Image Courtesy of newenglandpatriots.com
Tom Brady made quick work of the Denver Broncos Saturday
night, throwing six touchdowns passes—five in the first half—and making sure
Tebow-mania would not live on for another week. The next day, the Baltimore
Ravens defense showed why they were the third best in the NFL, recording three
interceptions against rookie QB T.J. Yates and holding the Texans to just 13
points. This week, the Patriots and Ravens clash in a classic “great offense vs.
great defense” matchup. Both have proven they are deserving, but only team one
can go to Indianapolis to challenge for the Lombardi Trophy.
The two teams met in the Wild Card Round after the 2009
season, a matchup which saw Ray Rice open the game with an 83-yard touchdown
run, a play after which the Ravens never looked back, destroying the Pats 33-14
and handing Brady and Belichick their first ever playoff losses at Gillette
Stadium. It was the worst playoff game of Brady’s career, but that was two
years ago and to go back to that game as a preview would be a mistake, as they
were wild card teams in 2009. They’re the top dogs of the AFC now. The game was
not what anybody expected, and, still, no one should expect anything close to a
blowout this time around.
At the end of last week’s game, star safety Ed Reed injured
his ankle, a scare for Baltimore, but X-Rays were negative and he should be
able to play Sunday at New England. With Reed playing on Sunday, Tom Brady calls
this Ravens team and, more specifically their defense, the best he’s faced all
year, something no team will say about the Patriots defense, ranked
second-worst in the league.
The Ravens defense has especially been strong against the
Patriots’ strongest weapons: their tight ends. In the regular season, the
Ravens D allowed just 64 receptions, 691 yards and three touchdowns to the
tight ends they faced: 3.8 receptions/game, 40.7 yards/game and a ridiculous
0.2 touchdowns/game. Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez have combined to average
10.8 receptions, 143.4 yards and nearly 2 touchdowns, 1.7, a game this year.
Something’s gotta give.
As good as the Ravens defense is, the offense is horribly
mediocre. The Patriots defense isn’t good, but they aren’t facing a powerhouse.
They need to be worried about Ray Rice, but Joe Flacco won’t light up the
Patriots defense… chances are that he won’t light up any defense; he’s thrown
for over 300 yards four times this year and has just two three touchdown games.
Even in their 2010 matchup, Flacco threw for just 34 yards. This Patriots
offense is much better than it was in that matchup. They will not be held to 14
points, as good as this Ravens D is.
Tom Brady threw for six touchdowns last week… and it
would have likely been more had the Broncos competed. Belichick knows he wasn’t
prepared in the teams’ last meeting and he’s not going to let the team
experience déjà vu. Even if the Ravens contain Hernandez and Gronk, the
Patriots still have a wide receiver that goes by the name of Wes Welker. They
still have arguably the best quarterback of this generation, who won’t make the
same mistakes twice. This will be a hard-fought battle, but I have to give the
edge to New England here. Coach John Harbaugh made mistakes last week that
would have cost him against a better team. The Patriots are a much better team
than Houston, and they will be headed to Indy when all is said and done on
Sunday.
Baltimore 23
New England 27
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