"When you go against a team that has that kind of reputation, and you can watch it on film, it definitely gets in your mindset and you know you have to deal with it," Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger said. "I'm not sitting here saying that we're intimidating everybody or anything like that. But you know we're coming to hit you, for sure.".The Patriots and Redskins (both of whom were the most balanced) were the only teams who won their conference championships. The Vikings were eliminated in the NFC Championship. The Saints and Packers were eliminated in the divisional playoffs..

"Any time you go into a situation where it's a new defensive coordinator that's installing a new defence, you always have the question of how you're prepared," said outside linebacker Parys Haralson, acquired from San Francisco in late August. "Everybody was pretty confident in what they had, in what we have here. This is a defence full of talented players.".AT