My wife is pulling for the Patriots this Sunday because her first cousin Amanda Riddle captains the New England cheer-leading squad. Amanda will attend the Pro Bowl in Hawaii this year and really wants to attend her first Superbowl.

She has a 4.0 at the University of Rhode Island’s pharmacy school and is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

But when it comes to football, I draw the line at midfield. I will not be rooting for the land of Miles Standish.

After the Ravens game last Sunday, I came home feeling okay about the win, but more excited to have watched the second half from the Governor’s box as a result of my aunt’s sterling career as a city judge. She put in a couple of calls and we descended from the top of the stadium to warmer recesses.

Visiting us from New Hampshire, my father-in-law was waiting for me on the couch.

“The Patriots played a much better game against the Broncos,” he said. “Baltimore will have a tough time.”

I started to respond, “The Broncos and the Texans are not even comparable…” and then I caught myself.

I could have told him that Tom Terrific and Bill Belichick’s colonial circus act haven’t beaten a winning team all year, and that I love the fact that the Ravens will be going in as an underdog.

I might have also added that the Ravens are a physically superior team to the Patriots and that they have always played them well. Last year’s loss in Foxboro, when we dominated three quarters of play and forgot to win the game, will also serve as motivation.

Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that this year’s Ravens have yet to hit their peak. They demolished the Steelers in game one but have yet to match that output. They lost incomprehensible games against the Titans and Jaguars. In the last two games of the year, they could play their best football of the year.

Sunday’s game will be about strategy, first and foremost. The outcome will rest on the Ravens defense stopping the Patriots potent weaponry on offense. When Brady comes to the line and assesses the defense, the game will depend on our ability to anticipate the new play he will change to. If we can show him “phantom looks” defensively and then correctly adjust to what he might do, we will win the game.

If the offense can control the clock with long, sustained, smash-mouth drives, we will win the game. Ray Rice is key. Also, given the weaknesses in the Patriot’s secondary, Flacco could have his biggest day of the year.

My feeling is that our stingy defense, tougher than a junkyard dog, will put an end to the trickery and gimmicks from Brady and Belichick and we will close out the Patriot’s season just as we did the Red Sox.

But I didn’t share these thoughts with my father-in-law. He doesn’t need to see the expansive reaches of my fanaticism with the Ravens and Orioles.

He doesn’t comprehend how deeply the Ravens are emblazoned into the wet cement of the city’s soul.

A Redskins fan who lives in Baltimore, project manager Michael Carroll, told me “I like it when the Ravens win” and I know just what he means.

“The city is upbeat and energized,” he said.

Sorry Amanda, a trip to Hawaii and the Pro Bowl will have to suffice this year.