The Baltimore Ravens wasted no time jumping on the New England Patriots.
The Ravens, seemingly in the blink of an eye, grabbed an early 17-0 lead Sunday night and never looked back as they went on to claim a 37-20 win at M&T Bank Stadium. But while it’s not reflected in the final score, the Patriots actually managed to make it a game despite the first-quarter deficit.
New England twice cut Baltimore’s lead down to four, and the visitors even had a chance to go on top in the third quarter before Julian Edelman’s costly fumble. The Ravens effectively coasted from there, but Tom Brady was pleased with how his team reacted after the initial gut punch.
“The one thing I was happy with was we never quit,” Brady said Monday on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show.” “We kept fighting, we got back in it and then they made some great plays there to kind of keep us pretty far from the lead there at the end. Again, they played a good game. Good game by them. They played well offensively, they played well defensively. It’s a tough team, it’s a tough place to play and we didn’t play our best. So, that’s usually the outcome in these situations.”
New England’s all-around performance at times likely was frustrating for Patriots fans to watch. But as former linebacker Tedy Bruschi explained after the game, the Week 9 outcome could end up helping the reigning Super Bowl champions in the long run.
