Bring on the Ravens

[scout]

Flacco is a superior QB to Sanchez. He is much more accurate and a better game manager.

I'd put him in the Matt Ryan catagory.

I agree with Sanchez, who might even be cut. No way is Flacco in Ryan's class. Matt Ryan?

 

[ivanvamp]

Ravens defense scares me, mainly Ngata and Lewis up the middle

I have said that I think the Pats' OL is the key to this game. But even more specifically, I agree with you here: the key is Connolly (or, if he's playing, Wendell). If he struggles against Ngata, Brady will have a hard time throwing. If he can keep Ngata from getting push up the middle, Brady will be able to step up into the pocket and make clean throws.

I hope Mankins is up to as close to full health as possible, and he and Waters need to help with up-the-middle pressure.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Stevan Ridley

"And just like EVERY other week since I've been here K Faulk beat me to the weight room!"

Send this man off right! :rocker:

 

[RobertWeathers]

I agree with Sanchez, who might even be cut. No way is Flacco in Ryan's class. Matt Ryan?

Ryan has more career TDs and yards but statistically they are strikingly similar.

I'm a big BC football fan and I always felt that Matty Heisman was overrated. Always seemed that in the big games he came up small...

Flacco has an advantage that he has had great defenses to lean on but I really don't see to much of a difference between the two.

 

[Stilla]

I am sure BB will look towards Josh to scheme up some screen plays for this game.

 

[zipster9]

Stevan Ridley

"And just like EVERY other week since I've been here K Faulk beat me to the weight room!"

Send this man off right! :rocker:

Patriots need to mix up some play-action. To do that we need to run. BJGE has toe injury, but Ridley has fumbled 2x. Once it we OB. Other, Denver recovered.

Heard that Ravens will go man:man coverage, rather than zone. Since our WRs (not TEs) are slow..

 

[scout]

Ryan has more career TDs and yards but statistically they are strikingly similar.

I'm a big BC football fan and I always felt that Matty Heisman was overrated. Always seemed that in the big games he came up small...

Flacco has an advantage that he has had great defenses to lean on but I really don't see to much of a difference between the two.

Maybe it was just my perception. Ryan does throw in a dome (where he is quite good) versus outside in Baltimore.

 

[MassPats38]

Games between the Ravens and Pats, with the exception of the 2009 playoff game, have historically been close, tough games that come down to the wire. I am surprised Vegas made this a 7 point+ spread, even with home field advantage.

Baltimore is a ground and pound team that scares few on offense as it went away from that approach somewhat to make itself more of a passing attack. It is not a passing team, even with the known commodities it has (Boldin, Evans, etc.). Rice had a great year and has to be addressed or the game goes the Ravens' way in terms of clock control. I have watched a number of Ravens games this season, and Flacco looks worse than he has in prior years. If the Pats put points on the board and shift the offensive emphasis to Flacco, I expect the Pats will win as Flacco does not look comfortable and his decision-making reflects that.

And a win is a win, but nobody is singing praises of the Ravens and that offense right now. That unit looked horrid yesterday, and yes, the Texans have a great defense but the offense was not there even accepting the basic premise that offenses look worse against good defenses. That punt flub was not the result of the Ravens execution, but rather was a stupid mental error that was huge in a playoff game (credit the special team tackling the returner to insure the Ravens recovered the fumble, but there was no reason to touch that ball with the gunner one step away). The Ravens defense showed up in plays, but throws into triple coverage, even with Andre Johnson as receiver, are gifts to a defense. There should have been 5 picks instead of 3, and most of those were not the product of pressure from the particular defense but were instead rookie QB mistakes under game pressure. The Ravens had better have plenty to talk about from that game film this week.

The Ravens cannot afford a shootout, the Pats cannot afford to let Brady get beat up by the Ravens defense. We will see what happens on Sunday. All the other stats, records and history really means nothing in predicting this game. The two best teams in the AFC are playing, as it should be, and I expect it will be a great game to watch.

 

[mgcolby]

1. Maybe not if you look at his stat line but thats my point. He is not an elite QB but is enough to get this team a SB win. He had constant pressure in his face yesterday playing the #2 defense. Even Brady is subpar with pressure.
Point is we are a complete team.


