Patriots vs. Ravens: The good, the bad, the s—t that gets you beat

Ahead of this year’s training camp, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained that he was looking at his team’s performances in three distinct categories. There is the good, the bad, and, as he called it, the s—t that gets you beat.

The Patriots’ 28-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night featured a little bit of it all. So, if the coach wants to look at his team through all three of those categories, who are we to disagree? Let’s break down the Week 16 game in exactly that manner.

The good: Crunch time performance

All the Patriots might have needed last week against the Buffalo Bills was one more stop or one more big play on offense. They got neither, and eventually saw a 21-0 lead slip out of their grasp and turn into their third loss of the season.

The Patriots were in a different situation on Sunday against Baltimore, but the circumstances were similar. One or two plays going the other way could have made all the difference in the end. This time, though, they managed to make those plays to erase what had become a 24-13 deficit in the early the fourth quarter.

The offense produced back-to-back touchdown drives, while the defense came up with some crucial stops and a key turnover to help seal the deal. In a sense, the crunch time performance was therefore the polar opposite of last week’s outing.

“It says everything about this team,” said outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson. “Last week, we missed an opportunity to prove that. It was a quick turnaround to make sure that we capitalized and finished this game. It’s all about the will and the want to as a defense, and it was all about making a play when it was your turn to make a play. It’s always exciting for these opportunities to show up big in the big moments.”

“I think it was good to be in a game like this where we battled, and it was tied, and we got down, and momentum kind of shifted the other way, then our guys battled back,” said Mike Vrabel. “We got stops. Offense continued to attack. Our quarterback battled. Our receivers came through and the runners. I felt like it was a big team win. It’s a huge team win.”

The bad: That fake punt

All season long, the Patriots have benefitted from some sound in-game decision making from their coaching staff. Sunday, however, saw what could have turned out to be a costly call: running a fake punt with 2:01 left in the third quarter.

Personal protector Marte Mapu received the snap from rookie Julian Ashby and was supposed to throw the ball toward the opposite hash and fullback Jack Westover. However, Baltimore reacted well and Mapu was forced to improvise. It went poorly, leading to a turnover on downs that set up a Ravens touchdown seven plays later.

The execution was one thing. The decision to call the play in the first place is an entirely different discussion, and one that warrants scrutiny given the game situation.

Not only were the Patriots trailing by only four points, they also were going up against a Ravens offense that had lost its starting quarterback, Lamar Jackson, to injury. Sure, backup Tyler Huntley had led the team to a touchdown on his previous drive, and hindsight is 20/20, but New England playing the field position game seemingly would have been a better choice in this particular instance.

It did not hurt them in the end, but the gamble did make the challenge a tougher one all around.

The s—t that gets you beat: Run defense

Going up against a Ravens rushing attack averaging an NFL-high 5.2 yards per carry entering the game, the Patriots’ issues versus the run were on full display yet again. On the opening drive, Baltimore marched right down the field before scoring a 21-yard Derrick Henry touchdown.

That play set the tone for the rest of the game. Baltimore ended the game with 172 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries, averaging 5.4 yards per rush. Even with Henry losing a fumble in the first quarter, the Ravens posted 0.07 expected points added per run and a success rate of 48% — both in the 80+ percentiles in the respective categories.

Of course, the Patriots’ personnel issues. did not make the task any easier. Besides missing defensive tackle Milton Williams missing a fourth and possibly final game on injured reserve, New England also lost Khyiris Tonga and Joshua Farmer to injury. In addition, linebacker Robert Spillane was inactive for the game because of an ankle issue.

Getting all of them back should help the unit rebound after some rough outings. That said, individual performances at the point of attack or at the second and third levels also need to improve; stopping the run is a team undertaking, and the team has had its ups and downs.

“We’re going to learn from it because there was a lot of stuff that we could’ve cleaned up,” said safety Jaylinn Hawkins, who punched the ball out from Henry on that aforementioned fumble. “There was a lot of stuff we could’ve done better, and even though it’s better with a win, we’ll always learn from the good and bad.”