The Result
What can you say about this game? My heart is still pounding in my chest as the Patriots were pushed to the brink by a team who had nothing to lose by playing the game of their season.
The Ravens who were 13-3 last year are most likely the NFL’s biggest disappointment this year. But to their credit they came out and really pounded the Patriots on the ground. The Patriots trailed most the night only leading for a short time in the first quarter and at the very end, which is when it counts the most, as they came away from Baltimore with a hard fought come from behind 27-24 win.
When the chips were down the Patriots defense, which couldn’t stop Willis McGahee all night, came up big with an interception near the goal line and then two three and outs giving Tom Brady chance after chance to get New England to 12-0.
And on a night when Brady wasn’t at his best he shows why his coach wouldn’t take any other quarterback with the game on the line. Even when he was missing receivers the Pats were able to get second chances on penalty calls as they drove the field in the final two minutes and when it mattered the most he wasn’t going to let it slip by. With 44 seconds left he hit Jabar Gaffney for a ball juggling, toe tapping game winning touchdown. It was Brady’s 21st game winning drive in the 4th quarter or OT it is the most in the NFL since 2001.
The Pats had four fourth down chances in the last two minutes. They converted on the Brady scramble, they got stopped but the time out call gave them another shot. Then they were stopped again but the flag was thrown for the motion penalty. Then they got their final reprieve on the Ravens holding call in front of the end zone. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many 4th down chances happen even in a youth or high school game.
This team needs to play a lot better if they plan on beating Pittsburgh next Sunday. You almost have to wonder if playing three primetime night games in a row was a distraction.
Scoring Plays
| New England | 3 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| Baltimore | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
1st Quarter
- NE – Gostkowski 21 yard FG – Patriots 3-0
- BAL – Boller 4 yard pass to Mason – kick good – Ravens 7-3
2nd Quarter
- BAL – Stover 29 yard FG – Ravens 10-3
- NE – Evans 1 yard run – kick good – tied 10-10
3rd Quarter
- BAL – McGahee 18 yard run – kick good – Ravens 17-10
- NE – Brady 3 yard pass to Moss – kick good – tied 17-17
4th Quarter
- BAL – Boller 2 yard pass to Wilcox – kick good – Ravens 24-17
- NE – Gostkowski 38 yard FG – Ravens 24-20
- NE- Brady 8 yard pass to Gaffney – Patriots 27-24
Offensive Player of the Game
Ravens RB Willis McGahee had 30 carries for 138 yards and 4 catches for 21 yards.
Defensive Player of the Game
Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi had 10 tackles and 2 assists.
Turning Point(s) of the Game
Brady gets 13 yards on 4th and 6th with 1:40 left.
Ravens bench calls a time out on 4th down as the defense had stopped Brady short of the 1st down marker.
A holding penalty on Ravens on 4th down gives Patriots first and goal. The next play Brady throws 8 yards to Gaffney for the game winning TD.
Offensive Leaders/Notes
Tom Brady was 18 of 38 for 257 yards 2 TD’s and 1 INT and Laurence Maroney had 123 total yards (79 receiving and 44 rushing).
Patriots start with two quick slants to Welker and get a 1st down
Tom Brady connects 42 yards to Donte Stallworth who was wide open down the sideline then the Ravens give them 15 more yards with a face mask.
Ravens giving the Pats extra yards with a 12 men on the field call and an offsides call Pats go to 1st and 1 at the 3.
Brady gets a possible TD pass to TE Ben Watson broken up by Ray Lewis in the end zone on a nice play. Ravens then stuff RB Heath Evans at the three on 2nd down for a loss. Watson uncovered drops a surefire TD pass in the back of the end zone on 3rd down.
Stephen Gostkowski kicks a 21-yard FG
On 3rd and 8 Brady’s pass gets broken up Pats have to punt into the wind.
Brady sacked on 1st down for a 5-yard loss. Maroney gets it back with a 5-yard run for 3rd and 10 as the 1st quarter ends. Gaffney drops a 3rd and 10 pass that would have been a 1st down and the Pats have to punt again.
RB Kevin Faulk goes 8 yards on 1st down. Brady then hits Stallworth for 17 and a 1st down at BAL 35. Brady hits Stallworth for 8 more. Faulk then runs for a 1st down.
Brady overthrows WR Randy Moss in the end zone on 1st down from the BAL 21. Welker gets a 6-yard catch on 2nd down, Moss juggles a TD pass and gets ruled out of bounds. Patriots get an automatic first down and goal at the BAL 10 on a defensive hold away from the play.
Moss gets taken down in the end zone on 2nd and goal giving the Patriots 1st and goal at the BAL 1.
Evans rumbles in from the 1 on 2nd down for his 3rd TD of the year.
