Ravens Trips Blog

Heartbroken… That is the word going around Baltimore.  This was the year, in their opinion, that they could go to the Super Bowl and win.  The Ravens should have won this game.  The Ravens defense held the Patriots to 23 points in this game.  This is a very low number for the Patriots.  They are one of the best offenses in the NFL, and their defense is one of the worst, by the stats.  Before this game, I thought the Patriots had the worst defense in the NFL.  I now disagree.  They may allow the most yards per game but they don’t allow the most points.  That is where the bend but don’t break motto comes in.  They let teams drive down the field, but they don’t let them score very many points.

The Patriots defense played one of their best games of the year.  They contained Ray Rice, the centerpiece of the Ravens offense, and they made Flacco beat them with other players.  The Patriots wanted Flacco to throw to Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, Lee Evans, Dennis Pitta, and Ed Dickson.  Flacco rose to the occasion; Flacco threw to all of these receivers.  His receivers did not really help him.  On one play, Flacco threw one deep to Torrey Smith and he had to get under it.  He did not get under it because of the angle he took.  On the final drive, Flacco hit Lee Evans in the end zone and he dropped the pass.  This would have sent the Ravens to the Super Bowl.  Ed Dickson dropped a perfectly thrown ball that would have continued a Ravens drive.  He dropped it and the Ravens had to punt.  This pass was low and to the outside where only the receiver could get it.  It did hit his hands and body, but he dropped it.

This has been a reoccurring theme for the Ravens all year and it one of the reasons their season is ending.  Another reason is because on the Ravens final play of the season, Billy Cundiff missed a 32 yard field goal.  This was the end to the Ravens season, and the players, fans, and coaches thought that it was too early.

They had the team to go to the Super Bowl and win.  They had the opportunity, Lee Evans catch or Cundiff’s kick (the kick would have tied the game).  These were two opportunities that the Ravens had on the final drive and Joe Flacco put them in position to win the game.  All of Flacco’s critics should have been silenced.  He showed that he could play the position at a high level.  He outplayed future Hall of Famer, Tom Brady.  Flacco threw for more yards, more touchdowns, less interceptions, and had a better passer rating.  They had the same completion percentage.  Joe Flacco put the Ravens in the position to win this game but a dropped pass ended the season.

The Ravens defense played great in this game.  They allowed 23 points.  Tom Brady did not have a passing touchdown.  He threw for over 5,000 yards this year and was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.  They also forced Brady to throw two interceptions.  Lardarius Webb had one of the interceptions when he was matched up one on one with Wes Welker.  Jimmy Smith had the other interception on a batted ball by Bernard Pollard on a deep pass and Smith made a very athletic play.  The Ravens secondary played a lot better than people expected.

The Ravens defense did a few very bad things in this game.  They did not get after Brady; I understand that when Brady does a two or three step drop, it is tough to get to him, but when he took a seven step drop, he still had plenty of time.  Terrell Suggs did not have a very good game.  The Ravens best pass rusher was Paul Kruger.  He had the only sack of the game on Brady and it was on a five step drop.  Suggs had opportunities and if he is arguing that he is the DPTY, then he needs to get to the quarterback every game.  He is not deserving of the award.

The Patriots are going to the Super Bowl to play the New York Giants.  The Giants won their last game, which propelled them to the playoffs.  The Patriots faced the Giants in the Super Bowl in 2007.  The Patriots were undefeated going into the game, but the Giants knocked them off.  The Patriots are a totally different team, but they still have this on their mind.  I think the Patriots have a very good chance if they keep Brady clean.

San Francisco 49ers versus the New York Giants for a chance to play in the Super Bowl.  Two first overall draft picks playing quarterback.  Alex Smith versus Eli Manning, but Manning is the one with the Super Bowl ring.

However, this year, Alex Smith has played a lot better this year than in years past.  Smith is being the quarterback that he was projected to be when he was drafted.  Smith is connecting with tight end Vernon Davis who had the game winning reception last week against the Saints.

The 49ers offense is good, but they are led by one of the best defenses in the NFL.  They are led by middle linebacker Patrick Willis, one of the best linebackers in the NFL today.  The 49ers are great at pressuring the quarterback and this allows them to create turnovers.  They are the best running stopping team in the NFL.  They don’t allow a lot of points, so their offense doesn’t need to score a lot of points.

The Giants offense has their hands full this week against the 49ers defense.  The Giants running game is led by Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.  Bradshaw is a mix of speed and power, and Jacobs is a pure power back.  He is not going to beat you with speed, so he just tries to run through people.

The Giants wide receivers are some of the best tandems in the NFL.  Hakeem Nicks has great hands and he runs routes well.  Victor Cruz is the breakout wide receiver of the year.  Nicks and Cruz are a great combination and this makes Eli Manning’s job a lot easier.

The Giants defense is very good at pressuring the quarterback.  Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyora, and Jason Pierre-Paul do a great job at getting to the quarterback.  They have the best linemen combination in the NFL.  They have good linebackers and a good safety.  If they pressure Smith, then they have a great chance of winning the game.

Prediction: 24-16 49ers

The Baltimore Ravens travel to Foxboro to face the New England Patriots with the winner going to the Super Bowl.  In their last playoff meeting, the Ravens won 33-14.  However, that is their only win versus the Patriots in franchise history.  The Patriots were a good team in that game but now they have two very good tight ends.  They are the best combination in the NFL and maybe of all time.  Gronkowski broke the record for most receiving yards and touchdowns.  Hernandez is versatile, lining up as a running back, wide receiver, or tight end.  They have other weapons as well; Wes Welker and Deion Branch are two good receivers.  The Patriots don’t run the ball well, but they can get third and shorts because they have a good line.

