The Game Ball Thread: Divisional Round vs Chiefs

[Super Nomario]

The counter-argument is that PIT played super-soft coverage while blitzing a lot and that ALSO worked pretty well— 8 of 11 Denver drives ended in 5 plays or less. Had PIT done a better job early on with field position, several of those DEN drives would have sputtered out short of field goal range. PIT's gameplan only backfired because they couldn't string together enough drives of their own to keep the D from fading in the final quarter.

This is part of Denver's gameplan, too, though - they have a terrific defense and their special teams is pretty good, so they stay close with field position, wear you down (especially at home) and then salt it away with the running game late. When they don't turn the ball over, it's a good formula.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

KC ran 82 offensive plays and held the ball for over 37 minutes of game-time. They weren't efficient (4.6 yards per play), but they converted 12/20 third downs. That's not gonna cut it going forward.

I think the Pats will play very aggressive man defense vs. Denver. Until and unless Peyton starts hitting throws over 20 yards, I wouldn't give him anything from -5 to 15 yards out.

You're smart, MM. You have to be aware that this was a function of the defense Patricia/BB put in place. They played soft zones and kept everything in front of them. Strike one.

They spied Smith on a handful of plays, removing an additional player - usually a linebacker in the middle of the field - from the scheme and making it softer. Strike two.

They went out of their way to keep pocket control, barely ever breaking the edge, sitting their best pass rusher (Jones) for long stretches, and allowing fairly clean passing lanes throughout the game for Smith to work with. Strike three.

They allowed all this to remove the three biggest x-factors (running game, YAC, Smith scrambles). It worked. They played a typical BB "bend but don't break" defense that challenges offenses to put together long scoring drives and forces teams to convert third downs. Due to the nature of KC's dink-and-dunk offense, they have the ability to string some of those together. They didn't, however, have the ability to string more then a few of them together. For the most part, the Chiefs played one of the best games they could, and it still wasn't enough due in large part to the scheme put together by the Patriots.

All of that is to say, it will not be the same scheme that Manning sees (as you mentioned). The Patriots will pin their ears back and get after Manning. They certainly won't be spying him. They will stunt and crash the line to disrupt passing lanes. They'll mix in man/zone coverage, and they'll provide varying looks to try and take away either (A) the underneath Sanders routes or (B) Thomas over the top on any given play. I have little doubt that next weeks defense will provide a very different feel from what we saw a few nights ago.

 

[Super Nomario]

They allowed all this to remove the three biggest x-factors (running game, YAC, Smith scrambles). It worked. They played a typical BB "bend but don't break" defense that challenges offenses to put together long scoring drives and forces teams to convert third downs. Due to the nature of KC's dink-and-dunk offense, they have the ability to string some of those together. They didn't, however, have the ability to string more then a few of them together. For the most part, the Chiefs played one of the best games they could, and it still wasn't enough due in large part to the scheme put together by the Patriots.

I agree they were trying to run "bend but don't break," but I disagree that it worked. The defense gave up 20 points and 378 yards on 9 drives - that's awful (would have ranked 32nd in yards per drive and 30th in points per drive over the whole season). They allowed two late touchdowns. They couldn't get off the field.

The final score kind of disguises what kind of game this was because each team had few drives. Both offenses dominated - the Patriots had eight drives where they were trying to score and scored on five of them. It was one of their best games on O all year and one of the defense's worst.

All of that is to say, it will not be the same scheme that Manning sees (as you mentioned). The Patriots will pin their ears back and get after Manning. They certainly won't be spying him. They will stunt and crash the line to disrupt passing lanes. They'll mix in man/zone coverage, and they'll provide varying looks to try and take away either (A) the underneath Sanders routes or (B) Thomas over the top on any given play. I have little doubt that next weeks defense will provide a very different feel from what we saw a few nights ago.

I hope they do something different. If they play as poorly as they did against Kansas City, Denver will beat them.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

I agree they were trying to run "bend but don't break," but I disagree that it worked. The defense gave up 20 points and 378 yards on 9 drives - that's awful (would have ranked 32nd in yards per drive and 30th in points per drive over the whole season). They allowed two late touchdowns. They couldn't get off the field.

