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Snowplowing on Overrule on Brady fumble gives Patriots second lifePosted: Sunday January 20, 2002 12:01 AMUpdated: Sunday January 20, 2002 3:15 AM
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- The New England Patriots didn't need a snowplow to advance to the AFC Championship Game. They just needed instant replay. On what could be the final game on the field that hosted the infamous "Snowplow Game," the Patriots survived another whiteout with help from the replay official to beat the Oakland Raiders 16-13 in overtime. "It was a scare. No need to lie about that," Patriots running back Antowain Smith said. "It was a scare, but we believed in ourselves. It worked out for us. We won in the end." The win put New England in the conference title game, either in Pittsburgh if the Steelers beat the Ravens on Sunday or back for a finale at Foxboro Stadium if Baltimore wins.
With 3-to-4 inches of snow falling Saturday afternoon and evening, the scene was reminiscent of the 1982 game when a convict on work-release named Mark Henderson drove his snowplow onto the field to clear the turf for a field goal that gave New England a 3-0 victory against Miami. This time the Patriots got help from another source. New England trailed 13-10 with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter when Tom Brady lost the ball after going back to pass. Raiders linebacker Greg Biekert pounced on it, and the officials ruled it a fumble because Brady appeared to be trying to bring the ball back in when he lost control. "He pumped the ball, brought it back down. ... Ball came out, game over," Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson said. "We knew the game was over. We were celebrating." But referee Walt Coleman announced that the play would be reviewed. New England's offensive players came back onto the field, trying to show faith that the call would be overturned.
The Raiders' offense stayed on the field as well, pointing as if the possession would be theirs. "I looked up at the screen and I thought, 'It's probably going to be our ball,'" Brady said. "I just went over to [offensive coordinator Charlie Weis] and said, 'What's the next play.'" After watching the replay, Coleman announced that it was an incomplete pass and the ball belonged to the Patriots. "His arm is coming forward. I mean, that's what's important," Coleman told a pool reporter. "He was trying to tuck the ball and they just knocked the ball out of his hand. His hand was coming forward and that makes it an incomplete pass." Raiders head coach Jon Gruden wasn't convinced. "I thought it was a fumble. We thought that, but he thought it was a continuous throwing motion," he said. "He's the one that matters, and we've got to live with it." Brady led the Patriots to the Raiders 29 before Adam Vinatieri kicked a knuckleball through with 27 seconds left to send the game into overtime. With seven minutes left in overtime, the scoreboard showed New England leading 16-13, but it wasn't until the 6:31 mark that Vinatieri -- after the Patriots cleared a spot with their hands -- booted the 23-yarder to win it. Long-snapper Lonie Paxton dropped onto the field and made snow angels. "We put 10 months into this thing, every day coming in here with our blood and sweat and tears to keep it going. And that's what we did," Vinatieri said. "I felt like it was over. It was a hard feeling. It was hurting pretty hard. All of the sudden, they were reversing it and it was like a ray of sunlight." For New England fans with long memories, it was payback for the 1976 playoff game against the Raiders when referee Ben Dreith made a questionable roughing-the-passer call against New England that led to Oakland's winning score. "In 1976," Patriots cornerback Otis Smith said, "they didn't have instant replay."
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