Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

On a general football forum a Ravens fan said well look what the Steelers did to the Patriots and they are similar defenses.

Patriots crush Chargers, Chargers kill Ravens, Ravens destroy Steelers, Steelers beat up the Patriots. Completely irrelevant. It all comes down to the match-ups.

For the Ravens defense the match up is their LBs and safeties against Hernandez and Gronkowski while still covering Welker and getting a pass rush. Baltimore will try to confuse Brady by mixing up coverages and pressure. I don't see anybody on their defense who can match-up with either of the TEs one on one so the match-up that is most important to the Pats is the O-line containing Baltimore's line and Suggs. As much as we might hate him Suggs is a beast. I think it would be wise to chip Suggs as much as possible to give Light help.

For the Patriots defense the match-up is containing the run while not allowing Baltimore to hit the deep ball. While most would consider Flacco a better QB than Tebow he's not that far ahead of Tebow in terms of being able to read coverage and hit the intermediate routes. He pretty much either goes deep or dumps it off to the backs. Chung and Spikes being healthy is key. Torey Smith is somebody they cannot give a free release to. Joseph did an awesome job vs him in the divisional round. Be it Moore or McCorty they're going to need the same effort. Given the need to stop the run the Pats are probably looking at playing some cover one so the deep safety will be very important.

I think the game comes down to this for the Pats. Stop the run and don't turn the ball over and you win. You can say that most weeks but essentially that makes the game Brady vs Flacco and that's a no brainer. To do that pass protection is essential. I think Solder will see a lot of 3rd TE duty.

Five players who were not there in 09 who cause match up nightmares of fill in matchup nightmares are Welker, Gronk, Hernandez, Chung and Spikes. I think they'll win because of those 5 additions. 4 of them from a team that can't draft. ;)

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

That's basically today's NFL. Best QB wins. That's why, based on who is left, I think the Pats have a great shot at winning it all this year.

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

Solid analysis...... I haven't watched the Ravens much this year, but when I watched the game yesturday, I was struck by two VERY important things.

1) Flacco is not very good at all. I've heard that that's been the knock on him this year. I wouldn't call him Tebow exactly, but I certainly would put him in the Sanchez category. We all know that you can get very far with a great defense and a mediocre QB....... but you probably can't get to the big show. (i.e. Jets the last 2 years).

I think that that is a fundamental flaw with the Ravens this year. They have a defense that is probably good enough to min MOST games, but they don't have one that can win the BIGGEST game when it has to. You almost ALWAYS need that to make it to, and to win the Super Bowl (just look at the recent winners).

2) Baltimore's defense........... reminds me of our defense in 2006-2007.... Very good and made up of smart, crafty and experienced players. But with that comes AGE..... They look old and slow. Not sure that they can hang physically if we go hurry-up on them for sustained periods. They are good, but they are old. If the game is close in the 4th period...... look for a reverse 2006 AFCCG game. Brady will do to them, what Manning did to our old, tired defense.

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

One thing I noticed is that Lewis seems slower side to side, and it seems to be more of an effort for him to move laterally.

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

Absolutely. He looks like a shell of his former self.

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

I wonder if his turf-toe injury is still impeding his ability to move around?

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

could it be lingering injuries or just age?

im gonna re watch a few games tonight and il look to see if i notice it

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

Keys to this game IMHO:

Will repeat what I said before the last game against Denver.

1) Playmakers, when you have the opportunity, make the play

2) Tackling...make the tackle...make the tackle.

3) Short passes to get us into a flow. Very important. Short open passes, get some 'easier' throws and catches.

4) PROTECT UP THE MIDDLE, keep the middle sealed off. Suggs will also be coming on Bradys blind side. 72 may need a bit of help over there

5) Good offensive line play like we all have been saying for a while. Protect your meal ticket.

6) Bring your intensity...the ravens will be bringing theirs.

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

Could be, I guess. I didn't look at his backpedaling for comparison. No matter what, I won't be surprised to see the Patriots attack him with double crossing routes involving Gronk and Welker, and we'll probably see more wide runs than I'd previously expected.

Re: Ravens @ Patriots AFCCG
 

All of their losses came on the road, and I believe they all came after slow starts. The Ravens team (and ESPECIALLY the defense) are absolutely deadly as front runners, but get the behind, and their WILL can be absolutely destroyed.

Even more so than the Broncos game, I think the first quarter will be key.