TWICKENHAM -- Maybe England would have won this match against a slightly faded New Zealand, whatever happened, but the two drop goals landed by George Ford in the three minutes just before half-time were pivotal to a change of mood and change of history at Twickenham.
They were essential to not allowing the chance of only a second win over the All Blacks here since 2002 to escape.
Ford, the 32-year-old fly-half of Sale Sharks and formerly Leicester and Bath and Leicester again, projects such a balanced demeanour. Never too up, never too down; it's also the description used by England's head coach Steve Borthwick for the way he expects his team to be, overall.
It will be difficult after this result, and Borthwick at the same time was encouraging his squad and the English rugby public to celebrate it loud and long.
Ford had a few errors and misjudgements in this match, including a duff cross-kick aimed at Immanuel Feyi-Waboso early on, and a couple of off-target place kicks.
But the anatomy of his two drops of glory spoke of his presence of mind and awareness of making the scoreboard move in England's favour at a crucial moment.
You could trace Ford's first drop back to an unpromising little chip by Marcus Smith in the England 22-metre line.
And this was a reminder of the different ambience of last autumn, when the substitution of Smith was bringing boos for Borthwick - in November 2024 Ford was not Twickenham's flavour of the month.
Against New Zealand here, Ford was coming back from a pre-autumn injury, and he came on and hit a post with a penalty, then was part of a botched attempt at a drop goal, either of which would have seen England win.
This time round, Smith's chip was run back by New Zealand, but Codie Taylor was smothered a big Maro Itoje bearhug to free the ball on England's side on halfway.
Ford was playing his 104th Test match. He doesn't need to force the position of a match to the front of his mind; it's just there, ticking away, part of the decision-making he is required to command.
"We started really well," he said on TV afterwards, "but then went 12-0 down.
"[Drop goals were] always the plan - you want to come away with things when you're in position, and keep the scoreboard ticking over."
From Taylor's fumble, Alex Mitchell hacked the ball down the wing, forcing Beauden Barrett into a lactose-pumping covering run, and a shallow clearing kick for an England line-out, followed by half a dozen phases around their opponents' 22-metre line.
At the time most spectators were obliged to believe all outcomes could be possible.
Ford, by contrast, probably had an either-or to ponder - a penalty at the breakdown as Itoje, Ollie Lawrence, Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill made short carries, or a drop goal.
Mitchell fired a sharp pass back and Ford did the rest: 37 minutes and 27 seconds on the clock, and England now trailing by 12-8, not 12-5, and definitely not the 12-0 lead New Zealand had with 17 minutes played.
The restart kick by Barrett was caught by Alex Coles, high in a receiving pod. Then Mitchell box-kicked - again, a tactic that can raise groans from spectators, depending on the context.
Tom Roebuck caught it for England, unchallenged - New Zealand were either too tired to contest it or decided the tall wing could have the ball, still just inside his half.
But the foot speed of Smith and Feyi-Waboso quickly flicked England forward.
And, as they reached the New Zealand 22-metre line again, Ford must have felt déjà vu - except no two situations are never completely alike.
He belted three drop goals against Argentina in the World Cup pool stage in 2023, but that was when England were a man down with Tom Curry sent off.
Here, another few rucks of clean England possession needed to be perpetrated before Mitchell made a glance behind him, snapped a 10-metre pass off his left hand, and Ford's right boot did the rest: 39 minutes and 34 seconds gone, and England just one point adrift.
A winning position? Call it a winning mindset. A plotting of what was required, allied with the requisite accuracy of execution from an individual and a team.
"George is a brilliant player, an outstanding leader and an even better person," said Borthwick. "I know you like to talk about 12 months ago and the ball hitting a post but... when he pulls on the England shirt, he is just such a consistent performer."
In the second half, England scored their second, third and fourth tries, and it was 33-19 by the end. Ford's firm penalty kick with a few minutes left, for 28-19, was an obvious turnaround from last year. Even he took what looked like a short exhale of relief as he picked up the tee.
Their first try, by Lawrence after 24 minutes, had featured the shortest and deftest of passes by Ford on the short side of a scrum.
He is likely to consider that bit of skill as more or less the equal of either of his drops. He might think all of them as interventions he would always expect of himself - but, there again, he is a world-class No 10.