Game Notes: Trickery Leads New England Patriots Past Baltimore Ravens

Bizarro World has been found and it is localized entirely inside Gillette Stadium.

With the Patriots displaying rare trick plays and at one point an offense with four offensive linemen, Tom Brady threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns and Danny Amendola caught 81 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions in a 35-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

With the win, the Patriots will host the AFC Championship game, their fourth appearance in a row.

“[It’s] good to win, good to be moving to the AFC Championship Game. I thought our guys really hung in there down by 14 to start the game, down by 14 in the third quarter. You know, we just battled back. They hung in there. We made a couple big plays. Obviously the turnovers were big. But we just got a lot of plays from a lot of different people and played good situational football there at the end. We were able to bleed out the clock and make the play on the Hail Mary there at the end. Hats off to our team. They worked hard this week,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick

It took the rare and the unseen for the Patriots to overcome their familiar postseason foe. Down by a touchdown in the third quarter, the Patriots began using four linemen on offense with a fifth ineligible player lining up as a receiver.

The likely never before seen offensive play paid dividends when a a five-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski to end the drive cut the lead in half.

More trickery from the Patriots took place on the next drive. A lateral from Brady to Julian Edelman, who was an ineligible receiver on the play, resulted in a 51-yard touchdown pass to Amendola with 4:20 left in third quarter.

The pass was the first for Edelman, who played quarterback at Kent State, as a Patriot.

“The coach dialed up the double pass. We’ve had it in for a little bit and finally got it called, and we all saw that the coverage [that] we wanted was going to be there, and we were able to execute the play,” Edelman said.

A short field goal by Justin Tucker gave Baltimore a 31-28 lead with 10:28 left in the game but the next Patriots drive would give New England the go ahead score.

Facing a third and six at the Baltimore 44-yard line, Amendola was able to keep the drive alive, breaking a tackle after a reception and scrambing for the extra yards needed for a first down.

The drive later resulted in a 23-yard touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell.

Baltimore’s final two drives would end in a Harmon interception in the end zone and an incomplete pass on a hail mary to end the game.

The Ravens displayed the hot hand to start the game, scoring on their first two opening drives in convincing fashion. Starting the first quarter with a 5-play 71-yard drive, Flacco’s playaction pass to an open Kamar Aiken for the game’s opening touchdown.

Steve Smith doubled the Ravens score with 4:44 left in the first quarter, fading away from Darrelle Revis in the end zone.

The two touchdown lead was erased starting at the end of the first quarter. A Tom Brady run from the Ravens’ 4-yard line late in the first quarter followed by a 15-yard pass to Amendola tied the game at 14-14 with 3:37 left in the first half.

The apparent momentum gained by the Patriots was quickly erased with time dwindling down when Brady was intercepted by Smith at the Baltimore 43-yard line. The turnover would lead to an 11-yard touchdown pass to Daniels to end the half.

A short pass to Justin Forsett with 10:29 left in the third quarter gave Balitmore another two touchdown lead

Below are game notes from Patriots Media Relations:

TEAM NOTES

ROBERT KRAFT EARNS HIS 22ND POSTSEASON WIN

Robert Kraft has 22 career postseasons wins and is now tied with Eddie DeBartalo, Jr. for the fourth-most wins by an ownership group in NFL history.

PATRIOTS ADVANCE TO 11th AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OVERALL The Patriots are 7-3 in AFC Championship Games, including a 4-1 record at home and a 3-1 record at Gillette Stadium.

PATRIOTS HAVE LARGEST PLAYOFF COMEBACK IN TEAM HISTORY

The Patriots defeated Baltimore 35-31 after twice facing 14-point deficits in the game (14-0 and 28-14). The 14-point comeback was the largest in the team’s postseason history, topping the 11-point comeback in a 24-21 win at San Diego on January 14, 2007.

PATRIOTS WIN 100th OVERALL GAME AT GILLETTE STADIUM

Since their state-of-the-art facility opened at the beginning of the 2002 season, the Patriots own the NFL’s best record at home overall. The Patriots own an overall record of 88-16 (.846) at Gillette Stadium in regular season games and a 100-19 (.840) record including playoffs.

PATRIOTS ALL-TIME IN PLAYOFF GAMES

The Patriots have compiled a 26-18 record in their 44 playoff games and their .591 playoff winning percentage ranks fifth in NFL history among teams that have played at least 15 playoff games.

