Hands down, another Brady masterclass
Patriots quarterback always finds a way as Jags see fourth-quarter lead wither
You’ve really got to hand it to Tom Brady and his injured right hand.
Brady and the New England Patriots are headed to their eighth Super Bowl of this young century after overcoming a multi-score fourth quarter deficit — sound familiar? — to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 on Sunday in the AFC championship game.
Brady hurt his right hand in practice on Wednesday after running back Rex Burkhead accidentally collided with him on a simple handoff, opening a cut that reportedly required numerous stitches to close and sprained a collateral thumb ligament.
You wouldn’t know it from the way Brady performed, right from the opening drive. He finished 26 of 38 for 290 yards, no interceptions, a shining 108.4 passer rating and two touchdown passes to receiver Danny Amendola in the final 8:44.
The Patriots will play the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 4 in Super Bowl LII at two-year-old U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
On a mild mid-winter afternoon at sun-soaked Gillette Stadium (it was 9 C and practically windless at kickoff ), New England trailed 14-3 late in the first half before narrowing the deficit to 14-10 just before halftime.
After two field goals gave Jacksonville a 20-10 lead by early in the fourth quarter, Brady asserted his now expected aerial mastery in the clutch.
First it was in an eight-play, 85-yard drive that culminated in a nine-yard touchdown pass to Amendola. Brady completed five of seven on that drive for 93 yards, because a sack added eight to the journey.
Then, on a drive that began at the Jaguars’ 30 thanks to a 20-yard punt return by Amendola, Brady completed all three passes for 27 yards, plus two rushing yards.
In other words, by passing or running, Brady accounted for 122 of the 123 yards required to score touchdowns on the two decisive late-game drives.
That’s how you win big playoff games in this league — with a laser-accurate quarterback who can reliably move the team at crunch time, and a coaching staff that doesn’t give a damn if the team doesn’t, or even can’t, run the ball to do so.
Brady threw the winning fouryard TD toss to Amendola, who was zipping across the back of the end zone. The 32-year-old receiver made a fabulous catch, barely getting both feet down in bounds before falling out of the back of the end zone.
Amendola set up the short winning drive with a 20-yard punt return. (Earlier in the fourth quarter, he had even completed a cross-continent pass to Dion Lewis for 20 yards after a receiving a long lateral swing pass the other way from Brady.)
“Danny is a tremendous competitor,” New England head coach Bill Belichick said. “Danny’s such a good football player … It doesn’t matter what it is. Fielding punts, third down, big play, red area, onside-kick recovery … whatever we need him to do. He’s very instinctive, tough, has tremendous concentration.”
New England took its first lead since early in the second quarter, 24-20, with 2:48 remaining.
Before the above two TD drives, Brady completed but four passes of 14 yards or more (20, 21, 17 and 18 yards). Over those two drives, he completed five (18, 21, 31, 14 and 15 yards). The Pats needed yards in bigger chunks, and against the league’s best secondary, Brady delivered — perhaps most impressively on a third-and-18 from the Pats’ 25 with 10:49 left, down 20-10. That’s when he ripped a throw into Amendola’s hands on a deep crosser for 21 — a drive saver that sparked the comeback.
“If you give him time, he will pick you apart,” Jacksonville safety Tashaun Gipson said. “He is the greatest quarterback to ever play this game. You can never have a safe lead with (No.) 12 at the helm.”
Jacksonville’s attempt to win it with a touchdown ended with 1:47 remaining on the New England 43. Blake Bortles’s deep pass on fourth and 15 appeared headed for the arms of streaking receiver Dede Westbrook, but Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore — in his first season as a Patriot, after five years of mostly losing with the Buffalo Bills — timed his leap perfectly to break it up.
Was that the best play of Gilmore’s football career? Yes, he said in his soft-spoken manner:
“I think I’ve made plays like that before,” he said, “but the time and the place — the AFC championship Game…
“I kind of anticipated the (last) play a little bit, and turning to the receiver. That’s what the coaches always teach us: to go find the ball. I was able to make the play.”
The Patriots then ran out the clock on the legs of Lewis.
Brady and the Patriots won last February’s Super Bowl, you’ll recall, by overcoming a 25-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime.