How do the Patriots defend the deep ball? Can Flacco have deep ball success against them?

The ravens aren't scared of your lbs. they play the steelers twice a year


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Originally Posted by Paintballguy

The ravens aren't scared of your lbs. they play the steelers twice a year


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Very good, but ours are younger, more versatile and are in a different type of defense with different objective.. Ours are a lot bigger as well.. huge up front.

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

Very good, but ours are younger, more versatile and are in a different type of defense with different objective.. Ours are a lot bigger as well.. huge up front.

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You can believe what you want but the ravens will put up points and so will the patriots. It's gonna come down to who makes more plays.


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Baltimore will have to put up at least 40 points.. And the way NE takes the ball away from offenses, I personally don't see BAL keeping up. That defense will come up with a forced fumble or two, interception or key goal line stop.

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

Baltimore will have to put up at least 40 points.. And the way NE takes the ball away from offenses, I personally don't see BAL keeping up. That defense will come up with a forced fumble or two, interception or key goal line stop.

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I doubt it. The Ravens know Tom Brady and are the only team that Tom Brady has throw more INT's then TD's against.

58.6 comp % 74.1 QBR 7 TDs 8 INTs - Brady's stats vs the Ravens

Meanwhile Flacco has a 94 QBR against the Pat with 9tds and 4ints. Even your own player says he plays good against the Pats.

“He’s a great quarterback, I don’t care what nobody says about him. He seems to always have a good game against us,” Wilfork said Tuesday of Flacco “One thing he does is stay poised, no matter how bad things get or how good things are,” he said. “He’s a tough quarterback. He’s a competitor and it shows. He’s putting his team in some good situations, not turning the ball over much [and] when they ask him to make the plays, he makes them.

“He is a very, very tough -- physically and mentally -- football player. No matter how bad it gets, he seems to block everything out and plays football. It showed last week against Denver. Big arm. Throughout the course of the game, it wasn’t perfect, but he made the throw and they made the catch for him. It says a lot about that football team. He’s definitely one of the tougher quarterbacks in this league. He has a big heart and he plays to win.”

Not to mention our corners have stepped up and have been playing good without Webb.

- Nickel cornerback Chykie Brown has 0.83 Yards per Coverage Snap, which is the fourth-lowest in the league, behind Bradley Fletcher, Lardarius Webb and Nate Clements.

Also, Corey Graham has been playing great. He had a pick six and a game sealing INT against Peyton.

Ever since taking a starting role for the Ravens back in Week 10 Graham has, more often than not, had a positive effect on the Ravens’ secondary. For the playoffs Graham has a coverage grade of +3.9

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

NE has a very much improved and I can say now stout secondary. If you look at it, during the second half of the season since acquiring Aqib Talib the only off game they had was against San Fran but they tightend up in the second half of that game to make some big stops and allow their offense to climb right back into it. CB Aqib Talib is very physical, hard hitting, and technical. He is one of the better corners in the league, a guy they haven't had since CB Asante Samuel and Ty Law. Allowing him to sit out there one on one enables them to do so many other things on defense. On the other side CB Rookie Alphonzo Dennard since starting was another piece to the puzzle and plays with solid veteran savvy, and physicality. He has great ball skills, range and uses his hands very well, and a smart player too. You then move to the back end, and Devin McCourty at safety is very good. One expert had him as the 13th best in the league at that position. He is a good athlete and has the instincts, just never had to help in the past.. well now he does. Now he can do things that allowed him to find his rhythm like he did his record breaking rookie year. He has speed and can play center fielder better than many know. Patrick Chung on the opposite side is the hard hitting, physical in the box type of player and stops the run. Can cover as well too, and Steve Gregory has 4 INTs on the year and is no slouch, smart player.. Not to mention rookie Safety Tavon Wilson who can play corner too with 4 INTs himself on the year... This secondary is much much better than the first meeting and you know Bill Belichick will use these guys to take the DEEP Ball away. Remember, 25 in turnovers is the best differiencial in the league.. So taking too many shots against them deep will be VERY risky.. They know how to find the ball.

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Where are those other 2 Pats fans?

This is exactly the type of garbage I was talking about earlier. This ridiculous over-exaggeration.

The Pats secondary is now "stout"? Against who? Brian Hartline? Jeremy Kerley? Man you guys really shut down Chad Henne and Blackmon!

Give me a break dude.

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Originally Posted by bt12483

Where are those other 2 Pats fans?

This is exactly the type of garbage I was talking about earlier. This ridiculous over-exaggeration.

Give me a break dude.

