Postgame Comment: New England 27, Baltimore 24

by tommasse on Dec 3, 2007 11:56 PM EST in News Comment 21 comments

The Great Escape
Patriots Outplayed, Steal the Win

The New England Patriots were outplayed, plain and simple. But, again, they made the big plays late in the game when they had to, and they escaped Baltimore with a 27-24 win.

The Ravens, like Philadelphia, finished the game like they started it -- with a lot of mistakes. Baltimore had a slew of penalties to open the game and a slew to finish it. Other than that, give the Ravens credit. For the second consecutive week, a team really played well against the Patriots, and pushed them even closer to the brink.

Somehow, the Patriots persevered. Tom Brady engineered yet another game-winnning 4th-quarter drive, and the potential for the perfect season remains intact, however barely.

Baltimore dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage, but for a few plays. New England rarely had an answer for Ravens running back Willis McGahee, who gashed the Patriots defense for large chunks of yards and kept several Baltimore drives rolling. McGahee finished with 138 yards on 30 carries.

But, like the offense, the defense made the plays in the 4th quarter: three 3-and-outs in the fourth quarter. And Eric Alexander, of all people, for all the guff he took after the AFC Championship, made the last tackle of the game on the 2-yard line, essentially saving the win.

Here are the final stats for New England (bold = led team):

Brady: 18 of 38 (47.4 percent), 257 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, rating of 76.3

Maroney: 13 carries, 44 yards, 2 catches, 79 yards
Faulk: 7 carries, 33 yards, 2 catches, 18 yards
Evans: 2 carries, -1 yard, TD

Moss: 4 catches, 34 yards, TD
Stallworth: 3 catches, 68 yards
Welker: 3 catches, 18 yards
Watson: 3 catches, 26 yards
Gaffney: 1 catch, 8 yards, TD
K. Brady: 1 catch, 6 yards

Gostkowski: 2 of 2 FGs (21, 38), 3 XPs

Bruschi: 10 solo tackles, 2 assists
Harrison: 5 solo, 2 assists
Seau: 6 solo
Wilfork: 5 solo, 1 assist
Thomas: 3 solo, 3 assists
Seymour: 5 solo
Sanders: 3 solo, 2 assists, 1 INT

Patriots defense: No sacks, only 5 quarterback hits, only 4 passes defended.

Lots of dropped passes. Lots of missed blocks. Lots of missed tackles. Lots of bad, bad play.

More stats and comments after the break ...

For comparison, here are a few Ravens stats:

Boller: 15 of 23 (65.2 percent), 210 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 105.3 rating
McGahee: 30 carries, 138 yards, TD, 4 catches, 21 yards
Mason: 6 catches, 67 yards, TD
Wilcox: 2 catches, 4 yards, TD
Darling: 1 catch, 53 yards
Clayton: 1 catch, 52 yards

The Patriots earned 7 first downs rushing, 9 passing and got 5 by penalty, including a few down the stretch.

The Patriots were uncharacteristically poor on third downs, converting just 2 of 12 (17 percent), but they did convert 2 of 2 on fourth down. Baltimore wasn't much better on third with just 3 of 11 (27 percent) successful conversions and 1-for-1 on fourth.

Baltimore outgained New England, 376-326. Both teams were 3 of 4 in the red zone. Baltimore led in time of possession, 32:54 to 27:06.

The big difference in favor of New England: Penalties. The Ravens accepted 4 penalties against the Patriots for 30 yards, and New England accepted 13 penalties against Baltimore for 100 yards.

First half stats:

The Patriots were simply terrible in the first half: 0 of 4 on third down, while Baltimore was 3 of 4.

Brady was 8 of 18 for 95 yards, an interception, a sack, and a passer rating of 38.0.

The Ravens had the edge in time of possession in the first half, but not by much: 16:52 to 13:08.

The Patriots were very fortunate to be tied at 10 at halftime.

There will be much more tomorrow and in the coming days.

Final question: How much did New England miss Rosevelt Colvin?

Poll

Who was the Week 13 player of the game @ Baltimore?

Gaffney: 1 catch, 8 yds, TD

11 votes

Gostkowski: 2 FGs, 3 XPs

6 votes

Bruschi: 10 solo tackles, 2 assists

13 votes

Sanders: 3 solo, 2 assists, INT

20 votes

Brady: 18 of 38 (47.7%), 257 yds, 2 TD, INT, 76.3 rating

53 votes

Maroney: 13 carries, 44 yds, 2 catches, 79 yds

18 votes

Moss: 4 catches, 34 yds, TD

0 votes

121 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 21 comments

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Comments

All this talk...

