FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Here are the grades from the Patriots’ 35-31 comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs:
Quarterback: Tom Brady delivered in the postseason once again to help his team erase two separate 14-point deficits. Brady ignited the first comeback with his feet on a 4-yard touchdown scamper. His interception at the end of the first half wasn’t pretty, as he telegraphed a horrible pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski. But he bounced back by making the right reads the rest of the game. Brady threw a perfect 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon LaFell for the winning touchdown. Grade: A-
Running back: The Patriots ran the ball for just 14 yards -- the fewest by a winning team in NFL postseason history, according to ESPN Stats & Info -- on a mere 13 carries, which demonstrated zero commitment to the run game. The short-passing game became the Patriots’ mode of running the football, which Brady and company were successful in executing. It’s hard to grade something that did not have a role in the game plan. Grade: N/A
Wide receiver: Hats off to Julian Edelman, who did a throwback to his days as a college quarterback at Kent State with a 51-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola. Edelman was also a workhorse for Brady in the short-passing game. He did have a bad drop in the end zone and a fumble. But he gets points for recovering his own fumble, despite facing a scrum of four Ravens by himself. Amendola had his best game as a Patriot, with two touchdown catches and his ability to create yardage after the catch. Grade: A
Tight end: The Patriots need Gronkowski for their playoff run, and he played the part of the team’s MVP when they were down 14-0. On a third-and-8, Brady hit Gronkowski for a 16-yard pass to jump-start the drive. Brady followed with another pass to Gronkowski that went for 46 yards. Gronkowski finished with seven catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. Michael Hoomanawanui also pitched in at tight end with a surprise performance of four catches for 43 yards. Grade: A+
Offensive line: Rookie center Bryan Stork left the game with a knee injury, which put the Patriots in a tough spot, as Ryan Wendell shifted to center and Josh Kline entered the game at right guard. Wendell was tossed by Ravens DT Timmy Jernigan as he gave up a 6-yard sack while playing right guard. The offensive line fell backward a handful of times, but in the end, they protected Brady enough to pick up the win. This team needs Stork going forward on the interior, as there are serious holes without him. Grade: B-
Defensive line/linebacker: The defensive line established no push at the line of scrimmage, as the Ravens’ offensive line controlled the trenches. Ravens running back Justin Forsett gashed the Patriots as players failed to set the edge on Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak’s signature stretch run plays. The Ravens also ran flat routes out of the backfield that the Patriots repeatedly failed to diagnose. Jamie Collins had a chance at two interceptions on Joe Flacco and had a solid game overall. Vince Wilfork, Sealver Siliga, Alan Branch and others need to put in better performances by attacking the opposing team’s offensive lines. Grade: C-
Defensive back: It’s shocking that Darrelle Revis had his worst game as a Patriot, yet the team still found a way to defeat Flacco and the Ravens. Revis was nabbed for a questionable pass-interference call down the right sideline on a deep pass to Steve Smith Sr. at the end of the first half. Then he got caught holding Smith in the second half. It was a rough day for Revis, but his teammates picked up the slack. Brandon Browner drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on Torrey Smith to give a boost to the defense. When Browner left the game with a knee injury, Logan Ryan held his ground. Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon proved Flacco is indeed human during the postseason by getting two picks. Grade: B+
Special teams: Amendola fumbled on the Patriots’ first kick return, right after a Ravens’ opening-drive touchdown, which stopped the hearts of everyone at Gillette Stadium. Chris Jones saved the day by recovering the fumble. Linebacker Chris White picked up a costly taunting penalty after a punt pinned the Ravens at the 5-yard line in the second quarter. The Patriots did not attempt a field goal in the game. Grade: B-
Coaching: Early on, the Patriots’ offensive play-calling was poor, and the defense was in zone coverage, which left the middle of the field wide open for Flacco to pick apart. Then the offense got things on track by getting the ball to Gronkowski. The Patriots made amends for the early coaching errors by opening their bag of tricks. The Edelman-to-Amendola touchdown was a thing of beauty. The coaching adjustment to use only four offensive linemen to confuse the Ravens’ defense was brilliant and something that still has people baffled. It was weird, but it sparked the offense back to life. Grade: A
