Home sweet home

GARY HIGGINS/THE PATRIOT LEDGER

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Patriots 23, Ravens 20 (1/22/'12): Don't let anyone tell you that the Pats don't have a strong home-field advantage. Not after yesterday's AFC title game.

My throat is a little sore from yelling for three straight hours (sorry woman in front of me). My legs are a little tired from standing from 10:30 in the morning till 8:30 at night. In the parking lot and inside Gillette, I didn't sit in my seat once. Not too many people did yesterday. It was that kind of a day. So the next time the fans are enjoying their buzz as the Pats are playing the mediocre Redskins on a beautiful September afternoon, the Sports Blabosphere can give all this "the crowd at Gillette is spoiled and lame" stuff a rest.

The crowd arrived with a playoff energy and helped set the tone for the game early on. That's an even bigger accomplishment when you consider most of us were still trying to get the sound of Steven Tyler singing the national anthem out of our heads. Or maybe that's why the crowd was so loud. We were trying to drown out the screech of "... home of the brave!"

The defense then set the tone on the first play of the game. The Ravens -- like they did to start their playoff romp two years ago -- handed the ball to Ray Rice. Two years ago Rice took the ball to the house. This time he ran into one. Brandon Deaderick and the rest of the D line. It was one play but it was a statement by the defense. "This isn't 2009." The Ravens went three and out. The Pats went three and out. The Ravens went three and out. It became clear to everyone in the crowd that points were going to be of a premium and that every play -- offense and defense -- was huge. The crowd stood as one for every play and the defense seemed to feed off of it.

It was a great game to be at because of that. Every play was preceded by anticipation. It felt like the Pats were always one big play on offense away from taking the game over. But Brady just couldn't seem to get that play. On the other side of the ball, the defense kept Rice and the Raven running game bottled up. The teams traded field goals near the end of the first quarter. Stalemate. The biggest play to that point was a play not made. The Pats drove down to the Ravens 22-yard line and on second down Gronk shed a block at the line and broke free down the middle. The whole stadium saw him rumbling wide open towards the goal line. Brady threw a bullet Gronk's way but he missed him by a few too many yards. A Gronk touchdown spike would have sent Gillette into a frenzy. Instead of a spike there was just a loud groan. The first of several misses/mistakes by Brady that kept the game closer than it could have been.

That made for a true nail-biting finish.

The half ended with the Pats up 13-10. Me, Mark, Toph, and Matt loaded up on a round of margaritas and beers. One half. Four guys. Eight drinks. We knew we wouldn't want to miss a play in the second half. With four minutes to go in the third quarter the lead was 16-10 but the Ravens were driving inside the Pats' 30. Flacco threw a quick out to Torrey Smith on a 3rd-and-3. Sterling Moore closed on Smith and had a chance to tackle him short of the first down. But Smith spun around and Moore missed the tackle, allowing him to race down the far sideline for a touchdown. Ravens 17-16.

Then the fun really started.

Woody fielded the kickoff in his end zone and found some daylight, but as he crossed the 30 he was hit and lost the ball. The Ravens pounced on it. First down Baltimore at the Pats' 28.

"Oh no," I said to Mark. I would say that a few more times.

The defense made a big stand, with Ninko and Ihedigbo sacking Flacco on third down from the Pats 8-yard line. Billy Cundiff came in and hit a 39-yarder and as the third quarter expired the Pats were suddenly down 20-16. Woodhead took the kickoff in his end zone and -- again -- took it out. He made a great return, setting the Pats up at their own 37. Great response to his fumble. It was time for Brady and the offense to respond as well. He hit Gronk for a big gain to the Baltimore 40. The crowd roared with encouragement till we all noticed that Gronk wasn't getting up. He stayed on the field after being tackled, twisting on the ground in obvious pain. He got up and started limping to the sideline as the stadium chanted "Gronk! Gronk! Gronk!"

"I think he's fine," I said. Then the replay showed Gronk's left ankle getting badly twisted on the tackle. "Oh, no. Maybe not." The Pats are down, Gronk is out. What to do? That's right. Throw the ball to Welker. #83 made a couple of big plays to keep the drive alive and the Pats moved the ball down to the 1-yard line on a 1st-and-goal run by Woody. Brady then got stuffed on the sneak (after review) and then BenJarvus was stuffed on third down. Fourth and goal, down by four, with less than twelve minutes left in the AFC Championship.

Gronk came back on the field to the roar of the crowd. But the biggest play of the year wasn't going to Gronk. Or Welker. Or Hernandez. Nope. Brady took the snap and lunged over the top of the pack, breaking the goal line just before Ray Lewis came in and tried to break his back. Touchdown! Brady got up, spiked the ball, and turned to the crowd with a fist-pump and a roar. We all roared back. Pats 23-20.

"Ten minutes to the Super Bowl," Toph and I said at the same time. What a ten minutes it was.

