Posts related to ‘AFC Championship’

Pats’ Sterling Moore: ‘I definitely thought … this loss is on me’

01.22.12 at 10:03 pm ET

By Mike Petraglia   |  3 Comments

FOXBORO — From goat to hero in the swipe of a hand.

So sums up the NFL life of Sterling Moore on Sunday in the AFC championship.

A lot went through Moore’s head in the split-second that he saw Lee Evans receive the pass from Joe Flacco in the end zone before he got his right hand in to knock the ball loose and to the ground in just the nick of time on second-and-1 from the Patriots’ 14.

“I definitely thought it,” Moore said of being a possible goat, “especially, when he caught the ball, I thought it’s over. This game’s on me, this loss is on me. But I just kept fighting and get it out any way I could. If a ball is close, I’m fighting to get it out, scratching at the ball until the whistle blows. I’m just glad it turned out the way it did.

“It’s an instinct. You don’t have time to think at that moment with good receivers like that. I honestly didn’t know the ball was coming. He didn’t tip it away with his eyes or hands. I just saw him catch it and tried to get it out.”

Moore was also the player that Torrey Smith easily shoved aside on his way to a 29-yard touchdown in the third quarter as the Ravens took their first lead of the game. Moore and Devin McCourty missed tackles on the play.

But it was McCourty and other teammates who kept telling Moore to keep his head up and don’t get down.

“Everyone was telling me to put it behind me,” Moore said. “Quick turnaround.”

It’s advice Moore took to heart.

“Huge, huge, especially when you give up a touchdown earlier in the game, they’re there to tell you to forget about it, it’s happened to everybody, put it behind you and help you make a play and help the team later,” Moore said.

Moore would provide perspective hours later on his Twitter page: Please everyone save the thanks and what not. I didn’t do anything but my job and we have another game to play. #SeeYouInIndy

“He stepped up and made two big plays,” McCourty added. “That play to Lee; at first he caught the ball, so just to swing his hand and get the ball out was a huge play for us, and it kept them out of the end zone and gave our defense a chance.”

Read More: AFC Championship, Baltimore, Lee Evans, New England Patriots Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It

Key Moment: Billy Cundiff’s field goal attempt sails wide

at 8:22 pm ET

By Brandon Lawrence   |  No Comments

As the Ravens drove down the field in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter in the AFC championship Game at Gillette Stadium, the fans in New England held their collective breath as Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco led the offense into the Patriots red zone, well within scoring range.

After a third-down incompletion by Flacco to tight end Dennis Pitta, kicker Billy Cundiff made his way onto the field with 15 seconds left for a 32-yard field goal attempt to tie the game up at 23, and Patriots owner Bob Kraft readily admitted to reporters after the game that he assumed the game was heading to overtime.

But as soon as the ball left Cundiff’s foot, it immediately started sailing to his left and wide of the far post. Patriots guard Brian Waters said after the game that he knew Cundiff missed because of the crowd’s reaction. This key moment – the last play of the game (save for a Tom Brady kneel-down) – proved decisive in propelling the Patriots to their fifth Super Bowl appearance with Bill Belichick at the helm.

Flacco and the Ravens moved down the field and into position with under two minutes remaining. The Patriots defense held Ray Rice, the league’s total yardage leader, to just 46 yards on the ground through the first three quarters and 78 in the game.

After the game, Ravens punter Sam Koch said that heading out onto the field, everything felt normal for the special teams unit; the kick was just pulled a little bit too much.

“It is just really unfortunate. I feel for Billy, and he put his heart and soul out there today and he wanted to go out there and win it for us, and it is just very unfortunate,” Koch said. “It was just one of those things where it just happened to go off to the left. Everything felt fine; maybe a little bit of a rush. I haven’t really talked to him about it, but it will be something we will diagnose later to see what he thought about it.”

Cundiff wouldn’t have even had the opportunity if it weren’t for Patriots safety Sterling Moore. Moore broke up a sure touchdown catch by punching the ball from the hands of Lee Evans in the end zone a few plays earlier.

But when the kick sailed left and overtime was no longer going to be an option, the players from the Patriots sideline flooded the field in celebration. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis said that the team would have been ready, though, had the kick sailed through the uprights.

“I wasn’t praying,” he said. “If he had made it, we would have just come out and done what we had to do to try to win the game. Whatever we had to do; fourth quarter, overtime. Whatever it had been.”

Now, that mission will guide the Patriots as they await the winner of the 49ers-Giants contest to determine who New England will face on Feb. 5 in Super Bowl XLVI matchup in Indianapolis.

