***The Official New England Patriots Thread***

[Tyler2106]

dudeeeeeeeeeeeeeee wynn is practicing so we are set with kneal and wynn as of right now - no other player can come back from IR.

imho wynn could be the dif between winning the SB or losing the sb.

I thought we all pretty much knew it was going to be Wynn who came back. Kid needs to stay healthy, but I agree that he does give our offensive line a really nice boost. If we can get him back in the line up and controlling the line of scrimmage better, our offense will start clicking.

Patriots have until Saturday to activate Harry to be eligible for Sunday. I can't imagine we don't activate him when we have the roster space.

[JotaroJoestar]

I know it doesn't sound like a priority, I'd like to see the Pats hand Dorsett a 3 or 4 year deal in the off season.

[Tyler2106]

I know it doesn't sound like a priority, I'd like to see the Pats hand Dorsett a 3 or 4 year deal in the off season.

It's going to be interesting to see how the Patriots deal on the offensive side of things. Brady won't be able to play forever and we're going to have to spend money in different places to net the same, or similar, results.

[camaleom]

(Dorsett) u don't give your third receiver a long term deal.

Brady is retiring in 1 or 2 season so they better have some cash to bring in good players the I will take less to play with Brady BB won't last forever.

[Tyler2106]

Patriots released Gordon. Because the trade deadline is past, he must go through the waiver wire. Waiver wire is order is the same order as the 2020 draft would be. Meaning, Bengals and Dolphins get first crack at him.

[camaleom]

He was playing good before the injury - I am wondering what really happened... maybe he had a "small" relapse and pats are just not having it?

[JotaroJoestar]

(Dorsett) u don't give your third receiver a long term deal.

Brady is retiring in 1 or 2 season so they better have some cash to bring in good players the I will take less to play with Brady BB won't last forever.

I think Dorsett could be a similar staple in the Patriots offense as Troy Brown was. That's why I want him here. Never puts up huge numbers, but seems like he always gets the big third down catch and comes up clutch.

[BuckNakedinBama]

He was playing good before the injury - I am wondering what really happened... maybe he had a "small" relapse and pats are just not having it?

He's overweight, aging, and developing lower body injuries. His speed and agility - the traits that made him an all-pro in 2013 - are gone.

[camaleom]

He's overweight, aging, and developing lower body injuries. His speed and agility - the traits that made him an all-pro in 2013 - are gone.

and we only noticed that after he was cut...

he looks pretty ok the first few games

[BuckNakedinBama]

and we only noticed that after he was cut...

he looks pretty ok the first few games

That was before he started developing the lower body injuries.

At his age and weight those are going to slow him down even further.

Bill likes to cut/trade players a minute too soon instead of too late.

[Phobaphobia]

and we only noticed that after he was cut...

he looks pretty ok the first few games

This season, I noticed he just wasn't creating much separation. Even on a simple "move the sticks" slant route, Brady had trouble connecting with him. Same with the comeback and go routes.

Anyways, gonna be a fun game in Baltimore. Always a tough game against those guys.

[Phobaphobia]

One more thing:

Devin McCourty is gonna have to have a big game. If Pats are going to stack the box and play 1on1 press man on the outside, you can bet your ass that Lamar is gonna take deep shots to Hollywood Brown a few times. Lamar has a crazy strong arm and Brown can straight up fly. McCourty will need to be reading and reacting to the play quickly as the deep safety. And if Lamar or Ingram breaks a run, McCourty is responsible for preventing that TD.

[Tyler2106]

One more thing:

Devin McCourty is gonna have to have a big game. If Pats are going to stack the box and play 1on1 press man on the outside, you can bet your ass that Lamar is gonna take deep shots to Hollywood Brown a few times. Lamar has a crazy strong arm and Brown can straight up fly. McCourty will need to be reading and reacting to the play quickly as the deep safety. And if Lamar or Ingram breaks a run, McCourty is responsible for preventing that TD.

You think McCourty will be covering Brown?! Typically, speed and deep play threats we neutralize by playing a safety over the top. Our biggest focus will be keeping Lamar contained. Defensive ends will have to maintain the edge and not make it easy for Jackson to roll out and our LBs staying in front and clogging lanes.

Lamar is a dual threat QB and the Ravens run game is strong. Harbaugh always plays us tough and this being in Baltimore will only make it more difficult. Key is to get ahead early.

