Week 14 - Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

[Ravensfan23]

It's crazy that the Pats have been at the top for so long. You gotta respect that no matter your feelings towards them. This might not be equivalent to Ravens vs Steelers or Pats vs Colts but it's as close as you'll get. This is a NFL Rivalry that the NFL will put in the spotlight every chance they get. I don't think this is a must win game because it'll all come down to Christmas day, but this is definitely a huge game for both teams. It's gonna be a great one I think.  

[Ravensfan23]

2 minutes ago, rossihunter2 said:

it does bare repeating that the pats havent beaten a large number of good teams this year - their schedule looked difficult before the season but a lot of those teams have disappeared - i always hate that fallacy that you can really comment on strength of schedule before the year's started - our losses to oakland, the giants and the redskins looked bad early on but now look at those teams - strong looking playoff outfits

I get the feeling that the Patriots as a whole have similar feelings for this game as the Ravens do. This is a measuring stick game for both teams no doubt. We as fans see the Pats as "The Team" because that's all you hear in the media, but I don't get the feeling that their players and coaches feel that way just yet. They'll do their best to stick it to the Ravens tonight and it'll be a heavy weight game imo. 

[PuRock]

2 minutes ago, Ravensfan23 said:

It's crazy that the Pats have been at the top for so long. You gotta respect that no matter your feelings towards them. This might not be equivalent to Ravens vs Steelers or Pats vs Colts but it's as close as you'll get. This is a NFL Rivalry that the NFL will put in the spotlight every chance they get. I don't think this is a must win game because it'll all come down to Christmas day, but this is definitely a huge game for both teams. It's gonna be a great one I think.  

While they do have a HOF coach & QB, they also have one of the worst divisions in the NFL.  Miami, Bills, and Jets all are perennial losers.  Every year one of those teams flash to a somewhat competent team but they never know how to handle themselves when the going gets tough.  

[Ravensfan23]

1 minute ago, PuRock said:

While they do have a HOF coach & QB, they also have one of the worst divisions in the NFL.  Miami, Bills, and Jets all are perennial losers.  Every year one of those teams flash to a somewhat competent team but they never know how to handle themselves when the going gets tough.  

Yea but they consistently manhandle teams like the Steelers and Colts on a annual basis so it's not like they only benefit from that weak division. However I agree that it definitely helps and that's the reason I think they struggle tend to struggle against the Ravens. Ozzie almost to a fault will always make sure this defense is built with some big, fast and physical guys. While some other teams might decide to go small, quick and fast on the defense, the Ravens stay true to who they are defensively. 

I think without that weak division they would still be a perennial playoff team, they just wouldn't have as many opportunities at home during the playoffs.  

[The Mom Gene]

We may see some Trolling tonight...  It's happened before..

I ask one very HUGE favor

          

I THANK YOU IN ADVANCE 

[The Mom Gene]

11 minutes ago, PuRock said:

While they do have a HOF coach & QB, they also have one of the worst divisions in the NFL.  Miami, Bills, and Jets all are perennial losers.  Every year one of those teams flash to a somewhat competent team but they never know how to handle themselves when the going gets tough.  

YES....  

[rossihunter2]

16 minutes ago, Ravensfan23 said:

I get the feeling that the Patriots as a whole have similar feelings for this game as the Ravens do. This is a measuring stick game for both teams no doubt. We as fans see the Pats as "The Team" because that's all you hear in the media, but I don't get the feeling that their players and coaches feel that way just yet. They'll do their best to stick it to the Ravens tonight and it'll be a heavy weight game imo. 

every year, the pats always seem to find their identity by october and then light it up all the way to the #1 seed - it just doesnt feel like that this year

[PuRock]

I've been watching ESPN for about 20 minutes now.  And they have done nothing but talk about the Patriots (a few side segments on the NFL).  They haven't even made a mention that they are playing the Ravens since I started watching.  

[The Mom Gene]

It's a Lovefest on NFLN....  Sickening.

[rossihunter2]

1 minute ago, The Mom Gene said:

It's a Lovefest on NFLN....  Sickening.

for some reason this makes me more confident...

[rossihunter2]

the only surprise on the actives/inactives list tonight is correa being active

this is good

[ludy51]

Correa active tonight 

Interesting...

[rossihunter2]

rowe has been confirmed as inactive so he didnt recover enough to play against us - their secondary should be like melted butter as long as we dont get sucked into their game

[VermontRaven]

Jeff Zrebiec– Verified account ‏@jeffzrebiecsun

Ravens inactives: RBs Buck Allen, L.Taliaferro; TE-C.Gillmore; OL-A.Lewis, R.Jensen; LB-Za'darius Smith; DB-C.Lewis-Harris.

