Bring on the Ravens

[mgcolby]

You wonder how much the extra day of rest * what could have been looked at as a scrimmage yesterday is an added advantage.

If you hit the Ravens message board, you see a lot of overconfident fans making excuses for that offensive showing by claiming the Texans had the defense of the 85 Bears and an offensive line reminiscent of the Hogs.

At worst our O-line is even with Houston's, I think the Pats OL is a little better.

 

[mgcolby]

Suggs, Reed, and Rice all worry me a lot. It'll be interesting to see if Reed plays, but even if he doesn't, the other guys have a history of burning us. That said, the AFCCG is supposed to be a challenge. They wouldn't still be playing if they weren't a good team, and in that context, I feel good about the Pats' chances.

Huh? They beat us once in there existance and it was the worst team the Pats have fielded since 2002. That Pats team was without Welker and mentally weak. Once it started going bad it was over.

I don't know how that constitutes a history of burning us.

 

[RIpats88]

I honestly see the real key to this game being our O-line vs. the Ravens D-line

The Denver defense isnt exactly a joke with all the pass-rushers they had, and our o-line pretty much kept them at bay...Brady had all the time in the world there.

TJ yates passed on that Ravens defense...it was rookie mistakes that killed the texans...mistakes Tom Brady wont make in those situations

you keep Brady standing, he is going to put points on the board..I think the ravens(like every other team) will have a hard time against Gronk/hernandez

 

[Banjo]

I expect this game to be a lot like the 2010 game. extremely close all the way to the end. that ended in overtime too

 

[zipster9]

I honestly see the real key to this game being our O-line vs. the Ravens D-line

The Denver defense isnt exactly a joke with all the pass-rushers they had, and our o-line pretty much kept them at bay...Brady had all the time in the world there.

TJ yates passed on that Ravens defense...it was rookie mistakes that killed the texans...mistakes Tom Brady wont make in those situations

you keep Brady standing, he is going to put points on the board..I think the ravens(like every other team) will have a hard time against Gronk/hernandez

IMO - the decider of the AFC game, will be "turnovers". Whoever wins this,
will win the game.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Turnovers will be key..flacco likes to turn it over..lets put some pressure on him like we did on a good broncos o-line

 

[RIpats88]

IMO - the decider of the AFC game, will be "turnovers". Whoever wins this,
will win the game.

ya, im expecting to see more BJGE/woodhead than Ridley next week after his fumble..

I hope we can get the same amount of pressure on Flacco that we did on tebow...because if we can force a turnover that could be key in us winning as we are usually very opportunistic on taking advantages of the other teams mistake

 

[BradyFTW!]

Huh? They beat us once in there existance and it was the worst team the Pats have fielded since 2002. That Pats team was without Welker and mentally weak. Once it started going bad it was over.

I don't know how that constitutes a history of burning us.

I said Suggs and Rice have a history of burning us.

That said, go try to find an instance of the Ravens not playing us extremely close. It's always a hard-fought, tough game. How many other teams can say that same?

 

[sly24]

I hope Ray Lewis gets dragged 10 yards by GRONK all the way into the endzone.

 

[Rob0729]

Watching the Ravens today, they don't scare me. I have a concern about up the middle rush, but they didn't really impress in their win.

 

[Ivan]

Hopefully the Ravens talk themselves into believing they are playing the same team they played in 2009 because this is a much better team than that one was and the Ravens play their worst when they are overconfident.

 

[NJPatsfan26]

Watching the Ravens today, they don't scare me. I have a concern about up the middle rush, but they didn't really impress in their win.

Agreed Rob, they dont scare me at all. I think they will make it close but with how we played yesterday, I think we will be fine.

 

[mgcolby]

I said Suggs and Rice have a history of burning us.

That said, go try to find an instance of the Ravens not playing us extremely close. It's always a hard-fought, tough game. How many other teams can say that same?

Not that it is relevant to Sunday's game, in 2004 the Ravens got their ass kicked in the rain in Foxboro. And the Giants?

The recent games have been close. We held Rice in check last year, Fletcher's welcome to the NFL game.

A few things of note.

1. The Ravens offense goes as Rice goes. Stop him and you stop the Ravens offense.
2. Flacco is inaccurate and will throw some balls up for grabs.
3. Our pass rush will get to Flacco.
4. over the past 4 games both the Pats and Ravens are allowing 19 points per game. 19.3 for the Ravens and 19.5 for the Pats. The Pats actually have a better Yard Per Point average over that same span.
5. NE's offense is averaging 40.5 PPG over the last 4 games. The Ravens offense is averaging 19.5.
6. The Ravens have sucked on the road this season. And just played their worst home game of the season.

I don't think this game will ever be in doubt and I think the Pats win by two or more scores.

 

[Luke Skywelker]

Not that it is relevant to Sunday's game, in 2004 the Ravens got their ass kicked in the rain in Foxboro.

The recent games have been close. We held Rice in check last year, Fletcher's welcome to the NFL game.

A few things of note.

1. The Ravens offense goes as Rice goes. Stop him and you stop the Ravens offense.
2. Flacco is inaccurate and will throw some balls up for grabs.
3. Our pass rush will get to Flacco.
4. over the past 4 games both the Pats and Ravens are allowing 19 points per game. 19.3 for the Ravens and 19.5 for the Pats. The Pats actually have a better Yard Per Point average over that same span.
5. NE's offense is averaging 40.5 PPG over the last 4 games. The Ravens offense is averaging 19.5.
6. The Ravens have sucked on the road this season. And just played their worst home game of the season.

I don't think this game will ever be in doubt and I think the Pats win by two or more scores.

Hard to disagree with any of this, but didn't we feel this way with the Jets coming to town last year? It's week to week in the NFL. I like how this one plays out, but it's hard to be too overconfident based on a lambasting of a bad Broncos team.

 

[mgcolby]

Hard to disagree with any of this, but didn't we feel this way with the Jets coming to town last year? It's week to week in the NFL. I like how this one plays out, but it's hard to be too overconfident based on a lambasting of a bad Broncos team.

Yes that is true. But we did more than what a good team should do to an average team at home in the playoffs. And the Ravens just played like garbage and barely out played a one dimensional team with a rookie QB at home.

Needless to say I like our chances.

 

[mgcolby]

The local Baltimore guys threw up a stat that said the Ravens are 54-1 when they get 2 or more turnovers. The one loss? Last year in New England. Of course they didn't mention what team it was that beat them.

Just a little nugget that I found interesting.

 

[Stilla]

I bet BB sends Derrick Mason a pair of seats next to the scoreboard.

 

[coolguy]

Do the pats really have a pass rush? Tebow is one thing, but can they stop an establish passing team.

The game will be determined by the rushes
The pats have to stop the rushing game
give a decent a pass rush on flacco and cover down the field
And PROTECT BRADY FROM THE PASS RUSH AT ALL TIMES!!

 

[RIpats88]

ya, im not going to get too overconfident, but I like our chances against the ravens.

sure the Broncos werent the best team in the playoffs but lets not forget the fact that they have a pretty potent pass-rush/linebacker core and our offense totally ran right over them....I see us creating similar mismatches against the Ravens defense.

theres 3 keys to winning this game IMO

1. take care of the ball
2. limit ray rice
3. keep brady standing

If we can do those things, I dont see why we cant come away victorious

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

Hard to disagree with any of this, but didn't we feel this way with the Jets coming to town last year? It's week to week in the NFL. I like how this one plays out, but it's hard to be too overconfident based on a lambasting of a bad Broncos team.

I dont think its being over confident. I think its more of BB and Brady remembering 2009 and not allowing for it to happen again! The Patriots were gameplanning while the Ravens were playing houston. Also, McDaniels already played Ravens this year so he knows what will work and what wont!