Ice_Ice_Brady

Why so defensive, Ravens fan?

In my opinion, both of the points, about the Ravens not beating a good passing game and about the Pats not beating a team with a winning record, are really not very relevant.

We've seen over the years the Ravens shut down great quarterbacks, and just because they haven't been given the opportunity in 2011 means very little. They have the same players and coaches.

Likewise, is anyone really honestly believing that this Patriots team is not very good because of their lack of "quality" wins? What is their record over the last five years? If it's not the best in the NFL, it's close, and I'm guessing that over that span with many of these players, there record against good teams stacks up with anyone.

Satchboogie3

I'll address these individually:
'hmm.. maybe we should ask the Giants or Pittsburgh.. oh right.. your offense is peaking.. and our defense is stagnant..'

We played poorly in both of those games, especially our defense. It's also important to note just how banged up our defense was. That said, those games happen. That said, it was also fairly early in the season. We have seen a lot of improvement since then.

As for "our defense is stagnant", I never said that. I said it's not as dominant as the stats make it out to be. Balt still have a solid defense, I just don't think it's dominant or a top 5 defense.

"The Patriots might struggle to score 20+ points.. if the Ravens execute that is.."

If they execute and the pats O-line falls apart and Brady has a bad game, then yes, they could struggle to score 20. It's happened before. That said, it's more likely that it doesn't happen. I never said it's not a possibility.

"Problem is the Patriots might score 30 and still lose, with the defense they have.."

That Pats defense is WAY underrated. They ranked 15th in Points allowed, despite being called the worst defense in the league. They are actually healthy now for the first time since the beginning of the season and looked damned good last week. They also only allowed 30+ once this season, waaayyy back in week 3 when Fitzpatrick was playing way over his head (remember him leading the league in everything the first month?). The Ravens average offense is not going to hit 30. Extremely unlikely (way way way more unlikely than the Pats scoring 30+ and winning).

"(Boldin, Evans, Smith, Pitta, Dickson, Ray Rice, Leach) is no joke against a bottom half defense."

Again, we are right in the middle on defense, not bottom half. As noted, we are also healthy and looking good/confident. It'll be tough for sure, not doubting that, but we should win if we give up under 30, which shouldn't be hard.

"Y'all better hope you can get to Flacco with a 4 man rush"

With the way the D-line has played the last 2 months and the way a healthy Spikes and Mayo combo looked against Denver, we can get to Flacco with 4. It'll come down to execution.

Anything more?

I think you seem to think we aren't giving Balt a shot. I think it could be a very tough game and it is a real possibility we lose. However I think the Pats are the better team and are playing extremely well. I expect that trend to continue. If the Ravens come out and spank the Pats I'll be the first one to admit I was wrong and that the Patriots were a smoke-and-mirrors team again. I just don't think that's going to happen.

__________________
This is the year. We put our failures in the past, it's a new year, a new defense. It's time to prove to the league that the Patriots are back and aren't going anywhere and they will be the last ones standing in Feb.
Update: Well that didn't work out as I had planned. Next year baby, next year 19-0 we go. Next year.

sly24

So the Ravens faced only one top 10 offense and lost BAD. Hopefully the same thing happens again but I wouldn't count on it. This is a championship game, the Ravens will bring their a-game for sure. They score 20 pts on average on the road but I doubt this will be enough against us. Flacco needs to step up big time for them to win.

RealityCheck52

Spin it how you wish.

I feel confident taking the Ravens league leading 68.8 QB avg rating against into the AFC Championship game in Foxborough against Tom Brady.

I suspect as has obtained in the past TB will end up in the low 80's against the Ravens and nowhere near 35 points as he struggles against the #1 Ranked pass defense (by QB rating) in the league.

The Ravens defense is not an illusion boys and girls.. sorry to burst your bubbles.

It is as much an illusion as your high powered offense.

What should be of concern:

Brady cannot score if he is not on the field.

Is your defense and its 5th worst 43% 3rd Down rate up to the task ?

I think not.

Not against (Rice, Boldin, Smith, Evans, Pitta, Dickson)
and the 7th ranked Baltimore 3rd down conversion (42%) rate.

