Monday Re-Watch - Rams
Every Monday, win lose or draw, I go back and take a second look at the game. I do my best to separate the passion and emotion of Sunday from the retrospect of Monday. With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East coast, The Patriots snuck into Logan Airport ahead of the storm. They get a bye week to rest up and to bask in the glow of their blowout win in England. This one ended 45-7, but after the first drive the general feeling was that The Rams would be able to exploit The Patriots with double moves downfield.
Tavon Wilson got burned on the same play that earned him his reputation in Seattle. Nevertheless, Tavon showed up positively on tape a few times. Although The Rams converted on a 4th and 1, Wilson covered a lot of ground to keep the play within inches. Also, Wilson grabbed an INT off a back-up QB late in the game. Kellen Clemons gets burned on a double clutch that gives Wilson enough time to jump the route. He finished with 3 solo tackles and a pass defended. Its seems that he was able to rebound nicely after giving up a 50-yard TD.
The Patriots capitalized on The Rams penalties and mistakes, forcing The Rams into tough 3rd downs. The Rams faced 10 3rd downs, 7 of which were 3rd and 4+. The Rams did not convert on any of these 7 3rd and longs. The Rams also botched a FG snap, and threw INTs on promising drives. Bradford did not once drive the ball into the red zone, relying on one long pass to score. The Rams' only red zone trip ended in a Kellen Clemons INT.
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| Gronkowski shows a little appreciation for "that nutcracker dude that guards the house" |
Sam Bradford actually completed 73.3% of his passes, going 22/30, but The Patriots Defense proved that their philosophy is effective. Belichick allowed Bradford to complete short passes because he felt that Bradford would be unable to consistently execute long drives without explosive plays. The Patriots gave up only one deep pass, and likewise surrendered only one scoring drive.
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| He kind of improvised on his 2nd TD though |
On the other side, The Patriots went 7-12 on 3rd down and added a 4th down conversion at the goal line. The Rams couldn't get off the field, even in long distance situations. The Rams forced 7 3rd and longs, but The Patriots converted 5 of those 7 including a 3rd and 14 conversion by Shane Vereen on a screen from Ryan Mallett to help burn the clock at the end.
Brady was the MVP today, no doubt. He went 23/35 for 304 yards passing and 4 TD against 0 INTs. Even if the Defense had faltered, it seemed like Brady would have carried the team. The Patriots first 5 possessions ended in TDs, and they were able to add a 4th quarter TD to seal the deal. Brady was perfect, even on the grass in all that wind and rain at Wembley stadium.
I suppose it helped to have such great protection. Solder and Vollmer dominated Long and Quinn on the edges, and the interior looked great in run blocking. Whenever you have a blowout like this, the story of the game is told in the trenches. Yesterday, this vaunted Rams pass rush looked like the 2009 Patriots. Big day for Donald Thomas to fill in so effectively for Mankins. I am thinking that maybe Bill kept Mankins out because Thomas is better because he's healthy.
Either way, it will be nice to get some rest on the bye week. We have a lot less travel in the second half of the season, but we've got to gear up for a lot of division games, and primetime matchups against Houston and San Francisco. It's gunna be fun.
But anyways, how did we do in our keys to victory? I think we did pretty well, but we did sustain a few injuries to make this victory a little less sweet. Still this was a 60 minute performance, and the team definitely did more than enough to win, so I'll give them a 5 out of 5.
1. Avoid Further Injuries - Actually, quite a few guys left with injuries, but it was hard to tell which injuries were the ones to be concerned with because the game was a blowout. However, when names like Mayo, Spikes, Arrington, Cole, Brace, and Welker leave the game it will raise some eyebrows. Marquis Cole actually gave The Patriots a nice spark while filling in for Arrington, and it seems The Patriots will continue to battle injuries in the secondary. Good news, nothing looked super-serious, no one needed to be carted off.