[camaleom]

agreed that is always key with running qb - if u get ahead by 2-3 TD the are force to throw the ball more.

[Tyler2106]

Rumors have it that Gordon was released for a few reasons. Apparently he wasn't as prompt and punctual as he once was. When he was injured he would be late for meetings, they even say there were a few occasions where they couldn't located Gordon. Add that to him not producing on the field like they hoped and you have someone who isn't reliable nor productive on the team. With Harry and Sanu now aboard, it made the decision easy.

These rumors are coming from people well-plugged in to the team. Unless Gordon talks about it in Seattle, we'll probably never know the real reason.

Patriots have until tonight to activate Harry and Wynn is eligible to return week 12.

[Tyler2106]

N'Keal Harry activated and eligible to play tomorrow.

[shyheimz]

N'Keal Harry activated and eligible to play tomorrow.

I drafted him in Fantasy and had him sitting on my IR-spot. Wondering if I should play him, but I guess he still needs to integrate with the O.

[camaleom]

well that wasn't pretty - the game reminded me when we played Miami and the wildcat formation a few years ago... they did the same thing over and over again

two games in a row with teams running through the middle like nothing, we will need to figure out how to defend the run moving forward.

onto the bye week... we need it

[brighamw]

well that wasn't pretty - the game reminded me when we played Miami and the wildcat formation a few years ago... they did the same thing over and over again

two games in a row with teams running through the middle like nothing, we will need to figure out how to defend the run moving forward.

onto the bye week... we need it

Definitely some work to do, on BOTH sides of the ball...

The PATS absolutely need to maintain the #1 seed this year more than ever IMO


Luckily we've seen this movie before and hopefully this will be fuel for the bye week and the rest of the season to be better and get it done!

Go PATS!!!

[JotaroJoestar]

From a fan perspective, I hate the fact that there's a bye this week. Have to hear the same ****.

Everyone should have known this was an L. The thing that sucked for me is 2 stupid mistakes lost the game (or at least accounted for a 17 point swing).

First, the FG they moved on allowed them to be +4.
Second, the fumble by Edelman gave em 6(missed XP), when we were gaining momentum to grab 7.

I made a mention to a few people, this is the toughest scheduled game I think I've ever seen the Patriots have. They faced the best running offense the NFL has ever seen. They were coming off a bye. It was in Baltimore. That being said, it doesn't matter where this game is in the playoffs. Patriots will win by 3 TD minimum.

The good thing is the Ravens' next 4 games (after the Bengals) are vs Texans, @Rams, vs 49ers, @Bills.

They should lose at least one of those games.

[IPoopStandingUp]

Sucks to see my favorite team dominated like that but im strangely calm about it. I thought the offense actually looked pretty strong short of some freak plays like jules fumble, and that this might be the wakeup call the d needs after proclaiming themselves the boogyman after terrorizing darnold, falk, allen, etc.

I think this team will bounce back from this big time.

[JotaroJoestar]

Sucks to see my favorite team dominated like that but im strangely calm about it. I thought the offense actually looked pretty strong short of some freak plays like jules fumble, and that this might be the wakeup call the d needs after proclaiming themselves the boogyman after terrorizing darnold, falk, allen, etc.

I think this team will bounce back from this big time.

Defense was fine, aside from that ST play that gave the Ravens a first.

Patriots' offense really ****ed us. Their first 3 possessions lasted like 15 plays & 4 minutes. When you play that way, you put your defense in a really tough spot. Not to mention Edelman's fumble.. The good thing is Sanu looked great.

[JotaroJoestar]

Also, feel like the Patriots got screwed on a few calls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93qq-6Sydsk

2:35 was one of them. #11 clear hold top of the screen.

[IPoopStandingUp]

Defense was fine, aside from that ST play that gave the Ravens a first.

Patriots' offense really ****ed us. Their first 3 possessions lasted like 15 plays & 4 minutes. When you play that way, you put your defense in a really tough spot. Not to mention Edelman's fumble.. The good thing is Sanu looked great.

Yeah O was poop early but they were moving the ball pretty easily after that. This team isnt done improving.

[Tyler2106]

Defense was fine, aside from that ST play that gave the Ravens a first.

Patriots' offense really ****ed us. Their first 3 possessions lasted like 15 plays & 4 minutes. When you play that way, you put your defense in a really tough spot. Not to mention Edelman's fumble.. The good thing is Sanu looked great.

Our defense gives up 31 points and you think they're fine? They weren't.