The final score kind of disguises what kind of game this was because each team had few drives. Both offenses dominated - the Patriots had eight drives where they were trying to score and scored on five of them. It was one of their best games on O all year and one of the defense's worst.

Well, how late? The Chiefs only scored 7 points in the entire 4th quarter. I certainly don't want to start considering the 3rd quarter "late" in a game.

I also think that the KC drives at the end of the game were a direct result of the Patriots offense sputtering down the stretch. The Patriots had the ball 3 times in the 4th quarter, and only managed a whopping 13 plays for 31 yards. Up to that point, the Patriots defense had already been on the field for about 2/3 of the game. Any defense is going to struggle closing out a game when they're on the field for 40 out of 60 minutes. Add in the injuries to Mayo and Collins, and that is one really gassed defense.

 

[The Price Is Wrong]

I disagree that the defense had a bad game. Once the Patriots went up 21-6 after the fumble recovery, the Patriots' strategy at a high level shifted from "maximize expected points on every drive / minimize KC's expected points on every drive" to "maximize the length of time a successful drive by KC will need to take". This played into the known weakness of Andy Reid, and frankly it worked to perfection. The basic idea was clearly "bait a lot of short runs and deny the deep ball", based on how the secondary was lining up. KC's two touchdown drives in the 2nd half took 6'12" and 5'16" respectively. When they took the ball for the latter drive, there was 6:29 remaining, and it was pretty apparent to everyone I was watching with that the Patriots were content to let Andy Reid milk the clock down to the point of hopelessness, a la SB 39. The difference of a 14-point win and a 7-point win are meaningless to BB, but grinding clock minimizes the risk of any comeback getting completed.

To illustrate this, let's look at the Pats' win probability at each juncture in the 2nd half:

(NE 14, KC 6)
KC drives to the NE 42: 79.8%
Jones forces a fumble: 89.2%
69-yard NE drive, 21-6: 97.7%
6-minute KC TD drive, 21-13: 90.1%
57-yd 8-play NE drive for FG, 24-13: 96.5%
3-play, 2'20" KC drive, -8 yards & punt: 99.0% (99.4% after 22-yd Amendola return to KC 32yl)
5-play, 2'02" NE drive for FG, 27-13: 99.6%
8-play, 2'52" KC drive, TO on downs: 99.9% (now 7:38 remaining in 4Q)
3-and-out (0'56") punt by NE for a touchback: 99.9%
16-play, 5'16" KC drive for TD, 27-20: 93.7% (99.9% after Gronk onside recovery)

That 3-play drive at the start of the 4th, with KC at its own 20, included a run and pass both for no gain, and a sack (plus a delay-of-game penalty before the punt). That was a championship-grade stand. KC still had time to make up the deficit at that point. Then there's the drive after the last NE score, which ended near midfield after a tackle for no gain and then passes defensed by Hightower, then McCourty, then Harmon (the stupid near-INT). That, too, was a championship-level stand. And during that final KC possession, even as they neared the NE goal line, the seconds ticking away meant that their win% rarely edged below 97%.

Compare the GB-ARI game if you like: Aaron Rodgers' final desperation drive began at 1:50 remaining with a 96% win% for Arizona, meaning the model gave him a 1-in-12.5 chance of getting the tying touchdown (and thus a 50-50 shot in OT). And that's with him having the ball down 7. KC, down 2 touchdowns but with ~7 min remaining, was given 1 shot in 1000 to pull the game out. And they got only 6% of win expectancy back after the length of time they took to score that final touchdown. Our game was in the least amount of doubt of any game this weekend.

I think Belichick's strategy was as obvious as it was effective. I saw nothing in that final KC drive that made me concerned about the D, other than Chandler Jones hobbling off with a calf problem.

 

[Hoodie Sleeves]

Exactly right.

In these sort of games, the defense's first responsibility shifts from trying to stop drives, to trying to prevent big plays. You don't lose games where you have a 14 point lead with 6 minutes left by giving up long drives - you lose them by doing what Arizona did - allowing long plays and quick scores.

