Baltimore @ New England preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2013 ) New England 41, Baltimore 7

The New England Patriots have been nearly invincible at home in the playoffs with Tom Brady at quarterback - unless the Baltimore Ravens are in town. The top-seeded Patriots begin their quest for a sixth Super Bowl appearance in 14 seasons when they host the No. 6 Ravens on Saturday in the AFC Divisional Round. New England owns a stellar 15-4 home record in the postseason, but two of those defeats have come at the hands of Baltimore since the 2009 season.

Brady, who has an NFL-record 18 playoff victories, dismissed talk that the Patriots were unfortunate to draw a nemesis as an opponent, despite the fact that the Ravens squeaked into the postseason on the final weekend. “In the playoffs, it’s the same for everybody – one loss and you go home,” Brady said. "We’ve got a great football team here, so we’ll see. We’ve got to go out there and earn it.” Baltimore, which won at New England en route to a Super Bowl title two years ago, kicked off its playoff run with a 30-17 victory at bitter rival Pittsburgh last week.

TV: 4:35 p.m. ET, NBC. LINE: Patriots -7. O/U: 47.5

ABOUT THE RAVENS (11-6): Baltimore had never won a postseason game in Pittsburgh, but Joe Flacco threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes to earn his seventh road playoff victory - the most by a quarterback since the 1970 merger. Flacco had a season-high 27 scoring passes and came up 14 yards shy of his first 4,000-yard campaign, but it's his postseason numbers that can't be ignored - 13 touchdown passes and zero interception in his last five playoff games. The Ravens feature a pair of big play wideouts in Steve Smith (79 catches, 1,065 yards) and Torrey Smith (11 TDs) along with a shifty running back in Justin Forsett, who rushed for 1,266 yards and eight touchdowns. Linebackers Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs lead a defense that registered 49 sacks and allowed 15.4 points over the last five games.

ABOUT THE PATRIOTS (12-4): New England suffered its only home loss to Buffalo (17-9) in a meaningless regular-season finale and also struggled offensively in a 17-16 victory at the New York Jets on Dec. 21. Brady went over 4,000 yards for the fourth straight season and finished with 33 TDs and nine interceptions for an offense that finished fourth in the league in scoring (29.3) and averaging 39.6 points during a seven-game winning streak. Julian Edelman had 92 receptions and fellow wideout Brandon LaFell was a surprise with 74 catches and seven scores, but hulking tight end Rob Gronkowski is the top weapon after racking up 82 catches for 1,124 yards and 12 scores. The Patriots' running game and pass rush have been spotty but cornerback Darrelle Revis will be tasked with shutting down one of the Smiths.

EXTRA POINTS

1. New England is looking to advance to its fourth consecutive conference title game.

2. Flacco has started 14 playoff games in his first season seasons, tying Brady for the most by a QB in league history.

3. Patriots coach Bill Belichick (19) is tied with Don Shula for the second-most playoff wins, trailing only Tom Landry (20).

PREDICTION: Patriots 26, Ravens 23