PATRIOTS IMPROVE TO 8-1 IN DIVISIONAL GAMES AFTER A BYE UNDER BELICHICK

The Patriots improved to an 8-1 record in Divisional Playoff games after a bye week under Bill Belichick.

PATRIOTS HAVE THIRD-BEST POSTSEASON WINNING PERCENTAGE AT HOME

The Patriots have a 16-4 (.800) all-time record in home playoff games. The Patriots’ .800 winning percentage at home in the postseason ranks second among teams with at least 10 home playoff games.

HOT WHEN IT IS COLD

The Patriots have now played in 12 playoff games when the kickoff temperature is less than 30 degrees, and New England is 11-1 in those games. The temperature at kickoff of today’s game was 20 degrees. That marked the coldest kickoff temperature for a Patriots game since January 10, 2010, when the temperature was also 20 degrees for a playoff game against Baltimore. Today’s game tied that 2010 game for the third-coldest playoff game in Patriots history, trailing only the 4-degree divisional playoff game against Tennessee on January 10, 2004, and the 11-degree AFC Championship game at Pittsburgh on January 23, 2005.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

BELICHICK TIES TOM LANDRY FOR MOST POSTSEASON WINS

With today’s victory over Baltimore, Bill Belichick collected his 20th career playoff win, tying Tom Landry (20) for the most career postseason wins by a head coach.

BELICHICK ADVANCES TO 9th CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP AS A HEAD COACH

Bill Belichick reached his ninth conference championship as a head coach, ranking second in NFL history to the 10 by Tom Landry.

BRADY SETS NFL RECORD WITH 46th CAREER PLAYOFF TD PASS

Tom Brady had three touchdown passes against the Ravens, and his 23-yard scoring pass to Brandon LaFell in the fourth quarter was the 46th playoff touchdown pass of his career, passing Joe Montana’s total of 45 to set a new NFL record.

BRADY MOVES UP NFL PLAYOFF PASSING LISTS

Tom Brady improved upon his standing on the NFL’s all-time postseason passing lists. Following the Baltimore game, Brady was the all-time NFL leader in passing yards, completions, playoff victories as a starting quarterback, and postseason starts at quarterback.

BRADY HAS SEVENTH CAREER 300-YARD PASSING GAME IN THE PLAYOFFS

Tom Brady threw for 367 passing yards, marking his seventh career playoff game with 300 or more passing yards. That total ranks second in NFL history.

TOM BRADY TIES TEAM RECORD WITH FIVE CAREER POSTSEASON RUSHING TDS

Tom Brady scored on a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for his fifth career rushing touchdown in the postseason. His five rushing touchdowns are tied with Curtis Martin for most postseason rushing touchdowns in team history. The only NFL quarterbacks with more rushing touchdowns than Brady’s five are Steve Young, Steve McNair and John Elway.

TOM BRADY SETS FRANCHISE PLAYOFF RECORD WITH 367 PASSING YARDS

Tom Brady threw for 367 passing yards on 33-of-50 passes, setting a new franchise playoff record for most passing yards in a game. The previous team playoff record was 363 passing yards, set by Brady against Denver on January 14, 2012.

BRADY WILL SET AN NFL RECORD WITH HIS 9th START IN A CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Tom Brady is slated to make his ninth start in a Conference Championship game, which would set a new NFL record. Safety Charlie Waters (DAL) and Linebacker Jack Reynolds (LA Rams/SF) are currently tied with Brady for the NFL record with eight starts in a conference championship. By omitting the season Brady missed due to injury in 2008, the Patriots have made nine title games in 13 seasons with Brady as the starter.

WR JULIAN EDELMAN THROWNS FIRST NFL TOUCHDOWN PASS

WR Julian Edelman threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to WR Danny Amendola in the third quarter to tie the game at 28-28. It was Edelman’s first NFL pass attempt. Edelman played quarterback in college at Kent State. Against the Ravens, Edelman caught a lateral from Tom Brady and then connected with Amendola for the touchdown.

