Ravens Mistakes, New England's Timely Defense Send Pats to SB XLVI

So who's to blame for this one?

Is it Lee Evans for not hanging onto the ball? Is it Joe Flacco for overthrowing a wide open Torrey Smith a couple of times? How about the kicker? Let's blame the kicker! All he does is kick field goals so he shouldn't miss a 32 yarder when the game is on the line, right?

Wrong.

Don't count out any possibilities if your kicker goes by the name of Billy Cundiff.

With a chance to send the AFC Championship game to overtime, Cundiff shanked - what should have been - an easy field goal which led to the Patriots 23-20 victory over the Ravens.

In his defense, he wasn't solely the reason Baltimore lost. However, his explanation for choking was pretty interesting. Cundiff and the Ravens claimed that the scoreboard at Gillette Stadium was displaying inaccurate information, therefore "confusing" the players and not letting them focus on what was happening on the field. According to an interview with Deadspin, the Ravens kicker wasn't fully prepared, as he stated,  "Instead of taking a deep breath and collecting myself, everything just kept speeding up, speeding up. The mechanics of the operation were just off a little bit."

Besides the kick, what was also a little bit off was that explanation. I'm aware of the scoreboard malfunction, yet that should be the lesser of a teams' worries in the final minutes of an AFC Championship game. Not only is that a poor excuse, but Baltimore still had a timeout left to use. If Cundiff or any of the Ravens coaching staff felt like the play was rushed, wouldn't they have just used their final timeout? Or is that considered icing your own kicker?

If that is the case, don't blame Billy for your loss, blame Jason Garrett for ruining that whole scenario of calling - or not calling - a timeout before your kicker attempts to put one between the uprights (his only responsibility).

Cundiff was man enough to own up to his mistake after the game, but as aforementioned, do not just accredit the loss to him. Baltimore could and should have easily won this game, but they didn't. That's not because of the missed field goal though, it's because they didn't take advantage of the Patriots mistakes. Tom Brady said it himself after the game, "Well, I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us."

As shocking as this may sound, Joe Flacco outperformed Brady.

They completed the same amount of passes (22) but the Ravens QB threw for 67 more yards than the victorious QB. Brady finished the game with a 57.5 rating, two interceptions and no passing touchdowns.

So how did New England's lowly defense manage to sustain Baltimore's top-ranked defense all game?

They simply just flipped the script.

The Patriots defense didn't necessarily play better than the Ravens', but they made the more important plays down the stretch to set their team up for the win. Besides forcing 17 third downs throughout the contest, the Pats stepped up their game when it was most needed.

Brandon Spikes' interception in the 4th quarter was one of those crucial plays, stopping what could have been a lead changing drive. On their next defensive series of the quarter, New England was able to deny Baltimore on 4th down. With the time winding down, one would figure that the Pats would just secure the victory, but that wasn't the case.

The final drive of the game is when the defense came together as a unit to somehow avoid a meltdown, and Sterling Moore was that hero.

Moore - who started the season with the Raiders, was signed by the Patriots, cut by the Patriots and then resigned again - broke up the two final passes of the game (one which was a clear touchdown) to set up Cundiff's demise.

And despite your beliefs, it wasn't just that last drive that saved the game for New England. Vince Wilfork and the Patriots defensive line played a stellar game, clogging up lanes and not allowing Ray Rice to have much success on the ground.

If you're part of the Ravens offense, you have a reason to be mad. If you're name is Billy Cundiff, you have a reason to feel guilty. But if you're part of Baltimore's defense, and yes I'm looking at you Bernard Pollard, are a few insults the best you got?

Pollard, the Ravens safety, was interviewed on the radio on Tuesday basically saying how lucky the Patriots were to beat them.

"If the game got to overtime, we knew we were going to the Super Bowl," said Pollard. "I think we played a really good game. We had some things where we made some mistakes or whatever, but just for the most part, dinking and dunking wasn't going to win in 22 seconds."