Read More: AFC Championship, BenJarvus Green Ellis, Billy Cundiff, Patriots Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It

Snap Judgments: Patriots earn trip to Super Bowl by escaping Ravens, 23-20

at 6:15 pm ET

By Brandon Lawrence   |  17 Comments

With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, the Patriots snuck past the Ravens when Baltimore kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal attempt with 15 seconds remaining. The Patriots, who won 23-20, improve to 7-1 all-time in the AFC championship game.

After a back-and-forth battle in the first 3½ quarters, the Patriots defense came up big on two plays (a Brandon Spikes interception and Vince Wilfork breaking through the offensive line on a fourth down, disrupting Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco) and held on against a Ravens comeback attempt that ended in euphoria for New England fans.

The 31st-ranked defense at the end of the regular season continued to step up in big ways these past two playoff weeks. Here are some things that went right and some things that went wrong in the AFC championship game at Gillette Stadium.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

– Wilfork started the game on fire defensively, helping cut short several Ravens drives in the first quarter, including three straight three-and-outs. On Baltimore’s second offensive possession, Wilfork stopped Ricky Williams on first down for a loss of five. Two plays later, he was in the backfield again disrupting and sacking Flacco for a five-yard loss. The Patriots defensive line didn’t have much trouble shutting down Ray Rice and the rushing game for Baltimore in the first, holding them to a total of seven yards. Wilfork left the game briefly as his left elbow was attended to, but was back on the line in no time. He added a crucial stop on third down with less than three minutes remaining in the game that forced the Ravens to use a timeout. The Ravens went for it, and Flacco’s pass fell incomplete.

– BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran well in the first half on Sunday against the Ravens, gaining 50 yards on eight carries, including a 7-yard scamper for the Patriots’ first touchdown of the game. Green-Ellis did a good job all day of getting the New England offense into scoring range, even if multiple long drives resulted in short field goals. He outgained Rice by 29 yards at the half, but the credit there belongs as much to the Patriots defensive line as it does to Green-Ellis and the offensive line.

– After being stopped on the 1-yard line twice, the Patriots decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal with just over 11 minutes and 30 seconds left to go in the game, trailing by four. Brady kept the ball himself and leapt over the flurry of defenders for the first Patriots touchdown since the second quarter. This score gave them a 23-20 lead, and gave Brady his first playoff touchdown since 2004.

– With 7:22 remaining in the game, inside linebacker Spikes jumped in front of a Flacco pass and made a one-handed interception in the middle of the field. The interception came at the perfect time for the Patriots defense, as the Ravens offense was pushing into New England territory. Though the Patriots almost immediately gave the ball back when Brady was picked off in the Baltimore end zone, it still proved a pivotal play in preventing Baltimore from claiming a lead.

WHAT WENT WRONG

– Coverage on Ravens receiver Torrey Smith was spotty, as the speedy rookie was open deep on several occasions. The Maryland product broke free from coverage early in the game and hauled in a 40-yard reception that put the Ravens in position for their first score of the game, a short field goal that knotted the game up at three apiece. With just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Smith broke a tackle in tight coverage and sprinted 29 yards to the end zone for a touchdown that gave the Ravens their first lead of the game.

– After a spectacular first half last Saturday against the Broncos, Brady experienced just the opposite in Sunday’s first half. The veteran quarterback didn’t register one passing touchdown, although he had a chance very early in the game. Brady overthrew a wide open Rob Gronkowski in the middle of the field in the Baltimore red zone. Brady also threw an interception to Lardarius Webb in the first quarter on an underthrown ball intended for Aaron Hernandez.

– Rookie offensive lineman Nate Solder, who was listed on Friday’s injury report as questionable with a concussion, got the start in the AFC championship game with Sebastian Vollmer still out. Solder had a hard time handling the speedy Terrell Suggs on the pass rush, allowing Brady’s pocket to collapse rather quickly.

– Gronkowski went down with under a minute left in the third quarter on a Bernard Pollard (yes, that Bernard Pollard) tackle. Pollard brought Gronkowski down around the waist, and fell over his left ankle. Gronkowski was taken to the locker room for X-rays. He would return early in the fourth quarter, however.

– Timely plays were not New England’s specialty in this AFC championship game. Brady’s pick in the fourth quarter just one play after Spikes’ interception could’ve killed the team morale, but the Patriots managed to hold on at the end.

Read More: AFC Championship, Patriots, Ravens, Tom Brady Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It

Setting the scene: Championship Sunday Patriots-Ravens

at 11:02 am ET

By Mike Petraglia   |  No Comments

FOXBORO — Mother Nature has cleared her slate while the Gillette Stadium crews have cleared the several inches of snow that fell between Thursday and Saturday, and the stage is set for the Ravens and Patriots to battle for the first ticket to Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

Partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 30s are expected at 3 p.m. ET. Winds out of the northeast between five and 10 MPH will produce a wind chill in the low 20s. Still, it won’t be nearly as cold as last Saturday night when the wind chill dipped near zero.

