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Almost as disappointing as last night's loss was the lack of perspective on this board.
I get it, I really hate losing to the Patriots. I hate losing to them more than I hate losing to the Broncos. I probably hate it even more than losing to the Raiders these days, if only bc we don't lose to the Raiders very much anymore and if we do, it's usually a fluke. I hate it bc we have to listen to commentators effusively praise Brady and Belichick as genius preparation-warriors who leave nothing to chance and just win. It's an ongoing national story and this week we're the lucky ones that get plugged in as the latest team that was beaten by these badasses before the game even started. Our participation is just incidental. In fact you almost have to feel sorry for us bc it just isn't fair what these dynamos do to their opponents.
Except that's not what happened.
The real reason I hate losing to the Pats is because that is always the narrative (Brady is now 6-0 vs Rivers, yadda yadda), but the reality is that they rarely beat us decisively. We usually just let them slither and fluke their way out of it. We dominated the '06 div championship game and choked it away. A healthy Gates, Rivers, Merriman and LT might have changed a 12-21 outcome in the 2007 AFCCG. And we did it again last night. We were the better team for much of the game, even with all of our self-inflicted wounds. And in the parts where we weren't as good as them, we weren't far off. Nothing about NE scares me. We ought to be able to go toe to toe with them if somehow we meet them again. But only if we quit letting them off the hook. It's one thing to lose. It's another to give it away. And it's yet another to give it away and have the spin still be that you lost because you were outclassed by superior culture, coaching, strategy, personnel and execution...to the point that you're just a victim. Like Chuck Norris just roundhoused the whole team.
Bullshit.
And the really shitty part is that a lot of you were buying into that BS last night. I could tell bc the finger pointing was so scattered. "McCoy," "OL," "Rivers," "offense didn't show up," "Reich," "bad calls." Blame is always a little scattered during and after a loss. But usually there is a play or series that everyone lines up on. With the exception of the 4th Q punt, that isnt the case. Analyzed collectively, the board response was unarticulated frustration. Everyone was casting about, searching for the real source of the problem. But the reality is that people were pissed bc deep down they realize that we let NE off the hook again.
Here's my assessment:
- The Scifres block and injury were crippling. I don't think I've ever thought or written something like that about a punter, but there it is. In a game which in the end turned as much on field position as anything, not having even an average punter would really hurt us. This game became a classic Marty Schottenheimer field position war of attrition and we were penned up deep in our own territory most of the game, which limited what we could do offensively. Novak would do his best to get us out of there, but simply couldn't. The Pats' average starting position was like their 42 or 43. That's a tough offense with a very good QB putting a lot of field position pressure on our D. We acquitted ourselves pretty well on D, but you're simply not going to stop them for a whole game all on our end of the field, particularly when our offense isn't moving the ball, which brings me to...
-Their secondary played a really outstanding game. Our o-line is an obvious sieve, but I think their approach to defending us was very creative. They knew we were so bad upfront that they would get pressure pretty easily. So they put a lot of effort into coverage. They were getting pressure with 3-4 and dropping everyone else and bracketing our guys. There were passes in this game where PR had more time to throw than at any time in the last several weeks, near eternities for him, but there just weren't many people open. McCourty and Revis are pretty darn good. I wonder if this approach might not be something we see NE try more as they approach post-season.
- The Mathews injury really hurt us. Prior to getting leg-whipped he was able to advance the ball. He is really the only back we have that can run behind this crappy line. And when he got hurt, we basically folded up the running game. Reich chooses to make us more one dimensional than necessary. I don't really understand. The diversity of run calls goes completely out the window. While I recognize that it's unlikely that we're going to do much on the ground with this line and with Mathews out, but you have to at least keep running to keep the D honest. You need to mix up some of the formations/personnel/play calls a) to give you a reasonable chance to pick up yardage, and b) at least keep them guessing to open up the passing game. But we just do this same damn inside handoff out of the shotgun. It becomes binary, "They're either passing or doing the inside handoff." That's fucking weak. I get that this OL blows. It's so bad that you need to ask yourself the last time we ran on third or fourth and short. So I get that we're not likely to put up big numbers in the running game. But Reich is on the hook to do better and use some creativity. It's bad when people on this board are calling for the return of Whiz. I wasn't too excited about Reich's promotion but I wasn't much concerned about it either. At this point I would not be in favor of him returning in this capacity.
- The preponderance of Massholes in the crowd was embarrassing. This was like a fucking home game for them. Pisses me off. How is this even possible? I usually chalk it up to SD being an attractive traveling destination and a lot of transplants but last night I don't feel like I even heard Chargers fans.
IMO These were the big factors in us losing the game. But even with our crap O-line, we weren't slammed by 'the league's best team.' We were in this. We had a chance and we let them squirm away. We're not winning a SB with this OL but with a healthy, revitalized defense I still think we can make postseason and make some noise.
Random Observations
- The late punt was a poor choice. Didnt get it.
-Gachkar has become a decent role player
-Chris Watt is not PR's favorite player
-Donald Butler needs to go wherever Derek Cox is. I'm done.
-Ingram needs to stay healthy bc he is a beast for us.
-Really want to see more Attaochu.
-Flowers needs to be re-signed.
-Pagano's gameplan was pretty sound. I just wonder why he saves some of this stuff for primetime games vs other games.
- But tackling remains a real weakness. Cost us big a few times in this game.
-A healthy Verrett takes this D to another level
- Te'o sighting. He was a positive in this game beyond the INT
-Coverage units remain solid
-Donald Brown's whiff that got Scifres killed was his most egregious failure this season.
-Tom Brady is a penis and his front-runner first down celebration at the end of the game was fucking annoying.
