In the AFC championship game, Tom Brady was held scoreless and failed to throw a touchdown in the game. All of the Patriots points came via the running game and the foot of Stephen Gostkowski. The Ravens field goal kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32 yard field goal with :11 seconds left in the game for the tie as the kick went wide left and the Patriots win the game 20 -23.

Tom Brady passed for 22/36 for 239 yards and 2 interceptions. He rushed for 1 TD. The Patriots ground game amassed 96 yards and 2 TD’s led by Green-Ellis with 68 yards with 1 TD. The Patriots turned the ball over 3 times as opposed to the Ravens 1 turnover and still won the game. It was the Patriots defensive play that won the game for the patriots.

Joe Flacco passed for 22/36 for 306 yards and 2 TD with 1 interception. Baltimore’s ground game managed 116 yards led by Ray Rice with 67 yards on 21 carries. The Ravens won the time of possession battle holding the ball for a little over 7 minutes longer than the Patriots, but lost the war.

In the battle of defenses, New England game out on top with big plays and stops at the right time, although it is hard to take anything away from Baltimore’s defense who held Tom Brady scoreless through the air with 3 turnovers. The Ravens offense is totally responsible for the loss. This will be a hard pill for the Ravens to swallow in the off-season and will the topic of discussion for a while to come. It was a day of missed opportunities for the Ravens with a lot of blame to spread around.

New England’s special teams play was very good and may have been the difference in the game setting up good field position for the Patriots. Danny Woodhead had 101 yards on three kickoff returns for 101 yards. The longest was 41 yards.

The Patriots will play the winner of the NFC Championship game between the Giants and 49rs in the Superbowl on February 5th in Indianapolis.

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