Even better to be both lucky and good.
The Baltimore Ravens did everything a team could do to knock off the best team in the NFL and it was almost enough. But trailing 24-20 with just over three minutes left to play, Tom Brady managed a frantic drive to take the lead despite facing fourth downs and a furious Ravens defense that had been blanketing Patriots receivers throughout the night.
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New England got the ball back with 3:30 left. Brady had Stallworth open over the middle on first down but a hard hit by Samari Rolle knocked the ball out before Stallworth could haul it in. Watson was good for a 23-yard catch on the next play, slanting over the middle and going down at midfield.
A second and 10 pass to Faulk went for 9 yards and Brady kept for 2 for the first down at the 39. Brady was incomplete on first and second down and Faulk caught another 9-yard pass on third down. That brought up fourth and 1 from the 30. Brady kept and was stuffed but the refs ran in waving the play off. Apparently, the Ravens had called a timeout just before the snap. New England had second life.
Russ Hochstein was flagged for a false start next moving the ball back 5 yards to the 35. Brady looked to pass on fourth and 6 but again the Ravens had excellent coverage so Brady tucked the ball away and ran for 12 yards to the 23. Rolle was flagged for a 5-yard illegal contact penalty followed by a 5-yard run by Faulk up the middle. Brady's three incompletes that followed brought up another fourth down. Brady looked to Watson in the end zone and he was leveled but flags flew. Jamaine Wilborne was caught holding Benjamin Watson in front of the play and that gave new England a first down.
Now, with a first and goal from the 8, Brady had time, looked left and found Gaffney who made a nice play to keep both feet in bounds along the side of the end zone. The play was reviewed but the call was upheld and the Patriots had a 27-24 lead.
Okay, let's run through the complaints. Yes, there were a lot of penalty calls, but if you look at the replays they were, indeed, all penalties. Yes, the Ravens did call timeout just before that fourth down play. And yes, the pass to Gaffney was a tough call. It doesn't seem, however, that a single one of those calls is really arguable when pulled from the context of the game and a last gasp drive.
The Patriots didn't win because of Hochstein's false start, Rolle's or Wilborne's holding/illegal contact penalties, or due to the Ravens timeout. They won because, when they needed to, they were finally able to stop Willis McGahee on the ground and force punts. McGahee had gashed the defense for large chunks of real estate for the first three quarters. Just not when it mattered most. And they won because, no surprise, Kyle Boller made mistakes down the stretch that Tom Brady didn't make.
The rest of the NFL is catching on to something, however, with the Eagles and now the Ravens blueprint darn near knocking off the undefeated Pats. Next up are the 9-3 Steelers. That is going to be another great game.
