Baltimore Ravens

At the end of the day, all the matters is the Patriots are once again going to the Super Bowl.

It doesn’t matter that Lee Evans didn’t bring that ball in. It doesn’t matter that Billy Cundiff shanked the Ravens’ chance to take it to overtime. It doesn’t even matter that Tom Brady had some very off moments. No, all that matters is the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens, setting up a much-anticipated Super Bowl rematch with a New York Giants team who ended New England’s chance at the perfect season just a few years back. What more can you really say?

Ravens fans will dwell on opportunities missed as they made the Patriots’ offense look ordinary, and got a fine display from quarterback Joe Flacco. But, as is often the case it football, it comes down to a few plays; the penalties on interceptions, the fourth down attempts, and those plays, the plays that have already become part of Ravens lore. Obviously those plays went the way of the Patriots, a team who will likely need to step up on both sides of the ball to deal with a Giants team on a white-hot streak who also caught their share of breaks.

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Championship Weekend has started off with an epic tilt! The Patriots overcame the Ravens by virtue of a missed field goal with 15 seconds left via Billy Cundiff. Now it’s time to talk about our Focus Point for the game. There are so many interesting players to look at in isolation for the Patriots here, but we elected to put Aaron Hernandez under the microscope to see what we could learn as the game happened. He did not disappoint, as he provided 66 yards receiving and another 9 yards as a running back.

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It all comes down to this in the AFC, the most one dimensional team in the league and a balanced team that has seemingly only really hit its stride in two games this season. Who will win the day and advance to Indianapolis to play a Super Bowl in the home stadium of a bitter rival of both teams? Will it be the Patriots carried by the passing attack of Messrs.’ Brady, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Welker? Or will it be the balanced, but arguably underachieving Ravens team looking to take a step forwards and crown their fourth straight playoff appearance with a first Super Bowl berth in more than a decade?

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While the offseason has arrived for all but four teams, we continue on, recognizing the excellence of individuals for seasons well played. We began our look at the 2011 All-Division teams yesterday with the AFC East, but today it’s the AFC North’s turn to take its place in the limelight.

As with all of these teams we’re using some discretion when it comes to personnel and system in order to get the best possible lineup on the field from each division, so don’t necessarily expect to see the teams match in that regard.

Here is PFF’s All-AFC North Team for the 2011 season.

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In a closely contested affair, you always got the feeling that whoever made fewer mistakes out of the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans would win, and so it proved with the Ravens advancing to the AFC Championship game as they held onto victory against a stubborn and resolute Texans side.

While people have been quick to come out and criticize Joe Flacco, the Ravens quarterback did exactly what was needed, against a defense that has caused plenty of teams problems and didn’t turn it over. Throw in several excellent throws and compare it with the performance of T.J. Yates, and you have the biggest reason the Texans are going home and the Ravens are preparing for the Patriots.

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For this game we decided to do the NFL equivalent of tracking an endangered species–we scouted the fullback and in Vonta Leach, one of the few players at that position who get any significant playing time.

It amazed me this year when Michael Robinson was named as the NFC’s first alternate; in part because he actually wasn’t very good as a blocker, but more to do with the fact he only played 22.8% of the Seahawks’ snaps. No fullback played more snaps than Leach (584) and with 52.6% of snaps, it may even be worth my while putting it all to paper. As it turned out, the Ravens game plan was so conservative that he ended up playing an awful lot more than his season average. Let’s have a look at how he did. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s rematch weekend in the NFL Playoffs and the encounter between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans is arguably the most intriguing games and the toughest to pick. Even though the Texans have been hit by injuries, both teams are built on very similar models and matchup very well. Both run the ball well, play stifling defense, and have a quarterback who is just surviving and not making the mistakes to throw their team off course. The Ravens maintained their momentum down the stretch but have taken a week off while the Texans stumbled into the playoffs, but have momentum going into this game after a comfortable victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Wildcard Weekend. This game could not be more finely balanced. Read the rest of this entry »

The AFC North can definitely claim to be the best division in football this year, sending three teams to the playoffs for the first time–the Pittsburgh Steelers and the two teams who met on Sunday: the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.

In the end, the Bengals didn’t need to win the game as the roars of celebration ringing round Paul Brown stadium during the Bengals’ failed final drive signaled that the Broncos has lost. That being said, it’s disappointing to see them slip up against better opposition once again, not ideal heading into the playoffs.

The Ravens managed to banish their road woes to finish the season 4-4 away from M&T Bank Stadium, but the win meant they clinched the division and No. 2 seed in the AFC, meaning they’ll need to win one game on the road at most, to reach the Super Bowl. The game didn’t feature much in the way of dominant performances but there were still plenty of talking points. Here’s a look at the key performances from this matchup. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s fitting that this Week 17 matchup mixes together the two main stories of the Baltimore Ravens’ season, their struggles on the road and their perfect record in the AFC North. You won’t have to tell people in Baltimore what’s on the line in this one, win and they’ll host a playoff game for the first time under John Harbaugh, lose and they’ll likely be headed to Denver or Oakland.

The Cincinnati Bengals don’t have the luxury of already being in the playoffs and competing for a division title this weekend, they need to win to avoid being dragged into a murky field of 9-7 teams for the last Wild Card spot. It’s also the final chance for them to show they can beat someone other than the Cleveland Browns in the division.

For me, this is the most intriguing game of the week bar the winner-takes-all NFC East showdown on Sunday night, with both fighting for different reasons. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the three matchups to focus on this week.

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It was a familiar story for the Cleveland Browns as I once again came away from watching them thinking they have the building blocks in place, but their lack of a top quarterback and receiver kept them from completing what would have been an impressive comeback.

For the Baltimore Ravens it was again the type of performance that makes you wonder if they can make any noise when January rolls around. Once again the passing game was lacking and they go into Cincinnati next week knowing that they need to shake their road woes or face a tricky trip to Denver or Oakland in the Wild Card round of the playoffs as opposed to a bye week to rest up.

Despite the Browns falling just short and the Ravens failing to inspire expectations of a run to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, this game featured some key performances, both good and bad, from both sides. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the performances of note from this Week 16 matchup.

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