During the third quarter of Saturday’s win over the Ravens, the Patriots opted to go with unorthodox formations on couple of occasions that caught John Harbaugh and his team off guard.
On those plays, New England used four offensive linemen with running back Shane Vereen and tight end Michael Hoomanawanui as the fifth ineligible player. The play Vereen was ineligible yielded a 14-yard pass from Tom Brady to Hoomanawanui. After the play, Baltimore’s bench was assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty as a visibly upset Harbaugh towards the Patriots sideline and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Addressing the media after the game, Harbaugh wasn’t shy about voicing his displeasure about what he felt was a deceptive tactic.
“What [the Patriots] were doing was they announce the ineligible player and then Tom [Brady] would take them to the line right away and snap the ball before we had a chance to figure out who was lined up where,” Harbaugh said via ESPN. “That was the deception part of it. It was clearly deception.”
Brady, who passed Joe Montana for most touchdown passes in postseason history during the game, was less than sympathetic when informed of Harbaugh’s comments.
“I don’t know what’s deceiving about that,” Brady said. “Maybe those guys gotta study the rulebook and figure it out,” he said. “We obviously knew what we were doing and we made some pretty important plays. It was a real good weapon for us.”
Saturday’s divisional round matchup marks the fourth time the Ravens and Patriots have met in the playoffs since 2009 with them each winning two. While there is a level of respect between the two teams, they have developed quite a rivalry that will surely be fueled by the events before and after this most recent meeting.
