LOL Brady won the first... what was it 10 playoff starts? Flacco is 0 for 1. Other than that the similarity is uncanny, they're like twins seperated at birth...
Funny how for so many in the media Brady wasn't considered for real until he won that second SB MVP...and for others not until he broke records in 2007...
Um, Flacco last year became the first NFL rookie to win his first two playoff starts, including a victory at Tennessee.
Great board. I come in peace as a Baltimoron.
A lot of the discussion here seems to be focused on the Ravens of last year – an all-out Rex Ryan blitzing D, with a ponderous thudding run offense.
The reality is that this year's D has been rather vanilla, much to the fans' displeasure. But Harbaugh addressed that a little this week. He said that in past years, the defense had to gamble and go all out and basically not only try to shut out the other team, but also score points itself. That's all changed this year. The Ravens D is going to be more conservative, more bend but don't break, and count on their offense to do its fair share. And the Ravens have been fantastic in the red zone. They held SD to 0-5 there. So they're more willing to give up some yards if it means holding down the total points.
A lot of Pats' fans have been downplaying the Ravens' sked, but you can only play who the league tells you to play. And you guys should know how hard it is to go cross-country to SD and come out with a win. Didn’t they beat you like 30-10 out there last year?
To me, a big key to this game will be whether the Ravens can pass on first down. I thought Ryan looked pretty good throwing vs. the Pats' base defense, hitting WRs on in-cuts down the field on play action, and also connecting with RBs out of the backfield. So I checked his first down passing stats and saw he went 6 of 9 for 61 yards, 3 first downs, no sacks.
Against Cleveland, Flacco threw 18 times on first down, going 13-of-18 for 222 yards, eight first downs, and his only TD. On the other hand, he only threw 8 times on third down. For the season, on first down, he is 32-42 for 456 yards, 2 TDs, and a 126.7 QB rating. So far, teams have been lining up on first down, thinking they’re going to get last year's offense, which ran more often than anyone else in the NFL. Instead, they've been getting Cam Cameron’s aerial circus.
Belichick (whose name I can never spell) is too smart for that. Counter-intuitively, I look for him to come out very aware of Flacco’s first down passing and try to limit it. Then the chess match will be on, as the Ravens will have to establish the run first – something they actually haven’t done all season yet. They’ve come out passing, gotten the lead, then switched to the run game to grind out their victories. But their O Line is young, big and starting to believe they’re the best in the NFL. If Wilfork can’t go, that will be a huge factor in this game.
I think the Ravens will double Moss all over the field on every play, believing that long scoring passes are about the only way they’ll give up TDs. My biggest concern is with our LBs matching up in man coverage on RBs out of the backfield. The loss of Bart Scott hurts us worse in taking away an LB who can play in space. The Pats will not run effectively vs. the Ravens.
Looking forward to a great measuring stick game for both teams.