showdown, shootout/spread fear within, without

Let's head on over to the Really-Real World for a minute. All I've heard all week is how Baltimore is the last team the Colts wanna face in the Divisional Round. The reason? Well, because the Ravens can run the ball and because the Ravens defense always gives P-Money problems.

Really?

Sure, they can run. But so can Miami, the Jaguars, the Titans, and the Rams.

What do all these teams have in common, other than losing to the Colts? That's all they can do.

But does the Ravens defense always trouble Peyton Manning?

The answer is simple enough. Hardly.

Over the last 7 years, the Ravens and Colts have played 7 times (including earlier this season). In these match-ups, the Colts are 7-0. The Peyton Manning lead offense, in those 7 games, has scored 173 points (roughly 25 per). As a matter of fact, the Colts have outscored the Ravens 173-81 over that span. The Ravens are only averaging about 12 points per game. That's a difference of 13 points, so we're more than doubling the average offensive output by the Ravens... but that's neither here nor there (at least, as far as this post is concerned. i'm focusing more on Peyton Manning vs the Ravens defense).

So let's get into it, shall we?

Over these 7 games, #18 has piled up 1776 total yards (averaging 254 per game), 12 touchdowns (almost 2 per), 5 interceptions (just over 0.7 per game) with a high of 299 passing yards vs a 170 low, 4 touchdown high vs 0 low, and 2 interception high vs 0 low (4 games with 0 INTs).

He's only had 1 bad game, the 2006 playoff game. He went 15 of 30 for 170 yards and 2 interceptions with 0 touchdowns. That's a bad game, by any standard, but we won.

Counter that with one most excellent game in the 2007 regular season where he went 13 of 17 for 249 yards and 4 touchdowns with 0 interceptions.

What're we left with?

5 still pretty good games.

Only one of those 5 games left did he throw for multiple interceptions. A game where Manning was 1 yard away from throwing for 300 and completed 71% of his passes.

So 3 games gone, leaving 4. Over those four games, he threw only 1 interception vs 7 touchdowns.

I'm not seeing anything that says to me that the Ravens defense troubles Peyton Manning regularly. Quite the contrary, actually, as Peyton has only played 1 bad game against the Ravens. A game we won anyway.

Where's the basis for this silly thought? Because there's certainly no proof of it.

You can't point to the 2006 playoff game, because that's CLEARLY the exception, not the rule.