Billy Cundiff's Late Miss Gives Patriots 23-20 Win, Super Bowl Berth

The AFC Championship Game between the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots drew a 29.1 overnight rating, sources told John Ourand of Sports Business Journal. That would represent a somewhat significant decline from last year's AFC Championship Game between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers, which drew a 31.4.

Source: CBS AFC Champ Game (BAL-NE) pulled a 29.1 overnight, down from last year's Jets-Steelers overnight (31.4).

— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) January 23, 2012

Each ratings points represents about 1,159,000 households. That means nearly 34 million households tuned into the game, which is obviously nothing to scoff at.

Still, the decline in ratings is a bit odd being as fans were treated to another close game, just as they were last year. On top of that, there should have been a fair amount of pre-game interest in the game, as the Patriots featured one of the league's top offense and the Ravens had one of the top defenses. On paper, this seemed to be a game that people should have flocked to.

One possible explanation could be that fans have just grown tired of seeing the Patriots and Ravens. At least one of those two teams has appeared in eight of the past 12 AFC Championship games. In the NFC, where the San Francisco 49ers were making their first conference title game appearance since 1998, the game drew a 33.4 overnight.

The Baltimore Ravens were unable to advance to this year's Super Bowl, but it wasn't for lack of chances in Sunday's afternoon contest against the New England Patriots. Instead Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff was made the goat after missing a potential overtime-forcing field goal late in the game.

Cundiff didn't have the greatest regular season, but he's proven that he's capable of making big field goals over the last few seasons. That wasn't the case on Sunday, however, but he talked to the Boston Herald about what went wrong ... kind of.

"I think we can keep things simple: It's a kick I've made a thousand times in my career," said Cundiff, who connected from 20 and 39 yards earlier in the game. "I just went out there and didn't convert. There's really no excuse for it."

"It's one of those situations that will strengthen me in the end," Cundiff said. "Throughout my career, I've had challenging situations and I'm still standing here today. It's something that is going to be tough for a while, but I've got two kids and there are some lessons I need to teach them. First and foremost is to stand up and face the music and move on."

The Ravens had another chance to tie the game earlier in the fourth quarter, but Baltimore's offense decided instead to try and convert on fourth down (Joe Flacco threw an incomplete pass). Cundiff understood that decision, too.

"You have to look at it as a statistical decision and take the emotion out of it," Cundiff said. "If you look at my stats this year at 50-plus (1-for-6), I didn't give coach a lot of confidence that I'd make that play. I wasn't as successful as I'd like to be in that range, so I probably made the decision for him pretty easy."

For updates and analysis on these teams, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens saw their season come to an end on Sunday in the 2012 AFC Championship Game, as they lost 23-20 to the New England Patriots. The game ended on a Billy Cundiff 32-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game and forced an overtime, but instead sailed wide left.

Many Ravens fans, perhaps not understandably, are heartbroken, while others are quite furious at Cundiff. Bruce Raffel of SB Nation's dedicated Ravens blog Baltimore Beatdown chimes in:

There is no reason whatsoever for an NFL placekicker to miss a field goal from that distance regardless of the pressure. This game should have gone into overtime and while the outcome would have been in doubt, to lose in this manner may haunt the team and its fans not only for the off season, which begins right now, but possibly for years.

At the same time, before any fans want to gang up, light torches and set themselves upon One Winning Drive to demand Cundiff's head on a platter, remember the ridiculous third down call that led to the incomplete pass on 4th down in the preceding series. Therefore, look as much at the coaches and the players for the entire sixty minutes before simply blaming a loss on one single play or player, as absolutely frustrating it obviously was.

It was certainly a tough loss for Ravens fans, as they had a Super Bowl berth within their reach and saw it slip away on a lousy kick, but as Raffel points out, it is important to keep things in perspective.

For updates and analysis on these teams, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens had a chance to force overtime against the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon. Billy Cundiff missed a game-tying field goal canceled the overtime option, however, allowing Tom Brady's team to advance out of the AFC Championship and into the Super Bowl once again.

It's likely most of the people that planned to watch the game were either glued to their television sets or at Foxborough in person. If someone somehow missed it, however, the video highlights included below are definitely worth watching (unless one doesn't want to relive the play that was so eerily similar to the Ray Finkle debacle).

There were quite a few plays that would have altered the game quite a bit had just one small thing changed, looking back, but that missed field goal was certainly the back-breaker.

