FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots will be happy if they never see Ravens safety Bernard Pollard again. He has quite a hold on them.
In 2008, when Pollard was with the Chiefs, it was his hit on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the first game that knocked Brady out for the season with a knee injury. Pollard also hurt Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski’s ankle with a hit last season, slowing him in the postseason.
In last night’s 28-13 Baltimore win over the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, Pollard delivered one of the biggest knockout blows to New England’s chances of getting to its second consecutive Super Bowl. The Ravens safety forced a fumble by Patriots running back Stevan Ridley and knocked Ridley out of the game with a head injury.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called it, “the turning point of the game.’’
Pollard’s punishing tackle occurred with 12:46 remaining in the game the Ravens leading 21-13. It was the first turnover of the game. The ball was recovered by Ravens defensive end Arthur Jones and it led to an 11-yard Joe Flacco TD pass to WR Anquan Boldin to make the 28-13 final.
“It was just a tackle,’’ Pollard said. “He broke a hole, and us safeties, we have to fill them when needed. That’s just football.’’
* The Ridley injury wasn’t the worst for the Patriots, who lost Aqib Talib, their best cornerback and cover man in the first quarter when he pulled up lame with a right thigh injury and did not return. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Kyle Arrington.
The loss of Talib helped the Ravens open up their passing game in the second half after it had been held dormant in the first half.
“We had to make adjustments,’’ Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.
“We kept the same game plan,’’ Arrington said. “Kudos to [the Ravens] for making in-game adjustments and going to the hurry-up offense and fast tempo. We just couldn’t get off the field.’’
Said Patriots WR Matthew Slater: “Anytime you lose a player of that magnitude it’s going to throw a wrench into what you’re doing. It’s unfortunate he wasn’t able to finish the game.’’
* The Ravens’ honorary captain for the game was O.J. Brigance, a former Baltimore player who’s been battling ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) since 2007 and is a senior advisor to the team. He presented the team with the Lamar Hunt Trophy for AFC champions.
* “O.J. has been our strength,’’ Ravens safety Ed Reed said. “O.J. took me under his wing when I first got here. I love ‘Juice.’ He’s been like an uncle to me and like a brother. I’d give everything for him.’’
* **** Tom Brady now has 5,949 yards passing, the most in NFL history for the postseason. Aside from Talib, the Patriots also lost DT Kyle Love (knee) and backup S Patrick Chung.