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Today's cover highlights the Patriots' tense victory in Baltimore. Sean McAdam is on the Johan Santana beat at the baseball winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., and Kevin McNamara previews the PC-URI showdown tonight.

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Posted by Mike McDermott  at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Squib kicks: Brady gets big 4-0

BALTIMORE – Tom Brady’s eye-popping pace has slowed a bit, but he’s still getting some impressive marks.

Last night, he had his 40th and 41st touchdown passes of the season, making him just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 40 TDs, following Peyton Manning, Dan Marino (who did it twice) and Kurt Warner.

Brady also got his 27th career fourth-quarter comeback win, and second in as many weeks. He is also now 29-5 in games where the final margin is a touchdown or less.

More Brady numbers:
He’s 46-16 on the road; 34-2 on artificial turf; and 42-8 on games played Thanksgiving or later.

*****
Randy Moss caught Brady’s first touchdown pass of the night. It was Moss’ 17th scoring catch of the season, tying his career high. Moss also had 17 as a rookie with Minnesota in 1998 and again in 2003.

With four catches last night, the 10th year veteran has 751 for his career, the 25th player in league history to hit that mark.

Moss has 1,129 yards receiving on 75 catches this season.
*****
New England recorded its 12th win of the season last night, just the fourth time in franchise history the Patriots have enjoyed a 12-win season. All four years – in 2003 and ’04, they had 14 wins, and in 2006 – have been with Bill Belichick as head coach.
*****
The win over the Ravens was the 99th win for Belichick as coach of the Patriots; he will become the first coach in team history to hit the century mark when New England wins again.
*****
New England has won all four of its meetings against the Ravens since the team moved from Cleveland in 1996. This was the Patriots’ first-ever trip to M&T Bank Stadium.

Tedy Bruschi is the only player to have appeared in all four games; Troy Brown was among the Patriots’ inactive players last night.
*****
New England is now 42-8 after Thanksgiving since 2001, the best late-season mark in the NFL.
*****
Last night’s announced attendance was 71,382, the largest crowd ever at M&T Bank Stadium.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:45 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Squib kicks: Brady gets big 4-0

BALTIMORE – Tom Brady’s eye-popping pace has slowed a bit, but he’s still getting some impressive marks.

Last night, he had his 40th and 41st touchdown passes of the season, making him just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 40 TDs, following Peyton Manning, Dan Marino (who did it twice) and Kurt Warner.

Brady also got his 27th career fourth-quarter comeback win, and second in as many weeks. He is also now 29-5 in games where the final margin is a touchdown or less.

More Brady numbers:
He’s 46-16 on the road; 34-2 on artificial turf; and 42-8 on games played Thanksgiving or later.

*****
Randy Moss caught Brady’s first touchdown pass of the night. It was Moss’ 17th scoring catch of the season, tying his career high. Moss also had 17 as a rookie with Minnesota in 1998 and again in 2003.

With four catches last night, the 10th year veteran has 751 for his career, the 25th player in league history to hit that mark.

Moss has 1,129 yards receiving on 75 catches this season.
*****
New England recorded its 12th win of the season last night, just the fourth time in franchise history the Patriots have enjoyed a 12-win season. All four years – in 2003 and ’04, they had 14 wins, and in 2006 – have been with Bill Belichick as head coach.
*****
The win over the Ravens was the 99th win for Belichick as coach of the Patriots; he will become the first coach in team history to hit the century mark when New England wins again.
*****
New England has won all four of its meetings against the Ravens since the team moved from Cleveland in 1996. This was the Patriots’ first-ever trip to M&T Bank Stadium.

Tedy Bruschi is the only player to have appeared in all four games; Troy Brown was among the Patriots’ inactive players last night.
*****
New England is now 42-8 after Thanksgiving since 2001, the best late-season mark in the NFL.
*****
Last night’s announced attendance was 71,382, the largest crowd ever at M&T Bank Stadium.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:45 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Moss goes off

BALTIMORE – Randy Moss hasn’t said much in the media this season.

But last night, he had plenty to say.

The receiver, accused of loafing by ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski after New England’s win over Philadelphia, didn’t put up big numbers again last night, recording four catches for 34 yards and his 17th touchdown of the year.

