AFC: New England Patriots 35, Baltimore Ravens 31 With only 13 rushing attempts for 14 total yards, New England put the game almost entirely in the hands of quarterback Tom Brady, who proved up to the task, completing 33 of 50 passes for 367 yards and 3 touchdowns while also rushing for a score as he led the team back from two 14-point deficits to earn their 4th consecutive AFC Championship and their 9th in his 14 years as the team's starter. Early in the 4th quarter, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker finished a 16-play, 73-yard drive, which included Flacco's 11-yard completion to fullback Kyle Juszczyk on 4th and 1 from the Patriots' 36-yard line, with a 25-yard field goal, giving his team the lead at 31–28. Taking the ball back at their own 26-year line, New England drove 74 yards in 10 plays for what turned out to be the game winning score. On the third play of the drive, Baltimore recovered a fumble from Vereen, only to see it overturned by replay review. Later, Brady converted the only 3rd down on the drive, hitting Amendola with a 6-yard pass on 3rd and 6. Finally with 5:13 left on the clock, he threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to receiver Brandon LaFell, giving New England their first and only lead of the game, 35–31. Baltimore responded with a drive to the New England 36-yard line, but with 1:37 left in the game, safety Duron Harmon intercepted Flacco's pass in the end zone. After the Ravens managed to force a punt with a few seconds left on the clock, Flacco threw a final Hail Mary pass to the end zone that was knocked down for an incompletion. After the game, Harbaugh complained about New England's unusual formation use on their third quarter touchdown drive. "It's not something that anybody has ever done before," Harbaugh said. "They're an illegal type of a thing and I'm sure that [the league will] make some adjustments and things like that. We wanted an opportunity to be able to identify who the eligible players were, because what they were doing was they would announce the eligible player and Tom would take it to the line right away and snap the ball before [we] even figured out who was lined up where. And that was the deception part of it. It was clearly deception." "Maybe those guys gotta study the rule book and figure it out," Brady countered in response. "We obviously knew what we were doing and we made some pretty important plays. It was a real good weapon for us. Maybe we'll have something in store next week." The NFL sided with New England, finding that their methods were legal. In the ensuing offseason, in response to these tactics taken by the Patriots, the league passed a new rule requiring all ineligible receivers, including any offensive player with an eligible number that declares himself ineligible, to line up inside the tackle box prior to the snap. Flacco finished the game 28-for-45 for 292 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 2 interceptions. Flacco's postseason record fell to 1–5 when he throws at least one interception while it remained a perfect 9–0 when he does not throw an interception. Forsett rushed for 129 yards, while also catching 2 passes for 17 yards and a score. Gronkowski was the top receiver of the game with 7 receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown. Tom Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick set numerous NFL and franchise playoff records in the game. Brady became the NFL's career postseason leader in passing yards and touchdown passes (46), surpassing Joe Montana on his final touchdown pass of the game. He set a franchise record for completions in a postseason game (33), while also tying a franchise playoff record for career rushing touchdowns (5). This was Belichick's 20th postseason win, tying the all-time record held by Tom Landry. This was also the first time in playoff history that a team had come back from two 14-point deficits to win a game.

• published: 08 Dec 2015
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