Jan 2nd 2009 2:00PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Ravens, AFC East, AFC North, NFL Playoffs
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When the Ravens faced the Dolphins in Week 7, both teams were 2-3 and coming off forgettable 2007 seasons. I’m pretty sure nobody had Baltimore finishing the year 9-2 or Miami winning the division. Yet 11 weeks later, here we are.

The Ravens won 27-13 back in October in what has now become a familiar formula: run, run, play-action; matriculate the ball down the field; control the clock; and let the defense take care of the rest.

Pretty much everybody likes the Ravens tomorrow, partly because of their suffocating defense, and also because the Dolphins haven’t beaten anybody outside the AFC East. Of their 10 non-divisional games, Miami was an impressive 7-3, but the teams they beat combined for a 36-76 record. So, yeah, there are some skeptics. The Ravens, on the other hand, smoked the Eagles, Redskins and Cowboys, and played the Steelers well enough to win. Twice.

Now the question becomes: can Miami concoct variations of the Wildcat that will work against Baltimore’s defense? And when running a conventional offense, will Chad Pennington be able to play up to his MVP candidate form against the Ray Lewis All-Stars?Continue Reading