For further reaction and analysis regarding the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news and needs.

If Lee Evans had secured Joe Flacco's pass in the end zone in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the Baltimore Ravens would likely be headed to Super Bowl XLIV.

Instead, New England Patriots CB Sterling Moore became an unlikely hero when he calmly ripped the ball out of Evans grasp, a play which ended up being the difference in the game after Billy Cundiff shanked a 32-yard field goal attempt a few moments later.

Moore, an undrafted rookie out of SMU, did not even start playing football until his senior year of high school.

After two years of playing in the junior college ranks, he did not have a single Division I offer until his junior college coach showed his highlight tape to the SMU coaching staff at an off-season convention.

He made a mark in his first year on the Hilltop, with 1 INT, 11 pass deflections and 2.5 tackles for loss.

However, he suffered a knee injury early in his senior season, finishing the year with only 24 tackles in 8 games and slipping completely off the draft radar, with one site ranking him as the 113rd best CB in the 2011 draft.

Unlike most years, undrafted rookies like Moore were behind the eight ball in 2011, as the lockout prevented them from signing with teams until right before training camp.

Courtesy of Pats Pulpit, here's a look at his dizzying transaction history in the first few months of his NFL career:

In terms of his NFL career transactions, Moore first signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent on July 28th. He was released on September 3rd in Oakland's final roster cutdown, but was re-signed to their practice squad the next day after clearing waivers. On September 26th, he was released from Oakland's practice squad and landed on the Patriots' practice squad on October 5th. Moore was elevated to the team's active roster and played against the Dallas Cowboys on the 16th, but was released and landed back on the practice squad on the 17th. However, Moore was once again elevated to the team's active roster before the Jets game, when he made his first career start. He's been on the active roster since.

But no matter what happens from here, the Southern California native will always have that play at the end of the 2011 AFC Championship Game, when an undrafted rookie from Conference USA held part of the legacies of some of the NFL's greatest players -- Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed -- in his hands.

Ray Lewis brushed aside retirement rumors immediately following the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, flatly denying this game was it for him. It's no secret Lewis may be nearing the end of his career, but he was having none of it on Sunday after an emotional loss that saw his Ravens drive into position for a chip-shot field goal with time winding down, only to see the attempt miss wide.

When asked whether this was his last game, Lewis had the following to say.

Ray Lewis on whether this was last game as a Raven. "Absolutely not"

— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) January 22, 2012

Kicker Billy Cundiff took a different tone, expressing regret over his late miss while mentioning Lewis specifically.

Billy Cundiff says "to let Ray Lewis down--you don't know how many games he has left--is pretty tough."

— Cindy Boren (@CindyBoren) January 22, 2012

The Ravens came oh-so-close to a Super Bowl berth with a last-minute drive deep into New England territory, only to see the game slip away on the fourth-down field goal attempt. Lewis appears hell-bent on returning, though in the heat of the moment his answer was understandable and expected.

Who knew that Joe Flacco would play better than Tom Brady? If you look at the stats following Sunday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots, Flacco out-did Brady. Unfortunately for Flacco, Brady and the Patriots won the game.

At Brady's postgame press conference he acknowledged that he "sucked today."

"Well I sucked pretty bad today but our defense saved us," Brady said. "I'm gonna go out and try and do a better job in a couple of weeks."

Brady finished completing 22-of-36 passes for 239 yards and two interceptions. It wasn't Brady's best performance but a win is a win and this marks 16 times Brady has won in the postseason, which ties Joe Montana for the 16th in history. It also marks the fifth Super Bowl he'll have gone to, all with Bill Belichick, which is an NFL record for a quarterback-coach combo.

Brady and the Pats will play the winner of the Giants-49ers game in the 2012 Super Bowl.

Starting at their 21-yard line, less than two minutes to go with two timeouts left, down three points, the Baltimore Ravens' season came down to Joe Flacco's ability to lead them in a winning drive.

With wide receiver Julian Edelman covering Anquan Boldin, Flacco targeted him and completed a big third down play on the sideline in the first series, then again on second-and-10 for nine yards, then for a 29-yard gain down the sideline to put the Ravens firmly in field goal position. Edelman was still covering Boldin when Flacco hit him for nine yards to bring the ball to the Patriots' 14-yard line.

