Patriots vs. Ravens: Players Destined to Disappoint in the AFC Championship Game

Joe Flacco is going to have fans calling for his job after the miserable AFC Championship Game performance he has wildly thrown himself into. .

The QB has had a maddeningly erratic season. His accuracy can disappear for long stretches of time, he locks in on one receiver, and makes reckless decisions, and all of those things will be on display in this game. 

The good news for Flacco is that he won't be the only player stinking up Championship Sunday. 

Joe Flacco, QB (Baltimore Ravens)

The Ravens QB is going to fail against a defense that most QBs have been able to easily exploit.

Flacco will be reunited with all the bad things that led to him having an up-and-down season that ended with him posting just an 80.9 QB rating.

The Fu Manchu-sporting QB put up a solid stat-line during the Ravens' win over the Texans in the Divisional round, but Flacco's performance was not as good as the stats suggested—just ask his teammate Ed Reed. Here is Reed on QB's playoff performance, as quoted by Doug Farrar of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo! Sports:

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"They had a lot of guys in the box on him and they were giving [the pass] to him. I think a couple of times he needed to get rid of the ball. It just didn't look like he had a hold on the offense."

 

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The Patriots will take advantage of Flacco's lack of feel for the offense and trick him into throwing the ball into coverage. While the Patriots spent most of the season getting toasted by passes, they did a good job of hauling in INTs; they were seventh in the NFL in interceptions caught percentage. 

They will add to that percentage in this game. 

Flacco Prediction: 21/37, 207 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs

Devin McCourty, CB (New England Patriots)

Flacco is going to struggle, but not when he can find Devin McCourty out of position.

McCourty has struggled at corner in his sophomore year. This, combined with the Patriots' lack of depth, has led to the Patriots experimenting with McCourty at safety. He looked good in this role in the Patriots' playoff win over the Broncos.

McCourty will not be as successful in the safety role this game, though.

There are a lot of nuances, before and during a play, to being a successful safety, and throwing a player into the fire like that is going to burn the Patriots.  

The Ravens will have some film on McCourty at safety and will put in a game plan to exploit him in certain situations—and not even Flacco will mess up those plays.

McCourty Prediction: He will give up a long TD.

Terrell Suggs, OLB (Baltimore Ravens)

Terrell Suggs can come out and say he doesn't harbor ill intentions for Tom Brady, but it doesn't mean we have to believe him.

These two have had a feud boiling over for years. Here is a sampling of Suggs feelings toward Brady, as quoted on ESPNBoston.com:

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"He was trying to tell me how to bag a Hollywood actress. He said, 'If you want to get a Hollywood actress, take my seminar on Saturday.' … He was going over the Dow and the economy and politics. He doesn’t really talk football that much."

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That quote came after the two got into a little post-play jawing session in 2010.

So take Suggs' comments about there not being a beef with a grain of salt and know that he is itching with every fiber of his being to upstage Brady.

The problem with Suggs' redemption plan he is not going to be able to pull it off. The Patriots' offensive line is doing a tremendous job of protecting Brady.

The Patriots were seventh in the NFL in sacks allowed percentage, and they didn't allow Brady to get sacked one time against the Broncos.

New England is going to make Suggs the focus of their pass protection, and they are going to shut him down.

Suggs Prediction: Zero sacks