Ravens vs. Patriots: Baltimore Needs Offense To Show Up To Win in New England

The focus of the punditry heading into the AFC Championship Game will undoubtedly be on a monumental matchup between Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense and Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens defense.

The real story, though, will rest with the Ravens' offense and, more specifically, whether Joe Flacco and Ray Rice can hang onto the ball long enough to keep the Brady Bunch on the sidelines.

The Ravens were fortunate to top the Houston Texans on Sunday in just about every way that matters. The defense surrendered an astounding 132 yards rushing to Arian Foster, but more than made up for it by picking off rookie TJ Yates three times. Baltimore's offense made the most of two early Houston turnovers to score 17 points in the first quarter, making the most of good field position but never quite mustering a quality drive at any point after that.

On top of all that, Baltimore recovered all of its own fumbles and made the most of playing at M&T Bank Stadium, where they remain undefeated this season.

Indeed, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, but if the Ravens are to prevent the Pats from advancing to their fifth Super Bowl of the Bill Belichick era, they'll need to be both, especially on offense.

As vaunted as the Ravens' D so often is, and as intimidating as names like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata may be, they will be hard-pressed to slow down Brady and his Pro Bowl pack of pass catchers, much less stop them. 

At least, if Saturday's six-touchdown performance against the Denver Broncos is any indication.

Not that Baltimore can't still ball it up on defense, but rather that their veteran stars just aren't what they used to be. The Ravens, then, will essentially have two options to pursue if they're going to top the Pats and reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 12 years—either try to keep up with New England in a shootout or play keep-away with a grind-it-out ground game.

Both cases require the offense to step up its game, at least from how it performed on the road this season. The Ravens went 4-4 away from M&T Bank Stadium while averaging just under 20 points per game. The Pats, on the other hand, scored nearly 31 points per game while going 7-1 at home during the 2011 campaign.

As such, it'll be up to Rice to keep the ball moving on the ground, slowly but surely, and Flacco to fit the ball in against New England's second-rate secondary if the Ravens are to set up their own half of the Harbaugh Bowl.

No offense to Ray Lewis or anything (PLEASE DON'T HURT ME).

Follow @J0shMart1n