We struggled in all phases of the game. We made mistakes that cost us. I'm not worried long term, but you can't say our defense played well enough to not be worried about how they played last night.

[Tyler2106]

Props to the Ravens for coming out with a good game plan and executing. Coming off a bye week and playing in Baltimore made for a very tough challenge for us. Unfortunately, we didn't have the answers. Like I mentioned above, I think we made a lot of mistakes in all phases of the game which is ultimately why we lost.

Offensively, we had our moments. The hurry up offense seemed to work pretty well in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but we did that because we know our offensive line isn't up to par with their pass rush. I think we still are too one dimensional. Ravens were dropping 6-7 into coverage almost the entire game and we continued to pass into it. I liked how we used White as a runner to make the defense think we were going to pass the ball. Our offensive line is still not where it needs to be. Marshall Newhouse was absolutely terrible last night. It's going to be really nice getting Wynn back.

Sanu played well. He and Brady seemed to be working well together and it was exciting to have another option outside of Edelman on offense. I even thought Watson played well.

Edelman's fumble was very unfortunate and really changed the dimensions of the game. Had we scored on the drive he fumbled, we would have taken a lead and I think that would have put the Ravens in a spot that they might have changed up what they needed to do offensively. Instead, they scored and went up 11. I was happy to see how we answered back, but again, leading instead of being down by 4 was a huge difference.

Defensively, we played poorly. I don't know if guys were missing assignments or we just didn't have an answer for their offense, but we can't give up 31 points and expect to win. The Ravens TEs caused us a lot of issues and made big plays on 3rd down to move the chains. I don't know how many times Jackson threw to a TE for a first down on 3rd and short.

One thing that surprised me, but it makes sense, is that McCourty mentioned after the game that the Ravens showed a number of formations / plays that they hadn't seen on film before. With what Belichick said as well, it seems the Ravens came out with a better game plan than us, executed and out coached us. Tedy Bruschi tweeted after the game "To beat this Raven team in the playoffs, this almost had to happen." While I don't like to think you have to lose to a team to beat a team later, I do agree with his statement.

Overall, I'm not worried about this game. Let all the Patriots haters have their moment. We have a very well timed bye to get healthy, to allow our offense time to get on the same page, to get our defense back on track and get prepared for a very tough stretch of games coming up.

[camaleom]

Our defense gives up 31 points and you think they're fine? They weren't.

We struggled in all phases of the game. We made mistakes that cost us. I'm not worried long term, but you can't say our defense played well enough to not be worried about how they played last night.

this... Ravens were running wild and we couldn't do a single thing and in case u didn't notice the same kinda happened against Cleveland.

on the bright side: I like what Sanu is bringing to the table - now we have two reliable pass catchers (Edelman is the other one)

[Tyler2106]

While we didn't win and played pretty poorly, I will say that I was happy to see the team fighting the entire game. We were down 17-0 really quickly, yet we battled back and came one fumble away from taking the lead.

Sanu, Edelman and White played great to keep us in it. Our defense came up with some huge turnovers. When you can see a team fighting until the very end when almost nothing is going your way that's something special IMO.

Lastly, I just want to take a moment to appreciate this catch James White made over Earl Thomas last night. I couldn't believe what I had seen when I saw this Live.
https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/sta...85194151071744

EDIT: Listening to the post game locker room interviews of the players, they all sounded pissed off which of course is good. I don't think they underestimated the Ravens and how tough the game would be, but they definitely have a chip on their shoulder that they haven't had yet this season.

[camaleom]

let's be honest we were closet to turn the game around - I am not panicking.

[JotaroJoestar]

Our defense gives up 31 points and you think they're fine? They weren't.

We struggled in all phases of the game. We made mistakes that cost us. I'm not worried long term, but you can't say our defense played well enough to not be worried about how they played last night.

These were the Patriot's first 3 drives.

Raven's TD
Patriots' Drive 1 - 3 Plays, 0 Yards, :24, Punt
Ravens' FG
Patriots' Drive 2 - 4 Plays, 4 Yards, 1:48, Punt
Ravens' TD
Patriots' Drive 3 - 3 Plays, 9 Yards, 1:25, Punt

The defense is allowed to get tired

Adding to that, Patriots D/ST set the Patriots up on the 20 yard line twice, one was right after that 3rd drive.

The defense was fine, the '85 Bears would let up 50 if they didn't get rest like that.