Chernobyl, as interpreted by the Baltimore Ravens

"You didn't win, I lost"

It's a saying my father and I have had for years. It's usually uttered when we are shooting pool and one of us scratches on the eight ball, or something stupid like that. Anyone that has played with me has heard me say that. Because I scratch on the eight. A lot.

The Ravens should also be saying this today, after doing the improbable and losing to the New England Patriots last night. That's right. Last night the Patriots should have lost. But they didn't.

They didn't win either.

Sure they "won". But they didn't go out and earn it. Brady didn't put together a fantastic drive, working the sidelines and the clock, stepping up and making the throws when needed.

Sure, they moved down the field. And yes, they scored a touchdown. But most of those yards, and that touchdown, were given to them.

The Patriots were facing a 4th and 1 at the Baltimore 30 with 1:48 left in the game, down by 4 points. If they don't convert, the game is over. The Ravens stuff the play. Not even close.

And then the whistle.

Someone on the Ravens sideline called a timeout just before the play was snapped. Head Coach Brian Billick took the blame for the timeout, but replays clearly show it was their defensive coordinator that took the timeout. So the two teams line up again.

False start, on the offense. Now it's 4th and 6. The Ravens defense, which has shut down one of the most potent offenses we have ever seen all night, just needs to do it one more play.

And they didn't. For the first time all night, they don't get pressure on Brady, and they let him run up the middle for 12 yards.

The Ravens imminent implosion has begun. The Ravens are called for illegal contact, which tacks 5 yards on to the end of the run. The Pats get four more chances at the Baltimore 18.

But the defense holds again, and force another 4th down, this time 4th and 5, from the 13 yard line. Brady drops back in the shotgun and fires over the middle to his tight end, and it's incomplete! Game over, except the defense made another mistake. Holding penalty, on the defense, 5 yards and an automatic first down for the Pats.

Now the frustration has really set in.

The next play Brady throws a pass to the corner of the end zone, and at first glance it appears that Gaffney has made the catch. But replays seem to show that he didn't have control throughout the catch, that the ball was moving around in his fingertips, which should have made it an incompletion.

But the ref didn't see it that way, and after review confirmed that it was a completion, and a touchdown.

Keep in mind, the ref didn't say there was not enough evidence to overturn the ruling on the field, which I would have been ok with. The ball was out of the frame for much of the catch. He said it was a clear catch.

It was a meltdown of epic proportions, with a little help from the refs thrown in for flavor.

I don't agree with the Ravens when they say that the refs tried to give the Pats every chance possible to win the game. Baltimore took care of that on their own. The Ravens committed all of those penalties, and called that timeout, all of which directly prevented the Ravens from winning the game. But there is definitely cause for concern if reports of refs calling players "boys" (even if the ref in question is black himself) are true, and blowing an obvious replay.

But in the end, the Patriots remain unbeaten. But they certainly didn't win this game. And as their choke hold on history seems to be getting tighter, more and more cracks have appeared in the armor, and suddenly the juggernaut doesn't look unstoppable.