The New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens play in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday afternoon. This matchup has been hyped up this past week or so because of the previous meetings at Gillette where the Pats have succumbed to the Ravens stifling defense in the past two meetings. Here’s a quick look at reasons why each team has a chance to win.

Patriots:
1) Tom Brady: The Patriots quarterback has had a phenomenal season. He
compiled 33 touchdowns in the regular season after just 4 in the first quarter of the season. Brady achieved this while just throwing 9 interceptions. Brady virtually has his legacy on the line since he is 37 and although he is aging quite well, Brady is nearing his end. Knowing the circumstances, Brady will have a fantastic game.
2) Offensive Weapons: Obviously, Brady didn’t throw 33 touchdowns to subpar receivers. New England’s tight end, Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski caught a huge chunk of those touchdown passes. The 6-feet, 4-inch tight end is the Pats biggest weapon. He compiled 12 touchdowns and a total of 1,124 yards, leading the NFL tight ends in that category. Another weapon is Julian Edelman. Although he only got 4 touchdowns he has been the Patriots number one receiver for the most part which explains his great stats in 92 receptions and 10.6 yards on average per catch. These various weapons should help the Patriots beat the Ravens defense.
3) Coaching: Bill Belichick, the Patriots head coach, has seen and coached big playoff moments like these. Belichick is sometimes criticized for his disgruntled demeanor and attitude in press conferences and sometimes even on the sideline. However, the criticism doesn’t stop him from making the right play calls at the perfect time. Belichick has led many of his New England teams the AFC championship game even when there weren’t many weapons, why not this year when the Patriots do have various weapons on both sides of the ball.
4) X-Factor: Darrelle Revis. When he wants to, Revis can shut down any wide out in the NFL. The question is, will he step up to the challenge in covering the Ravens’ Steve Smith or one who will shy away and not go for pick offs and deflections but just contain his matchup.

Ravens:
1) Special Teams: John Harbaugh, the Ravens head coach, has been known as special teams styled head coach. Harbaugh has put together talented special teams. The Ravens’ punter, Sam Koch, averaged 47.4 yards per punt, which is very important based on field position in the NFL Playoffs. Other than Koch, Jacoby Jones, the punt and kickoff returner has done a spectacular job in returning punts. The special teams will have to set the tone of the game early, creating good field position for the Ravens’ offense and defense.
2) Defense: Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata. These names just are scary for opposing quarterbacks to hear. The Ravens’ defense is a machine, no question about it. Ngata assisted in sacking the opposing quarterback twelve times in just twelve games. He also got a sack last week in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Terrell Suggs is an animal. Suggs got twelve sacks in the regular season and 25 assisted tackles. The Ravens’ defense will come out trying to get at Tom Brady, making him make mistakes.
3) Justin Forsett: Forsett came into Baltimore as a basically a no name NFL running back just hoping to stay in the league. However, he had a career year. Forsett carried the ball for 1,266 yards in the regular season. On top of the unbelievable amount of yards, Forsett rushed for eight touchdowns. The most important stat Forsett has however is that he only fumbled once in the entire year. To me, that is the recipe for a great performance he should have tomorrow at 4:25 pm.
4) X-Factor: Joe Flacco. He has had a complete up and down year. Some games, Flacco throws for 5 touchdowns to earn a 99.8 QBR and other games, he throws 0 touchdowns and earns a 16 QBR. The Ravens will need a fantastic Joe Flacco in order to beat the Patriots.

Prediction: Patriots 34, Ravens 24. The Ravens’ defense cannot contain Brady and all his weapons, Harbaugh gets out coached, and history does not repeat itself.