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New England Patriots Have To Be Prepared For Baltimore Ravens’ Pass Rush

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By @petahrahgas

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Getty Images

The sixth seed Baltimore Ravens went on the road to take down Big Ben Roethlisberger and his Pittsburgh Steelers, and now they are set to face the New England Patriots on Saturday. Am I worried? Heck yea I’m worried!

This is the Ravens, a team that magically seems to always have the Patriots’ number in the playoffs. In 2013 the Ravens successfully knocked off the Pats en route to a Super Bowl win and even back in 2012, when the Patriots made it to the Giant Tango (I’m thinking of more clever ways to say Big Dance), they only made it because of a timely dropped pass in the end zone and a missed field goal by now Patriots hero Billy Cundiff. Every Superman has his kryptonite, and the Patriots’ is the Ravens.

But before Patriot fans bury their faces into the pillow and beg the football gods for mercy, this is not the Ravens team of old. This is a very beatable team, and had Le’Veon Bell, aka the Steelers’ offense, not been injured, the Ravens would have lost on the road and we would not be having this discussion.

The one thing that the Ravens do extremely well is rush the passer, led by linebackers Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil. Against the Steelers, Baltimore’s defense sacked Big Ben five times, which is never an easy task since it takes a small army to bring down Roethlisberger. But the defense did, and they are going to have a field day with Tom Brady if the Patriots’ offensive line doesn’t get back on track.

The Ravens have one of the worst secondaries in football, and you can fully expect Bill Belichick and Brady to try and take advantage of that — especially with their matchup nightmare/beast of a man Rob Gronkowski. In order to do all this, though, the Patriots are going to need to protect Brady.

New England has seen plenty of Baltimore over the years in the playoffs, and everyone in that building knows what the Ravens will try to do. If the offensive line is prepared for the Ravens’ pass rush and able to stop it, this game will quickly turn in the Patriots’ favor. However, if the Ravens can get after Brady, this game is going to be a heart attack in the making.

Peter Rogers is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @petahrahgas, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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