Brady says Ravens are "best team we've faced all year"

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady appeared on Boston sports radio station WEEI today to discuss the upcoming AFC Championship Game against the Ravens. Brady praised the Ravens calling them "the best team we've faced all year."

"There's no one that's going to overlook a team like that. It would be impossible to do," Brady said. "They present a ton of challenges in all three phases of the game. You watch them yesterday, they're physical, they're tough, they can cover. They've got some of the best players in the history of the NFL at their position, in Suggs and Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata."

Ravens fans certainly remember the 33-14 trouncing Baltimore put on the Patriots in the playoffs two years ago, but Brady said that loss will have no bearing on this game.

"This is nothing about '09 or '10. This is nothing about last week or last season or last month or 10 years ago. It's about this week." He went on to add "We've got to use our time wisely, to repair, get our rest, and be ready to go out and face our biggest challenge of the season."

It all sounds nice, but don't read to much into this. The Patriots routinely praise every opponent before an upcoming game. It's just the Patriot way. Some teams like to trash talk, but teams like the Bill Belichick led Patriots don't want to give their opponents any bulletin board material to motivate themselves with.

However, Brady may be correct when he calls the Ravens the best they've faced. The 13-3 Patriots only played two teams who ended up with a winning record all year. They lost both of those games. A 25-17 loss in Pittsburgh, and a 24-20 loss at home against the New York Giants. We'll delve further into this matchup later this week, but make no mistake. This game will be a significant test for both teams involved.