10 Reasons why I am not worried about this game

[resdubwhite]

Victor Cruz isn't even the best WR on his own team!!

What he said.

 

[ivanvamp]

the ravens had their way with welker last time we played them

He had 7 receptions for 53 yards in their last matchup. They clearly kept him from dominating, but that's not exactly "having their way" with him.

 

[condon84]

Victor Cruz isn't even the best WR on his own team!!

Victor Cruz has been the Giants best WR this season.

Also to the OP, Ninkovich has a long way to go before we can start comparing him to Vrabel.

Otherwise....I love the optimism!

 

[Dagg]

I agree with most of it, but yeah whoa slow down before you go crowning Ninko and Anderson the second coming, they need to do it much more than 1 game to merit that praise.

really you should have just listed Joe Flacco 10 times.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

I'd like to add to your list...

11) This year we have Ochocinco

 

[ALP]

ninkovich's last game was VERY vrable-esque...and its not the first time

if you do not want to admit that rob is a lot like mike, you HAVE to admit he is well on his way

 

[condon84]

If Rob continues to play the same level he did against the Broncos, then yeah, he will be like Vrabel.

 

[zoostation]

Ninkovich better than Vrabel? Settle down there, chief.

lol...yeah..that's a bit of a reach.

 

[Kid~Brady]

Victor Cruz isn't even the best WR on his own team!!

Really?

To me, it can be argued that he has surpassed Nicks and Manningham, or atleast on the way

 

[The Brandon Five]

My worry comes from the turnovers. Baltimore has a defense that forces sacks and turnovers, and those are the greatest equalizer.

Defensively, Pats were #2 in INTs with 23. Ravens were #17 with 15. Advantage: NE.

The Pats and Ravens were both #26 in the league in throwing picks with 12, so that's a wash.

Where the Ravens excel is in Forced Fumbles. They were #1 with 21. Pats were #27 with 10. (I doubt we see Ridley). Advantage: Bal.

The Ravens had the dropsies themselves on the other side of the ball. They were #9 with 24. Pats were #29 with 13. Advantage: NE

NFL Stats: by Team Category

Add it all up and the Pats were #3 in the NFL in turnover differential at +17. The Ravens were #12 at +2.

NFL Stats: by Team Category

 

[coolguy]

i'M really worried. The pats have to play great TEAM football in order to win. They need to beat them on both sides of the ball and score when needed.

The patriots need to play out of their minds to win.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

i'M really worried. The pats have to play great TEAM football in order to win. They need to beat them on both sides of the ball and score when needed.

The patriots need to play out of their minds to win.

That's usually the case at this point in the playoffs. You really have to minimize mistakes (in all 3 phases).

Is it going to be a cake walk...no guarantees, but I expect the Patriots to keep it close and if there was to be a blow out, I expect it would be the Patriots.

On the negative side, 2 of the 3 most potent offenses are out of the playoffs and i heard that no team that finished above #25 ranked offense or defense has won it all. But, you can make up convenient stats to tell whatever side of the story you want.

People are still going against past hisyory and these qare 2 totally different teams. I think (in the patriots favro) they have a defense that is putting it together at the right time and how much footage is there of McCourty playing safety? I know Baltimore has the front personnel to be very disruptive, but we can excel at the dink and dunk too. I'm just waiting for Sunday at this point and try ti avoid main stream media.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I don't agree with all of your list, so I am somewhat worried. But a couple reasons I am very confident:

-I've yet to see anybody contain this offense with AH/Woodhead at full strength. IIRC AH was hobbled in the Jets game last year. Throw in that Welker wasn't where he is now and Gronk wasn't what he is either. I'm not sure anybody can stop this offense.

-This offense never looked this good in the playoffs before, even the '07 offense needed turnovers by the other team in their territory in the 2 wins. They've tended to peak in the regular season and by playoff time they got figured out. We just had our best performance of the season on both sides of the ball.

 

[groganbootleg]

Ninkovich better than Vrabel? Settle down there, chief.

Certainly not on the offensive side of the ball

 

[Double TE]

Certainly not on the offensive side of the ball

Indeed not!

 

[TruthSeeker]

i'M really worried. The pats have to play great TEAM football in order to win. They need to beat them on both sides of the ball and score when needed.

The patriots need to play out of their minds to win.