Arizona played the last couple minutes of their game against GB exactly wrong - they focused on getting to Rodgers, sending as many as 7 guys at times, and allowed him to complete those long passes. NE played the end of their game exactly the opposite way - low pressure, plenty of guys in coverage, give up the short middle. A 7 yard pass that eats up 25 seconds is a win. Any normal run is a win.

Its frustrating to watch, but even in the case where you can't stop them, and they score, that score was only worth a 6% shift because there's no time left. You play aggressively and someone falls down, or Smith gets outside contain and you give up a long run, and you're looking at a losable game again.

 

[amarshal2]

The defense didn't play that well -- I'm not buying the arguments to the contrary. There's no way BB's game plan was to allow >50% success rate on third down. The really didn't sit back as much in pass rush and preserve lanes as people are saying. I saw them trying and failing to get after Smith on many occasions. When the Patriots don't put pressure on the opposing QB they're just so/so. I hope/they better pin their ears back on Sunday in passing situations and have a lot of success.

 

[TheoShmeo]

The defense didn't play that well -- I'm not buying the arguments to the contrary. There's no way BB's game plan was to allow >50% success rate on third down. The really didn't sit back as much in pass rush and preserve lanes as people are saying. I saw them trying and failing to get after Smith on many occasions. When the Patriots don't put pressure on the opposing QB they're just so/so. I hope/they better pin their ears back on Sunday in passing situations and have a lot of success.

I think that's right but I take some solace in the facts that (a) KC's third down conversion rate went down during the latter phases of the game and (b) Peyton isn't nearly as elusive as Smith and is not a running threat; he also did not throw well when under pressure yesterday.

 

[Hoodie Sleeves]

. There's no way BB's game plan was to allow >50% success rate on third down. .

Third down conversion rate is a really misleading statistic sometimes. One, because on good drives you don't see many 3rd downs, because you're converting sooner, and because 3-and-outs affect the stat way less than a 17 play field goal drive. The chiefs offense is structured such that you can give up several first downs and still not be in trouble of giving up a score.

In the drives before the Patriots win probability exceeded 99%, the Chiefs had scored 13 points on 7 drives. Good for 1.85 pts/drive - that's about 12th in the league (defensively) overall. KC averaged 2.05 for the season, good for 9th overall.

 

[Stitch01]

They didn't play well, but I think at the same time the game plan was a success because even on a shitty day for the Pats defense KC wasn't going to be able to convert enough of those long drives into TD's to matter. I think if they fell behind the game plan might have changed a bit, but even executing it poorly required a perfect game for the Chiefs to win. One turnover and some clock management fuckups were enough to get it done.

I thought they sat back more than usual with the pass rush as they typically do with mobile QBs (lots of spy with pass rushers playing contain), but that were especially ineffective when they tried to come with pressure. Pressure up the middle was particularly ineffective, looked the KC O Line just rerouted the rusher out of the play leaving Smith with room to operate every time they tried to bring pressure.

I also thought the Chiefs did exceptionally well making difficult catches on third down. The travesty where Smith broke through three guys was a terrible job by the pass rush, but also required a really good catch on the other end. Avant made a couple of nice plays too, and I can't remember a single KC drop on third down. Didn't think Butler had one of his better games either, particularly given the KC receivers aren't very good.

I also don't think much of what happened last week is predictive for the Denver game. The third down conversions were still largely the result of Smith making plays with his feet and buying time and the Pats were spying him and really focused on taking away the TE. Neither of those areas will be a focus this week. Its not like KC was lining up and running it conventionally for five yards a pop.

 

[dcmissle]

no better place than here --

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/pete-prisco/25452155/why-the-chiefs-scary-pass-rush-was-no-match-for-the-mad-genius-of-belichick

 

[Super Nomario]

Well, how late? The Chiefs only scored 7 points in the entire 4th quarter. I certainly don't want to start considering the 3rd quarter "late" in a game.

