I'll start with the Ravens defense. The Ravens like to play a physical style of defense. Unfortunately for them the core of their defense is aging and breaking down. I believe this will inhibit their ability to play a physical style of defense for the entire sixty minutes; especially if the Patriots run their no huddle offense.
The second reason the Ravens will not win on Sunday is because of their quarterback Joe Flacco. Listen, I'm very aware that the Patriots had the 31st ranked pass defense during the regular season but hear me out. For the first time in a long time the Patriots defense was at full strength, or at least as close to full strength as they're gonna get, and they absolutely manhandled one of the best rushing teams in the league. Assuming they continue their performance against the run and shut down Ray Rice, Flacco will be forced to throw all day.
Now allow me to go on a small tangent on why Joe Flacco is an awful NFL player. I realize that you don't need an elite quarterback to win it all. I also realize that the Ravens were prime examples of that in 2001 with Trent Dilfer. However, Joe Flacco is simply not a leader. He is essentially the anti-Brady. For those of you not familar with Flacco's career up to this point here's an abridged version of his story. Joe Flacco started his college career at Pittsburg and similar to Tom Brady at Michigan he had to fight for the starting job. That's where the similarities end. Instead of working his ass off every week in practice to get the starting job he transfered to UDeleware, a 1-AA school where he was a sure thing to start. Also, it should be noted Flacco was competing at Pittsburg with Tyler Palko (you know the kid that sucked it up for the Chiefs this year after Cassel went down?) while Brady was competing with Drew Hensen who was projected by many scouts to be the next big thing.
I honestly think Joe Flacco just lacks the testicular fortitude that is required to play in the National Football League. If the defense wasn't there to bail him out the Ravens would have lost to a team starting their third string, rookie quarterback. Joe Flacco will never lead his team to a Super Bowl because he lacks that competitive fire that all successful people have.
Now in order to be as professional and non-biased as a crappy sports blog can be I'm going to layout the game plan that the Ravens would need to execute to perfection to defeat the Patriots. The formula to beat the Patriots is clear: take an early lead and keep the Patriot's offense off the field; it's difficult for a team to put up 50 points if they never have the ball. They need to put pressure on Tom Brady and hit him to agitate that sore shoulder, as well as disguise their coverages pre-snap. Doing this will increase the chances of creating a turnover.
All that being said I think the game will be close but in the end the Pat's will pull away with a 27-23 victory.
PS How awful is that 'stache?
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