How they got here • New England went 13-3 to win the AFC East and earn a No. 1 seed, then crushed Denver 45-10 in the divisional playoff round.
Super Bowl-bound if • Quarterback Tom Brady keeps delivering and the defense plays adequately. Brady shredded the Broncos with six touchdown passes and New England’s defense was equally impressive, but Baltimore represents an upgrade of opponents.
Homeward-bound if • The Patriots somehow revert to their offensive form of two years ago, when Baltimore held Brady to 154 passing yards and intercepted him three times in a 33-14 playoff defeat.
During the 2010 regular season, the Pats beat Baltimore, 23-20, in overtime. Like that 2009 playoff game, Brady was harassed, but he made enough plays to get the job done. It was Branch’s first game since returning and he put on a show. As for Welker, he still wasn’t quite 100 percent from ACL surgery. Gronkowski and Hernandez were rookies in their sixth game.
Fast-forwarding to Sunday, Gronkowski and Hernandez have blossomed into stars. Welker is back to being the Welker of old. It’s a bit of a stretch to imagine the Ravens being able to cover that trio. Granted, they were one of the best teams at marking tight ends during the year, but that was shutting down one tight end. Not two.
“They can’t cover everybody,” NFL Network analyst Solomon Wilcots said. “So they’re just going to have to beat the offensive line. They’ve got to hit Brady and get him uncomfortable. They’ve got to make it so he doesn’t have time. They’ve got to win their battles with the line. But even then, with that offense, he’s still making plays.”
One more weapon the Pats didn’t quite use in the last playoff meeting with Baltimore is the no-huddle. They went with it from the start against Denver, and the Broncos’ ace pass rushers, Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, were non-factors. Rather than blitz or add to the rush, the Broncos dropped more defenders into coverage. We saw how that turned out. Six touchdown passes.
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