Flacco led the Ravens to the Pats' 46 with just more than seven minutes to play. First and 10. The Ravens were pounding the ball. The much, much, much-maligned Pats D looked like it was about to bend and break once again. Flacco dropped back to pass, fired a dart across the middle to the tight end ... intercepted! Brandon Spikes, one of the good draft picks on defense from the past few years, stepped in front of the pass, snagged it with one hand, and took the ball back to midfield. Gillette erupted. It was the biggest defensive play for the Pats in years. The music blasted and everyone celebrated. "Let's eat up some clock," Mark said. Ya. Let's eat up some clock. The crowd was still high-fiving the pick when Brady took the snap on first down. He took a deep drop and turned and fired a bomb right down the middle of the field. Did Randy Moss just join the team? Who's he throwing a bomb too? Matthew Slater. The ball was tipped by the safety Pollard (yes, that one) and intercepted in the end zone by Ravens rookie Smith. Slater fell down or something. He was nowhere in the picture. Smith got up and took the ball back to the Raven 37-yard line because all the Patriots players -- like the crowd -- were too stunned to react.

"Oh no."

One second the Pats seemed like they had made the play to put the game away. The next, the Ravens were at midfield and driving with under five minutes left to play.

"Oh no."

The Ravens had a 3rd-and-3 at the Pats 30 with 3:30 to go. The ball was going to Ray Rice. Everyone knew it. Two years ago it didn't matter that everyone knew it. He was getting the first down. This defense is different. Maybe not  much better. But different. Rice took the handoff on a draw (bad call) and was met instantly by Big Vince. No gain. Fourth down. Baltimore decided to go for it instead of trying a 50-yard field goal to tie. Big Vince took matters into his own hands again and bulled his way through his man and right at Flacco, forcing a throw out of bounds.

Pats ball with under three minutes to go. One first down and the Ravens are on life support. Two first downs and they are done. Brady hit Branch for 7 yards but Bennie lost a yard on second as the two minute warning hit. People in the crowd just looked at each other without a word. We were all thinking the same thing. It was third and four at the Pats' 39. I watched as Hernandez came open right at the first down mark, right in front of me. Brady threw a perfect strike to Hernandez's outside shoulder away from the safety. But that safety was Ed Reed. The best to ever play the position. Reed closed quickly and somehow undercut the pass and was just able to deflect it away. Fourth down. Punt.

The Ravens are going to get the ball back. "Oh no."

Zoltan hit a solid 44-yard punt, forcing Baltimore to start from its own 21. The way the D was playing I wasn't worried. Throughout the ups and downs of the game I never felt like that Pats would lose. That feeling changed a few plays later when Flacco hit Bolden on 3rd-and-1 at midfield and Boldin danced down the sideline all the way to the Pats' 23 with just 49 seconds to play. "The Pats could lose this game," I thought for the first time. Two plays later I thought they had.

The Ravens had a 2nd-and-1 just inside the 15 with now just 29 seconds left. At least that's what it said on the field. On the scoreboard it read first down. Not too many people noticed. Things were happening so fast it was tough to digest but I remember Matt saying "Watch out for a shot at the end zone here" just as Flacco let the ball go towards the right corner of the end zone. The play was across the field from where we were sitting and all I could see was the ball disappear behind two Pats defenders and what looked like right into the lap of the Ravens' receiver.

"Oh no." There was an audible gasp throughout the stadium. Touchdown Baltimore? "Oh no." Then I saw the ball rolling on the ground and the ref waiving his arms for an incomplete pass. I looked at the replay and saw that Sterling Moore -- the goat on the Ravens' touchdown -- had knocked the ball loose at the last possible second. It was a great play. And a lucky one.

Third down. That's what the down marker on the field said. But the scoreboard now only read second down. "What down is it?" I asked Mark. "Third," he said pointing to the marker. "The scoreboard has it as second," I said. "That's wrong. Definitely third. We just have to stop them here."

Flacco took the snap and had to scramble. Ninko made a dash for him, forcing a hasty throw that Moore knocked to the ground. Fourth down. Third if you -- like Billy Cundiff -- use the scoreboard to keep track of what down it is.

Me, Mark, Toph, and Matt all looked at each other. Overtime.

The crowd was busy talking about the new overtime rules as the Ravens set up for the game-tying 32-yarder. There wasn't any of the "this is a tough kick" talk that precedes kicks of 45 yards or kicks in bad weather. This one was automatic. We were headed to overtime.

Cundiff came running out on the field with only about 12 seconds left on the play clock. A few people -- in Ravens' jerseys -- started calling for a timeout. I looked at Belichick to see if he was going to try to ice the kicker. He wasn't. The ball was snapped and the kick just went straight... to the far left of the stadium.

No good! The Pats win! The stadium rocked and rolled as the Ravens walked stunned off the field. I may have yelled "See ya next year T Sizzle!" or something like that. Confetti started to fly.

Mark looked at me.

"They're in the Super Bowl! Again!"