Patriots Come Back to Beat Ravens, Will Play in AFC Championship

It was a heart-pounding matchup, but the Patriots will move on to the AFC Championship after taking their first lead in the fourth quarter, beating the Ravens 35-31.

It was a heart-pounding matchup, but the Patriots will move on to the AFC Championship after taking their first lead in the fourth quarter.

Twice on Saturday, the Baltimore Ravens led by two touchdowns, but both times, New England came back.

One of those deficits, astoundingly, was eliminated when a wide receiver throwing a 51-yard touchdown pass to another wide receiver.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh apparently did not gameplan for former backup quarterback Julian Edelman's trick play when he made the game-tying completion to Danny Amendola.

Veteran Tom Brady did not have the best game of his career, completing 33 of 50 pass attempts. He threw three touchdowns and one pick, managing 367 yards.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw two interceptions, including a huge one to Duron Harmon in the end zone that would have given his team a lead near the end of the fourth quarter.

Brady out-passed Flacco, who threw 292 yards, but that was a necessity - Baltimore completely took the ground game off the table. New England rushed for just 14 yards on 13 carries.

The Ravens, meanwhile, added 136 rushing yards.

Darrelle Revis, New England's shutdown cornerback, was cited before the game as a factor to take the Pats over the top - in actuality, he was called for two rare penalties. Both were major detractions, a 20-yard pass interference and a holding call that reversed a Patriots fumble recovery.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski, targeted 13 times, made seven catches for 108 yards to lead receivers. Edelman made the most catches with eight.

One more game stands between the Patriots and their sixth Super Bowl appearance since Brady and head coach Bill Belichick joined the team. New England will face the Indianapolis Colts or the Denver Broncos next week in the AFC Championship.

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