Patriots advance to 5th straight AFC title game

The New England Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday, January 16 start time at 4:35 PM ET, at Gillette Stadium.

Tom Brady completed 28-of-42 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and he added a rushing score.

New England grabbed a 7-0 lead only 4:37 into the game as Brady capped an 11-play, 80-yard march with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Gronkowski. If the Chiefs had stopped the Patriots on third down, Kansas City could have gotten the ball back with about 50 seconds left, only down by seven points.

Stephen Gostkowski hit a pair of field goals in the fourth quarter to make it 27-13 before the Chiefs clawed back to 27-20 on a 16-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Charcandrick West’s 1-yard touchdown run with 1:13 left in the game.

New England will face either the Denver Broncos or Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. If the Steelers win, they will play the Patriots in Foxboro next weekend and that will be a rematch of the 2015 regular season opener.

What it means: The Patriots matched the Raiders (1973-77) as the only teams in the Super Bowl era to advance to five straight AFC title games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

He also caught a key onside kick by the Chiefs to give Patriots possession late in the fourth quarter of the one-touchdown game.

At the AFC division playoff game Saturday between Kansas City and New England, referee Craig Wrolstad flipped the coin, and it was tails – which the Chiefs had called. The escape and long pass to Jason Avant is one of the best plays he’s made with the Chiefs.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, also received welcome injury news – wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who hasn’t practiced this week, is active for the big playoff game. With 22 postseason victories, coach Bill Belichick has the most in National Football League history. Edelman made 10 catches for 100 yards and Gronkowski had seven receptions for 83 yards.

Jones’ status was uncertain for the game Saturday against Kansas City after he wandered over to a police station last Sunday, shirtless and disoriented, leaving his house reeking of burnt marijuana.

The Chiefs got the ball to start the second half, but the Patriots’ defense soon forced the game’s first turnover. The reigning Super Bowl MVP carried it in for a score on the next play, reaching over the line to convert in a way Kansas City couldn’t Saturday. He made Kansas City pay after the visitors squandered a precious few golden opportunities.

On the flip side, tight end Rob Gronkowski is battling a knee injury and missed practice and a workout this past week.

That said, if that’s how you react when Danny Amendola cheap shots one of your punt coverage gunners, giving up a 98-yard touchdown drive, you don’t have much of a case to win a playoff game.

The Patriots stretched their lead to 21-6 in the third on another touchdown pass to Gronkowski – a 16-yard pass play that included a nasty pump fake executed by Brady and the tight end.