NFL Playoff Picks: Why the Patriots Are Guaranteed to Beat the Ravens

The New England Patriots enter this weekend's AFC Championship Game having won nine contests in a row and riding a crest of phenomenal play from reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady. It will take a herculean effort by the Baltimore Ravens to stop New England from reaching the Super Bowl. 

During the regular season, Brady completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 5,235 yards with 39 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. His quarterback rating of 105.6 ranked third in the NFL.

That outstanding season continued on Saturday in the team's 45-10 Divisional round victory over the Denver Broncos. In that game Brady threw for 363 yards and a ridiculous six touchdowns. 

The 34-year-old quarterback is certainly the key to New England's offense, but his weapons have been excellent this season as well. Receiver Wes Welker hauled in an NFL-high 122 receptions, was second in the league in receiving yards (1,596) and had nine touchdowns.

Meanwhile, tight end Rob Gronkowski finished the year with 90 catches, while leading all tight ends in yards (1,327) and scored 17 touchdowns, which is an NFL record at his position. "Gronk" added three more scores in New England's win over the Broncos.

The Patriots are rolling right now and while the Baltimore Ravens boasted the league's third-best defense during the regular season (allowed an average of 288.9 yards per game), I just don't see them being able to match up with New England's powerful offense.

Gronkowski's fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez has also had a great season (79 receptions, 910 yards, seven touchdowns) and receiver Deion Branch was solid as well (51 catches, 702 yards, five touchdowns). With so many capable targets at his disposal, I don't think Brady can be slowed down.

Baltimore's offense isn't capable of racking up a ton of points, so unless the team's defense figures out a way to stop the Patriots, Brady will be leading his team back to another Super Bowl.