Patriots through to the AFC Championship

The veteran quarterback was not sacked and was only hit once by a formidable Kansas City defensive front despite attempting 42 passes. New England’s Rob Gronkowski surpassed Dave Casper and Vernon Davis for the most touchdown catches by a tight end in postseason history with eight, including two in the Patriots’ 27-20 win over Kansas City…. Probably could have just kicked off and go for the stop and then would have had decent position potentially with the three timeouts.

Saturday offered a reminder of what Philadelphia once had with Andy Reid.

Then came the two-minute warning.

Edelman also said he did not need X-rays after the game and it is uncertain if he had one, since he mentioned that players were not allowed to discuss injuries.

“When it was all said and done, we had plenty of clock to take care of business”.

It started on the third play from scrimmage, just 31 seconds into the opening of Saturday’s AFC divisional round playoff game here at Gillette Stadium. Coming out of the break, the Chiefs were immediately penalized for a false start. Brady fired, the ball was caught and the Patriots moved ahead 11 yards. He really brings it out of you, he brings the best out of players, and he makes us work. Gronk caught five of his seven targets – one bounced off his hands and landed in Edelman’s to seal the game – for 49 yards and a pair of scores. Time was of the essence. And, the Patriots capitalized. “Those guys, we demand a lot out of them”.

Stephen Gostkowski, who set the franchise scoring record when he kicked the extra point following New England’s touchdown on the first possession of the game, also kicked two field goals.

The Patriots beat the Chiefs 27-20 on Saturday. Or failure to force a punt, which happened on another occasion against the Colts. Obviously, if you get stopped the clock is running. “It’s pretty cool. It’s hard to do, man. You’ve got to grind throughout the entire year”. “I finished the game, and I feel good enough to get ready to prepare for next week”.

Smith completed 29 of 50 passes for 246 yards and a score. “I’m so proud of him”.

Maclin said he pushed his ankle as far as he could, considering the season was on the line. “I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for Ted Marchibroda”, Belichick said.

The Patriots (13-4) are trying to become the first team to win back-to-back National Football League titles since they did it in 2003-04.

“I think he has worked his tail off”, Brady said. Most notably, Gronkowski was able to get on track, catching seven passes for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

Edelman caught a team-high 10 passes for 100 yards and, as Tom Brady’s security blanket, kept a couple of drives going with third-down conversions.

Chandler Jones was a big question all week, but he turned out to be more of an answer than anything, an answer to stopping Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith. With no receiver open, Brady took off in a dash for the end zone. On the next snap, Brady leaned forward and reached into the end zone to make it 14-3.

The worst moment of the game for the Kansas City defense was giving up a 98-yard TD drive in the second quarter after the special teams had pinned Tom Brady & Co.at their own two-yard line.

“Awesome, amazing. You couldn’t ask for anything better”, says Bryan Valenti of Manchester. “That’s not how I felt in this game”.