Ravens vs. Patriots: Biggest Keys to Baltimore Pulling off the Upset

All the Baltimore Ravens have to do is follow this simple blueprint to upset the New England Patriots and punch their ticket to the 2012 Super Bowl. This may be simple in plan and not in execution, but it is feasible nonetheless. 

The Ravens are overwhelming underdogs. Football Locks has the Patriots as a 7.5 favorite for this AFC championship game.  

That line is doomed to failure if the Ravens can execute this game plan. 

Pressure Tom Brady

The first thing the Ravens need to do is send Tom Brady to the turf...often. If they give him time, he will pick them apart. 

This is an area where the Ravens are going to have to get their groove back. They finished the season fourth in sack percentage, yet they failed to sack rookie QB T.J. Yates. As a point of comparison, the Ravens sacked Matt Schaub four times when the two teams met in Week 6. 

And you know the Ravens wanted to get as much pressure on the rookie as possible. 

The alarming part is that game was more of a trend than an aberration.  In the Ravens' final three regular season games they recorded a combined three sacks. 

They need to stop this sack drought, or their playoff train will come to a crashing halt.  

Get Ray Rice Going

It's remarkable that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron still has a job. This is a man that has the crippling tendency to forget that his running back is Ray Rice. 

The Ravens offense is at it best when it goes through Rice. I know this; you know this; their opponents know it; everyone seems to realize this except Cameron. 

Rice has five games this season when he has had 13 or fewer carries. Not surprisingly, the Ravens' four losses are in that batch of games. 

It is natural for a running back to get fewer carries when their team losses, but not even handing the ball off to your best offensive player more than 13 times is absurd. It can't happen this week. 

The Patriots' porous secondary, and their 31st ranked pass defense, will be seducing Cameron to launch an aerial assault, but he can't listen. He has to build his game plan off of Ray Rice's running ability. 

This will let his shaky QB to hit easy pass plays off of the play-action. It will also allow the Ravens to control the clock and keep the ball out of Brady's hands.

Stop the TEs

Patriots' TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez have combined for well over half of the Patriots touchdown receptions, and 43 percent of their yards. 

Needless to say, they are the backbone of New England's passing offense. The Ravens need to find a way to slow them down, and they have a defense to do just that. 

Football Outsiders ranks the Ravens seventh in guarding opposing TEs in the passing game.

The Ravens defense does not need to completely shutout the powerful TE duo—I don't even think that's possible—but they do need to slow them down and keep them out of the end zone. 

If they can pull all of this off they will win comfortably.