WEEK 16 - New England Patriots (11-3) @ Baltimore Ravens (7-5-2)
The Following players will not play in todays game:
New England Patriots (Injury Report)
Pos
Player
Injury Note
TE
Rob Gronkowski
Broken Thumb (1 Week)
LB
Dane Fletcher
Fractured Elbow (5 Weeks)
WR
Julian Edleman
MCL Tear (Season)
Baltimore Ravens (Injury Report)
Pos
Player
Injury Note
FS
Omar Brown
Forearm Fracture (1 Week)
DE
Brandon Williams
Broken Collarbone (2 Weeks)
DE
Arthur Jones
Upper Arm Fracture (2 Weeks)
LG
Kelechi Osemele
Dislocated Ankle (4 Weeks)
LB
Daryl Smith
Upper Arm Fracture (4 Weeks)
LB
Jameel McClain
Partial ACL Tear (5 Weeks)
1st HALF
The Patriots and Ravens square off in a big AFC match up with playoff implications. New England moved the ball on their 1st possession and settled for a Gostkowski field goal to take a 3-0 lead. The defenses for both teams were bringing it in the early stages as there were lots of big hits and the 1st quarter would end with New England leading 3-0 but Baltimore was driving into field goal range. The Ravens got a 33 yard FG from Tucker early in the 2nd quarter to tie the game at 3-3. The Ravens put together another drive midway through the 2nd quarter and had 1st & goal at the New England 5 yard line but the Patriots defense dug in and made a stand as they stuffed Ray Rice from the 2 yard line on 3rd down and Baltimore had to settle for another field goal and they took a 6-3 lead. The Patriots took the ensuing possession and ran the ball with authority as they moved the chains and put together a long drive that resulted in 1st & goal at the 1 yard line after Ridley went for 18 yards and was ruled out at the one as he dove for the end zone. Brandon Bolden punched it in for the TD on the next play to give the Patriots a 10-6 lead. The Patriots defense forced the Ravens to go 3 & out on their next possession and New England would get the ball back at their own 34 with 1:47 to play in the half. The Patriots moved the ball across midfield with 1:00 remaining in the half. The drive would stall at the 36 yard line and Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 53 yard FG with 0:43 to play in the half. The Ravens would get the ball across the 50 yard line but ran out of time and we would go to halftime with the Patriots leading 13-6. The first half was very evenly played as time of possession was within a minute of each other and both rushing and passing yardage was nearly identical.
2nd HALF
Josh Boyce took the opening kickoff of the 2nd half and found a seam as he broke free for 86 yards before finally being caught at the Baltimore 14 yard line. The Patriots had a short field and Stevan Ridley ran the ball in for a 3 yard TD to increase the Patriots lead to 20-6. The defenses for both teams continued to play great as neither of the offensive units were able to move the ball for long stretches int he 3rd quarter. New England did get in to FG range and Gostkowski booted a 46 yard FG with 0:58 to play in the 3rd quarter and we would head to the 4th quarter with New England leading 23-6. The Ravens had a 4th & 1 at midfield early in the 4th quarter and Ray Rice was stuffed by Jerod Mayo behind the line of scrimmage to force a turnover on downs to give the ball back to New England. Chandler Jones left the game with an injury on the play and it looked serious which could be disastrous if he is going to be out for a long period. The Patriots marched on the ensuing drive with a short field and Brady finished the drive off with a beautiful play action pass to barely used tight end DJ Williams to blow the game open at 30-6. New England added another field goal from Gostkowski on their way to a 33-6 victory.
* The Patriots improve to 12-3 on the season with a convincing 33-6 win over the Ravens. The victory keeps the Patriots hopes of securing the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs alive and most likely ends any chance of the Ravens earning one of the AFC Wild Card spots as they fall to 7-6-2 on the season.
* This was actually a very well played game that was much closer than the score indicated. The first half was very tightly played but New England dominated the 2nd half of this game. There were two huge plays that swung momentum and really effected the scoreboard. The first one came with the score 13-6 when Josh Boyce took the 2nd half kickoff 86 yards setting up a Patriots TD to make it 20-6. The other was when the Patriots stuffed Ray Rice on 4th & 1 with the score 23-6 early in the 4th quarter.
* Tom Brady did a great job of managing the offense as he completed 26 of 31 for 232 yards and a TD without throwing an interception
* Stevan Ridley ran for 105 yards and a TD as he continues to have a great season and is currently 5th in the NFL with 1,434 rushing yards on the season
* The Patriots defense was outstanding as they held the Ravens offense out of the end zone as they alolowed two first half field goals and then shut the Ravens out in the 2nd half. Unfortunately the Patriots suffered two major injuries to their defense in the 4th quarter of this game that could severely hurt their chances in the playoffs.
* Patriots DE Chandler Jones suffered an Upper Arm Fracture and he will miss 3 weeks. The Patriots have their final regular season game and then will get a bye, so Jones could make it back into the lineup if the Patriots reach the AFC Championship game. Andre Carter and Michael Buchanan will have to try and fill Jones shoes while he is out.
* LB Dont'a Hightower suffered a Torn Bicep and he will miss 7 weeks. The teams has placed Hightower on injured reserve which will end his season and open up a roster spot. This could be a big blow as the Patriots are already thin at LB with Dane Fletcher also injured. Rookie Jamie Collins will have to step up and play a key role on the defense going forward.
* The Patriots will get star TE Rob Gronkowski back next week but he will only play a limited role as the Patriots want to limit the risk of injury and have him ready to go in the playoffs.
* The 12-3 Patriots will have to play their starters in week 17 as they look to wrap up the #1 seed in the AFC as they currently hold a 1 game lead over the Indianapolis Colts who are currently 11-4 on the season. New England will wrap up the regular season next week at home against the Buffalo Bills who are 5-10 on the season.
Ive played about 5 games with these, loving them just a few things Ive noticed:
Like others, I've seen too many sacks (both ways)
Sometimes the computer lacks in passing
(likely not a slider problem)- Computer struggles greatly on 3rd down
(Player problem most of the time)- Way too many ints both ways
Thanks for all your hard work TNKNGM! I stayed up late last night reading through this thread and decided to load up your sliders. Let me give you my comments and leave you with a question if you would be so kind. I'm liking everything about the game but two things and I'm sure this is user related but here it goes. I like others are seeing too many interceptions so in your opinion would it be best to bump up my QB accuracy and take down the defenses reaction time? Which way should I go to help a bit? I haven't been able to get my QB romo past like 40% completions a game. I really feel like the game is so close but this is killing me.
Thanks for all your hard work TNKNGM! I stayed up late last night reading through this thread and decided to load up your sliders. Let me give you my comments and leave you with a question if you would be so kind. I'm liking everything about the game but two things and I'm sure this is user related but here it goes. I like others are seeing too many interceptions so in your opinion would it be best to bump up my QB accuracy and take down the defenses reaction time? Which way should I go to help a bit? I haven't been able to get my QB romo past like 40% completions a game. I really feel like the game is so close but this is killing me.
Maybe I can help a little....People talk about a lot of interceptions but I'm not seeing it myself...I just played the Seahawks and threw only 2 int's which was my fault on both.
I like when the CPU makes me pay for my mistake personally. These are some great sliders but also it is a base meaning change it according to your likings....