Watson gets stopped short of a first down on 3rd and 5 and Patriots have to punt.
Brady tries to hit a home run in the last two minutes of the half and goes way down field to Moss and under throws him slightly and the pass gets batted down.
Brady gets a deflected pass intercepted by Ed Reed and after a 35-yard return he fumbles it back to Patriots when Faulk strips the ball and Watson recovers.
Brady completes a 36-yard pass to Maroney on 2nd and 8 as he scrambled.
Maroney gets stopped on 3rd and 2 at the BAL 25. Faulk gets the 1st down on 4th and 1.
On 3rd and 1 from the BAL 3 Brady throws to Moss for a TD
Brady sacked on 2nd down early in the 4th quarter and gets sacked on 3rd down as the Patriots are forced to punt.
On 2nd and 20 after a pass interference call Brady throws to Maroney for 40 yards to the BAL 25.
Patriots can’t complete a pass on 3rd and 6 and go with a FGA.
Brady throws 19 yard to Moss for a 1st down. Maroney gets 6 on 1st down. Maroney runs for a 1st down buts its called back on a Dan Koppen hold. On 3rd and 14 Brady is incomplete on a pass attempt and Pats punt with 5:29 left.
On 1st down Stallworth gets popped and drops the ball. Watson gets a 1st down catch at the 50. Faulk drops the ball on 1st down pass, catches pass on 2nd down for 9 yards. Brady sneaks for 1st down. Pass incomplete to a sliding Watson at the 2-minute warning.
Brady was hurried and throws incomplete on 2nd down and 10. Faulk gets a 9-yard reception and its 4th and 1. Baltimore stops Brady short but the Ravens sideline calls a timeout before the play. Ravens D looks dejected with that call. Pats get a false start and its 4th and 6. Brady runs to the BAL 23 for a 1st down. Ravens get an illegal contact call and Pats get 5 more added 1st and ten from the BAL 18.
Faulk runs to the 13 after being hit in the backfield. Brady’s second down pass was deflected high in the air and falls incomplete for 3rd and 5. Pass incomplete to Welker. 4th and 5. Pass incomplete in end zone but Ravens get a hold giving Pats first and goal at 8
Brady hits Jabar Gaffney for an 8 yard TD with :44 seconds left. Ravens DB Bart Scott freaks out and gets two 15 yarders for unsportsmanlike conduct. One for his reaction after the TD and the second for throwing the officials flag into the stands.
Defensive Leaders/Notes
In addition to Bruschi, LB Junior Seau had 6 tackles and James Sanders had 3 tackles, 2 assists and 1 INT.
After a quick first down on two runs by RB Willis McGahee, the Ravens get a false start and then the Pats hold them forcing a punt.
DL Richard Seymour stuffs RB Willis McGahee for a loss on 2nd drive.
QB Kyle Boller eludes a huge rush on 3rd and 11 and hits Devard Darling for a 53-yard gain.
Three runs by McGahee gets the Ravens a 1st and goal at the NE 8
Pats give up a 4 TD pass on 3rd and goal from the NE 4
On 2nd and 7 Pats give up 15 yards for a 1st down at midfield on the third drive.
On 2nd and 8 McGahee gets 15 for a 1st down.
Pats give up 13-yard pass on 4th and 6.
Pats stop Baltimore on 3rd down at NE 11 and force a FGA.
Patriots hold Ravens to a 3 and out after the Pats scored their 1st TD.
Patriots hold the Ravens to the second consecutive 3 and out on Ravens last 1st half possession.
On 1st drive of second half McGahee got 3 first downs and had 4 good runs of 5+ yards. After a 17-yard pass to Mason, McGahee runs 18 yards for a TD.
Patriots defense can not stop McGahee in the third quarter.
On 3rd and 2 McGahee gets the first down at the NE 2 as the 3rd quarter ends.
On 2nd and goal at the 2 Ravens get a TD pass.
Ravens start at NE 26 after punt return/penalty and Pats stop McGahee for no gain. Then stop him for 1 yard on 2nd down. After a false start, Boller gets picked by safety James Sanders at the NE 2 and he returns it to the NE 44
Patriots stop McGahee for a short gain on 1st down after the FG. Then get him for a 5-yard loss. Boller throws incomplete and Ravens will have to punt.
After a 7-yard gain on a screen, Pats stop McGahee on 2nd down. Rodney Harrison stops a McGahee screen short of the 1st down and Raven punt with 3:45 left.
Starting from the BAL 20 Ravens get two first downs and use their last time out with ;14 seconds left at the BAL 44. Boller heaves the ball and mark Clayton catches the ball at the NE 2 and is tackled as time expires.
