Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees is very familiar with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
He’s been part of the defensive staff in Baltimore for the last three seasons, which has meant three matchups with the Patriots, and he spent four years as the defensive coordinator in New England before moving down the Eastern Seaboard. That’s given him a lot of time to study Brady and come up with an answer for the best way to slow him and the rest of the Patriots offense down.
“Hire Tonya Harding,” Pees said, via NESN.com. “If they were getting off the bus, I’d spray water outside the bus and hope it freezes.”
It’s a good line, albeit one Bette Midler might not find so amusing. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out a missed opportunity to reintroduce the name Jeff Gillooly into the national conversation.
We aren’t expecting to see a shot Sunday of Tom Brady wailing about his knee in a hallway Nancy Kerrigan-style, although it would certainly make for an unforgettable image. Brady had a good game in the team’s regular season matchup, but the Ravens won 31-30. One way they helped grab victory was limiting the Patriots’ run game to 77 yards, their lowest total of the season thus far.
If the Ravens can come up with a similar effort this time around, it would do a lot to help their chances of winding up in the Super Bowl. Maybe not as much as a nightstick to Brady’s knee, but we’d rather see a straight up football game.