Baltimore - New England

The Ravens and Patriots game is the last game I decided to talk about. Probably because I'm not too intrigued by it. Unless you are a bandwagon Red Sox fan, you probably don't have much support for the Patriots. Unless you're a Yankee fan, how can you like a team that cheated with spy gate, allegedly, falsifies injury reports, and has already won 3 Super Bowls in recent times? I think I'm like most fans when it comes to Tom Brady and Belichick, I loved the story of Brady taking over a team and taking it to the Championship. I for one also love Belichick's post game conferences. His dry, I'm not taking the bait and will throw it in your face delivery cracks me up. He's not about himself he's about the team, proven when the Patriots were introduced as a team in their first Super Bowl.

You also can't talk about the post 2000 Patriots without talking about 2007. I think after they beat the Colts in week 8? everyone knew they were the best team, it was just whether they could go undefeated. I followed the streak, but for some reason I really wanted to see them lose down the road. Ultimately I feel they lost the Super Bowl because they played to win their last game against their eventual opponent the NY Giants.

So what about the 2009 team? After basically sacrificing the 2008 season the Patriots offense had to find their groove. The defense was older and the offense was not able take quick leads like 2007. Some weaknesses showed but what we know is that this team was not as good as the 07 team.

Enough with the Patriots, how about the Ravens. The Ravens can be a difficult sell. The defense is almost a mirror difference with the offense. Once the undeniably best in the league, now not so much, but still a top unit. The offense is led by Joe Flacco and the most explosive offense the Ravens have had in their history. Okay, that's not saying much, but Ray Rice is suddenly a top back in the league and is backed up by a brusier in Le'Ron McClain. Out of nowhere Willis McGahee has returned to be an impact 2nd back behind Rice, scoring two touchdowns in the playoff clinching season finale. If the offense can run the ball, Flacco, a tall strong QB that can throw the deep ball, will. Derrick Mason may not be the best receiver in the AFC, you can't contain him for 60 snaps, look for 2-3 deep bals thrown to him right at the goal line. On the other side of the ball the once dominant Ravens D is now only dominant on occasion, but often enough to deserve their playoff spot.

I'm not so sure the Patriots will slice up the Ravens D. This will be a field position game decided by which team plays smarter. Look for a big 2nd half play to make the difference.

Although the season's most impactful receiver Wes Welker is out for the playoffs, Julian Edelman appears to be an ample replacement. I think the loss of Bart Scott and a depleted secondary of the Ravens will be too much to overcome against the still highly potent Patriot offense. Randy Moss will have a big game and the Patriots will be downing the ball to win the game. For the Ravens to have a chance, they will need to get to Brady like the Giants did. Patriots 31-21.