After their respective wins this past weekend in the divisional round, the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens have a rematch in the AFC Championship. It is the third time in the last two seasons that the squads will face each other and the second in this round of the NFL post-season. This is the second part in a series leading up to the battle for the AFC's Super Bowl berth. You can read part one of our AFC Championship Preview here.
Since Week 3
Baltimore had the definition of a roller coaster season in 2012. Beating the Patriots sparked a four game win streak. The Ravens won eight of the next nine games overall, but then hit the skids. The team lost four of its last five regular season contests, including one to the Broncos. Baltimore split the season series with the Cincinnati Bengals and lost to the Texans in their other match-ups against this year's AFC playoff teams.
After the defeat in Maryland, New England won nine of its next 10 games, then two of three to end the regular season. The Pats topped Denver, Indianapolis and Houston at various points during the year.
Common Foe Fodder
The only common opponents for this year's AFC Championship participants are the teams most recently booted out of the playoffs: Houston and Denver. In the regular season, New England beat each of them, while Baltimore lost to both teams.
The Texans had a six-game win streak that started with the victory over the Ravens in Week 7 and ended with the loss to the Pats in Week 14. The Broncos lost to the Pats, then won 11 straight contests to end the regular season, including win #9 in a row versus Baltimore.
The Potential Differences Between the Championship Games
The Ravens took a much different path into the upcoming game than last year, including an extra playoff win this time around. This year, Baltimore had to dispatch the Indianapolis Colts and the inspiring story of coach Chuck Pagano recovering from cancer treatment during the season to be on the sidelines for Indy.
Like Baltimore, New England had a better record last season than this season, and had a higher seed. The 13-3 Pats campaign featured a loss to the team that eventually knocked them out in the Super Bowl, the New York Giants. The 2012 season included four losses: three to eventual playoff teams (including Baltimore) and one to the Arizona Cardinals.
Last season, the Patriots and Ravens were the first and second seeds respectively, each earning a first round bye. New England opponents haven't needed the extra week off to dispatch the Pats. Each team that has knocked New England out since 2006 was a #3 seed or lower. In 2005, the Denver Broncos topped the Patriots as the #2 seed.