Ravens vs. Patriots: Tom Brady Will Have No Answer for Vaunted Baltimore Defense

The Baltimore Ravens defense is going to shut down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots offense. Not only because they can, but because they have no other choice if they want to reach the Super Bowl.

Even though the Patriots looked virtually unstoppable against the Denver Broncos on Saturday, next weekend will be a completely different story. The Ravens defense is leaps and bounds better than a Broncos unit that couldn't get any pressure on the Patriots quarterback.

The Ravens have all the ingredients necessary to create a Brady antidote. A strong pass rush, formidable secondary and a running game to control the clock.

It all starts with putting pressure on Brady. If you allow him to stand tall in the pocket, he's going to pick you apart with ease.

Terrell Suggs had 14 sacks and led the league's third-ranked pass rush during the regular season. He'll be attacking the pocket on every snap to make sure Brady doesn't get comfortable.

A couple other names to watch are Pernell McPhee and Haloti Ngata. They might not be household names, but both guys spend a lot of time in the opposing team's backfield.

Once the pass rush is established, it comes down to the secondary making plays. The Ravens had more interceptions than touchdown passes against during the regular season, which is a pretty good indication of how strong they are on the back end.

Ed Reed is the marquee name that all football fans know, but it's actually been the improvement of Lardarius Webb that was the key to the unit's resurgence after a down 2010 season.

The third-year cornerback took significant strides toward becoming a legitimate No. 1 guy. He'll likely be charged with keeping Wes Welker's contributions as small as possible since it's impossible to completely stop the sneaky quick receiver.

As for the dynamic tight end duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, that's going to be a team effort. No single player can be expected to slow down those guys, so look for some exotic looks from Baltimore’s defense to confuse Brady's favorite red-zone weapons.

Once the Ravens defense establishes its dominance, it will be up to Ray Rice and Joe Flacco to make enough key players on offense to pull out a victory. Luckily for them, New England's defense was brutal all season long and is ripe for the picking.

In other words, Patriots fans shouldn't be playing that Indianapolis vacation quite yet.