For the second straight week the Patriots made a statement, beating an impressive opponent at home, and showing some defensive spark in the process. Yesterday the ‘85 Bears Baltimore Ravens came into town, a team some insisted was too physical for the Patriots to play with. The Patriots were in control of this this one most of the way, and though it was tight at the end, they hung on for a 27-21 victory at Gillette.
Mike Reiss says that this win for the Patriots had a little bit of everything. Michael Vega says that this win could be the defining moment of the 2009 season for the Patriots. Ian R. Rapoport has the previously untested defense making the difference in this one. Shalise Manza Young says that the players may be different, but there was still something very familiar about this win. Positive as ever, Mark Farinella reminds us that the Patriots were one play away from a crushing defeat. Jennifer Toland says that this win shows that the Patriots are getting closer. Tim Whelan Jr. says that while the ending was not ideal, the Patriots will take the results. Rich Tenorio has the Patriots handing the Ravens their first loss of the season. Tom King has the Patriots gutting out the win.
Michael Felger insists that he is impressed by this defense and that they are good. Christopher L. Gasper says that this was a statement game for the defense. Brian MacPherson says that in many ways, the Patriots out-Ravened the Ravens. Ron Borges notes that the defense made all the plays in the most critical moments. Tim Weisberg agrees that this was a statement win for the defense. Andy Vogt has the Patriots showing that this team is not just all about the offense.
Bob Ryan says that this was a very very very good win for the Patriots, even if they needed some luck to pull it out. Jeff Jacobs notes that former UConn star Darius Butler had a hand in this victory. Jim Donaldson says that the Patriots were both lucky and good in this win. Tedy Bruschi has six observations from the win by his former teammates. Jonathan Comey says that the Patriots aren’t quite where they want to be, but they’re getting there. Christopher Price gives us the 10 Things We Learned Yesterday.
Julian Benbow has Tom Brady and the offense using constantly changing alignments on offense to try and keep Baltimore off balance. Karen Guregian has the Patriots showing a lot of improvement on the offensive side of the ball yesterday. Rich Garven has the offense eating up minutes and yards for the Patriots yesterday. Eric McHugh has the Patriots finally breaking through in the red zone yesterday.
I’m really not sure what point Tony Massarotti is rambling to make, I think he’s saying that Brady and this Patriots Patriots team is more like the ones earlier this decade rather than being similar to the 2007 version. Lauren Carter says that hope is building in Patriots nation after this one. Glen Farley has the Patriots completing a nice turnaround since the Jets game. Kirk Minihane says that Patriots fans can hold their heads high.
Dan Duggan has Sammy Morris making some huge plays for the offense. Guregian has Wes Welker feeling well enough to contribute to the win. Robert Lee has Welker catching on quickly in his return. Farinella says that Welker is steady as it goes in his return. Hector Longo has Leigh Bodden enjoying the winning he’s done thus far in New England.
Duggan has Mike Wright continuing to do a good job as one of the replacements for Richard Seymour on the defensive line. Yes, Donaldson was the one who appeared to be a little belligerent in the Belichick press conference when pressing the coach on the punting issues, and Belichick explain that the ‘coffin corner’ kick just isn’t done any more. King says that the Patriots were able to stand up to the Ravens.
Dan Ventura has the Ravens crying foul following the game. Brendan Hall has the Ravens with some major issues with the way that the game was called by the officials yesterday. Peter Gobis has the Ravens unable to make the plays they needed yesterday. Farinella has the Ravens fuming over the “Brady Rule” calls yesterday. Garven has the Ravens blasting the officiating after the game. David Pevear has the angry Ravens leaving Gillette chirping yesterday.
Ventura tabs the fourth down drop by Mark Clayton as the Play of the game yesterday. Lee provides some Analysis of the game. Longo’s Two-minute drill is just weird. The Metro has the Patriots passing the test yesterday. McHugh gives us some Chalk Talk after the game.
The Globe notebook has Sammy Morris coming up with some big plays on the afternoon. Rapoport’s notebook says that the return of Vince Wilfork was a huge lift for the Patriots. Young’s Patriots journal wonders if Joey Galloway’s time with the Patriots could be coming to an end after he was a healthy scratch yesterday. Gobis’ notebook has more on the roughing calls for the Ravens. Toland’s notebook looks at the penalty that erased the successful fake field goal by the Patriots. Weisberg’s notebook has a look at Welker’s return. Vogt’s notebook has more on Welker’s return. Farley’s notebook has Ray Lewis and the Ravens incensed at the officials.
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What would all of these people whining about the “Brady Rule” be saying this morning if Brady hadn’t seen Suggs diving for his knees at the very last minute and pulled his leg just far enough out of the way to avert disaster? If Suggs made contact there, Brady’s career may have been over, since two serious injuries to the same knee is pretty hard to overcome. The only reason that play looked “questionable” is because Brady saw Suggs at the last second and pulled his leg away…it was a borderline dirty play and I’m pretty sure the flag was justified.