-NE ballwahsing is just insufferable.
I get it, I really hate losing to the Patriots. I hate losing to them more than I hate losing to the Broncos. I probably hate it even more than losing to the Raiders these days, if only bc we don't lose to the Raiders very much anymore and if we do, it's usually a fluke. I hate it bc we have to listen to commentators effusively praise Brady and Belichick as genius preparation-warriors who leave nothing to chance and just win. It's an ongoing national story and this week we're the lucky ones that get plugged in as the latest team that was beaten by these badasses before the game even started. Our participation is just incidental. In fact you almost have to feel sorry for us bc it just isn't fair what these dynamos do to their opponents.
Except that's not what happened.
The real reason I hate losing to the Pats is because that is always the narrative (Brady is now 6-0 vs Rivers, yadda yadda), but the reality is that they rarely beat us decisively. We usually just let them slither and fluke their way out of it. We dominated the '06 div championship game and choked it away. A healthy Gates, Rivers, Merriman and LT might have changed a 12-21 outcome in the 2007 AFCCG. And we did it again last night. We were the better team for much of the game, even with all of our self-inflicted wounds. And in the parts where we weren't as good as them, we weren't far off. Nothing about NE scares me. We ought to be able to go toe to toe with them if somehow we meet them again. But only if we quit letting them off the hook. It's one thing to lose. It's another to give it away. And it's yet another to give it away and have the spin still be that you lost because you were outclassed by superior culture, coaching, strategy, personnel and execution...to the point that you're just a victim. Like Chuck Norris just roundhoused the whole team.
Bullshit.
And the really shitty part is that a lot of you were buying into that BS last night. I could tell bc the finger pointing was so scattered. "McCoy," "OL," "Rivers," "offense didn't show up," "Reich," "bad calls." Blame is always a little scattered during and after a loss. But usually there is a play or series that everyone lines up on. With the exception of the 4th Q punt, that isnt the case. Analyzed collectively, the board response was unarticulated frustration. Everyone was casting about, searching for the real source of the problem. But the reality is that people were pissed bc deep down they realize that we let NE off the hook again.
Here's my assessment:
- The Scifres block and injury were crippling. I don't think I've ever thought or written something like that about a punter, but there it is. In a game which in the end turned as much on field position as anything, not having even an average punter would really hurt us. This game became a classic Marty Schottenheimer field position war of attrition and we were penned up deep in our own territory most of the game, which limited what we could do offensively. Novak would do his best to get us out of there, but simply couldn't. The Pats' average starting position was like their 42 or 43. That's a tough offense with a very good QB putting a lot of field position pressure on our D. We acquitted ourselves pretty well on D, but you're simply not going to stop them for a whole game all on our end of the field, particularly when our offense isn't moving the ball, which brings me to...
-Their secondary played a really outstanding game. Our o-line is an obvious sieve, but I think their approach to defending us was very creative. They knew we were so bad upfront that they would get pressure pretty easily. So they put a lot of effort into coverage. They were getting pressure with 3-4 and dropping everyone else and bracketing our guys. There were passes in this game where PR had more time to throw than at any time in the last several weeks, near eternities for him, but there just weren't many people open. McCourty and Revis are pretty darn good. I wonder if this approach might not be something we see NE try more as they approach post-season.
- The Mathews injury really hurt us. Prior to getting leg-whipped he was able to advance the ball. He is really the only back we have that can run behind this crappy line. And when he got hurt, we basically folded up the running game. Reich chooses to make us more one dimensional than necessary. I don't really understand. The diversity of run calls goes completely out the window. While I recognize that it's unlikely that we're going to do much on the ground with this line and with Mathews out, but you have to at least keep running to keep the D honest. You need to mix up some of the formations/personnel/play calls a) to give you a reasonable chance to pick up yardage, and b) at least keep them guessing to open up the passing game. But we just do this same damn inside handoff out of the shotgun. It becomes binary, "They're either passing or doing the inside handoff." That's fucking weak. I get that this OL blows. It's so bad that you need to ask yourself the last time we ran on third or fourth and short. So I get that we're not likely to put up big numbers in the running game. But Reich is on the hook to do better and use some creativity. It's bad when people on this board are calling for the return of Whiz. I wasn't too excited about Reich's promotion but I wasn't much concerned about it either. At this point I would not be in favor of him returning in this capacity.
- The preponderance of Massholes in the crowd was embarrassing. This was like a fucking home game for them. Pisses me off. How is this even possible? I usually chalk it up to SD being an attractive traveling destination and a lot of transplants but last night I don't feel like I even heard Chargers fans.
IMO These were the big factors in us losing the game. But even with our crap O-line, we weren't slammed by 'the league's best team.' We were in this. We had a chance and we let them squirm away. We're not winning a SB with this OL but with a healthy, revitalized defense I still think we can make postseason and make some noise.
Random Observations
- The late punt was a poor choice. Didnt get it.
-Gachkar has become a decent role player
-Chris Watt is not PR's favorite player
-Donald Butler needs to go wherever Derek Cox is. I'm done.
-Ingram needs to stay healthy bc he is a beast for us.
-Really want to see more Attaochu.
-Flowers needs to be re-signed.
-Pagano's gameplan was pretty sound. I just wonder why he saves some of this stuff for primetime games vs other games.
- But tackling remains a real weakness. Cost us big a few times in this game.
-A healthy Verrett takes this D to another level
- Te'o sighting. He was a positive in this game beyond the INT
-Coverage units remain solid
-Donald Brown's whiff that got Scifres killed was his most egregious failure this season.
-Tom Brady is a penis and his front-runner first down celebration at the end of the game was fucking annoying.
-NE ballwahsing is just insufferable.
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