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MNF moments, No. 9: Pats stay unbeaten

James Lang/USA TODAY Sports

To celebrate the 45th season of "Monday Night Football," a panel of ESPN.com contributors has selected the 45 most memorable moments in MNF history. Follow along as we reveal one per day and count down to this season's MNF debut.

No. 9: Patriots 27, Ravens 24 | Dec. 3, 2007


The New England Patriots won their first eight games of the 2007 season without any trouble. New England's smallest margin of victory in their 8-0 start was 17 points. Then they started to display mortality, however, and won two of the next three by four points or fewer leading up to a Week 13 visit to the Baltimore Ravens.

On a Monday night in early December, the 19-point underdog Ravens had the Patriots on the ropes late in what became a wild affair.

Kyle Boller hit tight end Daniel Wilcox on the second play of the fourth quarter to put the Ravens up 24-17. That was only the third time New England had trailed in the fourth quarter all season. The Patriots trimmed the lead to 24-20 before getting the ball back on their own 27-yard line with 3:30 left.

Tom Brady's potential game-winning drive stalled at the Ravens' 13-yard line with a fourth-and-5 incompletion to Benjamin Watson, which left the Patriots stunned and Baltimore elated -- until an illegal contact call on defensive back Jamaine Winborne yielded an automatic first down.

Brady hit Jabar Gaffney for an 8-yard, game-winning touchdown on the next play, which prompted an incensed Bart Scott to earn two more flags for unsportsmanlike conduct. Baltimore still had one last chance to win, but the Ravens were 55 yards from the end zone when Boller completed a 52-yard pass to Mark Clayton as time expired.