Any confidence going into the Week 16 game vs the Ravens?

I see many on here predicting a loss. I said last night before the game that our chances to win would be better if the Ravens were to defeat the Lions than they would have been otherwise, because the Ravens would be unbeatable in a do-or-die situation at home. Having said that I am still worried. With the way their RZ defense and our RZ offense has been playing without Gronk, I could see us having to settle for a lot of FGs. If Talib can't lock down Torrey Smith, it could be a long night.

Thoughts?

Thompkins/Dobson/ Boyce

What's up with these guys??? Suck it up and play. They need them. How come rookie recievers for other teams play yet we can't even get these guys on the field???

What gives?? They don't have a shot in Baltimore if these guys don't play..

Time to sack up.

We aren't fighting for the #1 seed right now .. They are fighting for their playoff lives

FourierSeries said:

I see many on here predicting a loss. I said last night before the game that our chances to win would be better if the Ravens were to defeat the Lions than they would have been otherwise, because the Ravens would be unbeatable in a do-or-die situation at home. Having said that I am still worried. With the way their RZ defense and our RZ offense has been playing without Gronk, I could see us having to settle for a lot of FGs. If Talib can't lock down Torrey Smith, it could be a long night.

Thoughts?

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We're doomed. No pass rush and Flacco lights us up because he's better than Jason Campbell and Ryan Tannehill

Its hard to feel good right now. Outplayed by Cleveland at our place and close loss to Miami on the road and struggled in red zone without Gronk.

We can clearly play with anyone. Problem is we can play with 12-4 or 4-12 and our margin of error is very small. Scary proposition we definitely aren't "peaking".

No. We don't stand a chance. The Pats might as well stay in Foxborough and raise a white flag to the top of lighthouse in Gillette and send Kraft's sabre by courier to M&T Bank with a penned letter announcing that the Patriots do hereby forfeit the game.

Of course, they are 7-3 against the Ravens and this Ravens team is not as good as those they have faced in the past. It is in Baltimore and the Patriots are as banged up as I have ever seen them but it is a team that can beat any team and lose to any team. They rarely lose 2 in a row and I think there is a real sense of urgency by both teams. I will take Brady and Belichick but that's nothing new, I always take them, which means i am usually right because they make that so.

I don't think the pats will make the playoffs

Of course I do have confidence, we lost to a good Miami team, you guys gotta understand that.

Like Tedy Bruschi said in a chat a few weeks ago, the days of the blowout are over.

Get used to it.

The AFC East is not a joke anymore.

KontradictioN said:

No. We don't stand a chance. The Pats might as well stay in Foxborough and raise a white flag to the top of lighthouse in Gillette and send Kraft's sabre by courier to M&T Bank with a penned letter announcing that the Patriots do hereby forfeit the game.

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After seeing that prayer of a field goal attempt sail through last night, I'll say no.
After seeing Baltimore's last desperate gasp succeed with a fricking 61 yard field goal to win??!!
That's sum sick mojo working on their side. 2 teams going in opposite directions as the regular season winds down.

Sixty one $#%&&^@** yards?

Oh......%#@& ME!:bricks:

it's a 50/50 game. i'm confident that it will be a close game. whoever executes at the end will win.

I'm excited to see how our offense will do now that Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are no longer there to line them up correctly. This game is going to be different than the last 3 or 4 games we've played against them.

Also interested in seeing how Jump Ball Joe does without Anquan Boldin going up to make the catch for him.

I still think the Pats can win this game. Would I bet on it? No.

The Ravens' offense sucks. Maybe more than any one that the Pats have faced in the last month or so - even maybe Cleveland, but it is close. The Ravens are 29th in total yards, 27th in QB rating, the 6th most sacked team, 29th in rushing, dead last in rushing yards per attempt, 29th in passing yards per attempt, and 25th in scoring.

Even on defense, I think their production is a bit of a mirage. Would we be talking about their defense from last night the same way if Megatron didn't drop three passes that hit his hands (one for a two point conversion and the other two with him wide open and a lot of open field to run)? Matt Cassel and the Adrian Peterson-less Vikes lit up their defense in the fourth quarter in MMT Stadium just two weeks ago.

The Ravens have had an easy schedule in the last month. They crushed the Jets at home who are 6-8, beat the 6-8 Steelers on a failed two point conversion by the Steelers, barely beat the 5-9 Vikings in a 4th quarter shootout at home where the Ravens scored the winning TD with 4 seconds left, and they just beat the Lions last night who have lost four out of their last five games.

