FOXBOROUGH, MASS.—Less than an hour after defeating Tom Brady, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed already were focused on Peyton Manning.

“I know 18 is coming,” Reed said. “He’s got to know I am watching him, and I know he knows.”

“We know it’s probably the best quarterback of the last 20 years,” Lewis said.

The Ravens have another date with a great quarterback, thanks to Sunday’s convincing 33-14 playoff victory over the Patriots. When they visit the Colts next Saturday night, the Ravens will try to do to Manning what they did to Brady.
Disguise blitzes to perfection. Hit him at every opportunity. Force turnovers.

It will not be easy for the Ravens to disrupt Manning and pull off the upset, but Sunday’s sparkling defensive performance against Brady will serve as the blueprint.

What the Ravens did at Gillette Stadium was historic. Brady and coach Bill Belichick never had lost a home playoff game. The Patriots were undefeated at home during the ’09 regular season. The Ravens never had beaten the Patriots anywhere.

Yet, the Ravens treated those facts with disdain, the same way they treated Brady

“If you can get to Brady and really rattle him early, you have a great chance,” Lewis said.

Mission accomplished. This was as bad as Brady ever has looked in a playoff game. His final numbers (23-for-42, 154 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions, three sacks) told part of the story, but watching it unfold was more stunning.

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Ravens running back Ray Rice took a simple handoff, burst through an interior hole and scampered 83 yards for a touchdown. The Patriots reacted like a boxer who had been rocked with the first punch in a fight. And from that point, the Ravens’ defense took over.

A ferocious pass rush bothers any quarterback, even great ones like Brady. He was continually forced to move in the pocket, and even when Brady was not sacked he often threw on the move and before he wanted to.

“The main focus was to get him off his spot,” Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “We didn’t want him comfortable. We wanted him to think we were blitzing when we weren’t, and weren’t blitzing when we were.”

On the Patriots’ first series, Suggs sacked Brady, stripped the ball away in the process and recovered it to set up Baltimore’s second touchdown. Lewis sacked Brady on the next series. Chris Carr intercepted Brady on the Patriots’ third series, setting up a touchdown to make it 21-0. Reed then intercepted a pass on the Patriots’ fourth series, returned it 25 yards and tossed a lateral to Dawan Landry, who ran another 25 yards to set up a field goal.

Less than 14 minutes into the game, it was 24-0 Ravens.

We found out how much the Patriots missed star receiver Wes Welker—a lot. Julian Edelman played well (six catches, 44 yards, two touchdowns). But with Welker gone, the Ravens could rotate coverage toward Randy Moss (five catches, 48 yards), and for long stretches they turned Moss into the invisible man.

Lewis was impressed with the precision of his unit’s play against Brady.

“Guys held their blitz to the snap of the ball,” Lewis said. “If you show your hand way before then, he’s too good. He’ll check out of that and go to something else.”

So the Ravens head to Indianapolis next weekend to match wits against the NFL’s most valuable player. Manning has seen virtually every defense imaginable. But the matchup will be interesting because the Ravens’ defense is on top of its game.

Article source:  Sporting News

Tagged with: Bill Belichick • Coach Bill • Colts • Defensive Performance • Disdain • Disguise • Ed Reed • Gillette Stadium • Home Playoff Game • Patriots • Peyton Manning • Play From Scrimmage • Playoff Victory • Ravens • Ravens Linebacker • Ray Lewis • Ray Rice • Sacks • Safety Ed • Tom Brady

Filed under: NFL

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