The chip shot to decide the futures of Brady, Belichick and Flacco needs a deep rewind

The elite levels prepared to go off the chart

When the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots met in the 2011 AFC Championship, each team had a narrative it wanted to shed. The Ravens – and Joe Flacco in particular – wanted to prove they didn’t just need to win with strong defense and a dominant ground game. The Pats, after a stretch of postseason struggles, needed to demonstrate they weren’t just dominant in the regular season.

Both threads hung in the balance as the fourth quarter approached its end and things looked likely to be settled in overtime…assuming Billy Cundiff could make an easy field goal for the Ravens to tie things up.

Whatever comes next has the chance to get lost in the sands of time; a memory that fades because of the individuals, the legacies and the moments that follow. But those stories wouldn’t have been possible without the closing seconds to this AFC Championship. That’s why we need to rewind.