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Ray Rice set the tone on the first play from scrimmage, sprinting for an 83-yard touchdown run, as the Baltimore Ravens took advantage of four Tom Brady turnovers and used a dominant first quarter to post a 33-14 win over the Patriots.
SB Nation's Ravens blog, Baltimore Beat Down, takes a look how the team was able to upset the Patriots in the AFC Wild Card round on Sunday. In two words: Ray Rice.
Prior to today's game, the thought was that if the Baltimore Ravens were going to have any chance to beat the New England Patriots, it would only happen if QB Joe Flacco had a good game for them. Instead, Flacco barely contributed to the Ravens 33-14 victory as the team instead rushed for over 230 yards, led by Ray Rice's 160 yards and two scores, including the game opening 83 yard TD scamper. Flacco finished 4 of 10 for 34 yards, although he still had a couple of key completions and a huge first down run to set up the team's final touchdown.
For Patriots fans, though, there's really no reason to watch.
Read more at our Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit, and our Ravens blog, Baltimore Beatdown.
Foxboro, MA (Sports Network) - Ray Rice set the tone on the first play from scrimmage, sprinting for an 83-yard touchdown run, as the Baltimore Ravens took advantage of four Tom Brady turnovers and used a dominant first quarter to post a 33-14 win over the New England Patriots in an AFC wild card game at Gillette Stadium.
The second-year running back out of Rutgers finished with 159 yards and two scores on 22 carries for the sixth-seeded Ravens, who will play top-seeded Indianapolis next Saturday. Baltimore was also a sixth seed in last year's playoffs and won games at Miami and Tennessee before losing to eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh in the AFC title game.
Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain also had touchdown runs as Baltimore dealt the Patriots their first home playoff loss since December 31, 1978 against Houston. New England had won 11 straight, with Brady going 8-0.
Baltimore's victory means San Diego will host the New York Jets in the other divisional playoff game.
It was not a game to remember for the two-time Super Bowl MVP. Brady was picked off three times and lost a fumble, finishing with 154 yards and two touchdown passes to rookie Julian Edelman on 23-of-42 efficiency.
Edelman replaced injured wide receiver Wes Welker, who sustained a serious knee injury in last Sunday's loss to the Texans. The former Kent State quarterback caught six passes for 44 yards.
The AFC East-champion Patriots were playing their first playoff game since a loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII spoiled an opportunity at perfection.
It was a disastrous start for New England, which trailed by 14 points less than five minutes after the game's opening kickoff.
The Ravens got the ball to begin the contest and grabbed a quick lead when Rice burst through the middle of the line and rumbled virtually untouched to the end zone.
It marked the first time Baltimore opened the scoring in its last eight playoff games.
Then the Baltimore defense came up with a big play on New England's first possession, as Terrell Suggs stripped Brady and recovered the fumble at the Patriots' 17-yard line. Five plays later, McClain powered his way in for a score from a yard out.
The unforeseen trouncing continued, as consecutive Brady interceptions gave the Ravens a short field with which to work. Rice had a one-yard plunge, and Billy Cundiff kicked a 27-yard field goal for a startling 24-0 lead with 1:19 remaining in a forgettable first quarter for New England.
It was a promising start to the second quarter for the Patriots, who capitalized on a botched punt return. Chris Carr, who picked off Brady earlier, was back to receive the kick but never got the chance because the ball grazed the left shoulder of Baltimore's Tom Zbikowski.
New England's Kyle Arrington pounced on the ball but lost control as he slid out of bounds at the Baltimore 16. The officials ruled Arrington had possession, and the Ravens elected not to challenge the play.
The Patriots then got on the board when Brady hooked up with Edelman for a six-yard touchdown near the four-minute mark.
The rest of the frame was characterized by New England's missed opportunities to whittle the deficit. The Patriots failed to cash in on a Tully Banta-Cain interception -- subsequently going three-and-out, and they wasted a productive punt return by Edelman to the Baltimore 44.
In the third quarter, a Dawan Landry interception of a tipped ball resulted in a 23-yard boot by Cundiff, then Edelman caught a one-yard TD pass to pull New England to within 27-14 with 1:47 to go in the stanza.
