Patriots Vs. Ravens, AFC Championship 2012: New England Dominant In Recent History Over Baltimore

The New England Patriots will host the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday. The meeting will be just the eighth ever between the two franchises, which is unsurprising considering the Ravens have only been the Ravens since the 1996 season. Since then, the Patriots have won sixth out of seven meetings.

Of course, It should be noted that the Colts resided in Baltimore once upon a time, and made a habit out going to the Super Bowl and beating the Pats in the franchise's early days. Baltimore beat the Boston/New England Patriots in each of the first three meetings between the two teams between the 1970 and '71 seasons. The Patriots would go on to win the fourth matchup between the two teams on Dec. 19, 1971, but the Colts would have the last laugh by winning Super Bowl V over the Dallas Cowboys. From 1972 to the Colts' move to Indianapolis in 1984, the two teams were a dead even 12-12 against one another.

Though the Patriots have dominated Baltimore in recent history, the Ravens did score a major blow in a dominating 33-14 two seasons ago in the AFC Wild Card round. The Ravens would go on to lose to the Indianapolis Colts in the next round. New England won the most recent matchup on Oct. 17, 2010, however, scoring 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 35-yard field goal in OT, his third of the night, to secure the 23-20 win for the Pats.