The Ravens ended the Patriots’ season with a 33-14 victory that will not be remembered for the final margin, but for the stunned silence at Gillette by the end of the first quarter. The Ravens outscored the Patriots, 24-0, in the opening period, overwhelming them with brute force on offense and defense. The final three quarters were little more than calisthenics.
“We didn’t come to play, point blank,’’ defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “We never had a chance from the first play to the last play. We didn’t even play like it was a playoff game. More like a preseason game. We got beat up today. For them to come in here and do what they did, they could basically have been playing out there with a JV football team and they probably would have given a better effort than we did.’’
The mauling Ravens defense made Brady its primary target, stripping him once and intercepting three of his passes. In his return to the postseason after spending 2008 sidelined by a knee injury, Brady lost in Foxborough for the first time since Nov. 12, 2006, and lost in the playoffs at home for the first time in nine games.
The Patriots had not lost at home in the playoffs since Dec. 31, 1978, and you also would need to scour the history books to find such a thorough defeat. The Ravens held the Patriots to 196 yards while Ray Rice ran for 159 himself. Baltimore needed quarterback Joe Flacco to produce only 34 yards passing to score 33 points.
The effort underscored a trying campaign for the Patriots, who won the AFC East but endured more turmoil than in any recent season. They fought injuries, uncommon insubordination in the locker room, and won only one true road game.
“It’s not like we were 2-14,’’ Brady said. “We’re not at that stage. There’s things that show up over the course of the year that we didn’t do very well. A lot of things that are why we’ve been successful - mental toughness, and leadership, discipline, and commitment. All those things we displayed at times, and we didn’t display at other times.’’
