Posted by stinenavy on 1/4/2015 2:11:00 AM (view original):
Glad the Ravens won. Ravens - Patriots is a premier matchup. Patriots would probably much rather have played Colts-Bengals winner, since they already clubbed both of them this season.
As for the original 4 years ago comment, I don't know of a compelling argument for anyone else. A big part of that has to do with the oddity of Baltimore consistently making the playoffs, but only winning the division twice, and during those two seasons being the 2 seed and the 4 seed.
But then again how much credit are you going to give him for those first 3 road victories, in which he played poorly but they won thanks to defense/running game?
fair point, but he has now gone 5 straight games with a passer rating over 100 in the playoffs (and the two before that were both over 95) and is 10-4 overall (7-4 on the road, 2-0 at home, and 1-0 neutral). Baltimore has now made the playoffs 6 times in the Harbaugh/Flacco era and has not lost the first playoff game in any of those seasons. Those two just know how to win when it matters.
Also, most QB's struggle in their first few playoff games. I mean Tom Brady had a whopping 145 yards in his first Superbowl (that first AFC title game he had just 115 yards, though his first game was pretty solid). Even a great passer like Peyton Manning had just 227, 194, and 137 yards in his first three playoff games (all losses).