Wildcard Weekend Game Thread
- Thread starter Curtis Pride
- Start date
This is exactly correct. In my opinion, the Ravens are the only team in the AFC that can beat the Patriots. The Ravens are the Jets with a better coach, a better QB, and more overall talent. I had hoped to avoid them, now I hope the Patriots crush them. But they are the worst possible matchup. Living in this god fucking awful state I am going to have to go into a news blackout this week. And co-workers? Fuck me. I will be staring at purple all week. Ravens fans make Yankee fans look like poet laureates. Maybe I can just go on vacation and take the whole week off.j44thor said:
No, you're not. But, for everyone to be suddenly shaking in their boots over this team is over the top. We get it, their front 7 is good. So was Denver's. So was Detroit's. So was cincinnati's. They've faced similar good pass rushing teams and have done well. Have they struggled last 2 weeks? Yes. But Connolly and Vollmer have been out. Last week should be thrown out.Norm Siebern said:
If the Ravens can run the ball and get a couple of turnovers on defense, it's possible. The key to the game will be whether the Ravens can run the ball with their revamped OL.
Do you just not even bother to read what you quote? Thought I made it pretty clear what would bebe a great game for him next week.GeorgeCostanza said:
At this point perhaps someone should bump what was said before the 2012 game because I was a lot more confident we would win that game and suspect many felt the same way
j44thor said:
Why the Patriots are a much stronger all around team now. Talib was hurt on and off all season and he was the key to the defense. Gronk didn't play in the game. Patriots are a better team now than they were then. You seem to only want to point out things for the Ravens.
You said he needed to play the best playoff game of his life,after stepping down from saying best game of his life. I merely wrote what I thought to currently be his best playoff game. Now he just needs to play a "great" game. Before this thread dies how far are you going to walk back the claim?j44thor said:
EDIT: thank you, hyperbole indeed.
There is a happy medium between shaking in one's boots and showing a healthy respect for the opposition. Obviously game of his life was hyperbole but Brady is going to have to play extremely week next Saturday. This is probably the worst draw for ne which is the point I'm trying to convey. This would have been a very different thread if we were facing ind or Cincinnati next week.RedOctober3829 said:
j44thor said:
Now it's a great game? I thought it was the game of his life, or at the very least the playoff game of his life? Your backtracking is a subtle admission that your original statement was, in fact, not really defensible. I'm hoping you'll just actually admit that and we can all move on.
j44thor said:
Brady didn't need to play the game of his life in 2012 either, he just needed to be his normal self, which he wasn't. Either way, it has nothing to do with next week. There are many many avenues where Brady can have a merely good week and the Patriots still win.
Edit: I see you did admit that it was hyperbole. Cool, I'll shut up now.
Let's face it, for some fans the Ravens are in the same category as the Jets or the Yankees. They know the Pats should win, but it won't really matter until the final out is recorded or the clock expires with the Sox/Pats holding the lead.
The trouble starts when fans attempt to give reasons to justify this queasiness. Just admit to it for what it is -- a team you don't like to see the Patriots face -- and move on. No need to get into expanded debates over Xs and Os ... there'll be enough of that the next seven days.
As for me, I agree with what was said earlier ... I'd rather face the Bengals or the Colts, but it will be sweeter when the Pats beat the Ravens.
The trouble starts when fans attempt to give reasons to justify this queasiness. Just admit to it for what it is -- a team you don't like to see the Patriots face -- and move on. No need to get into expanded debates over Xs and Os ... there'll be enough of that the next seven days.
As for me, I agree with what was said earlier ... I'd rather face the Bengals or the Colts, but it will be sweeter when the Pats beat the Ravens.
Well shittttt. Started basically as I posted. Game on I guess. Im on call next Sat so I hope this thread brings good luck early since booze isnt an option.DrewDawg said:
This is a game thread so pile-ons are just as fair as sky-is-falling posts. That said, any Pats fans who think that any of the playoff teams are tomato cans (outside of Arizona) are clearly fooling themselves. The Ravens can absolutely beat the Pats as their pass rush is pretty good right now and while Brady can get rid of the ball quickly, he lacks the Rapists mobility - something that didn't help him much tonight. If Baltimore's patchwork secondary holds up, it may well be a very close game. I am not scared but I don't think the Pats stomp the Ravens either.
Rape takes way more sacks than Brady historically and the Steeler idea of trying to hit the deep ball all night with their OL not holding up was dumb, Brady will be throwing faster and between the numbers more like the Steelers should have tonight.
