Patriots Stun Ravens To Advance To Super Bowl

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he was "surprised" that the officials didn't review Lee Evans' end-zone drop in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 23-20 AFC Championship loss to New England.

It looked like the Ravens had taken the lead when Evans had the ball in his hands in the end zone. But Evans had the ball stripped away by undrafted Patriots rookie Sterling Moore with 27 seconds remaining.

After Billy Cundiff's missed 32-yard field goal sealed Baltimore's loss, some Ravens wondered whether Evans had possession of the ball and both feet down before he lost the ball. A touchdown would have given the Ravens a 27-23 lead.

Because there was less than two minutes left on the game clock, it was the officials' call on whether to review the play.

"I tried to get [the officials'] attention and thought it would be looked at," Harbaugh said. "I thought they would have at least looked at it. I was surprised that they didn't look at it. Obviously, in that situation, I thought they would have looked at it."

Harbaugh said he never received an explanation from referee Alberto Riveron or anyone on the game's crew. League rules state a player must have both feet or any part of his body other than his hands on the ground before losing control of the ball. Replays seemed to show that Evans lost his grasp of the ball before his second foot was down.

"Honestly, the most disappointing part of all this ... that I feel personally that I let everybody down," Evans told The Baltimore Sun. "This is the greatest team that I've been on, and I feel like I let everybody down. Yeah, it's on my shoulders. I think Ray gave a good message coming in here. It's hard to sit here and accept how and why things happened, but it's the reality of it. It's as tough as it gets."

Asked if he was surprised that the play wasn't reviewed, Evans said, "No, not really. Obviously, they didn't feel like it was close enough to being reviewed."

Bernard Pollard: New England’s Public Enemy #1

At some point in their future, the New England Patriots might want to scout defensive back Bernard Pollard with the following simple report: "If you see this man with any team facing us, run screaming into the night." In the last four seasons, Pollard has caused three fairly serious injuries on the persons if three different Pats players — and Pollard was with a different team each time.

We'll go in reverse order, since the third injury happened to tight end Rob Gronkowski in the third quarter of New England's 23-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game. With 43 seconds left in the third quarter, the Pats had first-and-10 at their own 37-yard line, and ... well, this happened.

The near-indestructible tight caught a pass from Tom Brady, and  we discovered that an ankle is not supposed to move that way. Gronk was out for a few plays, but came back in for the drive that featured a Brady fourth-down quarterback sneak that put New England in the lead for good.

The injury for which Pollard is best known, of course, was the hit in the first quarter of the Pats' 2008 season opener that put Brady out for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. That hit led to the "Brady Rule," pone of the many inconsistently-called quarterback safety rules put forth in recent years. This rule indicated that a defender already brought to the ground can't lunge at or under the knees of a quarterback. Pollard had been blocked out of the play in question by running back Sammy Morris.

"You can't control what happens on that field. At any time, at any second, something bad can happen," Pollard told the media on Wednesday. "And that's what happens in this game every week, somebody goes down. It just so happened to be Tom Brady and everybody made a big deal about it.

"That's the pretty boy. That's the man of the NFL. That's Mr. Do-It-All," Pollard continued. "So everybody is going to hold that against me but I don't care. I don't play for men. I don't play for no woman. I play because I'm given the gift to play this game. And in this sport, you can't say, 'Go out there and hit somebody full speed with equipment and everything else on,' and say, 'Be careful.'"

Point taken, but there was also the fact that when playing with the Houston Texans in 2009. Pollard ended receiver Wes Welker's year rather ignominiously. Welker was lost for the postseason in the regular season finale with a serious knee injury.

[ Recap: Baltimore's missed FG seals Pats' win ]

And now Gronk? The tight end was not injured as seriously, but we're guessing at this point that Pollard might need a little extra security to get out of Foxboro this time. We're not insinuating that Pollard's a dirty player -- stuff happens on the field, and we understand that. Just that it's odd that there have been three Pats injuries caused by the same guy ... while wearing three different uniforms.

Maybe the Patriots should just sign the guy. He's certainly well-traveled enough, and the New England secondary hasn't been the strongest in recent years. Best for Bill Belichick to keep his enemies closer.

New York Giants vs San Francisco 49ers in NFC Championship game at Candlestick Park 1-22-12

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) passes as San Francisco 49ers defensive end Justin Smith (94) closes in after getting past New York Giants center Kevin Boothe (77) during the first half of the NFC Championship game between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CA on 1/22/12. (Chris Faytok/The Star-Ledger)

