The New England Patriots overcame two special teams disasters to hold on for a 30-23 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium. The 7-6 Ravens seem good enough to make the playoffs, and if they do they may be good enough to win a game or two. The Ravens also lost centre Jeremy Zuttah in the first half with a concussion. “That’s a fundamental thing, but with ball security we all have to do a better job of taking care of the ball”. That’s exactly what the Ravens got and the result was Chris Hogan’s 79-yard touchdown reception that all but put the game away. The 39-year-old Brady has shown this season that, even after missing the first four games, he could be the league MVP for the third time in his career. Kansas City may be in a better position to compete this season as they have an explosive player in rookie receiver Tyreek Hill, along with Jeremy Maclin who will return from injury. Brady finished the first two quarters of Monday night 15/26 for 230 passing yards, a touchdown, and an interception while Flacco went 16/26 for 145 yards and an interception.
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But coach Bill Belichick put the onus on the entire team to be better at ball security and eliminating mistakes, noting special teams captain Matt Slater’s fumbled kickoff and Brady’s interception Monday. Probably in that order, too, since Edelman is the Patriots’ most important offensive player right now outside of quarterback Tom Brady.
The Ravens threatened to take the lead, 3-2, midway through the first quarter on a field goal attempt by kicker Justin Tucker, but New England’s Shea McClellin jumped over the center and got the block.
The Monday night game started with a big Patriots play on punt coverage, followed by one of football’s most exciting scores, a safety.
Someone asked Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh what happened, how his defense got so thoroughly roasted, and he couldn’t have been more matter-of-fact. However, it was a breakdown in the Ravens’ secondary that was the difference in the game. After Ryan Allen’s punt was downed on the 1, Dixon was swarmed in the end zone and brought down by Malcolm Butler for a safety.
The Ravens were able to get within three in fourth quarter, but it took only one play for the Patriots to regain a double-digit lead. Tucker hit a 50-yarder just before halftime.
Matthew Slater then fumbled a kickoff, setting up Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco for a touchdown pass.
Four plays and 22 yards later, the Patriots lead fell to 23-17. But Brady threw for 406 yards and LeGarrette Blount ran for 72 to surpass 1,000 yards for the season. Blount’s 14 rushing touchdown of the season is tied for a franchise record with Curtis Martin. The stakes are equally high for the Ravens, who are tied with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North but now hold the tiebreaker over the Steelers. We saw this matchup past year and the Patriots took down the Chiefs, 27-20.
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Baltimore’s final three games include a home date against Philadelphia, a first-place battle at Pittsburgh and a road trip to Cincinnati, who will be trying to be a spoiler.
