AFC Championship Prediction

The AFC Championship Game features a contest between the top two teams in the AFC. Baltimore and New England are old rivals. The Pats are built on offense, the Ravens are built on big D. These two teams have always been pretty dominant, and now they are meeting for the chance to make it back to the big game. But who will prevail?

First let's look at the Patriots. New England can survive solely on Tom Brady's back alone. The defense have been atrocious for most of the year (although they managed to look competent against Denver). Brady thrives and the inside threats, with the ever shifty Wes Welker and the manipulative tight end duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. The Patriots offense is essentially built around these four men. With a tough offensive line and enough protection, Brady has enough firepower to expose any defense. Speaking of defense, the Patriots D has been pretty terrible for most of the year. The D-line has frequently overpursued, the linebackers have been immobile, and the secondary has been beaten. Of course, stars like Vince Wilfork, who remains a constant bull up front, and Brandon Spikes, a tackling machine at middle linebacker, can surely keep a stylistically inept Baltimore offense at bay. But the defense will definitely have to step up.

Baltimore will need all the help they can get to defeat the Patriots. The Baltimore offense will definitely have to keep up with the Pats scoring-wise, but they also have one consistent thing that New England doesn't: a consistent runner in Ray Rice. Joe Flacco can be off and on, but Rice can be incredibly consistent. Rice can certainly keep the Patriots' offense on the sidelines, but Flacco will definitely have to stretch the field every so often. He could do that against the Pats. Of course, Baltimore's defense will be the real story. Ray Lewis is as great as ever, Ed Reed is superhuman, and Haloti Ngata is a man-beast. And that's not even half of it. The Ravens defense is what will keep them in this game. If the stars can shine and the defense can penetrate, the pressure will eventually get to Brady. Brady has never looked comfortable under duress, which was especially evident four years ago in Super Bowl XLII. The Ravens are also masters at gang-tackling, which is essential to any team making a title run.

Defense wins championships, and the Ravens are certainly winners in that category. But the Patriots are an offensive juggernaut. If they stick to the same gameplan that they used against the Broncos, they will outscore the Ravens before Baltimore even has time to catch their breath. Unless the Ravens can get pressure on Brady and force turnovers, I don't know if I can trust Joe Flacco and company to win this game. It's possible, but things must go the Ravens' way. In Foxborough. With the forecast calling for a possibility of freezing rain, this one may turn out to be wet n' wild.

NEW ENGLAND 37, BALTIMORE 30