Arrogance, lack of knowledge reigns supreme in New England

[52decleetzu]

This is an example of just how anything in the football world outside of New England just doesn't exist. There are no good players outside of New England, we have no good players on our team and we are an old hobbled bunch.

This is probably gonna take a while....

On Flacco...

Flacco is known as not making big mistakes (see Sanchez) but he is also known for not making big plays for his team when they need him.

Flacco is not very good at all. I've heard that that's been the knock on him this year. I wouldn't call him Tebow exactly, but I certainly would put him in the Sanchez category.

Flacco was tebow-esque today. terrible numbers.

Flacco is inaccurate and will throw some balls up for grabs.

Kinda funny..I was more tense and worried about tebow than the ravens although logic says it should be the other way around.

I don't see the Ravens coming into Foxboro and beating the Pats if the teams play evenly. If each team plays a clean game I would take the pats by 10-14 points. I just think the pats are a bit better. And Flacco is very unimpressive especially if the ravens get behind early.. the game is over.. he can't throw to win.

If Tebow was given the Ravens he'd be in the AFC game.

Flacco has the worst pocket presence since Jeff George. He is that bad in the pocket. Breathe on him and he turtles. He may be able to throw a ball, but he is the most gutless QB these eyes have seen in a decade.

Flacco did not have a good game...Flacco is about on par(maybe a little better) with mark sanchez..

BUT as for Flacco, I don't think he had a good game. He literally shrivels in the pocket with any pressure. He takes his eyes off receivers and cowers. I don't think he bothers to try to move around much to keep a play alive.

I agree with Sanchez, who might even be cut. No way is Flacco in Ryan's class. Matt Ryan?

Flacco is at best average any way you shake it. To say otherwise is head scratching. Constantly throwing off his back foot even when he isn't under pressure. He is not accurate. Has weapons all around him and yet does almost nothing with them.

Firstly, Flacco looked out-right TERRIBLE at the weekend. Now I know he's playing a tougher defense, but still...

About the only thing that Flacco could "pick apart" is a roasted chicken.
and even that left the chicken unimpressed

Doesn't matter as much who is covering when the QB sucks.

On our receivers...

I bet BB sends Derrick Mason a pair of seats next to the scoreboard.

On the "aging defense".....

I hope it is really cold. That aging defense will hate it.

Not at all impressed with Baltimore. Vaunted defense is overrated in my opinion. Baltimore can be thrown on and will be thrown on early and often by Pats.

Ravens haven't seen Pats no huddle offense and will gasping for air at oxygen tank.

Your defense is largely the same but 2 years older. Let me know what I am missing, but that's the way I see it.

I don't see anyone stopping Welker in single coverage.

Ravens have become old and slow on defense not to mention the current ailments of Reed and Lewis. If you go no-huddle and keep the Ravens D on the field for long drives they will be gassed by the 4th quarter. This will be a double digit win, if not a blowout

The Ravens defense is about 4 players

Ngata
Suggs
Lewis
Reed

Jarrett Johnson? Vaguely remember if this guy was even a factor in 2010.
Ed Reed is also hobbled. I'll take the best TE in the NFL for this matchup.

The ravens defense is not what it used to be....They have 4 run stopping/pass rushing LB's.....How are you going to cover Gronk and Hernandez? Play a zone? LMAO

reminds me of our defense in 2006-2007.... Very good and made up of smart, crafty and experienced players. But with that comes AGE..... They look old and slow. Not sure that they can hang physically

Troy Brown is on WEEI this morning. He sees a slower Ravens defense, too.

The one aspect of this matchup that has me most optimistic is that this Ravens team doesn't seem like one that will give Brady fits with their pass rush.

On Lardarius Webb/secondary....

Webb is good but he is no Revis. And he will not stop Welker one on one. It won't happen. If the Ravens go man and don't give Webb safety help Welker will have a field day.

Rodney Harrison stated on Football Night in America that to slow down the New England Patriots offense is to play man coverage underneath with two deep safety help over the top. That is a lot easier said than done since the Baltimore Ravens cornerbacks are not that good.

BALT has the #3 defense in the NFL, and its all DL and LB. Reed is still very good, but your right their secondary isn't the best.

I pray to god that your Ravens D is dumb enough to cover the leading receiver in the NFL with just Webb all game. We could go ahead and get our tickets for Indy right now if we knew that. But no, I don't think the Ravens are quite as dumb as you are.

Ladarius Webb is suddenly one of the best CBs in the AFC ? Wasn't he just your return guy at the start of the year? Forced into action because of injury?

