Wildcard Sunday: #5 Indianapolis Colts @ #4 Baltimore Ravens - 1 PM ET on CBS

[sfgiants5518]

WILDCARD WEEKEND
@


Location: M&T Bank Stadium
Sunday, January 6th at 1:00 PM ET
TV: CBS


Players To Watch


Quarterback

~VS~

Andrew Luck, QB #12 - 4374 Yards / 23 TD 18 INT / 54.1 CMP% / 76.5 QB Rating
Joe Flacco, QB #5 - 3817 Yards / 22 TD 10 INT / 59.7 CMP% / 87.7 QB Rating

Running Back

~VS~

Vick Ballard, RB #33 - 814 Yards / 211 Carries/ 3.9 YPC / 2 TD
Ray Rice, RB #27 - 1143 Yards / 257 Carries/ 4.5 YPC/ 9 TD

Wide Receiver

~VS~

Reggie Wayne, WR #87 - 106 Catches / 1355 Yards / 5 TD
Anquan Boldin, WR #81 - 65 Catches / 921 Yards / 4 TD


Tight End

~VS~

Dwayne Allen, TE #83 - 45 Catches / 521 Yards / 3 TD
Dennis Pitta, TE #81 - 61 Catches / 669 Yards / 7 TD


Kicker

~VS~

Adam Vinatieri, K #4 - 26 FGM / 33 FGA / 37 XPM / 37 XPA
Justin Tucker, K #9 - 30 FGM / 33 FGA / 42 XPM / 42 XPA


Tackles Leader

~VS~

Jerrell Freeman, LB #50 - 145
Bernard Pollard, S #31 - 98


Sacks Leader

~VS~

Robert Mathis, LB #98 - 8.0
Paul Kruger, LB #99 - 9.0


Interceptions Leader

~VS~

Darius Butler, CB #20 - 4
Ed Reed, CB #20 - 4


Click For More Stats

[DieHardColtsfan]

Let's Go Colts! Keep rolling.

[Theriot2]

We match up well. Lets go boys!

[jacquewho?]

Let's get this money

[OldStyleCubbies]

Can't believe we're 6.5 point dawgs. Oh well, let's go horse!

[boone37]

This is the matchup we wanted, the colts can win this game. I think the colts are playing their best at the right time. The defense is giving Luck chances to win and the special teams are better too. The ravens seem to have peaked and are on the downside and are playing the worst football they've played this season. Prediction: Colts 27 Ravens 23

[dsolms]

I feel good about this game. Turnovers and special teams are the keys. Luck has got to protect the ball. This team has grown a lot. I think game 16 was an important experience for the young players.

[Colts_4_life]

We'll lose by 10 points or so.....Good season, but the Ravens been here and know how to win.

[OldStyleCubbies]

^ He has spoken... no need to suit up on Sunday, boys.

[Colts_4_life]

^ Might as well not to be honest...It'll be a bitter lost. Ray Rice will run over this D and Mr.Joe will throw for 2 td's. Ravens 24 Colts 13

[sfgiants5518]

^ Might as well not to be honest...It'll be a bitter lost. Ray Rice will run over this D and Mr.Joe will throw for 2 td's. Ravens 24 Colts 13

I'm sure you predicted Houston to destroy us last week.

[sfgiants5518]

Colts vs Ravens storylines:

As if fated in an NFL season full of compelling plot twists, the Indianapolis Colts return to the city they once called home to face the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's AFC wild-card playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Colts moved from Baltimore in 1984 in a relocation that will never be forgiven by diehard Baltimore Colts fans. The Colts have now played more games in Indianapolis than in Baltimore, 487 to 440.

Here are some early story lines for the 1 p.m. kickoff:
Pagano faces old team

Before Colts first-year head coach Chuck Pagano became such a galvanizing influence with his inspiring battle against leukemia and his close-knit team responded with a surprising 11-5 regular season, he was Baltimore's defensive coordinator.

He has mentioned his bittersweet finale with the Ravens, who came within a late dropped touchdown pass of knocking off New England in the AFC title game last January. Had the Ravens won to advance to the Super Bowl, the Colts probably would have looked elsewhere for a head coach because they would have had to wait another two weeks to talk with Pagano about the job.

