The New England Patriots improved to 12-0 tonight despite being taken to the limit by the Baltimore Ravens. Jabar Gaffney caught a 8 yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 44 seconds left to cap off a thrilling game-winning drive and deliever the 27-24 victory. The final drive survived two 4th downs and a deflected pass which is normally intercepted. If it wasn't for a few bizarre couple of plays and penalty calls, the Ravens would have won because everything went right for the upset. The Ravens' defense gave Brady fits the entire game, Willis McGahee ran for 138 yards, the weather stunk, and the Pats made several mistakes. Everything was in place for the upset.But...
Near the end of the first half, Ed Reed intercepted Tom Brady and ran it back deep into Patriots' territory, but it was stripped by Kevin Faulk denying the Ravens a chance at a go ahead touchdown or field goal. After a huge punt return, Kyle Boller threw an interception to James Sanders which denied them a chance to take two possession lead midway through the 4th quarter. The Ravens' defense stuffed a Brady quarterback sneak on a 4th and 1, but the play was called dead after a last second timeout by Baltimore. Later in the drive, the Ravens stopped the Pats on 4th and 5, but a holding call was made giving the Pats a 1st and Goal. Finally, on the final play of the game, Kyle Boller completed a hailmary, but the receiver is tackled on the three. Other than the hailmary, if even one of those plays don't happen the Ravens probably win the football game.
So for the second straight week, the Patriots survived a scare from a team that makes its home just off I-95. Their next three games are home games against the Steelers, Jets, and Dolphins. The Steelers are 9-3, but are a poor road team. The Pats will want to kill the Jets, and the Dolphins are 0-12. I don't see them losing any of those three, so the game that could deny them perfection is at the Giants in Week 17. Right now it is unclear if the Giants will even need the game as they sit two games up for a wildcard spot. Even if they do, they have major injury concerns at running back. To beat the Pats, they will have to have a McGahee performance from Brandon Jacobs. I don't see it happening, thus the Pats will go 16-0. They have survived their scares and should win out easily.
Can they be beat in the playoffs? Only in the AFC Championship against the Indianapolis Colts. They will not lose to San Diego or Jacksonville in the divisional round, or to Dallas or Green Bay, on a dry Arizona field, in the Super Bowl. As far as the Colts, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it is almost better for Indianapolis to be on the road, away from the fast RCA Dome turf, in the AFC Championship. Remember when the Pats wanted awful weather to slow down Peyton and company? Well that has flipped. The Pats now want that fast track for Brady to go nuts with Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, and Wes Welker. The Colts would perfer a sloppy track where Joseph Addai can dominate the running game, and the defense can better defend a slower Pats' offense. If McGahee runs for big yardage on the Pats, Addai almost certainly will. The identities of the Pats and Colts have switched. Look for a fantastic AFC Championship Game where the Colts have a legit shot to upset the Pats. They will be 17-0 going into the game.
Pat Morgan
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