The Baltimore Ravens were so very close tonight but as Tony Kornheiser said just before the Patriots scored the winning touchdown, there was a tragic inevitability about their loss.
No matter how well Willis McGahee ran, no matter how much Kyle Boller defied expectations and no matter how late into the blustery evening they led New England, the Ravens never quite put to rest the sneaking suspicion that they would find a way to have the whole thing blow up in their face.
There was Ed Reed's fumbled interception near the end of the first half and Boller's interception at the Patriot 1 that ended a drive that could have put the game away in the third. There were the 11 penalties and the timeout called from the sideline on fourth and one just before stopping the Patriots short of the first.
There was the Patriot false start on the ensuing snap which negated another stuffing and the holding by Jamaine Winborne on fourth down in the end zone to give the Pats another chance. There were the two unsportsmanlike calls on Bart Scott on the winning touchdown which allowed the Patriots to get a touchback rather than deal with Yamon Figurs, who had broken a couple of swell returns earlier in the proceedings.
And then, finally, the catch by Mark Clayton of a Hail Mary two yards short of the end zone.
Oh yeah, there was Tom Brady with the ball in his hands of a winnable game with less than two minutes to play and driving toward their end zone, too.
Tragic Inevitability could be the title of the NFL Films video of the Baltimore Ravens 2007 season. As for the Patriots video, Undefeated remains the clubhouse favorite.
