Patriots Advance to 5th Straight AFC Title Game
Sunday, January 17, 2016
The New England Patriots defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27-20 on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Divisional round. The win sends New England to their fifth straight AFC title game.
_400_400_90.jpg)
See the Five Takeaways Slideshow Below
"First of all, great to win today, really proud of our team, we have kind of battling along here the last few weeks. We played hard, Kansas City is a good football team, got to give a lot of credit to coach Reid and his staff. They are a tough team, resilient, we knew they were going to fight till the final seconds which they did. I have all the respect in the world for Andy [Reid]," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Defense to Offense
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWith 10:43 to play in the third quarter the Chiefs drove into Patriots territory, threatening to cut their 14-6 deficit to just one point.
Alex Smith handed the ball over to Knile Davis who ran up the middle. Upon being tackled, Davis had the the ball knocked out by Chandler Jones and it was recovered by Dont'a Hightower.
The Patriots offense took over possession and five plays later, Tom Brady found Rob Gronkowski in the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
After a Gostkowski extra point, the Patriots went up 21-6 and took complete control of the game.
New England would add two field goals to get to 27 points and seal the win by recovering an onside kick after a late Kansas City touchdown.
Taking Control Early
The Patriots took a 14-3 lead after Tom Brady dove into the end zone on a one yard run. That play capped off an 11 play 98 yard drive.
A Kansas City Field goal at the end of the second quarter would send teams into the locker room with the Patriots up 14-6.
The Patriots started off the game looking like the Patriots we saw in the first half of the season.
Brady found Gronkowski in the end zone to conclude and 11 play 80 yard drive in which Julian Edelman caught three passes and Rob Gronkowski caught two.
The Leaders
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went 28 of 42 for 302 yards and two touchdowns while Julian Edelman pulled in 10 catches for 100 yards.
Rob Gronkowski caught seven balls for 83 yards and two touchdowns.
Next up
The Patriots now await the winner of Sunday's Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos game that is being held in Denver. Game time for that one is set for 4:40 p.m.
If the Steelers win, the Patriots will host the AFC Championship game next Sunday. If Denver wins, the Patriots will travel to Denver for the game.
Tom Brady is 2-6 all-time in Denver.
Related Slideshow: 5 Takeaways From The Patriots Win Over Kansas City
Related Articles
- What to Watch For: Titans vs. Patriots
- Patriots Clinch 7th Straight AFC East Title
- 5 Takeaways From the Patriots Win Over the Titans
- NEW: Patriots Sign Running Back Steven Jackson
- What to Watch For: Patriots vs. Jets
- 5 Takeaways From the Patriots 27-6 Win Over Houston
- What to Watch For: Patriots vs. Texans
- 5 Takeaways From the Patriots Loss to Denver
- Patriots Injured Receiving Corps Accounts for 167 Catches, 18 TD’s
- What to Watch For: Eagles vs. Patriots
- 5 Takeaways From the Patriots Loss to the Eagles
- 5 Takeaways From the Patriots Loss to the Jets
- The Patriots & the AFC Playoff Picture With a Week to go
- REPORT: Patriots Jones Had Bad Reaction to Synthetic Marijuana
- Inside The Numbers: Julian Edelman & The Patriots Offense
- Inside The Numbers: The Patriots Defense
- What to Watch For: Chiefs vs. Patriots
- Does Sports Journalism Have Any Standards? This Week’s Patriots’ Coverage Says No
- Patriots to Host Kansas City in Divisional Round at Gillette
- Patriots to Host Divisional Round Playoff Game Saturday, Jan. 16
- Patriots Gronkowski Attends WWE Event in Providence
- PHOTOS: Tuukka Rask’s Patriots Themed Winter Classic Mask
- What to Watch For: Patriots vs. Dolphins
- 5 Takeaways From the Patriots Loss to Miami
