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Football > NFL > 2012 > AFC Championship > New England Patriots vs Baltimore Ravens DVD
2012 AFC Championship DVD

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2012 Ravens vs Patriots DVD

2012 AFC Championship DVD
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2012 AFC Championship DVD

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Tom Brady waited out the final tense minutes on the sideline, and somehow his fourth-quarter leap into the end zone held up and sent him and the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.

With the Patriots leading by 3 points with 11 seconds left, Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal attempt and the Patriots escaped with a 23-20 win Sunday in the AFC championship game.

On his 1-yard scoring dive with 11:29 left, Tom Brady took a huge hit from Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis, then emphatically spiked the ball as he walked away. Earlier, Tom Brady showed his fire by barking at Lewis following a hard tackle on a 4-yard run.

Next up as the Patriots chase their fourth Super Bowl trophy in Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick's tenure in New England is the winner of Sunday's NFC championship game between the Giants and 49ers. The Super Bowl is Feb. 5 in Indianapolis.

In their last trip to the big game, the Patriots had an 18-0 record when they were stunned by the Giants four years ago.

Before Cundiff missed, the Ravens had a chance to go ahead two plays earlier, but wide receiver Lee Evans was stripped of the ball in the end zone by backup cornerback Sterling Moore, who earlier was victimized for a touchdown that gave Baltimore the lead 17-16.

Then Cundiff misfired, and the Patriots stormed off their sideline in celebration as the chilled crowd roared.

A three-time NFL champion, Tom Brady didn't throw for a touchdown for the first time in 36 games, although he did pass for 239 yards. He needed help not only from Cundiff's botched kick in guiding the Patriots (15-3) to their fifth AFC title in 11 seasons, but from New England's maligned defense.

The Patriots shut down Ray Rice, the league's total yardage leader, who was limited to 78 yards. Brandon Spikes made a fourth-quarter interception of Joe Flacco, who played well before that and threw for two touchdowns. And when the Ravens (13-5) were threatening to score a late touchdown to win their first conference title in 11 years, New England clamped down.

Notes

  • There are a couple of different ways to look at the missed 32-yard field goal try by Billy Cundiff. It was the third-shortest missed field goal in the final 30 seconds of regulation or at any point in overtime of a postseason game in which the kick could tie the game, or give his team the lead. The 2 shorter kicks were by Mark Moseley (1986 Browns, 23 yards vs Jets) and Rolf Benirschke (1981 Chargers, 27 yards at Dolphins). Both of those other kicks came in overtime of games that their team won anyway.

  • It was the shortest missed field goal in the final 30 seconds of regulation of a postseason game, in which the kick could have tied the game or given the team the lead AND the team lost the game. The previous shortest was a 34-yarder by Mike Michel of the Eagles at the Falcons, with 13 seconds left in a 14-13 loss in the 1978 NFC Wild Card Round. The Patriots won despite an ineffective day from Tom Brady. Baltimore was effective when sending four or fewer pass rushers, holding Brady to season-low totals in completion percentage, yards per attempt, TD-Int differential, and NFL passer rating.

  • The Patriots shut down Ravens star Ray Rice. Rice gained just 78 yards of total offense, his second-lowest number of the season.

  • Tom Brady was not particularly effective using the no-huddle offense on Sunday, completing 13 of 22 attempts for 132 yards and an interception. However, the real beneficiary of the no-huddle strategy was the Patriots' running game, as it was last week against the Broncos.

  • The Patriots pounded the ball between the tackles, as 22 of their 28 rushes went in that direction (not counting kneels). They accumulated 88 of their 96 rushing yards between the tackles with two touchdowns, including Brady's game-winner in the 4th quarter.

  • The Patriots ran 22 plays to their tight end duo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, averaging 7.4 yards per play including 2.0 yards after contact per reception. During the regular season, the Patriots led the league with an average of 3.2 yards after contact while the Ravens ranked 30th in yards after contact allowed (2.4) on passes to a tight end.

  • Joe Flacco had success on throws that traveled less than 15 yards, completing 66.7 percent with two touchdowns. However, when he aired it out, he completed only 4 of 9 including an interception in the 4th quarter.

  • The Ravens' defense effectively disrupted Tom Brady's ability to throw the ball downfield. Brady was just 3 for 11 on passes that traveled 11 or more yards downfield and threw two interceptions. Brady also had five incompletions that were overthrown on passes 11-plus yards, which tied his season high, regular or postseason. Patriots are the 4th team to win two playoff games in a single season with a negative turnover differential. The others to do it were all Steelers teams, in 1975, 1979, 2005. Entering today, teams with 3+ turnovers had lost their last 22 playoff games. Last team to win before today was the Patriots in 2007 AFC Champ game vs the Chargers. He may not have thrown a touchdown pass Sunday, but Tom Brady continues to move through the postseason record books, including tieing Joe Montana for the most playoff wins with 16.

  • Tom Brady records his 16th postseason win as a starter, moving into a tie with Joe Montana for most all-time. Brady also moved past Peyton Manning and Montana in career postseason completions and now only trails Brett Favre.



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