National Football League

Ravens stopping Brady requires what?

Published Jan. 17, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

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There’s no set way for defenses to stop Tom Brady. If there were then former Patriots and current Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees would have found it by now. Then again, he could always get someone else to do his dirty work.

Pees, who coached the Patriots for six seasons from 2004 to 2009, answered questions about Brady and the Patriots on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game rematch. When asked about stopping Brady, though, Pees admitted it was near impossible but offered up a few humorous suggestions while he was at it.

“Hire Tonya Harding,” Pees joked to a response of resounding laughter from the Baltimore media before giving another possible solution. “If they were getting off the bus, I’d spray water outside the bus and hope it freezes.”

Pees made the comments in jest to further explain just how difficult it is to defense Brady. After flirting with the Nancy Kerrigan narrative for a few moments, Pees did offer up his highest praises for Brady and clarified just how tough a test the Patriots’ offense will be.

“He is who he is. I went against him up there in practice for six years. He’s as competitive of a person as I’ve ever been around,” Pees said. “He can give you this little boyish look on TV, but he is a very, very, very competitive guy. He didn’t even like losing in practice.

“The more we rode him on defense — because I had a couple trash-talkers — the harder he played. He is who he is. He’s going to play well. You expect him to play. We have to do the best job we can, fundamentally, to disrupt him and do some things to him. I have a lot of respect for him. He is a Hall of Fame quarterback.”

Even for a future Hall of Famer, overcoming Pees’ defense won’t be an easy task either come Sunday. The Ravens gave Brady all he could handle last year at this time, as well as earlier this season as the Patriots fell 31-30 down in Baltimore. So, Sunday’s title game will certainly be one heck of a battle, even if it doesn’t involve police batons to the knee.

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