Pats in 7th straight AFC title game
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — First, the Patriots tuned out a week full of off- field drama. Then, they silenced the Titans to earn yet another trip to the AFC Championship Game.
Tom Brady passed for three touchdowns and 337 yards, and New England cruised past Tennessee 35- 14 on Saturday night to advance to its seventh consecutive conference title game.
New England ( 14- 3) will host the winner of Sunday’s divisional matchup between Jacksonville and Pittsburgh.
It was Brady’s 10th career postseason game with at least three touchdown passes, moving him past Joe Montana for the most in NFL history. James White caught a touchdown pass and ran for another, and Danny Amendola had 11 catches for 112 yards.
New England’s victory came on the heels of a week filled with turmoil after reports of discord involving Brady, coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft.
None of that showed on the field.
“I’ve been around long enough,” Brady said. “So, 18 years, there’s so many nice things said about me. It just goes with the territory.”
The Titans ( 10- 8) took an early 7- 0 lead, but New England scored 35 straight points to take control.
Marcus Mariota was 22- for37 for 254 yards and two touchdowns, but he was under duress for most of the second half. He was sacked eight times, a Patriots playoff record.
Coach Mike Mularkey said after the game his quarterback strained a quadriceps in the first quarter.
“It had an impact,” Mularkey said. “We had to get out of some of our scheme with him.”
New England also held Derrick Henry to just 28 yards rushing on 12 carries.
The Titans came back from an 18- point deficit in the second half to beat the Chiefs 22- 21 in the wildcard round last week — the largest comeback on the road in the Super Bowl era. But the Patriots didn’t give them a chance for an encore.
Leading 14- 7, the Patriots stretched their lead to 14 just before halftime thanks to a trio of careless penalties on the Titans.
Tennessee initially forced a three- and- out, but gave up a first down via a fourth- and- five neutral zone infraction on Brynden Trawick before New England’s punt attempt.
Brady eventually connected on a four- yard touchdown pass with Chris Hogan in the back of the end zone that made it 21- 7.
Corey Davis made a one- handed catch on a 15- yard pass from Mariota in the corner of the end zone to give the Titans a 7- 0 lead.
Davis added an 11- yard TD reception with 1: 55 left in the game — and the Titans’ season.