The Ravens, though, responded on the ensuing drive that extended into the final frame. McGahee capped the 12-play march with a three-yard TD. Baltimore led 33-14 after the two-point conversion failed with 10 1/2 minutes left.
Stephen Gostkowski finished off a miserable day for New England, pushing a 44- yard field goal wide right with 7:19 remaining.
New England had won the previous five meetings with the Ravens...The Patriots were 8-0 at home during the regular season...Brady has thrown a touchdown pass in 16 straight postseason games, second all-time behind Brett Favre (18)...Rice's first touchdown was the longest run of his career and second longest in NFL postseason history. Current New England running back Fred Taylor has the longest run of 90 yards, set on January 15, 2000 in a Jaguars uniform in an AFC divisional playoff game against Miami...Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco completed 4-of-10 passes for 34 yards. He improved to 3-1 in the postseason for his career...McGahee finished with 62 yards on the ground...New England running back Kevin Faulk had 52 yards on 14 carries and made six catches for 37 yards...Randy Moss had 48 yards on five catches for the Patriots...The Baltimore defense recorded three sacks...The Ravens were 10-of-16 on third down, while New England was 3-for-12.
- Via Sports Network.
At 1:00, the 10-6 Patriots host the 9-7 Ravens at Gillette Stadium. When these two teams last met on October 4 (also in Gillette), the Patriots were able to hold on to a 27-21 win.
This season, the Patriots scored more points than any other team in the AFC besides the Chargers. Last postseason, though, the Ravens were largely dominant on the defensive side of the ball, having held the Dolphins to 9 points and the Titans to 10 before ultimately falling to the Steelers in the conference championship, 23-14.
Patriots fans are confident (when aren't they?), but their optimism seems a little more guarded than it was throughout most of the last decade. From our own Pats Pulpit:
I keep thinking about how Brady is playing now vs. how he played [in the first half of the season] and I feel like he's catching his rhythm. He's leading the team the way I remember in the "early days" and working with what he has. In those days, there were no superstar receivers nor crazy talented running backs. Today, our offense has Randy Moss as a superstar receiver but that's about it. Despite the lack of serious offensive talent, I think they've stepped into a rhythm, with both the players and the play calling. As atrocious as we thought it was in the beginning of the season, I believe the offense has gotten better and smarter towards the end of the season.
I hate to use the term "peaking at the right time", but I believe that's the case.
Meanwhile, our Ravens blog, Baltimore Beatdown, believes that Brady's performance isn't the key issue here.
This game will not be won or lost by Tom Brady's success or even the Patriots as a team. So far this season, the consistent trend has been that the Ravens have been in every game to close to the end of the final whistle. Whathas separated the Ravens from winning those close games has been their execution, or better yet, the lack of it, that has sealed the deal in the losses. Baltimore is capable of beating any team in this league, including the Patriots in their home crib in the post season. The only thing separating the Ravens from an upset victory Sunday will be the play of seconde year QB Joe Flacco. If Flacco can eliminate his mistakes and not those those Red Zone interceptions that has plagued him in losses to the better teams, then he can lead this team to victory. The Ravens have a huge advantage in the run game and be it either Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and even LeRon McClain, Baltimore boasts three running backs better than anything the Patriots can put out there, much less a better run defense to shut the Pats run game down.
Both blogs have live game threads set up and ready to go. While you watch, jump in there and discuss what is or isn't happening.
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Pats Pulpit: Ravens' Running Game, And Patriots' Lack Of It, Was Difference
SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit, offers their look at just what went wrong for New England in Sunday's 33-14 loss to the Ravens. The answer obviously is "a lot," but more specifically, it was the ability to run the ball. Simply put, the Ravens could, and the Patriots could not.
Pats Pulpit puts a bow on it all with some "Fun Facts." But it reads more like nails on a chalkboard for Patriots fans.
It goes on like that. I tried reading them all, but before I could finish I found myself curled up on the floor, crying into my Tom Brady jersey. Being a fan is fun!
Jan 10 9:46p by Ryan Hudson - 0 comments