I also think that the KC drives at the end of the game were a direct result of the Patriots offense sputtering down the stretch. The Patriots had the ball 3 times in the 4th quarter, and only managed a whopping 13 plays for 31 yards. Up to that point, the Patriots defense had already been on the field for about 2/3 of the game. Any defense is going to struggle closing out a game when they're on the field for 40 out of 60 minutes. Add in the injuries to Mayo and Collins, and that is one really gassed defense.

The reason, by and large, that the defense was on the field for 40 out of 60 minutes is because they were terrible. Yes, the offense wasn't nails late, but by the time the fourth quarter rolled around the D had already allowed drives of 17, 7, 11, 8, and 12 plays, with only one three-and-out. The offense only punted three times all game - you can hardly blame them for the defense running out of gas late. Kansas City's first drive, when everyone was healthy and the D was fresh, they let the Chiefs hold the ball for eight-and-a-half minutes. If they'd forced a couple more stops early, they might have had more in the tank late.

 

[Erik Hanson's Hook]

Malcolm Brown
I also was very impressed with Steven Jackson's pass protection

1) Malcolm Brown has had a good rookie year. I always see him in pursuit, even when the play gets by him into the second level. He's also had a handfull of key QB pressures, hits, and sacks this year.

2) Were you really? I'm genuinely curious. It's sometimes difficult to key in on a RB's pass pro, because there's so much going on any given play, but if that's one of your things, and you like what you saw, it's a plus.

 

[Tony C]

Several people have mentioned the OL but my game ball goes to Sebastian Vollmer. Could barely walk as little as a few days ago, based on the Reiss video of him not so much 'jogging' as 'shuffling'. Goes out there, plays 100% of offensive snaps, and his footwork is absolutely nails all day, despite him often being on an island in pass protection. Poe, Bailey and Howard did jack and shit all game, and while that was mostly a team effort by the OL, Vollmer stood out to me.
....

Fully agree and can I add Marcus Cannon to the list, too? He's always on my "BB thinks he's good, so he must be...but damn if it looks that way" list. Against KC he held his own consistently -- I was confident enough in the interior OL, but with Vollmer's injury and Cannon's inconsistency, was worried about the OTs. Granted Brady was getting the ball out quick, but the OTs did their job, too.

 

[The Price Is Wrong]

The defense didn't play that well -- I'm not buying the arguments to the contrary. There's no way BB's game plan was to allow >50% success rate on third down. The really didn't sit back as much in pass rush and preserve lanes as people are saying. I saw them trying and failing to get after Smith on many occasions. When the Patriots don't put pressure on the opposing QB they're just so/so. I hope/they better pin their ears back on Sunday in passing situations and have a lot of success.

OK, I already walked you through how the defense held up after the strategy shift, and how they executed that new plan perfectly. I could also have talked about how, before the strategy shifted at 21-6, the Patriots D had forced 2 punts, 2 FGs and a fumble in 5 defensive drives, clearly an excellent performance. But now the goalposts have moved: success rate on third down! Alex Smith rushing! QB pressures! Let's look at each of these in order.

Third Down success rate. Let's start with FO's Drive Success Rate to give us some general stats for context. Drive Success Rate is the % of down-series (i.e., new first downs) which result in a first down or a touchdown (i.e., the drive continues or finishes successfully). ARI had the #1 offensive DSR with .751, and the NYJ the best defensive DSR with .632.

NE: Offensive DSR .724 (#7), Defensive DSR .666 (#8), Net DSR +.058 (#4).
KC: Offensive DSR .687 (#18), Defensive DSR .680 (#11), Net DSR +.007 (#13)

How'd they do Saturday? I'm adding this up by hand from the PFR play-by-play, but by my numbers:

NE offense: 27 series starts, 21 successes = .777 DSR
KC offense: 35 series starts, 27 successes = .771 DSR

OK, but how about 3rd downs? Excluding kneel-downs, I've got NE converting 6 of 8 third downs in the first half (the last of which was the 1-yd Brady dive for a TD), but 0 for the 3 in the second half, all of which were passes in the 4th quarter. That's 6/11 = 55% total. However, on 1st and 2nd down, they picked up a new set of downs (or a TD) on 15 of 43 snaps = 35%.