But according to Moss, the Ravens’ coverage on him wasn’t totally on the up-and-up.

“Baltimore came out with a game plan that they were going to try and be physical and do a lot of talking, stuff like that. Coach Belichick doesn’t coach us or raise us that way,” he said. “So for us to come up and shut them up with a last-second touchdown, that’s what really felt good.”

Ravens safety Jamaine Winborne was whistled for holding on fourth down, giving New England first-and-goal at the 8. Jabar Gaffney scored the game-winning touchdown on the next play.

“There was just so much trash talking man, from guys who really haven’t done anything in the league,” Moss said. “So it was a good thing for the offense that Jabar Gaffney came up with a key catch, luckily, for six, and we shut them up. I’m not a trash talker. I talk with my play, not my mouth.”

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:29 AM to Randy Moss | Permalink | Comments 0

Billick puckers up for Harrison

BALTIMORE – Rodney Harrison likes Brian Billick as a coach.

He just doesn’t like him that way.

There was a funny moment last night between Billick, the Ravens’ head coach, and the Patriots’ safety after James Sanders intercepted a Kyle Boller pass in the fourth quarter, returning it 42 yards to the Baltimore sideline.

Harrison said something to Billick after the play, and Billick blew some kisses Harrison’s way in response.

“I’m yelling and screaming and having fun, he’s yelling and screaming,” Harrison said. “I don’t know. I have a wife. I’m not that type of guy.”

Harrison came up big in the fourth quarter, stopping Willis McGahee for a one-yard gain on second-and-10 on the Ravens’ first possession of the quarter; Sanders’ interception came on the next play.

After New England got a 38-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal, Harrison dropped McGahee for a one-yard loss on second down; that drive ended with a punt two plays later.

Harrison also had a hand in ending Baltimore’s next possession. Kyle Boller completed a pass to McGahee on third-and-2, and Harrison stopped the back a yard short of the first down.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:20 AM to Rodney Harrison | Permalink | Comments 0

Game story: Hot heads, timeout lead to thrilling win

BALTIMORE – Heath Evans summed it up best: “Thank you coach Billick.”

A timeout which proved to be extremely poorly timed led in part to New England getting its game-winning touchdown against the upset-minded Baltimore Ravens last night, as the Patriots kept their undefeated record intact with a 27-24 win.

Down four points with 3:30 to play and two timeouts and the two-minute warning in their pocket after their defensive teammates forced the Ravens into a three-and-out, Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense went to work.

The drive that started off normal enough – drop by Donte Stallworth on first down, 23-yard completion to Benjamin Watson on second down, a dump-off to Kevin Faulk on the next second down, quarterback sneak by Brady, failed pass attempts on the next two downs – then took a turn for the absurd.

It was the type of turn a team needs to go in its favor to, say, win every game on its schedule.

On third-and-10 from the Ravens’ 39, Brady found Faulk on the left sideline, but Faulk stepped out of bounds just before the first-down marker. The Pats went for it on fourth down, and it appeared that Brady was stopped.

But not so fast: someone on the Baltimore sideline, possibly Billick and possibly defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, called timeout before the play, whistling it dead.

So the Patriots try again. This time steady Stephen Neal is whistled for a false start, walking New England back to fourth-and-6. Brady drops back, scans the field, sees nothing and then takes off, gaining 12 yards. Five more were tacked on when Samari Rolle was flagged for illegal contact.

New England has first down at the 18. Faulk picks up five yards on first down, but again there are back-to-back passes not completed. On this fourth down, Brady looks to Watson in the end zone, and the missed catch is nullified when Jamaine Winborne is called for holding.

Now it’s first and goal. You can’t just hand Tom Brady first and goal. Jabar Gaffney, who hadn’t caught a ball all night, has his number called, and Brady zips a ball in to him on the left edge of the end zone. Gaffney gets both feet inbounds, but there is a question of whether he had possession. The answer comes back yes.

Before the catch went to review, however, Baltimore Pro Bowl linebacker Bart Scott committed football stupidity. He drew two personal foul unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, one for his actions after the touchdown pass, and the other when he picked up the first flag he received and hurled it into the stands.

Scott had to be restrained by his teammates after the calls.

