We're on to Baltimore

bigballas said:

2013...ravens come in here w 4 game win streak w playoff on the line. We smash them in the mouth...

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Didn't we beat them in their house?

Rob0729 said:

And the loss before that, Gronk was barely able to walk in the game. He played, but if it was a regular season game there would have been no way he played because he was probably at something like 30%. He was barely a decoy in that game because he could barely move.

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no, Gronk sprained his ankle early in the third quarter against Baltimore in the 2011 AFC championship when Pollard cheap shotted him. He was fine for the first half.

if we can't beat ravens at home then we have no business going to SB because seahawks will absolutely embarrass us like how they did it against denver.

ravens is a good test. we will know more about this team next week.
the real test begins.

Tom E Curran brought up a good point on Twitter. Prior to the Jets game where Connolly and Edelman were out, the Pats had only given up 4 sacks in prior 8 games. So all this talk about the o-line being a huge problem is overstated.

mosi said:

But that game was closer than the final score. And Flacco was on a bum knee. Brady also looked really strong and in control in the 1st half and not so great in the 2nd half.

With that said, Blount played really well and in the end, the Patriots ran it down their throat and won the game. Brady needs to protect the ball and the pats can't turn the ball over.

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It was 17-0 at halftime and 20-0 going into the 3rd quarter, 27-7 with 2 minutes left. Game was never close.

1) Belichick has already made sure the Patriots don't care about their seeding in the playoffs. The seedings don't matter now once you know you have HFA throughout the AFC battles. They haven't mattered since the Jets game. Worrying about seedings is for teams seeded #2 through #6 and the media.

2) As far as the game, Ravens, Steelers and Colts were all recent Super Bowl winners, where as only Brady and Wilfork have a ring on the Patriots player personnel. Beating the winner by a point will be a success, especially as the Ravens won by two scores. I'm hoping the Patriots feel very motivated to bring a ring to New England. It's time for everybody to move past the prior rings 9 to 12 years ago. Let's start a new dynasty!

3) In the three prior weeks to Jan. 10, the Patriots are 1-1, and only won by 1 point against a then-3 win team, then lost to an average team whose Head Coach quit just 3 days later. I don't want us to be happy about winning a division title every year and playing the percentages. I want to see the Patriots play like they're all about to retire on a high note.

Bring on the Ravens!

TommyBrady12 said:

no, Gronk sprained his ankle late in the game against Baltimore in the 2011 AFC championship when Pollard cheap shotted him. He was fine for most of that tilt.

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I thought we are talking about the last two playoff losses in general. Not the last two Ravens losses. My bad.

Soxcrates said:

This game will simply come down to how well Brady plays in this game. Let's be honest, Brady has been less than amazing in playoffs for some time now so he has to play at a very very high level Saturday. There is not an AFC team left in the playoffs that has this type of a smash mouth defense like the Ravens and the dubious status of the current O line for the Pats has to be very concerning, it is a game like this that will make the Logan Mankins trade look stupid. Protect Brady and he plays to his capability and makes no mistakes the Pats win. Flacco will be strong he is a different QB in the playoffs and the Ravens are playing on house money. Worst matchup for the Pats. They win this game they go to the Super Bowl

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This is one of the few posts here I completely agree with.

This is the game Brady needs to play his best playoff game, possibly ever.

Dear Lord

The Ravens are like the turd that won't flush.....

I do not fear the Ravens at all....they just match up well against the Pats which always seems to come down 3 points wins with a package of tums being consumed in the process.

We have Revis, Browner the enforcer, Collins and Hightower playing out of their minds, a HEALTHY Chandler, a rested O-Line that is healthy, Ayers stepping up big and pass-rushing well, Brady with confidence and a competent group of receivers and most importantly Gronk in full out BEAST MODE..........

They did not have these factors the years before which will make the difference now, so let the Ravens get ****y even talk some s**t.........I smell a good ole' revenge beat down courtesy of Brady and Co.

We are not on to Baltimore, they are coming to us that'll be an advantage. No one said the path to the SB is a cake walk. Who has the best coach and QB? OK, so let's get positive. We can do this. Snow might be a factor, freezing rain might be a factor. We will be ready. Whoever plays the best or gets the breaks will win. I am hoping that is us. I still had a great season.

Go Pats.

as most have stated, the oline vs ravens d line is the biggest concern for me. I think they will be able to run the ball on us as zone blocking running has worked vs us. Whether kubiak sticks with it is another story. Dont thing we can run on them. Jules has to have a big game for us and I suspect pees is going to try and take him away. This was a big win for the ravens and they are going to be on a high.

