It sure looked like a TD that put the Ravens up 26-23 with less than a minute to play… Lee Evans came down with both feet (we think!) in the right corner of the end zone with possession of the ball after catching the lead pass from Joe Flacco…after Evans’ landing in the EZ with possession, Patriots cornerback Sterling Moore reached out and knocked the ball from Evans’ midsection… By definition, the play was already a touchdown…assuming both of Evans’ feet had landed prior to the stripping of the ball by Moore. The referee called it “no catch!”… “no TD!”…
Yet dead silence from the NFL Review Booth upstairs.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh could not challenge the call by rule since the clock was under two minutes at the end of the half.
Everyone will be talking about the subsequent missed FG attempt by Billy Cundiff which hooked left from 32… but I believe the game was lost on the non-review of the non-call on Lee Evans’ apparent TD catch.
Joe Flacco performed well enough to beat Tom Brady… Flacco finished with a 95.1 QB rating to Brady’s 54.9… but Joe was ultimately undone by one INT throw into the Patriots zone coverage with 7:40 to go…and then the non-call on an apparent Lee Evans TD game-winner.
Tom Brady waited out the final tense minutes on the sideline, and somehow his fourth-quarter goal-line leap into the end zone held up and sent him and the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.
With the Patriots leading by 3 points with 11 seconds left, Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal attempt and the Patriots escaped with a 23-20 win Sunday in the AFC championship game.
If it weren’t for the sickening feeling that somehow the Ravens got robbed by the Booth Review guys upstairs, I would say this had been a great game for both teams. Actually, it was as entertaining and a fiercely fought game as I’ve seen all season.
On his 1-yard scoring dive with 11:29 left, Brady took a huge hit from Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis, then emphatically spiked the ball as he walked away. Earlier, Brady showed his fire by barking at Lewis following a hard tackle on a 4-yard run.
Brady didn’t throw for a touchdown for the first time in 36 games, although he did pass for 239 yards. He needed help not only from Cundiff’s botched kick in guiding the Patriots (15-3) to their fifth AFC title in 11 seasons, but from New England’s maligned defense.
The Patriots shut down the Ravens running game early, then held on…Ray Rice, the league’s total yardage leader, was limited to 78 yards. Big DT Vince Wilfork played one of the greatest games of his career. Wilfork dominated all-pro guard Marshall Yanda for much of the game. The Patriots got concistent pressure on Flacco in the pocket for most of the day. Brandon Spikes made a fourth-quarter interception of Joe Flacco, who played well before that and threw for two touchdowns. And when the Ravens (13-5) were threatening to score a late touchdown to win their first conference title in 11 years, New England clamped down.
After a ton of back-and-forth momentum changes during the first 3 quarters, it all boiled down to this:
Touchback for Gostkowski. ESPN’s stats & Information account on Twitter notes that was Brady’s first postseason rushing touchdown since 2004.
Ricky Williams is into the game for Baltimore, taking his second carry of the drive and bulldozing his way through two defenders to make it past the marker at the Baltimore 44.
Just when the Ravens seemed set to respond, rolling confidently into New England territory behind the combined running of Williams, Rice and even Flacco, the quarterback throws a bad pick – slinging the ball straight into the arms of Takeo Spikes in the middle of the field. He was looking for Dickson behind the linebacker, but the trajectory of the ball was way too low. You have to wonder if he even saw Spikes, because otherwise it’s hard to explain. Spikes returns it to the halfway line.
What a play! What an incredible, sensational play from the Ravens Jimmy Smith, who scoops the ball up from just inches above the turf after it had been batted down by Pollard. Brady had gone straight for the jugular, launching the ball up towards Slater in the endzone, but Pollard timed his leap perfectly to bat it away at its highest point, and then Smith just showed incredible concentration to maket he catch. With the Patriots stunned, Smith gets back to his feet and returns it all the way to the Baltimore 38.
And the Ravens go straight back to that running game that seemed to be paying dividends before Flacco’s pick – Rice with a pair of carries and Williams with one as Baltimore move up in four plays to the New England 30 (there was one Flacco completion to Dickson mixed in there too).
Wow. The drive stalls for Baltimore when Rice is cut down for a three yard loss on third and three from the New England 30, but rather than send on Cundiff for the field goal, Harbaugh keeps the offence out there. And then seems to think better of it, calling a time-out. Will be very interesting to see what the call is after this one …
Vince Wilfork – who made the tackle on Rice on third down – bullrushes his way straight through the middle of the line grabbing a fist full of Flacco’s shirt and forcing the quarterback into a hurried lob downfield which falls incomplete by the left sideline. Huge play from Wilfork and potentially the last offensive play the Ravens get in this game. They have one time-out left, plus the two minute warning.
A nice pick-up for New England on first down, as Brady delivers the ball to Branch for a seven-yard gain. But Green-Ellis loses a yard as he looks for room off left tackle on second down, making it third and four.
Looks like we’re headed for a big finish! Ed Reed does a superb job of getting across Aaron Hernandez to knock down the pass Brady had intended for the quarterback on a quick out. Webb returns the punt to Baltimore’s 21.
The Ravens are moving, Flacco hitting Boldin by the left sideline on third and five to take them out to the 39. Boldin gets straight out of bounds to stop the clock.
Apologies – I said the Ravens had one time-out left earlier, when they actually had two. They just burned the first after Boldin made another catch at the Baltimore 48.
And suddenly this is the Anquan Boldin show. He is in all sorts of space as Flacco finds him on an out route heading towards the left sideline and he turns it up for a 29-yard gain, eventually getting pushed out of bounds at the New England 23.
TD pass to Lee Evans!!! No, wait—No TD call! Ball is stripped from Evans by Sterling Moore even though Evans is already in end zone! Whaaaaat? Dropped in the endzone by Evans?—that has got to be reviewed! – Flacco delivering the ball right to him on second and one from the 14, the receiver comes down with it it the end zone, late strip of the ball by Moore…BUT NO REVIEW!.
And on third down it’s a huge stop from Moore, who somehow manages to get around Pitta and step in front to knock the ball down a couple of yards outside the endzone on the right. Cundiff is coming out to attempt the 32-yard field goal.
Unbelievable. A devastating, crushing moment for Billy Cundiff – a Pro Bowl kicker – as he gets the kick all wrong, pulling it wide of the left-hand upright by some distance. And with that, the Ravens’ Super Bowl dreams die.
Tom Brady takes a knee and it’s all over at Gillette Stadium. The New England Patriots are going to Super Bowl XLVI.
Slo-mo replays will be coming all week long on the Ravens TD that was not allowed to be…. Until then, congrats to the Patriots. They beat a good team…I think.
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