Ravens breakdown.

[BobDigital]

The Pats face one of the best teams they have played all year this week. The Ravens stomped Miami and look to come into our house and send the Pats and NFL a message.

So lets take a look at this team and see how much we match up.

Ravens run game - This does not worry me and should not worry many Patriots fans. Their lead backs are West and Dixon. Neither is a game changer so it is unlikely we see either make any individually great plays. The problem here is the OL they run behind and particularly Yanda who is one of the best guards in the NFL. He and the OL allows them to consistently gets positive yards with very few stuffs or negative plays. This run game while not explosive and not something that will win them the game will probably keep them in good down and distance situations that are make-able. I like our run D vs their run O.

Ravens pass game - This is the kind of O the Pats have issues with. A QB not afraid to take a bunch of shots down field even when given looks to take the underneath. McCourty had a very good game last week and he needs to be dialed in here. Mike Wallace is looking like his old self in this system and on pace for his best year since 2011 when he was a household name. Steve Smith is old but still balls. He is a HOFer and has no quit. I compare him a lot to Edelman in attitude and a guy you would love to have on your team but get mad at when you play against and he starts yapping. Pitta though will be the biggest issue as the Pats have not done well for TEs recently. Oddly enough has has only scored 2 TDs on this season and both against Miami. This passing game is coming off their best game of the year and will come in here with confidence. The Ravens are also a team that knows how to turn it on the 2nd half of the year. Aiken and Perriman are also dangerous.

Ravens run defense - The best in the NFL in YPG and it is not like they force you to throw a lot by getting up fast usually. They are large and fast on the front 7 and run an effective 3-4. Jernigan is a guy the Pats could and in hindsight should have taken over Easley he is 295 can play the run and the pass and has 5 sacks so far on the year. He has quietly turned into one of the better DL men in the NFL and plays a bit like Seymour did here. However they also have other good DL in Williams a 340 NT and Guy (who while from what i know he is just okay... the weak spot of the front 7). Of course their LBs are Suggs (beast still) Mosley (fast good in coverage... 3 ints this year), Orr (another small but fast guy.. bit of a tweener at 225 but hits hard) and of course Dumervil (who is now back and healthy). This is a group the Pats will not be able to run against most likely. Their best chance to to the Right side at Dumervil/Guy IMO. However run sparely if at all and do the bounce out runs with Lewis/White more than power running. Andrews can't deal with that massive NT up the middle.

Ravens pass defense - The Ravens saferies are pretty good too. If I had to pick a weak spot of their D it be CB. Giving up 21 passing TDs puts them below average and the 14 ints (which are good) are made mostly due to pressure or great safety play. They don't give up much in YPA but they give you those short passes fairly consistently. If our OL holds well (it has been) I think we can exploit their CBs and Brady just needs to play smart and not challenge the CB too close to Weddle who is IMO their best secondary player.

STs - Baltimore right now has the best kicker in the NFL. Tucker unlike Gost has his confidence fully in tact. Hopefully Gost can build on last game to get his back. I think they have good kick off and punt returners though they have had more success overall on punts.

Coaching - They have maybe the 2nd best coach in the NFL. We won't have a big advantage here this game.

Final thoughts - This game will be a dog fight. Always is. Home field won't help much. Mentally touch and well coached team who loves the spot light. This will be a hell of a game and it be nice for the Pats to make a statement to the NFL in the post Gronk part of the year.

 

[WinstonSmith]

Bob, solid break down.

I've watched zero non patriots games this year and in my ignorance was a bit surprised that the Ravens are bottom third in points scored and ranked 30th on offense according to football outsiders.

Any insight as why their offense has seemingly underperformed earlier in the year and what sparked their recent resurgence?

 

[SHOWTIME15]

In many ways I think this will be tougher than the denver game. Ravens always have a lot of dog in them.

 

[BobDigital]

Bob, solid break down.

I've watched zero non patriots games this year and in my ignorance was a bit surprised that the Ravens are bottom third in points scored and ranked 30th on offense according to football outsiders.

Any insight as why their offense has seemingly underperformed earlier in the year and what sparked their recent resurgence?

Not really. Just playing better. They don't have a great offense by any stretch but it is a style which gives the Pats fits. Last game their O clearly over performed. I don't love their talent on O and I think on the whole their average points on the year right now at about 21 is a pretty good representation.

 

[Froob]

This will be fun, anyone who thinks this will be easy hasn't been paying attention past few years. Aside from one wild blowout in 2013, it's always tight between these two. Two of the best run teams in football.

 

[ashley]

Good write up Bob.

This should be a good test for us. They have given us problems in the past and they don't seem to be intimated playing against us in Foxboro and have a very good coach(probably the 2nd best in the league).

-On defense, we have to make sure we cover Pitta(who always seems to have big games against us) and Smith.
-On offense, we have to take advantage of their secondary. That's where I think we can do some damage.
-Tucker has like 5 FG's so far of 50+ yards and he hasn't missed a kick yet this year. If they get in the red zone, they are getting points.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

This will be fun, anyone who thinks this will be easy hasn't been paying attention past few years. Aside from one wild blowout in 2013, it's always tight between these two. Two of the best run teams in football.

I tried to say the same thing in another thread and someone hinted that I should re-register as FraidyCat...

 

[patsinthesnow]

Mitchell should be big in this game.

 

[BelichickFan]

One note on Flacco this year. At home he has a QB rating of 93.3 with a decent 12/5 TD/INT. However on the road his QB rating is 71.7 with a dismal 3/6 INT/TD. And his road games haven't been against the best there are - Cleveland, Jacksonville, Giants, Jets, Dallas.

