Brady, Patriots Comeback In Thrilling 35-31 Win Over the Ravens
In a game that went back and forth like a see-saw, the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens 35-31 to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the fourth consecutive year. The game was marked by a fantastic performance by Tom Brady and the offense which had to overcome a 14-point deficit not once but twice.
The Patriots will host either the Denver Broncos or Indianapolis Colts who play on Sunday night in Denver for an opportunity to compete for the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.
The Patriots and Ravens have met three times in the playoffs in the past four years and this one did not disappoint from a fans’ perspective….it had a bit of everything as two teams that know each other well went back and forth.
With so many plays and twists and turns in this one, here are some of our observations:
Team Is Mentally Tough: Coming in the Patriots knew the Ravens penchant for tough, physical play. They knew they’d have to match Baltimore’s physical intensity but after coming out very flat and going down 14 points it takes a very mentally focused team to not only come back once but twice by two touchdowns.
And that is exactly what they did. Down 14-0 early in the game, this one had the deja vu feeling of the 2009 game where Baltimore raced out to an early 17-0 lead in a 33-14 rout. But this time Brady led them back to tie the game up. In the third quarter the Ravens went up 28-14 but once again, it was a matter of players making plays and some smart play-calling by Josh McDaniels to come back again.
Facing a key drive, Shane Vereen lined up wide as an “ineligible receiver”, Brady hit little used Michael Hoomanawanui for a big gain. Then with the Ravens showing blitz, Brady audibled at the line and found Rob Gronkowski for an easy touchdown. Down one score, it was time for some razzle-dazzle.
At the Patriots 49, Brady threw a backwards bubble screen to Julian Edelman who then stepped back and launched a strike to Danny Amendola for a 51 yard touchdown to tie the game again.
Once more Baltimore took the lead on a Justin Tucker field goal to go up 31-28. Then Brady put together a beauty of a drive that covered 74 yards in 10 plays to take their first lead of the game. Brady was eight-of-nine on the pivotal drive that was capped off by a beautiful fade to Brandon LaFell for a 23-yard touchdown. That was one of Brady’s biggest drives of his 15-year career that has seen many of these.
Defense Gashed by Flacco/Running Game Until….: Joe Flacco had performed well in the last two playoff games against the Patriots and in his last five playoff games overall, he’d thrown 13 touchdowns against zero interceptions. Tonight started out much the same. The Pats defense came out flat and Flacco ripped them in the early going for two quick touchdown drives going 8-8 for 109 yards and 2 TDs. The stretch run plays for the Ravens were very successful and the Ravens had the Patriots on their heels defensively time and again.
But in the second half, the Patriots made some key stops and were able generate two huge turnovers, interceptions from Flacco that he made poor passes on that changed the flavor of the game. The second one from Duron Harmon on a deep pass in the end zone with less than two minutes left basically sealed the win.
But one of the best plays of the game for the defense had to be the pass in the end zone that Pat Chung defended against Owen Daniels. Chung was able to defend the pass and forced the Ravens into a FG situation. The 4-point swing from a TD to a FG allowed the Brady fireworks to clinch the win.
The defense made some plays but for the most part, Ravens OC Gary Kubiak had his way with Patriots DC Matt Patricia on the night. It was not the performance we expected to see from this defense. One bright spot was the third down defense, holding the Ravens to just 1-9 on third down. But the flip side was the Ravens 3-3 on fourth down as well as 4-5 in the red zone.
Amendola Shines on Big Stage: The much-maligned Danny Amendola who has underwhelmed for most of his stay in New England had his best game in a Patriots uniform and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Amendola made an incredibly athletic leap for his first touchdown off of a Brady pass and then was the recipient on the end of the Edelman 51 yard touchdown strike. But his play on the Patriots game winning drive was fantastic, catching the ball short of the sticks on third and six and reaching out and just making the first down to keep the drive alive.
Amendola caught five passes for 81 yards and had two touchdowns on the night. Since the midway point of the season has been coming on as a key contributor in the return game. He overcame an early fumble and became a go-to guy in the Patriots second half comeback.
Gronk Returns to the Playoffs and Ignites Offense: Rob Gronkowski returned to the playoffs for the first time since essentially 2011 and was a big part of the offense, especially in the first half when the Patriots needed his presence to get back in the game after going down 14-0.
Gronkowski caught 7 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown with 90 of those yards coming in the first half. He was a huge target down the seam early in the game, and once the Ravens adjusted, it opened up the slot to Amendola and Edelman.
There is no doubt how effective this offense is with Gronkowski on the field and Saturday was no exception.
Brady Milestone Game: Brady has now won 19 post-season games, the most in NFL history and with his three touchdown passes, he moved past his boyhood idol Joe Montana for the most touchdown passes (46) in NFL history. He also (for the time being) owns the NFL record for passing yardage in NFL post-season history.
But the milestones mean nothing without the “W”, and today was a Brady classic. He completed 38-50 passes for 367 yards (career high) and three touchdowns. He shook off an awful interception at the end of the first half that led to a Baltimore touchdown to jumpstart a Patriots offense that had no running game at all.
Brady kept the Patriots moving and despite being under pressure for most of the game was able to get the big drive at crunch time. It was also a milestone game for Bill Belichick, winning his 20th post-season game, tying him with Cowboys legend Tom Landry.
Injuries to monitor: Rookie center Bryan Stork left the game early in the second quarter with a knee injury and didn’t return. Cornerback Brandon Browner left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury and didn’t return but was on the bench for the final minutes of the game.
It should be noted that the OL reacted well when Stork went down with Ryan Wendell moving to center and Josh Kline filling in at right guard. And after all the talk was on the edge rushers Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil, they were held to a half sack (Suggs) as tackles Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer did a good job of keeping them off Brady.
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