Patriots, Giants feeling Super

FOXBORO, Mass. - Joe Flacco answered his critics. He even answered Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

Flacco, the highly scrutinized Audubon native and former University of Delaware star, outplayed Brady in the Patriots' house and had the Ravens in position to win, or at least send Sunday's game to overtime.

But Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans couldn't hold onto what could have been a game-winning touchdown with 27 seconds left, and moments later Billy Cundiff pulled a potential game-tying 32-yard field goal wide left, effectively ending the game. The miscues wasted a 65-yard drive Flacco engineered in the most critical of circumstances: down by three, with 1:44 to go and a Super Bowl berth on the line.

Instead, the Patriots won yet another AFC championship and head back to the Super Bowl, advancing with a 23-20 win despite Brady's quiet day.

"I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us," Brady said in the postgame ceremony. The Pats were held nine points below their season average and Brady finished with just 239 yards passing, no TDs, and two interceptions. "I'm going to go out and do a better job in a couple weeks."

Despite continued regular- season success, New England has not been back to the Super Bowl since ending an 18-0 season with a loss to the Giants that ended the 2007 season.

Despite his passing struggles, Brady delivered the game-winning points with a fourth-and-1 touchdown dive early in the fourth quarter. He now goes to the Super Bowl for the fifth time in his career, with a chance to win a fourth ring and further build his resumé as an all-time great.

Flacco, meanwhile, heads home despite delivering by far his best postseason performance. He finished 22 for 36 passing for 306 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Playing in taut, hard-hitting game in a hostile stadium, Flacco led his team with cool and poise.

"I'm proud of our quarterback," said Raven coach John Harbaugh. "I'm proud of the way he played and the way he stepped in this kind of a setting. The plays that he made down the stretch I think says a lot about him and his future."

Flacco downplayed the game as an answer to his critics, many of whom labeled the quarterback a weak link on a defense-driven team.

"I don't care. Look at the film. You look at the film, you see how I play. I pretty much play the same way every week," Flacco said. "So you think I played better this week than other weeks? I think you're wrong."

But the Ravens had to rely more on Flacco than most weeks. The Patriots defensive line punished the Ravens and held running back Ray Rice to 67 yards rushing.

"Joe Flacco showed that he is a top five quarterback in this league," Rice said. "Joe drove us today and I would just appreciate it if some of the people that criticized him lay off him now. That's my quarterback."

But Flacco needed just 14 more yards. As the clock wound down, he put a pass into Evans' arms, but safety Sterling Moore, an undrafted free agent the Patriots signed in October, swiped the ball out of the receiver's hands.

"I let everybody down," Evans said.

Two snaps later Cundiff, who seemed rushed as he got onto the field, missed the kind of kick he said he has made "a thousand times" in practices and games.

"I get paid to make field goals," Cundiff said. "I don't get paid to miss field goals."

"You have to make plays under pressure in this league," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

As the kick sailed wide of the goal posts, Ravens players watched in stunned silence, some with their hands on their heads. Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who played a tremendous game, stood on the field, arms held wide.

"Everybody plays this game for this moment," Wilfork said. "At the beginning of the year you have 32 teams at the bottom and everybody is climbing the ladder to get to this moment right here."

Flacco may have earned some respect, but he now joins the other 30 who have come up short. The Patriots play for a fourth championship.