Brady, trickery help Pats get past Ravens
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — One big comeback, then another.
And now another game for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
The quarterback who treats deficits as distractions dug the Patriots out of two 14-point holes — the first team to do that in NFL playoff history — to reach the AFC Championship Game for the fourth straight year with a 35-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday.
“Behind twice by 14 wasn’t necessarily in the plan,” Brady said. “It took a lot of execution to overcome it.”
Thanks to three touchdown passes by Brady and one by college quarterback turned receiver Julian Edelman, the resilient Pats kept their season alive.
Brady led a masterful march — completing eight of nine passes and running for a first down — to the decisive 23-yard touchdown completion to Brandon LaFell with just more than five minutes left to give the Patriots their first lead.
The top-seeded Patriots (13-4) will host the winner of Sunday’s Indianapolis-Denver game in the AFC title game.
The sixth-seeded Ravens (11-7) had won two of three playoff games in Foxborough over the past five seasons.
“We came to their home field and fought them to the end and we just came up short,” said Kamar Aiken, who caught one of Joe Flacco’s four TD passes.
Brady completed 33 of 50 passes for 367 yards for an offence that picked up just 14 on the ground, the second fewest in team playoff history.
His 46 career playoff touchdown passes surpassed Joe Montana’s 45 for most in NFL history.
Flacco was 28 for 45 for 292 yards and two interceptions. Justin Forsett gained 129 yards on 24 carries.
Forsett had an outstanding season replacing Ray Rice, who was suspended and then released for domestic abuse.
“We’re all faced with challenges in life,” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said, “and, as a teacher and coach that’s what you ask of your guys. I guess what I’m saying is I’m so proud of the way they handled it.”
It was a thrilling game of shifting momentum — two touchdowns by the Ravens, the next two by the Patriots, two more by the Ravens and another two by the Patriots.