First the bad news…
The Patriots are 8-1 in franchise history at home in post season games.
Now, the good news…
The Ravens are 5-2 on the road in post season games in their franchise history.
More bad news…
There are only 2 teams in the NFL the Ravens have not beaten. They are winless against the Carolina Panthers and 0-5 vs. the Patriots.
More Good News…
Twice in franchise history the Ravens have beaten teams in the AFC Playoffs that they had never beaten before, the Broncos in 2000 and the Dolphins in 2001.
In this edition of Old School I want to take a closer view of the Patriots lone home playoff loss, it was in the divisional round of the 1978 AFC playoffs, a game in which they were heavily favored.
The 2009 Patriots have had some turmoil, most notably wide receiver Wes Welker’s season ending injury last week and the fact Tom Brady is playing with a possible assortment of injuries. Head coach Bill Belichick also had to send home 4 players because they were late to a meeting, something you just do not see much in NFL circles, among them Randy Moss and Adalius Thomas.
So, along with some bumps in the road this year their defense is a little softer than you would expect, thirteenth against the run, twelfth against the pass. As we already saw in week 4 at New England, the Ravens matched up well and can stay with the Patriots.
Back to 1978
The 1978 Patriots were 11-4 and along with the eventual champion Steelers we co-favorites to win the AFC going into the final week of the regular season.
The Patriots were ending the year on Monday night at home against the Dolphins. They were favored to win, having beaten the Dolphins by more than a touchdown during week 8 of the season in Miami. Everything was on course for the Patriots except for the fact that afternoon in a private team meeting head coach Chuck Fairbanks informed the team that he had accepted the head coaching job at the University of Colorado and would be leaving after the playoffs were over.
The players were in shock. Fairbanks had not yet informed team owner Billy Sullivan of his decision, when he found out later in the day he ordered Fairbanks out of the Patriots’ dressing room before the game. Assistant Ron Erhardt coached the team that night, but the distracted Patriots were easily beaten 23-3 by the Dolphins.
1978 Playoffs
The Patriots had a much needed week off to get ready for the Wild Card Houston Oilers. Houston was led by rookie of the year and league MVP Earl Campbell. The 10-6 Oilers beat the Dolphins 17-9 in the Wild Card game but were not given much of a chance to beat the Patriots. Quarterback Steve Grogan led a steady attack that featured the NFL’s all time best ground game. The Patriots rolled up 3,165 rushing yards in 1978, a NFL record that still stands today.
The press and odds makers felt that while the Fairbanks incident was distracting the veteran Patriots would handle Bum Phillips’ young Oilers easily. After all they were professionals and had a week to get over the distraction. They could not have been more wrong.
New Year’s Eve 1978 brought rain and wind to New England, and a flat Patriots team.
The first period was scoreless. After that it was all Oilers. Quarterback Dan Pastorini found wide receiver Ken Burrough wide open after he beat All Pro Mike Haynes and the two connected on a 71 yard scoring play. Grogan then drove the Patriots deep into Oiler territory but was intercepted on the Houston one yard line. Pastorini then drove the Oilers ninety nine yards, ending the drive with a 19 yard scoring throw to TE Mike Barber.
Pastorini would find Barber again late in the period with another scoring throw and the Oilers led 21-0 at the half. The Patriots were finished, in fact they never got started. Another long Houston drive opened the second half, ending with a Toni Fritsch field goal.
Erhardt by then had benched the shell shocked Grogan, who had completed just three passes. The Patriots did score twice on touchdown receptions by Harold Jackson and Russ Francis but the Oilers were draining the clock with punishing runs by Campbell. Campbell finished off the scoring and the Patriots with a 2 yard touchdown run.
FINAL SCORE: Oilers 31, Patriots 14.
Campbell accounted for 118 of the Oilers 174 rushing yards. Houston dominated the clock and churned up the ground with 54 rushing attempts. Pastorini throwing mostly on play action was 12-15 for 200 yards and three touchdowns.
The record setting Patriots ground game was held to 83 yards.
When it come to the playoffs, throw out past records and look to the intangibles. The 2009 Patriots do not have as many distractions as the 1978 Patriots did but they do have some, perhaps enough for the Ravens to pull off another road upset in the AFC playoffs.
