Brady leads Patriots back to Super Bowl
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — Give ’em a hand: Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are heading back to the Super Bowl.
Brady shook off a hand injury and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola with 2:48 remaining, rallying the Patriots to a 24-20 comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the National Football League’s AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Brady, wearing a black bandage on his right hand after cutting it during practice earlier in the week, showed no signs of being hampered.
And, with the game — and the season — possibly on the line, the Patriots star came up big again.
“I’ve had a lot worse,” Brady said. “I didn’t know that on Wednesday. It was a crazy injury. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday was a little scary. Then I started getting some confidence and today we did just enough to win.”
Brady finished 26 of 38 for 290 yards and two touchdowns to Amendola for the Patriots (15-3), who’ll play the winner of Sunday night’s game between Minnesota and Philadelphia in Minneapolis on Feb. 4.
It’s the eighth Super Bowl appearance for Brady and coach Bill Belichick, who have won five times — including last year’s 34-28 overtime rally against the Atlanta Falcons.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Brady said. “It’s pretty amazing. Just to be on a team that wins these kinds of games, it’s just a great accomplishment. I’m just so proud of everyone on our team, we made so many great plays. Defence played so great when they needed to. Just an amazing game.”
Blake Bortles and the Jaguars (12-7) led 20-10 early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold against the defending champions. The NFL’s second-ranked defence kept Brady and the Patriots at bay for most of the game, but also lost linebacker Myles Jack and defensive tackle Marcell Dareus on consecutive plays on New England’s winning drive.
Jacksonville — looking to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history — had one more shot, but Bortles’ throw on fourth-and-15 to Dede Westbrook was knocked away by Stephon Gilmore.
The Patriots then ran out the clock, with Dion Lewis’ 18-yard scamper with 90 seconds remaining sealing the victory. And they played most of the game without tight end Rob Gronkowski, who left the game late in the first half and didn’t return.
Brady’s hand was his most-scrutinized body part in Boston since his ankle before the 2008 Super Bowl. That caused some panic among the Patriots faithful. Turns out, it was nothing to fret about.
Brady warmed up Sunday without a glove on his hand, and he came out throwing. He completed his first six passes — including a 20yarder to Amendola on fourth-andone from the Jaguars 30 — for 57 yards to march the Patriots down the field. The drive stalled when Brady was sacked by Dante Fowler Jr., and the Pats settled for Stephen Gostkowski’s 31-yard field goal.
Leonard Fournette gave Jacksonville a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter with a 4-yard TD run, hushing the crowd at Gillette Stadium. Josh Lambo gave them a 17-10 lead 4:37 into the third quarter with a 54-yard field goal. He added a 43-yarder eight seconds into the fourth to make it a 10-point game.
But Brady & Co. were just getting started.