It’s a wait-and-see game with Whalen — PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK

He nearly singlehandedly blew the most important game of the 2016 season.

The stakes are even higher this time around. He carried the football 18 times for 72-yards, along with a franchise record-tying 14th touchdown.

Adding to the intrigue – and television visuals, perhaps – an expected wintry mix could make for unforgiving elements in what should be a tightly contested Patriots vs. Ravens: Episode XIII.

The Patriots quarterback wasn’t happy. He’s also been a nuisance in his past two games against New England, amassing 145 receiving yards and a touchdown.

LeGarrette Blount is in the midst of a career year, already notching a personal high in carries (230) and nearing his second 1,000-yard season. “You think of Baltimore”, said Ravens safety Eric Weddle, who mentioned Pittsburgh as well. “He’s been there every day”. “We’ve got to coach it better”.

New England Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell celebrates his touchdown catch against the Baltimore Ravens during the first half of an NFL football game, Monday, Dec. 12, 2016, in Foxborough, Mass. The Baltimore Ravens have won four straight home games.

Ryan Allen’s punt was kept out of the end zone by Jonathan Jones and downed by Slater at the 1. “It’s everybody’s job to protect the ball who handles it”.

After a Brady kneel down, the Patriots took a 16-3 lead into the half. Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker’s 38-yard field goal made it 23-20 before Brady came through.

“Shea [McClellin]’s pretty athletic”, said Belichick after the game. They make crucial stops late in the game with a defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL. Basically, if not for the Patriots blocked field goal, the Ravens earned four field goals (making three). The Patriots offense scored a touchdown on their ensuing possession to take a 9-0 lead. Entering the game, opposing quarterbacks had completed only 35 percent of their deep passes against the Ravens this season, the second-lowest completion percentage in the NFL. The 129 yards also puts Hogan over 600 yards receiving on the season for the first time in his career. They have to score touchdowns, not field goals. “It was off a run fake”. It was a big play. Shareece Wright recovered for the Ravens, and Flacco threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Dixon.

Given their two big playoff wins against the Patriots in head coach John Harbaugh’s tenure, it’s easy to forget the Ravens have just one regular-season win against New England in their history. The only real difference is that while the Seahawks didn’t commit a single turnover, the Patriots turned it over twice.

This appears to be a better matchup for the Patriots pass-catching backs, but Dion Lewis and James White have been splitting time since Lewis’ return. I thought it was an interesting subplot. “It wasn’t flawless. We had three turnovers, obviously hurt us”. “It was a big game for us”. Given how important Edelman is to the team’s offense, though, this would be considered a risky move. “We’ve just got to win our games”.

“It’s good to have this one”.

First, just for kicks, we’ll look broadly at what the Ravens have done this season alongside numbers from that 2000 unit through 12 games. It just was a very good game, overall, from a defense that has been decent at best and inconsistent against some mediocre teams. They’re tough. They do a lot of things well.