Ravens Patriots Preview
Added on Oct 04, 2009 by sbworld in
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This one has had the Patriots a slight favorite of around 1.5 or 2 points this week. The over/under is either 44.5 or 45.
Featuring arguably the two elite teams of the American Football Conference, this showdown will be a battle of wits and strength at Foxboro. The Patriots come into this game having rebounded at home with a 26-10 win over Atlanta and now sit at 2-0, while Baltimore is 3-0 after blasting Cleveland 34-3.
The casual football fan has heard over and over about how great the Ravens defense has been over the years, but the difference this season is how explosive their offense has been in the hands of second-year starter Joe Flacco. Flacco compiled his third consecutive strong performance against the Browns by throwing for 342 yards and a pair of touchdowns. With a pair of solid running backs at his disposal in Ray Rice and Willis McGahee as well as a much healthier former All-Pro tight end Todd Heap. All of the firepower has allowed Baltimore to score over 30 points in its first three games, something mostly unheard of in the past.
This will be the Ravens’ second tough road test of the season, the first coming with a thrilling 31-26 victory in week two at San Diego. But New England might be an entirely different beast as it is a team that might be starting to work out all of its early season kinks and become closer to the team it was two years ago rather than the one it was in 2008. The Patriots have already won two homes games this season and are undoubtedly going to be highly motivated to get a third and prove their AFC supremacy.
One New England question mark, a question never asked in past years, is Tom Brady. Is the probable Future Hall of Famer still shaking off the rust from missing all but one quarter of last season? Brady looked better against Atlanta than he did against Buffalo or the Jets, but he’ll be the first to say there is still some work to do as far as regaining the rhythm and timing he had prior to the injury. And versus what is still one of the NFL’s premier defenses in Baltimore, not much will come easy this week. Brady is just 3-of-10 for 10 yards in the red zone so far and the Patriots have scored just two touchdowns in 10 trips inside the opponent’s 20 yard line.
The last time New England faced Baltimore was during the perfect 16-0 season as Brady threw a touchdown pass with 44 seconds remaining to give his squad a thrilling 27-24 victory. Baltimore held Brady to 18-of-38 passing and sacked him three times for his worst performance since the start of the 2007 season.
As well as the Ravens defense typically plays, New England’s has proven to be no slouch despite losing a few of its playmakers to injury or trade. It is currently ranked third in the NFL in yards per game allowed (262.3) and will be aiming at creating havoc for Flacco.
Two good offenses and two good defenses. It makes for a tough game to cap, but is should be a wonderful game to watch.
Prediction: Baltimore 20, New England 19
