America is rooting for the Patriots this weekend

Patriots players celebrate after then-Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff misses a field goal in the waning seconds of the 2011 AFC Championship Game

Yesterday, I was floored by the fact that someone took the time to write an erotic novel, (with a hilariously awesome title) about Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. For the second consecutive day, there is a piece of Patriots news that has me shocked.

A majority of the United States of America actually wants the Patriots to beat the Baltimore Ravens this Saturday.

According to Eric Wilbur of The Boston Globe, a recent poll consisting of football fans around the country suggested that 98 percent of them are rooting for New England.

Shocking. I'd love to bet a lot of these people are the same people who still like to rag on the Patriots for Spygate and all of that other nonsense. But I'll take it. It's rare a large part of the country is on New England's side.

Then again, the Ravens are an organization that has been deemed as one of the most classless in sports, and some of its players easily follow suit (Terrell Suggs and Steve Smith, just to name a few). They've also handled players off-the-field troubles very poorly.

Ray Rice and Ray Lewis ring a bell? And yes, before anyone reminds me of Aaron Hernandez, I'm well aware that's a thing. But at least the Patriots handled that as best they could.

The Ravens present a tough match up for the Pats, but many national pundits and fans seem to be hyping up a Ravens team that A.) isn't as good as the Ravens teams of the past that have played in Foxborough, B.) don't have a good secondary and C.) have beaten one team with a winning record all season (Pittsburgh twice).

That being said, Joe Flacco is a completely different quarterback come playoff time. He has won in New England before and seems to not fear playing there. And that might be the scariest thing about him. Not only that, wide receiver Torrey Smith is a master at drawing pass interference calls against opposing defenders.

Better hope Bill Belichick sticks Darrelle Revis on him and not Brandon Browner, or the Pats could be in for a long game.

If past history scares you, then yes, be afraid of the Ravens. If you don't buy into that hype, good. Keep doing what you're doing. New England is much more equipped now to handle Baltimore.

The Pats won't lose. They've got American on their side.

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