Patriots-Ravens: New England Stays Perfect...Barely

The New England Patriots survived another close call on Monday night to beat the Baltimore Ravens and move to 12-0 on the season.

The Baltimore defense sacked Tom Brady three times and pressured him numerous others. Haloti Ngata led the team with seven tackles, while Kelly Gregg and Bart Scott had six stops apiece.

The Ravens held the Patriots to just a field goal in the first quarter.

It was the Pats defense, though, that came through in the fourth quarter, forcing Baltimore to punt twice. Tedy Bruschi led the way with 10 tackles, while Rodney Harrison chipped in seven of his own.

The Ravens, to their credit, enjoyed considerable success on the ground. Willis McGahee rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown.

 

First Half

Derrick Mason opened the scoring for Baltimore on a four-yard TD pass from Kyle Boller in the first quarter.

The Pats got their first touchdown on a one-yard run from Heath Evans in the second quarter, which evened the score at 10-10



Second Half

McGahee ran for a 17-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, giving the Ravens a 17-10 lead. Randy Moss' three-yard TD catch later in the period tied the score again.

Baltimore's Daniel Wilcox opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a touchdown, making the game 24-17.

After New England drove for a field goal, the Pats D forced two Baltimore punts. Brady then engineered a 13-play, 73-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds left on the clock.

The end result: Patriots 27, Ravens 24.

Boller had his best game of the year, throwing two touchdowns for 158 yards.

Brady, despite the win, had his worst game of the year, throwing 257 yards and two touchdowns.

The Pats continue their pursuit of perfection against the Pittsburgh Steelers next week.