Special Teams Leaders/Notes
Ravens Yamon Figures had 5 KOR for 104 yards including a long of 38 yards. He also had 2 punt returns for 35 yards, 1 was 33 yards on it’s own.
Stephen Gostkowski after the 1st score kicked off into a strong wind the ball only made the 20-yard line. Patriots held the KOR to 8 yards.
Patriots got a 41-yard punt into the wind and then got an extra 15 yards as the Ravens had a personal foul on the coverage pushing the ball to the BAL 30.
Wes Welker was the deep man on KOR after Hobbs had gotten hurt.
Gostkowski makes a TD saving tackle on Yamon Figures (38 yard return) after the Moss TD.
Patriots give up a large punt return to Figures early in 4th quarter (33 yards) and tack on 5 more yards with an illegal man downfield call.
Patriots hold KOR inside the 30 after the 4th quarter FG.
Ravens only get a 29-yard punt after the Pats hold them to a 3 and out in a 4-point game.
Patriots only get a 14-yard punt at 5:29 of the 4th.
Gostkowski kicks off from the BAL 35 after the Gaffney TD.
Coaching Decisions
- BAL – goes for it on 4th and 6 from the NE 28 and they convert 13 yards for 1st down.
- NE – goes for it on 4th and 1 from the BAL 25 and they convert 3 yards on a Faulk run.
- NE – goes for it on 4thand 6 and makes it with 13 yard Brady run.
- NE – goes for it on 4th and 5 pass is tipped away but Ravens called for a hold in end zone. Patriots get a first down and goal at the BAL 8.
Injuries
- BAL – QB Kyle Boller took a hard shot and came off gimpy, returned – 1st quarter
- NE – CB Ellis Hobbs apparent knee injury, returned – 2nd quarter
- NE – Safety Rodney Harrison hamstring on last series, did not return – 4th quarter
The Officials
Walt Anderson was tonight’s referee.
The officials are contributing part of their game check to Jimmy V fund and the NFL is matching the funds.
This crew has a tendency to be flag happy and Baltimore is getting it good tonight with 7 first half penalties for 50 yards. The Patriots were not flagged in the first half.
Nice call by the head linesman on the incomplete pass by Boller to Mason in the 2nd qtr.
Booth review on Gaffney TD is upheld.
The Ravens had 13 penalties for 100 yards and 3 of them resulted in 1st downs for New England, the Patriots had 4 flags for 30 yards.
Game Notes
There was a moment of silence for Redskins safety Sean Taylor prior to the game.
The game was played in winds of 15-30 mph with some gusts to 50 mph.
The Ravens were without QB Steve McNair who was placed on the IR today with a shoulder injury, TE Todd Heap (thigh) and WR Demetrius Williams (ankle) were also out.
The Ravens wore their alternate black third jersey tonight with black pants.
The line at game time was Patriots -19 on Yahoo! Sports. It is the largest spread to favor a road team in NFL history.
This was New England’s first visit to M&T Bank Stadium. The last time they faced the Ravens in Baltimore the team played at Memorial Stadium, the former home of the Colts and Orioles.
Patriots QB Tom Brady has 41 TD passes through 12 games. He is just 8 shy of Peyton Manning’s single season record of 49.
Brady became the fourth QB to throw 40 TD passes in a season.
New England WR Randy Moss has 17 TD catches through 12 games. He is just 5 shy of Jerry Rice’s singles season record of 22.
Moss also has seven 100+ yard receiving games this season.
Patriots are +17 in turnovers this season through 12 games.
The Patriots still have not allowed an opponent to score on their first drive of the game all season.
The Patriots scored on their first offensive possession for the 11th time in 12 games. They have also scored first in 11 of 12 games this year.
Patriots are 32/33 this season in red zone scoring opportunities.
Springfield MA native and Baltimore OL Mike Flynn got to do the Raven’s offensive unit introductions.
This was the third time this season that the Patriots have trailed after the 1st quarter.
The Patriots 7-point deficit in the 2nd quarter was their second largest deficit of the season. The largest was 10 points vs. Indianapolis.
Patriots have converted 12/17 fourth down attempts this season.
The Patriots were 2/12 on third down conversions.
Post Game Press Conferences
Hear what Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Tom Brady had to say about tonight’s game.
Post game interviews via Patriots.com
Things To Work On For Next Week
Cutting down the big yardage plays of 7+ yards. Run defense. 3rd down conversions on offense.
Next Week’s Opponent
The Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA. Kickoff is at 4:15 p.m. and the game can be seen on CBS. You can also follow all the action along the Patriots Rock Radio Network.
Make sure to reserve a room at the best Baltimore hotel near the game! After a great game you’ll want to stay at one of the four star hotels that’s conveniently located near the night life of the city. There are cheap hotels close by, just be sure to do your hotel research.
