The Baltimore Ravens had the victory in their hands literally however Ravens receiver Mark Clayton could not hold onto a pass by his QB Joe Flacco with 28 seconds to play. Had Clayton held onto the ball he would have scored the Ravens winning touchdown; instead he had a missed reception and a broken heart. The Ravens 3-0 start to the 2010 NFL campaign came to an end on Sunday in Foxborough as the New England Patriots were able to hold on for a 27-21 win. The victory leaves the Patriots with a perfect 3-0 record at Gillette Stadium and combined with a New York Jets loss they now find themselves in a tie for first in the AFC East.

New England quarterback Tom Brady had a good; not great game as he completed 21/32 pass attempts for a total of 258 yards with one touchdown. Brady connected with Randy Moss with 2:27 to play in the third quarter for a 14 yard pass to put Moss into the end zone. After old reliable  kicker Stephen Gostkowski put the extra point through the uprights the Patriots held a 24-14 lead over the Ravens. However that was not to last as the fourth quarter was nip and tuck up until the end.

Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco played with a quiet confidence despite this being only his second season in the NFL. Flacco did everything in his power to get his team the win and keep them unbeaten for the season. Whether Flacco was that outstanding or the Patriots defense just allowed too many big plays by the Ravens is open to conjecture. However Flacco completed 27/47 attempts for 264 yards getting two touchdowns but he did throw one interception.

Patriots were the first team on the scoreboard as Gostkowski kicked a 32 yard field goal with 13:34 left in the first giving his team a 3-0 lead. Baltimore would take the advantage when Flacco threw a 20 yard pass to Desmond Mason with 6:59 left in the opening period. After Ravens kicker Steven Huschka got the extra point his club took a 7-3 lead which they would hold onto for the rest of the quarter.

New England utilized the ground game in the second; Tom Brady got his team back on top with a 1 yard run into the end zone. After the extra point it was a 10-7 Patriots lead. Running back Sammy Morris sprinted 12 yards for another New England touchdown with 3:57 left in the quarter. With Gostkowski kicking the extra point the Patriots would hold a 17-7 lead as the game reached the half.

The Pats made a mistake in the third which cost them dearly as Terrell Suggs sacked Brady at the New England 5 yard line causing the ball to squirt out of the quarterbacks hand and Dwan Edwards recovered the ball in the New England end zone for a Baltimore touchdown. After Hauschka kicked the extra point it was just a 3 point game with the Patriots leading 17-14 with 6:19 left in the third. However after Brady threw to Moss for Moss’ first TD of the season New England held a 24-14 lead heading into the final quarter.

Baltimore came close twice to taking over the contest in the fourth but New England was able to shut the Ravens down twice on fourth down in the period to preserve the victory. Both teams now sport 3-1 records; next Sunday the Ravens will play host to their division rivals the Bengals. New England will be in Denver next Sunday as they take on the Broncos.

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