Patriots 27 - 24 Ravens
Final
  for this game

Patriots put streak on line against Ravens

Dec 3, 2007 - 11:52 AM New England (11-0) at Baltimore (4-7) Monday 8:30 pm EST

BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The talk of an undefeated season for the New England Patriots might be a bit premature.

Coming off their closest call of the season, the unbeaten Patriots visit the reeling Baltimore Ravens on Monday.

New England got a major scare in holding off the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-28, last week. Installed as 24-point favorites, the Patriots did not take the lead for good until midway through the final quarter.

It was the closest call of the season for New England, which already had clinched the AFC East title, and only the second time it failed to score at least 34 points.

The Patriots have scored at least 100 more points than every other team in the NFL other than Dallas and 260 more than Baltimore.

Eagles backup quarterback A.J. Feeley carved up New England's defense, throwing for 345 yards and three touchdowns, giving hope to the rest of the league that the Patriots are vulnerable.

The question is whether the offensively challenged Ravens can exploit what Feeley and the Eagles did.

Baltimore suffered its fifth consecutive defeat in last week's 32-14 loss at San Diego. It was the sixth time this season the Ravens have scored 14 points or fewer - hardly a recipe to keep up with the high-powered New England offense.

Kyle Boller, making his third straight start in place of Steve McNair, finished 15-for-24 for 128 yards and a touchdown. Willis McGahee rushed for 59 yards on 17 carries for Baltimore.

Even the Ravens' once-vaunted defense has shown major cracks, allowing 124 points - an average of 31 per game - in the last four losses.

"We need to figure out some way to break this cycle that we're in right now," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "It's not easy, but we'll continue to try to find a way."

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 380 yards and one touchdown - the only time this season he has thrown fewer than three.

The Eagles managed to take Randy Moss out of the game, but that opened the door for Wes Welker to record career highs of 13 receptions for 149 yards.

The Ravens have won their last six games in December but the Patriots have captured 14 consecutive regular-season games, with their last loss coming at Miami, 21-0, on December 10, 2006.






Related News