(Photo by Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
by Dakota Antelman
As has been a common theme in the last few playoff Patriots meetings with the Ravens, Tom Brady and the Patriots offence overcame a partially sluggish outing to squeak out a nail biting 4th quarter win.
On the back of a slew of trick plays and one head scratching manipulation of the NFL rule book, the Patriots overcame two 14 point deficits to advance to the AFC Championship game for a fourth straight season.
Needless to say, the game was a rough one to watch. For many Patriots fans, the alarm was sounded in the first quarter as the Patriots fell behind by two scores and then sounded again when the Ravens pulled away once again to start the second half.
Patriot quarterback Tom Brady did not deny the unfavorable position that the early game struggles put the team in.
"Behind twice by 14 wasn't necessarily in the plan," Brady said. "It took a lot of execution to overcome it."
Stumbling and struggling through the early minutes of this Divisional Playoff game, Bill Belichick and his coordinators eventually recognized the need to rework their entire approach to the game. “Trick play” soon became the defining phrase of the affair.
Brady clocked a four yard touchdown run early. Soon after that, the Patriots put into motion an unheard of call that involved playing ineligible receivers and setting up with too few offensive linemen. That specific play had the Ravens defense scrambling and their coach John Harbaugh furious.
Following the game, Harbaugh stuck to his argument that that play was one that employed an illegal formation. So loud in fact was the back and forth chatter between Patriot and Raven camps that the NFL had to jump in and insist that the play was legal.
All that nonetheless, occurred after the Patriots continued to pile on with sly play calling. Rob Gronkowski was seen lining up on defense. College quarterback turned wide receiver, Julian Edelman, threw a touchdown pass to WR Danny Ammendola. And in the game’s final seconds, the Patriots lined up with a 3 defensive linemen set and stifled a desperate hail mary attempt by Joe Flacco.
Trick plays saved the day for the Patriots. It was not pretty and at times it even made this team appear to the league as more of a lucky team than a skillful one. But amidst it all, they got out of the Divisional Playoffs alive.
"It was a wild game," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, "but I'm just thankful our players hung in there and made the plays they needed to make."
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