A look at who's up and who's down from the Patriots' 27-24 win over the Ravens:
Up
Tom Brady -- Statistically, it wasn't his best day, as he completed just 18 of 38 passes for 257 yards, but his cool hand under pressure helped lead the game-winning drive.
Kevin Faulk -- Running back mixes in seven carries for 33 yards and two receptions for 18 yards, but his forced fumble on Ed Reed's second-quarter interception -- at the New England 28 -- helped save points.
Jabar Gaffney -- Receiver had an early drop and makes one catch, but it was the biggest play of the game -- an 8-yarder in the left corner of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.
Laurence Maroney -- Running back comes through with one of his grittiest efforts of the season, grinding out 44 yards on 13 carries, and adding two catches for 79 yards.
James Sanders -- In addition to being in position to intercept Kyle Boller's ill-advised fourth-quarter pass, he finishes with five tackles, one of which was a touchdown-saving stop of receiver Devard Darling.
Down
Run defense -- As safety Rodney Harrison noted, this was the first game in which the Patriots were bullied. The problems came mostly in the front seven as the Ravens gained 166 yards on 37 carries (4.5 avg.) and pushed the Patriots across the field.
Brandon Meriweather -- Rookie safety misses the tackle on the Ravens' second drive, contributing to Devard Darling's 53-yard gain that sets up the first touchdown.
Benjamin Watson -- Tight end could have helped set the tone for the day by securing Tom Brady's third-down, 3-yard pass in the end zone on the opening drive, but had it swatted away by linebacker Ray Lewis. Then he dropped a would-be touchdown pass on third down.
TUESDAY PLAN: We'll be heading back to Boston in the morning. Later in the morning, we'll look at the snaps played by offensive skill position players.
On the Brandon Meriweather play, before Meriweather became a factor, I beleive I saw Asante Samuel going for the ball rather than the man, and missing both. I'd be interested in hearing whether anybody else saw that.
Mike, I agree with Ben Watson showing up on the "down" list after the game, but it was because he dropped a wide open touchdown catch on the play after the one Ray Lewis swatted away. That was a great defensive play, but the drop is inexcusable. Also, you forgot to mention that "down" Brandon Meriweather also had a free interception bounce off his chest in addition to the whiff on Darling.
Mike:
Last night's game was the pefect example of why the Patriots are hands down the best team in the league. The Ravens are crying about the refs and suggesting the game was stolen - because they lost. Great teams win despite the refs. For example, the Pats win over the Colts. Talk about phantom calls. The Ellis Hobbs pass interference, the Moss pass interference and several no calls! Great teams don't cry, and they don't lose because of the refs, they win DESPITE the refs.
Mike, if you look at the Ravens touchdown pass caught in the back of the end zone, the Ravens player did not get both feet down
Meriweather also deserves a "down" notation for dropping the sure interception on the game's second to last play. Had the Ravens scored on the game's final play, that drop would have catastrophic.
Hey Mike, in the swirl of details I've noticed that you are merging Ben Watson's touchdown drops into a single play, but the swatted drop was on 1st down, while the 3rd down drop was untouched by a defender. Ben simply dropped it. But yes, that set the tone for the ENTIRE game.
I feel Adalius Thomas had a particularly bad game in run support. He couldn't fight off any blocks and was ususally matched up with a fullback! Richard Seymour also had one particularly puzzeling poor effort in trying to arm tackle the RB, but I thought it was an otherwise good night on his part.
Seems that at least mixing in the 4-3 a little helped stiffen the run D. When they were getting manhandled, it was all 3-4. I look forward to any defensive analysis you have on this, Mike. I for one hope to see a good bit of 4-3 against the Steelers to hopefully keep the clamps on the running game and to give the ILB's a little rest.
And yes brad21, Asante was the real culprit in that Darling play. Representative of the Pats D all the way around. Lots of "don't get hurt" demeanor, lots of swatting with weak hand tackles that didn't work, and very few dives or smash mouth hits, if any. That said, you know they'll be looking to hit someone next week! Redemption is best served TODAY.
I agree Andrew. I was really, really disappointed with Thomas. He's certainly not been worth his $22 million signing bonus yet; I'm hopeful that will come some day but last night's game was brutal for him. Repeatedly turned around, showed no strength in setting the edge, no great speed in getting to Boller...very disappointing. Only Seau's "whichwaydidhego?" pirouette looked worse.
I agree with JJ that seau play made him look terrible. overall I think that the ravens were more physical and made us look soft. I know our Dline is better than what they showed last night. the last two weeks we almost lost but in different ways. eagles made our short pass coverage look terrible and the ravens made our run D look real bad. It was just another bad day all around. I bet next week will be better.
How about giving Matt Light and the Oline a down in the beginning of the game they gave Brady tons of time but towards the end of the game they weren't as solid. On one series in the 4th quater they gave up back to back sacks with what looked like a 3 man rush.
i don't know if anyone caught a glimpse of a couple of really ppor blocks by logan mankins! Yikes! He coouldn't even block the safeties
I also agree with Andrew about Thomas. While I do believe he looked ok going after the QB, I thought he was out of position too many times against runs. But Green was even worse. Frankly, I don't want to see Jarvis Green on the field unless it's an obvious passing down. I'm really not impressed with how he holds up at the line at all. And to think...they actually considered him at NT in '03 before they grabbed big Ted!
But despite the poor run defense, I think both Seymour and Wilfork had very good games. Both gained penetration and both held up at the line. The problem is that the linebackers didn't make the plays. McGahee was able to be patient and find a hole because the linebackers couldn't wrap him up.
Mike, you have to write a blog entry on this comment posted from "darcy" because he has got a great point:
"Mike, if you look at the Ravens touchdown pass caught in the back of the end zone, the Ravens player did not get both feet down"
If you look at the play, it was the TD thrown to Daniel Wilcox in the back of the endzone to make it 24-17. He gets one foot in but while the toes of his second foot gets green in the endzone his heal then comes down on the white. By rule is should have been incomplete.
Maroney was a big up. Besides the gritty yards he got on the ground, and the impressive YAC he picked up, he looked MUCH improved on blocking out of the backfield.
Adalius Thomas goes back inside this week!! He looked terrible vs the Raven's offense...... Turned the wrong way, didn't set the corner... He is an inside linebacker, not an outside backer in this system.
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