A Tight Bond

Championship Sunday Preview: Fun In Foxborough

Are you ready for some football?

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots:
It was just two years ago that the stingy Baltimore Raven defense invaded Foxborough, handing Tom Brady his first career postseason loss at home.

In their wild-card matchup on Jan. 10, 2010, Baltimore's Ray Rice took the first play from scrimmage 83 yards for a touchdown, giving his team a lead they would never requlish. At the time it was the longest rushing play of Rice's young career and the second longest rush in NFL postseason history.

Rice hopes to have a repeat performance of
his first postseason trip to New England.

Baltimore held a 24-0 after the first quarter and despite quarterback Joe Flacco only completing four passes for 34 yards, the Ravens went on to win the game, 33-14.

Most of their production came from the ground game, with Rice rushing for 159 of the team's 234 total rushing yards. The Ravens hope for much of the same against the 17th-ranked rush defense. This season, Rice completed his third straight season with at least 1,200 rushing yards, setting a career-high with 1,364. He also set career-highs in attempts (291) and touchdowns (12), but it might be his all-around game that makes him one of the most dynamic and dangerous backs in the game today.

The 24-year-old running back caught 76 passes out of the backfield this season for 704 yards, averaging just under 10 yards per completion at 9.3.

And while the New England defense will be saddled with the assignment of stopping Rice, Baltimore's D will need to shutdown the prolific and efficient Patriots' offense. Led by their veteran core group of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs, whose 14 sacks were good enough for the team lead, they know it would be their final shot to retaste Super Bowl glory.

Slowing down the tight end tandem of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez should be the key to the Ravens' success.

As for the Patriots, Brady and Co. head into Sunday's AFC Championship game confident as ever after torching the Denver Broncos last week, 45-10 and winning their first playoff game since the 2007-08 season, where they beat the San Diego Chargers also in the AFC title game.

Brady, who is coming off a record-setting performance with six touchdowns passes, five coming in the first half, remembers this Baltimore defense far to well. In his first postseason loss at home, the former sixth-round pick was sacked three times, while also throwing three interceptions.

Brady has seen enough of the Raven D and is
seeking his revenge.

In that loss, he threw for just 154 yards and no matter what he says, it still stings today.

Brady is 4-1 in his career against the Ravens, including the playoffs. In those games, the three-time Super Bowl champion has throw six touchdowns, but six interceptions, three obviously coming in one game. And now with a 9-2 career record at home in the postseason, he will not let history repeat itself.

Even though Baltimore was undefeated at home this season, they posted a 4-4 record on the road and head into one of the toughest places to play in the NFL. Although, history tends to repeat itself.

Trying to make their fifth Super Bowl appearance in the last 11 years, New England will be out for revenge and ready to settle the score.

BAL X-Factor: Ray Rice


NE X-Factor: Tom Brady


New England, 27-21

Tommy Boy

Saturday night, Brady looked as sharp as
ever and forced people to talk about
  him even when they still wanted
to discuss Tim Tebow.

Not use to playing second fiddle to anyone, much less a second-year quarterback, New England Patriots' Tom Brady made sure that didn't happen Saturday.

In their highly anticipated rematch with the Denver Broncos, New England's offense came out firing on all cylinders. Brady threw two first quarter touchdowns, which was significant given the fact he had only throw one first quarter touchdown in his last 11 postseason first quarters.

It was the beginning of a record-setting night for a determined Brady-led offense.

Loser of three consecutive playoff games, including the last two coming in Gillette Stadium, and many saying the two-time league MVP's postseason mystic had faded, Brady threw a NFL postseason record five touchdowns in the first half, giving New England a commanding 35-7 lead at the half.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Brady is the last quarterback to throw five first half touchdowns
in any game, regular season or postseason. That game coming in Week 6 of the 2009-10 season in a 59-0 pounding of then-winless Tennessee Titans.

Finishing the game with a record-tying 6 TD passes and 363 yards, Brady continues to cement his legacy as one of the greatest field generals in NFL history. His 36 career postseason TD passes are third most all-time, trailing only Joe Montana (45) and Brett Favre (44) and the most by a quarterback in franchise history. Brady's 363 passing yards are also a franchise record for the most in a single playoff game.

The former sixth-round pick now has throw a touchdown pass in 18 consecutive postseason games, second only to Brett Favre's 20.

Three of Brady's six touchdowns came with tight end Rob Gronkowski at the receiving end, tying a postseason record for the most receiving touchdowns in a postseason game.

Gronkowski, who caught a record and league leading 17 TDs this season, was one of three tight ends on the day to total 100-plus receiving yards and catch two touchdown passes, but the only one to catch three TDs. There has been only one other tight end to accomplish these feats in the last 25 years.

Miami's Keith Jackson was the last to do so, catching 8 passes from Hall of Famer Dan Marino for 109 yards and two scores in their 22-21 Divisional Round loss to the San Diego Chargers in January of 1995.

If that weren't enough, Brady and head coach Bill Belichick surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll for the most postseason wins for a quarterback-head coach tandem with 15.

Earlier this year Brady and Belichick eclipsed Marino and Don Shula for the most wins (124) for a quarterback-head coach duo in NFL history.

It was the second time Belichick got the best of Denver's John Fox in the postseason. The first was in Super Bowl XXXVIII, when Fox was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

While New England's historic season will continue, the Broncos and Tim Tebow's magical, improbable and unconventional run will not. Never holding a lead in their eventual 45-10 loss, Denver looked outmatched from the get-go on the Patriots' opening 5-play, 80-yard, touchdown drive.

It was the Broncos' inability to matchup and tackle tight ends Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. In the teams two meetings this season both of New England's tight ends combined for 443 total yards and 5 TDs.

Meeting with Coach Belichick postgame, it was
a long night for Tebow and Co.

One wrinkle the Patriots incorporated in their offense Saturday was offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, who recently accepted the head coaching job at Penn State, lined Hernandez up in the back field, having him carry the ball five times, including a 43-yard carry that step up Brady's first touchdown pass.

New England's defense also decided to show up, recording 14 plays for negative yardage. That is most in a playoff game since 2007, when the Pittsburgh Steelers also had 14 plays dip into the red in their wild card loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Overall, for a player that experienced so much criticism before starting an NFL game, the 2011-12 season was a success for Tebow.

Tebow took over a 1-4 Bronco team, lead to a six-game-winning streak, five fourth quarter comebacks, including three overtime victories, an AFC West title and unbelievably dramatic overtime win on Wild Card Weekend against the defending AFC Champion Steelers.

Whatever the future holds for Tebow, he has proven one thing already, he can win in the NFL. And in the end that's all that matters.

Just ask Tom Brady.