Usually when the Colts roll into town, the anti-Irsay chatter is ratcheted up to an 11. (Well, it’s one louder, isn’t it? It’s not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?)

This go-round, the city of Baltimore is still angrily in shock from nearly knocking off the best team in the modern era of the NFL. Rather than relive the heartache of a final-minute Patriots comeback in a game preview post, I’ll just point readers here, here, here and here. Read and relive at your own risk.

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun has a great piece online about transference of hatred from the Colts bolting for Indianapolis to the New England Patriots. Schmuck, much like myself, is not from Baltimore. We missed out on the whole Mayflower/Irsay “thing.” (I was too busy dealing with life without the St. Louis (football) Cardinals when Bill Bidwell up and moved them to Arizona. Can you believe that?!)

However, I know Baltimore’s pain — I still hate Bidwell. My family still hates Bidwell. My dad won’t even say his name without a few colorful adjectives first. While I agree with Schmuck to a point, I can’t stop hating the Colts. I just can’t (but for other reasons, obviously).

Rather than transfer our hatred of the Colts to the Patriots, can’t we transfer our hatred of the outcome of last weeks’ game to this one? I’d love to see a high-energy, intense effort against Dungy’s boys that matches the intensity we took to the Patriots. Is that too much to ask?

How do you think this game will play out? I’ll take a completely unscientific poll to gauge reader interest:

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5 reasons why the Ravens will win this game

1. For the first time all season, the team was able to play 3 7/8 quarters of football. Natural progression tells me that it’s only logical to assume that we’ll play a full 4 quarters.
2. With the injuries to the Colts defense, Willis McGahee should have another banner day. Will it be to the tune of 159 total yards of offense and a score? Golly, my fantasy team hopes so — I’m in the playoffs this week.
3. Kyle Boller actually looked good on Monday. If he’s playing up to his competition, he should fare well.
4. We just lost a heartbreaker. I highly doubt that the leaders on this team will let it happen two weeks (or seven) in a row.
5. Monday Night’s Ravens did not look like any other incarnation of the Ravens I’ve seen this year, dumb penalties withstanding. If they can keep playing with that intensity and smash the football down Indy’s throats, the Colts could be in for a long game.

Reasons for optimism

Even though the Ravens lost last week, they did things to the Patriots that had not been done all season long:

• Limited Brady to a 76.3 QB Rating, his lowest total in 2007.
• Limited Brady to 2 TD passes, his lowest total in 2007.
• Held the Patriots to 326 total net yards of offense, their lowest total in 2007.
• Held the Patriots to 17% efficiency in converting 3rd downs, their lowest percentage in 2007 (going into the game they were 1st in 3rd down efficiency - 53.6%).
• Held the Patriots defense to 0 sacks in the contest, their only game without a sack in 2007.

Of course, we all know what happened last season in the playoffs when the Ravens held Peyton Manning to 170 yards…

Inside the numbers

The secret is out — the Ravens are great at stopping the run and great at punching the ball in via the run. Check this out:

• In the last 15 games, the Ravens haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher, good for the longest streak in the NFL (Dallas and St. Louis trail with 13 game streaks).
• The Ravens have allowed 5 rushing touchdowns this season, all of which have been punched in from the 1 yard line.
• Willis McGahee has a 7 game TD streak alive, tying the Cowboys’ Terrell Owens for the longest scoring streak in the NFL. It’s also a Ravens team record.

Other figures to note:

• 14 different players have recorded a sack for Baltimore’s defense this season — good for the best in the NFL.
• Safety Ed Reed had 33 picks in his career. Since entering the league in 2002, that’s the most of any player in the NFL. Now, if only he could hold on to the ball on returns against New England…

Against the Colts…

• In 2 games against the Colts, QB Kyle Boller has thrown for 351 yards and 1 TD, and is 34 of 63 passing. Remarkable, he’s only been sacked 3 times in 63 dropbacks.
• WR Derrick Mason has squared off against the Colts 7 times in his career. He currently possesses 49 receptions for 562 yards and a TD.
• It wouldn’t be a game preview without K Matt Stover. In 10 games against the Colts, Stover is perfect on all 21 PATs and has converted 13 of 21 FGAs.
• LB Ray Lewis has played against the Colts 5 times. In those contests, he has racked up 63 tackles (50 solo), 2 sacks, 1 FF and 1 FR.
• S Ed Reed blew up Peyton Manning in the divisional playoffs last year, recording 2 interceptions and 3 PD.

The gameplan

This one is really simple: don’t let Peyton Manning beat you. Keep him off the field by chewing the clock — and when the Colts offense is on the field, get in his face. Force him to make throws. Make him beat you.

The Ravens defense played at an insane pace to keep the Patriots in check for as long as they did. If they can play with 3/4 of that intensity, there’s no reason to assume that a win is out of reach.

If the cross-section of Patriots trolls that have flooded the blog with comments are any indication of the insane amount of Massholes (holy crap - “Masshole” has a Wiki entry!) running around on the internet, I’d like to get a snapshot of how they felt during the game.

And please, guys, be honest. I know that if I was a Patriots fan, I’d be watching the game with an asshole tighter than a Marching Ravens‘ snare drum. And don’t give me that “It’s Tom Brady! He’s unvincible!” stuff. I ain’t trying to hear that noize.

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To the > 1% of Patriots fans that I know (Lippa, 210, Chris, Amy, TK, et. Al) — kindly ignore the poll. I know where you guys stand (on solid ground).

Just wanted to throw out a quick poll — how will the Ravens fare the rest of the way? How many more losses will we endure before registering another win?

vs. New England (12/3)
vs. Indianapolis (12/9)
@ Miami (12/16)
@ Seattle (12/23)
vs. Pittsburgh (12/30)

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