Before his promotion as Ravens defensive coordinator in 2011, Pagano was the secondary coach for three years. He's still close to many of his former players.
Who's hot, who's not?

The fifth-seeded Colts entered the postseason with a 28-16 win over Houston on Sunday that dropped the Texans to the third playoff seed. The Ravens (10-6) already had the AFC North division title wrapped up and rested key starters in a 23-17 loss at Cincinnati, which had secured the AFC's sixth playoff seed.

The Ravens sputtered with four losses in five games to fall to the fourth playoff spot. The Colts won five of their last six for a nine-win improvement from 2011, the second-best turnaround in NFL history.

Despite the teams trending in opposite directions, the Ravens are 61/2-point favorites.

The Colts defeated the Ravens in both previous playoff meetings, 20-3 at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2010 and 15-6 at Baltimore in 2007, both AFC divisional-round games.
Caldwell calls plays

Two games into their late-season slide, the Ravens fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and replaced him with former Colts coach Jim Caldwell on Dec. 10.

Caldwell was among the Colts' offseason dismissals after a 2-14 season a year ago. Counting the playoffs, he was 28-24 as Colts coach, including a Super Bowl XLIV loss to New Orleans on Feb. 7, 2010.

He was initially hired in Baltimore as quarterbacks coach. Ravens fifth-year QB Joe Flacco had an 87.7 passer rating, progress from 80.9 the prior season.
Ravens' health in question

Perennial Pro Bowl inside linebacker Ray Lewis missed 10 games because of a torn right triceps, and his availability for this game is one of many uncertainties. Last week, Lewis was activated off the injured reserve list as a player designated to return, but he did not play at Cincinnati.

The Ravens also rested outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, who has started two games since tearing his left biceps. Suggs, who suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in the offseason, started eight games and had two sacks. He had a career-high 14 sacks in 2011.

Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (knee) and wide receiver Anquan Boldin (shoulder) were also held out of the Bengals game.
Rice is key component

While Flacco has had some solid games passing, the Ravens pick up first downs by running the football with fifth-year running back Ray Rice and rookie Bernard Pierce.

Rice ran for 1,143 yards and nine TDs. Pierce contributed 532 yards, including a 4.9-yard average. The Ravens ranked 11th in rush offense at 118.8 yards per game.

The Colts were 29th in run defense at 137.5 yards allowed. Former Ravens defensive end Cory Redding, who signed with the Colts in the offseason and is one of their vocal leaders, missed the last game with a quadriceps strain but is expected to return for Sunday.

http://www.indystar.com/article/2013...y-lines-galore

[R. Johnson#3]

If only Jim Caldwell was the Ravens head coach. Imagine us having the ball with no timeouts left and driving down the field late in the 4th quarter in a tight game. He'd probably call a timeout to uhhhhh confuse us?

But in all seriousness I'm excited to see how Luck fares in the posy-season. I don't really know what my prediction is for this because this team has been unpredictable. All I know is I'll be glued to my couch Sunday afternoon.

[SanAntonioSpurs23]

Of course I want the Colts to win, but even if they didn't I wouldn't be too upset. I would like to see Luck have a monster game though. Maybe he could shut up some of the haters.

No turnovers!!! Let's go Colts!

[matthollabak]

^ Might as well not to be honest...It'll be a bitter lost. Ray Rice will run over this D and Mr.Joe will throw for 2 td's. Ravens 24 Colts 13

Mr Joe and Ray Rice did pretty well in 3 of their last 4 (I don't count week 17 because they used it as a bye week or it would be 4 out of the last 5 they lost)...so they are limping into the playoffs with rest (usually caused us a problem with giving too much rest to even a veteran team) and absolutely no momentum, facing Pagano who probably knows the personnel, tendencies, and weaknesses of Baltimore's entire roster better than Caldwell does who is calling the offensive plays.

I think we have a much better chance than you are giving us credit for. I'm not going to declare a win just yet because I have no clue how our young team will react to a playoff atmosphere as the away team....but I do know that we play the season and playoffs because on paper most people thought we were a 2-6 win team before the season.