We’ve been down this road before.
More than once.
It happened in 2000 and then again in 2012.
A team that represents our city is one that appears to be correcting its flaws and they have that look of a team that others don’t want to face at this time of year.
On Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, the Ravens answered questions about their offense, their quarterback and a coaching staff’s willingness to try and put a team away. These answers combined with a formidable defense that is beginning to develop an identity, combine to make the once seemingly impossible, possible.
Beating the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Joe Flacco has been the recipient of much criticism. And he’s earned it. He broke huddles looking lost. He threw passes that left you scratching your head. He had no rhythm and for the love of God we pleaded for him to stop throwing off his back foot.
Sunday was different.
The offense was purposeful. It attacked and it had a rhythm, one that acutely matched the DNA of its quarterback. All of those inaccurate back foot throws that many believe stem from his ACL/MCL injuries from a year ago, suddenly vanished. Even after Andre Branch blew up Ronnie Stanley, a near duplicate play of the one that sidelined Flacco on November 22, 2015 (video below), the Ravens statuesque gunslinger hung in the pocket and delivered strike after strike.
And speaking of that pocket, Sunday marked the fourth consecutive game in which the Ravens offensive line played with the same personnel. They are coming together as a unit at the right time. They are getting healthier. That too is reminiscent of the stretch run in 2012.
The Patriots on the other hand, aren’t as healthy as they were earlier in the season. They will take the field without Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola.
All of this sets up well for the Ravens.
The Ravens are anything but intimidated when they go into Gillette Stadium. Since Joe Flacco arrived on the scene business trips to The Big Razor played out as follows:
• 01/15/15: 35-31 Patriots
• 01/20/13: 28-13 Ravens
• 01/22/12: 23-20 Patriots
• 10/17/10: 23-20 Patriots
• 01/10/10: 33-14 Ravens
• 10/04/09: 27-21 Patriots
All losses were by one score with the Ravens averaging 25.5 points per contest and the Patriots 22.5.
It should be that close again on Monday despite the Patriots added incentive to bury the Ravens given the perception that it was John Harbaugh & Co. who planted the seeds of Deflate Gate. The Ravens won’t be intimidated. If anything they’ve been the intimidators.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/izpnSuC1NaQ[/youtube]
To advance to (8-5) the Ravens simply need to carry the momentum from the Dolphins game into Foxborough. They can’t overthink things and get cute offensively. Stay in the attack mode and let Flacco find his rhythm. Some might say that’s a taller task on the road, and while that may be true, it’s been done before. Twice Flacco has employed the no-huddle approach during the playoffs in New England and found success during the second half of the last two AFC Championship games the teams have played there.
As for the Patriots, Belichick has the creative ingenuity to take away the opponent’s best offensive and defensive weapons. But the Ravens really don’t have one guy on either side of the ball who dominates – that one player upon which the rest of the offense or defense pivots. Their talent is distributed equally and that may throw a monkey wrench into Belichick’s tendencies. Perhaps that’s why he hasn’t enjoyed the same success against the Ravens as he has the rest of the league.
This will be a one possession game.
It will be a nail biter.
This is a game that the Ravens can thieve away and in doing so tilt the balance of power in the AFC.
We’ve been down this road before.
[cardoza_wp_poll id=”1482″]
