Wade and HIS Defense in his last playoff game

[LittleBoyBlue]

I remember there being some personal fouls that allowed the Pats to win the game BUT.. I am curious...

1. What were that teams weaknesses on defense in that game?
2. How did Wade do? Could have done something better?
3. Was it just the bonehead personal fouls that lost them the game?

I ask these questions because... well... he is here... not only as a voice on the defense but the Head Coach.

 

[Yeagermeister]

The only PF I remember was a safety head butting a wr after the play was over and they had stopped them on 3rd down.

SD's biggest problem was they stopped doing what got them to the playoffs.....running the ball with the leagues best rb LT.

 

[Rampage]

sd also intercepted brady on fourth down but than troy brown stripped the charger who intercepted the pass. the pats got the ball back than scored. on defense they pretty much beat them selves

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

i watched that game and the impression I got was that they were playing prevent ant the end of both halves and still trying to pass the ball. if you are trying to run out the clock with prevents AND you have the best runningback of this generation it seems like a nobrainer to me.

Poor game management by Shottenheimer.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

It seems the Chargers were playing a lot of man-to-man, at least with the corners. The Pats were going after Jammer some-- and he was getting beat.

 

[CATCH17]

It was just a good football game.

Marty gets a little blame but his players turned into boneheads in that game and Brady eventually came up big in the end.

Chargers definetely were outcoached they just pointed the gun at their own foot and pulled the trigger.

 

[TEK2000]

In the 4th Quarter Tom Brady is what happened. The Pats called 20 straight passing plays over 3 drives.

He pretty much just picked apart their secondary. The guys up front were able to put pressure on Brady when they tried to throw to longer routes but for the most part they just ate the secondary up a few yards at a time keeping their drives going. They had 1 pass for 49 yards and all others were for less than 20 yards a piece in the 4th quarter.

Play by play:
http://www.superbowl.com/gamecenter/playbyplay/NFL_20070114_NE@SD

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

The only PF I remember was a safety head butting a wr after the play was over and they had stopped them on 3rd down.

SD's biggest problem was they stopped doing what got them to the playoffs.....running the ball with the leagues best rb LT.

I hear ya Tek but as Yeag already posted.... perhaps if the Chargers run the ball and eat up the clock more then Brady doesnt has as many opps, rhythm... etc...

I do agree that Tom did take advantage of his plays/drives and executed like a champ... but it seems that Marty is more to blame here...

In the 4th Quarter Tom Brady is what happened. The Pats called 20 straight passing plays over 3 drives.

He pretty much just picked apart their secondary. The guys up front were able to put pressure on Brady when they tried to throw to longer routes but for the most part they just ate the secondary up a few yards at a time keeping their drives going. They had 1 pass for 49 yards and all others were for less than 20 yards a piece in the 4th quarter.

Play by play:
http://www.superbowl.com/gamecenter/playbyplay/NFL_20070114_NE@SD

 

[Muhast]

His defense made the big play and lost it as big bad roy said.

INT on a crucial 4th down and then fumbled it away

 

[superpunk]

The Chargers dominated that game almost more than anyone has ever dominated a game and still managed to lose. Untimely turnovers, mismanagement of the running game...

also, when you live by the blitz, you can also die by it when playing a guy as good as Tom Brady - especiallly when you've got a secondary as devoid of talent as the Chargers'. They paid for it when Brady caught fire.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

If Troy Brown doesn't strip the safety after that interception, the Chargers almost certainly win.

I'd still take forcing three interceptions off the best QB in the league (at least IMO -- and definitely the best pressure QB in the league) any day. And IIRC, a couple of those INTs were bad ones where Brady was fooled by the scheme he saw and not any great individual play by the DB. It's not often you see Brady get fooled like that.

 

[cowboyz]

http://www.superbowl.com/gamecenter/drives/NFL_20070114_NE@SD


the killer was the play right before the end of the half, they had a 2nd and 17, and patriots made it and scored a td and don't forget the 5yd offsides penalty on donnie edwards at the SD 11yd line.

the 3rd qtr 5:20 7 play 15 yd fg drive is actually a recovered muffed punt, they started at the NE 2

the 4th qtr 6:16 td drive was the int recovery by troy brown

then of course the 4th qtr 3:30 fg, 3rd and 10 san diego blitzed brady threw it up long along the sidelines against quentin jammer.

 

[Sooner_GA]

The PF and the striped interception, a really good Patriots team with Tom Brandy at QB and Sean Merriman who dominated games early in the season was never the same after the steroids suspension, and for that matter did nothing against the Pats.

 

[Rampage]

The PF and the striped interception, a really good Patriots team with Tom Brandy at QB and Sean Merriman who dominated games early in the season was never the same after the steroids suspension, and for that matter did nothing against the Pats.

he was still getting sacks after he came back from suspension. the pats also have a very good o-line. he can't get a sack every game

 

[Sooner_GA]

Big Bad,

He had one sack but he only had one other tackle beside the sack, hardly what you want from your dominant player on defense.

 

[bayarealightning]

The Chargers lack of playoff experience allowed N.E. to hang in the game and eventually win it. there were personal fouls, dropped interceptions, a muffed punt, an interception on 4th down and fumbled the ball right back. The Chargers played tight (even Marty went for it on 4th down when we could have went for a FG), and N.E. played like champs. You would expect a team like the chargers to come out a little tight, but once you get that first hit, it should revert to exctly what it is, a football game. You can't keep giving N.E. chances in the playoffs.

Also, Merriman got injured in that game, and like a poster said, N.E. went to the short pass, outside of the one deep pass to Caldwell over Jammer. That should have been a nice victory but mental mistakes allowed N.E. to do their magic. A young team has to learn and grow from that experience.

 

[smarta5150]

The Chargers lack of playoff experience allowed N.E. to hang in the game and eventually win it. there were personal fouls, dropped interceptions, a muffed punt, an interception on 4th down and fumbled the ball right back. The Chargers played tight (even Marty went for it on 4th down when we could have went for a FG)

This is the best summary of the game.

Chargers really did dominate the game and handed it over with stupid little things as mentioned above.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

The Chargers lack of playoff experience allowed N.E. to hang in the game and eventually win it.

I aint buying that. NE plays EVERY TEAM that way. Chargers were ready. They blew it.

A young team has to learn and grow from that experience.

Well yeah.... but they dominated and should have won. Period.



I mean seriously... I could use the same excuse for us... but I wont.... we should have won.... lack of experience had nothing to do with it.

 

[smarta5150]

I aint buying that. NE plays EVERY TEAM that way. Chargers were ready. They blew it.





Well yeah.... but they dominated and should have won. Period.



I mean seriously... I could use the same excuse for us... but I wont.... we should have won.... lack of experience had nothing to do with it.

I left out that excuse stuff.

But the facts, like you said, they did dominate and handed the Pats the game with stupid errors.

But anyway, in no way do I blame the coaching staff.

2 PFs, a muffed punt were the back breakers. A dropped INT or 2 wouldnt have hurt either but they do happen.

 

[Idgit]

...Also, Merriman got injured in that game, and like a poster said, N.E. went to the short pass, outside of the one deep pass to Caldwell over Jammer. That should have been a nice victory but mental mistakes allowed N.E. to do their magic. A young team has to learn and grow from that experience.

Merriman, what, twisted an ankle and missed some of the second half. Also, Phillips/Castillo (?) went down with a hammy and didn't return, so there was a lot of pressure on the DBs when Brady was throwing it.

Still, if McCree had just gotten down, or if SD had remembered they had LT on the roster, they probably would have won. Great. Game.