Today was a classic Patriots win, with a 2009 sheen on it.
Tom Brady evaded the pass rush, threw tight spirals and even went for a couple water buffalo quarterback sneaks as the Patriots marched past the Ravens 27-21 behind a balanced attack on both sides of the ball.
New England used every roster spot to pull off the win, from the tight ends and wide receivers making key catches, to the defensive backs disrupting pass after pass, to even the kick holder throwing the ball once (although the play didn't factor much into the win).
The Patriots' young, fast defense looked like it really hit its stride today, with the 21 points it gave up really not an issue considering how the unit held its own against a great Ravens offense. The defense shut down several drives on third down and stopped Baltimore in the red zone on fourth down with 30 seconds left to seal the game. Individual players also came up big, with sacks, deflections and a great interception by Leigh Bodden marking the day.
Mike Wright had two big sacks, and Shawn Springs led the team in tackles with seven. Brandon McGowan and Gary Guyton both had five tackles.
On the offensive side of the ball, Brady was 21-for-32 for 258 yards and a touchdown. Those aren't 2007-esque numbers, but considering how Brady was spraying the ball all over the field just a couple weeks ago, the numbers don't tell the real story: Brady is in his groove and on rhythm, and he had complete control of the game today.
Brady also used his legs, rushing for an early touchdown. He had 11 yards on the ground on a day when the Patriots' ground attack was useful but not overpowering (25 yards for Fred Taylor, 22 for Kevin Faulk, 21 for Sammy Morris).
Randy Moss reeled in his first touchdown catch of the season on the prettiest play of the game. He ended up with three catches for 50 yards, second-highest on the team behind Benjamin Watson, who got 51 yards on two catches. Seven other players made receptions, including Wes Welker, who came back after two weeks off with an injury to catch six balls for 48 yards.
The Patriots travel to Denver to play the Broncos next Sunday, at 4:15.
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Showing posts with label leigh bodden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leigh bodden. Show all posts
10.04.2009
9.27.2009
There you go, Pats
The pocket crumbled. Tom Brady was hurried. Receivers dropped passes. Brady overthrew passes. The secondary missed big plays. The defense lost key players.
Yes, this has been the storyline for the Patriots this year, and it was the storyline for them again today. Except they won this time.
Gell-headed analysts and Beantown naysayers, mark my words: The great Patriots teams that won in 2001, 2003, and 2004 were not the 2007, light-up-the-sky Patriots. They were a New England team with suspect defense, simple-screen-pass Brady, and wins that weren't gaudy, just wins.
The Patriots still had some issues to work out today, but they got enough working to notch a 26-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
During the game, it was obvious that Brady is still Brady, and all the offense needs is a little more time to get on the same page. Brady was able to stand up in the pocket and make sharp passes. There were still overthrows, and there were still drops, but an improvement over last week's debacle could be seen.
It was a tight contest in the first half, marked by the Falcons' high-powered offense having its way on a couple of drives, and New England's offense looking like no one was on the same page once again. In fact, Brady left the final drive in the first half (a downfield four-minute drive with plenty of time for a touchdown) screaming at several receivers: ones who didn't catch the ball, ones who weren't in the right spot, ones who neglected to run inbounds when looking for the ball, etc., etc.
Well, whether Captain Happy's methods worked or not, the Patriots were able to outscore Atlanta 13-0 in the second half. They had to settle for two more field goals, but Brady finally got a touchdown in there, too, and the team looked one step closer to finally clicking.
Lost in the muddle of all the Patriots who weren't making plays (including Randy Moss at times) was the fact that the defense was outstanding for a third-straight week. (This is a defense that has shed more veterans than an AARP program under audit.)
The Falcons were held to a mere 257 yards, including just 58 on the ground (Atlanta had 219 in two games so far this season). There were no big interceptions, no sacks, and just one fumble (that only accounted for three points). But the defense did its job enough to let the Patriots have the ball for almost 40 minutes, a nice time-of-possession edge.