KC, meanwhile was in far more desperate straits, lining up for 21 third downs and converting 13 (62%), and of the 8 failures, they went for it 3 times and succeeded on 2 (they also punted 3 times and kicked 2 FGs). But out of 64 snaps on 1st and 2nd down, they converted on only 12 of them (19%).

So I'd say that, yes, KC was able to convert 3rd downs more often than you'd like (NFL average this year was 39%), but so did the Patriots. And KC's third down count was very high, mostly because the defense was playing so well on 1st and 2nd down - and forced a fumble, as well as the 4th-quarter turnover on downs. I'm not seeing this as a big knock on the Pats D, more the result of a tactical decision.

Alex Smith Rushing. For the season, Smith rushed 84 times (5.3/game) for 498 yards (31.1/game), good for a 5.9 Y/A. Saturday, he tried to run (or, well, failed to pass) on 10 occasions. One of those, at the start of the 4th, he got sacked by Chandler Jones for -3. The other 9 were:

2nd and 10, NE 44: right end for -3 yards (was this really a sack? Q1, 5:26 remaining)
3rd and 13, NE 47: left tackle for 15 yards (this one was the big, frustrating one on the day)
3rd and 1, NE 11: right guard for 2 yards
1st and 10, KC 25: left tackle for no gain (was this really a sack? 1st play of 3rd Q)
3rd and 3, NE 29: scramble for 7 yards
1st and 10, KC 20: scramble for 2 yards
1st and 10, NE 47: left end for 9 yards
1st and 10, NE 32: scramble for 6 yards
2nd and 4, NE 26: up the middle for 6 yards

Total: 41 yards rushing, 4.6 Y/A.

Those last 4 on that list were all on KC's final drive, so it was clearly Alex Smith getting desperate (and/or NE's pass defense giving him no downfield options). Most of the others were tiny gainers, or losses, where we clearly didn't lose contain. Only his 2nd rush was a very concerning play - and that was mid-1st quarter and they basically tightened up on him after that. He ended well below his season Y/A, and not much above his season total in yards. This was not a Tebow-in-2011 type performance (or, worse a Carolina-in-2013 one) where the Patriots D was unable to stop a mobile QB.

QB Pressures. So first off, obviously, the Patriots' OL had an incredible game, with Brady getting his jersey dirty only twice, one of which was a late hit that got KC a 15-yard PF. On the other side of the ball, you had all of the Smith rushes above, most of which weren't designed rushes and were scrambles indicative of QB pressure. You've got the 1 sack and two quasi-sacks, plus a fourth short gainer on 1st-and-10. I can't find a good source on how many QB hits we got on Saturday, but for the season, KC gave up very few (4.9/g, 24th in the NFL), and had 9 in their 2 postseason games. Then there's the whole NY/A stat: 7.2 NY/A for Brady, 4.8 for Smith. My eyes told me we were keeping him contained, pressured, and usually without good pass targets on the day, and the stats certainly don't say otherwise.

So overall, I'll continue to disagree that the D had a bad day.

 

[Stitch01]

Brady back to getting passes out quick, sub 2 seconds for the first time since before the Edelman injury on average and 23 of 30 on those throws. Just a completely different offense with the short passing game weapons out there and a totally different ballgame for the offensive line.

 

[amarshal2]

OK, I already walked you through how the defense held up after the strategy shift, and how they executed that new plan perfectly. I could also have talked about how, before the strategy shifted at 21-6, the Patriots D had forced 2 punts, 2 FGs and a fumble in 5 defensive drives, clearly an excellent performance. But now the goalposts have moved: success rate on third down! Alex Smith rushing! QB pressures! Let's look at each of these in order.

Third Down success rate. Let's start with FO's Drive Success Rate to give us some general stats for context. Drive Success Rate is the % of down-series (i.e., new first downs) which result in a first down or a touchdown (i.e., the drive continues or finishes successfully). ARI had the #1 offensive DSR with .751, and the NYJ the best defensive DSR with .632.

