shmessy

Just a little something I haven't heard or seen much discussion about in all this cacaphony.

They were 1-4 down the stretch in the regular season.

At home, they beat a team everyone pegged as the worst playoff team in the tournament.

They gutted out a courageous win against the vastly overrated (and schedule-untested)Broncos.

Everyone talks about Ladarius Webb being out, but that was earlier in the season and they seemed to get around that. What may be a bigger loss for them is the Week 14 loss of Jameel McClain in that linebacker corps.

__________________
"They (Patriots) may be the greatest team ever" - Chris Mortenson, January 18, 2005 on espn.com

patchick

1-4 down the stretch.

"Defensive team," yet gave up more points than the Patriots.

Full-season point differential of just +51, which on a playoff team indicates inconsistency at best.

Obviously, the Ravens have some dangerous weapons and some smart veteran players. But overall, looking at their season and its trajectory, there's plenty of reason to question how good this team really is.

mayoclinic

Points allowed since the beginning of December by the Ravens:

12/2: 23 to Pittsburgh (@ home)
12/9: 31 to Washington (away)
12/16: 34 to Denver (@ home)
12/23: 14 to NY Giants (@ home)
12/30: 23 to Cincinnati (away)
1/6: 9 to Indianapolis (@ home)
1/12: 35 to Denver (away)

That's an average of 24 PPG over those 7 games, and a road average of 29.7 PPG.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

mosi

Makes no difference. They are 2-0 in the post-season.

Also, I wonder if the Pats had spent some extra time on Denver, expecting to win against Houston and Denver to win as well.

BrainTrust66

Doubt it - basically because they had played both teams this year and because I doubt BB would have assumed a Denver win. That does not sound like him.

__________________
"The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win."
- Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.

"It's not a lie if you believe it"
- George Costanza

Nunchucks

I agree, their record gives no indication on how they are playing right now, which is pretty friggin good.

However, based on match ups, the Patriots should beat the Ravens on Sunday, in a game that isn't as close as the score might indicate.

__________________
Patriots Season Ticket Holder!

PATRIOTSFANINPA

Why do some of you continue to look as to how they did the games before the playoffs?

It's simply moronic and means nothing

Getting hot at the right time is an overrated statement when judging a teams performance in December

The key to winning a title is just getting in and then playing your best,it does not matter what you did beforehand.......just get in the tournament which the Ravens did and are 2-0 so far.

Games in December don't end your season unless you are on or near the bubble so who cares what they did back then?

A team that starts out 12-0 and finishes 12-4 means they are done in the playoffs because they were 0-4 in December?........please

BrainTrust66

The caveat here is that 14 points in last week's game were produced for Denver by special teams, so really you can say that they are 15 PPG allowed on DEFENSE in the playoffs.

I agree with the overall tone of this reply, but I do think they've looked better in the last couple of weeks.

__________________
"The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win."
- Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.

"It's not a lie if you believe it"
- George Costanza

DarrylStingley

Not exactly coming into the tourney and the AFC Champ game on a major roll!

MrNathanDrake

Texans started out 11-1 and backed into the playoffs.

How'd that turn out?

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.