NFL game summary for 12/19/1971:

New England's victory, sparked by a pair of TD passes from Jim Plunkett to Randy Vataha, dropped Baltimore into a second-place finish in the AFC's Eastern Division and moved the Colts into the playoffs as the No. 4 team. Plunkett finished with 19 TD passes, second-best rookie total in history, topped only by Charley Conerly's 22 for the New York Giants in 1948.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
New England Patriots	OFFENSE	121.4  (15)	133.5  (22)	254.8  (20)	30
	DEFENSE	139.8  (16)	154.5  (15)	294.3  (16)	27
Baltimore Colts	OFFENSE	157.6  (6)	136.6  (21)	294.2  (10)	34
	DEFENSE	78.6  (1)	122.1  (2)	200.7  (1)	39

Line: Colts by 13

Team	1	2	3	4	F
New England Patriots (6-8-0)	0	14	0	7	21
Baltimore Colts (10-4-0)	0	3	7	7	17

( 7- 0) NE  Randy Vataha 1 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick)
( 7- 3) BAL Jim O'Brien 12 yard field goal
(14- 3) NE  John Outlaw 60 yard interception return (Charlie Gogolak kick)
(14-10) BAL Eddie Hinton 31 yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Jim O'Brien kick)
(21-10) NE  Randy Vataha 88 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Charlie Gogolak kick)
(21-17) BAL Eddie Hinton 13 yard pass from Johnny Unitas (Jim O'Brien kick)

                     NE              BAL
First Downs:         11              17
Rushes-yards:        34-91           34-100
Yards/rush:          2.7             2.9
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     10-17-170-0     16-32-165-2
Sacked-yards:        2-18            2-19
Net pass yards:      152             146
Net yards/pass:      8.0             4.3
Total net yards:     243             246
Total plays:         53 (64% run)    68 (50% run)  
Yards/play:          4.6             3.6
Fumbles-lost:        3-2             0-0
Turnovers:           2               2
Penalties-yards:     4-35            2-7

Attendance: 57,942

Passing:
NE: Jim Plunkett, 10 of 17 for 170 yards and 2 TDs
BAL: Johnny Unitas, 16 of 32 for 165 yards and 2 TDs (2 int)

Rushing:
NE: Carl Garrett, 18 for 44 yards; Jim Nance, 14 for 47 yards; Jim Plunkett, 2 for 0 yards
BAL: Don Nottingham, 18 for 43 yards; Tom Matte, 14 for 47 yards; Eddie Hinton, 1 for 8 yards; Ray Perkins, 1 for 2 yards

Receiving:
NE: Randy Vataha, 4 for 100 yards and 2 TDs; Hubie Bryant, 2 for 22 yards; Jim Nance, 2 for 20 yards; Tom Beer, 1 for 20 yards; Carl Garrett, 1 for 8 yards
BAL: Tom Matte, 6 for 43 yards; Eddie Hinton, 4 for 74 yards and 2 TDs; Tom Mitchell, 2 for 32 yards; Ray Perkins, 2 for 13 yards; Don Nottingham, 2 for 3 yards

Kick returns:
NE: Hubie Bryant, 2 for 25 yards; Jack Maitland, 1 for 19 yards; Don Webb, 1 for 0 yards
BAL: Don McCauley, 4 for 92 yards

Punt returns:
NE: Hubie Bryant, 3 for -7 yards; Rickie Harris, 1 for 9 yards; Bob Gladieux, 1 for 0 yards
BAL: Rick Volk, 3 for 10 yards; Tom Curtis, 1 for 2 yards

Interceptions:
NE: John Outlaw, 1 for 60 yards and 1 TD; Steve Kiner, 1 for 0 yards

Punting:
NE: Tom Janik, 7 for 267 yards
BAL: David Lee, 6 for 241 yards

Field Goals:
NE: Charlie Gogolak, 0/1
BAL: Jim O'Brien, 1/2

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