2. This I agree with.

Are you talking about that number two defense that had 4 more sacks and 12 more QB pressures than our horrendous defense?

I've read your board and you guys over there keep talking about how we Pats fans know nothing. Yet, they keep talking about the 31st ranked defense and think that our D sucks. Its clear many of them have not watched the Pats consistantly. And I have yet to read any well thought out posts backing an opinion with fact. It all seems like a bunch of ra-ra crap.

Here are some points to chew on:

1. Our O-line is very good. Top 5 in the league when healthy, which they are this week.
2. Brady and co. have only scored less than 40 points once in the past 4 games and that was the game where we made changes to the Oline with Light being out at the last minute and Mankins leaving the game on the 2nd drive. And they struggled in the first half.
3. Matt Light is possibly having the best season of his career.
4. Mankins and Waters maybe the best guard combination in the league.
5. Connoly is servicable and usually does well against the big 3-4 NT's.
6. Our defense is allowing 18 points per game over the past 9 games. 19 over the past 4. The same as your all world defense.
7. At home our defense is allowing 19.2 PPG against offenses that average 21.1 PPG. If that holds true your team will score 21 points. That won't get it done.

I ask you where does the offense come from if they take Ray Rice out of the game?

Flacco is at best average any way you shake it. To say otherwise is head scratching. Constantly throwing off his back foot even when he isn't under pressure. He is not accurate. Has weapons all around him and yet does almost nothing with them. 57% completion rate? With Boldin, Smith, Evans and ****son? Your running back is your leading receiver. That tells me if his first read is not open, he doesn't make it through his progressions. Ultimately checking down to Rice.

 

[Titleistman]

I lived in Baltimore (grew up in Maine) for a couple of years and follow the team along with the Patriots. The general rule of thumb is without turnovers if you can put 100+ yards on the ground up on the Ravens then you win. D has to come up to play the run and the days of shutdown corners are gone in Baltimore. Of course, this would have worked if Yates didn't throw in to double coverage all day long as everyone in the stadium knew the ball was going Andre Johnson. Arian Foster ran for 130+ on the Ravens and the D only twice touched Yates. Ravens have become old and slow on defense not to mention the current ailments of Reed and Lewis. If you go no-huddle and keep the Ravens D on the field for long drives they will be gassed by the 4th quarter. This will be a double digit win, if not a blowout. Flacco has not progressed enough in 4 years and the Ravens D can't win the game like in 2000 when Dilfer was a ball manager.

 

[Patspsycho]

I lived in Baltimore (grew up in Maine) for a couple of years and follow the team along with the Patriots. The general rule of thumb is without turnovers if you can put 100+ yards on the ground up on the Ravens then you win. D has to come up to play the run and the days of shutdown corners are gone in Baltimore. Of course, this would have worked if Yates didn't throw in to double coverage all day long as everyone in the stadium knew the ball was going Andre Johnson. Arian Foster ran for 130+ on the Ravens and the D only twice touched Yates. Ravens have become old and slow on defense not to mention the current ailments of Reed and Lewis. If you go no-huddle and keep the Ravens D on the field for long drives they will be gassed by the 4th quarter. This will be a double digit win, if not a blowout. Flacco has not progressed enough in 4 years and the Ravens D can't win the game like in 2000 when Dilfer was a ball manager.

I agree that we'll be doing a lot of no-huddle hurry up offense, but I'm not sure it will be a blowout. Your defense may be old but they play with a lot of pride. That's commendable.

 

[mgteich]

I suspect that we will play quite a bit of a 6 man OL, with a 3rd blocking TE), or with Gronk spending much of the game as a blocker.

 

[Kontradiction]

Thats fine but you have to take your blinders off. The Pats only played one tough defense all year and that was Pittsburgh and we all know what happened there. They held Tom under 200 yds passing. Your defense on the other hand had allowed a 300 yd passer in 12 out of 16 games. Some of those to some pretty pedestrian passers. They might have tightened up some issues on D but you know what they say. You can't polish a turd.

