Wild Card Weekend: Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens

[PatsFans.com Article]

Wild Card Weekend: Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens
By: John Morgan

Do Baltimore fans still loathe the Colts, for bolting from Baltimore? Maybe enough time has passed that most Raven fans don't remember, and point most of their wrath at the Steelers - that is, when their not whining about the Patriots....

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[mayoclinic]

Lot of interesting sub-plots to this one:

- Colts returning to the city they once fled
- Ray Lewis' supposed last game
- Post-chemo Pagano returning against his former team (he was the Ravens' DC last year) - he should have some good ideas how to attack Baltimore's D
- Jim Caldwell as the Ravens' new OC against his former team, which dismissed him a year ago
- Andrew Luck's first playoff game, and trying to be a "Raven killer" as Manning once was for the Colts

 

[Bhelmet]

I would like to see Indy win and for the cheesiest of all reasons. I would like seeing how Luck responds to playing against PM. It is always tough on a QB to replace a legend and Luck is not only doing that well as a rookie, but gets to take on that legend he is replacing. Could be an "all-time"-type game - could be a dud, but I would watch.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Like Baltimore in this game. Indy's defense stinks. Look for Ray Rice to have a big game.
Baltimore at Denver could be a veeeeeery interesting game. Ravens are not intimidated by anyone.

 

[Warren1985]

I Want Ravens to win because they have the better chance at beating Broncos and if we do our job against the Texans then we will have another Home playoff game!!!

 

[Bhelmet]

I don't know how Baltimore poses such a huge threat to Denver. Didn't Denver already beat them? PM owns the Ravens in the playoffs - no matter whose field they play on. The Ravens came limping into the playoffs perhaps in worse shape than Houston. The Ravens will play with great emotion - and win today, but I think the chances are slim they beat the Broncos. If they do play the Broncos then I hope they make it a physical game, because Indy sure will not.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Looking forward to watching this game much more than I was Hou-Cin.

I'll be curious to see more of the post-Cam Ravens offense. They played two real games with Caldwell -- the bad loss to Denver, then a pretty good 33-14 win over the Giants. (The season ender was really just a throw-away).

I have to think the Ravens win this one, though it might be close. Indy's best hope is that their offense runs that D ragged and creates a shootout, and that's not extremely likely.

Either way, Colts' owner will be ready.

Jim Irsay ‏@JimIrsay
With a 1pm game,when is the proper time to crack that 1st brewski? Is 7am a little too early or does the playoffs allow for early prep?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Whomever loses it will be gratifying. Hoping for a fun contest as yesterday's games were just awful.

 

[Salva135]

Looking forward to watching this game much more than I was Hou-Cin.

I'll be curious to see more of the post-Cam Ravens offense. They played two real games with Caldwell -- the bad loss to Denver, then a pretty good 33-14 win over the Giants. (The season ender was really just a throw-away).

I have to think the Ravens win this one, though it might be close. Indy's best hope is that their offense runs that D ragged and creates a shootout, and that's not extremely likely.

Either way, Colts' owner will be ready.

Jim Irsay ‏@JimIrsay
With a 1pm game,when is the proper time to crack that 1st brewski? Is 7am a little too early or does the playoffs allow for early prep?

LOL... this guy is so inappropriate. Chad Greenway got heavily criticized for asking the fans in Minnesota to get "wasted" before a game ... I feel like he's trying to be like Cuban but just embarrassing himself in the process.

 

[patsinthesnow]

The Ravens are a pretty average football team, so are the Colts. Luck's playing threshold is way higher than Flacco's, so Ill guess Ill root for the Colts. Could Luck throw for 300 yards and 3 TDs in Denver, maybe, Flacco, hell no.

 

[Chopblock CB]

I just want the team that has the best chance on beating up on the Bronco's to win....

 

[Uncle Rico]

I just want the team that has the best chance on beating up on the Bronco's to win....

You might have to wait til next Sunday for that. ...

 

[SoCal Pmen]

I just can't bring myself to root for the Ravens. Aside from the Jets I can't think of another team I dislike more. I like the under dog role for the Pats going into Denver. They seem to play the best when everyone is counting them out.

 

[Rob0729]

I Want Ravens to win because they have the better chance at beating Broncos and if we do our job against the Texans then we will have another Home playoff game!!!

I still don't get this logic. The Ravens are a team that lost 4 of their last 5 games (would have been 5 of the last 6 if not for a bad Chargers' defense giving up a 4th and 27 on a dump off pass) including getting blown out by the Broncos at home. The Ravens are currently not a very good team and if this team that has been on field the last month and a half was the Ravens' team that played the entire year, they would have been more likely to be a top 10 draft pick team than a playoff team.

They could win today because the Colts are not nearly as good as their record and very vulnerable if you can shut down Luck. So they could lose today, but I like the Colts' chances better in Denver because they are riding high while the Ravens are crashing to the ground.

 

[Rob0729]

I just want the team that has the best chance on beating up on the Bronco's to win....

Which is better? Very little chance or virtually no chance? Personally, I think the Bengals had the best chance of beating the Broncos out of the three teams they could have faced even after watching how bad they were yesterday.

The Ravens are a mess right now. The Colts are too one dimensional. One might beat the Broncos, but neither will have much of a shot.

I give the Colts a slightly better chance because they are capable of a fast start and the Broncos have had a trend of starting games flat and coming on in the second. If the Colts could get a decent lead in the first half, they might be able to ride it out in the second.

 

[Chopblock CB]

You might have to wait til next Sunday for that. ...

That's an awesome post...lol...but I was more thinkin''who can beat up on them the most before we potentially play them providing the 1 and 2 seeds take care of business....

 

[Chopblock CB]

Which is better? Very little chance or virtually no chance? Personally, I think the Bengals had the best chance of beating the Broncos out of the three teams they could have faced even after watching how bad they were yesterday.

The Ravens are a mess right now. The Colts are too one dimensional. One might beat the Broncos, but neither will have much of a shot.

I give the Colts a slightly better chance because they are capable of a fast start and the Broncos have had a trend of starting games flat and coming on in the second. If the Colts could get a decent lead in the first half, they might be able to ride it out in the second.

Oh..I have no doubt Denver will beat either of those teams..I was specifically asking who can beat up on them physically prior to a potential meetup..

 

[Chopblock CB]

Take a look who Denver has played this season...KC twice...Oakland Twice....how many team have they played this year who are over .500 and did they beat them..lolo

 

[Rob0729]

Oh..I have no doubt Denver will beat either of those teams..I was specifically asking who can beat up on them physically prior to a potential meetup..

In theory it would be the Ravens. Although in their current state, I don't know. I guess if Bernard Pollard plays, there is a chance although he seems to only injure Pats players.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Without question the Ravens have a better chance to beat the Broncos. Ngata, Reed, Lewis, Suggs. On offense, Ray Rice is the type of player who can break any defense if used properly. One other thing the Ravens have is a boom-or-bust passing game that features a lot of deep vertical passes, which on a given Sunday (or Saturday) can put up a lot of points.

If the Colts win, that in itself is a huge victory for them. Nothing short of a ring will do for the Ravens.