Smith finally got the Chiefs into the end zone when he hit Albert Wilson on a 10-yard pass that made it 21-13 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.
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“It was good to get off to a fast start”, Brady said. “Everything just worked out well, felt good for the game and we went out there and did what we did to get that win”. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Brady’s pass intended for Gronk, skipped off a Kansas City defender and into the arms of – who else?
Playing in his first game since suffering a broken left foot in a 27-26 victory against the Giants on November 15, Edelman caught a game-high 10 passes for 100 yards. If the Steelers win, the Patriots play at home. But on Saturday night the reigning Super Bowl champs sprang back to life on schedule, again looking healthy and sturdy enough to handle the mean business of NFL playoff football – their specialty. His energy was through the roof, as you could see on his near touchdown run in the second quarter, in which he went ballistic on the sidelines with coach/best buddy Josh McDaniels (Brady ran for a one yard score on the ensuing play).
Then with time expiring, an off-balance Rodgers sent a speculative 41-yard pass into the crowded end zone, where Jeff Janis took the catch to make it 20-19 and the conversion tied it.
The victor of this game will face either the Denver Broncos or the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship next week for a shot at the Super Bowl.
Those two touchdown receptions by Gronkowski gave him eight touchdown receptions, which is the all-time record for touchdown receptions by a Patriots player in the playoffs. Battling injury most of the year, there were some that weren’t even sure he would play against the Kansas City Chiefs.
After trading punts twice, the Patriots started on their 2 when Amendola was flagged for a helmet-first hit to coverage man Jamell Fleming. Rather than go for it on 4th and 7 at the Patriots’ 42-yard line, Reid elected to punt back to New England with the hopes of forcing a punt from within their 20.
The way the Patriots beat the Chiefs, previously winners of 11 in a row, was reminiscent of the way they beat the Ravens and the Seahawks in the 2014 playoffs. The Chiefs snapped 45 of their 83 offensive plays in New England’s end of the field and scored only one TD.
The Patriots clinched today’s win over the Chiefs on a odd play, a Tom Brady pass that bounced off both Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski before ending up in the hands of Julian Edelman, who grabbed the ball and fell down at the stick for a first down. There was no chance that the Patriots were going to lose Saturday in Foxborough on Tom Brady’s watch.
As if the Patriots needed the Chiefs’ help, the Patriots received a gift from Chiefs running back KNILE DAVIS (43 yards total offense) who fumbled at the NE 31 yard line after a 9 yard gain. Gronkowski appeared to fool Chiefs safety Eric Berry, who made a move toward the line of scrimmage but then saw Gronkowski race past him to get open for the score. “Ask coach”, he said. In their first game this postseason, New England defeated Kansas City by a score of 27-20. Two plays later, Brady threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski to extend the lead to 21-6 with 8:29 left in the third.
After spending the last two weeks recovering from knee and back injuries, Gronkowski had touchdown catches from 8 and 16 yards.
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Brady threw 25 passes in the opening 30 minutes, 10 of which were targeted for Edelman.