The Patriots also got a fine performance from running back Fred Taylor, who's been waiting to bust out and give Brady some relief. Taylor lopped off several long yardage runs, including a 17-hash-mark scamper that swung the momentum toward the Patriots getting their first touchdown, which he also scored, in the second quarter.
Taylor ended the day with 21 rushes for 105 yards and a touchdown, which is a pretty good day for any NFL back, let alone a washed-up one from Jacksonville playing for a pass-happy New England team that has five other backs in its queue.
Brady ended up going 25-for-42 with 277 yards and a score. His completion rate was only 59.5%, but that's decent for a guy that started out 10-for-18 (55%).
Moss had 10 catches for 116 yards.
The rest of the receiving and rushing was spread out amongst eight guys.
Leigh Bodden and Brandon McGowan both had a team-high five tackles on defense, and McGowan forced the lone fumble.
The Patriots host Baltimore (3-0) next week at 1 p.m. The Ravens just shut down the Browns 34-3 this week and have also beat the Chargers (31-26) and the Chiefs (38-24) in a year that has been as surprising for Baltimore's huge amount of offense as it has been for the up-and-down nature of its defense.
More Patriots Posts
Yes, this has been the storyline for the Patriots this year, and it was the storyline for them again today. Except they won this time.
Gell-headed analysts and Beantown naysayers, mark my words: The great Patriots teams that won in 2001, 2003, and 2004 were not the 2007, light-up-the-sky Patriots. They were a New England team with suspect defense, simple-screen-pass Brady, and wins that weren't gaudy, just wins.
The Patriots still had some issues to work out today, but they got enough working to notch a 26-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
During the game, it was obvious that Brady is still Brady, and all the offense needs is a little more time to get on the same page. Brady was able to stand up in the pocket and make sharp passes. There were still overthrows, and there were still drops, but an improvement over last week's debacle could be seen.
It was a tight contest in the first half, marked by the Falcons' high-powered offense having its way on a couple of drives, and New England's offense looking like no one was on the same page once again. In fact, Brady left the final drive in the first half (a downfield four-minute drive with plenty of time for a touchdown) screaming at several receivers: ones who didn't catch the ball, ones who weren't in the right spot, ones who neglected to run inbounds when looking for the ball, etc., etc.
Well, whether Captain Happy's methods worked or not, the Patriots were able to outscore Atlanta 13-0 in the second half. They had to settle for two more field goals, but Brady finally got a touchdown in there, too, and the team looked one step closer to finally clicking.
Lost in the muddle of all the Patriots who weren't making plays (including Randy Moss at times) was the fact that the defense was outstanding for a third-straight week. (This is a defense that has shed more veterans than an AARP program under audit.)
The Falcons were held to a mere 257 yards, including just 58 on the ground (Atlanta had 219 in two games so far this season). There were no big interceptions, no sacks, and just one fumble (that only accounted for three points). But the defense did its job enough to let the Patriots have the ball for almost 40 minutes, a nice time-of-possession edge.
The Patriots also got a fine performance from running back Fred Taylor, who's been waiting to bust out and give Brady some relief. Taylor lopped off several long yardage runs, including a 17-hash-mark scamper that swung the momentum toward the Patriots getting their first touchdown, which he also scored, in the second quarter.
Taylor ended the day with 21 rushes for 105 yards and a touchdown, which is a pretty good day for any NFL back, let alone a washed-up one from Jacksonville playing for a pass-happy New England team that has five other backs in its queue.
Brady ended up going 25-for-42 with 277 yards and a score. His completion rate was only 59.5%, but that's decent for a guy that started out 10-for-18 (55%).
Moss had 10 catches for 116 yards.
The rest of the receiving and rushing was spread out amongst eight guys.
Leigh Bodden and Brandon McGowan both had a team-high five tackles on defense, and McGowan forced the lone fumble.
The Patriots host Baltimore (3-0) next week at 1 p.m. The Ravens just shut down the Browns 34-3 this week and have also beat the Chargers (31-26) and the Chiefs (38-24) in a year that has been as surprising for Baltimore's huge amount of offense as it has been for the up-and-down nature of its defense.
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