Patriots, Ravens have opposite strengths
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady signals to his bench during the second half against the Denver Broncos. (Jan. 14, 2012) Credit: AP
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Tom Brady and the New England Patriots made it to the AFC Championship Game with a high-powered offense that piled up points and yards.
Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens got there with a hard-hitting defense that made it a major challenge for opponents to move the ball.
On Sunday, one of those teams will advance to the Super Bowl because, most likely, of what they do best.
"We've got our hands full this week," Lewis said. "You watched what they did last week against Denver, just the way they came out and ran their offense, how efficient [Brady] was, how many different receivers he hit with the ball. I think their offense, period, is playing at a very high level."
From start to finish, Brady picked apart the Denver defense in a 45-10 divisional playoff win.
The Patriots (14-3) needed five plays to score on their first series with Brady throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker. It took them seven plays to reach the end zone on their second series on Brady's 10-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski. By halftime, Brady had thrown five of his six touchdown passes.
He had plenty of time to survey the field as the Broncos put little pressure on him. The Ravens don't plan to let that happen.
"You don't want him back there just like, 'Oh, we're just going to play catch today,"' Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs said.
Brady's regular season was exceptional, even by his lofty standards. He threw for 5,235 yards, second most in NFL history, with 39 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and the league's third best quarterback rating of 105.6, behind only Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.
The Patriots, with Welker and Gronkowski doing most of the damage, were second in the NFL with 428 yards per game and third with an average of 32.1 points.
"It's a very clever offense," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "It's well put together."
Just like the Ravens defense. Baltimore (13-4) allowed the third fewest average yards, 288.9, and points, 16.6, this season. It had four takeaways in last Sunday's 20-13 divisional playoff win over the Houston Texans, the last an interception by Ed Reed with 1:51 left. Lewis had a team-high seven tackles.
"They're great players. I've played against both those guys quite a few times," Brady said. "You always enjoy going up against the best because you can really measure where you're at.''
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