NE: Offensive DSR .724 (#7), Defensive DSR .666 (#8), Net DSR +.058 (#4).
KC: Offensive DSR .687 (#18), Defensive DSR .680 (#11), Net DSR +.007 (#13)

How'd they do Saturday? I'm adding this up by hand from the PFR play-by-play, but by my numbers:

NE offense: 27 series starts, 21 successes = .777 DSR
KC offense: 35 series starts, 27 successes = .771 DSR

OK, but how about 3rd downs? Excluding kneel-downs, I've got NE converting 6 of 8 third downs in the first half (the last of which was the 1-yd Brady dive for a TD), but 0 for the 3 in the second half, all of which were passes in the 4th quarter. That's 6/11 = 55% total. However, on 1st and 2nd down, they picked up a new set of downs (or a TD) on 15 of 43 snaps = 35%.

KC, meanwhile was in far more desperate straits, lining up for 21 third downs and converting 13 (62%), and of the 8 failures, they went for it 3 times and succeeded on 2 (they also punted 3 times and kicked 2 FGs). But out of 64 snaps on 1st and 2nd down, they converted on only 12 of them (19%).

So I'd say that, yes, KC was able to convert 3rd downs more often than you'd like (NFL average this year was 39%), but so did the Patriots. And KC's third down count was very high, mostly because the defense was playing so well on 1st and 2nd down - and forced a fumble, as well as the 4th-quarter turnover on downs. I'm not seeing this as a big knock on the Pats D, more the result of a tactical decision.

Alex Smith Rushing. For the season, Smith rushed 84 times (5.3/game) for 498 yards (31.1/game), good for a 5.9 Y/A. Saturday, he tried to run (or, well, failed to pass) on 10 occasions. One of those, at the start of the 4th, he got sacked by Chandler Jones for -3. The other 9 were:

2nd and 10, NE 44: right end for -3 yards (was this really a sack? Q1, 5:26 remaining)
3rd and 13, NE 47: left tackle for 15 yards (this one was the big, frustrating one on the day)
3rd and 1, NE 11: right guard for 2 yards
1st and 10, KC 25: left tackle for no gain (was this really a sack? 1st play of 3rd Q)
3rd and 3, NE 29: scramble for 7 yards
1st and 10, KC 20: scramble for 2 yards
1st and 10, NE 47: left end for 9 yards
1st and 10, NE 32: scramble for 6 yards
2nd and 4, NE 26: up the middle for 6 yards

Total: 41 yards rushing, 4.6 Y/A.

Those last 4 on that list were all on KC's final drive, so it was clearly Alex Smith getting desperate (and/or NE's pass defense giving him no downfield options). Most of the others were tiny gainers, or losses, where we clearly didn't lose contain. Only his 2nd rush was a very concerning play - and that was mid-1st quarter and they basically tightened up on him after that. He ended well below his season Y/A, and not much above his season total in yards. This was not a Tebow-in-2011 type performance (or, worse a Carolina-in-2013 one) where the Patriots D was unable to stop a mobile QB.

QB Pressures. So first off, obviously, the Patriots' OL had an incredible game, with Brady getting his jersey dirty only twice, one of which was a late hit that got KC a 15-yard PF. On the other side of the ball, you had all of the Smith rushes above, most of which weren't designed rushes and were scrambles indicative of QB pressure. You've got the 1 sack and two quasi-sacks, plus a fourth short gainer on 1st-and-10. I can't find a good source on how many QB hits we got on Saturday, but for the season, KC gave up very few (4.9/g, 24th in the NFL), and had 9 in their 2 postseason games. Then there's the whole NY/A stat: 7.2 NY/A for Brady, 4.8 for Smith. My eyes told me we were keeping him contained, pressured, and usually without good pass targets on the day, and the stats certainly don't say otherwise.

So overall, I'll continue to disagree that the D had a bad day.

And you'd continue to be a very generous grader wearing rose colored glasses.