Two incomplete passes later — one of which was a perfect throw from Flacco that was knocked out of Lee Evans' hands in the end zone — Billy Cundiff trotted out for a 32-yard field goal to tie the game, but the 2010 Pro Bowler hooked it as badly as one could hope to hook a kick. Game over, Patriots win.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots were incredibly close to heading into overtime with the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's AFC Championship game but Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff shanked a 32-yarder in the final seconds of the game. The Patriots beat the Ravens, 23-20.

We started writing a reminder about the new playoff overtime rules but Cundiff made it unnecessary.

The Broncos and Steelers went into overtime earlier this year with the modified sudden death rules but Tim Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play which sealed the game. If Cundiff could have made the kick -- that has to hurt, Ravens fans -- we'd be talking about the new playoff rules.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, the Patriots move onto the 2012 Super Bowl.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots had a chance to put away the Baltimore Ravens for good in the 2012 AFC Championship Game after a failed fourth down attempt. But they couldn't do it, and instead gave Joe Flacco a chance to send a game that is currently 23-20 in the Patriots' favor to overtime — or win it outright in regulation.

After BenJarvus Green-Ellis took a sweep left to get the Patriots a third and four near midfield, Tom Brady looked left and then threw right to Aaron Hernandez, who ran a short curl near the first-down marker. But good coverage by Ed Reed forced an incompletion, which both short-circuited the Patriots drive and stopped the clock.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

Thanks to Jimmy Smith — and really Bernard Pollard — and that incredible interception, the Baltimore Ravens were given new life and another chance to take the lead, still down just three points.

Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Ricky Williams and the offensive line put together a terrific drive after Flacco's interception, but Vince Wilfork, who had two sacks in the first quarter, stuffed Rice in the backfield on third down, pushing the Ravens back into dangerous field goal territory on fourth-and-six. Rather than let Billy Cundiff kick a 51-yarder, head coach Jim Harbaugh decided to go for it.

Joe Flacco dropped back, but before he could read the defense, he was being pressured, and while he was about to be wrapped up, was forced to fling it toward the sideline and incomplete. The Patriots got the ball back with less than three minutes to ball, leading by three points.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

Joe Flacco's interception to Brandon Spikes gave momentum to the New England Patriots in the 2012 AFC Championship Game. The ridiculous interception on the very next play gave the Ravens all of that momentum back — and then some.

Tom Brady fired deep on a rare bomb in this game, and was rewarded with his second interception of the day, on a fantastic bit of teamwork by Bernard Pollard and Jimmy Smith.

Pollard turned himself just enough to get a hand on the ball, and Smith, a rookie, snagged the ball while it was mere inches off the ground, taking care to pull it in and roll over to preserve the catch.

Better yet, he had the presence of mind to get up and run after the pick, and gave the Ravens decent field position as a result.

Brady has led the Patriots up and down the field for much of the day, but has two interceptions and no passing touchdowns in the game.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

After ceding another touchdown to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, and now down 23-20 in the fourth quarter, the Baltimore Ravens wanted to respond with a score of their own to retake the lead. That didn't happen, it turns out. After a nice running start for the drive, Joe Flacco made an ill-advised throw, and it was intercepted by linebacker Brandon Spikes over the middle.

The drive started on the back of Ricky Williams, who had two outstanding runs for first downs to get things going. Once Ray Rice came back in the game, not much changed. The offensive line and fullback Vonta Leach, who is deservedly on another Pro Bowl team this year, completely dominated the point of attack, but it was all for naught once Flacco tried to do too much.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

Finally, the New England Patriots turned a drive deep into Ravens territory into a touchdown in the 2012 AFC Championship Game. But even that was weird: Tom Brady, the field general of the Patriots' passing attack, instead scored on a dive over the line in the fourth quarter to give the Patriots a 23-20 lead.

That was Brady's second dive on the Pats' goal-to-go series: he was inches short on second down after taking a sneak to the outside and getting a touchdown overruled on review. And it looked painful, with Ray Lewis crashing into Brady after he made his leap.

And the Patriots did all that despite losing Rob Gronkowski to injury on the drive. Gronkowski appeared to injure his ankle while being tackled by Bernard Pollard on a 23-yard catch-and-run, the longest play by the Patriots offense on the day. He then returned for the final play of the drive after heading to the locker room for treatment.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has had what is pretty inarguably the greatest year an NFL tight end has every had. He set a record for regular season touchdowns with 16, and caught three more in their first playoff game last week. This week, against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, hasn't gone nearly as well, and he's in the locker room after suffering a pretty gruesome ankle injury.

