’HAWKS & PATS MOVE ON
Reach title games, now one step away from Super trip to MetLife Stadium:
FOXBOROUGH — Somewhere underneath his soaked hoodie, the guy with an apparent fear of smiling was probably giggling on the inside like a giddy schoolboy after crushing one of the feel-good stories of these playoffs. Bill Belichick was the NFL’s Scrooge on Saturday, the ultimate buzz kill for the partying patrons on the Andrew Luck bandwagon all week. The Patriots — the Evil Empire, if you prefer — ended the Colts’ playoff run with a wire-to-wire 43-22 divisional-playoff win on a soggy night to advance to a third consecutive AFC Championship Game.
The Patriots overcame some tense moments early in the second half to foil the NFL’s new Comeback Kids and set up a showdown against the Broncos or Chargers next week for a chance to play in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.
Belichick and Tom Brady won their 18th playoff game together, but the night was more about The Hoodie’s plan to lean on his rushing attack rather than his future Hall of Fame quarterback’s golden arm.
The Patriots somehow made six trips into the end zone without a single touchdown pass from Brady.
“If you would have told me (that) before the game,” running back LeGarrette Blount said, “I would not have believed it at all.” Join the club. Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ game plan was gold. The Patriots had 25 of their eye-opening 46 rushing attempts in the first half to build a 21-12 lead. Belichick has yet to hoist the Lombardi Trophy since SpyGate (or “the videotaping incident” as it’s known at One Patriots Place), but his scheme to stymie Andrew Luck & Co. was, well, genius.
Belichick complemented an offensive plan that netted 246 yards on the ground with strategic ways to slow down Luck’s ability to use his feet (1 rush for 5 yards) by making sure his defensive ends contained the edges without over-pursuing. The Patriots defensive backs also jammed Luck’s pass-catching targets at the line of scrimmage. The result: Four interceptions by Luck.
“We didn’t know that we were going to be able to dominate,” said Blount, who ran for 166 yards and had four of the Patriots’ six rushing touchdowns. “But our game plan was to play tough and physical. If we weren’t able to run the ball we always got No. 12 that’s going to put the team on his back and do great things that he’s always done in his whole career.”
Belichick and Brady are two wins away from winning their fourth Super Bowl together.
“When Bill Belichick leaves and Tom Brady leaves,” said former NBA star Charles Barkley, a close friend of Belichick’s for years, who was in the winning locker room, “ya’ll team gonna f--- suck.”
Sir Charles may be right, but this time the Patriots didn’t need a superhuman effort from Brady, who looked more like a game manager than a game-changer.
“When you get in these conditions,” Brady (13-for-25 for 198 yards, no turnovers) said of the rainy night, “to have that running game and to be as efficient as we’ve been, to get big play after big play has been great.”
Luck may have engineered a 28-point comeback against the Chiefs to pull off a 4544 wild-card win last week, but there was no way he’d be able to duplicate a similar feat on Belichick’s watch.
He finally ran out of magic after rallying his team time after time in his first two seasons. Luck’s first pick 75 seconds into the game helped put the Colts in an early twotouchdown hole that they never overcame.
Luck helped the Colts get to within 29-22 with five minutes left in the third quarter on a 35-yard touchdown strike to LaVon Brazill before Belichick went back to the ground to effectively put away Indianapolis.
Blount’s 73-yard touchdown run gave the Patriots a two-touchdown lead again a few minutes into the fourth quarter. Luck’s third pick on the ensuing drive set up Stevan Ridley’s 1-yard touchdown scamper to unofficially end any hope of another Luck miracle and put Patriots on the verge of another Super Bowl berth.
“I know people have counted us out at times earlier this year,” Brady said. “But I think we have a locker room full of believers.”
Mother Nature dropped plenty of rain on Gillette Stadium before Belichick ultimately poured cold water on the Colts’ Super Bowl hopes. It was old-school football at its finest that sent Luck home a loser.
Belichick surely felt warm and fuzzy about the whole thing.
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FOXBOROUGH — The Indianapolis Colts fell victim to Blount force trauma.
The Patriots and Colts were set up for a thriller between the old and the new — Tom Brady vs. Andrew Luck — but instead it was Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount who stole the show. Blount set Patriots postseason records for most rushing touchdowns (four) and tied another for most rushing yards (166) in New England’s 43-22 playoff win Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
It was Brady’s 18th playoff win, one that advanced the Patriots (13-4) to the AFC Championship Game, but Bill Belichick didn’t need his franchise quarterback to be the hero on a rainy night in New England. Instead, he turned the game over to his running backs, who combined for six touchdowns on the ground, a Patriots franchise record in any game. Stevan Ridley had
the other two Patriot t ouchdowns, but Blount, in particular, was the hero.
“He’s been that way all year,” Belichick said. “The offensive line does a good job of blocking, so they gave him some holes and some space, he can rumble.” Blount’s teammates agreed. “I’m glad I don’t (have) to tackle him,” said Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib. “I’m glad I don’t have to worry about that.”
Blount is in his first season with the Patriots after being traded by the Bucs last spring, but he was well-aware that this will be the Pats’ third consecutive AFC Championship Game, New England losing last year to the Colts after beating the Ravens the year before. Two years ago, of course, New England lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl.
“We’ve been getting right there, knocking on the door and haven’t knocked it down yet,” Blount said.
The Patriots will face either the Broncos in Denver or the Chargers at home next Sunday.
Blount said he wouldn’t have believed it if he had been told beforehand that the Patriots had won without Brady throwing a touchdown pass. But the quarterback played a mistake-free game, completing 13 of 25 passes for 198
yards with- out an interception, and also contributed in an unusual way: as a holder. After punter and regular holder Ryan Allen got hurt on a play that resulted in a safety for the Colts, Brady subbed in as a holder on an extra point.
“Maybe I’ll try renegotiating my contract or something for doing more work,” the quarterback joked. The 21-point victory ended the Colts’ season a week after Indy (12-6) executed a miraculous comeback to defeat the Chiefs 45-44. Luck fought admirably, delivering some exceptional deep passes that kept his team in the game until the fourth quarter, but he also threw four interceptions.
Blount’s big game came less than a year after he was traded by the Bucs for Jeff Demps and a seventh-round pick. Talib was also traded by the Bucs to the Patriots, during the 2012 season. “You’re mad when you get traded, but at the same time, it’s a blessing,” Talib said. “We talk about it all the time.”
It took less than two minutes for Luck to make his first mistake of the game when he forced a pass to LaVon Brazill, and Alfonzo Dennard wrestled it from the receiver’s hands, returning it to the Colts’ 2-yard-line. The Patriots scored on the very next play, when Blount ran in to make it 7-0 just 1:19 into the game. As soon as the Patriots got the ball back, they kept up the pressure. Brady orchestrated a picture-perfect 10-play, 74-yard drive that resulted in Blount’s second 2-yard touchdown run.
But the Colts were able to quickly respond. Luck was pressured throughout the drive, but was able to manage some big completions, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to Brazill with 4:35 left in the first quarter.
Down 21-10 in the second quarter, the Colts caught a major break when Danny Aiken’s snap to Allen sailed over the punter’s head, rolling all the way back to the 2-yard line. Allen tried to throw the ball away, but it was batted back into the end zone for a safety, which made it 21-12.
A third-quarter TD pass to Brazill brought the Colts within seven, 29-22, but it would end up being their last points of the game. Blount delivered a deadly blow when he ran for a 73yard score with 12:55 left in the game, and Ridley finished the job with a 1-yard TD run with 11:12 remaining.
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