National Football League
Will it come down to turnovers? Pats hope so
National Football League

Will it come down to turnovers? Pats hope so

Published Oct. 17, 2010 10:14 p.m. ET

FOXBORO -- Their offense has been adequate, their defense young and wild.

But the Patriots are solidly 3-1 thanks to two monotonous clich?s that have conspicuously played out: They have won the turnover battle in each of their three victories (they're plus-4 overall) and have showcased the importance of special teams.

Two coaches' clich?s that normally make fans roll their eyes.

Roll on.

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"They're getting tipped balls. They're getting balls thrown to them sometimes. I've seen a couple of balls overthrown. They're just in position and catching it," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said of the Patriots' seven interceptions (two returned for TDs), which are six interceptions more than Baltimore's renowned defense has in five games.

In their 41-14 victory in Miami thirteen days ago, the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to score touchdowns five different ways in the same game (kickoff, interception, blocked field goal, rushing, passing). The average age of their five TD-makers: 24 years. Youngsters are exciting and often get better, Pats fans may eventually be thrilled to find out.

Today at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots will play the 4-1 Ravens, who are minus-6 overall on the turnover ledger, but have been turnover-free in two of their past three games.

The Ravens' special teams also have been on heightened alert already this season before facing Cleveland's Joshua Cribbs and Denver's Eddie Royal, two dangerous returnmen who did no end-zone dances on Baltimore's watch. New England's Brandon Tate already has run back two kickoffs for touchdowns this season. Depending on which way the wind blows, and whether New England's defense prevents Baltimore from scoring like the Ravens did in their 33-16 playoff victory here in January, Tate's coast-to-coast chances on kickoffs could be limited. Baltimore kicker Billy Cundiff has 11 touchbacks, tied with Indianapolis' Pat McAfee for the league lead.

While the world waits for Ravens third-year quarterback Joe Flacco (5 TDs, 6 INTs) to sustain his flashes of greatness, the Ravens continue to lean on Ray Lewis and his guys.

Without uber-safety Ed Reed (PUP list -- hip injury) back there making opposition QBs panic, the Ravens' defenese has just one interception so far this season. Baltimore's defense has a league-low three takeaways through five games, but ranks third in the league in total defense based on yards allowed, including No. 2 against the pass.

"The thing that stands out about Baltimore is just their team defense," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "I don't think you can just isolate it to one guy. They play well as a team. Everything is well-coordinated."

As for attacking that defense, with Randy Moss gone to Minnesota, the assumption is that New England has been reduced to "dink and dunk," which is OK with quarterback Tom Brady so long as "it's dink and dunk and score touchdowns."

But yesterday never comes back. Deion Branch wasn't an elite receiver even while helping the Patriots win titles, but was fearless in big games (the anti-Moss). "(He was) reliable, consistent, tough competitive ... so I wouldn't think he would forget how to do those things," Brady said of Branch.

But nothing during his four-plus seasons in Seattle indicates Branch's return to Foxboro this past week deserved all the attention it received, other than to provide New Englanders a nostalgic joyride.

Rather than Branch, it's the young guys like Tate, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski and BenJarvus Green-Ellis who will determine whether the Patriots' tomorrows resemble their yesterdays.

"You know, you say Moss isn't there," said Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington. "But I think (Brady) won three Super Bowls without Moss, something like that. So he's going to find the open guy."

Prediction

Patriots 21, Ravens 20

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