 

[ViperGTS]

This will be fun, anyone who thinks this will be easy hasn't been paying attention past few years. Aside from one wild blowout in 2013, it's always tight between these two. Two of the best run teams in football.

I have to wholly disagree. The Ravens are NOT a well run team. Not by a long shot, in comparison to teams such as Seattle and NE for example.

When you need to cheat in preseason, throw Jumpball Joes PI balls to have an offense and need a world supply of this:




Just to win a SB. Oh and the whole crying about the rules etc, then exploiting/breaking them to your own benefit.

I totally dislike the Ravens are a well run organization storyline. They aren't.

 

[SVN]

this might be an all out no huddle game for the offense , very few touches for blount.

 

[mihap]

Coaching - They have maybe the 2nd best coach in the NFL. We won't have a big advantage here this game.

Final thoughts - This game will be a dog fight. Always is. Home field won't help much. Mentally touch and well coached team who loves the spot light. This will be a hell of a game and it be nice for the Pats to make a statement to the NFL in the post Gronk part of the year.

Really good post Bob.

First for me Harbaugh isnt 2nd best coach. Ozzie is probably the best GM in NFL. His drafts are very good. So its easy coaching with good players to play.

Last year they had some serious injuries and almost all games they lost in final minutes until Flacco goes down.
They have really good run d so we ll see how Blount and co will do. Maybe not Blount but more Lewis.
So probably more Brady and WRs. Dont know what is wrong with Bennet.

I am not wooried about our run D. Before season i thought they will be top 3 run D in league.
I am worried about pass D and Rowe hamstring injury.

Tough game for sure, but have feeling that pass offense will do something in this game.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I have to wholly disagree. The Ravens are NOT a well run team. Not by a long shot, in comparison to teams such as Seattle and NE for example.

When you need to cheat in preseason, throw Jumpball Joes PI balls to have an offense and need a world supply of this:

View attachment 15003


Just to win a SB. Oh and the whole crying about the rules etc, then exploiting/breaking them to your own benefit.

I totally dislike the Ravens are a well run organization storyline. They aren't.

You can hate the Ratbirds all you want but from a W-L perspective, they are a well-run team.

Since Harbaugh was named HC 8 full seasons ago, they have only one losing season, gone 84-56, been to the playoffs 7 times, 3 conference champ games and won a SB and going 10-5 in the postseason.

The only other franchise that would consider that stretch a disappointment is ours and maybe SEA and DEN.

 

[Froob]

I have to wholly disagree. The Ravens are NOT a well run team. Not by a long shot, in comparison to teams such as Seattle and NE for example.

When you need to cheat in preseason, throw Jumpball Joes PI balls to have an offense and need a world supply of this:

View attachment 15003


Just to win a SB. Oh and the whole crying about the rules etc, then exploiting/breaking them to your own benefit.

I totally dislike the Ravens are a well run organization storyline. They aren't.

I think Harbaugh and Newsome make a pretty damn good team. Sure the rules and part is annoying but, they are in it almost every year. Not to the level of the likes of Seattle and New England but, a tier below.

 

[luuked]

Coaching - They have maybe the 2nd best coach in the NFL. We won't have a big advantage here this game.

I think you are overrating Harbaugh here. Since the SB they have ended up 3rd in their division 3 times in a row. Now, I am not saying he is a bad coach but second best ? Really ?

Similarly, I think you are overrating their safeties a bit. They can be attacked in the secondary and probably will. Given their DL I wouldn't be surprised if we spread it out a lot and might even get to finally see the return of some no huddle stuff.

After taking a handful of steps into the right direction the Ravens are just the right opponent to see how the defense reacts when put under more stress and pressure. Also, I am thankful that we get Ravens and Denver so late in the year to get a final test run to find other obvious holes that we have in our defense. Everything that gets highlighted now has a change of being addressed for the playoffs.

 

[luuked]

this might be an all out no huddle game for the offense , very few touches for blount.

Agree about the no-huddle am not so certain about Blount.

I think we will at least test the waters for a handful of plays for the sake of play action and also to get an idea how well we can use the run against a defense like that. I wouldn't be surprised if Blount has a somewhat good day because when they get it right (and Bennett doesn't get called for holding) our OL blocking looks pretty good on runs.

 

[luuked]

I tried to say the same thing in another thread and someone hinted that I should re-register as FraidyCat...

You said you are scared of the Ravens over there. There is a difference between acknowledging that this will be closer to the Jets game than the Rams game and saying "I am scared".

 

[Kontradiction]

The game plan they throw at the defense will look a lot like the one from 2012: get the Pats LB's in space and try to exploit them with Pitta, Dixon/West, and Aiken. The Pats will do all they can to take away the deep passing game so the Ravens will attempt to feast on chunk yardage over the middle and down the seam. They killed the Pats with that in 2012. Hopefully the result is different this time around.

 

[SVN]

Ravens are the AFC's gathering threat

 

[sevengables_2207]

The game plan they throw at the defense will look a lot like the one from 2012: get the Pats LB's in space and try to exploit them with Pitta, Dixon/West, and Aiken. The Pats will do all they can to take away the deep passing game so the Ravens will attempt to feast on chunk yardage over the middle and down the seam. They killed the Pats with that in 2012. Hopefully the result is different this time around.

I have not followed the Ravens at all this season. I don't know how their o-line has fared thus far, but if the Patriots do as you wrote above, then the front four is going to have to generate pressure on Flacco to disrupt the timing and rhythm of the passing game, knock him off his spot, etc.