NBA roundup: Rose-less Bulls get by Bobcats

National Basketball Association game capsule for Saturday Jan. 21, 2012. Final Score: Chicago 95, Charlotte 89 Chicago, IL - Carlos Boozer finished with 23 points and nine rebounds, Luol Deng added 22 points and eight boards, and the Bulls held on for a 95-89 victory against the Bobcats. Again playing without reigning MVP Derrick Rose, who has missed the last four games with a nagging toe injury, the Bulls stayed perfect at home and won their third consecutive contest. Richard Hamilton helped fill the void at guard with 20 points, while C.J. Watson had 11 points and nine assists. Gerald Henderson had 22 points and nine rebounds for Charlotte, which has dropped three in a row and nine of 10. Final Score: Atlanta 121, Cleveland 94 Atlanta, GA - Joe Johnson finished with 25 points and the hot-shooting Atlanta Hawks routed the Cleveland Cavaliers, 121-94, on Saturday. Jeff Teague and Jannero Pargo both scored 14 points for the Hawks, who dropped a 90-76 decision in Philadelphia on Friday, but returned home to shoot 55.4 percent. Atlanta made 11-of-24 shots from beyond the arc in its fifth win in six games, and will now head on the road for five games, starting Monday in Milwaukee. Kyrie Irving scored 18 points to pace the Cavaliers, who have dropped three in a row. They were coming off Friday's loss against Chicago. Final Score: Detroit 94, Portland 91 Auburn Hills, MI - Rodney Stuckey finished with 28 points and the Detroit Pistons held on for a 94-91 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Tayshaun Prince added 17 points for the Pistons, who ended a four- game slide. They have won only twice in their last 12 games, but did so Saturday after putting together a key run late in the fourth quarter, then hitting critical free throws in the final minute. LaMarcus Aldridge posted 25 points for Portland, which was coming off Friday's win in Toronto. The Blazers ended their road trip with a 2-4 mark. Final Score: Miami 113, Philadelphia 92 Miami, FL - With Dwyane Wade out for a third straight game with a sprained right ankle, LeBron James and Chris Bosh combined for 58 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists as the Miami Heat routed the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-92, in a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference first-round series. Bosh had 30 points to go with seven boards and five assists. James provided 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Heat, who moved to 6-0 this season without Wade, a seven-time All-Star. Lou Williams netted 22 points for the 76ers, who have lost two of three. Final Score: Denver 119, New York 114 (2-OT) New York, NY - Danilo Gallinari scored nine of his 37 points in the second overtime against his former team, as the Denver Nuggets pulled out a 119-114 double-overtime win against the New York Knicks. Gallinari, who made all seven of his free throw attempts in the second extra session, went 18-of-20 at the charity stripe for the game. He also had 11 rebounds. Al Harrington contributed 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have won four in a row. Nene, who sat out Friday's win at Washington with a left heel strain, had 12 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Andre Miller ended with 14 points and 12 assists. Carmelo Anthony, who spent seven-plus seasons in the Rocky Mountains before being dealt to the Knicks last February, had 25 points and 10 rebounds in New York's sixth straight defeat. Final Score: Houston 105, San Antonio 102 Houston, TX - Kevin Martin scored a team-high 25 points as the Houston Rockets held off a late surge by the San Antonio Spurs to take a 105-102 victory. Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic netted 14 points apiece, while Luis Scola, Samuel Dalembert and Patrick Patterson each had 12 as Houston stretched its win streak to six games. It is the longest winning streak for the Rockets since a six-game streak from February 11-26, 2009. Tiago Splitter had 25 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for San Antonio, while Tony Parker added 24 points and 13 assists in the Spurs' third loss in four games. San Antonio fell to 1-6 on the road this season, compared to a 9-1 mark at home. Final Score: Memphis 128, Sacramento 95 Memphis, TN - Rudy Gay was one of four Memphis players to eclipse the 20-point mark as the Grizzlies won their sixth straight game with a 128-95 rout of the Sacramento Kings. Gay had 23 points with four assists and four steals, Mike Conley netted a season-high 22 points, O.J. Mayo nailed six three-pointers en route to a 22- point night and Marc Gasol added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis, which moved to 8-3 since All-Star forward Zach Randolph went down on January 1 with a torn MCL. Marreese Speights' career revival continued as he scored 12 points to go with 15 rebounds. Jimmer Fredette led the lowly Kings with 20 points. Final Score: Oklahoma City 84, New Jersey 74 Newark, NJ - Russell Westbrook totaled 21 points and six assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Jersey Nets, 84-74. Kevin Durant posted 20 points and 15 rebounds while James Harden added 16 points and nine boards for the Thunder, who bounced back from a loss at Washington on Wednesday to win for the eighth time in the past nine games. MarShon Brooks and Deron Williams each scored 14 points for the Nets, who have lost seven of 10. Final Score: Dallas 83, New Orleans 81 New Orleans, LA - Delonte West scored 16 points, and the Dallas Mavericks overcame the absence of Dirk Nowitzki to beat New Orleans, 83-81, on Saturday. Lamar Odom also scored 16 for the Mavericks, who survived a last-second putback miss by Jarrett Jack off an intentionally missed free throw. Nowitzki was sidelined with a sore right knee and is expected to miss the ensuing three contests. Shawn Marion totaled 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks, who overcame 4-of-26 shooting from beyond the arc. Emeka Okafor had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Hornets, who received 19 points from Carl Landry but suffered their seventh straight defeat. Final Score: Utah 108, Minnesota 98 Salt Lake City, UT - Paul Millsap poured in 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and pulled down nine rebounds as the Utah Jazz outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves, 108-98, for their fourth win in five games. Al Jefferson contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz, who also received 18 points from C.J. Miles and 12 from Raja Bell. Ricky Rubio led seven Minnesota players in double figures with 17 points and 11 assists to go with four steals, but the Timberwolves couldn't build momentum from Friday night's 101-98 win against the Los Angeles Clippers. Kevin Love, who hit the winning three-point shot at the buzzer at Staples Center on Friday, struggled by going 5-of-21 from the floor on Saturday. He had 15 points and eight rebounds, but the Timberwolves had their three-game winning streak broken.

Chad Reed wins Monster Energy AMA Supercross race at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES — Chad Reed won the Monster Energy AMA Supercross race at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night, beating Ryan Dungey in front of 35,741 fans.

Reed, the Honda star from Dade City, Fla., raced to his 41st career Supercross Class victory and third in three races this season.



“I have been trying to figure out what I have been doing wrong this year,” Reed said. “I switched to a tire that I used last year and it worked. I am going to keep trying to get better each week. I will take the good with the bad and keep moving forward.”

Honda’s Eli Tomac, from Cortez, Colo., won the Western Regional Supercross Lites race.

“I was able to sneak into the lead and ride 15 solid laps,” Tomac said. “It’s a night and day difference when you get a good start. I should have been getting starts like this all season.”

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.