Patriots, Eagles continue playoff march
Tom Brady passed for three touchdowns and 337 yards and the New England Patriots cruised past the visiting Tennessee Titans 35-14 on Saturday night to advance to their seventh consecutive AFC championship game.
It was Brady’s 10th career postseason game with at least three TD tosses, moving him past Joe Montana for the most in NFL history.
“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.”
James White caught a touchdown pass and ran for another, and Danny Amendola had 11 catches for 112 yards.
The Titans took an early 7-0 lead, but New England scored 35 straight points to take control.
Marcus Mariota completed 22 of 37 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns, but was under duress for most of the second half. He was sacked eight times, a Patriots playoff record. New England also held Derrick Henry to just 28 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Head coach Mike Mularkey said after the game Mariota strained a quadriceps in the first quarter.
“It had an impact,” Mularkey said. “We had to get out of some of our schemes with him.”
EAGLES 15, FALCONS 10
With Nick Foles engineering several long drives, Jake Elliott converting three field goals, and the defence getting stingy in the tightest spot, Philadelphia moved into the NFC championship game with a victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Foles directed brilliant marches of 74 and 80 yards in the second half — one into the whipping wind, the other with it — and Elliott atoned for missing an extra point by converting from 53 yards at the end of the second quarter, then 37 and 21 in the second half. The Eagles held when Atlanta got to the nine-yard line with a first down, and to the two on fourth down.
“We just kept believing in each other,” said Foles, who became the starter when Carson Wentz injured his knee. “That was it. Our team never wavered, defence did an amazing job, special teams — that’s just been the story this year is that we just all stuck together.”