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12/21 23:58 CST Drake Maye leads the Patriots to a 28-24 win over the Ravens
that clinches a playoff spot
Drake Maye leads the Patriots to a 28-24 win over the Ravens that clinches a
playoff spot
By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
BALTIMORE (AP) --- Hopefully the rest of the NFL enjoyed the respite.
The New England Patriots are back in the playoffs --- with an unflappable
quarterback and a coach who is thirsty for more.
Sound familiar?
Drake Maye guided New England to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, rallying
his team from an 11-point deficit to a 28-24 victory over Baltimore on Sunday
night that clinched a postseason spot for the Patriots and dealt a devastating
blow to the Ravens' playoff hopes.
"We're going to try to win the division. We're going to focus on that," New
England coach Mike Vrabel said. "I'm excited. All the credit to the players.
When we win, it's because of them."
Seven years after Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won their final Super Bowl
together in New England --- and four years after Belichick reached the playoffs
with Mac Jones at quarterback --- the Patriots return to the postseason in
Maye's second year behind center. Maye certainly didn't hurt his MVP case
Sunday, throwing for a career-best 380 yards and two touchdowns.
Down 24-13, Maye connected on a 37-yard scoring strike to Kyle Williams, and a
2-point conversion pass to Rhamondre Stevenson made it a three-point game with
9:01 to play.
After New England forced a punt, the Patriots drove 89 yards for the winning
touchdown. Baltimore's pass rush, which was nonexistent earlier in the game,
was much better toward the end, but Maye showed why he and his team are in
first place in the AFC East.
New England remains a game ahead of second-place Buffalo despite losing to the
Bills last week.
"It was kind of a wake-up call last week --- we got a chance to win the game
with a game-winning drive, and this week it was like, man, let's not have that
feeling two weeks in a row," Maye said. "It was kind of the elephant in the
room."
Maye went 12 of 14 for 139 yards in the final quarter, although the winning
touchdown came on one of New England's few productive running plays, a 21-yard
dash by Stevenson with 2:07 left.
The Ravens, who lost Lamar Jackson to a back injury in the second quarter,
turned the ball over on their final drive on a fumble by Zay Flowers. Baltimore
(7-8) is now two games behind AFC North-leading Pittsburgh with two to play. To
win the division, the Ravens would need to win at Green Bay and Pittsburgh and
have the Steelers lose to lowly Cleveland in Week 17.
"Tough loss," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "We didn't do the winning things
we need to do. We made some mistakes that cost us."
The Steelers beat Detroit earlier in the day. The dramatic ending of that game
came after many fans had already entered the stadium in Baltimore, and
Steelers-Lions was shown on the big screen.
Pittsburgh's win put immense pressure on the Ravens, and things went from bad
to worse when New England took a 10-7 lead and then Jackson left late in the
second quarter with yet another injury.
Tyler Huntley --- who led Baltimore to a huge win in Week 8 over Chicago when
Jackson was out with a hamstring problem --- helped the Ravens rally. Flowers
scored on an 18-yard end around to give the Ravens a 17-13 lead in the third
quarter. Baltimore then snuffed out a fake punt near midfield and went ahead by
11 on Henry's 2-yard run with 12:50 left in the fourth.
But that was the last time Henry touched the ball --- another baffling set of
decisions in another fourth-quarter collapse by a Baltimore team that's had
plenty of those in recent years.
The Ravens took a 7-0 lead on a 21-yard run by Henry --- just their third
first-quarter touchdown in nine home games this season. After Maye was
intercepted, Baltimore's offense was rolling before Henry fumbled. New England
tied it on a 1-yard pass from Maye to Hunter Henry.
It was 10-all at halftime.
The Patriots lost Rookie of the Year candidate Tre'Veyon Henderson when the
running back left with a head injury in the second quarter.
Another night-mare The Ravens entered the season 22-3 under Harbaugh in prime time games at home, but they've gone 0-3 this season, losing to Detroit, Cincinnati and now New England. In fact, Baltimore went 3-6 on its home schedule, the worst mark in franchise history. The Patriots, meanwhile, improved to 7-0 on the road in Vrabel's first season at the helm.
Injuries Patriots: DT Joshua Farmer injured his hamstring, CB Charles Woods hurt an ankle, WR DeMario Douglas injured a hamstring and DL Khyiris Tonga hurt a foot. Ravens: G Andrew Vorhees injured a foot.
Up next Patriots: At the New York Jets next Sunday. Ravens: At Green Bay on Saturday night. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Another night-mare The Ravens entered the season 22-3 under Harbaugh in prime time games at home, but they've gone 0-3 this season, losing to Detroit, Cincinnati and now New England. In fact, Baltimore went 3-6 on its home schedule, the worst mark in franchise history. The Patriots, meanwhile, improved to 7-0 on the road in Vrabel's first season at the helm.
Injuries Patriots: DT Joshua Farmer injured his hamstring, CB Charles Woods hurt an ankle, WR DeMario Douglas injured a hamstring and DL Khyiris Tonga hurt a foot. Ravens: G Andrew Vorhees injured a foot.
Up next Patriots: At the New York Jets next Sunday. Ravens: At Green Bay on Saturday night. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
