Ravens vs. Patriots Predictions: Ray Rice Can't Offset Pats' Explosive Offense

If the Ravens are going to win in Baltimore and advance to the Super Bowl, they will need a big game from Ray Rice. Unfortunately for Rice, the Ravens and their fans, that strategy is not going to work.

What Rice did when these two teams last met in the playoffs is as irrelevant as what the Bears defense did to the Patriots in Super Bowl XX. The Patriots were not even close to the same team. The 2011 version of New England has the tools to take Rice out of the game, and it starts with the offense. 

First, it's not that Rice's stats weren't impressive when these two teams last met in the playoffs. He carried it 22 times for 159 yards and two scores. But eliminate his 83 yard touchdown run from the mix, and Rice had only 76 rushing on 21 carries. All of a sudden a dominant stat line looks pretty average. 

More important than that, the Patriots are a team better equipped to handle the Ravens pass rush than they were in 2009. In that game, Wes Welker was out, and Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez were in school. The Patriots' primary weapon was Randy Moss. 

Now, Welker is healthy, and both Gronkowski and Hernandez dominate the middle part of the field. New England has the weapons for Tom Brady to get rid of the ball quick, minimizing the impact of Baltimore's pass rush. 

While Rice will be directly competing against the New England defense, the Patriots offense will be what minimizes his impact.

Simply put, the Patriots will put up points, and they will do that consistently. That will put the Ravens in a spot where they will need to do better than match scores. To do that against the Patriots, you need big plays in the secondary. As great as he is, Rice doesn't supply that.

The Ravens can have a good day on defense and still allow a lot of points to New England. That is why the Patriots scored 32 points a game during the regular season. Even on bad days, the offense is potent. 

On Sunday, most of Rice's yards will come early. The Ravens will have to try to run to keep Brady off of the field, which is not going to work. As 32 points a game shows, Brady doesn't need to be on the field long for the Patriots to score a lot of points.

Baltimore also doesn't have the offense to score points by simply keeping Brady on the bench. That means that when the Patriots offense is on the field, they will be scoring points. That will force the Ravens to ease Rice out of action. When that happens, the game will be over. 

Prediction: Patriots 27, Ravens 16

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