Shaky Patriots Defense Hangs in but Must Clean Up to Punch Super Bowl Ticket

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Good enough to win.

Those four words were heard repeatedly in the locker room at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. The New England Patriots became the first team in NFL history to come back from two 14-point deficits to win a playoff game, defeating the Baltimore Ravens 35-31 to punch their ticket to their fourth straight conference championship game.

The Patriots played well enough to win but not well enough to settle the nerves of their fanbase. ESPN Stats & Info shared New England's win probability at different phases of the game:

In the process of picking up their first victory of the 2014 postseason, the Patriots defense yielded its third-highest point total of the season and its fourth-highest yardage total.

"I think defensively we got some big plays today overall," New England head coach Bill Belichick said at a press conference after the game. "I don't think this was one of all our all-time best games. We gave up a lot of yardage, a lot of points, three fourth-down conversions. We have to coach better, we have to play better. We made some big plays and we made enough to win.

"What'd they get 10 points in the second half? Their first touchdown and then the field goal. After that first touchdown drive, if I got that right, in the third quarter when they went up by two touchdowns 28-14, is that right? Yeah, we held them to a field goal after that, so that last 20-whatever minutes of the game, but still, we have to play better, we have to coach better."

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

By land and by air, the Patriots were torched by the Ravens offense. Quarterback Joe Flacco was in the throes of another dominant playoff performance, but he finished the game 28-of-45 for 292 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

Running back Justin Forsett ripped off a whopping 129 yards on 24 carries for an average of 5.4 yards per carry, as the Ravens' offensive line bullied the Patriots' front seven for long stretches.

Even cornerback Darrelle Revis found himself on the wrong end of a few plays, including a pair of killer penalties: a pass interference that gave Baltimore the ball near the goal line with seconds remaining in the first half and a holding penalty that breathed new life into a drive that appeared to stall on third down.

Patriots defense	vs. Ravens	Per-game avg.
Points	31	19.6
Yards	428	344.1
Passing yards	292	239.8
Net yards/pass att.	6.5	6.2
Rushing yards	136	104.3
Net yards/rush att.	4.9	4.0

The Patriots defense appeared hapless and hopeless as it sat back on its heels, seemingly waiting for the Ravens to make a mistake and unable to muster a stop on its own.

All those points and all those yards are dimmed in the afterglow of the win, but the Patriots know that they have work to do if they're going to get back to the Super Bowl and win it all.  

"You watch the film, but right now, it's all about giving ourselves a chance to come to work again," said safety Devin McCourty. "I remember my first year in the playoffs, I didn't think about that at all, and we lost the first game I played in the playoffs. But now, every time I play in the playoffs, all I think about is giving ourselves a chance to come back to work the next day.

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

"Obviously, you know, around here we'll come in and Bill will have everything laid out on what went wrong, what we need to do better next game. That'll never change, but for tonight, I'm going to be happy that we get to come to work tomorrow."

Whether it's the Indianapolis Colts or the Denver Broncos, the Patriots defense will be in for another tall test next Sunday in the AFC Championship Game. The Colts flaunt the league's sixth-ranked scoring offense, and the Broncos were the second-highest scoring offense in the NFL. 

So, whichever team ends up heading to Gillette Stadium, the Patriots will be facing a tough test with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. And it's going to be a test for the defense, according to Mike Dussault of PatsPropaganda.com:

In the past, the defense has been the unit that appeared it would hold New England back in the playoffs. However, it's usually been the offense to come up small in the Patriots' postseason losses. If Saturday's win over the Ravens is any indication, the team's offense is in high gear and ready for a postseason surge.

The defense? It was good enough to win Saturday, but it doesn't take more than a couple of offensive miscues for "good enough" to have a "not" attached to the front.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.

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