Apologies for anyone with a weak stomach, because this isn't the most pleasant of .gifs.

He was moving pretty well on his way to the locker room, but, at last check, that's where he remains. We'll update you on his condition whenever we know more.

Edit: Gronkowski was back in the game on Tom Brady's fourth down touchdown dive.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

After a spectacular touchdown by Torrey Smith, rookie from Maryland, another Terrapins rookie gave the Baltimore Ravens a huge lift when LaQuan Williams, a special teams, um, specialist, stripped Danny Woodhead on the kickoff return, giving the Ravens the ball already in field goal range.

The Ravens were set up to score again, especially after Joe Flacco ran for a first down, but a James Ihedigbo sack meant they would only manage a field goal attempt, which Billy Cundiff put through to give his team a 20-16 lead, a huge shift in momentum after the Patriots had been slicing and dicing the Ravens defense into the red zone on seemingly every drive, though they stalled close to the end zone three times.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

Down 16-10, the Baltimore Ravens needed a touchdown to take the lead and momentum, and rookie wide receiver Torrey Smith gave them all that and then some, with an effort to get in the end zone that can be described only as spectacular.

Before Smith's dive, the Ravens' defense had held the Patriots to another field goal in the red zone, which gave the offense a chance to take the lead if they were able to score their second touchdown. Joe Flacco continued his stellar performance immediately with a perfectly thrown short over-the-shoulder pass to Ed Dickson, which was followed up quickly by a 12-yard run by Ray Rice for a first down to get close to midfield.

After a couple of fruitless plays led to a third-and-11 situation, Joe Flacco hit Lee Evans for a the third time on a beautiful comeback route for 13 yards. The theme of completing high-pressure third downs would repeat itself just a few plays later after connecting with Dennis Pitta, who got absolutely popped by Antwaun Molden. Two rush plays later, one by Flacco, another by Ricky Williams, and the Ravens were yet again in a third down. This time, Flacco found Smith, who broke free for the score.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots started the second half of Sunday's AFC Championship game without CB Kyle Arrington. He is currently out with an eye injury, according to the Patriots. It's unclear exactly what happened but he was not on the field to start the second half.

The team says Arrington is officially questionable to return.

Arrington led the NFL in interceptions this season with seven so clearly his absence will be missed, whether it's for one series or the rest of the game. The Patriots have Sterling Moore at corner and Antwaun Molden at nickel. That's a fairly significant drop-off for the Patriots.

UPDATE: Arrington returned to the game in the fourth quarter. He should play in the Super Bowl.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots began their second half against the Baltimore Ravens in the 2012 AFC Championship Game about where they ended the first half: in the red zone, kicking a field goal. Stephen Gostkowski's third three-pointer of the day gave New England a 16-10 lead early in the third quarter against Baltimore.

Tom Brady has had plenty of success for the Patriots when throwing underneath and trying to pick up yardage, but has been less successful when throwing deep. He's 17-for-28 for 178 yards on the day, with just one completion of 20 yards.

On the bright side, Brady is finding time to chirp at Ray Lewis, which is probably a great thing to do when Lewis is allowed to hit him.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens' defense held the New England Patriots to just a field goal after an impressive drive, leaving Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and the Ravens offense three minutes to try to put some points of their own on the board, down 13-10.

Flacco hit his eighth consecutive pass to Ray Rice for a first down, but threw a towering fly ball — really the only way to describe it, it was so, so high — that Torrey Smith couldn't run down. After Rice was stopped on second down, Flacco decided to then pour the ball into Dennis Pitta, who caught a touchdown just minutes earlier, hitting him for 15 yards on third-and-14, then again for eight yards on first down. Two straight incomplete passes, however, mean the Ravens had to punt back to Tom Brady and the Patriots, who have 58 seconds and two timeouts to work with.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots have gotten their offense in gear, and are now marching up and down the field against the Baltimore Ravens. But Tom Brady's troops haven't had a ton of success in the red zone so far, and had to settle for a field goal late in the second quarter to take a 13-10 lead.

