New England Patriots, 35 Baltimore Ravens, 31
Patriots QB Tom Brady and Ravens QB Joe Flacco went blow-for-blow for seemingly 100 years but the King Patriots managed to break away from the sticky, deadly grasp of the playoff plague Ravens.
Initially, the Ravens appeared set to spoil the mood in Foxborough again. Flacco was 9/9 for 119 yards in the first two drives, both ended in passing TDs. The second of which was a perfect dart bobbled and grasped by WR Steve Smith who beat out the Patriots' defensive savior CB Darelle Revis.
Unlike the 2009 or 2012 Patriots who lived similar-starting, heart-wrenching upsets, these Patriots battled back with force. The offense drove the field. The drive was capped with QB Tom Brady's 4-yard TD run, followed by a forceful spike and a primal yell towards the ballistic, euphoric throng of Patriots fans, woken up and ready to roll. The Patriots controlled the 2nd quarter, WR Danny Amendola later made a great catch-and-run to tie the game at 14.
Maybe the Patriots were spent, Brady's emotion can only carry them so far. The Ravens ended the 2nd quarter on a perfect bullet into tight coverage from Flacco to TE Owen Daniels and started the 3rd with a 16-yard TD run from RB Justin Forsett. 28-14, Ravens.
In the pendulum swing of this great game, Brady responded with a 80-yard touchdown drive his own, the Patriots regrouped on defense and when the Patriots gained possession again they took to trickery to tie the game at 28. Brady threw a screen to WR Julian Edelman who stepped back and launched a perfect pass to a broken-free Amendola.
Both teams played battering, brutal, smart, crisp football in the 4th quarter. The Ravens took the lead with a Justin Tucker field goal, but Brady had another one of those Brady drives that ended in a go-route strike to a tightly-covered WR Brandon LaFell. Now 35-31, Flacco had 3 and a half minutes to respond and the Patriots improved secondary carried the day. CB Duron Harmon intercepted Flacco's own go route to WR Torrey Smith and the war was over. Patriots advance to their 4th AFC Championship in 4 years.
KEY PLAY: Brady's pinpoint go route to Brandon LaFell was just another chapter in a long book of Tom Brady Playoff moments.
MVP: How can it not be Tom Brady? He continues to drive the Patriots both in play and emotion. When Flacco looked to be carrying the day with his 2 early TDs, Brady responded with 367 yards and 3 TDs of own.
Seattle Seahawks, 31 Carolina Panthers, 17
The Panthers played their best but the Seahawks were better.
Panthers LBs Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis did a great job selling out and stuffing the relentless RB Marshawn Lynch, asking QB Russell Wilson to beat them with arm. Unfortunately for them, Wilson was more than up to the task.
QB Cam Newton was Superman in a hostile environment, but ran right into the Dark Knight S Kam Chancellor.
The statistic that most defines this wild Saturday night in Seattle was Russell Wilson on 3rd downs. Wilson was 8/8, 199 yards with 3 TDs. Every time the Seahawks needed Wilson, he responded. Whether it be a high loft to WR Doug Baldwin for the game's first TD or a perfect dart for a one-handed WR Jermaine Kearse 63 yard TD. Wilson's consistency carried the day, he made the big plays, had no interceptions and threw only 7 incomplete passes (most of those purposeful throwaways).
QB Cam Newton didn't have that same consistency. The Panthers moved the ball for 362 total yards and 2 touchdowns to rookie WR Kelvin Benjamin, which can be regarded as an accomplishment. However, Newton also tried CB Richard Sherman on his first pass of the day and was intercepted, he fumbled a handoff that led to Seattle's first touchdown, and while driving the Panthers back to within one possession was intercepted by Kam Chancellor on the 10-yard line, which was returned 90 yards to seal the game.
KEY PLAY: The Chancellor interception, the KamQuake, got Seattle rumbling and kicked off the celebration. The Seahawks had brow-beat and pushed the Panthers around all game and again it paid dividends in the fourth quarter with big plays, this the biggest.
MVP: S Kam Chancellor made himself a national star tonight. The Dark Knight. Kam Chancellor the Touchdown Canceller. Bam Bam Kam. He had 11 tackles and was the heart of a defense that already includes 1st team All-Pros CB Richard Sherman, LB Bobby Wagner and his cohort S Earl Thomas.
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