IDK why anyone would be scared of the Ravens right now. Flacco looks like garbage and their secondary is torn. They still have the pedigree yeah but I cant see them going into NE or Denver and winning this year. Pitt has a much better shot at each IMO.
And the Steelers are? I could see that argument being made for the Colts or Bengals but PIT has just as much if not more experience than Baltimore does. And I trust Ben/Bell/Brown a little more than Flacco/Forsett/Smith right now.
No, the Patriots were the HEAVY favorites. And the Ravens had lost four out of five to end the season, this is the same situation. I'm not saying they'll do it again, but once you get into the dance you've got a shot.
Favorites yes..wouldn't call them heavy favorites though. Baltimore was a pretty solid playoff team that year. This year they are a weak 6th seed. Big difference. It didnt shock me when they were able to beat the Pats that year. It would shock me if they did it this year.
Sounds about right. But Im not talking about point spreads here. Spreads are pretty meaningless in the playoffs. At that point the Ravens were going into Foxboro with a lot of momentum coming off of that with in Denver and Flacco was playing on an elite level. I remember a lot of people thinking the Ravens had more than a chance..much more of a chance then people were giving them in Denver the week before. They proved a lot in that game.
New England was a heavy favorite. How can you say they weren't if Vegas had at almost 10 point underdogs? Not many people thought they could go into foxboro and win or it wouldn't have been that high of a spread since everyone would have bet the 8ish points. Pittsburgh and Baltimore are two teams I wouldn't want to play. Experience on both sides of the ball and at HC.
I think the Ravens most likely win their wild card game and like I said last week, I was hoping they got in because I think they're our best chance of not seeing Denver/New England in the SB. It's good that SD missed out, they were no threat. Chiefs were also not a threat. Colts obviously not a threat. I'd rank it Baltimore->Cincinnati->Pittsburgh in terms of chances.
I guess we differ on the term "heavy favorite" then. Like I said Im not talking point spread but just looking back at it now the line opened with the Pats favorite by 10..then it closed 8.5 The 3 previous meeting between the teams including the previous years AFC title game were all decided by 3 points or less. Some lines are flat out bad. If Baltimore happens to make it to New England this season Id figure they would be atleast 12 point dogs. That would make NE a heavy favorite and for good reason considering they are a better team this year then in 2013 and the Ravens arent as good.
Cards are dead meat, South winner a joke, Lions unreliable, and now Rodgers riding off on a cart. NFC collapsing around Seattle and Dallas. I wouldn't pick the Colts or any of the AFC North teams to win on the road in the 2nd round, or Denver to win in NE, if my life depended on it. I thought another Giants/Pats SB was shit, fuck the NFL if its NE/DAL.
If Seattle gets home field it'll be Seattle vs ___ from the AFC. They aren't losing st home and if Dallas does somehow make it to the NFC ship game at Seattle they won't win for a second time there.
How many times has Ben outplayed brady? Or won in New England for that matter? Ravens last three playoff games outplayed all em three times, fluke drop saved face but balt got the mental edge. I'm not saying pitt can't do it either, they probably could. But I would rather see them return to denver, make up for their last despicable playoff game, which was in denver.
Im not going on history here. Im going on this season. Eli has beaten Brady twice too. Would the Giants of now right match up very well against the Pats? Dont think so. Either way these arguments are probably going to be a moot point anyways. AFC gets pretty weak after NE and Denver and it will probably be them in the title game in Foxboro.
