Ravens bring boom or bust run attack to Foxboro to face Patriots

Since Thanksgiving, the Ravens have gone 4-2, including last week’s 30-17 Wild Card road win at Pittsburgh. It’s a solid record for most any team late in the season, though in hindsight, Baltimore didn’t exactly face a murderer’s row.

The Ravens beat Cleveland (20-10) in Week 17, lost to Houston (25-13) in Week 16, barely beat lowly Jacksonville (20-12) in Week 15, beat Miami (28-13) in Week 14 and lost at San Diego (34-33) in Week 13.

In their most impressive outings during that stretch – the playoff win over the Steelers and the road win at Miami – quarterback Joe Flacco was not so surprisingly terrific, as he had a 114.0 QB rating last weekend and a 106.8 QB rating against the Dolphins.

Meanwhile, Baltimore’s running game has been all over the place in terms of success lately. Against the Steelers, the Ravens garnered just 49 yards on the ground as a team. Against Miami, they dominated in running the ball – compiling 183 yards.

In their latest loss, the 25-13 “L” at Houston, Baltimore could only muster 33 yards running.

Justin Forsett has been the Ravens’ primary back this season and had three big games in November (112 vs. Tennessee on Nov. 9, 182 at New Orleans on Nov. 24, and 106 against the Chargers). But there have been plenty of dud days for the seventh year veteran out of Cal this season as well as he had six games in which he rushed for less than 60 yards – including just 40 yards on 16 carries against the Steelers last Saturday and just 19 yards on 10 carries against the Texans. The typically sure-handed Forsett also fumbled on the Ravens’ first drive of the fourth quarter last weekend.

As for the Patriots defense, they’ve had their issues stopping the run at times like any other team this season (the loss at Kansas City still obviously stands out), but the league statistics show that it’s not exactly an area of great concern. The Pats are ninth in the league at stopping the ground game this season – giving up 104.3 yards per game.