Dear god please let our oline hold up

Rob0729 said:

Tom E Curran brought up a good point on Twitter. Prior to the Jets game where Connolly and Edelman were out, the Pats had only given up 4 sacks in prior 8 games. So all this talk about the o-line being a huge problem is overstated.

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Completely overstated. If they are relatively healthy the OL is solid. People also seem to be forgotten after the Pats settled on an OL in the 2nd half in the jests game outside of the INT that was more gift than anything that DL was pretty invisible. Anyone looking at that Buffalo game as an indicator of the OL is an idiot, the best 2 OL were out Connolly and Vollmer as were the #1 and #2 receivers in Gronk and Edelman.

Like do people forget that span between Cincinatti and Detriot where it seemed like every week the chicken littles were crapping themselves about the opposing DL only for the Pats to dominate offensively.

Rob0729 said:

I thought we are talking about the last two playoff losses in general. Not the last two Ravens losses. My bad.

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when else did gronk play with a bum leg? the only two leg injuries he's had are the torn ACL against cleveland and the high ankle sprain against baltimore....

I am not worried about the ravens offense because #1 the ravens are the worst offense left in the whole playoffs and #2 every one knows the pats weakness on defense anyone not covered by Browner or Revis has the potential to get a first down that's a weakness vs all 31 teams if they cant generate a pass rush,

the problem is this team lives and dies on how Brady plays in the playoffs and the ravens have two smaller type pass rushers the kind of guys that give Nate Solder problems and they have Haloti Ngata in the middle to stop Brady from stepping up in the pocket, I don't think the pats can run the ball vs the ravens so that means Brady throwing the ball 40+ times vs a team that had 49 sacks in the reg season,

I still have the pats winning this game but I would rather be facing the colts who should win easy vs cincy without A.J Green

BTW, the key to this game is establishing the run. The Steelers got WWWWAAAAAAYYYYYY too pass happy tonight. In the first half, they ran 11 times and passed 27 times. In the second half, ran 8 times and passed 21 times. They got way too one dimensional which allowed the Ravens to pin their ears back and put extra men in coverage. That is why their horrible secondary actually looked pretty good tonight because they didn't even care if the Steelers ran the ball because the Steelers weren't going to run the ball.

TommyBrady12 said:

when else did gronk play with a bum leg? the only two leg injuries he's had are the torn ACL against cleveland and the high ankle sprain against baltimore....

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The Super Bowl against the Giants when he could barely walk after spraining his leg vs. Baltimore. He was out with the ACL last year. Out with a broken arm the year before. It is the last three playoff losses where he was out or far less than 100%.

Dutchmaster617 said:

This is one of the few posts here I completely agree with.

This is the game Brady needs to play his best playoff game, possibly ever.

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I do not agree at all...Ravens are not that good, really. Look at who they played this year. Look at their last 5 or 6 regular season games.

They played four teams that are in the playoffs, two of them from their own division, Carolina and Indy. They went 2-4, beating Carolina and Steelers once.

All Brady needs is a decent day and we'll be fine.

Hell, look at this game, big deal, they beat a steelers team minus their star running back.

Come on, trust what yiu have seen and fret not - Pats win this one by 14 points.

patsfan-1982 said:

I am not worried about the ravens offense because #1 the ravens are the worst offense left in the whole playoffs and #2 every one knows the pats weakness on defense anyone not covered by Browner or Revis has the potential to get a first down that's a weakness vs all 31 teams if they cant generate a pass rush,

the problem is this team lives and dies on how Brady plays in the playoffs and the ravens have two smaller type pass rushers the kind of guys that give Nate Solder problems and they have Haloti Ngata in the middle to stop Brady from stepping up in the pocket, I don't think the pats can run the ball vs the ravens so that means Brady throwing the ball 40+ times vs a team that had 49 sacks in the reg season,

I still have the pats winning this game but I would rather be facing the colts who should win easy vs cincy without A.J Green

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When is AJ Green supposed to be back?

Rob0729 said:

BTW, the key to this game is establishing the run. The Steelers got WWWWAAAAAAYYYYYY too pass happy tonight. In the first half, they ran 11 times and passed 27 times. In the second half, ran 8 times and passed 21 times. They got way too one dimensional which allowed the Ravens to pin their ears back and put extra men in coverage. That is why their horrible secondary actually looked pretty good tonight because they didn't even care if the Steelers ran the ball because the Steelers weren't going to run the ball.

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Unfortunately this will fall on deaf ears. We have an annoying habit of abandoning the run too soon