posted January 12, 2007 at 12:56 EST in NFL Free Picks

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS +4 AT BALTIMORE RAVENS -4

An awesome matchup in the juggernaut spectrum, the 13-3 Baltimore Ravens will incorporate wickedness within defense to slow down the offensive powerhouse of the 13-4 Indianapolis Colts.

Welcome to the only team in the National Football League that has four Pro Bowlers on the defensive side of the ball, the Baltimore Ravens (13-3). That is the epitome of individual production. Did that help generate team production? Please refer to the team record.

The secondary Honolulu tandem of safety Ed Reed and shutdown corner Chris McAlister will join the pass-rushing prowess of linebackers Adalius Thomas and Terrell Suggs in attempting to stop Indianapolis (12-4) before heading to the sunshine of Hawaii. A third linebacker, who normally sips Pina Coladas with them, is middle linebacker Ray Lewis, but he did not play to his usual level this season in the eyes of the Pro Bowl voters.

 

Don't count him out in this one against Indy.

The Ravens will be rested after winning the AFC North division to obtain a first-round bye in these playoffs. They face an Indy team that easily disposed of the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card, in spite of star quarterback Peyton Manning throwing three interceptions to one touchdown pass, although he was extremely efficient with 30 completions in 38 attempts.

Some incompletions hurt him, but his defense angrily threw away criticisms of their run-stopping and shut the world down on Chiefs’ running back Larry Johnson, to the tune of 32 rushing yards on thirteen carries. Shut down. The now-smothering defense will look to repeat against another tough runner, the Ravens’ Jamal Lewis.

The Colts, who vaunt a wicked air arsenal, used offensive balance against the Chiefs in their 23-8 Wild Card victory, with a running back duo, rookie Joseph Addai and six-year vet Dominic Rhodes, that combined for 190 yards rushing and a per-carry average of five yards. The air attack contributed with eight different offensive players catching footballs and seven of them catching more than one.

There are hundreds of offensive linemen in the NFL, and besides Seattle’s left tackle, Walter Jones, there are few players many consider better on the offensive line than Ravens’ left tackle Jonathan Ogden. The entire city of Baltimore was flipping after he missed the last two games of the regular season due to turf toe and is presently ‘questionable’ for this game.

He was the main reason Lewis had a slight resurgence this season with yet another thousand-yard year to go along with nine touchdowns on the ground, the second highest mark of his seven-year career. Ogden has already been quoted as stating this: "Progress is still going pretty good, so I probably won't be 100 percent, but I will be ready to go Saturday." No player in any of these playoff games will be 100 percent, however.

 

The Ravens’ defensive end Trevor Pryce, who led the team with 13 sacks, and yet another linebacker, Bart Scott, combined with Thomas and Suggs to make Baltimore the only team in the NFL with four players recording 9.5 or more sacks.  If that does not provide indication as to how good their starting quartet of linebackers is, not much else will. Except this: to go along with these pass rush numbers is run-stopping numbers no other team in the playoffs can match.

The Ravens, with the help of their four starting linebackers, were second in the NFL in run defense behind a team watching the playoffs at home, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are playing golf because their pass defense was dead last, but the Raven’s pass defense ranked sixth, making Baltimore the team with the best defense overall in the league.  They say that offense wins games and defense wins championships… that’s what they say...

PREDICTION: Colts to cover (but Ravens might win)

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