The Patriots are hosting their fourth AFC championship. They have won their previous three, beating Jacksonville in the 1996 contest at old Foxboro Stadium, beating Indianapolis in 2003 and besting San Diego in 2007.

Overall, the Patriots are making their seventh appearance in the ultimate AFC game, losing only in 2006 when they blew a 21-6 halftime lead in Indianapolis and lost to Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Today, the team will commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 1996 AFC champions when they introduce four members of that squad as honorary captains. Troy Brown, Ty Law, Tedy Bruschi and Drew Bledsoe will head to midfield for the coin flip while baseball hall of famer and Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken will do the honors for the Ravens.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced on the Patriots All-Access show on Saturday night that if the Patriots win, Bledsoe will have the privilege of handing off the Lamar Hunt AFC championship trophy to coach Bill Belichick and the team.

A game of hard hitting figures to get off to a rocking start as Aerosmith lead vocal and superstar Steven Tyler will sing the national anthem.

As for the game itself, the inactive list shouldn’t be a big factor as both teams are relatively healthy.

The Patriots took quarterback Tom Brady off their injury report on Friday. He missed practice on Wednesday but was back to full participation on Thursday with a left shoulder injury. The NFL Network’s Albert Breer reported Friday Brady is dealing with a sprained AC joint in the shoulder that will require six weeks of rest and treatment to get back to full strength. Brady – who set an NFL postseason record last Saturday with five first-half TD passes – hasn’t seen his performance fall off. Brady and the team are monitoring the shoulder as Brady deals with the discomfort.

The Patriots listed 14 players as questionable in their final injury report on Friday, including Patrick Chung (knee), Wes Welker (knee), Deion Branch (knee), Aaron Hernandez (concussion) and Nate Solder (concussion). All are expected to play.

The Ravens, meanwhile, listed just one player – Ed Reed – on their injury report all week. The perennial Pro Bowl safety injured his left ankle on Houston’s “Hail Mary” at the end of the game last Sunday. He was limited on Wednesday and Thursday but returned to full participation on Friday and was listed as probable. He will almost certainly will start today for the Ravens at free safety.

Here’s the full rundown of the Patriots in the AFC championship game:
1/12/86 Patriots 31, Dolphins 14 in Miami
1/12/97 Patriots 20, Jaguars 6 in Foxboro
1/27/02 Patriots 24, Steelers 17 in Pittsburgh
1/18/04 Patriots 24, Colts 14 in Foxboro
1/23/05 Patriots 41, Steelers 27 in Pittsburgh
1/21/07 Colts 38, Patriots 34 in Indianapolis
1/20/08 Patriots 21, Chargers 12 in Foxboro

Some other notes:

The Ravens are the only NFL team to have won a playoff game in each of the last four seasons, including last Sunday’s 20-13 win over the Texans in Baltimore.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh is the first NFL coach in history to win a game in each of his first four seasons in the playoffs. He had been tied with Cowboys’ Barry Switzer at three seasons.

Patriots are 12-3 overall at home in the playoffs.

Read More: 2012 playoffs, Aerosmith, AFC Championship, Baltimore Orioles Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It

Matthew Slater gets some big game advice from dad

01.21.12 at 1:45 pm ET

By Mike Petraglia   |  1 Comment

FOXBORO — Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jackie Slater played in exactly one Super Bowl.

His son is one game away from his first.

Matthew Slater acknowledged Friday that his dad did offer some advice this week as Slater gets ready to play the Ravens in the AFC championship at Gillette Stadium.

“I got almost an email every day from him this week, just telling me to really not take this opportunity for granted,” Slater said. “He played 20 years and he only played in one Super Bowl. You realize that this is why we all play the game. Everybody has been brought here for games like this, to win games like this. He just keeps telling me, ‘You can’t let anything come between you and what you have to do on the field on Sunday. You have to be extremely focused.’ Obviously that message has been echoed around here all week. He knows what’s at stake, I know what’s at stake, we all do.”

That one Super Bowl for the elder Slater was Super Bowl XIV in Pasadena, when Jackie’s Rams lost to the Steelers.

Before last Saturday night, the younger Slater had played in two playoff games, losing both. Both like the team, Slater feels like a weight has been lifted.

Adding to the confident feeling is the chemistry in the locker room, which Slater said came from overcoming midseason adversity. That’s when the Patriots were 5-3 and had a porous secondary, contributing to the worst defense in terms of yards allowed, in the NFL.

“I think during the middle of the season we really went through some adversity,” Slater said. “Adversity can do one of two things – it can either tear a team apart or really bring a team together. I think looking back on it now and when we lost those two games back-to-back and everyone was counting us out, we really rallied together and showed some resiliency. I think in hindsight that might have been a good thing for our team. It’s never a good thing to lose football games, but we really responded and we really showed some mental toughness down the stretch being able to string together wins.