The Steelers shut us down because they played all man coverage, got pressure without having to send extra pass rushers on every down, and played Polamalu in the defensive backfield. That's completely different from the defense they normally played. They essentially blew their wad in that game and, if they had beaten the Broncos, the result this time definitely would have been much, much different.

 

[Bella*chick]

Thats fine but you have to take your blinders off. The Pats only played one tough defense all year and that was Pittsburgh and we all know what happened there. They held Tom under 200 yds passing. Your defense on the other hand had allowed a 300 yd passer in 12 out of 16 games. Some of those to some pretty pedestrian passers. They might have tightened up some issues on D but you know what they say. You can't polish a turd.

That game was ages ago in football land. Not to mention that despite playing their worst game this year by a mile, we were still in it at the end.

If you really think that's the team you'll be seeing come Saturday, you're in for a nasty surprise.

 

[Bella*chick]

I think you are underestimating that defense a little. If you really did follow them like you claim you would know better. Yes Ray and Ed are getting up there in age but the D as a whole is pretty young. Thats okay. Keep thinking it will be a cake walk. Can't wait.

Really. How'd you handle San Diego?

Btw, you're not talking to the coaching staff or the team. What we think matters nothing to the Patriots obsessive preparation. So I don't know why you're deluding yourself into thinking the team is taking the Ravens lightly. You clearly don't follow the Patriots beyond the surface.

 

[VrabelJr]

What so many people fail to realize is that stats are all relative. While Baltimore and Pitt's defenses are above average they did benefit by getting to go against Colt McCoy twice, Andy Dalton twice (he's not bad but they run a conservative offense), and a cast of NFC West QBs including heart throbs John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, Sam Bradford, Charlie Whitehurst, Tarvaris Jackson, and Alex Smith. So half of Baltimore's and Pittsburgh's schedules (that's eight games for the mathematically challenged) were against teams that don't know how to air it out.

 

[coolguy]

The pats have the advantage of playing the ravens-light 6 times in 3 years. The patriots know the ravens will get pressure on brady (that's what they're good at), its how the offensive line responds to it for 60 minutes will determine the winner.

The jets have prepared tom brady for a game like this and he has to perform...but the patriots defense needs to prove that they belong in the post season and possibly in new england.

 

[VrabelJr]

Oh and I'd like to give a shout out to Lerdarius Webb. He's really come on this year and I believe he is the unsung hero of that Baltimore defense.

 

[Bella*chick]

I was referring to the fans. The huge number of fans on here that watch one game against a good D and then want to trash our team. Who have the Pats beaten this year? Nobody with a winning record I do know that much.

Unfortunately, O Purple One, we discovered last year that "who you beat" in the regular season means jack **** in the postseason. You haven't figured that out yet?

It's not how we played then, it's how we're playing now. I'd say the team is hot. Perhaps your team is as well, but I don't follow the Ravens that much. You guys play us tough, but we play YOU tough as well. We are all well aware of the challenges presented, believe me.

 

[MassPats38]

What so many people fail to realize is that stats are all relative. While Baltimore and Pitt's defenses are above average they did benefit by getting to go against Colt McCoy twice, Andy Dalton twice (he's not bad but they run a conservative offense), and a cast of NFC West QBs including heart throbs John Skelton, Kevin Kolb, Sam Bradford, Charlie Whitehurst, Tarvaris Jackson, and Alex Smith. So half of Baltimore's and Pittsburgh's schedules (that's eight games for the mathematically challenged) were against teams that don't know how to air it out.

I agree that stats can be misleading, but Baltimore would be a great defense in any division. Lewis, Suggs, Reed and Ngata, regardless of their respective ages, would make any defense credible (Lewis made tackles in run defense that any Pats fan would applaud if he wore the Flying Elvis and Reed can still cover a receiver downfield). Those guys earn their stats every year, and we would be fooling ourselves to believe they will not have an impact in this game. They are also players who operate on emotion, and tend to get fired up every time they play the Pats (the same is not true of the Bolts as they looked flat and got thrashed as a result). I expect the Pats will see their A game.