Sunday
NFL News, Opinion, Top PostsLittle help for Flacco as Patriots drop Ravens
EDDIE LEE
NFLPosts.com Editor
In the end, Joe Flacco just couldn’t find the magic to pull off what would have been a significant upset.
A perfectly thrown fourth-down pass, good enough for a first down inside the Patriots 10-yard line, clanked off Mark Clayton’s hands with 30 seconds left and Baltimore fell to New England 27-21.
In getting his team to that point, the second-year University of Delaware alum showed how far he’s developed in a year.
Last season, he was a raw rookie content to hand off to a gaggle of running backs and make the occasional third-down throw. On Sunday, he showed the poise of a veteran and enough resolve and accuracy to singlehandedly beat one of the NFL’s best on the road.
Too bad his coaches and his once-stout defense also weren’t up to the task.
Sophomore head coach John Harbaugh, who looks younger than his 47 years, is often emotional on the sidelines. But there’s emotion and there’s losing control.
Harbaugh spent most of the second half berating the line judge on his sideline after a few questionable calls went against his Ravens, and got hot enough that a 15-yard penalty was assessed.
When a player goes over the line, it’s unacceptable. When it’s the head coach, and it goes on and on, it makes the whole team seem desperate and not ready for a prime time challenge.
Even worse, Harbaugh mangled two fourth-quarter reviews, one on a Kevin Faulk catch that had no chance of being overturned and another on a pass off a fake FG where he challenged whether the catch was made instead of focusing on whether it was a first down. The result was that Baltimore surrendered two late, crucial timeouts.
For despite a week 2 loss to the Jets, these are still the Patriots. And slowly but surely, Tom Brady, after a year of inactivity, is starting to shake off that rust.
It’s not quite 2007 yet – first-down machine Wes Welker is slowed by a knee injury and Randy Moss just caught his first TD on Sunday, but the chains are starting to move more frequently.
After getting sacked and stripped for a Ravens touchdown in the third quarter, that slight hesitation from Brady’s game disappeared, especially on the next drive. He went 5-of-5 for 73 yards and found Moss in the end zone in less than 4 minutes.
Brady, who has 29 fourth-quarter come-from-behind victories to his credit, is reportedly the NFL’s version of Mariano Rivera. The greatest closer. Ever. After Sunday’s win, according to CBS, he’s now 73-1 when his team leads after 3.
Perhaps the Patriots defense deserves its share of the credit too.
Regardless, it makes Clayton’s drop all the more remarkable.
Brady finished 21-of-32 for 258 yards with 1 TD and he also rushed for a score. He was sacked twice but was not harried consistently.
Maybe it’s because the Ravens preferred to drop back in coverage but the Patriots never gave up on the run, despite totalling just 85 rushing yards on 30 carries.
Contrast that with the Ravens, who until this season were known as a team that ran first, second, third and then punted.
Despite finding early success Sunday – Ray Rice finished with 103 yards on 11 carries, Ravens coaches inexplicably shelved the run and put the game on the slim shoulders of the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Flacco.
Willis McGahee, who caught a 13-yard pass for his league-leading 7th TD, ran just 5 times for 11 yards.
Not surprisingly, the Patriots blitzed Flacco mercilessly. He was sacked thrice. He dodged and weaved his way to 27 completions out of a career-high 47 attempts for 264 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. It didn’t have to be that difficult. Not when the Rice was ready.
When called on, the Rutgers grad showed great elusiveness with several eye-catching cuts, a number of which were on display on a 50-yard, third-quarter scamper.
They also lost track of Derrick Mason. Mason caught six passes in the initial drive, including a 20-yard TD, but caught only one more the rest of the game.
With Harbaugh getting outcoached, and the playcalling suspect, the once-proud Ravens defense could find little of that intimidating physical presence it used to bring on every play.
There were flashes, like the sack by Terrell Suggs that was recovered by DT Dwan Edwards in the end zone, and at the start of the game, when the Patriots settled for a field goal after getting the ball at the Ravens 12 following a fumble on the opening kickoff. But they were few and far between.
Two weeks ago, San Diego QB Philip Rivers passed with impunity (436 yards) against Baltimore and so it was on Sunday. Blitz or no blitz, Brady essentially completed what he wanted. And he came into game as the league’s 22nd-ranked passer.
To think that despite all that, Flacco had a chance to deliver a knockout blow shows how far the young quarterback has come. He entered the game as the league’s 5th most efficient passer and served notice that he might even be better down the road.
Ravens LT Jared Gaither left the field on a stretcher after a backfield collision involving Flacco and Patriots defenders Jarvis Green and Ty Warren. According to Associated Press, X-rays on his neck and shoulder were negative and Gaither flew back to Baltimore with the team.
