AFC Championship Game

New England beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20. Billy Cundiff missed a 33 yard field goal to tie the scores with :14 left in the game.
Tom Brady had two interceptions on the day and Joe Flacco had a solid game and really stepped up in this game. But Ray Rice was poor where as New England rushing game was good. The Pats are going to the Super Bowl. Great drama. Thoughts?

Surely the Ravens should have used a time out before the kick. Cundiff had only just managed to rush onto the field and get in place with about 5 seconds left on the play clock.

Dominic Dicoco wrote:Surely the Ravens should have used a time out before the kick. Cundiff had only just managed to rush onto the field and get in place with about 5 seconds left on the play clock.

I bet they'll look back at this game and kick themselves. Evans drops in the endzone and they should have used there final timeout but still Cundiff should have made the kick. Ray Lewis will not be happy!!!

It was an insane ending to the game that could have gone either way. Cundiff won't miss another like that in his career I'd wager, it wasn't even close.

Brady was a bit off colour, but the dive for the game winning touchdown leaves him with a lot of credit! He got smashed by Lewis and on replay looks like he landed seriously awkwardly. But I suppose that kind of body-on-the-line play is reserved for games like these.

Three things surprised me with this game, 1) the Ravens struggled stopping the run, 2) Flacco had a very good game passing barring the INT and 3) The Ravens struggled running the ball.

I guess the playoffs are effectively a new season, as the Pats D has played well 2 weeks running, albeit still struggling with the pass D. It came down to 2 great plays from a CB waived from the Raiders PS - not something anyone would predict.

Feel a little sorry for Cundiff, though you wonder whether his delay getting on the field was his fault or a delay with the coaches. I reckon he was also anticipating the Pats trying to ice him. If I was Harabaugh I would have called a TO to give everyone time to calm their nerves.

sodhat wrote:It was an insane ending to the game that could have gone either way. Cundiff won't miss another like that in his career I'd wager, it wasn't even close.

Brady was a bit off colour, but the dive for the game winning touchdown leaves him with a lot of credit! He got smashed by Lewis and on replay looks like he landed seriously awkwardly. But I suppose that kind of body-on-the-line play is reserved for games like these.

I thought Ray Lewis had snapped him! Brady is lucky to be walking after that hit.

Dominic Dicoco wrote:

sodhat wrote:It was an insane ending to the game that could have gone either way. Cundiff won't miss another like that in his career I'd wager, it wasn't even close.

Brady was a bit off colour, but the dive for the game winning touchdown leaves him with a lot of credit! He got smashed by Lewis and on replay looks like he landed seriously awkwardly. But I suppose that kind of body-on-the-line play is reserved for games like these.

I thought Ray Lewis had snapped him! Brady is lucky to be walking after that hit.

I cringed watching it, it bent his back in a seriously awkward looking manner, and I'm guessing he landed on his head too. Only when I saw him spike the ball in celebration did I know he was ok, I was expecting him to hobble away in some pain. Great leap though, good hang time!

Its why QB's wear flak jackets!

Brady is tough, but looking at the last 2 games, I'm wondering how much that left shoulder is affecting him. 2 week break will probably do him the world of good.

It was quite interesting listening to Tom Brady being interviewed after the game when he admitted he "sucked bad". Had it not been for some immense play by Wilfork this could easily have gone the other way by a margin.

I really can't see the Patriots pass D coping wiht the NYG receivers. Our best bet is to nail Eli hard at the start

One thing I've just remembered from last night's coverage on sky is that the studio panel were asked what Tom Brady has to do to be considered one of the greats.

They all seemed to agree he needed to win one more superbowl... That seemed a little harsh to me. He's won three already, and he's had season after season of top level performance...does it really alter his standing that much if he doesn't win a fourth ring?

IMHO no, but his public image doesn't help him - not in a bad way, but he's not Mr Outgoing like others. I think that colours people's judgement. If he wins this year, quiet or not, he will have to be up there with the best. For me, he's top 5 already, though I'd currently rank him below Montana at least. The latter won SB's at different times in his career and displayed that level of consistency pretty much all of his career. Brady has been pretty consistent, but the SB wins came in quick succession and his playoff/SB performance's since haven't been up to that same standard.

Dominic Dicoco wrote:Surely the Ravens should have used a time out before the kick. Cundiff had only just managed to rush onto the field and get in place with about 5 seconds left on the play clock.

I was totally waiting for the "hold on, someone called time out" call from the commentators!

sodhat wrote:One thing I've just remembered from last night's coverage on sky is that the studio panel were asked what Tom Brady has to do to be considered one of the greats.

They all seemed to agree he needed to win one more superbowl... That seemed a little harsh to me. He's won three already, and he's had season after season of top level performance...does it really alter his standing that much if he doesn't win a fourth ring?

Agreed. I think it was Neil Reynolds who almost mocked the tweet and stated "of course he is one of the greats", yet Balldinger (is that considered quite a coup for Sky?) pipes on about the fact he hasn't done anything in the playoffs for 3 years... ridiculous... of course he is an all time great.

crazy_dave23 wrote:

Dominic Dicoco wrote:Surely the Ravens should have used a time out before the kick. Cundiff had only just managed to rush onto the field and get in place with about 5 seconds left on the play clock.

I was totally waiting for the "hold on, someone called time out" call from the commentators!

sodhat wrote:One thing I've just remembered from last night's coverage on sky is that the studio panel were asked what Tom Brady has to do to be considered one of the greats.

They all seemed to agree he needed to win one more superbowl... That seemed a little harsh to me. He's won three already, and he's had season after season of top level performance...does it really alter his standing that much if he doesn't win a fourth ring?

Agreed. I think it was Neil Reynolds who almost mocked the tweet and stated "of course he is one of the greats", yet Balldinger (is that considered quite a coup for Sky?) pipes on about the fact he hasn't done anything in the playoffs for 3 years... ridiculous... of course he is an all time great.

And Peyton has? That's rubbish from Balldinger.

Brady will go dwn as one of the best ever no question. He will lose to Eli again though.

I would suggest that the key criteria for being considered a great is whether you made the players around you play better. I think that applies to the likes of Montana, Lewis, J. Rice, Favre, Bradshaw, Namath etc. And it should apply to Brady, though I'd say he needs to repeat past glories at this stage.

Many considered great were consistent through their careers. Brady hasn't been consistent enough lately in some peoples eyes, hence the doubt. Sunday kind of showed that - even he said he had a bad day. I think his career of work will speak for itself in due course, but winning the SB again should silence his critics for good.

It's interesting as a debate topic, this one, and I watched a video on NFL.com last night discussing whether Brady was the best of all time. They actually appeared to conclude that he was, whether he won the SuperBowl this year or not.

I'd recommend the clip, it's very interesting watching.