Patriots Are Headed Back To The Super Bowl After A 23-20 Win Over The Ravens

It had been four years since the New England Patriots reached the Super Bowl. For most of this season, I never would have believed that this current edition of the Pats had a prayer of reaching Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis but thanks to many breaks and good fortune, they put themselves in the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Through another series of insane events, the Patriots (15-3) beat the Ravens (13-5) 23-20 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium. With the Giants' (12-7) 20-17 overtime win in San Francisco (14-4), New England will meet New York on February 5 in a rematch from four seasons ago.

As I look over the box score from today hours after the fact, I still can't really explain how the Pats managed to hold off the Ravens. It seemed like New England did everything in its power to self-destruct and lose but somehow they found a way to win thanks to Billy Cundiff missing a possible game-tying 32-yard field goal right before the fourth quarter ended.

New England was in great shape when their defense finally forced a turnover, in the fourth quarter. Joe Flacco (22 of 36, 306 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was picked off on an incredible effort by Brandon Spikes. With six minutes and change plus the ball at midfield, the Pats just needed to get a decent drive and put some more points on the board. That's when offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien decided that was the perfect time to have Tom Brady (22 of 36, 239 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs) throw a bomb to Matthew Slater. Did I mention that Slater was triple-covered?

Jimmy Smith picked off Brady's pass and returned it 39 yards. The Patriots defense forced a turnover on downs after that but New England's offense went 3 and out and that's when the Ravens went right down the field before Cundiff choked in the most epic fashion. Sterling Moore saved the season as he knocked the ball out of Lee Evans' hands (what would have been a TD) then broke up another pass in the plays leading up to the ill-fated kick. The Ravens had to go for the field goal and the rest is history.

New England's 10th straight win was marked by the first time in 36 games that Brady didn't throw a touchdown pass. It doesn't matter though since he's going to his fifth Super Bowl, tying John Elway's record. This will be Bill Belichick's fifth Super Bowl, only Don Shula (6) has coached in more. Brady needs one more Super Bowl win to tie Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana's record (4).

I don't know how Baltimore lost a game when A) Flacco outplayed Brady, B) They won the turnover battle 3-1 and C) New England's defense outplayed its offense. I'll freely admit that the Patriots got lucky in some sense but on the other hand, the team that took more risks (going for it on 4th down) was rightfully rewarded while the team that was too conservative (kicking a field goal on 4th and 1) was ultimately punished.

We all wondered what would happen when Brady and Co. weren't hanging 30+ on an opponent. That transpired today yet the much-maligned Patriots defense, led by Vince Wilfork (6 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss), Spikes (9 tackles) and Moore made just enough plays to survive.

Another crazy stat: BenJarvus Green-Ellis (15 carries, 68 yards, TD) had one more rushing yard than Ravens superstar Ray Rice (21 carries, 67 yards).

Baltimore did about as good a job as one could expect against Rob Gronkowski (5 catches, 87 yards), Aaron Hernandez (7 catches, 66 yards), Wes Welker (6 catches, 53 yards) and Deion Branch (2 catches, 18 yards) yet they still lost.

Anquan Boldin (6 catches, 101 yards) and Torrey Smith (3 catches, 82 yards, TD) benefited from Flacco's solid performance.

Stephen Gostkowski had the only points of the first quarter, a 29-yard field goal. Cundiff tied it with a 20-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Green-Ellis gave the Patriots the biggest lead of the game, at 10-3, with a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The Ravens and Flacco responded with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dennis Pitta. Gostkowski's 35-yard field gave New England a 13-10 halftime lead.

New England's red zone offense struggled all day and the third quarter was no different as they settled for a 24-yard field goal by Gostkowski and a 16-10 lead.

Flacco found Smith for a 29-yard touchdown pass when the former Maryland Terp broke not one but two weak tackle attempts by the Patriots secondary. Compounding that bitter feeling, Danny Woodhead fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Patriots defense held Baltimore to a 39-yard field goal by Cundiff and a 20-16 deficit entering the fourth.

New England answered with their biggest drive of the season which ended with Brady diving over the pile at the goalline for a touchdown on 4th and 1.

