Patriots hand Ravens their first loss

FOXBOROUGH – People from Baltimore tend to talk about four things: The Inner Harbor. Crab cakes. Camden Yards. And the defense of the Baltimore Ravens.This week, they might have to wonder about that last one.The New England Patriots defense got the last laugh over its counterpart from Baltimore as the Pats topped the Ravens 27-21 at Gillette Stadium Sunday.The win ended the season-opening unbeaten streak for the 3-1 Ravens and gave the Pats the same record.”[They] played well enough,” coach Bill Belichick said about his defense. “That’s a good offensive team. They’ve got good skill players. They’ve got real good [running] backs, [a] good quarterback, (they’re) well-coached. We had our hands full. We made enough plays to win. We stopped them on fourth down twice in the fourth quarter that’s when you’ve got to be there and luckily we were.”Yes, the Ravens’ ‘D’ impressed at times – like Terrell Suggs’ forced fumble on Pats QB Tom Brady and Dwan Edwards’ recovery in the end zone for a touchdown that made it 24-21 Patriots in the third quarter. And yes, the Ravens offense gave the New England defense all it could handle at times. But when it came down to clutch time, the Pats’ defense held. New England thwarted the Ravens’ last two possessions with fourth-down stops on both, with former Raven Adalius Thomas doing the honors on the first one and the second one, coming just before the end of the game, representing perhaps the Pats’ biggest test on defense all afternoon.The Ravens neared the end zone with the Patriots up six (27-21). Facing second-and-4 on its 13, the defense stiffened. Rookie cornerback Darius Butler and safety James Sanders applied coverage in the end zone and Ravens receiver Mark Clayton dropped a pass. On the next play, Butler provided coverage again on another incompletion. That brought up fourth-and-4, and Butler and safety Brandon McGowan covered Clayton on another incomplete pass, clinching the win.Baltimore entered the game with defensive stars like Suggs, former Super Bowl MVP Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed. Yet from the beginning, the Patriots showed a presence on defense, too. Linebacker Eric Alexander forced Chris Carr to fumble the opening kick return, and McGowan recovered, putting New England on the Baltimore 12. Baltimore held the Patriots to negative-2 yards on the drive, but the Patriots’ Steve Gostkowski kicked a 32-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead 1:26 into the first quarter. The Patriots also saw Leigh Bodden, who spent last season playing for the 0-16 Detroit Lions, pick off Flacco at the Patriots’ 17 shortly before halftime.This is not to take any credit away from the Patriots offense. Brady and a deep corps of running backs – Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris (1 touchdown), Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk – figured out ways to solve the Baltimore defense. Brady seemed to gain confidence after halftime, completing successive passes of 13, 26 and 20 yards to Taylor, Sam Aiken and Randy Moss on one third-quarter sequence. Brady also contributed a 1-yard second-quarter touchdown run that put the Patriots back up 10-7 after Baltimore had taken a 7-3 lead on Joe Flacco’s 20-yard pass to Derrick Mason.Morris’ 12-yard carry in the second quarter put the Patriots ahead 17-7, which stayed the score at halftime. After Edwards’ fumble recovery closed it to 17-14, Moss put the Pats back up by 10 (24-14) when he caught Brady’s 14-yard touchdown pass, their first connection for a TD this season.Forty-three seconds into the fourth quarter, Flacco found Willis McGahee for a 13-yard scoring pass and a 24-21 ballgame. On the ensuing Patriots drive, Gostkowski kicked a 28-yard field goal for what proved the final margin. While Baltimore threatened at the end, the Patriots defense stood up, and now all the Ravens fans who bragged about their ‘D’ will have to make room on their plate for some crow along with the crab cakes.NOTES: Ravens tackle Jared Gaither was taken off the field in a stretcher and brought to Mass. General H