Brady led the Patriots' third scoring drive of 10 plays or more to get that field goal, but threw two incomplete passes on New England's first set of downs in the red zone. And, much as on New England's first field goal drive of the day, Brady failed to connect with Rob Gronkowski on a third-down throw to force Stephen Gostkowski to trot onto the field.

Brady has thrown for 146 yards in the first half, but has also missed on 10 throws, which is uncharacteristic inaccuracy.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

After watching their defense give up the game's first touchdown, the Baltimore Ravens' offense was tasked with responding with a score of their own. Quarterback Joe Flacco seems to have gained a ton of confidence after connecting with Torrey Smith on their deep shot; he hasn't thrown an incomplete pass since.

That rhythm help Flacco lead the Ravens all the way down the field to respond with a touchdown of his own, this one a six-yard pass to tight end Dennis Pitta, his first catch of the game.

Flacco gashed the deep interior of the New England Patriots defense all drive long, first with a 20-yard pass to Lee Evans, then with a 37-yard strike to Anquan Boldin, who fought off several Pats defenders after making the catch.

Ray Rice finally got going after that, running four straight times, narrowly picking up the first down, moving the ball inside the Patriots' 10 for the second consecutive drive. His runs helped open up the secondary for Flacco to connect with Pitta, and the game is again tied, 10-10.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beatdown, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots have been on the verge of breaking open the 2012 AFC Championship Game throughout the first half of the game. But their breakthrough drive and first touchdown came largely on the back of BenJarvus Green-Ellis, not Tom Brady.

Green-Ellis, lovingly nicknamed "The Law Firm" for his wordy name, ran for 36 yards on the second quarter touchdown drive, and punched in the touchdown on this seven-yard run:

Brady did help out, finding Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, and Wes Welker on the drive. But Green-Ellis' first two runs on the drive were the first and second plays of it, and covered 24 yards combined, putting the Ravens on their heels.

Green-Ellis also managed to gain yards on a play that saw his helmet get ripped off, leading to a facemask penalty.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens had a little bit of a scare in Sunday's AFC Championship game when right tackle Michael Oher went down with what looked like an ugly leg injury. Oher was hit in the legs from behind by a New England Patriots player and fell awkwardly.

Here's a look at the injury:

Patriots medical personnel tended to Oher before he was helped off the field. CBS cameras showed Oher walking around on the sidelines so he could return.

Side note of a pun fail: Jim Nantz said during the broadcast that Jah Reid would step in to protect Joe Flacco's blindside, a reference to Oher's movie, Blind Side. But Flacco is right-handed so the right tackle is actually not his blind side.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beatdown, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

Trying to build some momentum after the New England Patriots' first mistake, which became an interception by Lardarius Webb, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron dialed up a deep strike, and this time it paid off. The Ravens opened their fourth drive of the game with their first first down on a 42-yard completion from Joe Flacco to rookie Torrey Smith.

The Ravens offense seemed inspired after the play, and they continued to make plays of positive yardage. Back-to-back runs by Ray Rice set up third-and-five, when Flacco hit Smith for 11 yards to move the ball inside the red zone and get another first down.

The drive stalled inside the 10, however, after a Ray Rice run and short passes to Vonta Leach and Anquan Boldin left the Ravens with a fourth-and-1 on the 3-yard line. Down 3-0, Ravens coach John Harbaugh did the smart thing and let Billy Cundiff kick a field goal to tie the game, 3-3.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens had struggled on three consecutive drives to begin the 2012 AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, and the Patriots' offense had begun to settle into a steady, productive groove. And then Lardarius Webb made an acrobatic interception of Tom Brady to swing momentum back to Baltimore.

Brady was looking for Julian Edelman, but couldn't fit the ball in over Webb, who turned around and snared the pass.

It's not Brady's first interception of the day — Bernard Pollard pulled one down off a tipped pass earlier in the first quarter, only for an illegal contact penalty on Webb to negate it — but it's the first one that counts. And he was, obviously, not pleased.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens started their third drive of the AFC Championship game in a 3-0 hole after the Patriots scored on a field goal. After two drives, they hadn't even made a first down, let alone threatened to break into Patriots territory.

The third drive didn't start much better after Vince Wilfork, who already has a sack on the game, completely blew up Ricky Williams in the backfield for a five-yard loss. Trying to take a shot on second down, Flacco overthrew rookie speedster Torrey Smith deep down the right sideline. On 3rd and 15, Wilfork again shot through the line and sacked Flacco, his second sack and third tackle for loss, just two-thirds of the way into the third quarter.

