Ravens vs. Patriots: Baltimore's Elite Defense Will Stifle Tom Brady in Victory

Tom Brady is the biggest and brightest star in the AFC Championship Game, but the Ravens defense will be too much for a Patriots team with no running game. There may be no equivalent to everything Brady brings to his football team. Still, this game is played with 11 players on both sides, and to a man, the Ravens are better.

It starts on defense for the Ravens, as it always does. The Ravens have had a top-10 ranked defense every year this century, except for two. They win with dominant defense, a clock-controlling running game and Sunday will be no different.

The Patriots, offensively, are one of the most one-dimensional teams in the NFL. In the 2011 season, 74 percent of the Patriots offense came from the pass. Only the Lions, Packers and Giants had an attack more one-dimensional. All of those teams made the playoffs, but they're all eliminated, except for the Giants, who I predict will fall to the 49ers.

A one-dimensional pass offense will not defeat the Ravens. In fact, if you take a look at the teams that have defeated Baltimore this season, none of them rode a dynamic pass attack to victory. The Jaguars used Maurice Jones-Drew to gain a win against the Ravens. MJD ran for 105 yards on 30 carries in Week 7. Ryan Mathews and Marshawn Lynch had similar days in Weeks 10 and 15, when they went for 90 and 105 yards.

The only 300-yard passing performance in any of the Ravens' defeats came against the Titans in Week 3.

Matt Hasselbeck threw for 358 yards, but even in that game, the Titans stuck with the run game. They rushed 29 times for 74 yards while throwing it 30 times. The Patriots aren't likely to have this type of play-calling balance, nor will they have enough success on the ground to stay out of 3rd-and-long situations.

The Patriots were 20th in the NFL in rushing, while the Ravens were the second-best against the run. Only the Niners, the Giants' opponents were better. See a common theme in my predictions here?

Only three teams in the league threw it more than the Patriots' 612 pass attempts this season. The Ravens defense will feast on Brady with that many opportunities and no running game to account for. Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata's pressure up front will allow the Ravens to rush four and commit linebackers and safeties to pass coverage.

Brady is one of the greatest QB's who has ever played the game, but you have to have a running game to beat the Ravens, and the Patriots don't.

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