...of how the Ravens were just three yards away from beating the mighty Pats, and no one mentions that Asante Samuel would have intercepted the pass had he not been mugged by Derrick Mason.

If these idiot announcers really want to talk about how the Ravens almost won, they ought to focus on how they outplayed the Pats, not the non-call only Mike Pereira and Tony Dungy would love.

by RSNexile on Dec 4, 2007 12:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Actually, they did mention that

I think Mike Tirico said it was offensive pass interference, and Ron Jaworkski said that they'd never call it in that situation.

Otherwise, agreed. I thought the officials got most of them right .. for once. Kudos to the Ravens. That was some game.

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by tommasse on Dec 4, 2007 12:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Talk about sour grapes

Have you all seen the comments from the Baltimore players? I have never seen such a poor display of unsportsmanlike conduct. They are blaming the time out on the officials calling a fake time out to help the Pats

From Matt Mosely on ESPN:
Ravens linebacker Bart Scott on the timeout: "I didn't hear a timeout. That was very convenient."

More from Mason on officiating: "I'm going to take it back to last game. San DIego. Quinn Sypniewski runs down the field, runs into one of their DBs, we catch the ball and they call offensive pass interference. OK. Great. This game, same things happens. Randy Moss runs right into Samari Rolle. They call defensive pass interference. I don't understand that. One game it's called one way, the next game it's called another way. At the end, you have a phantom call. That's why it's hard to play and win a game when you are playing against more than just the best team in the NFL."

Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister on whether the NFL wants the Patriots to win: "They get a lot of calls. I'll say that. We've been watching film on them all week and I mean, they do get a lot of calls. As far as the NFL wanting them to win, you can't totally not think about it in those terms."

The Holding call on watson... it was pretty blatent.

McGahee on which calls bothered him the most: "Shhh. Pass interference, the holding on (Jamaine) Winborne. There was a lot. I can't even remember them all."

All 3 of these are insane quotes. Did they participate in the same game I watched? The only bad call I thought all night was when they didn't call the offensive PI on Samuel (which really didn't matter so who cares).

by Ogor on Dec 4, 2007 12:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

One more thing until later Tuesday ..

Not a single word from Jaworski about Moss "dogging it."

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by tommasse on Dec 4, 2007 12:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Concerned

The defense was exposed tonight. I have major concerns about the Steelers game on Sunday. This is a league of matchups and I think the Steelers matchup very well against the Pats. Not only do I think the Steelers D is playing better than the Ravens D, but their offense, without question, is far superior to the Ravens. Unless BB comes up with a very solid gameplan for Sunday that the players can execute, we may have a very somber week.

I know we all want to see Moss locked up long term this offseason, but management has some serious issues to address with the defense this offseason. Tonight, they looked old and slow.

Hey, I'm happy for the win, but this should have been a blowout.

by smteri42 on Dec 4, 2007 1:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

disagreed

Our defense did not look old and slow. The problem with our defense is that they are playing with zero intensity in the first half. They did the same thing last week against Philadelphia. They were porous as Hell until the game was on the line and then you couldn't get anything going against them. I really wish they'd come out as hard as they finish so we could continue blowing teams out.

by PaulRevere on Dec 4, 2007 2:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Stupid Router

Of course, my wireless router died last night so I missed all the fun posting in the liveblog during the game. I know everyone wanted a blow-out, but I found last night's win exhilirating. Maybe I'm sadistic or cruel, but that win was great because the Pats' resilience eventually drove the Ravens into making mistakes and beating themselves. That is why this team is great. I guarantee there would have been no excuses from the Pats if the Ravens had scored on that deep bomb at the end, or if the PI call on Winborne against Watson had not been called. I would have gone crazy, but the Pats wouldn't have acted the way the Ravens did. No throwing the official's flag, no throwing helmets (why wasn't that one called, huh? Lewis took off his helmet after the timeout on 4th down, and was squatting in the middle of the field, and didn't get flagged for it. It would have been ticky-tack, but for those claiming that the calls all went the Pats way, that is one small point disputing that.) Instead the Pats acted calm, methodically marched down the field when it mattered, and drove the Ravens sidlines and fans stark raving bonkers. You know it is killing them, and I'm sure that while the Pats would have felt better by playing a better game, but there is a certain thrill in making your opponents crazy. The Ravens will be questioning the refs, their coaches, and their teammates, basically everyone but themselves. In the end, their implosion this season was inevitable, but the last night, the Pats made it spectacular as well. What a game!

by 6thround on Dec 4, 2007 9:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Brady's the best!

