New England's offense and Baltimore's defense are well known. But their opposite numbers could actually decide who goes to the Super Bowl.
Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Terrell Suggs versus Tom Brady, Wes Welker, and Rob Gronkowski.
Skip to next paragraphConventional wisdom says those are the key match ups. Those six men will lead their units - Ravens defense and Patriots offense, respectively - in the AFC Championship game this Sunday (3 p.m. ET on CBS) in New England.
To stop the Patriotis offense, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis (the only team member with a SuperBowl XXXV ring) must stop Brady from completing passes to Welker and Gronkowski across the middle. Safety Ed Reed's omnipresence is a key reason no team has more than one touchdown pass against the Ravens this season. And outside linebacker Terrell Suggs must move Brady off his in the pocket for Baltimore to have a chance.
The match up between those two groups will be part chess match, and part mixed martial arts. But that match up? could also end in a draw. So, the deciding factors may lie elsewhere. It may be left to Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense versus the 325-pound Immovable Object aka Vince Wilfork and the New England defense to determine who the AFC rep in Super Bowl XLVI will be.
Just for the record and based on yards per game, the Patriots offense was the second-best team in the NFL during the regular season while the Ravens defense checked in at No. 3 in the league.
When it comes to the Ravens offense, Flacco has the luxury of being able to hand the ball off to Ray Rice. The running back gained 1,364 yards on the ground in 2011. He was also the team's leading receiver with 76 catches for 704 yards on the season.
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