After the game, the Ravens, who otherwise played a fabulous game against the Patriots in a matchup they looked at as their personal Super Bowl, called the costly timeout “phantom” and pointed to the referees as the reason they weren’t able to end their five-game losing streak.

“Did you all see anybody call timeout? Did they call it? I don’t know,” said Terrell Suggs. “But if it’s called, it’s called. I don’t get into that part of the game.”

“It’s hard to go out there and play the Patriots and the refs at the same time,” cornerback Chris McAlister said. “(The referees are) horrible. That’s the bottom line. They made a lot of bad calls, and it is what it is.”

Even for all of that, Baltimore had a chance to win the game, or at least get a tying field goal. Kyle Boller – who finished the game with a higher quarterback rating than Brady – picked up 25 yards on two passes, then each team called its final timeout. Boller was nearly picked off by Brandon Meriweather, but on the last play of the game, unloaded a bomb that Mark Clayton caught about two yards short of the goal line. He was gang tackled before he could try and dive over the goal line.

Despite the close call – Rodney Harrison joked that he had three heart attacks watching the drama unfold – Tedy Bruschi said he never doubted the outcome would be in New England’s favor.

“No. No. I know who we have on this team, on this defense, this offense,” he said. “These are the ones I’m used to. The most important quarter to win is the fourth quarter, and that’s when we finally started doing things right.

“If you went to sleep on this one, you missed a lot.”

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:08 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

The Rare "Good" Penalty

BALTIMORE -- Normally, an offensive lineman drawing a penalty on 4th-and-1 for moving before the snap would be embarrassed and upset.
Especially if it happened in the fourth quarter, with time running out, his team trailing, and the game on the line.
But Russ Hochstein and his New England teammates were relieved when the veteran right guard was called for illegal motion at the Ravens' 30 with 1:48 left to play and Baltimore leading, 24-20.
That's because Pats fullback Heath Evans was dropped for the loss of a yard on the play, which was nullified because Hochstein had moved before the snap.
"Any time you get a false-start penalty, it's not good," said Hochstein, who's in his seventh NFL season.
"Normally," he said, "that's a terrible spot for that to happen. But it worked out, because we made a play on the next down."
The Patriots picked up the crucial first down on 4th-and-6 when QB Tom Brady, unable to find an open receiver, scrambled out of the pocket and ran for 12 yards."
Helped by another fourth-down penalty -- this time on Baltimore, for holding tight end Ben Watson in the end zone -- the Patriots were able to score the game-winning touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Brady to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds to go.
"We kept making play after play and kept our hopes alive," Hochstein said. "Finally we were able to score."

Posted by Jim Donaldson  at 2:07 AM to Russ Hochstein | Permalink | Comments 0

Bad Numbers For Brady

BALTIMORE -- It was Tom Brady's worst game of the season.
Statistically, at least.
Completing just 18 of 38 passes, for 257 yards and two touchdowns, Brady was sacked three times, for 21 yards in losses, and threw his sixth interception of the year, leaving him with a season-low rating of 76.3 for the game.
"We have to execute better -- run better routes, throw better passes, make better catches, block better," said Brady, sounding remarkably, and unfortunately, like coach Bill Belilchick.
The Patriots appeared about to go down to their first defeat when Brady was stuffed on a fourth-down sneak at the Baltimore 30 with 1:48 to go. But the Pats were given a second chance when the officials ruled that Ravens coach Brian Billick had called a timeout from the sidelines just before the snap.
"I heard the whistle blow and stopped," Brady said, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. "I would've made the first down if the whistle didn't blow."
The Patriots came close to blowing the game, but the bottom line _ as Brady pointed out _ is that they didn't.
"We made a lot of plays under pressure," he said, "and that's what we needed to do down the stretch."

