Not good. Not good at all.
patriots
Fans should throw the Texans’ game out. I don’t care what the stats say, that was an overmatched team in every respect. The Ravens are not. And if you’re a team that just “does what they do” on offense and defense, the Patriots are going to throttle you if you’re not as talented. That’s what happened against Houston. These Ravens are an entirely different animal. Not only do they know they can beat the Patriots, they’re nearly as talented. This one will come down to turnovers, and who can swing a handful of key plays. It’s a toss up to me.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/fans-should-throw-the-texans-game-out-i-dont/
Baltimore relies heavily on the deep ball, and deep ball offenses are often inconsistent. Baltimore ranked 30th in offensive consistency this year, based on game-by-game offensive DVOA. They were 26th last year. Consistency is usually considered a good thing, but when you go into a game as the inferior team trying to score an upset, it’s better to be inconsistent. If each team comes out and has their average performance on Sunday, the Ravens will lose by two touchdowns. Inconsistency means that Joe Flacco put up a 3.2 yards per pass, two-interception craptacular like he did against Houston back in Week 7. But it also means that the Ravens could have one of those days where everything clicks, where Ray Rice is gaining five yards per carry and all those deep passes all fall right into the hands of the receivers (and then don’t bounce off those hands, especially if the receiver in question is Jacoby Jones).
https://www.patspropaganda.com/baltimore-relies-heavily-on-the-deep-ball-and/
NFL Playoffs: Tedy Bruschi’s Breakdown of New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens playoff game – ESPN Boston
Mike: Would you take the same type of approach if you were Pees?
Tedy: I think the first thing I’d say to my defensive front is that there will be times when they’ll only have six men in the box to stop the run because we have to worry about this passing game. I’d put some more emphasis on that with the linemen and linebackers. Then I’d concentrate on taking away that inside passing game, which is similar to what others have tried to do with re-routing slot receivers and receiving tight ends. I’d arm my linebackers and slot defenders with various calls – and also using defensive ends at times – to disrupt the passing game inside and between the numbers. Make them beat me outside. I’d also be concerned with running backs offset in the passing game.
Patriots vs. Ravens: Aqib Talib a Key Difference for New England in Rematch
Patriots vs. Ravens: Aqib Talib a Key Difference for New England in Rematch
Good read from Frenz, and one of the most interesting new dynamics of this game is the Patriots confidence playing man-to-man defense. The Ravens have plenty of weapons and how the Patriots choose to match up will be one of the areas I’m most curious to watch.
The biggest problem I see is that they can deal with the wide receivers, and even Mayo on Ray Rice is okay, but the trickle down effect means Spikes, Hightower and Wilson will be left to deal with the Ravens tight ends. That could be the area Joe Flacco most tries to exploit.
Patriots defense had worst game of season vs. Ravens
If there’s one point I think Bill Belichick might be hammering home this week is just how shredded the Pats defense was by the Ravens back in Week 3.
Chew on some of these numbers:
- Flacco 382 yards passing.
- Ravens 503 yards total offense.
- Flacco 9.7 yards/attempt.
- Ravens 4.7 yards per rushing attempt.
- Patriots Defense 0 Sacks. 1 QB hit.
- Ravens 4 80-plus yard touchdown drives.
Some other things of note from Pro Football Focus:
- Just one Patriot defender “in the green” for grading out above average: Devin McCourty.
- 6 Patriots defensive starters “in the red” for grading out below average.
And despite all this awfulness the Patriots still only lost by one point as time expired. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
We should certainly expect a better performance from the Pats D, and not just because they’ve replaced/moved 4 of their five top defensive backs since the last game.
Ten things we love about the Patriots-Ravens rivalry – WEEI | Christopher Price
Ten things we love about the Patriots-Ravens rivalry – WEEI | Christopher Price
Whether you are talking about the players, the coaches (Belichick gave Harbaugh a reference when he was interviewing for the head coaching job) or the owners, both franchises appreciate and respect the way the other does business. Both are in a select group of model, stable franchises that always seem to be at or near the top of the league. New England has operated a steady ship for the last decade plus, while the Biscotti family has done the same with the Ravens. At the heart of that relationship is the shared respect between Baltimore personnel man Ozzie Newsome and Belichick – Newsome played for the Browns, and cut his teeth working with Belichick when the coach was in Cleveland.