 season as long as Talib is healthy. Devin McCourty was also solid in this game (as usual), but the good work he did in coverage was outdone by a pathetic game from Steve Gregory. He was easily the worst player on the field on defense, and he didn’t even play the run well either. Gregory was repeatedly beat in coverage, and he provided no safety help. That second touchdown catch by Boldin? He provided Cole with no help in the end zone.

The pass rush was even worse, as Joe Flacco had all time to throw as the Pats barely put any pressure on him. Rob Ninkovich led the way with three pressures and Brandon Spikes had a nice hit up the middle, but Justin Francis did not step up with Chandler Jones limited (that had a hugely negative effect on the game). Marshal Yanda also got the best of Vince Wilfork as a pass rusher.

The low grade is mostly the result of extremely little pressure on Flacco, because you can’t let a strong-armed quarterback have all day, especially when the linebackers (mainly Brandon Spikes) are having a difficult time covering two exceptionally talented receiving running backs.

Run Defense B-

The run defense was the only unit that managed to to play an above-average game, but the numbers do flatter them a little bit. Holding down Ray Rice to 2.5 yards per carry is no easy feat and is the strength of this grade, but the Pats looked clueless against backup Bernard Pierce and allowed the Ravens to get the yardage they needed on the ground during those key situations. Rob Ninkovich has 11 missed tackles on the season, and he and Jerod Mayo botched tackles on a Rice touchdown run. Brandon Spikes and Vince Wilfork were very impressive against the run, and they did it going up against two elite offensive linemen in Marshal Yanda and Matt Birk. The latter of the two was lights out in this game ,while the former is the best guard in the NFL.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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Lewis has shown incredible toughness in what will be his final season and run in this league, and he is hungry for a second Super Bowl title. The emotion he displayed after the win over the New England Patriots yesterday would seem like overkill for anyone other than Lewis, but it is all fitting for a legend like Lewis. He’s the linebacker equivalent of Tom Brady at the quarterback position, even though I would naturally take Brady any day as a Patriots blogger.

The San Francisco 49ers come into the game with a first-year starter at quarterback in Colin Kaepernick who has rightfully taken the league by a storm. After shredding the Green Bay Packers porous defense, he launched a big comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome, showing the kind of pose that is uncanny for a first-year QB in a hostile environment in Atlanta. Alex Smith is a very good quarterback in his own right, but Kaep brings something else to the table in the pistol offense with his running ability and better deep ball.

Veterans of the 49ers organization like Frank Gore have been through it all from the worst of times, to the heartbreaking defeat of lat season, and now to the glory of an NFC Championship in 2013. The 49ers carry the brand of being the favorites in this game and for good reason. With elite talents like Frank Gore, Kaepernick, Justin Smith, NaVorro Bowman, Patrick Willis, and a top secondary, this team has a roster that is the most talented in the NFL. But the Ravens are riding high on emotion and in the win column, as they are piping hot at just the right time. Patriots fans know how much of a challenge it is for even the most talented of teams to face a team on a hot streak (the two New York Giants Super Bowls that I would like to forget come quickly to mind).

Ray Lewis may be front and center, but there is much more to this game than just Lewis. In fact, in terms of actual football X’s and O’s, he’s not one of the first guys on the radar. However, Lewis will be incredibly important against the 49ers ridiculously talented rushing attack, and it will be interesting to see how he handles all the advanced nuances of the 49ers pistol offense.

The battle in the trenches for both teams could be one for the ages, because the 49ers have the best run blockers in the league (even better than the Patriots) and they will need to be at their best against Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Haloti Ngata. The Ravens and 49ers are coming into this game high on emotion, but emotion isn’t even a tenth of the equation in this game.

My early pick is the 49ers because talent usually wins out. But the keywords are “usually” and “talent”, because some will argue that the Ravens are more talented and have other factors on their side that could transcend talent and matchups.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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It’s always “fun” for some people to go into complete “knee-jerk reaction” mode and pour it onto a quarterback after the team lost, and it seems like QBs take the fall these days for a loss whether they deserve to or not. The same goes for quarterbacks like Joe Flacco, who get unnecessarily effusive praise after a win. Brady wasn’t at his best, but that doesn’t mean he “can’t get it done” or is “overrated”. All it takes is a simple Twitter search (I’m not linking to any particular tweets since I don’t want to call anyone out) to find people taking it out on Brady.