I mean, I barely need to do any work for this. You posted all the following stat:

ARI had the #1 offensive DSR with .751
NE: Defensive DSR .666 (#8), Net DSR +.058 (#4).
KC: Offensive DSR .687 (#18)
KC offense (Saturday): 35 series starts, 27 successes = .771 DSR
So I'd say that, yes, KC was able to convert 3rd downs more often than you'd like (NFL average this year was 39%), but so did the Patriots.

So, your are arguing that, yeah, KC was pretty good on offense, but the Patriots offense was better! This is the definition of a straw man argument at best and a totally illogical one at worse. How does this argument support your point that the Pats defense was good yesterday?

What you've done is point out that, using your chosen metrics, the Patriots took a team who was 18th in offense and turned them into a team that would have led the NFL by a wide margin! What great defensive success! Typically they're right around what the Patriots allowed over the course of the year. But on Saturday when the Patriots had all their guys healthy and everything to play for, KC had more success than Arizona.

But let's not focus on one stat. Your argument is that this is really just good defense because they sold out to stop Alex Smith with the pocket integrity and spy. So, how did that go?

For the season, Smith rushed 84 times (5.3/game) for 498 yards (31.1/game), good for a 5.9 Y/A.
(Saturday- Total: 41 yards rushing, 4.6 Y/A.

So the Patriots allowed more rushing yards than Smith averaged for the season but at a 4.6 Y/A clip instead of 5.9. This isn't very inspiring. Seems like if this was the reason they allowed the most plays and TOP they allowed all year then you would hope they would have been significantly more successful.

One of those, at the start of the 4th, he got sacked by Chandler Jones for -3.

Can we at least be honest? Alex Smith tripped on his own man and Chandler Jones got a gift. You can credit the secondary here but hard to credit the pass rush.

2nd and 10, NE 44: right end for -3 yards (was this really a sack? Q1, 5:26 remaining)
1st and 10, KC 25: left tackle for no gain (was this really a sack? 1st play of 3rd Q)

Designed running plays that get stopped for a loss are not considered sacks.

How about QB pressures? I asserted that they didn't do a good job pressuring Smith and you basically wrote about the Patriots offense (why, i'm not sure) and how you couldn't find any defensive pressure stats for the Pats so your eyes must have been right.

I can't find a good source on how many QB hits we got on Saturday, but for the season, KC gave up very few (4.9/g, 24th in the NFL)

I'll add that the Chiefs let up 45 sacks this year good for 2.8/game.

FYI -- Jeff Howe and Doug Kyed chart pressures and the like after every game.

Pressure points

17. Here are the Herald’s pressure stats: Chandler Jones (sack, QB hit, pressure), Ninkovich (QB hit, five pressures), Jonathan Freeny (two pressures), Ryan (pressure), Akiem Hicks (pressure), Collins (pressure), Alan Branch (pressure), Jabaal Sheard (pressure, drew an illegal hands penalty), Hightower (two QB hits), Sealver Siliga (drew a holding penalty).

Usually they have a lot more hits and pressures.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots/2016/01/ups_and_downs_from_patriots_win_over_chiefs
(Edited for what we're talking about)

So that's 5 QB hits and a gifted sack. The Chiefs on average gave up 5 QB hits and 3 sacks a game. The Patriots have one of the elite pass rushes in the NFL, coming in second in the NFL in sacks. So by these measures, with everyone finally healthy on D and with the Chiefs starting 2 reserve lineman, the Pats had at best a pedestrian day getting to the QB and being less generous it was a sub-par effort. I'm willing to grant this one if they had decided what they needed to do was shut down Smith's scrambling like at GB last year, but they didn't completely shut down the scrambling and they did really struggle to put pressure on Smith compared to expectations.

So overall, I'll continue to disagree that the D had a bad day

It's like you arrived at your conclusion, went and found stats that did not support your conclusion, and then re-asserted your conclusion anyway.

They were far from terrible. Chung was awesome. They were good in the red zone. Their only three and out was timely. They forced (allowed?) KC to bleed clock. They even got a turn over.. They were good situationally and did what they needed to win but they didn't play very well for them. They were FAR from the dominant defense they are capable of being and many of us were hoping for when we didn't know the offense was going to look this good. I'm hoping for better effort and results next week.

