The Ravens will be alright on Sunday

The Patriots are the number one scoring offense in the league but the Ravens who have performed well on defense this season will give the Patriots hassle, limit the Patriots' big play yardage and allow the Joe Flacco and the offense to score enough points to win.

The New England Patriots are coming off of a bye week averaging 32 points/game. Nine of their seventeen touchdowns have been thrown by the "almighty" Tom Brady. Brady is coming into this game with  a 109.0 passer rating having only thrown two interceptions this year.

It's pretty obvious Brady doesn't turn the ball over often and the Ravens haven't really forced many turnovers on defense so if there is one advantage the Patriots do have it is their +4 turnover ratio.

I do believe the Ravens defense is going to allow a  touchdown or two through the air. Ray Lewis has done a poor job of covering tight ends as of late and that group of players is the strongest on the Patriots offensive side. Rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez who has 18 catches and 240 poses a serious threat to the middle of the field and Rob Gronkowski is a redzone threat who has grabbed two touchdown passes. Pair Hernandez up with the consistent Wes Welker and you have dangerous options for Brady to turn to in a time of crisis.

The main reason the Ravens will come out on top this Sunday is because of the opportunities the offense has to outscore the Patriots. The offense is versatile and can respond to a defense that focuses on one aspect of the game. If the Patriots decide to shutdown the passing game with double coverages and aggressive blitzes, Ray Rice, Willis Mcgahee and Leron McClain will gash their run defense and spill time off the game clock.

If we see alot of eight man fronts Anquan Boldin, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Todd Heap and Derrick Mason will have a field catching balls from the evolving Joe Flacco who has two fourth quarter comebacks to his name this year. Expect the experience of the receivers/tight end listed above to come in handy against a duo of talented but raw corners in Darrius Butler and Devin McCourty.

In the end, the Patriots will not score enough to surpass the Ravens but will compete enough to keep them on their toes. Sunday will not be a repeat of the 2009 Wildcard Playoff game between these two teams. The only way they can defeat the Ravens is capitalization on penalties and turnovers. If the Ravens maintain discipline and prevent these detriments we will go to start our work weeks celebrating the 5-1 Baltimore Ravens..

Key player: Terrell Suggs has forced Tom Brady to fumble twice the last two meetings between these two Pteams. Suggs must keep Brady unsettled in the pocket and force the Pro Bowl quarterback get the ball out before he's ready.