With the Ravens coming to Foxboro to meet the Patriots in the AFC playoffs tomorrow, it seems like a good time to look back at the Week 4 meeting between these teams. Also played at Gillette, Baltimore entered the game 3-0 and ranked #1 in ESPN's power poll. The Pats won the game 27-21, but the victory just as easily could have gone to the Ravens had Baltimore coach John Harbaugh not out-coached himself. New England seemed to be unable to stop Ravens running back Ray Rice, who averaged a whopping 9.44 yards/carry, but he only got 11 carries. Rice also had 5 receptions for 49 yards, giving him 152 total yards in the game...but just 16 touches. It's safe to assume the Pats will see plenty of the Pro Bowl back tomorrow unless they're able to contain Rice a bit better this time around. The Pats also had a very tough time stopping Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason, though I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Darius Butler replaces Jonathan Wilhite in the rotation tomorrow, as Wilhite seemed to be victim #1 for Clayton the first time these teams met. It was a nice win at the time, but there will need to be significant improvement if the Pats hope to walk away with a win tomorrow.
Posts
7 comments:
New England Offense
Passing...
Brady 21-32, 258 yds, TD
Rushing...
Taylor 7-25 (injured)
Faulk 5-22
Morris 6-21, TD
Brady 5-11, TD
Maroney 7-6
Receiving
Watson 2-51
Moss 3-50, TD
Welker 6-48
Morris 5-35
Aiken 1-26
Maroney 1-17
Taylor 1-13
Edelman 1-12
Faulk 1-6
New England Defense
Springs 6 tackles - 1 assist
Guyton 5-0
McGowan 5-2
Meriweather 5-4
Wilhite 4-1
Sanders 3-0
Butler 2-0
Green 2-2
Warren 2-0
Wright 2-1, 2 sacks
Bodden 1-0, interception
Burgess 1-3
Pryor 1-0
Sands 1-0
Thomas 1-1
Wilfork 1-1
Woods 1-1
Baltimore Offense
Passing...
Flacco 27-47, 264 yds, 2 TD, INT
Rushing...
Rice 11-103
McGahee 5-11
Flacco 1-2
Receiving...
Mason 7-88, TD
Rice 5-49
Heap 4-46
Clayton 5-45
Washington 4-31
McGahee 1-13
Oher 1-(-)8
Baltimore Defense
Lewis 7 tackles - 7 assists
Johnson 6-2, sack
Ellerbe 4-1
Landry 4-1
Reed 4-1
Suggs 4-2, sack, forced fumble
Ayanbadejo 3-2
Bannan 3-1
Ngata 3-0
Washington 3-0
Gregg 2-2
Pryce 2-3, sack
Foxworth 1-0
Zbikowski 1-0
Kruger 0-1
Key Team Stats
1st Downs: NE 25, BAL 24
3rd Down %: BAL 9-14, NE 4-10
4th Down: NE 1-1, BAL 0-2
Penalties: BAL 9-85, NE 5-41
Turnovers: BAL 3, NE 1
A couple of keys to that game:
* Baltimore got off to a bad start by fumbling the opening kickoff. That put them down 3-0 to start the game.
* As you mentioned, the Ravens failure to keep giving the ball to Ray Rice who had 11 carries for 103 yards.
* Mark Clayton's dropped pass on 4th and 4 from the NE14 with 32 seconds left in the game. Had he caught that pass it would have gone for a first down and continued the drive. Given how Balimore was moving the ball there was little reason to believe wouldn't have come away with a game winning touchdown on that final drive had he made that catch.
BTW, glad to have you back DK!
Post a Comment