The Ravens acted like the Chargers did when we beat them last year--immature, whining and complaining about the 'disrespect' the Patriots showed them by imitating the dance Shawn Merriman does. (I'll never get over that one--wasn't his dance a show of disrespect to begin with????)

Yes, they were upset. Yes, it was so close. The Ravens were over-the-top emotional and some players just lost all self-control. If the flags had been thrown earlier then maybe the Ravens wouldn't have assumed that this was an anything-goes game, and been surprised by the 'sudden' calls in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, by that time, the game had already been a bit out of control as far as the non-calls went.

Not once did Brady look flustered, or confused, or in any way not in control of the game. He's simply the best there is.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Dec 4, 2007 4:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

To all Pats fans:

Congrats on your great win last night. The mark of a true champion is the ability to win these types of games. However, don't lower yourselves to rant about the poor sportsmanship of the Ravens players at the end and after the game last night. Look at it from their perspective (and form the view of us Ravens fans). What have we had to cheer about thoughout this miserably disappointing season. All we wanted last night was NOT to get embarrassed and blown out in front of a national TV audience. When it finally looked like this team was playing the way we had expected it to play all season long, we had had our hearts ripped out in the last minute. Whether it was due to the debatable penalties, ill-timed timeout, poor playcalling or the incredible comeback of the game's best QB, their reaction to getting so close in such an emotional game has to be excused. Sorry, but unless you had a helmet on and was sitting on your knees in the end zone after Brady had escaped certain defeat time and time again on that incredible game winning drive, you just shouldn't complain. Therefore, neither will I. I froze my ass off at the game so I could watch history in the making and see the greatest team in the history of the game as they go onto an undefeated season. You had to be impressed with the heart of the Ravens team last night. Don't disparage them because of their reaction at the end. Good luck the rest of the season (Beat Pittsburgh!)
PS- I am the Ravens blogger over at:
www.BaltimoreBeatdown.com. Check out my post on last night' game.

by Rexx on Dec 4, 2007 9:48 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think the problem Patriots fans had ..

.. with the Ravens' comments about the officiating was that the Patriots have been on the side of some very questionable officiating in some very big games, and the Patriot players never say a word about it. The fans certainly do, but not the players.

Thanks for coming by and for the well wishes.

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by tommasse on Dec 4, 2007 10:08 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Rexx,

I was all ready to give the Ravens serious props for the game they played and talk about how lucky we got at the end, then I read the quotes out of the locker room.

The Pats definately did what they needed to when the game was on the line, and the Ravens helped make it happen with undisciplined play, but there was absolutely no reason for the griping. personally I believe the Ravens players should be happy with the game they played. They definately brought their A+ game for most of the game, but in the end they beat themselves and rather then take responsibilty for their actions they blame it on the NFL "fixing" the game... come on.

Thank you for wishing us luck, and I am also deeply saddend that this game had to end on a sour note. It was an incredible game, and the Ravens played with a fire I wish the Pats had during that game. They played their hearts out for sure.

by Ogor on Dec 4, 2007 10:16 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Ravens fans

Rexx, I'm sorry you feel that way. That was a hard-fought game, but that is why I am so disappointed with the Ravens' players' reactions during the end and in the locker room. I'm sure they are upset at the outcome, but that is no excuse for their actions at the end of the game, and after. I can understand why you would be forgiving of the Ravens, I might be too if our roles were reversed. But as a Pats fan, I'm not forgiving enough to the point of accepting unjustified accusations calling into question the legitimacy of the win.

by 6thround on Dec 4, 2007 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

As far as I could tell, the only legitimate complaint the Ravens players might have would be over Rodney Harrison getting in Billick's face. I might have missed something that would have provoked that, but he shouldn't have done that.

