AFC Championship Game 2012: Super TE Duo Will Take Patriots to Super Bowl

There isn't a defense in the NFL that can stop the Patriots when Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are on the field—not even the Ravens. With both players on the field in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, New England will please its home fans, punching their tickets to Super Bowl XLVI in the process. 

That was the missing element in the 2009-2010 playoffs when the two teams met. The Patriots were good, but they did not have either player. They did have Randy Moss (who they don't have now), but Moss is not the kind of receiver best suited to beat a defense like the Ravens'.

In that game, Tom Brady was sacked three times. Moss is the kind of receiver who's best suited to run deep routes, making big plays on deep balls. The problem there is that those plays take time to develop. In that time, a defense like the Ravens' is given too much time to get in Brady's face. 

With Gronkowski and Hernandez, as well as Wes Welker (who was hurt for the prior playoff meeting), you have tight ends and receivers that are best running short routes, and then making big plays with the ball in hand. That's the best way to beat a team with a strong pass rush, as the defenders aren't given time to get at the quarterback. 

So, while the Ravens' defense is too good to not make plays, they're not going to do enough to completely stop the Patriots. New England's offense is potent and custom-built to beat a defense like Baltimore's. 

That leaves one way for the Ravens to win this game. They're going to have to score with the Patriots. That is not going to happen. 

The Ravens are a middle-of-the-road offense. Their 23.6 points per game were the 12th best total in the NFL in the regular season. On the road, they averaged fewer than 20 a game. Neither of those totals will be anywhere near enough to hang with the Patriots. 

Gronkowski and Hernandez will take too much attention. That will open room for Welker to run free, get open and make big plays with the ball in hand. All you need to do is look at their stats to see how that's worked for opponents this season.

	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
Wes Welker	122	1,569	9
Rob Gronkowski	90	1,327	17
Aaron Hernandez	79	910	7

That's too much balance for any defense to deal with. 

This is especially true with Ed Reed being listed as questionable (per USA Today) in the game. While I don't expect Reed to miss the game, the fact that he rolled his ankle means that he will be slowed down. Even if it's only a small injury, there's no way that the Ravens can hang with New England's passing game if Reed is banged up. 

The Patriots will keep the Ravens off balance on defense, enough to make them one dimensional on offense. Joe Flacco will have to throw to keep up. He'll make some nice passes, but not nearly enough to keep up. 

New England has too many weapons for even Baltimore's defense. The Ravens' offense isn't good enough to keep those stars on the bench.

Prediction: Patriots 27, Ravens 16

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