(Warning ahead is an in depth break down of Ravens and Patriots)
I don't think this Ravens team matches up well with the Patriots. That game against the Texans showed how seriously inept their offense is. Houston played much better than the Ravens, the problem was Yates just could not step up to the plate.
Ray Rice is single handedly the Baltimore offense. He is the number one rusher and number one receiver for the Ravens. If you want to see the Ravens entire offensive plan look at the first 3 plays of the game on offense against the Texans.
The first play of the game was a lead play with Rice that got stopped. The second play of the game they used a go route to Torri Smith, that gets stopped. The third play of the game they ran a F-Post play, that is when you motion a back out then run a post play on the inside and try to attack the middle of the defense. They were stopped on all three plays and had a 3 and out.
That's it, thats the entire Ravens offense right there. You shut down those 3 plays and the result is exactly what you saw last weekend, a stagnant offense.
On the flip side here was the Patriots first offensive series.
Patriots line up with Branch and Welker to the left and Gronk and Edelman to the right with Hernandez in the back field (4 wide receiver set). Brady completes to Gronk for a 16 yard completion.
The Patriots then go no huddle and line up with Branch wide left, Gronk tight left and welker and Edelman out right with Hernandez in the back field( 3 wide and a TE). The Broncos are stuck with their Nickel defense on the field. They show a 4-3 look with the Nickel Back over Welker. This causes them to lean heavily towards the Welker/Edelman side of the field which leaves a wide lane for Hernandez. With Gronk blocking Hernandez runs for 45 plus yards.
The Patriots again go no huddle with Branch and Hernandez lined up left with Gronk, Welker and Edelman to the right (5 WR set). With a Nickel defense still on the field (due to the no huddle) the Broncos become mismatched against a 5 wide receiver set and this results in a touchdown for Welker. (As a side note the Broncos should have taken a time out at this point to get the right personnel on the field)
The Ravens cannot protect the middle of the field and have no one to match up with the Patriots tight ends. Their defense is not set up to handle a spread offense. Also keep in mind that the Ravens have only played a top ten offense once this season when they played the chargers (a spread offense) and they gave up 34 points and a loss.
For these reasons I believe the Patriots will be the victors of Sunday night's game against the Ravens.
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