But that’s a comment on how special this one was.
In his 24 years here, there was a lot of talk about a lot of rivalries.
But none can compare to the one they had with Baltimore.
These games were bloodsport, every time out.
Prior to this the two teams met in the playoffs three times, all at Gillette.
But this one soars above all the rest.
In boxing terms, this was Hagler-Hearns.
Except that it went the distance.
The Ravens jumped out to an early 14-point lead.
The Patriots counter-punched to tie it.
Again, New England responded to tie it.
But with plenty of time left for Baltimore to hit back and win at the bell.
Which they failed to do.
But it wasn’t so muchwhatBelichick’s team did to keep coming back at their biggest rival.
They were Top 8 in points and points allowed in the league.
They had a balanced attack, led by Joe Flacco who mighty-morphed into a Power Ranger in the playoffs.
So the Patriots coaching staff had to be ready for any contingency.
So Belichick employed formations that were perfectly legal, if very obscure.
He’d studied them used in college, as well as a time or two in the pros.
In the lead up to the game, he checked with the NFL to confirm that it … conformed?
Then consulted with the game’s officials before kickoff.
The die was cast.
The pieces were on the board.
This was the time to strike.
The short version is that Shane Vereen lined up in the slot, but reported as ineligible.
But they couldn’t help themselves.
And the Ravens didn’t know what to do any of those times.
John Harbaugh’s reaction was to lose, in no uncertain terms, his shit.
He ran onto the field, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike.
Because he didn’t know how else to handle it, apparently.
Eventually he did figure it out.
Which I’ll save until the end of the blog.
The drive ended with a touchdown pass from Brady to Rob Gronkowski.
But the Pats were far from done with the Penn & Teller material.
It’s not at all unfair to say the Ravens were shook by all of this.
Because two plays later, Flacco got picked by Devin McCourty.
It was his first postseason interception in five games and an NFL-record 166 attempts.
Flacco gathered himself enough to put 3-points on the board to make it a 31-28 game.
Another interception of Flacco by Logan Ryan completed the Rutgers Daily Double and pretty much sealed the deal.
Afterwards, the Ravens organization was gracious and magnanimous about how Belichick had out smarted them.
They continued to bellyache.
(This was publicly confirmed by Indy’s GM at a press conference.)
you’re free to’t make this stuff up.
See you tomorrow with more.