 

[Stitch01]

Rewatching the game, the pass rush wasn't as bad in the first half as I thought.. They didn't get any sacks and fucked up the one Smith long run, but they were getting some pressure on Smith and forcing him out of the pocket and into hurried throws. The defense overall was fine in the 1st half. They just totally faded in the second half and Smith got a bunch of easy runs on that last KC drive, which seems to indicate a tiring defense.

 

[Valek123]

Great exchange - not sure where to post this that's most appropriate.

 

[amarshal2]

Jules is the type of guy who likes his own posts?

 

[Norm loves Vera]

I am not sure why.. but TB and JE busting chops with each other tells me they are good to go and at peace with where they are as a tandem and where the Patriots are as a team. I guess it's going back to Cowboy up.. but I like the vibe. Being loose.. like they are ready. For sure..they ain't scared.

 

[JimBoSox9]

For fuck's sake, it means Jules is brand-savvy as hell and taught Tom how to pay someone to be.

 

[JimBoSox9]

Jules is the type of guy who likes his own posts?

You even have to ask?

 

[Norm loves Vera]

For fuck's sake, it means Jules is brand-savvy as hell and taught Tom how to pay someone to be.

I am not sure if you are calling me an idiot here.. but if so. rock and roll. We get little noise from the Patriots and if I choose to rejoice in some social media banter.. I will embrace it.. I am sorry if that is not cool to you. I love it, and my first Pats at home game I went to was in the 70's.. so I am in my 50's and I will relish every morsel as I know dry times are ahead.

 

[The Big Red Kahuna]

I am not sure if you are calling me an idiot here.. but if so. rock and roll. We get little noise from the Patriots and if I choose to rejoice in some social media banter.. I will embrace it.. I am sorry if that is not cool to you. I love it, and my first Pats at home game I went to was in the 70's.. so I am in my 50's and I will relish every morsel as I know dry times are ahead.

Holy hell... Lighten up. He was merely pointing out that there is a 99% chance neither of them actually posted those "comments". If their PR guys having some fun makes you feel more confident, go with it. It was a very enjoyable/clever exchange, but I am fairly confident it means nothing come Sunday.

 

[chief1]

Yes, yes you can.

Or it could be true!
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/01/21/nfl-officials-forgot-air-gauges-footballs-in-hotel-before-chiefs-patriots/

 

[weeba]

Dola fined for his hit:


Patriots WR Danny Amendola said he received notice of a fine from the NFL for his hit on Chiefs CB Jamell Fleming. He plans to appeal.

 

[edmunddantes]

I see people referencing a Fitzgerald hit that was comparable, but not fined.

Does anyone have any idea which one it is and around what time in the game it was? I'm assuming one of the playoff games.

 

[DJnVa]

The very next day, don't remember when in the game.

 

[pappymojo]

From CBS Boston, the guy screaming in the background is more annoying than Kelce.

Edit: bad link

Against the Chiefs, he trotted the length of the field slowly, knowing it might be his last chance to soak in the atmosphere of Gillette Stadium this season. When he reached the end zone, he roared, slashing the air with a vigorous punch. Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, looking on from a few yards away, mocked Brady with a celebration of his own, punching the air and bobbing his head. Brady glanced at Kelce, acknowledging he had seen the gesture, but jogged away in a manner suggesting that lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.

 

[normstalls]

I think this is the link pappy was referring to:

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/01/22/travis-kelce-mocked-tom-brady-before-playoff-game-it-did-not-work-out-for-him/

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Or it could be true!
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/01/21/nfl-officials-forgot-air-gauges-footballs-in-hotel-before-chiefs-patriots/

Yes, but it doesn't mean you "can't make up" something like that.

 

[edmunddantes]

So when did the definition of blindside hit change to head on collisions?

Call it a shot to the head if you want (he was up in the neck area), but blindside hit?

So weird Amendola is being fined for a blindside hit.