2009 Ravens @ Patriots Box Score Flashback
This was the regular season game won by the Patriots 27-21
https://www.patspropaganda.com/2009-ravens-patriots-box-score-flashback-this/
Lines carried the Patriots – The Boston Globe
Lines carried the Patriots – The Boston Globe
As always, a great read, and I think one of the advantages the Patriots have this weekend is that they’ll need the same type of physical effort against the Ravens. Granted the game plan will be different, but the style with which it needs to be executed will be the same.
The Patriots simply whipped the Broncos from start to finish up front. New England had 19 total quarterback pressures (five sacks). That total is third most this season, behind the first Dolphins game (22) and the loss to the Giants (21). The 14 stuffed runs (1 yard or less outside of short yardage) far exceeded the season high of 10 against the Cowboys. It started with the game plan. What you saw was Bill Belichick at his best, with veteran players up front exposing a gimmicky offense with a subpar quarterback because they already faced the scheme and had an extra week to prepare. How little did the Patriots think of Tim Tebow and the weapons at his disposal? They played three of 72 snaps in a true nickel package (five defensive backs). The Patriots dared the Broncos to throw. And they couldn’t. That game plan was predicated on applying pressure – something the Steelers couldn’t do with an injured front in their wild-card loss – and the Patriots were obviously confident they could accomplish that. Despite playing a 3-4 alignment, the linemen accounted for half the pressures (9.5). Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, Shaun Ellis, Brandon Deaderick and Gerard Warren completely dominated the Broncos’ interior of left guard Zane Beadles, center J.D. Walton, and right guard Russ Hochstein.
Brandon Spikes; Week 6 vs Baltimore Ravens (by FloridaGatorPros)
Here’s a great cut up of Brandon Spikes from the 2010 Ravens game. One of the biggest problems in the ‘09 playoff game was obviously run defense, but specifically Gary Guyton playing middle linebacker on run downs. Guyton never had the physicality needed to take on guards and blow them back.
Spikes was the perfect player to bring in after that loss because he’s exactly that kind of middle linebacker. And as you can tell from these highlights, he had a huge effect in shutting down Ray Rice this time around.
The Patriots were in their base 3-4 defense for 75% of the snaps against the Baltimore in 2010, which is similar to their game plan last week against the Broncos. I expect the Pats will go to their sub-packages a little more this week, and Dane Fletcher should return to his role as Ray Rice spy, something he excelled at in 2010.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
He’s got great instincts… he’s a magnet to the ball,” Belichick said during his weekly radio appearance. “He’s got great vision and anticipation, he’s very fast, he’s got good quickness. But I’d say the big thing with him is his instincts. He has a great understanding of what’s happening on the play, where the ball’s going, who’s threatening. He’s almost always in great position – and usually getting there before the play has totally unfolded.” So, how do you deal with an opposing safety like that? “You gotta be careful with him,” said Belichick. “You gotta know where he’s at, because he’s going to be by the ball. … If you’re throwing it, you better make sure that you can get the ball there before he does. And he’s a good blitzer. Sometimes he’s close to the line of scrimmage … and he can fake the blitz and get back into coverage and be a factor back there, too. He’s very good at disguising, very deceptive, but his anticipation and his instincts are, I’d say, second to none at that position and very comparable to Ray Lewis as a middle linebacker, who also has great awareness and instinctiveness.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-ravens-harbaugh-belichick/
Ed Reed says Flacco needs to get rid of the ball, line needs to block better | ProFootballTalk
Ed Reed says Flacco needs to get rid of the ball, line needs to block better | ProFootballTalk
Stop trying to make BB love you even more, Ed.
“I think Joe was kind of rattled a little bit by that defense,” Reed said. “They had a lot of guys in the box on him. And, I mean, they were getting to him. I think a couple times he needed to get rid of the ball. I don’t know how much of the play calling, he could have made audibles or anything like that, checks or whatnot, man, but it just didn’t look like he had a hold on the offense, you know, of times past. You know, it was just kind of like they was telling him to do, throw the ball or get it here, you know, get it to certain guys. And he can’t play like that.
Gerard Warren and Shaun Ellis could be real x-factors this weekend. Never underestimate a veteran playing for one of his final chances to go to a Super Bowl.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/gerard-warren-and-shaun-ellis-could-be-real/