But if the Patriots are victorious in the game, will they have beaten "the team to beat" in the AFC?
At 4-1, the Ravens share the conference's best record with the New York Jets, a team which they have beaten. They have their predictably staunch and physical defense — even with Ed Reed out of the lineup — a top flight rushing attack led by Ray Rice, and a passing game that has been making huge strides with Joe Flacco developing and Anquan Boldin to throw to. Simply put, they have strength in every phase of the game.
Still, they aren't without holes. Their pass defense looked to be the team's weakness, but matchups against Seneca Wallace, Mark Sanchez, Carson Palmer and Charlie Batch hid that issue. In week 5, Kyle Orton lit up the Ravens for over 300 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.
Rice is clearly an elite running back, but he doesn't seem like the kind of player that can stay healthy as a feature back, and Flacco, though improving, still has his bad moments too. In fact, the team does occasionally struggle to move the ball. Against the Jets, Bengals and Steelers, the offense failed to do much at all.
And then, of course, there is the issue of the other teams in the AFC. The Steelers went 3-1 without Ben Roethlisberger, and were a last second Flacco touchdown from being 4-0. The Jets have won four straight and lost to the Ravens by a single point in the season opener. At 3-2, the Colts have weakened their "team to beat" claim, but they are still the defending AFC champions, and nobody would want to face them in the playoffs — and what about the Patriots?
