Unlike Pats, Ravens Have QB Concerns

Joe Flacco has been under the media microscope all season

The Patriots have had plenty of personnel issues this season, primarily on the defensive side of the ball (we'll give Chad Ochocinco a break on this one). But one problem New England hasn't faced since early in Drew Bledsoe's career is questions about their quarterback.

Tom Brady took over the full-time gig in 2001 and three Super Bowl championships later, he's destined for the Hall of Fame.

But before we start fitting him for his canary yellow sports jacket, the Pats are trying for Lombardi Trophy No. 4. The only AFC team between them and another trip to the Super Bowl: the Ravens.

Baltimore has one of the league's most tenacious defenses, but they also have a fourth-year quarterback who still struggles with consistency. Usually the doubters include the media and unhappy fans. But this week, safety Ed Reed voiced similar concerns.

"I think Joe was kind of rattled a little bit by (Houston's) defense," Reed said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday. "(The Texans) had a lot of guys in the box on him. And, I mean, they were getting to him. I think a couple times he needed to get rid of the ball. I don't know how much of the play-calling ... but it just didn't look like he had a hold on the offense. ... It was just kind of like (Baltimore's coaches) was telling him to do, throw the ball or get it here, you know, get it to certain guys. And he can't play like that."

Not a ringing endorsement of Flacco's performance.

Lucky for him, New England's defense won't be mistaken for the Texans' anytime soon. They played well against an overmatched Broncos offense, one, it turns out, featured an injured quarterback for much of Saturday's divisional matchup. But even a healthy Tim Tebow wouldn't have mattered. New England's defense played well, for sure, but it was Brady who did the heavy lifting. He had five first-half touchdowns and added a sixth for good measure in the final 30 minutes.

That said, perhaps there's reason for Bill Belichick to be optimistic about his defense's progress.

ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss compares the '11 Pats to the '06 Colts, a team with Peyton Manning and not much in the way of defense until safety Bob Sanders returned late in the year.

"For the Patriots, one could make the argument that the returns of safety Patrick Chung and linebacker Brandon Spikes after seven-game absences have been Sanders-like. The defense looks different with those two in the lineup. More energy. More spark. More physicality. More production (14 negative plays against the Broncos)."

Flacco's struggles, and the return of Chung and Spikes, could portend good things for New England. Of course, the Ravens won't be intimated. They came into Foxboro in the 2009 wild-card game and whipped the Pats, 33-14.

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