Go ahead and be worried. But don't misstate the facts. If the Patriots play average offensive and defensive football, they win.

They've been averaging 32.1 PPG. Going against a defense that gives up 16.7 PPG and an "average" game gets them about 24+ PPG. On defense they've been average giving up 21.4 while Baltimore's offense scores 23.6 which gives them 22-23 PPG.

However, this doesn't take into account home field advantage numbers. The Ravens are significantly better at home than away and their away averages are worse than stated above.

 

[deroc5050]

Come to think of it, the only differences between your list and last year's 23-20 victory are..........

Brian Waters and the Secondary, not exactly the stronger points in this equation.


In this scenario the Patriots barely won, but even this weekend I'll take barely.

My worry comes from the turnovers. Baltimore has a defense that forces sacks and turnovers, and those are the greatest equalizer.

EDIT: I don't want my post to come off as a NEGATIVE NANCY, because I too am hopeful that Gronk and Hernandez will be used as absolute studs this weekend. I just wanted to at least temper the enthusiasm since it is not 'a slam dunk'.

Yea but the team was young.. especially your biggest young stars are another year older and becoming the cream of the crop of tight ends, If they are not already there.

I think that the weather being close to 50 degrees on Sunday at least that was the last forecast I saw I see the offense putting up 34.

The main thing I am worried about is giving up big plays to boldwin and evans down the sideline, and giving their anemic offense easy scores or field position. I think if you make Flacco work his way down the field he will mess up eventually. The Pats Defense has to hold the Ravens down because even though I think the Pats will put up 31-34 points the ravens will make it tough on us and make us work for points. My fear is Baltimore going up 14 points quickly and allowing them to dictate and take chances on defense.

I think the pats will be up 34-20 late in the 4th quarter and the ravens will be driving with less than 3 minutes to go. It will be 4th 3 on the Patriot 24 yard line and the ravens obviously go for it on 4th down and are unsuccessful.

NE-34 Bal 20

 

[alvinnf]

protect Brady=Win

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Despite of all the talk and build up about this upcoming game, I'll give you 10 reasons why I am not worried.

1. Bill Belichick is the top coach in the NFL, and the greatest coach of all-time not named Vince Lombardi.

2. Tom Brady is the top quarterback in the NFL, and the greatest quarterback of all time. (Step aside Joe)

3. Wes Welker is the top wide receiver in the NFL, definitely the most consistent. He can beat you deep, short, intermediate against one guy, two guys or even three. He is the closest thing in the NFL next to impossible to defend which that is Rob Gronkowski. He is also one of the greatest of all-time for his short span of years.

4. Rob Gronkowski is the top tightend in the NFL, and looking like maybe the greatest of all-time.

5. Aaron Hernandez is a legitimate top 10 tight end in this league, and a dual threat playing at both the X and Running back position.

5. The supporting cast of Deion Branch, Danny Woodhead, and Julian Edelman are all shifty, elusive, smart and know how to get open. Deion can beat you deep while the other two can and will kill you underneath. They can all hurt you from anywhere on the field, something defenders have to respect.

6. Logan Mankins and Brian Waters have become legendary for making life miserable for some of the NFL's biggest pass rushers.

7. Vince Wilfork's only competition is Haloti Ngata at his position while Mark Anderson has become a star.

8. Rob Ninkovich maybe even better than Mike Vrabel.

9. Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes looked to have finally become that scary Linebacker duo everyone has been hoping for.

10. Devin McCourty in the middle, Sterling Moore outside, and Patrick Chung post injury all look like a cohesive unit back their in the secondary. Should see a few balls come their way.

11. Your list means absolute sh!t.....whoever turns the ball over less and whoever makes plays and plays better wins THIS game.....Period!

This is a 60 minute season now,whoever plays for 60 minutes will be in the Super Bowl,The Patriots have not played a full 60 minutes too often this season,they better play a full 60 minutes Sunday because if they get down by 10 points or more against a Ravens defense,it will be over.

 

[JR4]

protect Brady=Win

this is it! If Ravens have a hard time getting to Tom it's over.

I am quite optimistic about this Oline for the first time in years.
The interior of the line is stronger and bigger than ever.
Light is still playing at a high level and Solder is amazing for a rookie.

The Oline is the single most important reason why PATs will win or loose.
IMO. (given Tom plays like the Top QB he is)