Wednesday, January 18, 2012

My Keys To A Ravens Win Vs. the Patriots



1. Run the ball as much as possible. Take advantage of the fact that the Pats have one of the worst run defenses in the league. In the last game these two teams played against each other, Baltimore ran the ball 52 times for 234 yards and only threw the ball 10 times. In all of the Patriots losses this season besides the Bills' loss which turned out to be a fluke, the Giants, Lions and Steelers were able to out run the Patriots.


2. Control the time of possession. Use the clock to your advantage by throwing short passes, screens and mix it up with some running plays from Ray Rice and Ricky Williams. You don't have to win flashy, if you can win by controlling the ball and keeping Tom Brady off of the field, you put less pressure on your defense. In all of the Patriots losses this season and in the Ravens win against the Pats in 2010, teams were able to utilize the clock and spend as much time as possible with the ball while only keeping Brady on the field for 1 minute per possession.

3. Joe Flacco doesn't need to play like Brady and act as a gamechanger because even though he's the QB, this team goes where Ray Rice wants to lead it. Flacco needs to manage the game and keep the offense on the field as much as possible like he did vs. the Steelers this season. We don't need to gain major yardage and put up Brady-type numbers of 300 yds. through our passing game as long as we keep the ball in our hands for at least 4 minutes per possession. Even if we only get 3 points on the board a couple of times we're keeping the Pats prolific offense off the field. Flacco didn't have his best game against the Pats last time only throwing 4/10, but as long as he makes the short passes we need to keep momentum going that's all that matters.



4. A big reason the Texans lost was turnovers. If you can make this as physical of a game as possible and put fear in our opponents by blitzing Brady forcing him to make throws he doesn't want to, our underrated secondary should be able to take care of business. And on the opposite side of the ball, don't turn the ball over at all. Despite our offense's inability to make plays last week vs. the Texans, it helped alot that Ray Rice didn't fumble or that Flacco didn't throw a pick, something no one is giving them credit for. If we can produce 0 turnovers against a defense that's almost identical to us, we shouldn't get any turnovers vs. this lackluster defense.


5. Receivers: Stop dropping balls!!! Flacco: If you can't find anyone open become more mobile and gain yardage yourself (while tucking in the ball, of course) or throw the ball away instead of getting the already stagnant offense stuck on 3rd and long situations by losing yards through sacks.

AND I CAN'T EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH:
RUN THE DAMN BALL
 IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT, THIS IS A RUN and GUN SQUAD, WE DON'T WIN PRETTY BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AS LONG AS WE WIN!

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