IT’S PATRIOTS VS. EAGLES FOR ALL THE GLORY
Tom Brady will be gunning for sixth Super Bowl win,
FOXBOROUGH, MASS.— Give them 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 four-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola with 2:48 remaining, rallying the Patriots to a 24-20 comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguar in the AFC championship 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 will play the winner of sota Feb. Sunday 4. and Philadelphia night’s game in between Minneapolis Minne- on for It’s Brady the eighth and Patriots Super coach Bowl appearance 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 had kept Brady and the Patriots at bay for most of the game.
But Jacksonville 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’s 18-yard scamper with 90 seconds remaining sealing the victory. 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 the most-scrutinized body part in Boston since the quarterback’s ankle before the 2008 Super Bowl, and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s right ankle tendon — the bloody sock — in the 2004 playoffs.
Brady was listed as questionable after he hurt his right hand during practice earlier in the week. He was limited Wednesday, sat out Thursday and was limited again Friday be- cause of the injury.
Turns out, it was nothing to fret about.
Brady warmed up without a glove on his hand, and he came out throwing. He completed his first six passes — including a 20-yarder to Amendola on fourth-and-1 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 New England settled for Stephen Gostkowski’s 31yard field goal.
A wide-open Marcedes Lewis gave the Jaguars a 7-3 lead 45 seconds into the second quarter with a four-yard touchdown catch from Bortles, who was 5-for-5 for 66 yards on an impressive and efficient seven-play, 76yard drive.
Leonard Fournette gave Jacksonville a 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter with a four-yard TD run, hushing the crowd at Gillette Stadium.
But Brady, with some help from the Jaguars on two long penalties, rallied New England before the half, and James White scored from a yard out with 55 seconds left.