Baltimore Ravens Vs. New England Patriots: An Inevitable Rivalry

Jan 10, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) talks to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) after their 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 35-31. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

If you made a ranking of the most successful teams in the NFL since 2000, the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens would be at the top of the list.

The Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV in the 2000 season with arguably the best defense the NFL has ever seen. This was the Ravens welcoming to being a power in the NFL. The Ravens have been around since 1996 and have two Super Bowl Championships, and have been to the playoffs 10 times. Baltimore has been to four AFC Championships. The Ravens are trying to get to their seventh playoff appearance in nine years. In each of John Harbaugh’s trip to the playoffs the Ravens have won at least one playoff game.

The New England Patriots have had so much success, that unless your a fan, it’s almost sickening. Tom Brady took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in the 2001 season and the rest is history. Brady and his historically masterful coach, Bill Belichick, have won four out of six Super Bowls together. The Patriots have won their division almost every year. They went undefeated in the 2007 regular season. Nobody can match their level of glory in this time period, not the Ravens, not the Steelers, not anyone.

The Ravens and the Patriots were inevitable rivals. They have both been powers in the AFC. Whenever two teams repetitively want the same thing, your going to have an epic battle. I don’t care what coach speak you hear this week. This is a contentious rivalry.

Jan 10, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) celebrates after the Ravens

A Heated History:

The Ravens and Patriots don’t get along. The Ravens have met the Patriots at Gillette Stadium for two of the three AFC Championship Games in the John Harbaugh era. In 2011 the Ravens would have made it to the Super Bowl if it were not for a dropped touchdown pass by Lee Evans. To add insult to our heartbreaking injury, Billy Cundiff missed a gimme of a field goal. That kick would have sent the game into overtime.

The Ravens came right back the next year and stomped all over the Patriots. The Ravens came back on a redemption tour and won 28-13. This booked the Ravens a flight to New Orleans where the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII. The Ravens are 2-2 in the playoffs against the Patriots. Baltimore’s first playoff battle in New England was in 2009 and it was a day of purple reign. Baltimore won 33-14 on a day where Ray Rice took the first hand-off 80 yards. The last playoff meeting was in 2014. The Patriots survived two 14 point deficits to beat the Ravens.

Every time the Ravens and the Patriots play it seems like a championship game whether it is or not. The Patriots have a lopsided lead in regular season play, however the rivalry really didn’t become a thing until the Harbaugh era.

Jan 20, 2013; Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) sits on the turf after not being able to convert on a fourth down during the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Why The Rivalry Was Inevitable:

The Ravens and the Patriots have met four times in the last seven NFL postseasons. Not only does each team see the other as a potential road block to the Super Bowl but these teams just don’t get along. Terrell Suggs shows no respect for Tom Brady, he’s just number 12 t him. Brady is seen as public enemy number one in Baltimore when the Ravens and the Patriots play.

Baltimore has always played into the us against the world mantra. The theme of Baltimore football is toughness and physicality. The Patriots have had a cake walk of a division year in and year out. They believe they are supposed to win, and they show it. Sometimes it seems like simply breathing around their star quarterback can draw a penalty. Baltimore football has a blue collar persona and the Ravens have no tolerance for a prima donna. Fair or not, that is how Ravens fans view Brady. I bet that’s how most of the Ravens feel about him as well.

The Ravens and the Patriots are both great franchises. They have both been on top of the football world in recent memory. The Patriots have been almost unstoppable since Brady came along. The only two teams to really have the Patriots pegged have been the New York Giants (who beat them in two Super Bowls) and the Baltimore Ravens. That’s what makes this rivalry what it is. Baltimore does not bow down to their Bostonian foes.