BREAKING NEWS: New England Patriots advance to AFC Championship game, beat Baltimore Ravens 35-31

Tom Brady recorded 4 TDs as the Patriots overcame two 14-point deficits to beat the Baltimore Ravens.

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The New England Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens 35-31 to advance to their fourth straight AFC Championship game.

In a game that featured everything except great defense, QB Tom Brady led the Patriots as they erased two 14-point deficits – first a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter, and then a 28-14 deficit in the third quarter.

In the first quarter the Ravens opened up with two straight TD drives culminating in passes from QB Joe Flacco to Kamar Aiken and then to Steve Smith Sr.  But Tom Brady responded with a rushing TD to begin their first comeback. In the second quarter Brady tied the game up with a TD pass to Danny Amendola to make the game 14-14, but after an INT late in the half, the Ravens added a TD to TE Owen Daniels to take a 21-14 halftime lead.

In the second half the Ravens took their second 14-point lead of the game on an easy TD pass from Flacco to Justin Forsett. But the Patriots easily responded and erased the deficit, first on a TD pass from Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski, and then on a pass from WR Julian Edelman to Danny Amendola for the game-tying 28-28 score. In the fourth quarter the Ravens added a FG from PK Justin Tucker to take a 31-28 lead, but Tom Brady answered with a TD pass to WR Brandon LaFell to give them the 35-31 lead. The Ravens tried to make a comeback, but Joe Flacco was picked off on their first attempt and with 0:05 left in the game Flacco’s Hail Mary pass was deflected, ending the game.

With the win the Patriots advance to the AFC Championship for the 9th time in the Bill Belichik-Tom Brady era. It’s also their fourth consecutive trip to the AFC Championship game. The win also improved their playoff record against the Baltimore Ravens to 2-2.