No Extra Juice: DeflateGate Not Adding To Brady's Desire To Beat Ravens
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots and Ravens have a wonderful little rivalry, one that has a little more juice heading into Monday night's showdown at Gillette Stadium.
The Ravens are, after all, the team that got the ball rolling on the whole DeflateGate controversy. Head coach Jim Harbaugh was still fuming from New England's use of deceptive plays in the Patriots 35-31 victory in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. It boiled over when Tom Brady said the Ravens should learn the rule book following the win. So Harbaugh made sure the Indianapolis Colts had a heads up that the Patriots may or may not have been taking a few puffs of air out of their footballs, leading to that wonderful 18-month circus.
So there has to be a little more motivation, a little more gusto, for Brady heading into Monday night's matchup, right?
That's a negative, according to Brady.
"All these games are kind of the same. I just look at the opponent and what they do," a nonchalant Brady told reporters on Thursday. "All that matters is what we do this week in practice and in the game. You try to put everything aside, whether it was [DeflateGate] or a playoff game a couple of years ago, a regular season game a couple of years ago, championship games. None of those really mater. It's about what this team does this week. Coach has put a lot of urgency on that, and we understand that. We know we're facing a team that is 7-5 and at the top of their division. They have a lot of confidence in what they do and so do we. It's going to be a good, tough matchup."
Brady knows he'll be facing one of the best defenses in the league, a concept he's used to whenever the Ravens are on the other side of the field.
"No one has done a better job over the course of the season than them," said Brady, who touts a 7-3 record against Baltimore over his career (postseason included). "They do a lot of good things in a lot of different areas; good in first-down defense, third-down defense, at the goal line and in the red area. They contest every yard, and I think that's the mark of a good defense. They don't give you anything; you have to go out and earn it."
It's a defense that features long-time Brady nemesis Terrell Suggs, who has eight of Baltimore's 28 sacks on the season. Suggs' dislike for Brady is well documented, and is still going strong. He still wouldn't even refer to Brady by name on Wednesday.
But Brady has no problem saying Suggs' name. He actually goes out of his way to praise his prowess on the field.
"It's his 14th year and has been a great player for as long as he's been in the league," Brady said of his adversary on Thursday. "He does a lot of things really well; he has all the rush moves, drops into coverage, pushes tight ends coming off the line. He's really a playmaker for their team; it's not just sacking the quarterback like most defensive ends. He makes a lot of plays in a lot of different ways."
Brady said Suggs' instincts set him apart from others in the league.
"He definitely plays with his instincts, so if he feels the ball is going to go inside, he rips inside and tries to take it away, even if that's not his assignment," explained Brady, who owns a 7-3 record in his career against the Ravens. "He has great instincts and you can count on the same thing from him. You have to play him straight up and see what he's going to do. He makes a lot of really good decisions and a lot of plays."
Kill 'em with kindness (and touchdowns), right Tom?
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