The motto of the team above all, the New England Patriots, is a motto that explains why this is the most successful franchise in the National Football League for almost two decades. By this time of the season, after the end of the games, each club’s public relations team distributes information about collective and individual achievements, goals that the club or what some of the players were able to achieve during that game. The Patriots do the same, but as a rule neither players nor coaches are very interested in talking about it.

On Sunday in Miami we had more of the same. The big difference is that with regard to the Patriots, many of these achievements are not just new personal maximums for the club, but also for the NFL itself.

So let’s look at what was achieved in Miami, as this data gives us a more accurate idea of ​​what Patriots have been mastering, as well as the reaction of players and coaches.

Photo: USA TODAY Sports Images

Baltimore overturned the last undefeated American Conference – but how did they do it and, above all, can the formula be replicated?

No. Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns had shown it before. What was missing for them was left in Baltimore. A Quarterback , with a capital Q. Lamar Jackson returned to the fight for the MVP award after commanding the Ravens, at home and on Sunday Night Football, to the victory that stripped the unbeaten New England Patriots of the season. The Ravens gained 173 ground yards before contact, including 97 by Mark Ingram – the team’s worst defense mark since THAT game in Kansas City in 2014. New England’s defense looked completely lost. It looked and was.

This was just the first step. But, after all, what had the Bills and Browns already shown (without winning) and what could be the formula? It is not so simple to explain.

Punch the favorite on the chin to destabilize the favorite

Boxing brings great analogies for analyzing sports as a whole. One of my favorites: how the zebra can win. Basically, hooking right into the first round to destabilize the favorite. Baltimore did it against New England. The Patriots lagged behind on 53 minutes 60 minutes into Sunday’s game. Forcing the Patriots out of their comfort zone is one of the steps a zebra has to take to have a good chance of winning. By contrast, in the previous eight games (in total) the Patriots were behind on the scoreboard for just 13 minutes.

Play without fear

Psychology is so important in football, and other sports, that I don’t even know where to start. After all, if not for that, they would be robots against robots. The human aspect is what gives the seasoning to the sport and we can emphasize this through this game. The Ravens clearly played without fear. As they usually do in the John Harbaugh Administration against the New England Patriots. If you have a team that behaves like this against New England, by the way, this team is Baltimore.

This was evident in the Ravens touchdown that opened the match, with Lamar practically moonwalking into the end zone. Then it was evidenced by how many times Baltimore had blitzed Tom Brady. Under normal conditions, Brady would burn this blitz like there was no tomorrow. In the first eight games of this season, he had 8 yards per attempt against the blitz. Yesterday? 3.9. In the first 8 games, 5 TDs and 1 INT against the blitz. Yesterday? 0-1. It was a brave but undoubtedly conscious strategy.

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