The Ravens offense is a lot better than in years past.  Ray Rice is still the main running back and he needs to have a big game if the Ravens want to win.  This means getting him 15-20 touches running the ball because the Ravens need to keep Brady off of the field and the Patriots don’t stop the run well.

Joe Flacco has matured as a quarterback since their last playoff meeting, and he has new weapons.  He has two deep ball threats, Lee Evans and Torrey Smith.  Evans has not had the impact that the Ravens would have liked but him and Joe have looked a little more in synch in the last few weeks.  Anquan Boldin is as fresh as ever since his knee surgery and he can have a big game versus a shaky New England secondary.

The Patriots defense is the worst in the NFL.  Jerod Mayo is one of the better defenders on this team and he will be trying to stop Ray Rice.  Vince Wilfork is a veteran and he does a great job stuffing up holes to stop the run game.  The Patriots secondary has been very bad all year. Kyle Arrrington had seven interceptions in the regular season.  That is great but they still let up a lot of big plays.

The Ravens defense is much different than the Patriots.  The Ravens have a top three defense in the NFL.  They are led by Ray Lewis and he is still playing at a high level, no matter what fans say.  He still plays great north and south, but east and west he is a little slower.  However, he makes up for it with his intelligence.

Ed Reed had a poor regular season for him, but he played great versus the Texans.  He made some good tackles and had one interception.  He could have had two more but he dropped them.

Terrell Suggs had a horrible game versus the Texans.  He didn’t get near the quarterback.  This week he needs to get pressure on Brady.  He had 14 sacks this year, and he had three in two big games.  He had three against the Steelers in week one and three versus the 49ers on Thanksgiving.  I expect him to bounce back this week and have a huge week.  The Ravens will use Suggs in many ways; one will be to chip Gronkowki at the line and he will obviously being going after Brady.

The Ravens secondary will likely play bump and run coverage against Welker and Branch.  The Steelers did it earlier this year against the Patriots and that is how they won.  Lardarius Webb is playing as good as any cornerback in the NFL.  He had two interceptions versus the Texans and five in the regular season.  He does not give up the big play and he makes tackles in the open field.  He needs to have a good game if the Ravens want to win.

Prediction: 38-21 Ravens

Eli Manning led the Giants over the Super Bowl favorite Packers in Lambeau.  The Giants proved that they are a very good team on offense and defense.  The Giants won 37-20 and this shows that their offense can score points and their defense can hold teams to low point totals.  They have allowed 22 points this post season and if they continue this, then they will make it to the Super Bowl.

The Packers were 15-1 during the regular season but then they had a bye week and they may have hurt them.  If they played in the first round they may have won because they would have continued how the season went.  Some teams play poorly after getting a bye week and I think that’s what happened to the Packers.  They had some key injuries in the last few weeks of the regular season and that impacted them in the playoffs.

The Giants front four are the best combination in the NFL.  Jason Pierre-Paul is a very athletic young player and he has the potential to become the defensive player of the year in the coming years.  Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyora are veterans who are still getting to the quarterback consistently.  Their linebackers and secondary are also very good and they force turnovers constantly which are key in the playoffs.  Eli Manning is a great quarterback but he is even better when he is on a short field.  They are a physical defense and that helped them against the Packers.

The Giants are playing the 49ers in the NFC Championship and both teams are physical.  This is a matchup in San Francisco so I immediately give the 49ers the edge in that game.  However, the Giants pass attack is great with Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks at wide receiver.  I think the Giants realize that they beat the favorites to win the Super Bowl and believe that they can get there now more than ever.

The Ravens beat the Houston Texans in the Divisional round of the playoffs to improve their home record to 9-0 on the year.  The first quarter was all Ravens, and they led 17-3.  However, they didn’t do much after that.  The Ravens had three dropped passes in the first quarter.  Torrey Smith missed a deep pass that Flacco threw perfectly.  Boldin dropped a pass that was thrown to the outside, and this has become more and more common for Boldin.  He usually doesn’t drop passes, but he continually drops passes.  Ed Dickson had a dropped pass after Flacco hit him in the middle of the field.  It was a great pass, but Dickson couldn’t hang on to it.

The Ravens had trouble stopping the run, but the Texans ran under 50 percent of the game.  That was the key to the Texans winning, but it didn’t matter.  The Texans were running the ball well when they ran it, but they did not continue running because they were down.  The Texans also didn’t allow pressure to Yates and that is another thing that could let them win.  Yates was not sacked at all and he was hit a few times.  The Texans offensive line contained Terrell Suggs.

T.J Yates had trouble throwing the ball all day.  Ed Reed played very well against the rookie quarterback.  Reed had one interception but could have had three.  He dropped two that he would usually have.  Lardarius Webb had two interceptions off of plays where he jumped the route.  Webb should have made the Pro Bowl and he is showing people why by his playoff performance.

The Ravens are trying to go to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2000.  They beat the Giants in that game and they made it because of their defense.  They still play with great defense led by the same man, Ray Lewis.  The Ravens have the right players to make the Super Bowl but they have to go through the Patriots this week.  They beat the Texans but every game is different, so we will see how the Ravens do against the Patriots.