“You don’t find that often, that takes something special and this team has it. We realized that as we went along in the season that you know, we have something here, we think we have a chance to do something special. The guys on this team really get along so well. We all just have that same singular focus and we all just want to win. Any of us are willing to do what it takes for the man next to us so we can go out there and achieve our ultimate goal.”

What was the biggest thing that had to change?

“I think our mindset definitely,” Slater said. “We had to start believing that this team is a good football team, meaning us, and we can do something here, we have something here but we had to believe it. Physically everybody has talented players, but I think it’s the chemistry and the mindset that puts you over the top. Once you started believing and buying in and kind of ignoring what was going on outside our team and just focusing on the guys in that locker room and the coaches, then I think we started to see things turn around and it’s brought us all the way to this point.”

Read More: 2012 playoffs, AFC Championship, Baltimore Ravens, Jackie Slater Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It

Wes Welker ready to get his ‘physical’ on with the Ravens

at 1:13 pm ET

By Mike Petraglia   |  No Comments

FOXBORO — Wes Welker is regarded – by teammates and opponents alike – as one of the toughest receivers in the NFL.

That will likely be in full display on Sunday in the AFC championship against one of the most physical teams in football.

“They’re very physical,” Welker said “They are a physical football team and you have to understand that they are going to come out hitting and you have to come back and hit just as much. You have to understand that it’s going to be a physical football game and it always is with this team. You have to make sure you’re not backing down from any of that.”

The numbers show that the Ravens have had a good deal of success in containing Welker in the last two meetings. On Oct. 4, 2009, Welker had just six catches for 48 yards for a eight-yard average per catch. On Oct. 17, 2010, Welker had seven catches for 53 yards. Welker was held out of the end zone in both meetings and of course, he suffered his season-ending knee injury on the final day of the 2009 season, keeping him out of the 33-14 loss to Baltimore in the playoffs.

But now, Welker could benefit from defensive schemes designed to control Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

“Hopefully it creates a lot of them,” Welker said of the potential man-to-man coverage in the slot and on the outside. “Any time you have great players on the field, it helps everybody out. We’re all in this together. When they get open like they do, it’s going to free-up other guys when they want to try and cover them. I just have to do the best job I can to get open whenever I get an opportunity.”

Welker, in turn, believes the Patriots can handle any pressure situation – physical or mental – because of their offensive leader, Tom Brady, who is playing with a reported sprained AC joint in his left shoulder.

“He’s always got a great mentality,” Welker said. “He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around. I can’t think of too many quarterbacks that don’t have a low completion percentage against the Ravens. I think that pretty much goes across the board in the NFL. I wouldn’t say he was the first or would be the last either. He’s obviously Tom. He’s going to fight and keep coming at them. We’re going to be right there with him.”

Read More: 2012 playoffs, Aaron Hernandez, AFC Championship, Baltimore Ravens Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It

Bill Belichick talks like a man who knows his team is ready

01.20.12 at 7:12 pm ET

By Mike Petraglia   |  4 Comments

FOXBORO — It was the subtlest of signals but Bill Belichick sounded like man Friday who knew his team is ready for the challenge of the AFC Championship on Sunday against the 13-4 Ravens.

Belichick was asked if there is a point at the end of the week where he can relax knowing the game plan is in place or does he think about the game plan up until kickoff?

“I think you get to a certain point here at the end of the week where you’re going at a fast pace early in the week, trying to get the scouting report, trying to get the information on the team that you’re playing, regardless of whether you’ve played them or not, doesn’t matter,” Belichick said. “Then you get into the process of the game plan and you try to pull everything together as you go through the week with the game plan Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, there are always things that come up that you need to kind of rethink or now that you’ve really had a chance to see this against multiple things, maybe you’re thinking of it in one particular situation but what if it’s something else? You have problems, things that happen during the week that you have to work your way through and then you see how your team handles all that.”

Then came the hint that he thinks his team is ready.

“Sometimes you come out of there on Thursday, like last night, sometimes you come out of there after a Thursday practice and you say ‘I think we can add this, we can add that, this would be good in this situation.’ And do that,” Belchick said. “There are other Thursdays where you are saying, ‘We can’t handle what we’ve got here, we have to get rid of this, this and that.’ And, ‘We don’t want to add anything more; we just have to go with what we’ve got. Let’s get rid of this stuff, let’s don’t make the players worry about these calls, we’re not going to call that. We’ll call this instead.’ But you just don’t know that on Monday, you don’t know it on Tuesday, sometimes you don’t know it until Thursday.” Read the rest of this entry »

Read More: 2012 playoffs, AFC Championship, Baltimore Ravens, Bill Belichick Print  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It