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The Pats secondary is now "stout"? Against who? Brian Hartline? Jeremy Kerley? Man you guys really shut down Chad Henne and Blackmon! Andre Johnson, Arian Foster and Owen Daniels.. and yes they shut out JAC and only gave up 16 points against MIA. They have not given up many points since loosing to SF and even almost winning that. The only reason Houston was barely hanging around last week was because of those two Kick off returns.. THAT WAS IT. And stout against anyone in the NFL, is stout.... this is the NFL. and Brian Hartline is pretty good by the way.. but that's ok, you'll find out Sunday..

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

... and yes they shut out JAC and only gave up 16 points against MIA.

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Actually they shutout MIA and gave up 16 points to JAC...but hey facts don't matter in bizzaro Patriot fan world.

Indeed, you shutout MIA in the last game of the season, when their season was already over. Kudos.

And yes, you gave up 16 points to a 2-14 JAC team with Chad Henne, 3rd string RB Monty Owens, and without their top WR, none other than mighty Cecil Shorts.

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

They have not given up many points since loosing to SF

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Because they have played horrible teams.

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

And stout against anyone in the NFL, is stout.... this is the NFL.

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Yes...this is the NFL...where a 2-14 team is 2-14 for a reason.

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

and Brian Hartline is pretty good by the way..

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No doubt. I'd rank him right between AJ Green and Brandon Marshall probably....

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

but that's ok, you'll find out Sunday..

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Find out what? That your secondary is not what you claim it to be? That you do not have a dominant front 7 (that is better than Denver).

You will find out that we aren't Sanchez/Tannehill/Henne and their gang of C level WRs. Oh wait, you already found that out when you lost 31-30 and got scorched by Torrey Smith and Ray Rice and Joe Flacco.

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Originally Posted by bt12483

Actually they shutout MIA and gave up 16 points to JAC...but hey facts don't matter in bizzaro Patriot fan world.

Indeed, you shutout MIA in the last game of the season, when their season was already over. Kudos.

And yes, you gave up 16 points to a 2-14 JAC team with Chad Henne, 3rd string RB Monty Owens, and without their top WR, none other than mighty Cecil Shorts.

Because they have played horrible teams.

Yes...this is the NFL...where a 2-14 team is 2-14 for a reason.

No doubt. I'd rank him right between AJ Green and Brandon Marshall probably....

Find out what? That your secondary is not what you claim it to be? That you do not have a dominant front 7 (that is better than Denver).

You will find out that we aren't Sanchez/Tannehill/Henne and their gang of C level WRs. Oh wait, you already found that out when you lost 31-30 and got scorched by Torrey Smith and Ray Rice and Joe Flacco.

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Where is Denver's defense now? And where is NE's now? One defense is at home, while the other is in the AFC Championship game.. It's not about having freaking gaudy defensive stats during the SEASON its about playing and showing up when it matters the most.. something they didn't do despite being ranked whatever they were

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Originally Posted by Critical Thinking

Very good, but ours are younger, more versatile and are in a different type of defense with different objective.. Ours are a lot bigger as well.. huge up front.

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Lawrence Timmons is really fast, physical and better than any of the Pats' linebackers. We see him twice a year.

How do the Patriots defend the deep ball? Can Flacco have deep ball success against them?

The Patriots can defend the deep ball but it will require deep safety help leaving Flacco with good match ups underneath. Despite what the Pats homers believe, they can't match up with Boldin, Pitta and Rice isolated in man coverage. They'll mix coverages and at some point Flacco will stretch the field with success like he has all year.

Apparently the Pats didn't have to defend Flacco's deep ball.

The NE wind did it for them.
Fortunately, it seems Caldwell's been working with Flacco/receivers to improve the timing on those short passes. Once Talib was out of the game, and our receivers started beating the press (still an issue with them) Flacco/receivers showed excellent timing/accuracy throughout the 2nd half on mainly shorter passes.

One concern though is after seeing what the wind did on Flacco's first deep throw, why did Caldwell continue to send receivers deep on 2nd & 3rd down in the 1st half? Should have tried one or 2 more deep shots on 1st down to force NE's offense to stay honest and defend the threat of the deep pass--that way when the pass missed because of the wind, they would be facing 2nd and 10, not 3rd and long or punting.
Also too many 1st down runs called--even the play by play guys noticed and questioned the wisdom of that strategy.
At least the right adjustments were made eventually, but against the 49ers we are going to need to start fast and finish strong--can't wait until the 2nd half to fix the obvious or it may be too little, too late.