Patriots D

**Ks1102** · 01-17-2012, 10:54 AM

A Patriots fan here. Glad to see no smack from your site. Just good o'l football talk. Hope Pats fans keep it clean as well.
Everywhere I go weather radio, tv, or Internet I hear how bad the Pats D is. The overall stats are one thing and what I'm seeing is another. The Pats D was overwhelming last week against the best run offense in The NFL. Over the last several games I have seen the Pats D look like crap for 1 to 1.5 quarters then suddenly shut down the offense. Very situational. This, as a Pats fan is promising, especially what I saw against the Broncos.
Fair to say I do not think the D is bad at all if anything I think teams are and may be lulled to sleep. Everyone is aware of Baltimore's D and they are expected to be great.
As for e Pats offense it is firing on all cylinders now. As good as the Ravens D is, I don't know how they can stop the Pats.
The only way the Ravens win is by getting after Brady. If they can't it will be a bad day for the Ravens. I'm sure the Ravens know this. This year specifically, Brady has the quick out pass game with Gronk, Hernandez, and Welker. That's a very tall order for the Ravens.
I'll be very interested to see how the Ravens try to neutralize this.
Hope for a good game with no injuries as I will be rooting for either team in the SB

**GOTA** · 01-17-2012, 10:58 AM

The Broncos are the best run offense in the NFL? Never heard that one before.

Pats defense did look great. They were able to confuse Tebow who had no choice but to follow the limited gameplan his team runs. The Ravens at least have some more options. There real problem is they are one of the worst run offenses in the NFL because of Cam Cameron. Hopefully the talent can overcome.

**Ravenswintitle** · 01-17-2012, 11:03 AM

Belichick's D focuses on taking away the biggest threat of the opponent - last week it was to the QB. They really surprised me how they got after Tebow and shut down the option.

This week I suspect it's Ray Rice they will look to shut down. They haven't done it in the past (with better D's) but as he goes, so goes the Ravens offense.

Looking at the WEEI site this morning, they've already proclaimed the victory and give the Ravens no chance.

**Rayvens52** · 01-17-2012, 11:13 AM

While your O is playing well, your team as a whole is untested and in big games this year you have lost to the worthy teams. Your D did look good last week, but let's be real you just played Tebow and the Broncos. It should be a good game, but IMo Baltimore is the better overall team and should win this game!

**timmyonfleet** · 01-17-2012, 11:21 AM

Ravens D isn't stopping Brady, not will we need too. What the defense did against the Broncos was stop a one dimensional team that beat a decimated steelers team in OT. How might not be as good as Brady, but let's face it your pats D was getting lit up by the skins a few weeks back.

**]<ing** · 01-17-2012, 11:23 AM

Welcome to the board! Looking forward to a great matchup.

I like our chances if our O line plays well, and the D is able to pressure Brady. Otherwise, I think the Pats have the edge in a close game.

**Ks1102** · 01-17-2012, 11:33 AM

I listen to WEEI and as a Pats fan they can drive me nuts. They must have forgotten last years Jets game (yes I was there). The Jets did a great Job shutting down Brady in that game. I feel this team is much more potent with the tight ends but we will see. As for the guy who said the Pats are not battle tested? I'll leave that one alone as many of the guys on the team have been in big games albeit not for a while.
What happened early in the season is the past. I have seen systematic improvements in the D of the Pats. At moments it looks broken and then all of a sudden they look great and play shut down. To be honest I have no idea why. Last week they played like it meant something. I hope they play with the same intensity as last week.
To GOTA, during the game the tv announcers kept referring to the Broncos as the best run team in the NFL. I did not look at the stats but perhaps you can look it up and if it is in fact wrong, please let me know

**chicagoravensfan** · 01-17-2012, 11:36 AM

Who are the pass rushers for the Patriots? I know Andre Carter was tearing it up for awhile before getting injured. Who are the guys to look out for now?

**Rayvens52** · 01-17-2012, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by Ks1102

I listen to WEEI and as a Pats fan they can drive me nuts. They must have forgotten last years Jets game (yes I was there). The Jets did a great Job shutting down Brady in that game. I feel this team is much more potent with the tight ends but we will see. As for the guy who said the Pats are not battle tested? I'll leave that one alone as many of the guys on the team have been in big games albeit not for a while.
What happened early in the season is the past. I have seen systematic improvements in the D of the Pats. At moments it looks broken and then all of a sudden they look great and play shut down. To be honest I have no idea why. Last week they played like it meant something. I hope they play with the same intensity as last week.
To GOTA, during the game the tv announcers kept referring to the Broncos as the best run team in the NFL. I did not look at the stats but perhaps you can look it up and if it is in fact wrong, please let me know

Don't get me wrong, by no means do I think this is an easy game or that the Ravens could not lose. By battle tested, I'm simply looking at your schedule, and who you lost to. In games against legit opponents you lost. Maybe your D will pull out an Indy from a few years ago, I'm just saying by looking at the body of work by both teams, I see the Ravens as the more complete team and a team that can win on Sunday.

**alienrace** · 01-17-2012, 12:07 PM

Those tv announcers were wrong, I believe the Texans had the top rushing offense this year.

Shutting down a one dimensional team like the Broncos is one thing, the Ravens is another thing altogether. You guys know first hand that Flacco can play, as he's had a couple of big games against you guys, only to have the team around him drop the ball, so to speak. Shutting down Rice is going to mean putting 8 or 9 in the box, and with the Ravens playmakers at WR and TE, that opens things up for the passing game, and the Pats passing defense is already one of the worst in NFL history.

It is true though, that the Pats do seem to make great adjustments when they are giving up a bunch of points and clamp things down. It won't be as easy to do against a team like the Ravens.

Both teams are going to put up points I think, and it should be a very good game.

**bt12483** · 01-17-2012, 12:12 PM

The Broncos offense cannot produce consistent results in the NFL. Basing anything off of beating them is not representative of much.

I think they were the #1 rushing team - because their QB usually contributed 50+ yards in addition to their RBs in addition to barely passing most of the time. A more indicative result would be to look at their yards/carry. They got stuffed a lot. Their atypical offense skews what a traditional running offense is.

**GOTA** · 01-17-2012, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by alienrace

Those tv announcers were wrong, I believe the Texans had the top rushing offense this year.

Shutting down a one dimensional team like the Broncos is one thing, the Ravens is another thing altogether. You guys know first hand that Flacco can play, as he's had a couple of big games against you guys, only to have the team around him drop the ball, so to speak. Shutting down Rice is going to mean putting 8 or 9 in the box, and with the Ravens playmakers at WR and TE, that opens things up for the passing game, and the Pats passing defense is already one of the worst in NFL history.

It is true though, that the Pats do seem to make great adjustments when they are giving up a bunch of points and clamp things down. It won't be as easy to do against a team like the Ravens.

Both teams are going to put up points I think, and it should be a very good game.

Broncos and the Texans had the same number of rushing attempts but the Broncos had more yards. Makes sense considering their QB.