I posted this last night at NFL.com under the Ravens-Patriots game discussion ... On December 16, 2012 at around 3:00PM EST, Joe Flacco lay on the ground in Baltimore. There was blood trickling onto the Ravens goal line from a cut on Flacco's face. One of the cleats from the Bronco's Chris Harris had caught him as he dove, trying to prevent Harris from scoring on a 98 yard pick 6. Despite being partially blocked near the 50 yard line, Flacco had continued to chase Harris, and almost caught him. His chase was likely as much in frustration as in desperation. The Ravens had entered December 9-2 and on a four game winning streak which included tough road wins in Pittsburgh and San Diego. They appeared to have their home game with the Steelers in hand when arch-nemesis James Harrison hit Flacco from the blind side and stripped the ball, leading to the deciding TD. This was followed by a close loss to the Redskins in Washington, and now a blowout loss in progress to the playoff-bound Broncos. The Ravens once-promising season appeared to be going down the tubes in a hurry. And then a miracle happened. OK, the miracle was a few weeks later, after the Ravens had rebounded against the defending world champion Giants to get into the playoffs, then defeated the wild card Colts at home. They were again playing the Broncos, this time in Denver, and it appeared that the Broncos had the game in hand. They were up 35-28 with under a minute left and the Ravens were facing 3rd and 3 at their own 30 yard line. That's when Flacco unleashed a pass that traveled 60 yards in the air to hit Jacoby Jones with the game tying TD. The Ravens went on to win the Super Bowl, and in the process Joe Flacco tied Joe Montana for the most post-season TD's without an interception. Two years later in the divisional championship game, Flacco matched Brady TD for TD, twice taking 14 point leads in Foxboro. But the Ravens eventually fell victim to the Pats as their defensive secondary wasn't up to the task of covering the Patriots receivers. This year is shaping up similarly to 2012. The Ravens started 3-0, but then went 0-for-October, losing four games in a row to the Raiders, Redskins, Giants, and (ugh) Jets. They were all close games, and there were serious injury problems throughout that time, but regardless of that, the Ravens entered November 3-4, lucky that the rest of the AFC North was faring just as badly or worse. Since then they have gone 4-1 with that one loss being to the Cowboys in Dallas. They have also gotten healthy. And if they can remain without significant injuries, their chances at taking it all again are far better than their 7-5 record might suggest. After that loss to the Pats in the 2014 playoffs, the Ravens were predicted by many to win the SB in 2015. That was before a raft of injuries hit the team, eventually leaving half the opening day starters on IR, with other key injuries as well, including first round draft pick Brashad Perriman who never played a snap in 2015. Their season of frustration was made all the worse when, in the same game, Justin Forsett broke his arm and Joe Flacco went down with torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. They finished 5-11, their first losing season under John Harbaugh. The one bright spot was that they DID get some nifty draft picks - picks which have paid off well. Perhaps the most important have been first round pick Ronnie Stanley at left guard, and fourth round pick Tavon Young at CB. Stanley has lived up to his hype as a quality offensive lineman, and the Ravens four game losing streak just happened to correspond to the four games Stanley missed due to injury. Meanwhile Young has played his way into the starting cornerback spot, winning the job from opening day starter Shareece Wright. The Ravens defensive backfield also has PFF's top rated strong safety, Eric Weddle, and converted CB Ladarius Webb who is rapidly developing into a quality free safety. They are a far stronger unit than the one that Brady picked apart in the 2014 playoffs. Meanwhile, Flacco has better offensive weapons than he has ever enjoyed. Whereas his only deep threat in 2014 was Torrey Smith, he now has Mike Wallace, Brashad Perriman, and Chris Moore who can all burn down the field. He also has big-bodied tight end Darren Waller who has the speed of a wide receiver and the height to be able to go up high in the back of the endzone. The Ravens also have two quality running backs in Terrence West and Kenneth Dixon. Dixon, another fourth round pick, has recovered from the knee injury that kept him from playing the first several games of the season, and is showing the kind of elusiveness that made him the Ravens top running back this preseason. Now that the offensive line has gotten healthy and learned to play as a unit, both the running game and the passing game have improved. If the Pats want to win on Monday they had better be significantly better than they were in 2014, because the Ravens are.
