Conference Kings Crowned: How the Patriots Stamped Their Ticket to Super Bowl LII

AFC Edition

Photo: Winslow Townson, AP 

Conference championship Sunday is complete and the Super Bowl stage is now set for the final act of the 2017/18 NFL season.  The action kicked off with the AFC title bout Sunday afternoon.  The upstart Jacksonville Jaguars marched into Foxborough led by their brash and bruising defense and despite being underdogs and in enemy territory, they started out as the aggressor.  Even Blake Bortles and the sometimes-stationary Jags offense was not intimidated as they lined up beneath the shadows of multiple Super Bowl banners and controlled the ball effectively in the first half.  After falling behind by 3 in the first quarter the Jags rattled off two second quarter touchdowns to silence the Gillette Stadium faithful.  The first TD came on a red zone pass from Bortles to the lifelong Jaguar tight-end Marcedes Lewis, the second came when stud rookie RB Leonard Fournette took a handoff halfway through the second quarter and ran headlong into the teeth of the Patriots defense pushing linebackers backwards into the end zone with him. 

Just when things were not looking good for the defending champs two big penalties allowed them to narrow the gap before halftime.  The first was a delay of game penalty against the Jags that wiped out a first down pass on third-and-seven from the Patriots 44.  On the re-played down Bortles was sacked, forcing the Jags to punt with just over two minutes left before halftime which led to the next big penalty against Jacksonville.  A questionable pass interference call against A.J. Bouye gave the Patriots 32 free yards and the ball at the Jaguars 13 which led to a 1-yard James White TD run to make it 14-10 in favor of the Jaguars at halftime.  The third quarter heroics were reserved for Jacksonville’s kicker, Josh Lambo who nailed two long field goals of 54 and 43 yards respectively to give the Jags a 10-point cushion going into the final quarter. 

Then Tom Brady got all Tom Bradyish in the 4^th quarter.  He went 9-for-14 with 138 yards and two touchdowns for a fourth quarter passer rating of 136.3.  Aided by a defense that made big stops when they needed to and Danny Amendola who hauled in both of Brady’s TD passes, including the game winner in the back of the end zone with 2:48 to play, Brady was able to pull off his fourth career playoff comeback when trailing by 10 points or more in the fourth quarter.  Oh, and by the way, he stamped his ticket to his 8^th Super Bowl. 

Let that sink in.

During the Brady-Belichick era the Patriots have made it to 8 Super Bowls, winning 5, with one still left to be played on Feb. 4^th.  They have played in 12 AFC championship games in 17 years including the past 7 straight!  They have won 15 out of 17 AFC East titles including the past 9 straight.  This has all been done during the salary cap era, in a league that strives for parody which makes it even more improbable and impressive.  If you were playing in a Madden franchise mode on Play Station and were racking up these kinds of accomplishments you’d quit because of how unrealistic it is.  I understand that the vast majority of people who live outside of the greater Boston area can’t stand the Patriots, but try not to late that hate blind you because what we’ve been witnessing the Patriots do over the past 17 years is truly remarkable.   Time will tell if they can continue the magic carpet ride on Feb. 4^th in Minneapolis at Super Bowl LII.