4 November, 2019
"The
offense takes the opposing defense on long rides, keeping them on the field and
on their heels for nearly four minutes per possession and are averaging well
over six plays per drive. On scoring drives, that number increases to nearly
nine plays per drive. The Patriots' offense is not a quick-strike entity. They
prefer to move the sticks in a methodical fashion, wearing down the defense
with sheer repetition."
It doesn't take an elite football mind to figure out how the Baltimore
Ravens beat the New England Patriots on Sunday night, nor did it take one to
come up with a game plan to do so.
In fact, the Ravens' game plan was so simple that
it bordered on genius: Keep mistakes to a minimum and move the chains while
forcing the opposition into mistakes at critical times. In other words, play
Patriots' football.
Of course, it didn't hurt that Baltimore runs the
professional football equivalent of the old Veer Offense - two backs flanking
the quarterback, who decides where the ball is going based on what he reads in
the defense - but the premise is the same: take the defense on long rides with
power running and the short passing game to move the chains and chew up clock.
With that in mind, consider that the Ravens' offense
in no way resembles that of the Patriots. Baltimore is a run-first entity that
averages an almost lurid 200 yards per game, mixing in short-to-intermediate
passes to keep opposing defenses honest, while New England relies on those same
routes to move the chains, sprinkling in running plays here and there.
So given the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust,
win-the-time-of-possession personalities of both offensive units, it should
have come as a surprise that the teams entered the game sporting the top two scoring
offenses in the National Football League, both averaging over thirty points per
game...
...but only the Ravens reached that plateau on
Sunday night, punking the Patriots by a score of 37-20 in a contest that was a
polar role reversal so stark in nature that there could only be one explanation
why it happened:
The Ravens beat the Patriots at their own game,
mostly by winning the time of possession battle by a two-to-one margin.
That said, the Patriots mostly beat themselves by
committing the same type of errors on defense that they usually force their
opposition into, giving life to Ravens' drives that would have otherwise
resulted in sending out one of the kicking teams, accounting for the time of
possession disparity...
...all while shooting themselves in the foot on
offense with costly mistakes or just plain bad luck. As a result, Baltimore was
able to dictate to the Patriots' defense and force them into a read-and-react
entity rather than the aggressive dictatorial unit that lead New England to
their 8-0 start.
The Ravens ran right up the gut to start the game,
gaining over 10-yards per pop - a number skewed somewhat by a Lamar Jackson
scamper for 18-yards, Mark Ingram's 53 yard gainer and a Gus Edwards 12 yard
touchdown run, all in the first quarter, though Lawrence Guy recorded a sack of
Jackson and a stuff for a loss on Edwards.
From that point, however, New England figured it
out, the interior of the defensive line holding the Ravens to just 39 yards on
13 carries, an average of just three yards per carry - though by that time the
Patriots were already in a 17-point hole - and Guy pounced on a loose ball to
give New England's offense excellent field position deep in Baltimore
territory, which they converted into a touchdown to stem the Ravens' tidal wave.
In all, the Ravens veer-style juggernaut produced
an astounding 178 total yards in the first quarter to take the quick
three-score lead, but once the defense figured it out, they allowed just 194
total yards the rest of the way, most of that total through the air on short
and intermediate routes.
As noted, the biggest problem on defense turned
out to be the mental errors that the Patriots avoided like the plague in their
first eight games – to wit, penalties on three third down stops extending
Baltimore drives.
The first penalty occurred on third and goal from
the Patriots' six-yard line, Guy stuffing Edwards for a loss of one to prompt
Ravens' coach John Harbaugh to send out his field goal unit, but defensive end
Shalique Calhoun encroached the neutral zone and the resulting first down
giving Baltimore a first and goal, a four point swing to start the game...
...but the killer came on the Ravens' final drive
with Baltimore leading by ten with almost thirteen minutes remaining in the
game, a 14-play, 62-yard turf-eater aided by two Patriots' penalties, giving
Baltimore new life after it appeared the Patriots had stopped them on third
down.
The Patriots appeared to have forced a
three-and-out with just one minute elapsed on the possession, but linebacker Dont'a
Hightower jumped offside to extend the drive. Six plays later, cornerback Jason
McCourty got a little handsy on a third-and-seven stop with almost eight
minutes remaining, the illegal use of hands penalty carrying an automatic first
down - and seven plays after that, Jackson ran the ball in from the one for the
final tally, leaving the Patriots down by 17 with just three minutes to play.
Had the Patriots not committed those penalties,
they would have won the time of possession battle and not have dug themselves
such a massive hole to try and climb out of.
In all, mental errors helped account for only an
additional 41 yards of offense for the Ravens but, more importantly, 14 points
and nine minutes of game clock. That is a recipe for disaster, and when combined
with the Patriots' offense turning the ball over twice deep in Baltimore
territory - including a 70-yard fumble return for a touchdown - New England
errors accounted for 21 of the Ravens' 37 points.
And even if Edelman still fumbled and even if Brady
still threw an interception to kill two scoring chances, they still scored
enough points to win the game.
Do the math any which way you want, but had the
Patriots been more disciplined on defense and little less loose with the ball
on offense, chances are New England is still undefeated.
The Patriots can take solace in the fact that
their offense moved the ball effectively after a slow start, and their defense
was able to make in-game adjustments to neutralize the effects of the veer –
and it wasn't too late to produce a win, had the mental errors not occurred. -
but the Patriots are not into silver linings and are certainly not in to
cup-half-full positivity...
...they pride themselves of discipline on both
sides of the ball, and one can be sure that since Belichick abhors
error-repeating, they will spend their long bye-week break working on the fundamentals
that brought them to the best record in the AFC.
The chip on the Patriots' collective shoulders has
grown exponentially in the shadow of the loss to the Ravens, but that chip was
self-induced – so in essence, New England is in a fight with themselves to be
more disciplined.
Fortunately, they possess the intestinal fortitude
to correct their mistakes going forward, to worry about performing in a fundamentally
sound manner – and if they do that, the remaining teams on their schedule are
in serious trouble, because there is nothing more dangerous than a group of men
pissed off at themselves.
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