Ravens vs. Patriots: Preview of New England's Offense vs. Baltimore's Defense

When the Baltimore Ravens travel to New England to play the Patriots, obviously a trip to Super Bowl XLVI is at stake.

And the game will likely be determined by the amount of success that occurs in the biggest matchup—Baltimore's defense versus New England's offense.

So, let's break down each dimension when the rock is in Tom Brady's possession for the 2011-12 AFC Championship game.

Pats Rush Offense vs. Ravens Rush Defense

The interesting aspect about this facet is that New England may not be a run-first team, but they do have the ability to run the ball effectively at-will when needed.

And with Tom Brady's tight-ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez so threatening inside the red-zone, the ground game is even more dangerous as the defense is backed up. In addition, both Hernandez and Gronkowski can be solid run-blockers to prevent the run-blitz from dominating.

Well, this area will come down to Baltimore's ability to shutdown New England's rush offense without blitzing. With so many receiving targets, Tom Brady can sling the rock out quickly to anyone across the field, not to mention he can read blitzes quite well pre-snap.

So, with the Ravens needing those extra couple of guys in coverage, their defensive line will need to sustain a wall while Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Jameel McClain clean house on the running backs.

The less success the Pats have on the ground, the more effectively Baltimore can blitz later to mess up New England's passing game. The question is whether the Ravens can consistently stop the run as Arian Foster bulldozed them for 132 yards on 27 carries, including a TD.

Now, New England can't run the ball like Houston no matter how much they try; however, their passing offense will help setup the run in numerous situations. And speaking of the passing game...

Pats Pass Offense vs. Ravens Pass Defense

On Sunday, the Ravens picked off Texans rookie quarterback T.J. Yates three times en route to a 20-13 win. That is, unfortunately, how Baltimore won because Houston did turn it over four times while also out-gaining the Ravens 313-227.

And they each ran the same number of plays.

In this game, not only is Tom Brady a little more experienced (extreme sarcasm) than Yates, but his receiving targets are better collectively.  Other than Andre Johnson, no one in Houston can match the dominance of Gronkowski and Welker along with Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez as solid supporters.

Baltimore, much like everyone else, doesn't have one player who can shutdown Rob Gronkowski with single coverage. A double-team from Ray Lewis and Ed Reed would work, but then what's left for underneath and over-the-top help?

Reed and Lewis are top-notch defenders, but neither would be able to slow down Gronk by themselves for a full 60 minutes. Now include Welker who can stretch the field if needed, but also widen it to take pressure away from Gronk and Branch, and the Ravens have not faced an offense like this all season.

Which is why the Baltimore defensive line needs to takeover this game.

Anytime the Ravens blitz, Brady is just going to slip the rock out quick to Welker or Gronk, not to mention his pass protection is great and both Danny Woodhead and Benjarvis Green-Eliis are solid pass-blockers at running back.

We know that New England will have success throwing the ball, so the question is whether the Ravens can slow the Patriots down enough to allow the Baltimore offense to keep up.

Regardless of who wins, the game will be higher scoring than expected.

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