 |
| AP Photo-Charles Krupa |
Joe Flacco and the Baltimore
Ravens put Ray Lewis' retirement on hold as they earn themselves a place in the
Superbowl, after a second half comeback of 21 unanswered points gives them a
win against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game at the
Gillette Stadium.
The Ravens won the coin toss, but
they decided to allow the Patriots to receive the ball first.
As this game is Patriots QB Tom
Brady 24th postseason start, he now ties Brett Favre for the most post season
starts ever by a QB.
The game got off to a slow start
though, as both teams had to eventually punt on their first possessions.
It wasn't till the Patriots second
possession did we see the first points being scored, as the Patriots had to
settle for a 31 yard field goal by K Stephen Gostkowski.
It was during this drive though,
that Brady broke an NFL postseason passing yards record, surpassing Denver
Broncos QB Peyton Manning for the 3rd all-time passing yards in a post season
record.
Three drives later, the Ravens
punted the ball back to the Patriots, which WR and return specialist Wes Welker
returned the ball for 28 yards, giving his team good field position on their
own 47 yard line.
However, they were unable to
capitalize on this good field position as the Ravens defense forced them three
and out. During this drive by the Patriots though, Ravens DE Paul Kruger had a
chance to earn an interception, but he was unable to haul the ball in.
Nevertheless, the Ravens received
the ball back and on the ninth play of their drive, their QB Joe Flacco threw a
deep left pass to WR Torrey Smith for 25 yards.
Four plays later, the Ravens had
their first points on the board as their RB Ray Rice earned a two yard
touchdown run, the first touchdown of the day.
On the next Patriots possession,
they travelled 80 yards in 11 plays, topping it off with a one yard touchdown
pass from Brady to Welker, giving the Patriots the lead again.
The first sack occurred on the
next Ravens possession, as Flacco was sacked by Patriots DE Rob Ninkovich,
causing the Ravens to punt the ball as they went three and out.
The Patriots took advantage of
this by adding another three points to the board just as time expired in the
first half. The points came through a 25 yard field goal by Gostkowski.
This made the half time score 7-13
to the Patriots.
The Ravens received the ball at
the start of the second half and on the third play of their drive, Flacco
passed the ball deep left to WR Anquan Boldin for 26 yards to the Patriots 48
yard line.
Despite this big play, they were unable
to benefit any further, as they were forced to punt three plays later. They did
however force the Patriots start with the ball from their own nine yard line.
Brady produced a big play of his
own on the fourth play on the Patriots next drive with a 24 yard pass to
Welker.
A penalty was caused by Ravens SS
Bernard Polland according to the referees, which added another 15 yards to the
Patriots drive, allowing the Patriots to start their next play on the Ravens 36
yard line.
However, a drop by Welker on the
seventh play of the drive caused the Patriots to punt the ball back to the
Ravens.
On the tenth play of the Ravens
next drive, Flacco passed the ball to TE Dennis Pitta for a five yard
touchdown, giving the Ravens a one point lead.
The Patriots were then forced
three and out, making them punt the ball back to the Ravens. On the tenth play
of the Ravens drive at the start of the fourth quarter, Boldin added another
touchdown to the Ravens score through a 3 yard pass down the middle by Flacco.
Patriots got the ball back on the
next kick-off and on their fourth play, WR Brandon Lloyd performed a good spin
move to the right, to get away from Ravens defenders and run out of bounds at
the Patriots 39 yard line.
On the next play, the first
turnover of the game occurred as Patriots RB Stevan Ridley fumbled the ball and
it was recovered by Ravens DE Arthur Jones.
Thanks to this turnover, the
Ravens asserted their authority on the game four plays into their drive, with an
11 yard pass to Boldin for a touchdown, giving the Ravens a two possession
lead.
The Patriots were forced to turn
the ball over again on the tenth play of their next drive as Brady was unable
to complete a pass to WR Deion Branch on fourth down, causing the second
turnover of the game.
The Patriots defense redeemed the
Patriots offense mistakes by forcing the Ravens three and out.
It looked like the Patriots would
profit from this as Brady managed to connect with Welker for a 36 yard pass.
After this though on their next play, Brady's pass for TE Aaron Hernandez was
tipped by Ravens DE Pernell McPhee and intercepted by ILB Dannell Ellerbe, the
third turnover of the game.
Nine plays later and the Ravens
were forced to punt the ball back to the Patriots, but they managed to run down
the clock by just under five minutes, just before the two minute warning.
After the two minute warning and
on the ninth play of the Patriots drive, a pass by Brady intended for Lloyd was
intercepted by Ravens CB Carey Williams in the end zone.
This made the final score 28-13 to
the Ravens.
Not only does this win mean the
Ravens are the AFC Champions, but it also means they will be going to the
Superbowl, to play against the San Francisco 49ers on 3rd February at the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
This game will also be the first
time that two head coaches that are brothers, Jim Harbaugh of the 49ers and
John Harbaugh of the Ravens, have gone against each other in the
Superbowl.
twitter - @ConorJPorter
No comments:
Post a Comment