Posted by Jim Donaldson  at 1:59 AM to Tom Brady | Permalink | Comments 0

Blame The Refs

BALTIMORE -- Rather than blaming themselves for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the Ravens blamed the officials.
"The refs were horrible," said cornerback Chris McAlister. "That's the bottom line. They made a lot of bad calls. They'll send in their little report to say that we made a mistake on this one, and this should have been that, and that should have been that -- but it's too late. They need to get it right out there on the field, or don't call it at all."
There were several calls late in the game that upset the Ravens.
One was a defensive holding penalty on a fourth-down pass intended for tight end Ben Watson in the end zone.
"In a game of this magnitude," said cornerback Samari Rolle, "you don't make that kind of call. Let the players decide the outcome of the game. (The Patriots) are a great team. They're not asking the refs to help them. But it's a travesty when you go out there and play that hard and the refs decide the outcome."
The only problem with that tirade is that Watson WAS held during his route, and might have caught the ball for a touchdown otherwise.
That was not the way McAlister saw it, however.
"Winborne jammed (Watson) within five yards," he said, referring to safety Jamaine Winborne, who drew the flag on the play. "He had to run to catch up to the guy. The flag didn't come out until the ball hit the ground."
The worst call of the game was not made by the officials, but by Baltimore coach Brian Billick, who signalled for a timeout from the sidelines just before a fourth down play on which the Ravens stuffed quarterback Tom Brady behind the line of scrimmage.
Instead of getting the ball, and likely running out the clock, the Ravens got a timeout.
"The coaches called timeout," Rolle said. "So that's out of our hands. I can't comment on that. I don't know what happened. The coaches make those decisions."
Billick tried to defend that decision.
"If he'd gotten the first," he told the media attending his post-game press conference, "it would've been you screaming: 'Why didn't you call time out?' Let's make sure we don't have a revisionist history."
Baltimore appeared to stop New England again on the next play, dropping Heath Evans behind the line of scrimmage, but that play didn't count because the Pats were penalized for illegal procedure before the ball was snapped.
Then, on 4th-and-6, Brady scrambled 12 yards for a first down, and another five yards were tacked on the play for a defensive holding call.
Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs thinks the NFL wants the Patriots to make history by becoming the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season.
"I think the world, everybody is kind of cheering for them to go undefeated, break all the records," he said. "You only get a few times to really get the NFL's poster boys in that type of situation. I don't know. I don't know."

Posted by Jim Donaldson  at 1:26 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Better Late Than Never

BALTIMORE -- The Patriots, who only a few weeks ago were being criticized for running up the score against overmatched and overwhelmed opponents, suddenly have morphed into the Cardiac Kids.
"This is the third time in four weeks that we've come from behind in the fourth quarter," coach Bill Belichick said.
They did against the Colts, in Indianapolis, a month ago. They did last weekend in Foxboro, against the Eagles. And they did it again Monday night, in Baltimore.
"Once again," Belichick said, "we made a few more plays than our opponents. You have to give our players credit for the way they played in the fourth quarter. It wasn't perfect. There are a lot of things we need to work on. But I was proud of the way they played when the game was on the line."

Posted by Jim Donaldson  at 1:17 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Defensive Woes

BALTIMORE _ So now, Pats fans, do you believe the New England defense has problems?
A week after being carved up by a backup quarterback, the Patriots gave up 24 points to a Baltimore team that hadn't scored more than 14 in six of last eight games.
Some of the New England faithful thought it was a fluke when Philly's A.J. Feeley threw for 345 yards and three touchdowns, completing 27 of 42 attempts -- that it was an aberration, just one bad game.
Now the Patriots 'D' has had two bad games in a row.
"We got bullied," veteran strong safety Rodney Harrison said after Baltimore's Willis McGahee bulled for 138 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries as the offensively-challenged Ravens outgained the Patriots' prolific offense, 376 yards to 326.
"We can't allow teams to run the ball and pound it like that," Harrison said. "There are times this is a 'mano-a-mano' battle, and they were winning it. Tonight's game showed we have a lot of problems."
And they don't have much time to work on them, with AFC North division-leading Pittsburgh coming to Foxboro on Sunday afternoon.
"There's a lot of things we didn't do as well as we needed to do as a football team," Pats coach Bill Belichick said. "You name it, it was a problem.
"Defensively, we didn't play well. Offensively we didn't play well. The coaching plan, certainly, needed a lot of improvement
"McGahee ran well, as he always does," Belichick continued. "They didn't do anything magic. They did a good job blocking. They had a good scheme, and the challenges were in the off-tackle and cut-back areas. Some of them we played well, and some of them we didn't."

Posted by Jim Donaldson  at 12:50 AM to Rodney Harrison | Permalink | Comments 0