Amazingly it came down to a 27-yard FG attempt by the Ravens’ Justin Tucker with 0:02 on the game clock…
Tucker ended up kicking it twice, as Bill Belichick attempted to freeze him with a called time-out. But the second one counted (just barely as it sailed inches inside the right post)…
Funny, I watched the entire game, and never once had the feeling the Ravens were going to win it…
The game-winning kick followed a pass interference call against Devin McCourty, who was covering Jacoby Jones.
As the officials were leaving the field, Patriots coach Bill Belichick grabbed one of them by the arm. He didn’t pursue as the official continued to run off the field. No doubt Belichick will be getting a Fed Ex envelope from NFL Headquarters tomorrow.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Belichick said. “You saw the game. What did we have, 30 penalties called in that game?”
Actually, 24, including 14 against the Ravens for 135 yards.
Baltimore (2-1) won its 12th straight at home behind Joe Flacco, who went 28 for 39 for 382 yards and three touchdowns. Tom Brady completed 28 of 41 passes for 335 yards and a score for the Patriots (1-2), who fell below .500 for the first time since Week 1 of 2003.
“We didn’t do what we needed to do to help our offense tonight,” Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “And it (stinks), because coming into the game, I think we had a pretty good idea of how we wanted to play it. First quarter, it showed. It seems after that, we really couldn’t get off the field. Offense played their tails off and we just left them out to dry. We can’t do that.”
New England led 13-0 after the first quarter and 30-21 with 14 minutes left, but couldn’t make either lead stand up.
Ray Rice picked up the offensive slack for the Ravens in the 2nd half and his running game provided the cover Joe Flacco needed to finally get his play-action passing game on track…
Wes Welker had eight catches for 142 yards and Brandon Lloyd caught nine passes for 108 yards for the Patriots, who fell to 6-1 against the Ravens in the regular season — 7-2 including the playoffs.
Down 20-14, the Ravens opened the second half with an 80-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Ray Rice. Brady matched that with an 80-yard march of his own, repeatedly picking on cornerback Cary Williams, before Danny Woodhead scored on a 3-yard run to put New England ahead.
After Stephen Gostkowski kicked his third field goal to make it 30-21, Smith caught a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:01 left to get the Ravens to 30-28. Flacco went 6 for 7 for 76 yards in the 92-yard drive.
Baltimore executed the game-winning drive in the final 2 minutes.
New England took a 13-0 lead before the Ravens got their initial first down. Then, after Baltimore went up 14-13, Brady engineered a frantic touchdown drive at the end of the first half to put the Patriots back in front.
Welker, who came in with only eight catches in two games, played a key role for New England in the opening minutes. He recovered a fumble by Brady on the Patriots’ second play, and on New England’s second series Welker broke loose on the left sideline for a 59-yard completion that set up a 37-yard field goal…
On the first play following the kickoff, Steve Gregory intercepted a pass by Flacco and took it 36 yards to the Baltimore 6. On third down, rookie Brandon Bolden ran in from the 2 for his first NFL touchdown.
Late in the first quarter, Gostkowski kicked a 49-yard field goal for a 13-0 lead.
After two three-and-outs and an interception, Flacco found his rhythm the fourth time he got the ball.
Flacco moved the Ravens 82 yards in 13 plays in a drive culminated by a 25-yard touchdown pass to Smith. Then, after a New England punt, Baltimore covered 92 yards in eight plays. The capper was a 20-yard TD pass to tight end Dennis Pitta, who hurdled Gregory inside the 10 before completing his romp into the end zone.
Brady answered with a touchdown pass of his own, a 7-yarder to Julian Edelman with 2 seconds left to cap an 81-yard, beat-the-clock march.
Baltimore amassed 503 yards in offense. Rice ran for 101 yards on 20 carries. … Edelman left with a hand injury. … Baltimore punted only three times.
Research Notes
| From Elias: The Patriots and Ravens combined for 13 penalty first downs, which set an NFL record. The old record was 12 last done by the Ravens and Lions on October 9, 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Baltimore outscored New England 10-3 in the fourth quarter as Joe Flacco led the Ravens on two long scoring drives to take the lead. Flacco was 9-of-11 on those two drives and was more efficient than Brady in the fourth quarter overall. [+]
Joe Flacco vs Tom Brady 4th Qtr Passing
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| NEXT LEVEL: Joe Flacco had success when he targeted his receivers outside the painted numbers, going 16-25 for 211 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown three touchdowns in a game on passes outside the numbers in only two other games since 2008. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
NEXT LEVEL: Joe Flacco used play-action on 19 of his 39 pass attempts Sunday, more than he had in the first two weeks combined. He was 13-19 for 204 yards with two touchdowns and an interception off of play fakes. Torrey Smith caught four of Flacco’s play-action passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, including one late in the fourth quarter. [+]
Joe Flacco Play-Action Passing, This Season
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Team Stat Comparison
| NE | BAL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 33 | 28 |
| Passing 1st downs | 19 | 17 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 6 | 6 |
| 1st downs from Penalties | 8 | 5 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 7-15 | 4-8 |
| 4th down efficiency | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Total Plays | 77 | 65 |
| Total Yards | 396 | 503 |
| Yards per play | 5.1 | 7.7 |
| Total Drives | 11 | 11 |
| Passing | 319 | 382 |
| Comp – Att | 28-41 | 28-39 |
| Yards per pass | 7.8 | 9.8 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 1 |
| Sacks – Yards Lost | 2-16 | 0-0 |
| Rushing | 77 | 121 |
| Rushing Attempts | 34 | 26 |
| Yards per rush | 2.3 | 4.7 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 3-5 | 2-3 |
| Penalties | 10-83 | 14-135 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 0 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 1 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 0 | 0 |
| Possession | 31:03 | 28:57 |
Passing Leaders
| NE | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SACKS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brady | 28/41 | 335 | 8.2 | 1 | 0 | 2-16 |
| BAL | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SACKS |
| Flacco | 28/39 | 382 | 9.8 | 3 | 1 | 0-0 |
Rushing Leaders
| NE | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridley | 13 | 37 | 2.8 | 0 | 14 |
| Woodhead | 15 | 34 | 2.3 | 1 | 6 |
| BAL | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LG |
| Rice | 20 | 101 | 5.1 | 1 | 15 |
| Pierce | 4 | 17 | 4.3 | 0 | 8 |
Receiving Leaders
| NE | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LG | TGTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welker | 8 | 142 | 17.8 | 0 | 59 | 10 |
| Lloyd | 9 | 108 | 12.0 | 0 | 22 | 12 |
| BAL | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LG | TGTS |
| Smith | 6 | 127 | 21.2 | 2 | 38 | 10 |
| Jones | 3 | 86 | 28.7 | 0 | 41 | 4 |
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