God is playing for the Patriots

December 4, 2007 on 11:05 am | In Uncategorized | 2 Comments

God is playing for the Patriots. That is the only excuse I can come up with for how the Patriots possibly won the game last night. Now, no one was expecting it to be much of a game in the first place, the Ravens were 4-7 up against the number one team in football. So I think we were all a little surprised to find undefeated New England in a losing position the majority of the game.

Second quarter the score is tied 10 -10. Brady goes long with a 60 yard pass headed for Welker. It’s intercepted by Baltimore, and they return for 33 yards. He gets taken down at the original line of scrimmage and fumbles the ball! It’s recovered by Watson for exactly no gain. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the Patriots aren’t able to capitalize on it and the half ends giving the exhausted Patriots a short break.

Now, here comes the scary part. We’re in the 4th quarter 1:48 to go; the Patriots are down 20-24. They’re 4th and 1. They decide to go for it, hand it off to Evans who gets nowhere. Game over right? No! Just before the snap Baltimore called a time out! The Patriots get a second chance. They line up, false start, 5 yard penalty. It’s 4th and 6. They go for it again, Tom Brady looking for the throw, no one is open, he scrambles to the first down.

But again, 55 seconds to go the Patriots find themselves 4th and 5. Brady goes for the throw and it’s incomplete. Again, game over right? It’s not. Holding penalty on Baltimore. Automatic 1st down. Saved by the flag. They’re at the Baltimore 8 yard line. Unpredictable winds make it hard to throw, so logically, the Patriots should run it in. Brady goes for the throw (of course) and finds Jabar Gaffney just inside the end zone. He catches the ball, gets two feet in. Well, those of us watching in HD saw that. Someone upstairs decides to challenge it and again it looks like the Patriots are about the have the game handed to them. Thanks again to what appears to be divine intervention, the ruling on the field stands. With 44 seconds left the Patriots fans are breathing a sigh of relief. The score is 27-24.

It looks like the Patriots are going to catch a break as Baltimore is called with a 35 yard penalty. 5 yards for offside and 30 yards on Scott for two counts of unsportsmanlike conduct. The Patriots kick from the 35 for a touchback.
Baltimore is 1st and 10 from the 20. Two short passes take them to the 33 and a time out gets them to the 45. There’s a long pass to Mason, Meriweather bats it away. 8 seconds left in the game, Patriots have already won right? Wrong. Boller with a 52 yard pass to Clayton. It’s caught at the New England 3 and across the world the football fans had a heart attack. 2 seconds left and the Patriots are about to lose to the 4-7 Ravens. But wait, the defense chooses this exact moment to show up and he’s tackled! The clock reads 00:00 and Clayton is tackled just 2 yards from a Raven win.

There is no doubt in my mind the Patriots should not have won that game the way they played. Luckily, someone up there seems to be rooting for them.