People are down on the Patriots for all these down to the wire wins and one down to the wire loss, but the last three weeks the Ravens also had games where they went down to the wire and were won with seconds, not minutes on the clock.

Part of me says no, we don't have a snowballs chance but this team has fight. I would never count out Brady or Belichick. Never.

Yeah, Pats are going to win this game for sure. By 10 at least.

Edit: and BTW, I picked them losing in Miami. I do pick them to lose some games. But they win this one.

anyone who is already conceding a loss.

DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO CHEER! :rocker:

I fully expect the Patriots to play a close game with the Ravens. I had them at 12-4 before the year and will stick with that prediction, although I believe I had this one as a L in the season prediction thread. The Patriots can get this done. The secondary will have to come to play as I'm sure Flacco is looking forward to throwing the ball with Pitta, ****son and Smith against them.

The thing I fear the most is home cooking by the refs especially at the end of the game. The NFL has become awful in this regard. If it's close the Ravens will get the call or the Pats won't depending circumstances. The last time the Pats played in Baltimore the replacement refs gifted them the game. The current refs don't look much better.

Keys for the Pats are the obvious ones. Red zone offensive execusion and defensively limiting the big play and getting off the field on 3rd down.

Rob0729 said:

I still think the Pats can win this game. Would I bet on it? No.

The Ravens' offense sucks. Maybe more than any one that the Pats have faced in the last month or so - even maybe Cleveland, but it is close. The Ravens are 29th in total yards, 27th in QB rating, the 6th most sacked team, 29th in rushing, dead last in rushing yards per attempt, 29th in passing yards per attempt, and 25th in scoring.

Even on defense, I think their production is a bit of a mirage. Would we be talking about their defense from last night the same way if Megatron didn't drop three passes that hit his hands (one for a two point conversion and the other two with him wide open and a lot of open field to run)? Matt Cassel and the Adrian Peterson-less Vikes lit up their defense in the fourth quarter in MMT Stadium just two weeks ago.

The Ravens have had an easy schedule in the last month. They crushed the Jets at home who are 6-8, beat the 6-8 Steelers on a failed two point conversion by the Steelers, barely beat the 5-9 Vikings in a 4th quarter shootout at home where the Ravens scored the winning TD with 4 seconds left, and they just beat the Lions last night who have lost four out of their last five games.

People are down on the Patriots for all these down to the wire wins and one down to the wire loss, but the last three weeks the Ravens also had games where they went down to the wire and were won with seconds, not minutes on the clock.

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People talk about the Cleveland game but forget this Ravens team barely squeezed by the Vikings, as well as the games you noted. It should be a good game but this Ravens team is not the one the have been facing for years.

I dont care about last night's game having any effect on sunday nor do I care if we won in dogfights vs the texans and browns. We won a dogfight vs the broncos and saints also, doesnt mean they are the same as the texans and browns.
My main concern is the injury to solder and what effect it has on our already inconsistent o-line and health of team in general. Pats defense has to generate some turnovers and offensively bring the focus back on ridley .

I'm pretty confident about the Patriots beating the Ravens on a short week. Offensively there is not a lot going on over there for the Ravens. The Patriots DBs can definitely handle Julio Jones, Torrey Smith and Ed ****son. Ray Rice is having a sub-par year, and Joe Flacco doesn't have the mobility that Tannehill showed last week. They look anemic to me, and, like the Patriots, they have a tough time when it gets crowded in the Red Zone.

Flacco has thrown 17 interceptions this year and misses Boldin as someone he could throw at who would out-muscle the defenders. This is one game where the DBs should jump routes and go for turnovers.

On offense, the Patriots will grind out their 24 to 27 points against these guys, especially if either Thompkins or Dobson is back to give them an outside the numbers threat. The Patriots have lots of speed and quickness with Amendola, Edelman and Vereen that Baltimore will struggle with, and the running backs should be able to keep the Ravens honest, particularly if Ridley can play a bigger role.

The Ravens defensive line and linebackers blitzing is the big issue. Brady's got to get the ball out of there. It would nice if Solder, Cannon and Svitek could give them 60 decent minutes this week, so Mankins can go back inside.

The wiseguys have the Ravens +1 at home against the Patriots. That's basically picking the Pats to win by forfeiting the +3 home field advantage in games like this.

I like the Pats 24 - 17.