FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Baltimore Ravens have left linebacker Paul Kruger inactive for their playoff game against the New England Patriots.

Kruger, a second-round draft pick, has joined with Michael Oher and Lardarius Webb to make significant contributions as rookies this season. He played in the last eight games of the regular season and had an interception in overtime against Pittsburgh in the penultimate week.

Also inactive for the Ravens on Sunday were receiver Justin Harper, defensive backs Marcus Paschal and Keith Fitzhugh, offensive linemen David Hale and Tony Moll and defensive lineman Kelly Talavou. John Beck was the third quarterback.

The Patriots left inactive wide receiver Isaiah Stanback, cornerback Terrence Wheatley, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, linebacker Thomas Williams, defensive lineman Ron Brace and offensive linemen Rich Ohrnberger, Dan Connolly and Mark LeVoir.

At the half: Ravens 24, Patriots 7
Maybe in the past, this was the spot where you expect the Patriots to come back.

It’s hard to see — outside of blind faith — where you’d conjure that confidence now. Unless you’re hoping for a banged-up Joe Flacco to hand New England the game.

This one ain’t complicated. The Patriots got blocked up on the 83-yard touchdown run by Ray Rice. And then, they threw up all over their shoes. Two picks and a strip sack add up to 17 Baltimore points, and here we are.

Perhaps the greatest indication on what’s happening here came on the final six plays of the first half. There was no pretense about what Baltimore was doing there. Running the ball, running the clock, and trying to get in the locker room with a 17-point lead intact. And the Ravens run it six times, churn two first downs out, and take a knee.

That’s a physical football team right there, folks, that’s punched the home team in the mouth, and has that opponent reeling.

Here’s why coming back is going to be very, very difficult … The Patriots offense has 61 yards of total offense. Kevin Faulk has 61 yards from scrimmage. That means, outside of Faulk, the Patriots have netted a grand total of zero yards. And that offense had to fight like hell to get in the end zone, even when gifted a turnover (Why in the world didn’t John Harbaugh challenge there?) to set them up on the Raven 16.

The Ravens, to be fair, aren’t exactly going up and down the field. But they’re excellent when playing with a lead, and they have a big one now. Chances are, the air comes out of the ball, and on both sides, Baltimore turns this one into a street fight.

With the way Flacco’s playing (2-of-6 for 9 yards, INT), I’m not totally counting New England out. But it’s close.

After staging a dramatic fourth quarter comeback that saw the Ravens overcome a 17-point deficit, the ball was on the foot of Steve Hauschka, who Baltimore chose to keep this offseason instead of one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history.

Brett Favre’s 58-yard completion to Sidney Rice setup Ryan Longwell’s fourth field goal, and Baltimore’s Steve Hauschka missed a 44-yard field goal at the final whistle, allowing the Minnesota Vikings to remain undefeated.

Favre threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns, but the Vikings (6-0) nearly blew this one when they let the Ravens erase a 17-point deficit with 10 minutes to play.

Joe Flacco threw for 385 yards and two touchdowns for the Ravens (3-3), who scored twice on drives that totalled just 56 seconds to take a 31-30 lead with 3:37 to play.

But Hauschka pushed his field goal wide left, giving the Ravens their third straight loss.

“I want that one back,” Hauschka said. “But I’m going to have to move on from it, and I think it’ll make me stronger in the long run.

“You can’t always get the result you want, and I’m case in point of that. Obviously it’s disappointing to lose and especially for me to miss that field goal and let my team down. We’ll have to move on from it, and hopefully I can show my team I’ll make the next one.”

This was billed as the first true test of the season for the Vikings, who came in having beaten five teams with a combined record of 7-17. One of those victories was a Favre comeback for the ages, when he threw a TD to Greg Lewis in the closing seconds to beat the 49ers.