Tom Brady made like Steve McQueen and the New England Patriots pulled off the great escape.

Brady capped a 73-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney as the visiting Patriots prevailed 27-24 over the Baltimore Ravens before a rabid crowd of 71,382 at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday night.

Tom Brady (12) is sacked by Antwan Barnes in a 27-24 Patriots triumph.
(Nick Wass/Associated Press)

It marked the second consecutive three-point win for New England, which eked out a 31-28 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles eight days ago. 

"We prepared to get their best," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said.

"Most of it, for three quarters, did not go in our favour," said Brady, who completed 18-of-38 pass attempts for 257 yards. 

"On the road, tough environment [and] against a team that has won a lot of games in the last few years. It was was tough."

The Patriots (12-0) are the sixth team in NFL history to go 12-0; the 1972 Miami Dolphins (17-0) are the only team to post a perfect season.

"There is a lot of room to improve in the final four weeks," said Brady, who needs eight touchdown passes to tie the NFL mark of 49 held by Peyton Manning.

"There's things we could have certainly done better. We kept clawing back."

Quarterback Kyle Boller completed 15-of-23 passes for 210 passes and a touchdown for the Ravens (4-8), losers of six straight games.

Running back Willis McGahee rushed 30 times for 138 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown that vaulted him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season.

"We played our hearts out tonight," he said. "We got some bogus calls."

Patriots march 13 plays

New England needed 13 plays to reach the end zone on the decisive drive, converting twice on fourth down and taking advantage of a couple of penalties and a late timeout call by the Ravens.

"A lot of questionable calls and we made some plays," Brady said.

Trailing 24-20, Brady was stopped by the stout Ravens defence on fourth-and-one on a quarterback sneak at the New England 30, but earned a reprieve because Baltimore called a timeout moments before the snap. 

Heath Evans was halted short of a first down on the next play, but the Patriots were penalized for a false start, providing a third opportunity to convert — which Brady did on a scramble.

The Patriots later faced fourth-and-15 from the Baltimore 13, but Ravens cornerback Jamaine Winborne was caught holding tight end Benjamin Watson.

Six seconds later, Brady found Gaffney in the left corner of the end zone to put New England ahead 27-24.

"I told him it was the best catch of his career and it was a great time to do it, " Brady said of Gaffney's lone reception on the night.

"Everybody is coming out and giving us their best," Gaffney said, "So we've just got to be prepared to come out and give them ours."

Ravens linebacker Bart Scott went ballistic, and was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a second 15-yard penalty for chucking an official's flag into the stands.

"It is hard to go out and play the Patriots and the refs at the same time," Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister said. "They put the crown on top of them, they want them to win [and] they won."

Baltimore put a last-second scare into the Patriots as Boller's 52-yard Hail Mary was caught by Mark Clayton inside the five, but he was brought down by a phalanx of Patriots at the three as time expired.

"A lot of things that we did not do well that we need to do — you name it — we need to improve it," Belichick said. "Offence, defence, special teams."

With files from the Associated Press