This will be the sixth Super Bowl for Patriots owner Robert Kraft (a record). Overall, it is the seventh Super Bowl appearance for the franchise which puts it one behind Dallas and Pittsburgh. The Patriots are 7-1 in AFC Championship games, 4-0 at home. Brady and Belichick are the first QB-coach duo to win five conference championships in the Super Bowl era. Brady tied Montana for most playoff wins (16) all time.

Gronk suffered a brutal ankle injury in the third quarter but he somehow returned later in the game so I think that with almost two weeks of rest and care, he should be able to play in the Super Bowl. Only a bionic guy like him could survive getting rolled up by Bernard Pollard (yes that man), something that would hurt most mortals.

In the next 12 days, we'll talk much more in depth about the Giants and the stakes in this incredible matchup. For now, let's enjoy this improbable win which puts the Pats one win away from the top.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

AFC Championship Injury Report For Patriots vs. Ravens

I think we can all agree that it's almost time to play football, enough with breaking down what we think will happen (but most certainly won't) when the Patriots host the Ravens on Sunday in the AFC Championship.

We still have to wait another day for the real action to start but at least today, we got one step closer with both teams releasing their injury report. Haha, well I should say New England's injury report. All Baltimore had was Ed Reed and he's probable so that doesn't count.

The Patriots have 14 players listed as questionable: Deion Branch (knee), Marcus Cannon (ankle), Patrick Chung (knee), Dane Fletcher (thumb), Aaron Hernandez (concussion), James Ihedigbo (shoulder), Kyle Love (ankle), Logan Mankins (knee), Rob Ninkovich (hip), Nate Solder (concussion), Brandon Spikes (knee), Sebastian Vollmer (back), Wes Welker (knee) and Tracy White (abdomen).

Since they're dealing with head injuries, Hernandez and Solder are the hardest to gauge. Vollmer hasn't played since Week 12 so I doubt that he'll suit up but other than that, I think everyone else will be ready (including Hernandez, Solder I'm less sure of).

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Troy Brown The 1st Of 4 Honorary Captains Named For The Patriots At Sunday's Game

I'm not normally a huge fan of cheesy honorary captains, special guests for a coin flip and all that type of useless crap but I must say that what Patriots owner Robert Kraft is doing for this Sunday's AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium sounds great.

Since it is the 15-year anniversary of the 1996-97 Patriots, who went to the team's second Super Bowl and lost to the Packers 35-21, Kraft is honoring that memorable team by bringing back four of their top players.

Yesterday, it was announced that wide receiver Troy Brown, one of the greatest players in franchise history, was the first of four honorary captains that will appear. Kraft will prolong the drama by unveiling one name each tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.

Off the top of my head after a quick Wikipedia search, I'd guess the most likely candidates to appear on Sunday with Brown are offensive lineman Bruce Armstrong, quarterback Drew Bledsoe, tight end Ben Coates and linebacker Chris Slade.

Defensive end Willie McGinest, safety Lawyer Milloy and cornerback Ty Law were also starters on that team but they were just beginning their careers in the NFL and they weren't the franchise icons that they would later become over the next decade.

Hopefully, CBS steps up their game and gives these guys some camera time since God knows, there will be plenty of downtime during the broadcast. It's also a good thing to know about this since I assume they'll be doing something at halftime of the Patriots-Ravens game. Keep that in mind when you try your luck at the mile-long beer, food and bathroom lines at Gillette during the break.

UPDATE 1/18: Law is the second honorary captain, named today. Haha the two CSNE commentators get to spend more time together.

UPDATE 1/19: Tedy Bruschi is the third honorary captain, announced this afternoon. I guess Kraft is going for the later years guys that are still hanging around in the media and on TV (ESPN, CSNE).

UPDATE 1/20: Bledsoe was the final choice today, named by Kraft. In other AFC Championship news, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will sing the national anthem. So wherever you're watching the game, get ready for an unlimited amount of bad jokes about Tyler.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

It Never Gets Old

For as long as you live, when your favorite team in any sport wins a big game, it gives you an incredible rush that simply cannot be duplicated (sex, drugs and rock and roll not withstanding). When said team advances to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the last seven years and is now just win away from an unprecedented 19-0 campaign, what can you say? You've been there every step of the way but now that it's so close, you almost can't believe it. Such is the situation facing my New England Patriots, 21-12 winners over the spirited but ultimately undermanned San Diego Chargers yesterday in the AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium. A week from Sunday, the Patriots face the New York Giants in Arizona for Super Bowl 42.

