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Today in Patriots History
Sterling Moore's deflection and Billy Cundiff's
wide left give the Pats a 23-20 AFCCG victory
Sterling Moore's deflection and Billy Cundiff's
wide left give the Pats a 23-20 AFCCG victory
Add this game to the ever-growing list of games that the Ravens lost and John Harbaugh whined about some phantom alleged injustice. For a team that attempts to portray themselves as such macho tough guys, they sure do act like a spoiled four year old crybaby.
Sunday January 22, 2012 at 3:00
2011 AFC Championship Game at Gillette
New England Patriots 23, Baltimore Ravens 20
Head Coaches: Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh
Quarterbacks: Tom Brady, Joe Flacco
Odds: Patriots favored by 7
Pats improve to 15-3; advance to Super Bowl 46
Ravens finish 13-5
Final: A.F.C. Championship, Patriots 23, Ravens 20
Times reporters and editors are providing live coverage and analysis of Sunday’s Ravens-Patriots A.F.C. Championship game. Read on to follow the game as it happens
fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com
In a back-and-forth battle that ended in heartbreak for the Baltimore Ravens and kicker Billy Cundiff, the New England Patriots advanced to Super Bowl XLVI with a 23-20 victory on Sunday.
Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal in the final seconds that would have sent the game into overtime, hooking it wide left. Two plays prior, Ravens receiver Lee Evans failed to hold onto the ball in the end zone. A catch would have given Baltimore the lead and a likely victory. . . .
The victory gives Brady his 16th career postseason victory, tying him with Joe Montana for the most in NFL history.
There is also a good full-game recap from the AP here:
Patriots Beat Ravens 23-20, Head To Super Bowl
Tom Brady waited out the final tense minutes on the sideline and somehow his fourth-quarter leap into the end zone held up, sending the New England Patriots back to the Super Bowl.
www.wbur.org
The Patriots won their tenth game in a row to win their seventh AFC title. The New England defense had been highly criticized by sports media throughout the year, with the phrase '31st ranked defense' becoming the season's most overused statistic. Patriot defenders pointed out that games were won and lost based on points rather than yardage, and in that category the Pats ranked 15th.
Ray Rice had set the tone on the very first play from scrimmage when these two teams met in the 2009 wild card game, running for an 83 yard touchdown. Much of the pre-game talk leading up to this rematch centered on how the much maligned Patriot defense would fare against Rice, who led the NFL in 2011 with 2,068 yards from scrimmage.
Baltimore tried running the ball on first down on each of their first three series. The result was zero yards, loss of one and loss of five, with each of those possessions turning into a three and out. Rice averaged just 3.2 yards per carry on the day, rushing for 67 yards.
After the first drive of the second half the Patriots led 16-10. The Pats seemed to be controlling the game, but the inability to finish was bothersome: the offense scored only one touchdown on four trips to the red zone, settling for three field goals.
Baltimore scored on a 29 yard pass from Joe Flacco to Torrey Smith on the next drive, and then Danny Woodhead fumbled the ensuing kickoff return. James Ihedigbo sacked Flacco for a loss of 12 on third down at the nine to force a field goal, but the Ravens were up 20-16 with less than a minute to go in the third quarter.
The Patriots regained the lead on an 11 play, 63 yard drive on their next possession, aided by a penalty on Terrell Suggs that negated an interception. Tom Brady dove in from one yard on fourth down. This came after replay overturned a prior run that had originally been called a touchdown.
On the final drive Flacco completed four passes to Anquan Boldin to move the ball to the 14. On the final catch defensive back Julian Edelman forced a fumble but the ball rolled out of bounds, so Baltimore retained possession.
On the next play Lee Evans appeared momentarily to catch a go-ahead touchdown, but Sterling Moore knocked the ball out of his hands at the last possible moment. Moore then knocked away another pass on the next play, this one intended for TE Dennis Pitta. Billy Cundiff then infamously shanked the 32 yard field goal attempt, and rather than overtime the game was over.
The Patriots had won - with a patchwork secondary that included Edelman, Sterling Moore, Antwaun Molden, Nate Jones and James Ihedigbo.
After the game Harbaugh first whined that the pass play to Evans should have been reviewed. Then there was more conspiracy theories floated when he implied that the Cundiff miss was due to his not knowing it was fourth down, implying that the Patriots had done that to throw the kicker and coaches off. (Note: NFL personnel run the scoreboard, not the home team). Here is the question though: since there was that much confusion Mr. Harbaugh, why not call a timeout - rather than send your kicker out late in a frantic, hurried and unprepared manner?
Is ‘scoreboard’ excuse legit for Cundiff?
Kicker has just one job Craig Davis Sun Sentinel The scoreboard-made-me-miss explanation points to the fragility of the psyche of the NFL kicker. But Ravens coach John Harbaugh should be kicking hi…
www.baltimoresun.com
Harbaugh boots response to joke
www.capitalgazette.com
Sound FX - 2nd Half:
Final Play: