Ray Rice (Getty Images)
Joe Flacco
STARK RAVEN MAD: Just because Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are in the AFC title game doesn’t mean their ticket is stamped for New Orleans. Ray Lewis (above), Ray Rice (inset left) and Joe Flacco (inset right) are three reasons why it wouldn’t be shocking if the Ravens beat the Pats to reach the Super Bowl, writes Steve Serby. (
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Full disclosure: I picked the Patriots to win it all in preseason, and I’m not about to turn my back on Tom Brady and Bill Belichick now.
But I do know this: The 9 1/2-point spread is a joke. Don’t be shocked if the Ravens shock the world and end up in Super Bowl XLVII.
Here’s why you worry if you’re Gisele Brady:
DESTINY: The emotional, inspirational lift Ray Lewis is giving the Ravens is powerful. How badly do you think his teammates want to send him riding off into the sunset with a second championship, a la the Broncos and John Elway when Mike Shanahan coached them?
“I think, for me personally, when he announced it, I just thought that Ray Lewis has been in the league for so many years, 17 years, and he only went to the Super Bowl once,” Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said yesterday. “I looked at it as, ‘I’ve never been to the Super Bowl in seven years, and times like this never come around.’ So, you definitely have to make the most out of it and work real hard to try to get there. I think every individual has worked a little bit harder just to know that we probably will never be in this situation again.”
REVENGE: The Ravens remember the feeling of blowing the 2011 AFC Championship Game.
“It’s been a long road getting back to this point, and the way we left it last year didn’t sit well with us,” tight end Dennis Pitta said.
Now they get to return the favor.
“I think we, personally, kind of wanted to play the Patriots again,” Ngata said. “If we were to go to the Super Bowl, it would be great to go through Foxborough and win there.”
THE UNDERDOG ROLE: The Ravens beat the Pats 31-30 in September, should have beaten them in the 2011 AFC Championship Game. Ravens-Against-the-World.
“Obviously, at this point in the year, most of the time you are going to be on the road,” guard Marshal Yanda said. “We understood that after we weren’t going to be in the top two seeds. No matter what, we were going to have to go on the road in order to get to the Super Bowl. We understand that, and obviously, we have been there before. It will be a new challenge. It will be a tough battle, but we are looking forward to it.”
WACKO FOR FLACCO: Joe Flacco (22-36, 306 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) outplayed Brady (22-36, 239 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) in last year’s AFC Championship Game. He outplayed Peyton Manning in the cold.
“I really thought he showed a lot mental toughness,” Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. He throws a deadly deep ball and he has a deadly deep threat in Torrey Smith, who has burned the Patriots secondary for three touchdowns in the previous two games. And Pitta has been a problem for Belichick: 10-92, 2 touchdowns receiving in the two games. Aqib Talib will be key for the Patriots.
“Joe is always kind of the same to me, and that’s what we love about him,” Pitta said. “He’s even-keeled, he’s always poised, he stays confident, and we have 100 percent trust in him — especially in the critical moments. In these critical games in the playoffs, we know he’s going to come up huge for us.”
RICE IS NICE: “The running back is great,” Rob Ninkovich said. “Ray Rice is able to play physically tough, running downhill.”
Rice (21-67 rushing, 1-11 receiving) was held in check in the AFC Championship Game, but ran for 101 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 49 yards in the September game. He’ll easily be the best back on the field, though the emergence of second-year backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen has given Brady some balance, finally. Although Ngata and Co. shut down Brady’s ground game (34-77) four months ago.
HONK IF YOU LOVE GRONK IS OUT: A huge blow, losing tight end Rob Gronkowski, although it was Brandon Lloyd (9-108) and Wes Welker (8-142) who did most of the damage in September, when tight end Aaron Hernandez was sidelined with a sprained ankle. Hernandez is healthy this time.
BRAWL ABOARD: Ask the Giants about what it’s like to get smashed in the mouth by the bully Ravens. This will be a heavyweight slugfest, not for the faint of heart, only the strong survive, all that and more. The Pats failed to sack Flacco the last time, and Von Miller was a rumor for the Broncos. Watch Ngata against Logan Mankins, and Yanda and Matt Birk against Vince Wilfork.
“We will have to have him blocked and get after him and contain him,” Yanda said.
Pats.
I think.