2. Containing The Rams' Pass Rush - What can you say? I think the right word might be perfection. Brady probably didn't need to wash his jersey after the game because he wasn't sacked, and I don't recall seeing any significant hits. Brady wisely threw it away a few times, but mostly the pass rush was a non-factor. Brady offset their aggressiveness with quick passes, play-actions, and screens, but the credit has to go to the guys up front for great execution.
3. McCourty, Be Aggressive - I would have to say that McCourty played pretty well at Safety, but I am not sure I saw any distinct aggressiveness from him. He seems to make a nice Free Safety back there though. In fact, he actually made a play on the ball to cover for Wilson on the 50-yard TD pass. More so, it seemed like Bradford was just avoiding him in favor of testing Wilson and Dennard. McCourty ended with only 2 tackles, but I can't argue with how the Defense played.
4. Relentless Pass Rush On Bradford - I am not sure if the pass rush was entirely relentless, but they made the most of their opportunities. Bradford was under pressure on every 3rd and long, and The Patriots hit him when they couldn't sack him. A big hit by Justin Francis led to Bradford's lofty INT to Dennard. Also, Chandler Jones' shoe-string sack was one of the more exciting Defensive plays this year. The one negative in this area was that Rob Ninkovich got sucked inside, letting Bradford roll-out to connect on the 50-yard bomb. Still, I'll take the good with the bad.
5. Find The Right RB - Ridley, Vereen, or Woodhead? - I think there this was the right balance of snaps for each back because each guy was able to do what they do in limited reps. Ridley broke off 3 runs of 20+ yards, and ended with an 8.5 ypc average on 15 carries. Woodhead converted a couple 3rd downs with nice route running, and Vereen gave a nice change of pace at the goal line on 4th and 1. Ridley had 30 snaps, Woodhead was in for 20, and Vereen finished with 19. It was good to see run-pass balance, but it was also good to see RB snap balance because I think it helps keep the Defense off balance when you are able to mix up packages with changes at RB.
2. Containing The Rams' Pass Rush - What can you say? I think the right word might be perfection. Brady probably didn't need to wash his jersey after the game because he wasn't sacked, and I don't recall seeing any significant hits. Brady wisely threw it away a few times, but mostly the pass rush was a non-factor. Brady offset their aggressiveness with quick passes, play-actions, and screens, but the credit has to go to the guys up front for great execution.
3. McCourty, Be Aggressive - I would have to say that McCourty played pretty well at Safety, but I am not sure I saw any distinct aggressiveness from him. He seems to make a nice Free Safety back there though. In fact, he actually made a play on the ball to cover for Wilson on the 50-yard TD pass. More so, it seemed like Bradford was just avoiding him in favor of testing Wilson and Dennard. McCourty ended with only 2 tackles, but I can't argue with how the Defense played.
4. Relentless Pass Rush On Bradford - I am not sure if the pass rush was entirely relentless, but they made the most of their opportunities. Bradford was under pressure on every 3rd and long, and The Patriots hit him when they couldn't sack him. A big hit by Justin Francis led to Bradford's lofty INT to Dennard. Also, Chandler Jones' shoe-string sack was one of the more exciting Defensive plays this year. The one negative in this area was that Rob Ninkovich got sucked inside, letting Bradford roll-out to connect on the 50-yard bomb. Still, I'll take the good with the bad.
5. Find The Right RB - Ridley, Vereen, or Woodhead? - I think there this was the right balance of snaps for each back because each guy was able to do what they do in limited reps. Ridley broke off 3 runs of 20+ yards, and ended with an 8.5 ypc average on 15 carries. Woodhead converted a couple 3rd downs with nice route running, and Vereen gave a nice change of pace at the goal line on 4th and 1. Ridley had 30 snaps, Woodhead was in for 20, and Vereen finished with 19. It was good to see run-pass balance, but it was also good to see RB snap balance because I think it helps keep the Defense off balance when you are able to mix up packages with changes at RB.
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