Nevermore, Nevermore - The Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are good. There's really no other way to put it. They finished 12-4. This is their third straight year to make the playoffs. And those years included a trip to the AFC Championship in 2008 and advancing to the divisional round last year. All these playoff appearances have been with third-year quarterback Joe Flacco. 

The Ravens have always been known for their defense, but last offseason, they went out and surrounded their quarterback with offensive weapons. These signings included Anquan Boldin from the Arizona Cardinals and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who had played with the Seahawks the previous season. These two receivers were big time threats and when you add them with receiver Derrick Mason and tight end Todd Heap, you have a lot of targets for Flacco to throw to.

The Ravens didn't have a 1,000 yard receiver like the Chiefs, but are probably more dangerous in that category. Why? Because their fourth leading receiver has the same amount of yards as our second leading receiver. Boldin led the team with 837 yards, Mason has 802 yards, Heap has 599 yards, and Ray Rice, their running back, has 556 yards receiving; that last amount is equal to the Chiefs' Tony Moeaki, our second leading receiver.

And their running game has been good as well. They ranked 14th in the league running behind third year running back Ray Rice, who has 1,220 rushing yards this season. He averages 4.0 yards per carry and has five touchdowns on the year.

And of course, when you're talking about the Ravens, you have to talk about Ray Lewis and the defense.

The Ravens were 5th in the NFL in stopping the run and 21st in the league at pass defense. They are also 10th at total defense. They have four Pro Bowlers on the defense. They are a veteran group that is intimidating and has been to the playoffs many times.

But the Ravens are not invincible.

Their cornerbacks struggle, that's why they're 21st in the league. The defense is getting old and those dominant players are not as fast as they once were. 

And although the team has won four straight games, three of those came against teams with losing records, and three of them were decided by six points or less.

Also, Joe Flacco hasn't been great in the playoffs. In his five postseason games, he averages 45.8% completion for 132 yards, 0.2 touchdowns and 1.2 interceptions per game. In the playoffs, he has always had to rely heavily on his defense.

So, there was some information on the Ravens. I will have more about the matchup tomorrow. Until then, check out these articles about the Chiefs. One goes right along with what I wrote for the "How We Got Here" posts and the other is some more statistical information regarding the upcoming game on Sunday.