If the Ravens had a problem with the timeout, they should blame their own defensive coordinator. If they had a problem with the penalties called on them, they shouldn't have committed the infractions in the first place. And if they had a problem with the false start call on Hochstein, they should pull a Dungy and take it up with the rules committee; as it stands right now, a false start nullifies whatever happens afterward by rule.

by RSNexile on Dec 4, 2007 12:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Harrison

That was a annoying, but I don't find it in the same class as what Scott or Reed did (after the timeout by Ryan.) Harrison made a play, and was celebrating. Too much, and he didn't have to yell at the Ravens sideline, but he was celebrating his team's performance. Scott and Reed did nothing but complain about the refs and their coaches. It was no surprise to me, when those things happened, that the Ravens lost. They imploded. Both teams were under a tremendous amount of pressure, but we saw the way the Patriots and Ravens handled adversity, and the results speak for themselves. The win doesn't absolve Harrison, btw. I've become increasingly disappointed with him. Considering how poorly the defense had played up to that point, he should have been expressing relief that they finally made a play, not smack-talking the Ravens coach.

by 6thround on Dec 4, 2007 1:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Absolutely

I didn't mean to imply otherwise. What Scott and Reed did was a whole other category of classless. I'm just saying that if they have anything worthy of complaint, it was Harrison getting in their coach's face -- that was over line. But it doesn't excuse their own poor, worse behavior.

by RSNexile on Dec 4, 2007 1:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now...

Supposedly, according to Felger the Pats players were complaining about calls too?? Really? So far I can't find quotes like that... but that's what Felger was saying during the 5th Quarter Broadcast on 38.

As for the Ravens. Bart Scott needs to take a couple of deep breaths and pretend he's Hal Jordan the Green Lantern. (The Green Lantern, at least in the olden days.... his weakness was Yellow). No touching the pretty yellow flag or trying to assault the zebras.

And Willis, holy crapperdoodle.

by DanieXJ on Dec 4, 2007 10:42 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think (therefore ..)

.. that Felger meant that Patriots players were complaining on the field during the game. I'm not 100 percent on that, but I think that's what he was saying. And that much is true. Brady and some of the receivers were complaining about receivers getting held most of the game. No horseshoe on the helmet, though, so no call. Not until they were dragging guys down (Moss) or holding them all the way down the field (Watson). So, you probably won't see quotes anywhere. (However, if you find any, I'd love to see them, because I'm sure fines will follow.)

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by tommasse on Dec 4, 2007 11:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah

I interpret that comment the same way that Tommasse did. I know during the game I saw a Brady complaining tot he refs a few times, and it was completely approprate. As the post-game radio show said: they were holding recievers all game, the calls just didn't happen until the end when it was blatent. The one thing I find funny, is that the holding call on Watson wasn't the really gross one that play (4th and 5 in the 4th quarter one), Gafney was in a bear hug, by scott I believe it was, during that play.

by Ogor on Dec 4, 2007 11:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Felger

Ahhhhh...Felger also said that losing Roosevelt Colvin wasn't important, wasn't going to be a problem, and that the Patriots didn't need him. I was stunned when he said that and so was Steve Burton. It's "analysis" like that, we could easily live without.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Dec 4, 2007 5:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A serious lack of intensity

That's what I've seen the last two weeks out of our defense. It's a far cry from even three years ago when they were manhandling people. Last night, they got beaten, humiliated, owned. They stepped it up in time -- barely -- but if the Ravens hadn't come completely unglued we'd have lost that game. And we would have deserved to.

I was very, very impressed with the way the Ravens played on both sides of the ball. Their behavior was embarrassing, but their play was spectacular. That said, our defense made MaGahee look like Peterson. Our tackling was godawful and by the body language, we didn't even seem to care. A very mediocre passing attack sliced up our secondary on numerous key third downs. We looked very, very average.

In the final analysis, though, it's that lack of intensity I find disturbing. All year it has been clear that we lack the sand of our championship teams, or even last year's squad. Frankly, I think it comes from the offense. There are simply times when you have to be able to physically dominate the other team in order to psychologically dominate them. That, to me, starts with the front five. Running out of the spread does not allow your line to fire off the ball, even when the call is for a run. When Morris went down, we lost something.

It might be catching up with us.

Patriots and more at Borrowed Suits

by JohnHannahRules on Dec 4, 2007 11:34 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree Gooch.

If you read the diary I posted last night as well as my other comments, I've been saying the same thing. We completely lack intensity, particularly in the first 3 quarters. Quite honestly, we need to get our defensive butts in gear from the start of the game. Where is our Patriots ire? The Patriots which teams lived in abject terror of facing, who made great wide receivers have sleepless nights with visions of the numbers 37 being their cause of death? Granted, if anyone still has intensity, its Harrison, but for the love of God that game was pathetic. I'm worried. I'm not sure that our team has the mentality anymore. The mentality to just crush another team physically rather than finessing their way through. Finesse is the Colts' game, not ours. I am dissatisfied with our pansy play. Someone needs to send this to the Patriots team. Go Pats.

by PaulRevere on Dec 4, 2007 12:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs