After a stiff, defensive start to the game, the Patriots and Ravens opened up for 10 points a piece in the second quarter, leaving New England on top 13-10 at the half.
While the Ravens would be the first team to score, it was the Patriots who won the first battle of the second quarter. With the Ravens starting on a 3rd-and-6 in the red zone, Kyle Arrington and Dane Fletcher combined to put a hit on Anquan Boldin just shy of the first down, holding Baltimore to just a field goal.
The teams would exchange touchdowns on their next two drives. BenJarvus Green-Ellis pulled most of the weight for New England, carrying the ball for the first 24 yards, and drawing a face mask to set up his own 7-yard touchdown run to cap off the possession. Joe Flacco and the Ravens wasted little time in striking back, however, with Flacco carving up the New England defense for 57 yards on his first two attempts. After handing things off to Ray Rice for the next series of downs, Flacco would be the first of the two quarterbacks to find the end zone, hitting Dennis Pitta for the final six yards and tying the game.
New England would come out on top in the final exchange, however. Tom Brady found his groove again with five straight completed passes for 60 yards, and even though the drive fell short after a pass was batted down at the line and Rob Gronkowski was incorrectly ruled out on a catch that would have been enough for a first down, they were close enough for Gostkowski to connect on a 35-yard field goal. With the New England defense stopping the Ravens at midfield and Brady taking a knee, the Patriots went into the locker room up 13-10 and set to take the ball to start the third quarter.