The Patriots dominate the Ravens

There's something I keep hearing that simply isn't true. First I'll say, obviously the Baltimore Ravens are one of if not the top team in the AFC. They've consistently had one of the greatest defenses in the league, year in year out for over a decade. Are they a formidable opponent? Obviously.

However, I've heard many times, "The Ravens always have success against the Patriots".

Have the games been close? Recently, yes. But let's get one thing straight, the Ravens do nothing consistently against the Patriots but lose.

The Patriots are 7-1 against the Ravens, 6-0 in the regular season. The one time they lost to the Ravens was in the first round of the playoffs in the 2009 season, what was arguably the Patriots second worst season under Belichick. That year the team was 10-6, they couldn't beat any elite team in the regular season (well, except the Ravens) and had just lost Wes Welker to an ACL injury the game before.

Let's not call this a rivalry just yet. The Colts and Patriots had a good rivalry because they traded wins and losses. The Patriots only loss to the Ravens was close to three years ago now.

I'm not saying that Patriots fans should be overconfident, heading into Baltimore for a Sunday night game against Ray Lewis. No one is overlooking Baltimore. However, Pats fans do have reason to be confident.

After a stunning loss to the Cardinals many have gone into overreaction mode thinking there's no way the Patriots can win on the road in Baltimore. Simply not true.

The Patriots may be without Aaron Hernandez, but the Ravens are without Terrell Suggs. Baltimore also struggled to cover Brent Celek last week, how do you think they'll fare against Rob Gronkowski?

Deion Branch is back with the team. The last time he debuted in a return to the Pats? Yup, it was against the Baltimore Ravens and he had nine catches for 98 yards and a touchdown.

I get it, if Cundiff makes a field goal the Patriots might not be in the Super Bowl. Back in 2007, the Ravens almost won. Even back in 2010 and the regular season game in 2009 they were close.

The Ravens have always almost won against the Patriots. They can talk trash about our quarterback and so on. But how about beating us?

What Brady said in response to some Suggs trash talk back in 2010 probably sums it all up.

"We play those guys a lot and they’ve only beat us once," said Brady. "They talk a lot for only beating us once in nine years.”