2014 Ravens 1-1 Outside Their Div/AFC South/NFC South

Yup.

Only impressive win their entire year was 28-13 in Miami.

That's it folks. Steelers were a paper tiger also. So is Cincy.

The AFC North lucked out in 2014.

You guys are way too focused on the regular season. Would have thought you'd know better after the losses to garbage jets, ravens, and giants teams. It's the playoffs, the regular season doesn't mean **** anymore. It'll be a dogfight.

Froob said:

You guys are way too focused on regular season. Would have thought you'd know better after the losses to garbage jets, ravens, and giants teams. It's the playoffs regular season doesn't mean **** anymore. It'll be a dogfight.

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Regular season = 16 of the 17 possible data points on the 2014 Ravens. What else should people focus on?

Oswlek said:

Regular season = 16 of the 17 possible data points on the 2014 Ravens. What else should people focus on?

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Ravens weren't a good team in 2012 either and it didn't matter. They come to play in the playoffs.

Froob said:

You guys are way too focused on the regular season. Would have thought you'd know better after the losses to garbage jets, ravens, and giants teams. It's the playoffs, the regular season doesn't mean **** anymore. It'll be a dogfight.

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So does this reasoning apply to the Pats OL as well? Or just the ravens? I mean the Pats OL had a few games where they struggled (GB ans SD) and another 2 where they struggled in the 1st half and then the opposing defense couldnt stop them in the 2nd half (Miami and NY) But according to several people on here Pats OL doesn't have a chance based on those games. Yet according to you regular season doesn't matter now. If we can't say how the ravens struggled against Ten, SD, Jax, Hou, and Cle in their last games 7 then on the flipside people shouldnt talk about the OL because when relatively healthy there was a stretch before injuries where they were very good.

People are going too far to one side or the other on the Ravens. The fact is they suddenly resemble the Giants and Ravens teams that looked like crap in the regular season and then somehow got hot for the playoffs. The other fact is with home field if the Patriots execute and don't turn the ball over they are the more talented team on both sides of the ball. My biggest concern is the health of the offensive line. If that unit is ready to go I expect the Patriots to win a hard fought game.

Froob said:

Ravens weren't a good team in 2012 either and it didn't matter. They come to play in the playoffs.

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JMC00 said:

So does this reasoning apply to the Pats OL as well? Or just the ravens?

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Winner, winner chicken dinner. If we have to toss out regular season results, why even have a discussion?

Froob said:

You guys are way too focused on the regular season. Would have thought you'd know better after the losses to garbage jets, ravens, and giants teams. It's the playoffs, the regular season doesn't mean **** anymore. It'll be a dogfight.

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So you really focus on the 2009, 2010 and 2011 playoffs instead of the 2014 season with CURRENT personnel?

Froob said:

Ravens weren't a good team in 2012 either and it didn't matter. They come to play in the playoffs.

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News Flash: Ray Lewis and Ed Reed aren't suiting up next Saturday. A 100% healthy Gronkowski is.

Personnel is different.

Current personnel is more important than the 2009, 2010 and 2012 playoff results.

Oswlek said:

Regular season = 16 of the 17 possible data points on the 2014 Ravens. What else should people focus on?

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What should they focus on? You know better than that Ossie. They should focus on games played years ago with and against players who no longer play for those teams. They should focus on what the mediots say. Whatever Tony Mazzarotti says is how we all should set our emotional clocks this week.

Why would we want to think about what the other team has done over the course of a season, or more importantly the last half. We need to ignore the teams they played, the fact they lucked into the #6 seed, and for every match up that favors them, there are 2 match ups that favor us.

Seriously,l I can envision a few scenarios where we can lose this game, and they will worry me, but that would be the same if they were playing the Jags. No question the Ravens have good football players too.
COULD the Pats lose this game.....sure. SHOULD they lose this game....a definitive NO!

shmessy said:

News Flash: Ray Lewis and Ed Reed aren't suiting up next Saturday. Gronkowski is.

Personnel is different.

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Love how people who are basing their reasoning on past games are completely conviently forgetting a worse Pats team went into Baltimore last year, when Baltimore was still in the playoff picture and pretty much dominated them and eliminated them from playoff contention.

But because they got hot in 2012 and beat the Pats without their #1 receiving threat and their #1 CB that somehow that is more to go on then the last game these two played. Which neither thing matters when it comes to the 2014 Pats and ravens. Which if you somehow are forced to listen to 98.5 2-6 all week will brainwash you into thinking all those past games mean something which they will also conviently leave out the last game between the two.

