After looking at this through sober eyes, two things stand out. 1st and foremost was field position all game, but particularly in the first half. They did their damage in the 2nd quarter. Here's the drive chart for the second quarter. Punting got us this game, but not on our returners, but on what had been a strength, which is the punting team. Makes me wonder if he re injured that hamstring?
View attachment 1654
Bad punting gave them the field position, turnovers cost us opportunities for equalizing scores. That seems like it pretty much in a nutshell to me now. You have a limited playbook when you are starting inside your twenty. They could go wide open starting from close to midfield. Second half was more equitable field-position wise, and we flipped the results, dominating time of possession and yardage, but turnovers killed some great drives. Both defenses were really, really good.
View attachment 1654
Bad punting gave them the field position, turnovers cost us opportunities for equalizing scores. That seems like it pretty much in a nutshell to me now. You have a limited playbook when you are starting inside your twenty. They could go wide open starting from close to midfield. Second half was more equitable field-position wise, and we flipped the results, dominating time of possession and yardage, but turnovers killed some great drives. Both defenses were really, really good.