Tom Brady, Ray Lewis face off again

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - You again!

Ray vs. Tom.

Tom vs. Ray.

Oh yeah, the Ravens and Patriots, along for the ride. Ray Lewis' last ride, one Tom Brady hopes to cut short on Sunday in the AFC championship game.

A year after a brutal last-minute loss in Foxborough, Baltimore is back, looking for a reversal of fortune and a spot in the Super Bowl for the first time since winning it in 2001. If the Ravens fall again, Lewis' superb 17-year career as the NFL's best linebacker of his era will end as he retires.

Brady, the most successful quarterback of his time, has no thoughts of retirement - or of failing to make his sixth Super Bowl in the last dozen seasons.

That Lewis and Brady will bring a mutual admiration society to Gillette Stadium adds some flattery to what has become an intense rivalry.

"Both sides understand the game of football," Lewis said. "There have been some great, great rivalries, and we have one of those going on with New England now."

Added Brady: "It's really a pleasure to play against him. He's really been so consistent over the years, and durable and tough. He's so instinctive."

At the forefront in this rematch, naturally, is Brady, who has won three NFL titles and would be only the second player to reach six Super Bowls by leading New England (13-4) past Baltimore (12-6). And there's Lewis, the most dominant inside linebacker the league has seen since the heyday of Mike Singletary.

Brady is all about composure, accuracy, and even sophistication. Lewis brings aggression, ferocity, and mayhem to the field.

An odd couple, indeed, but one that appreciates the attributes of the other.

"He doesn't give up hardly any plays, makes a ton of tackles," Brady said of the 37-year-old Lewis, who missed 10 games with a right triceps injury but has been a tackling machine in the postseason. "He's great in the pass game, great in the run game. He blitzes well, like he did a few years ago. He's really a playmaker for them, so they give him an opportunity to make those plays. You see when he makes a play, their whole sideline gets really amped up."

No one can be more amped-up for this opportunity than Lewis. No one, of course, raises his teammates to a more fevered pitch than Lewis.

But what the Ravens need Sunday is discipline to go with the fervor. Otherwise, Brady will pick them apart.

For all the energy and clutch plays Baltimore's defense has made since Lewis returned, it remains vulnerable because its three biggest stars - Lewis, safety Ed Reed, outside LB Terrell Suggs - are aging and not nearly 100 percent healthy.

There's also the exhaustion factor: The Ravens have played one more postseason game than the Patriots, and went into the sixth period last week at Denver.

"In all honesty, I thought we were as fresh in the overtime game the other day as we looked at any time during the year," Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees said. "I think at this point in time during the year, too, everybody is a little fatigued."