Upsets at home like those are the kind of things that tend to stick with a fan base that believes it’s their divine right to win the Super Bowl each year and any challenger that beats them up fair and square must be somehow unfit to wear the crown. (Of course, we could’ve scored a playoff hat trick if Lee Evans had simply tucked away a fourth-quarter touchdown pass. We’ll blame that on Evans playing most of his career for the Buffalo Bills.)

In truth, the deep fretting from New England fans this week as expressed in numerous blogs, comment sections, and in this ESPNBoston
Q&A, for example, has been embarrassing.

Consider
Boston blowhard and columnist Eric Wilbur, who responded to the Ravens’ win over the Steelers by calling Baltimore, “the most deplorable organization in American professional sports.” Well, did he forget that one of the Patriots’ former stars is in prison facing murder charges? This guy even evokes “God” twice in his hater piece.

Chill out, buddy. Life will go on after the Ravens beat the Patriots again.

Then Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, when asked in a press conference if the Ravens “cut block” (an illegal technique), responds with “Is the Pope Catholic?” Yes, Bill, and 1958 wants its wisecrack back. But we also hope that the Pope isn’t a hypocrite. Belichick, lest we forget, was fined $500,000 for illegally videotaping
New York Jets‘ defensive coaches’ signals in 2007 in the Spygate controversy. More recently, in 2013, the Pats were busted by NFL refs for their illegal blocking schemes.

But our favorite response this week comes from a Patriots fan named Ben Affleck. He became so flustered when asked by paparazzi about playing the Ravens, he actually stopped what he was doing to express
his dread to this
TMZ guy on video, totally forgetting he hates paparazzi and TMZ.

Bottom line, they’re shaking in their cleats in Beantown. Here are five reasons why:

Flacco: At this point in his career, he’s simply one of the best playoff quarterbacks ever. He’s won of 10 of 14 games while throwing 21 TD passes and avoiding bad interceptions. If the running game clicks early, it will open things up for Joe to spread the ball around, move the chains, and take his shots downfield. We loved the roll outs last week.

Our pass rush: The Ravens dropped quarterbacks 49 times this year, second-best in the NFL. Suggs and Dumervil and company sacked Big Ben last week five times while getting pressure on nearly half his throws. Brady is average at best under pressure and getting worse as he grows older in the playoffs when the heat gets turned up. A great pass rushing effort led to the Giants’ huge upset of the Pats in the 2008 Super Bowl, too. Absolutely, the key to the game.

Check out the infograph below, courtesy of the Baltimore Ravens:

Our secondary: This group struggled mightily at times this season, but has come together in recent weeks. The Ravens did play mediocre football down the regular season stretch—on the offensive side of the ball. Safety Will Hill has been good, corner Ladarius Webb is due for a breakout game, and newcomer Rashaan Melvin has settled in at the other corner. The secondary stood up against the high-scoring Steelers and now they’ve got to make sure they don’t miss any tackles in New England’s short passing game and prevent Gronkowski from getting loose downfield.

Our offensive line: Like our secondary, this is one of the Ravens’ inconsistent areas because of injuries. What bodes well now, however, is guard Marshall Yanda’s move to right tackle and the insertion of rookie guard John Urschel into Yanda’s old spot. Urschel’s a Penn State guy, so he’s smart and well-coached. The offensive line—including the left tackle spot, whether it’s rookie James Hurst or Eugene Monroe, if he’s healthy—and the secondary don’t have to be great, just solid. If they hold things together, Flacco, Forsett, the Ravens’ receivers, the defensive line, and the special teams will come up with enough big plays to win the game.

Steve Smith: Carolina QB Cam Newton says Smith “always” plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s been exactly what the Ravens needed this season after losing Anquan Boldin and Vonta Leach. In football, you need tough guys and hitters on both sides of the ball. Veterans like Smith, Owen Daniels, and Forsett know playoff opportunities like this don’t come along often—expect them to play like there’s no tomorrow Saturday.

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That said, the Ravens have a tough game Sunday. The Bengals stole the AFC North title we were trying to defend last year; they beat us in the season-opener at M&T Bank Stadium this year; and they are 11-0-1 in their last dozen games at The Jungle. Still, the fortunes of the two teams have switched courses since that season opener. We’ve won five of six and Bengals haven’t won in more than a month, including blowout losses to the Colts and Patriots.

The oddsmakers have made the Ravens-Bengals clash a pick ‘em game. We’re of course picking the Ravens. Here are three reasons why:

The Bengals are banged up: Pro Bowl linebacker Vontaze Burfict has been playing though head and neck injuries, which isn’t good for him or their defense, and starting middle linebacker Rey Maulaluga is definitely out. Also, wide receiver A.J Green, who killed the Ravens in Week 1, has been hampered with a toe injury—and may or may not play against the Ravens—and Giovani Bernard, their hyper-speed half back, has been limited in practice this week with bruised ribs.

The Ravens depth: We’re banged up, too, but the Ravens’s depth, always a team strength, has been holding things together as we get healthy. The biggest concern for us is starting two rookies on the left side of the offensive line. We’re not playing Tampa Bay or Atlanta this week, folks. Geno Atkins, Domata Peko, Wallace Gilberry, etc. have formed one of the league’s best defensive lines in recent years. Thankfully, Geno and the boys have been struggling lately, but let’s hope they don’t return to form this week. On the flip side, Ladarius Webb and Will Hill are back in our secondary and looked healthy and played well last week.

Owen Daniels: Last week we gave a big shout out to Justin Forsett here and we owe one to our new tight end. If the Ravens’s ground game would be lost without Forsett stepping in for Ray Rice, where would the passing game be without Daniels stepping up after Dennis Pitta when down with another hip injury? Daniels turns 32 in a couple of weeks and had us concerned during training camp—sitting out with mysterious leg ailments most of the time—now looks rejuvenated, catching six passes, including his third TD last week. Pitta had a big game against the Bengals in the opener and we expect Daniels to play a vital role keeping the chains moving Sunday.

We have something to play for: Okay, four reasons. This is more of the intangible variety. Winning on the road is tough in the NFL, but we’ve got good reason to go to Cincy and kick butt. The guys in the Ravens’s locker room know a win over the Bengals would go a long way toward taking the AFC North title back. Everyone around the league was singing the Bengals’s praises after they beat the Ravens here and players don’t usually forget those kinds of things. Football teams tend to play well when they have a chip on their shoulder and the Ravens may just have a big enough issue with the Bengals that they go into The Jungle and drag home a win.

Updated 5 p.m. Friday: The Ravens just announced that Owen Daniels—a day after offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak said that he was “fine”—will miss the Bengals game while undergoing minor knee surgery. Not really what we wanted to hear, but it goes to point that depth is critical in the NFL. Third-round tight end pick Crockett Gilmore—it’s time to step up, buddy.

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