Make mistakes against a team like the New England Patriots, and they’ll make you pay.
The Baltimore Ravens found that out the hard way Monday night when the Patriots turned two blown assignments into nine points in a 30-23 victory at Gillette Stadium.
The first miscue came on the opening play of Baltimore’s second possession. Backed up at their own 1-yard line, thanks to some superb Patriots punt coverage, the Ravens called for a handoff to running back Kenneth Dixon in an effort to pick up a few yards of breathing room. Dixon didn’t even make it back to the line of scrimmage.
Immediately after the snap, Patriots defensive tackle Malcom Brown whisked past Ravens guard Vladimir Ducasse, manhandled fullback Kyle Juszczyk and dropped Dixon in the end zone for a safety.
Speaking in a conference call Tuesday morning, Patriots coach Bill Belichick explained how Brown was able to maraud into the Baltimore backfield with relative ease.
“It looked like what happened was, when we moved the front, the guard, Ducasse, instead of blocking Malcom, blocked down,” Belichick said. “So that left Malcom just kind of standing right there in the hole. The fullback had to take him. I don’t think that’s who the fullback was assigned to. I think he was assigned to block the linebacker, and the guard was assigned to the tackle, but you know, it’s tough in that situation.
“Offensively, when the defense (shifts) late, you’re in the end zone, there is a bunch of crowd noise, the ball’s snapped, and there is a missed assignment or a little bit of hesitation or indecision. The defense can gain an advantage there. So again, I think that was one of those plays probably that the Ravens made an error in their blocking or their communication or whatever happened.”
The next example came much later in the game, with the Patriots holding a slim 23-20 lead after the Ravens had reeled off 17 unanswered points. Facing a first-and-10 from his own 21-yard line with six-and-a-half minutes to play, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady received a shotgun snap, settled in the pocket and delivered a deep strike to a wide-open Chris Hogan.
Hogan had split safeties Matt Elam and Eric Weddle, and no Ravens defender was within 5 yards of him when he hauled in Brady’s pass near midfield. From there, the wide receiver turned on the jets and sprinted untouched for a 79-yard touchdown — the longest of his career — that all but sealed the game.
“It looks like an easy play,” Belichick explained, “but it’s really a little bit of a tough read for the quarterback and the receiver when a coverage kind of breaks down like that. (You have to know) how to read the coverage based on our rules that we have for running against a single-high safety or a split-safety look. It kind of wasn’t really either. So as a receiver, you just have to be decisive and take the read that you think it is. It’s a little bit of a dirty read, and fortunately Tom saw it the same way.
“It’s a case of taking advantage of an opponent’s mistake, and in this case, we were able to do it. It’s a great play by Chris and Tom, good protection. They made an error. We were able to capitalize on it.”
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
