Pats win on last second miracle Kick Return TD

It’s Playoff time, as the 2007 NE Patriots host the 2006 SD Chargers. It is 28-degrees and cold outside, but the skies are clear. SD wins the coin toss and elects to Receive.

First Quarter

Things started slowly, as the teams could not drive and traded punts. NE took SD’s second punt at the 6:34 mark and began the drive at their own 37-yard line. Tom Brady hit on 3 short passes to Kyle Brady, Kevin Faulk, and Wes Walker. Then, NE hit the ground running with Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris. Sitting on the SD 23-yard line, Brady then hit Benjamin Watson for 10 yards. SD was soon facing 1st & Goal, but the SD Defense tightened up and held NE to a FG with 0:55 left in the First Quarter. The Quarter ended with a slight 3-0 NE lead.

Second Quarter

SD had the ball again to start the Second Quarter, but was forced to punt yet again. Both Defenses were rather stingy in this cold weather. NE drove again to the SD 39-yard line – only to have Brady fumble the snap. This was a big break for SD, as Philip Rivers began the drive by first hitting Antonio Gates for 44 yards. Now at the NE 14-yard line, LaDainian Tomlinson (LT) took the ball into the Endzone at the 11:46 mark and gave SD a 7-3 lead. Starting at the 20, NE came roaring back. Brady hit Heath Evans on a 7 yard flare and then hit Randy Moss for 17 yards. Brady also hit Dante Stallworth for 10 yards before Maroney ran the ball another 12 yards. Sitting on the SD 23-yard line, Brady ended the drive with a laser strike to Walker in the back of the Endzone. With 6:49 left in the Half, NE now led 10-7. Special Teams for SD were on fire most of the game, as SD once again had great field position and started the drive a the 50. Michael Turner  ran for 13 yards, but the real story here was LT running for another 42-yard TD burst – giving SD the 14-10 lead with 5:22 left in the Half. Both teams were feeling good about their Offense, maybe too good, as they traded punts again. NE got the ball back with 2:06 left, and went into their 2-minute Offense. Brady first hit Moss for 35 yards before the 2-minute warning. Morris edged them closer with 4 yards, but the pass to Jabar Gaffney for 8 yards got NE to the SD 17-yard line. With 0:19 left to play in the Half and facing 4th & 3, Stephen Gostkowski hits the 34-yard FG to basically end the Half. NE went into the locker room still down 14-13, but they get the ball back to start the Second Half.

Third Quarter

NE took the opening kickoff and Brady drove down to the SD 1 with the help of 3 short passes to Walker and a nice run by Maroney. But, the SD Defense was brutal at the Goal Line and held. NE could bend the SD Defense, but NE could not break it. Now 4th & Goal at the 1, NE rolled the dice…but Brady was sacked by Jacques Cesaire and SD took over. The SD Defense played an outstanding game. Pinned deep, SD could only manage to punt, going 3-and-out. With good field position, Brady hit Stallworth for 18 yards and Watson for 10 yards. Another big 12-yard run from Maroney put NE right back at the SD 5-yard line. Here, Brady hit Ben Watson for the TD – grabbing a 20-14 lead with 6:02 left in the Quarter. The teams then traded punts to end the Third Quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Down 20-14, SD started the final Quarter on the NE 42-yard line. It was now the “LT Show”, as he ran for 12 yards here and 6 yards there – and then another 8 yards. The SD Offense rode LT down to the NE 9-yard line, where the drive was eventually capped off by a 7-yard LT TD run. He now had 3 TD’s in the game and gave SD the 21-20 lead with 10:57 left to play in the game. Both Defenses got stingy again and the teams traded punts. NE eventually got the ball back on their own 35-yard line with 7:13 left in the game. In order to eat some clock, the NE Offense went to the ground and Maroney and Morris traded carries. To keep the SD Defense honest, Brady did hit Maroney for a 17-yard pass and also hit Walker for another 9 yards. Feeling  left out, Moss caught a couple of short slants for 3 and 4 yards, which forced SD to burn its final 2 timeouts with 2:41 left in the game. Sitting on the SD 15-yard line and facing 3rd & 7, NE went with Maroney for 5 yards – leaving 4th & 2 on the SD 10-yard line, right at the 2-minute warning. Gostkowski came in to nail the 27-yard FG and give NE a 23-21 lead, while leaving 1:56 on the clock. Special Teams took the kickoff to the SD 37-yard line. With only 1:49 left to play and no timeouts, SD was only 25 yards away from a winning FG. LT quickly scampered OB for 8 yards, but Rivers missed on 2 short passes. This left SD with 4th & 2 and 1:28 to play, but Phillip Rivers then hit Gates for another 11 yards to again stop the clock. With 1st & 10 on the NE 44 and 1:18 on the clock, Eric Parker struck a crushing blow to the mighty NE Defense with a 14-yard End Around. With the clock still running and the Defense confused, LT ran for another 13 yards down to the NE 17-yard line – leaving only 0:24 on the clock. With the wind at his back, Nate Kaeding kicks the 34-yard FG for the 24-23 SD lead – and only 0:20 remain on the clock. The SD bench was going wild, the NE  crowd was stunned into silence. As the SD players were gathering around the Gatorade for their victory dance, the kickoff sailed high and deep to the NE 3-yard line. There, little known Willie Andrews fielded the kick. First, he ran to the left, then he ran all the way back to the right – and he ran past the SD bench on the way to a 97-yard Kickoff Return TD. There were no flags on the ground. The crowd went nuts, as they just witnessed a miracle. With 0:04 still on the clock, Gostkowski hit the Squib kick to end the game, giving NE a 30-24 victory.

There are no real words to describe this game. NE had beat SD on paper, yet they had no business winning this game. The SD Defense and Special Teams played outstanding, and the coach called a terrific game to keep NE off-balance. With no timeouts and less than 2 minutes, SD marched down the field to hit the potential game-winning FG. They could not ask for anything more. Unfortunately, the SD players got caught up in the moment and allowed the small ray of light – and NE capitalized on it.

The Game MVP went to LT, deservingly so, as he rushed for 159 yards on 23 carries and 3 TD’s. No player for NE really stood out, but Brady was impressive with 319 passing yards and 2 TD’s. His focus kept them driving and in this game – until the end.

--submitted by Georges Bseraini--