4:02 PM - 12 Dec 2016

[PuRock]

I finally saw something Raven on ESPN.  They showed Steve Smith warming up.  It only took 30+ minutes.  

[rossihunter2]

Jeff Howe‏@jeffphowe

Pats inactives: Rowe, Waddle, Hamilton, Richards, Foster, Amendola, Whalen.

[Ravensfan23]

4 minutes ago, rossihunter2 said:

the only surprise on the actives/inactives list tonight is correa being active

this is good

 

4 minutes ago, ludy51 said:

Correa active tonight 

Interesting...

Even though he hasn't seen much action, he's one of the better coverage LBs on this team and with Brady expected to get rid of the ball quickly all night, having guys who can tackle in space will be huge for this defense.

Now of course with that said, he won't get a single snap on defense tonight lol 

[rossihunter2]

2 minutes ago, Ravensfan23 said:

 

Even though he hasn't seen much action, he's one of the better coverage LBs on this team and with Brady expected to get rid of the ball quickly all night, having guys who can tackle in space will be huge for this defense.

Now of course with that said, he won't get a single snap on defense tonight lol 

think he's a better special teamer than zadarius more than anything else

 

[Ravensfan23]

Having 4 RBs is great but I think it's becoming clear that the Ravens are a offense that is run through Flacco and the running game will just be a strong compliment. Going with only 2 active RBs this game isn't a surprise and I think it'll start to be the norm. I think the Ravens should IR Taliaferro and promote either Camp or Bell as another weapon in the pass and return game if needed. 

[Militant X 1]

13 minutes ago, PuRock said:

I've been watching ESPN for about 20 minutes now.  And they have done nothing but talk about the Patriots (a few side segments on the NFL).  They haven't even made a mention that they are playing the Ravens since I started watching.  

 

13 minutes ago, The Mom Gene said:

It's a Lovefest on NFLN....  Sickening.

 

3 minutes ago, PuRock said:

I finally saw something Raven on ESPN.  They showed Steve Smith warming up.  It only took 30+ minutes.  

The media is all things Patriots tonight!  It's pathetic!  My friend and I call it "Juicing Up" a team!  The networks and talking heads are definitely doing that for the Patriots tonight.

Sidenote:  Did ya'll see "Cry-Brady" being driven to the lockeroom on a cart? 

[Ravensfan23]

3 minutes ago, rossihunter2 said:

think he's a better special teamer than zadarius more than anything else

 

Yes that makes the most sense, but that was true the last couple weeks to. Correa was really starting to come on strong as a STer. So either ZDS has just been disappointing to the coaches or Correa has been impressing at practice. 

[ratedr]

I was gonna watch pregame, thanks for the heads up. I'll keep it on Netflix for now.

[The Mom Gene]

They never mention he's just come off ACL surgery

[rossihunter2]

4 minutes ago, Ravensfan23 said:

Yes that makes the most sense, but that was true the last couple weeks to. Correa was really starting to come on strong as a STer. So either ZDS has just been disappointing to the coaches or Correa has been impressing at practice. 

i think correa has been injured a little bit the last few weeks

[Ravensfan23]

Honestly for me the only reason to watch pregame is to have fun watching how quickly guys back peddle out of their pregame predictions after the game. I will say when I was watching MNF countdown when it first came on, Dilfer had a bunch of good things to say about the Ravens. Basically saying why we aren't scared of the Pats. 

[Ravensfan23]

Just now, rossihunter2 said:

i think correa has been injured a little bit the last few weeks

He hasn't been on the injury report so I thought he was just a healthy no go. 

[rossihunter2]

Just now, Ravensfan23 said:

Honestly for me the only reason to watch pregame is to have fun watching how quickly guys back peddle out of their pregame predictions after the game. I will say when I was watching MNF countdown when it first came on, Dilfer had a bunch of good things to say about the Ravens. Basically saying why we aren't scared of the Pats. 

a lot of the times these guys through the week will talk about the ravens and then when they're all in a room together they snowball and suddenly everything's about the pats and its unimaginable how they could lose because no one remembers why they doubted it in the first place - they all yes-man each other

[The Mom Gene]

GQ Joe.....  quite the hottie.

[rossihunter2]

Just now, Ravensfan23 said:

He hasn't been on the injury report so I thought he was just a healthy no go. 

maybe but i thought i remembered something about that a few weeks ago... maybe im misremembering - the other thing is of course zadarius is starting to be less valuable so he's no longer in the team for his rushing or edge setting ability - so this might be the first time they finally are competing for a spot purely based on special teams ability

[Zeus]

Yeah that's correct! It's sick how much all the tv guys love Marsha Marsha Marsha