My frustration isn’t directed at the fans of other teams knocking Brady, because that’s what you expect from fans of other teams, right? But what  bothers me is the very few Patriots fans who are going out of their way to call out Brady, which is absolutely moronic. Whenever I am frustrated at a key player for messing up (which Brady didn’t, by the way), I always remind myself, “Remember who got you there in the first place”.

The thing about this loss to the Baltimore Ravens is that the hate on Brady is unwarranted because it wasn’t his fault. He was never sacked in this game, but sacks are misleading since quarterbacks like Brady who do an excellent job of getting rid of the ball avoid sacks (Michael Vick is the opposite). Brady was hit seven times, and he was hit three times by Haloti Ngata. Dan Connolly could not contain Ngata at all, and Sebastian Vollmer had a few struggles with Pernell McPhee and Ngata at times as well. The left side of the line was excellent, but Ngata dominated the right side of the line.

So Brady faced constant pressure, and quarterbacks facing constant pressure are almost never able to dictate the game on their terms. The Pats also lacked a deep threat in that game to help close the gap, and Brady had to rely on timing routes. Aaron Hernandez played a great game and Wes Welker was solid despite some poor drops, but I want to highlight the other receivers here as well.

I love Brandon Lloyd and don’t want to start knocking other Patriots players for the fault of what was a “team loss”, but he didn’t play his best game. Despite showing flashes of brilliance, Lloyd should have done better against Cary Williams and finished the day with a meager 50% catch rate. Yeah, he only caught 50% of everything thrown at him, which is awful when you consider all the passes thrown to Lloyd were short ones.

Although some of that blame could feasibly go to Brady, he had no trouble hitting Hernandez and Welker on similar throws. Lloyd’s stat line of seven receptions for 70 yards is misleading on the surface, so you have to dig deeper into the stats. He was targeted 14 times and averaged just ten yards per reception, and Lloyd offered little after the catch (once again). He made a nice move to get the first down a couple of times, but he wasn’t consistent in that regard as evidenced by the ten yards per reception. Hernandez and Welker were able to fight for extra yardage, and it’s just frustrating to see Lloyd leaving yards on the table.

Now let’s get to Brady. The offensive line and receivers had their struggles (as did the running game), but some of the blame does need to go to Brady. He didn’t play a bad game, but he wasn’t at his best either. As Patriots fans, we’re spoiled to have such a great quarterback consistently delivering, so when he is merely “solid” and not “amazing”, the Pats feel the pain.

Brady made several crisp throws on short routes, and the wind prevented him from hitting his receivers who didn’t even gain separation downfield. The only receiver who was able to create some space beyond 15 yards was Wes Welker. With Rob Gronkowksi out, only Welk and Hernandez were truly helping out the pass offense. Hernandez only averaged 9.2 yards per catch, though, and this means only Welker could help Brady achieve the goal of moving the ball downfield quickly. Hernandez played a solid game, but the injury to Gronk left the pass offense depleted.

I know for a fact that Brady could have played a better game, and the second interception he threw (the one in the end zone to Cary Williams) was an uncharacteristically poor throw. The first INT was the fault of the line, because tipped passes are a combination of a great play from the defender and a slightly below-average play from the offensive lineman.

And even though Brady was mediocre in this game, there is no doubt he is one of the best to ever step onto a gridiron. If you don’t think he’s one of the legends of the game, then I think it’s going to be very difficult to hold a civil football conversation with you. If you don’t think Brady can get the job done and you are a Patriots fan, then I really want to hear why. I mean, there must be something I’m not getting here, right?

So yes, Brady wasn’t at his best. But neither was the whole team. You can’t blame one player for this loss, you have to blame the whole team for not doing a better job on the big stage in this one. Certain players like Ryan Wendell, Zoltan Mesko, Devin McCourty, and Alfonzo Dennard stood up to the challenge, but other players did not and had uncharacteristic off games. Such is the nature of the NFL, where anything can happen in any given week. Just make sure not to overreact after a game, because it is far too easy to do so.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.