In three drives, the Ravens haven't secured a first down, have -4 total yards rushing, and Joe Flacco is 1-3 for six yards and has been sacked twice. Starts don't get much worse.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots improved on their first drive, a three-and-out, on their second possession of the day. Tom Brady led the Patriots into the red zone before their drive stalled, forcing a Stephen Gostkowski field goal that gave them a 3-0 lead in the first quarter of the 2012 AFC Championship Game.

Brady found five different receivers on the drive, but was sacked on the Patriots' first play in the red zone, and misfired on a couple of passes that could have been touchdowns, including one to a wide open Rob Gronkowski. He is six of 10 for 46 yards so far.

Brady also had an interception by Bernard Pollard negated by an illegal contact penalty on Lardarius Webb.

For updates and analysis on these teams during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

After a three-and-out on their first drive, the Baltimore Ravens' defense did their job and forced the New England Patriots' offense to do the same. With an opportunity to take advantage of a rare empty drive from the Pats, the Ravens couldn't get anything going yet again, and punted for the second time in the game.

Ray Rice was stuffed after one yard on first down, displaying again how the Patriots' defensive line has won the early battle in the trenches. Joe Flacco managed to hit Lee Evans on a quick six-yard strike on second down — his first completion of the game — but he was sacked by Vince Wilfork on third down, and Sam Koch was forced to punt again.

For updates and analysis on the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Patriots' unheralded defense did its job against the Ravens on the first drive of the 2012 AFC Championship Game. But Baltimore's better-regarded defense shut down the Patriots on their first offensive drive of the day, too.

After Tom Brady threw out to Danny Woodhead for a seven-yard gain on the first play of the game, Brady misfired on the next two throws, forcing the Patriots to punt after a three-and-out. The third-down throw by Brady came after he had to do some scrambling in the pocket while feeling pressure.

Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko had a chance to bury the Ravens deep in their own territory on the punt, but instead kicked it into the end zone for a touchback.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up and during the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Ravens started the opening drive of the AFC Championship game on their 20-yard line, and their first three plays were completely unsuccessful. Ray Rice tried the same play that he busted for an 83-yard touchdown run in their last playoff meeting, but was stuffed for no gain. After an incomplete pass to Anquan Boldin was almost intercepted, Joe Flacco tucked it and ran for four yards on 3rd and 10 and was stopped hard to force a punt.

There wasn't much creativity for the Ravens on the first drive for the Ravens, but they were never going to do an end-around or fleaflicker to open the game up. It's not their style. If they need to, they'll bust those out later. Patriots ball.

For updates and analysis on the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots are hosting the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon in the 2012 AFC Championship game. Contrary to earlier reports, it seems as though the weather will cooperate in Foxborough, Mass., when the two teams kick off.

It won't be warm as the forecast is currently calling for below-freezing temperatures of 28 degrees, but there isn't likely to be the precipitation that was planned for earlier in the week. Weather.com's hour-by-hour forecast indicates that there is just a 10 percent chance of rain or snow while the wind speeds will be a manageable seven miles per hour.

It's tough to say who the new conditions favor, but at least both teams should be able to use their full arsenal on the offensive end.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up to the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The New England Patriots will try to beat the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's AFC Championship game and they'll have to do it without Chad Ochocinco. The Patriots receiver is listed as inactive for the game, which means he will not play.

Ochocinco left the team over the weekend to attend his father's funeral.

Ochocinco's absence won't affect the Patriots offense too much. He's been a non-factor for much of the season catching just 15 balls for 276 yards and one touchdown on the year. The Patriots are still centered around Wes Welker and the tight ends

The rest of the Patriots inactives include QB Ryan Mallett, RB Stevan Ridley, RB Shane Vereen, LB Gary Guyton, OG Donald Thomas, OT Sebastian Vollmer.

That Ridley is inactive could mean a larger role for Kevin Faulk, who is active.

And for the Ravens, the inactives include WR Tandon Doss, CB Chykie Brown, RB Anthony Allen, LBs Josh Bynes and Sergio Kindle, G/C Justin Boren, NT Brandon McKinney.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up to the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots will meet Sunday afternoon in the highly-anticipated AFC Championship game, but it remains to be seen exactly what sort of game fans should be expecting. If it's a defensive struggle and field goals are key, though, the key could be Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff.