JMC00 said:

Love how people who are basing their reasoning on past games are completely conviently forgetting a worse Pats team went into Baltimore last year, when Baltimore was still in the playoff picture and pretty much dominated them and eliminated them from playoff contention.

But because they got hot in 2012 and beat the Pats without their #1 receiving threat and their #1 CB that somehow that is more to go on then the last game these two played. Which neither thing matters when it comes to the 2014 Pats and ravens. Which if you somehow are forced to listen to 98.5 2-6 all week will brainwash you into thinking all those past games mean something which they will also conviently leave out the last game between the two.

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Yeah that kind of lame cherrypicking is to be expected by the mediots this week.

Good news is that is it easy to shoot down.

The AFC North has a very weak group of teams to play against. The NFC South, AFC South and each other. That is as easy as it gets in the NFL, hence the talk of 'paper tigers'.

Who did the Ravens play besides those teams? Miami & San Diego.

So while BB will take the Ravens very seriously as a fan this is a good scrimmage. The raven D front 7 is their best unit so this will be good work for the OL.

Oswlek said:

Regular season = 16 of the 17 possible data points on the 2014 Ravens. What else should people focus on?

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Last nights game. And that game looked and felt a lot like the 2012 game against the Pats...

shmessy said:

Yup.

Only impressive win their entire year was 28-13 in Miami.

That's it folks. Steelers were a paper tiger also. So is Cincy.

The AFC North lucked out in 2014.

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Yeah - but they dominated the Patriots the last time we saw them in the playoffs - and judging by the box score the completely took Gronk out of the game - it's like he wasn't even there. (Not that I'm making excuses - it's not like he's an important part of the offense)

Gotta wonder if the Pats have just a little chip on their shoulder about this matchup

That's usually not a good thing for opponents. I'm sure we can count on Ravens fans - and perhaps even some of the players - to be talking some smack leading up to the game.

This game could easily get ugly, just because of the history. It is silly to call any playoff game an easy game lacking upset possibility. But that is much as I will give the Ravens. Anyone who believes this team is imbued with the powers of the 2000 or 2012 Ravens just by entering the playoffs probably needs to look at who is not on the roster now, and the fact Flacco's contract sapped the Cravens in their pursuit to add defensive players and depth to the roster. A once pressure team with a decent secondary ranked 23rd with a cake schedule? Didn't happen with the Ravens of old.

The Ravens defense has been nothing special all season and both the offensive and defensive statistics were skewed by games against the horrid NFC South (37% of season total came in those games, defense gave up 15.25 ppg against that division). Add in two other gift games against the Titans and the Jags. 6 of 10 wins gift wrapped with preseason worthy opponents, and losses to the worthy opponents that might have made the playoffs or that made the playoffs. 2 losses to Cincy, 1 to Pitt, 1 to Indy, 1 to the Texans and 1 to the Bolts. Maybe that was planned, as well as the need for a loss by the Bolts to even make the show, in order to lull the playoff field into a sense of false security against this unstoppable juggernaut.

I agree they shocked the world on the "Ray Lewis retirement tour" in 2012. What is the mantra now, "Win it for Ray Rice"? "Haloti Ngata got jobbed with a four game suspension for mistakenly taking Adderall"? I'm not feeling it.

mosi said:

Last nights game. And that game looked and felt a lot like the 2012 game against the Pats...

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On top of it being a divisional game anyways, the Steelers have no defense at all and relied during the regular season on ball control to keep other teams off the field. You can't do that when you're missing your all-world RB.

shmessy said:

Yup.

Only impressive win their entire year was 28-13 in Miami.

That's it folks. Steelers were a paper tiger also. So is Cincy.

The AFC North lucked out in 2014.

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Print up the NE Pats Div Champs hats and t shirts.

Baltimore has won 2 of 3 post season games in Foxboro and they should have won the 3rd game too. Foxboro has been their 2nd home and the Ravens match up well vs the Pats.

That's all that matters.

mosi said:

Last nights game. And that game looked and felt a lot like the 2012 game against the Pats...

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How could it feel like the 2012 game against the Patriots? They weren't playing the Patriots last night.

Otherwise, I agree. The Steelers secondary is just as bad as the Patriots 2012 secondary.

.....which further makes that point utterly irrelevant.

Patriots should be the favorites as they are better in every phase of the game, all I'm saying is that hasn't stopped teams before especially the Ravens. Best defense we've fielded in a long time. Logan Ryan worries me but the unit should limit baltimore to about 20. Offense can't lay an egg. LaFell is the big receiver we've been missing past couple of years alongside a healthy Gronk. Saturday can't come soon enough.