Patriots gets controversial win over Raiders in OT
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Posted 8:11AM on Sunday, January 20, 2002
FOXBORO, MASSACHUSETTS - A snowstorm and an apparent fumble didn't stop Tom Brady and New England from sliding into the AFC championship game. <br>
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Helped by a controversial video replay that overruled the fumble call with 1:43 left, the Patriots beat Oakland in overtime after trailing 13-3 going into the fourth quarter. <br>
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Adam Vinatieri, whose 45-yard field goal tied the game with 27 seconds left in regulation time, gave the Patriots the victory with a 23-yard field goal with 8:25 gone in overtime. <br>
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The Patriots won their seventh straight game and will face the winner of Sunday's game between Baltimore and Pittsburgh. <br>
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The Patriots appeared finished when Greg Biekert recovered Brady's apparent fumble. <br>
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Referee Walt Coleman ruled Brady's arm was moving forward and the play was an incompletion. Brady apparently was pulling the ball back in when hit by a blitzing Charles Woodson. The decision left the Patriots with the ball at the Oakland 42. <br>
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Five plays later, Vinatieri lined the tying 45-yard field goal through the snowflakes and the uprights. <br>
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The Patriots won their seventh straight game despite a game-long snowfall that seemed to stymie Brady through the first three quarters. But he was outstanding in the fourth quarter and overtime and ended up 32-for-52 for 312 yards. Oakland's Rich Gannon, the AFC's top-rated passer, was 17-for-31 for 159 yards.