ALP

Brady:
Ridley
Woody
Vereen

Welker
Lloyd
Branch

AHern
Hooman

Flacco:
Rice
Pierce
Leach

Boldin
Smith
Jones

Pitta
Dickson

Let me know if i missed anyone significant...this is an interesting point that i just heard, i believe a VERY good case can be made that Flacco is working w/ the better arsenal since Brady wont have Gronk

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Brady_to_Moss

pats...ahern= both of their TEs plus some

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TheBostonStraggler

It's an arguable point...maybe the nod goes to the Ravens? But it is close. Fortunately it means very little unless you factor in who is the throwing the ball and who is calling the plays. I'll take TFB, JM and our receivers over JF, JC and their receivers. No disrespect to the Ravens but I think the choice is clear once that is factored in.

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NewFeep

Excellent analysis, and I heartily agree with your assessment!

Mack Herron

I would add that it is more about match-ups of these receivers against the guys who will be covering them in this game.

ivanvamp

Not counting salaries, and just looking at talent, here's how I'd rank them:

RBs
1. Rice (Bal)
2. Ridley (NE)
3. Pierce (Bal) - 532 rush yds, 4.9 avg
4. Vereen (NE)
5. Woodhead (NE)
6. Leach (Bal)

Pierce is very good and we'd love to have him. I think Vereen has the ability to be very explosive. Rice is the best RB in the group, by a sizeable margin, IMO.

WRs
1. Welker (NE)
2. Smith (Bal) - man how nice would it be to have him opposite Welker!
3. Lloyd (NE)
4. Boldin (Bal)
5. Jones (Bal)
6. Branch (NE)

Welker is the best WR of the group, by far. But Smith and Jones are the two most explosive. Boldin is still a very good receiver. On the whole, I'd take Baltimore's group here.

TEs
1. Hernandez (NE)
2. Pitta (Bal)
3. Dickson (Bal)
4. Hoomanawanui (NE)

Hernandez laps Pitta in a contest, but Pitta is solid. Hoo-man has been coming on of late, but I think Dickson is better.

So here's how my various personnel groupings would look:

2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE: Rice, Ridley, Welker, Smith, Hernandez (3 NE, 2 Bal)
1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE: Rice, Welker, Smith, Lloyd, Hernandez (4 NE, 1 Bal)
1 RB, 2 WR, 2 TE: Rice, Welker, Smith, Hernandez, Pitta (3 NE, 2 Bal)
2 RB, 1 WR, 2 TE: Rice, Ridley, Welker, Hernandez, Pitta (3 NE, 2 Bal)

So I think the talent level is pretty close actually. Both O-lines are playing very well, but I think the key difference is the QBs. Brady is much better than Flacco. That doesn't mean that Brady will have a better game on Sunday, because it's totally possible he doesn't. Flacco has outplayed Brady recently in head-to-head matchups. But over the long run, obviously Brady is significantly better.

ausbacker

You have Pierce far too high against the Patriots running backs. He would be (if that) higher than only Brandon Bolden.

ivanvamp

Why do you say that? He had 532 rushing yards this year with a 4.9 average. That's really, really good. Vereen and Woodhead only averaged 4.0 yards per carry apiece. I know they're both more versatile in terms of receiving, and I think it's closer than the rushing yards alone would make it appear, but Pierce is good.

ausbacker

I've watched plenty of Baltimore games. Woodhead and Vereen have a far greater skill-set than Pierce. His play suggests he's no threat in the passing game.

RelocatedPatFan

Smith might be the only receiver they have that could operate in our offense and obviously it can't be qualified one way or another (because if we could evaluate receivers in the NEP offense, we'd probably be hired by BB).

That said, I would say that each team has weapons that work for their QBs and some weapons that would work for either team. For Example, Welker would be good to very good with Flacco, but with TB, he's great. Ray Rice would work equally well on both teams (and probably a bit better on ours because Flacco is no TB)

So the question might be how would the player potential be effected by changing QBs?

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