Strength against Weakness.. whoop there it is.

Brady cannot pass when he is on the bench.

RealityCheck52

Ok to summarize.. the Ravens defense is not top 5 and the Patriots defense is underrated..

Gotcha.

What about the Steelers, Houston, San Fran and Jets defense.. are they top 5 ?



You are in for a shocker.

patsinthesnow

The new Pats defense has a very small sample size (a game and a half) but its very different from the Pats bad defense majority of season.

1. 4-3 switch to 3-4.

2. Chung and Spikes have returned, run D goes from average to very good.

3. Mccourty from CB to FS. Has looked good there.

4. Putting UDFA Moore at Mccourty's CB Spot (quickly becoming a board binky,looks very good).


I love the back and forth debating though, its nice to be in a big game again.

Satchboogie3

You act like the Ravens shutdown all these elite QBs. The Ravens faced 3 Elite QBs all year, and of them, 1 had a great game, 2 had solid games, and 1 had a bad game. Every other QB faced was average or worse. Oh, and of those 3 Elite QBs, 1 just came off the worst year of his career... Brady will be the best QB the Ravens face this year by a LONG SHOT.

Historically Brady has torn apart great passing defenses. Heck, his record setting 2007 season was played out against one of the toughest schedules (in terms of passing defenses faced) in league history. Yes, he has had his troubles with Balt before, but this is a different team than they faced even back in 2010.

Also, least I remind you the Pats are 3-1 vs the Ravens since '07 with the 1 loss coming after we had just lost Welker for the season and our offense was basically all practice squaders for the game.

How can Brady not score if he isn't on the field? The Pats are a quick score offense. He doesn't need 8 minutes to score a TD, he doesn't even need 2 minutes.

And how is it an illusion? If it was such an easy to shutdown offense, how have they been at the top of the league in scoring and yards since '07? They are arguably harder to shutdown right now than they were in '07.

And I'll repeat, our defense isn't as bad as the numbers suggest. It would be like saying your defense sucks when you're top 3+ defensive players are out at the same time for an extended period of time. You'd argue they are injury ridden and will be better when healthy. It's no different with the Pats defense. They were badly banged up all year but are finally healthy again.

__________________
This is the year. We put our failures in the past, it's a new year, a new defense. It's time to prove to the league that the Patriots are back and aren't going anywhere and they will be the last ones standing in Feb.
Update: Well that didn't work out as I had planned. Next year baby, next year 19-0 we go. Next year.

flynismo

Can only play what's on the schedule.

Aren't you the same guys who get pissed at the media for ragging on you about never beating a team with a winning record?

flynismo

Except us. He has been downright mediocre against us over our last four meetings. Might want to recheck your "history".

Satchboogie3

Some do, I don't. I think it's a fair point. I also think it isn't going to matter much though. We did have to face adversity and won a big game in the playoffs to put us in the AFC Championship game. However, the question marks are there. No one can confidently say that the Defense is as good as they looked in the Denver game. Both points (they were average during the season vs but they are now fully healthy) are valid. Brady's less-than-stellar performances against the Ravens is a valid point as well, though again, you could argue it doesn't matter as he's playing lights out right now, with the rest of the offense, and they have only once lost to the Ravens and were missing a lot of key players in the loss.

I have no idea how it will play out. The O-line could fall apart and we lose. We could lose a close, 27-24 type game. We could win a close 30-27 type game. We could win easy, we could even blow them out. All I know is that I feel very confident with what I've seen from this team and think they have a good shot at winning and perhaps even winning big if they play as well as they are capable of.

In the end, my main thoughts are this: I'm a Pats fan, I really like what I've seen from the Pats recently, I want to see them win the SB again, and we MUST win this game to advance. It's as simple as that. They have to win. They might not, but I'm not accepting it until it happens. Fortunately I don't have to be delusional since we do have a great looking team.

__________________
This is the year. We put our failures in the past, it's a new year, a new defense. It's time to prove to the league that the Patriots are back and aren't going anywhere and they will be the last ones standing in Feb.
Update: Well that didn't work out as I had planned. Next year baby, next year 19-0 we go. Next year.