Cundiff made just 11 of his 20 field goal attempts on the road this year, a career-low for an otherwise consistent kicker. That doesn't make him worry too much, however, according to his comments in the Baltimore Sun.

"Things can get skewed with statistics," he said after Friday's practice. "What do they say - if you torture them long enough, they'll tell you anything? I think for me, the big thing is just making sure that now that I'm healthy, I can go back to doing the things that made me successful. That's being aggressive, committing to each kick, and really giving my best effort, and I can do that now being healthy. I can kind of judge my work for the postseason on the game at Cincinnati and the game we just had at home. Both were cold-weather games, both were windy games, so I think they prepped me real well for this game because it's going to be cooler. It may not be as windy, but with their open end zone, it does kind of create some challenges, and I feel like I'm ready for it."

Cundiff makes a good case for why Baltimore fans shouldn't be concerned about their kicker when the game in Foxborough kicks off on Sunday. That won't matter, however, if he's unable to come through the clutch and help the Ravens advance to the Super Bowl.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up to the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

We've already talked about the Baltimore Ravens are capable of beating the New England Patriots in Sunday's AFC Championship game despite being big underdogs. Their defense is elite and they're capable of doing what few teams can do and that's rattle Tom Brady.

That said, the Patriots are 9-point favorites for a reason. SB Nation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit, predicts a New England victory (as did I) noting that, while the Pats give up a ton of yards, the defense is efficient enough when it counts. We asked Pats Pulpit why the Patriots are capable of winning this game, and why they're capable of losing.

Why The Patriots Can Win: The Patriots have a great chance to win this game because of the pure fire that's going around the locker room. Urgency may not be the best word, but the entire team has been swept up and are ready and willing to fight together. The overall vibe: they're loose and they're riding for something greater than the team.
From a football standpoint, the Ravens may not have the answer to defending Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, while the Ravens will have to hope lightning strikes twice at the same place with a big day from Ray Rice. The Patriots defense has found its stride in recent weeks and they were actually the best second half defense in the league for the last nine games of the season as only one team scored more than seven points. If the Patriots can get to halftime with a lead, they can run away with the game.

Why The Patriots Can Lose: Ray Rice and Torrey Smith. The Patriots were last in the league for home run plays allowed (i.e.: plays of 20-plus yards) and it wasn't even close. While the Patriots defense was efficient -- you could count the touchdowns from those large plays on your hands -- the Patriots have to limit any opportunity the Ravens have at getting an easy score. If the Ravens get an easy score, then the game will be a dog fight.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up to the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

The Baltimore Ravens have the ability to beat the New England Patriots. The point spread doesn't show it and many predictions on the game (including mine) don't either.

But, as SB Nation's Baltimore Beatdown explained it, the Ravens clearly have the talent to win this game. We asked Baltimore Beatdown why the Ravens can beat the Patriots and why they can blow it.

Why The Ravens Can Win: The Ravens should be able to move the ball on the low-ranked Patriots defense, both on the ground as well as through the air. If RB Ray Rice gets close to 30 touches both rushing and receiving, and QB Joe Flacco has the time to throw against an average pass rush, there is no reason Baltimore can't put close to 30 points on the board and pull off what would be considered an upset everywhere (other than Baltimore).

Why The Ravens Can Lose: If the Ravens are unable to slow down Pats QB Tom Brady and his receivers, getting into a shoot-out, they will have a tough time outscoring New England.

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up to the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.

CBS' top NFL broadcasting team of Jim Nantz (play-by-play) and Phil Simms (analyst) will be joined by field reporter Steve Tasker for the call of the 2011 AFC Championship Game between the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots.

The same crew got an up-close look at the Patriots in last Saturday night's 45-10 win over the Denver Broncos, a performance that impressed Nantz.

"No doubt about it. (Tom) Brady was in a special zone," Nantz told The Denver Post.

"The last Super Bowl win for Brady and the Patriots was seven years ago, and they hadn't performed well in playoff competition in recent seasons. Brady and his teammates were not about to lose this game. This, I think, was more of a factor than facing Tebow.

"And the fans contributed. They were loud...They were bloodthirsty."

For updates and analysis on these teams leading up to the 2012 AFC Championship, visit Ravens blog Baltimore Beat Down, Patriots blog Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. Don't forget to check out SB Nation's NFL hub for all your playoff news.