Brady has struggled when facing Baltimore

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — There is something about the Ravens that brings out the worst in Tom Brady.

Against most teams, the New England star plays like one of the NFL's best quarterbacks. Against the Ravens, not so much.

"They have a lot of playmakers at each level of the defense," Brady said Wednesday. "It's not like you beat this team 50-0. It's always a tight game. There's tight coverage. There are tight throws, tough reads because schematically they do quite a few things. So it's never easy."

Brady is 5-2 against the Ravens over his 13-year career. But his 58.6 completion percentage and 74.1 passer rating are the lowest against any opponent. The Ravens are the only team against which he has thrown more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (seven). And they've sacked him 16 times, one of five teams averaging more than two against Brady.

A 49.1 rating in a 33-14 playoff loss to Baltimore on Jan. 10, 2010, is Brady's lowest over his past 101 games and sixth lowest among his 198 career starts. Why?

"For one, you've got a guy (LB Ray Lewis) that's been playing ball for 17 years sitting in the middle," Patriots RB Stevan Ridley said. "They're known for defense. They're known for Ray Lewis. They're known for (S) Ed Reed.

The Ravens, though, won't take anything for granted.

"We're dealing with a brilliant quarterback," S Bernard Pollard said. "He can fire that ball to anybody, and they're going to play their tails off for him."

Injury report: Patriots RB Danny Woodhead (hand) and DE Chandler Jones (ankle), injured Sunday, practiced but were limited. Their status for the AFC title game wasn't disclosed. But Ravens DE Arthur Jones, Chandler's brother, expects him to play.

"He's not telling me anything," he said. "I think he's going to be out there. He's a hard worker, and I know he's getting treatment on it hard."

Meanwhile, RB Bernard Pierce and LB Brendon Ayanbadejo sat out Ravens practice. Pierce aggravated a right knee injury against the Broncs but pledged to play. The injury for Ayanbadejo, Baltimore's leading tackler on special teams, was not disclosed.

Confident Raven: Speaking in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, Baltimore veteran WR Anquan Boldin replied quickly when asked what makes him believe Sunday's AFC title game will be different after falling short a year ago to the Patriots: "Because we'll make it different. We're going to win."