Okay, the roughing the passer emphasis sucks, but have the Ravens ever lost a game without it being the officials fault?
I was going to cut Ryan some slack for stating on PTI last Friday that if the Super Bowl were held right now it would be the Ravens and Giants. After all, it was TV and we all know Bob has a tendency to (let’s say) talk loosely in front of a camera. But there he is in his column today, not only making the same silly case, but taking it one giant step for inanity further:
“If the Super Bowl were played yesterday and the participants had been chosen by acclamation, the NFC would have been represented by the New York Giants and the AFC would have been represented by the Baltimore Ravens based on their bodies of work in Weeks 1, 2, and 3.”
Really, Bob? By acclamation? Voters in New Orleans on board with this? Voters in Indianapolis? (and Denver???) Besides the illogic of it that makes a mockery of his BC education, what kind of “pro” is it that declares the outcome of any championship based on less than a third of a season? This is the kind of over the top look at me stuff that belongs on fan chat boards, not in columns or in TV appearances by reputedly elite sports writers.
Still it wasn’t the worst “expert” observation of the weekend. There was the Sunday morning bobblehead who declared that the Jets-Saints match-up would be “the biggest game in Saints franchise history.” Hmm, and if a non Saints fan like me can rattle off the top of my head at least five other more important games in Saints’ history, what does that say about the ever-declining quality of football commentary?
Wilbon was on PTI ranting and Raving that Brady should play golf if he didn’t want to get hit….PUH-LEESE….Then he went on to say the Refs are trying to protect “certain QB’s” like Brady and Peyton Manning but not all of them. Guess he didn’t see the 1st game of the year when Wilfork was given a roughing the passer when he hit Trent Edwards AROUND THE WAIST.
Like the rule or hate it, the reffs are calling the penalty alot ALL AROUND THE LEAGUE. Wilbon seemed especially upset because Brady was motioning to the reff to throw the flag. Why not?…the rule is in the books… How many times during the course of a game do you see Wide Recievers asking the reffs for a pass interference penalty?, or Defensive linemen asking for a holding call?….no difference.
Amazing how the national media suddenly forgets that two roughing the passer calls of similarly dubious quality were called against the Pats last month in the Bills game. The rule sucks. All the way around, not just to the Pat’s benefit.
With all the missing IQ points at ESPN, you could reconstruct an Ivy league campus.
Good point about WRs begging for calls. They do this all the time–they even have that “throw the flag” hand gesture down pat. Yet no one in the media ever calls them out for that. This is ridiculous.
I don’t much like the new rules either, going all the way back to when Polian, Martz and Fisher ganged up on the Patriots after the 2003 season by “re-emphasizing” the 5-yard chuck rule through the Competition Committee. I used to like 14-10 defensive battles, but those days are long gone due to the rules changes.
But the fact remains that Suggs, based on the video evidence, lunged at Brady’s knees after the ball had been thrown. The only reason he didn’t make solid contact with Brady’s surgically repaired left knee was because Brady saw him at the last minute and pulled his leg out of the way. Is the ref only supposed to throw the flag after the hit’s been made and the QB is lying on the turf with a torn-up knee? The rule might be lousy, but it was enforced correctly (then again, try getting a media that by a ratio of at least 4 to 1 still thinks that the Tuck Rule reversal was a bad call, “even though it’s the rule,” to understand that concept).
This whole firestorm about calls going the Patriots way is just a simple Oedipus complex by the rest of the NFL. When you’re on top as much as the Patriots have been (having the rest of the NFL in the missionary position), there’s going to be piling on every single chance that comes up. It’s great…it sure doesn’t seem the Steelers won anything last year.
The internet and technology have thrown a few wrenches into what is the most amazing document ever written, if it had only been followed 100% over the years. Free speech is the key to any democracy, but the fact any nut can have his speech potetntially seen by millions has led to an overall break down of the media, where objectivity means little anymore. Yes we are talking about sports, but sports plays a HUGE role on this earth and in society, and like Jackie Robinson and baseball, there are so many parallels to sport and what is happening NOW in society.
OK on a purely sports fan level, Suggs dove at Brady’s knee, and The Pats, namely Mike Right (spelling?) #99, were called for the same penalty and in a far more dubious situation.
Face it. USA hates Boston sports, because we win in everything. We should not only lead the world in Hoops titles at 17, but should also have 4 bowl victories. Stil 3 victories and 6 appearences shows Boston is in the top 5 in pro football’s modern “Super Bowl” era. Throw in baseball, and not even NY beats us, and they have two teams per…
Unfortunately, money is a big resaon we are the best, even in the NFL’s only example of a working socialist system. The $ is way out of hand, and who wants to overpay for bad tix in a city where your team does not win. Only in Boston would we clearly still go asnd support a scumbag like Jeremy Jascobs, our love of sport is so great. Imagine what our winning teams are making???? And we can’t even get public health care, or live in state where people actually vote against taxes. Only MA would vote to keep the income tax. Great, more money for what???? MA workers getting paid over 100 $ in OT pay on a regualr basis.