EDELMAN’S TD TOSS WAS PATRIOTS’ FIRST TD PASS BY A NON-QB SINCE 2004

Julian Edelman’s 51-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola was the first touchdown pass thrown by a Patriots player other than a quarterback since kicker Adam Vinatieri threw a 4-yard scoring pass to Troy Brown at St. Louis on Nov. 7, 2004. The last time a Patriots wide receiver threw a touchdown pass was on Oct. 21, 2001, when David Patten threw a 60-yard scoring pass to Troy Brown. Edelman became the third wide receiver in NFL history to throw a touchdown pass in the playoffs, joining Pittsburgh’s Antwaan Randle-El (2/5/06 vs. Seattle) and Detroit’s Jerry Reichow (12/29/57 vs. Cleveland). Edelman joins David Patten (11/21/01) and Gino Cappelletti (10/1/61) as the only wide receivers in Patriots history to throw touchdown passes. Edelman is the only New England wide receiver to throw a touchdown pass in the playoffs.

STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI REACHES 100 POSTSEASON POINTS

Stephen Gostkowski had 5 extra points against Baltimore and became just the seventh player in NFL history with at least 100 kicking points in the postseason on a first-quarter extra point. Gostkowski became the second Patriots player to score 100 playoff points, joining Adam Vinatieri (117). Gostkowski and Vinatieri are the only active players with 100 or more points in the playoffs. Gostkowski is the 11th player in NFL history to have 100 or more playoff points and is the seventh kicker to achieve the feat.

WR DANNY AMENDOLA HAS TWO TOUCHDOWNS, FIVE CATCHES, AND 81 YARDS

WR Danny Amendola caught two touchdown passes, marking his first career game with two or more touchdown catches (including regular season and playoffs). Amendola had one scoring catch in the 2014 regular season. Amendola scored his first NFL postseason touchdown on a 15-yard touchdown pass from QB Tom Brady in the second quarter. He added his second touchdown on a 51-yard reception from WR Julian Edelman in the third quarter. Amendola’s 81 receiving yards were his highest total of the 2014 season (65 yards at NYJ).

ROB GRONKOWSKI HAS SECOND 100-YARD POSTSEASON GAME

TE Rob Gronkowski registered his second career 100-yard receiving game in the postseason, finishing the game with 108 yards on seven receptions. It is the 18th time in team history that a Patriots player has had a 100-yard receiving day in the postseason. Gronkowski’s other 100-yard game in the playoffs was when he had 10 receptions for 145 yards vs. Denver on Jan. 14, 2012.

ROB GRONKOWSKI HAS POSTSEASON LONG OF 46

Rob Gronkowski caught a 46-yard pass in the first quarter for his longest postseason receptions. His previous best was a 37-yarder vs. the New York Jets on Jan. 16, 2011.

WR DANNY AMENDOLA’S 15-YARD TD WAS HIS FIRST IN THE POSTSEASON

WR Danny Amendola scored his first NFL postseason touchdown on a 15-yard touchdown pass from QB Tom Brady in the second quarter.

DURON HARMON INTERCEPTION HELPS STYMIE RAVENS BID

CB Duron Harmon intercepted a Joe Flacco pass in the end zone with 1:39 left to preserve the Patriots’ 35-31 lead and allow the Patriots to run down the clock and thwart a potential game-winning drive by Baltimore. The interception was the first of Harmon’s playoff career.

DEVIN MCCOURTY REGISTERS FIRST POSTSEASON INTERCEPTION

Devin McCourty intercepted Joe Flacco in the third quarter for his first postseason interception.

DEFENSIVE QUICK HITS

· Dont’a Hightower tackled Ravens RB Fitzgerald Toussaint for a 7-yard loss on a pass play in the second quarter with the Patriots trailing 14-7, setting up a third-and-12 that Baltimore did not convert. The stop helped to set up a Patriots scoring drive that ended in Danny Amendola’s 15-yard scoring catch that tied the game at 14.

· Devin McCourty provided tight coverage on Baltimore TE Owen Daniels on third down in the second quarter with the Patriots trailing 14-7, forcing a Baltimore punt on the next play. The stop helped to set up a Patriots scoring drive that ended in Danny Amendola’s 15-yard scoring catch that tied the game at 14.

· Dont’a Hightower tackled Ravens RB Justin Forsett for a 1-yard loss on second down in the third quarter, with the Patriots trailing 28-21, setting up a third-and-11 that the Ravens did not convert and helping the Patriots defense force a stop that set up Julian Edelman’s 51-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola that tied the game at 28.

· Rob Ninkovich and Kyle Arrington teamed up to tackle Baltimore WR Michael Campanaro for no gain on a reverse on third-and-1 in the second quarter, helping to force a Ravens punt on the next play and give the Patriots the ball back with an opportunity to score in the final two minutes of the first half.

Photo Credit: New England Patriots