Baltimore Ravens face toughest of challenges to beat New England Patriots next Sunday – NFL News
Courtesy of their win over playoff newbies, the Houston Texans, on Sunday, January 15, 2012, the Baltimore Ravens are through to the second round of the postseason for the first time with their next, and probably one of the toughest challenges, the game
against New England Patriots in waiting.
The Texans’ game was their first ever playoff tie and while banking on their defensive strategy and riding on the home-ground advantage to topple their visitors convincingly, they are now a game away from achieving their hopes of a Super Bowl championship.
In all their previous three attempts, Ravens could not manage to go beyond the wild-card game of the playoff round.
This time it was an entirely different situation for them.
Baltimore had the home-ground advantage as the game was played at the M&T Bank Stadium.
Having overcome their first hurdle successfully, Ravens now face the New England Patriots and a possible win over their hosts will allow them to advance to the Super Bowl mega event, to be hosted in Indianapolis.
It will not be an easy ride for them anymore, given that they will again be exposed to their road game weakness.
The Ravens have won all of the 11 games played at their home ground which also helped them go for a win over their visitors, the Texans, this past Sunday.
The situation in New England will certainly be altogether different.
The home-crowd will be backing the Patriots side.
It will then be seen if John Harbaugh’s side comes up with a different strategy or relies on their defence again to go and play for a win.
It might be a similar approach from their opposition, the New England Patriots, who top the league in the defence department.
Controlling the game and protecting the ball may not work well into Ravens' hopes for a win next time around.
Linebacker, Ray Lewis, and safety, Ed Reed, have been the highlight of their 2011 National Football League (NFL) regular season.
For the first time, they will be going against one of the top four teams, who have the clear ambitions of reaching the prestigious Super Bowl event.
"We know we have a big test next week", linebacker, Ray Lewis, said.
"Tom is playing excellent up there, and what they did to the Broncos last night, I think they sent a message to whoever was coming up there. So, we've got our hands full".
Having played as many as seven-games between them, the Patriots lead the series with a clear difference of six games.
The only advantage that goes in Ravens' favour is that their only win has come in the playoff round of the league, giving them another chance to improve.
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