Thoughts after Week 6, Ravens vs. Patriots

Once again the Patriots continued to play well late in games and showed us a lot of determination by coming back from a 10-point 4th quarter deficit to pull out a 23-20 win in OT against the Ravens.

Offense
Overall, I think the play-calling this week was a little more creative than we've seen in several years. It was good to seeing end-arounds to offset the aggressiveness of the Ravens' defense.

Brady's performance was a little uneven. He seemed to struggle at first with the Ravens dropping more players into coverage. His first INT came as a result of an overthrow into this added coverage. He also seemed to be struggling a bit with his mechanics as he short-hopped a few throws.

However, Brady is a winner and he was at his best when it mattered most. He surgically marched his team down the field to score 10 points to tie the game in the 4th quarter. Then he orchestrated the final drive to get into FG range to win the game.

Admittedly, I was not initially sold on having an older, often-injured former WR back with the Pats. But I stand corrected and it was great seeing the legendary "chemistry" that Brady and Branch seem to have. Branch had a great game and he looked very smooth coming in and out of his breaks. He fought hard to hang onto certain catches which I'm sure Moss wouldn't have done.

Woodhead continues to produce in his role as a 3rd-down back. The Ravens seemed to have difficulty locating him on several occasions and he was able to squirt forward for chunks of yardage late in the game. His lack of size concerns me in pass protection but he is so much more dynamic than Faulk.

The only real negative from this game was there were a lot of drops. In particular, Hernandez had two horrible drops in OT which could have cost the Patriots the game. I'm really hoping that he bounces back from this and learns to keep his nerves in check.

Defense
The defense appears to be getting better at game-planning and making adjustments. In particular, the Pats loaded 8 or 9 guys in the box to stuff the run and dare Flacco to beat them. Ray Rice had to fight hard for every yard he gained.
However, Flacco looked pretty good for most of the game taking what was given to him. He was able to move the ball rather easily with short dump-offs and intermediate throws.

The Pats did a good job of stuffing runs on early downs and putting the Ravens into long 3rd down situations. However, the Pats continued to struggle in getting off of the field for most of the game.

I think toward the end of the game though, the Ravens got conservative and continued to try to run against the loaded front. I guess they still don't trust Flacco late in games. The Pats were able to close on RBs coming out of the backfield and force the Ravens to punt. As a result, the Ravens struggled to score late in the game.

I really enjoyed the increased physicality of the Patriots players and I think it rivals teams like the Ravens and Steelers. However, Meriweather needs to be smarter because these illegal hits will not only get flagged, but someone could get seriously hurt.

Special Teams
The Patriots' special teams were solid all-around in this game. Gostkowski hit on all 3 FG attempts which included the game-winner in OT. He was also got good distance on kickoffs and got a fair share of touchbacks.

Mesko was a beast! The Patriots had to punt from deep within their own territory and it was all but assumed that the Ravens would get the ball back in great field position. Then out of nowhere, Mesko kicks a monster 65-yard punt which flipped the field and took the Ravens all the way back to their own 19-yard line. The Patriots were able to force a punt after that and the rest is history.

Other Thoughts
This game shows how much difference a great QB can have on the outcome of a game. Flacco was badly stuffed on a QB sneak because he tried to sneak it right into the teeth of the defense. Flacco was not trusted to throw the ball late in the game so they ran the ball a lot. In contrast, Brady was able to calmly lead his team from 10 points down to tie the game and eventually win it in OT.