Who do you offer against Branch or AH who lines up everywhere?

My man is Webb that good? dude was picking me off in Madden 12...i was like who is that?

How will you be laughing last about arguing by using a lousy website? It has nothing to do with the players or the game. Haden and Hall are both better than Webb. That makes Webb, at best, the #3 corner in his own division, never mind the conference or league.

On the outcome...

I don't think this game will ever be in doubt and I think the Pats win by two or more scores.

Hi Ratbirds fans, your team is garbage and ray rice is overrated

On Ray Lewis..

I used to find him amusing but now he just seems like a frantically high-strung weirdo. Way too intense. I wonder how he's going to handle life after football.

Agreed. I don't believe things will end up well for him. There is genuine crazy in those eyes of his.

Absolutely. He looks like a shell of his former self.

In general....

Well, this Ravens team is a step down from the team we saw in 2009

Oh, I'm sorry. Are we supposed to be afraid of a team that could barely beat TJ Yates and hasn't played a real offense all year? This isn't 2009.

Your offense is not very good and is centered around 1 player. Smith is explosive and has the ability to make big plays in the passing game. Boldin is a solid possesion receiver. The problem is your QB is not very good and has a hard time making big plays in the passing game.

I'm sorry but without Rice, that offense is as bad as our defense. Flacco is putrid at best. That oline is very shaky. Rice is the best thing that offense has. Flacco could not drive the ball downfield at all.

Ravens have ONE scary player on offense. Rice. Smith is coming on but young and Boldin is decent but well past his prime.

Well...PFF is hardly a good source to back your argument on. I'm not gonna comment too much on Webb as i'm not very familiar with him. I saw him on AJ and i think he did a good enough job on him but c'mon...it was Yates.

Now, run along little troll. I'm not silly enough to buy into PFF, so I'm not delving any deeper than that.

[GOTA]

How is this different from any other board including this one? Lots of posts trashing the Pats record, their defense and not giving credit to their players. That's the nature of fans.

[Tattoo]

There are arrogant illogical homers in every fan base. I’m sure I can go through this forum and cherry pick the same kind of stuff.

At the end of the day you have to pick your battles. Going back and forth with the crap between here and there really is futile. Why exhaust the energy?

[pslholder96]

This comes with winning 3 titles. This board would be just as arrogant and confident if we had just as many titles as they did. This is nothing new. If you're looking for more positive discussion I suggest you stay with this board and not look for it in the patriots board. You won't get any sympathy nor will you get any satisfaction.

[52decleetzu]

There are arrogant illogical homers in every fan base. I’m sure I can go through this forum and cherry pick the same kind of stuff.

Go ahead.

[Haloti92]

How is this different from any other board including this one? Lots of posts trashing the Pats record, their defense and not giving credit to their players. That's the nature of fans.

Exactly.

[JMUpurkfool]

There are a lot more sensible/reasonable posters here than over there. I saw like maybe two people who even thought we had a chance.

They act like they knew we would beat them in 2009. NO ONE thought we were gonna beat them that year.

[52decleetzu]

I will be eagerly waiting all the similar posts from THIS board about how bad NE is, how overrated they are and all that good stuff. How they aren't really that good yadda yadda yadda.

Again, go ahead.

[shasta01]

There are arrogant illogical homers in every fan base. I’m sure I can go through this forum and cherry pick the same kind of stuff.

At the end of the day you have to pick your battles. Going back and forth with the crap between here and there really is futile. Why exhaust the energy?

Agreed on all counts, as a Pats fan I've already read the same kinds of homer comments here. It's simple math really, fans on both sides want to win and a good manyof them will use anything, fact or fiction to help prove to themselves that they will win. There are ffew fans on either side that can look at a game like this objectivly.

[HoustonRaven]

Pot, meet kettle.

[lovefootball]

Probably going to be a lot of fans dissapointed next Sunday. Kind of reminds me of that year Denver was beating everybody, the talking heads said the Ravens would have their hands full and lose. Denver came to town, the Ravens handled them and the Broncos rest of the season was bad. Have to wait and see what happens. So far the high passing teams have lost against great defenses.

[Haloti92]

I will be eagerly waiting all the similar posts from THIS board about how bad NE is, how overrated they are and all that good stuff. How they aren't really that good yadda yadda yadda.

Again, go ahead.

I am way too lazy, but your premise is flawed. They are at home and 7 point favorites. The relevant comparison would be how we assessed the Texans last week. I don't recall many, if anyone, being quite as insulting, but many people certainly aggressively scoffed at their arguments about how they were good enough to win.