Cam Newton helps Patriots beat Ravens in rain and wind
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Quarterback Cam Newton #1 of the New England Patriots throws the ball under pressure in the game against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, November 15, 2020. /CFP

Quarterback Cam Newton #1 of the New England Patriots throws the ball under pressure in the game against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, November 15, 2020. /CFP

The Patriots have had trouble finishing off games at times this season. They got an assist from Mother Nature to help close out their biggest victory.

Cam Newton threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score and the Patriots fought through rain and wind to hold off the Baltimore Ravens 23-17 on Sunday night.

Damien Harris ran for a career-high 121 yards to help the Patriots (4-5) win consecutive games for the first time this season. Newton was 13 of 17 for 118 yards. His touchdown pass, on a short sprint-out to Rex Burkhead in the first quarter, was his since first since Week 3 – a span of four games.

Quarterback Cam Newton of the New England Patriots celebrates 23-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

Quarterback Cam Newton of the New England Patriots celebrates 23-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

"Just finding ways to win. That's pretty much been it," Newton said about the past two wins. "Having good weeks in practice and following it up with in-game performances … We've just got to keep doing that moving forward."

The Ravens' road winning streak ended at 10. Baltimore (6-3) is 0-6 in the regular season in New England.

Lamar Jackson was 24 of 34 for 249 yards and two touchdowns for the Ravens.

"We're ticked off. Nobody likes losing," Jackson said. "We have a lot of talent on our team. We've got to regroup."

Tight end Mark Andrews (C) of the Baltimore Ravens is tackled by three players of the New England Patriots in the game at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

Tight end Mark Andrews (C) of the Baltimore Ravens is tackled by three players of the New England Patriots in the game at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

New England bottled him up on the ground for most of the game, limiting him to just 11 rushes for 55 yards.

"Overall certainly we played it much better than we did last year," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

Down 23-17, Baltimore had a chance to take the lead with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter. But the possession quickly fell apart after an errant snap by center Matt Skura resulted in a 16-yard loss.

The Patriots got the ball back and were able to pick up enough first downs to run down the clock to just over a minute to play before putting the ball back.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball in the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

Quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball in the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

As rain and wind pelted the field, the Ravens started the drive with a penalty, pushing them back to their own 9. Facing fourth-and-26 on the 21, Jackson had J.K. Dobbins open along the sideline, but Dobbins bobbled the ball for an incompletion and turnover on downs.

The loss came with additional costs for Baltimore, which will also be without one of its best blockers for the foreseeable future after tight end Nick Boyle was carted off the field with 6:24 left in the third quarter. The team said he suffered a knee injury when he had his left pinned underneath him while being tackled by Terez Hall following a 4-yard reception.

Coach John Harbaugh said Boyle is done for the season.

With rain being blown sideways across the field due to a persistent 15 mph wind that gusted higher than that, both quarterbacks threw sparingly early on. The passes they did attempt were often no more than 15-yard quick-outs or shorter dump-offs.

Most of the exceptions were by the Patriots.

Offensive tackle Caleb Benenoch #65 of the New England Patriots pressures quarterback pressures Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens in the game at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

Offensive tackle Caleb Benenoch #65 of the New England Patriots pressures quarterback pressures Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens in the game at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

They used some trickery just before halftime to take a 13-10 lead. Facing second-and-6 on the Ravens 24, Newton threw what appeared to be a wide receiver screen to Jakobi Meyers. But Meyers pivoted and lofted a pass to a wide-open Rex Burkhead for a touchdown.

"It's something we practiced over the last couple of weeks. Just didn't know when it was going to come up," Meyers said. "I was just trying to be playmaker."

Harbaugh acknowledged it was a mental miscue by linebacker Patrick McQueen.

"Rookie mistake. He was on his guy, hesitated a bit. Burkhead made a really nice play on it," Harbaugh said.

Running back Mark Ingram of the Baltimore Ravens fumbles the snap in the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

Running back Mark Ingram of the Baltimore Ravens fumbles the snap in the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, November 15, 2020. /CFP

Baltimore was without two stalwarts on defense with tackle Calais Campbell (calf) and linebacker L.J. Fort (finger) both out. Cornerback Jimmy Smith is also sat with an ankle injury.

"It's impossible to measure it but I'm sure it had an impact," Harbaugh said.

New England kept things going on its opening drive of the third quarter.

First, Harris broke a 25-yard run to get into Ravens territory. That was followed by Newton connecting with Meyers on a 26-yard pass that also included an unnecessary roughness call on cornerback Marcus Peters for a hit out of bounds. Newton ran it in on the next play from 4 yards out to make it 20-10.

Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 46-23 North Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans 7-10 Cleveland Browns

Washington Football Team 27-30 Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars 20-24 Green Bay Packers

Philadelphia Eagles 17-27 New York Giants

Buffalo Bills 30-32 Arizona Cardinals

Denver Broncos 12-37 Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers 21-29 Miami Dolphins

Cincinnati Bengals 10-36 Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks 16-23 Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers 13-27 New Orleans Saints

Source(s): AP