5 Plays That Decided It
I am going to do my best not to include penalties in this segment, but let's face it. Many of the plays that decided it were made by the zebras. This might be difficult. However, after a few days of sinking-in, its clear that The Ravens were the ones that made the critical plays in crunch-time. Also, despite starting strong, the Defense made some glaring errors that cost the team big. Belichick will go over this with the guys, and there should be plenty of coaching points to choose from. "Control what we can control" and don't let one bad call start a landslide of poor blocking, tackling, etc.
1. Anquan Boldin Reaches For 1st - This play was huge for The Ravens. It looked as if The Patriots had stopped Boldin short of the marker, but the play was close. Harbaugh manages to convince the officials to give him a measurement even though its clearly a full yard short. This gives The Ravens coaches enough time to look at the play, and eventually challenge the play successfully. This was bad administration by the officials, and Boldin's first down extended a drive that ended in The Ravens first 7 points. I want to focus on the nice play by Boldin to get a few YAC and reach out the ball, it was a great play by Anquan.
2. Flacco to Torrey Smith 1st TD - This was some bad coverage by Kyle Arrington. Smith beat him deep by a couple of steps. However, this play was set up by virtue of The Ravens success with Ray Rice. The Patriots started to put a Safety in the box to help the front seven with Rice, but this left Smith 1-on-1 on the outside. Flacco made Arrington pay for a miss-step with a TD. Also, its worth noting that although a flag was thrown for a push-off on Smith, the officials were correct in picking it up.
3. Pass Interference on McCourty - I justify putting this play in here because it was a good call by the officials. McCourty clearly fouls Jacoby Jones, and that foul set up the game-winning FG. McCourty had played a decent game up until that point, but not great. This play crowned what should be considered a bad game for Run-DMc. It almost would have been better to let Jacoby Jones catch it, but either way McCourty got beat, and the Safety was late in helping. Critical mistake. The D gave up a big lead with penalties and explosive plays like this one. The pass rush isn't off the hook here either...
4. Gregory Gets Hurdled - Dennis Pitta received the pass from Flacco inside the ten, but Steve Gregory and Devin McCourty seemed to have him bottled up at the sideline. Instead, Pitta made an outstanding play to make both defenders look foolish. McCourty can't push him out of bounds, and Gregory whiffs completely. Pitta waltzes into the endzone. A stop here could have led to 3 points rather than 7. This was too easy, and it was a huge factor in the game. The Patriots were unable to stop The Ravens in the red zone save for the final FG.
5. Failed Trick Play to Edelman - The Patriots were knocking on the door of FG range, and likewise looked to take a commanding lead. However, on 2nd down, McDaniels called in a trick play. Danny Woodhead took a direct snap, and pitched it to Edelman on the end-around. Not only was Edelman stopped in the backfield, but he managed to lose a few extra yards by trying to be too cute against Courtney Upshaw. The Offense was executing well until this point, and I absolutely hated this play call. It was asinine, and it cost The Patriots a possession. On 3rd and long, Brady handed off to Woodhead, but the damage was done, and we were out of FG range. No matter how you want to justify/tear down The Julian Edelman Project you have to realize that Tom Brady's Offense doesn't need trick plays that feature him as a blocker.
The Offense could have won both of these games with late-game execution and play calling, but they failed. I think Tom Brady avoids being the scapegoat due to his resume, but he needs be responsible for playcalling just as much as McDaniels, if not more. And this guy is my hero...Tom, step up and be the G.O.A.T.
1. Anquan Boldin Reaches For 1st - This play was huge for The Ravens. It looked as if The Patriots had stopped Boldin short of the marker, but the play was close. Harbaugh manages to convince the officials to give him a measurement even though its clearly a full yard short. This gives The Ravens coaches enough time to look at the play, and eventually challenge the play successfully. This was bad administration by the officials, and Boldin's first down extended a drive that ended in The Ravens first 7 points. I want to focus on the nice play by Boldin to get a few YAC and reach out the ball, it was a great play by Anquan.
2. Flacco to Torrey Smith 1st TD - This was some bad coverage by Kyle Arrington. Smith beat him deep by a couple of steps. However, this play was set up by virtue of The Ravens success with Ray Rice. The Patriots started to put a Safety in the box to help the front seven with Rice, but this left Smith 1-on-1 on the outside. Flacco made Arrington pay for a miss-step with a TD. Also, its worth noting that although a flag was thrown for a push-off on Smith, the officials were correct in picking it up.
3. Pass Interference on McCourty - I justify putting this play in here because it was a good call by the officials. McCourty clearly fouls Jacoby Jones, and that foul set up the game-winning FG. McCourty had played a decent game up until that point, but not great. This play crowned what should be considered a bad game for Run-DMc. It almost would have been better to let Jacoby Jones catch it, but either way McCourty got beat, and the Safety was late in helping. Critical mistake. The D gave up a big lead with penalties and explosive plays like this one. The pass rush isn't off the hook here either...
4. Gregory Gets Hurdled - Dennis Pitta received the pass from Flacco inside the ten, but Steve Gregory and Devin McCourty seemed to have him bottled up at the sideline. Instead, Pitta made an outstanding play to make both defenders look foolish. McCourty can't push him out of bounds, and Gregory whiffs completely. Pitta waltzes into the endzone. A stop here could have led to 3 points rather than 7. This was too easy, and it was a huge factor in the game. The Patriots were unable to stop The Ravens in the red zone save for the final FG.
5. Failed Trick Play to Edelman - The Patriots were knocking on the door of FG range, and likewise looked to take a commanding lead. However, on 2nd down, McDaniels called in a trick play. Danny Woodhead took a direct snap, and pitched it to Edelman on the end-around. Not only was Edelman stopped in the backfield, but he managed to lose a few extra yards by trying to be too cute against Courtney Upshaw. The Offense was executing well until this point, and I absolutely hated this play call. It was asinine, and it cost The Patriots a possession. On 3rd and long, Brady handed off to Woodhead, but the damage was done, and we were out of FG range. No matter how you want to justify/tear down The Julian Edelman Project you have to realize that Tom Brady's Offense doesn't need trick plays that feature him as a blocker.
The Offense could have won both of these games with late-game execution and play calling, but they failed. I think Tom Brady avoids being the scapegoat due to his resume, but he needs be responsible for playcalling just as much as McDaniels, if not more. And this guy is my hero...Tom, step up and be the G.O.A.T.
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