The Greatest Game Ever Played...
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Maybe the New England Patriots are the team of destiny? Maybe they were simply meant to go undefeated? On Monday night, in the swirling winds of Baltimore and with heavy hearts due the death of a fellow warrior, the Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-24 to remain perfect at 12-0. At the beginning of the fourth quarter the Ravens scored a touchdown to take a seven point lead. A New England field goal narrowed the margin to only four points. Then something happened... Patriots quarterback Tom Brady orchestrated one of the most masterful, but more importantly one of the luckiest, drives in NFL history. The Patriots looked defeated, their dream of perfection was dwindling. On a 4th and 1 with under two minutes left, the Ravens stopped the Patriots. But the unimaginable happened, Baltimore coach Brian Billick had called a timeout negating the play. Players on the Ravens defense reacted in shear anger. They worked so hard to stop the unstoppable, and now they had to do it again. After an offsides call it became 4th and 6. Then Brady took over. He scrambled for the first down to keep New England's shot at perfection alive. A couple of plays later, the Patriots faced fourth down again. Brady's pass fell incomplete in the endzone, but not without incident. A holding call on Baltimore gave New England a first down on the eight yard line. The next play Brady threw his second touchdown pass of the day to give the Patriots a 27-24 lead with 45 seconds left. Then Ravens defenseman Bart Scott lost it. He was called for a 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and then got another 15 yard penalty when he picked the yellow flag off of the field and threw it into the stands. The Baltimore Ravens came one yard away from beating the best team in the league; the team many say is unbeatable. After tonight I'm not sure I can debate them on it anymore. The Patriots win...it's what they do. |