The story of the game was the Patriots red zone defense and the clutch play of the running back duo of Laurence Maroney (25 carries, 122 yards, 1 TD; 1 catch, 9 yards) and Kevin Faulk (8 catches, 82 yards; 1 carry, 8 yards).

Without LaDainian Tomlinson (2 carries, 5 yards; 1 catch, 1 yard) for most of the game and with Antonio Gates (2 catches, 17 yards) and Philip Rivers (19 of 37, 211 yards, 2 INT's) hobbled, nobody in the world was picking the Chargers to knock off the Patriots. Then again, nobody expected San Diego to go into Indy last weekend and knock off the Colts.

Nate Kaeding (4 field goals) was San Diego's best offensive player and when that's the case, odds are you're not going to beat the Patriots. You have to match them touchdown for touchdown, something that nobody has done so far this season.

Tom Brady (22 of 33, 209 yards, 2 TD's, 3 INT's) had his worst game of the season, Randy Moss (1 catch, 18 yards; 1 carry, 14 yards) was a complete non-factor for the second straight playoff contest and yet the Pats still found a way to win.

San Diego corner Quentin Jammer made a leaping interception of Brady in the first quarter, leading to the first Kaeding kick, putting San Diego up 3-0.

New England finally started to move the ball at the end of the first quarter and into the second as Maroney dove in from a yard out, giving New England a 7-3 lead.

Vincent Jackson (6 catches, 93 yards) killed the Pats on the next drive with three catches but once again, the Chargers offense was stuffed inside the red zone. Ellis Hobbs made a big tackle on third down as he tackled Chris Chambers (7 catches, 90 yards) on an underneath route. Kaeding's kick cut it to 7-6.

After a punt, the Pats capitalized on a Rivers mistake as Asante Samuel stepped in front of a pass intended for Chambers and returned it 10 yards to the San Diego 24-yard line. Two plays later, Brady found Jabar Gaffney over the middle with a 12-yard catch and run for a score.

Ellis Hobbs (8 tackles) picked off Rivers on the next San Diego possession but the Pats couldn't do anything and were forced to punt it back to the Chargers.

Going into yesterday, Kaeding had been 2 for 6 in his postseason career so it was surprising when he nailed his third field goal of the day (from 40 yards) just before halftime. The Pats held a 14-9 lead.

The third quarter was a nightmare for Brady as he was intercepted twice. The first one was on New England's opening drive of the second half. Brady's pass for Donte' Stallworth went off the receiver's hands and into Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence's waiting arms. Taking over at the New England 49-yard line, the Chargers settled for another red zone field goal (24 yards). Junior Seau (6 tackles, 1 sack) made the defensive play of the game for the Pats on third-and-1 from the Pats 4. He shot through the line and tackled Michael Turner (17 carries, 65 yards) for a two-yard loss.

The game was effectively sealed early in the fourth as Brady found Wes Welker (7 catches, 56 yards, 1 TD) with a six-yard touchdown strike. The o-line gave Brady plenty of time and he looked at Moss, Ben Watson and finally Welker before throwing the ball.

Not to state the obvious but there are many reasons why Norv Turner is the coach he is and Bill Belichick is a three-time Super Bowl winner (currently 14-2 in the playoffs with New England). Exhibit A: San Diego choose to punt the ball away facing a fourth-and-10 at the Pats 36 with 9:21 left in the fourth quarter and down two scores (21-12). The Chargers never got the ball back as New England grinded the clock away. Faulk made three catches for 32 yards and two first downs on the drive, proving once again that he is the most underrated Patriot. Maroney was a bull, rushing eight times for 37 yards and three first downs. It was his fourth 100-yard performance in the last five games as he matched his impressive rushing total from last week. The guy is a stud, plain and simple. Any questions about his ability have been put to rest weeks ago.

Now the Pats face the Giants, a team that they barely beat 38-35 in the last week of the regular season. The G-Men have certainly peaked in the playoffs, winning all three of their games on the road against favored opponents. New York is for real, no question about it. Eli Manning is playing the best ball of his career, they have a solid running game and outstanding defense. If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, they will have earned 19-0 and the label of greatest team of all-time. Let the two weeks of relentless hype commence.