Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans (83) is stripped of the ball by New England Patriots free safety Sterling Moore (29) during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. Right is New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty (32). The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans (83) is stripped of the ball by New England Patriots free safety Sterling Moore (29) during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, in Foxborough, Mass. Right is New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty (32). The Patriots defeated the Ravens 23-20 to win the AFC Championship. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) ? Lee Evans had victory in his hands. Billy Cundiff had a tie game on his toe.
Two chances in the final 30 seconds to keep their Super Bowl hopes alive and the Baltimore Ravens let both slip away.
Evans was stripped after briefly hauling in Joe Flacco's pass in the back right corner of the end zone and, two plays later, Cundiff hooked a 32-yard field goal attempt wide left in Sunday's AFC championship game. The New England Patriots won 23-20 and the Ravens ended their season disappointed but not disgraced.
"We're grinders," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "We're coming home and we're coming home with smiles. But, most importantly, when we start back training, we're coming back (ticked) off. Why wouldn't we be?"
The Ravens gave the Patriots all they could handle.
The much-maligned Flacco played one of his best games of the season. The third-ranked Baltimore defense held Tom Brady without a touchdown pass for the first time in 36 games. And the Ravens moved from their 21-yard line to a second-and-1 at the Patriots 14 with 27 seconds left.
Plenty of time to at least tie the score.
On the next play, Evans had the ball in his grasp. But Sterling Moore, a rookie free agent who was cut once by the Patriots this season, arrived just in time to knock out the ball.
"I feel like I had it, but it came out," Evans said. "I don't know how to put it into words. Honestly, it's the most disappointing part of all of this that I feel personally that I let everybody down.
"It hit me right where you would want to be hit. It was a great pass by Joe and a play not completed by me. Nobody else can take the fault."
But the Ravens weren't done.
On the next play, needing a yard for a first down, Flacco threw toward Dennis Pitta. Again, Moore made a late move to knock the ball away.
Still, there was a chance to send the game into overtime. And Cundiff had kicked field goals of 48 and 44 yards a week earlier in a 20-13 win over the Houston Texans. He had made 10 of 12 field goals between 30 and 39 yards this season.
Not this time.
Morgan Cox snapped, Sam Koch held. Cundiff swung his leg.
"The timing was just a little off," Cundiff said. "I'm disappointed. I let my teammates down."
His teammates didn't think so. The kick was one of dozens of plays that affected the outcome.
"Not one play won or lost this game," Lewis said. "There's no 'Oh, Billy's the fault. Billy missed the (kick).' There's no freaking 'Billy missed the kick.' It happened. Move on."
Flacco will move on after answering his doubters by completing 22 of 36 passes for 306 yards, his third most of the season. He had two touchdowns but threw a costly interception to Brandon Spikes at the Patriots 31.
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