From your keyboard to Pedro's eyes. And I agree that Brady gets the ball out more quickly. That said, he, like any QB, has problems under duress and the Ravens have the weapons to provide that pressure. Again, I ain't scurrred and I don't agree with jthor about TB12 having to play the game of his life. I hope the Pats stomp the ever living shit out of The Domestic Abuser/Murderers as much as anyone but I won't be surprised if this game is decided by one score. One last point - I don't think Flacco gets the throws he got tonight because the Pats secondary is better than Pittsburgh's and I wonder how well the Ravens can run on the Pats too. In short, this may be a low scoring game but I have faith this Pats defense - the best one they have had in years in terms of personnel - will be a difference maker.Stitch01 said:
Big Lee Smith said:
See he agrees with me. He died during Hurricane Katrina and is now a zombie doctor but still has presence of mind...er, black goo, enough to understand the logic of a man in his elderly mother's basement and a fast dial-up connection.
I just don't see the Ravens winning next week outside of the Pats turning it over 5 times
If a fully healthy Belichick defense with Revis, Browner, McCourty in the secondary can't stop Joe Flacco, Smith and Son and Owen Daniels when the Pats has the #1 scoring offense until they packed it in Week 17, then they really need to reevaluate what they're doing in Foxboro.
I don't think it's a cakewalk but a game the Pats should win.
If a fully healthy Belichick defense with Revis, Browner, McCourty in the secondary can't stop Joe Flacco, Smith and Son and Owen Daniels when the Pats has the #1 scoring offense until they packed it in Week 17, then they really need to reevaluate what they're doing in Foxboro.
I don't think it's a cakewalk but a game the Pats should win.
This really is D-day for Dalton. Yes, he has a weapon out and they are not at home. But otherwise, the Bengals have the wind at their backs. If he cannot play well in this game, I'm hard pressed to figure out a playoff game he's likely to play well in.
I stole this list from a Mike Loyko tweet. He is a great follow: @NEPD_LoykoNortheasternPJ said:
These guys were significant contributors on defense the last time the Pats went to the Super Bowl. It's outrageous how much better the personnel on defense is right now. That team had Arrington, McCourty, Wilfork, Mayo, Ninkovich, Spikes and Chung, after that most guys were replacement level. They played Edelman at DB that year.
A. Carter, played great but was injured before SB
M.Anderson
R.Brace
Shaun Ellis
Deaderick
K.Love
G.Warren
Ihedigbo
A.Molden
S.Brown
Guyton
S.Moore
Nate Jones
Fletcher
Of course, I would kill for that 2011 offensive line: Light, Mankins, Connolly, Brian Waters and Vollmer/Solder that was a studly bunch.
Stitch01 said:
Agreed, the Steelers gameplan of throwing deep was horrendous. The Pats might not play well offensively, but I'm confident they'll have a better plan than that (and adjust more quickly if it doesn't work).
Like others, I expect the spread, up-tempo offense to show up. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see a lot of no-huddle (and some Baltimore fake injuries) and could imagine Vereen having a lot of opportunity in this one. Gronk being healthy is a huge difference from past Ravens games---they don't have an obvious matchup for him.
The Bengals need 32 carries for 32 today and 40 total rushes at the bare minimum. It's their best and likely only shot.
Anyone think it was odd the PA announcer at
Lucas Oil said "...when Stuart Scott finally lost his battle with cancer" before the moment of silence?
Finally?
Lucas Oil said "...when Stuart Scott finally lost his battle with cancer" before the moment of silence?
Finally?
Oh hey, looks like Indy realized that handing the ball off to Richardson isn't a viable running gameplan.
RIrooter09 said:
I'm rooting for the Colts. Cincy beat Denver but Dalton ain't beating Peyton again, and especially away from home.
No AJG & Gresham also gives Dalton zero chance today. Marvin Lewis' miracle run as a 2nd longest tenured HC in the league continues to astound.
Yeah, that is an ugly start for Cincy. Their D needs to play a great game, which will not happen if the Indy OL is paving holes like that for the immortal Dan Herron.
Only one last place finish during his tenure. Six seasons above .500, five of which have come in the past six years, and they've made the playoffs four years in a row. Why would he be canned?SeoulSoxFan said:
EricFeczko said:
Marty Schottenheimer got canned after a 14-2 season, guys sometimes get fired as the result of knee-jerk firings and/or media and fan pressure.
Cincy has stuck by Marvin Lewis through a lot of lean years, so it would be a bit surprising if they canned him after a successful season. I don't think this team has the talent - or QB - to advance much farther than this stage of the playoffs.
EricFeczko said:
That includes a 9-7 sneak-in in 2011, and this year's AFCN playing the god-awful NFC South. Plus the well-known PO failures. Better men have been fired for much less.
Edit: and what MM said. The first 8 years of his tenure only had 2 winning seasons. It's miraculous (in part) that he didn't get fired then.
