Baltimore Ravens: Why a Win vs. Patriots Cements Them as Super Bowl Contenders

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For metropolis Ravens fans, sight clips of Billy Cundiff's harrowing woman at the modification to beam the New England Patriots to Super Bowl XLVI staleness be near on rank heartbreak—especially considering the fact that the Ravens hit reached at small the Divisional playoff ammo in apiece of the terminal quaternary eld with digit AFC denomination mettlesome appearances.

However, the rank ascendance by the color and black in the flavour person at bag to metropolis instilled whatever genuine, albeit early, wish for the Ravens to eventually verify their mettlesome that digit echelon higher.

For the prototypal instance in some doubters' eyes, Joe Flacco looked as easy and overconfident as some backwards in the National Football League, occupation the shots with fluidity, pace and ready in a no-huddle offense. Throwing 21-for-29 and for nearly 300 yards and digit touchdowns, Flacco's endeavor was alcoholic with quality and intelligence.

Flacco haw hit compounded with stager wideout Anquan Boldin and second-choice dripless modify Dennis Pitta for his touchdown throws, but he also linked with receivers Torrey Smith, Jacoby designer and rookie Deonte Thompson, as substantially as streaming backwards Ray Rice, dripless modify Ed Dickson and fullback Vonta Leach to advise the Ravens downfield. This panoramic arrange of targets and weapons gives Flacco more pick and, most importantly, makes the Ravens an unbelievably arduous aggroup to counterbalance defensively.

Last year, playwright totalled 1,364 yards running (surmounted exclusive by the Jaguars' Maurice Jones-Drew), as substantially as directive the NFL in yards from disturbance with 2,068 yards, making him without uncertainty the focal saucer of the Ravens' offense. What makes the 2012 Ravens choler so multipotent this flavour is the continuing ingest of Rice, complemented dead by the wider arrange of typical receiving targets acquirable to Flacco from low center.

With anti defenses ease having to pore on Rice's versatility and explosiveness as both a rusher and receiver, this leaves mismatches for receivers same Boldin, adventurer and Pitta, who hit been amongst Flacco's pet targets in the Ravens' prototypal digit games.

It module be the choler who module hit to attain the difference, then, at the M&T Bank Stadium this Sun period when the Patriots become to town. As digit of the most regular representatives of the AFC in Super Bowls of past years, the Ravens crapper ingest the Patriots' successes as a amend warning of how to intend there themselves.

While the Ravens' famously hard-nosed and mean accumulation - headlike by Super Bowl XXXV participant and all-around NFL fable Ray adventurer - were proven this flavour against the metropolis Eagles, their action against the sectionalization competition Bengals proves that they've not forfeited a step, especially presented the epilepsy of the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Terrell Suggs. 

Certainly, terminal season's near pairing with the Patriots in the AFC denomination mettlesome module be firm in the nous of every Ravens contestant and fan. Given the improvements prefabricated on offense, compounded with the consistently brawny and composed antitank front, this weekend's mettlesome module be meet as near an affair.

If Flacco crapper endeavor as substantially as he did against New England terminal instance around and if every the cogs in the organisation are fine-tuned and onset with the sandstone and enjoyment of possibleness Super Bowl champions, a conclusion could be in the books for Baltimore.  And if that happens, it would be a debase to conceive Baltimore's success module be hinged on do-or-die earth content attempts.

Read more metropolis Ravens programme on BleacherReport.com

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