Playoff fever? Why not here?
If you weren't fired up about the Ravens chances of going deep into the playoffs, did the sight of Wes Welker crumpled on the turf of Reliant Stadium during yesterday's 34-27 Houston Texans win over the New England Patriots change your mind?
The Ravens play the Patriots at 1 p.m. Sunday in the first round of the playoffs, and losing Welker will be a huge blow for the Patriots.
The guy had 123 catches and was the Patriots go-to receiver all season long, especially over the middle. He was tough as nails. Now it's being reported he suffered a torn ACL AND MCL when he tried to cut in the first quarter and landed awkwardly on his left leg.
Welker's mom and dad were quoted as saying they felt "sick" about their son's injury. But probably not as sick as Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots feel having to face the Ravens without one of their key weapons on offense.
Let's face it, the Patriots weren't the Patriots of old this season. Quarterback Tom Brady looked ordinary at times. Without a running game, the team struggled for offensive consistency all season long. And the Pats defense was shaky on occasion, especially their secondary.
New England was vulnerable going into the playoffs, even with everyone healthy. Now it looks as if the Pats have lost their best pass-catcher.
If ever there was a reason for Ravens fans to jump on the bandwagon and think about a serious playoff run for their team, Welker's injury is it.
Comments
We are going to play their 53 no matter who they are. You can't count on injuries, and you certainally can't count on Belichick. He's a master and his team will be ready with who ever they have. But the Ravens are coming to town with a chip on their shoulder from eailier this season in Foxbourgh. The Ravens are going to make us proud, again.
Posted by: rich | January 4, 2010 8:53 AM
if the ravens had won the pittsburgh game, how would that have changed our playoff run? would we still be facing the patriots? and the potential next leval? chargers or colts?
Posted by: mike | January 4, 2010 10:42 AM
It's going to be a tough game either way. Edelman's a decent replacement for Welker, and even an average passing offense can march on our secondary. These teams complement each other: NE specializes in making teams come up just short in big games and the Ravens specialize in coming up just short in big games. It's going to be ugly.
Posted by: direwolfc | January 4, 2010 11:29 AM
The Pats have not been the same team since their cheating scandal was exposed and they failed to wrap up their undefeated season. We can beat them.
Posted by: Joe | January 4, 2010 11:49 AM
If they could have pulled out one more game they would be at Cincinnati right now. Even with Welker's injury and the earlier sweep, you have to think the Cincinnati game is easier. One team is the team of the decade and the other hasn't won a playoff game since 1990.
Other thing to remember is the Ravens won in San Diego earlier in the year. Not to mention lost to the Patriots and Colts under dubious circumstances.
So yea, they can win any of these games, but the likelihood of winning @ New England @ Indy and @ San Diego in successive weeks is probably a little ambitious - but you could say the same about the 2005 Steelers, though they had a slightly easier schedule with only the Colts game being a true test.
Posted by: Shawn Kemp Blazers | January 4, 2010 12:03 PM
Winning @New England, @Indy, and @San Diego would arguably be the greatest SuperBowl run in history. And that's not including playing possibly the Saints in the bowl.
Posted by: Anthony | January 5, 2010 12:39 AM