FOXBORO – Never a doubt, right?

The Patriots came back from a 14-3 early deficit and a 20-10 margin at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring on a pair of Danny Amendola touchdowns and stymieing the Jaguars in the final period to emerge with a hard-fought 24-20 win.

Mark DanielsTim Britton

FOXBORO – Never a doubt, right?

Dion Lewis, held in check all day, hammered the nail in the coffin with an 18-yard scamper on third down with just over a minute to go. Stephon Gilmore had earlier deflected a Blake Bortles 4th-down pass away from Dede Westbrook deep in Patriots territory to deny Jacksonville's last offensive chance.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick will play for the Super Bowl for an eighth time, looking for their sixth championship.

Amendola scores go-ahead touchdown

What were we just saying about Danny Amendola?

Amendola set the Patriots up in outstanding field position with a 20-yard punt return, then made a pair of remarkable catches on the ensuing touchdown drive, including the four-yard scoring strike in the back of the end zone. Amendola has seven catches for 84 yards and two scores, and the Pats lead 24-20 with just under three minutes to play.

Amendola clutch to tighten the game

Last week, after the Pats dismantled the Titans, Matthew Slater singled out fellow receiver Danny Amendola for what he does this time of the season: "Can you think of a guy that’s been more dependable since he got here? In the clutch moments, he's not afraid of the moment."

Amendola just delivered his biggest drive of the season, catching a 21-yard pass on 3rd-and-18, a 14-yarder to give the Pats a goal-to-go, and a nine-yarder to get in the end zone and cut Jacksonville's lead to 20-17 with 8:49 to play. Tom Brady had his best drive since the opening one of the game, rebounding from a sack early on the drive to lead the Pats 85 yards on eight plays.

The pressure is back on Blake Bortles and a Jags offense that has been quieter in the second half.

Pats need a comeback to get to the Super Bowl

If Tom Brady wants to go to an eighth Super Bowl, it's going to take another fourth-quarter comeback. Brady will take over at his own 25 down 20-10 in the first minute of the first quarter. He's engineered comebacks from down 28-10 and 24-14 to start the fourth in his last two Super Bowls, and he'll need some of that magic to send the Pats to another Super Bowl.

He'll have to do it without Rob Gronkowski, who has been downgraded to out with a head injury.

Jags controlling game after three quarters

As we head to the fourth quarter, the Jaguars hold a seven-point lead and the ball near the New England red zone. Jacksonville will face a key 3rd-and-8 to start the period from the Pats' 25.

The New England offense could do nothing in the third quarter, as without Rob Gronkowski it managed a total of one first down in two drives. The Jags are once again controlling the clock and the game.

Gronkowski questionable, Jags lead by a touchdown

When the Patriots took the field for the second half, Rob Gronkowski stayed back in the locker room. The tight end is questionable to return with a head injury suffered on a big hit from Barry Church late in the first half. The New England offense converted one third down before having to punt without Gronkowski on the field. The Pats will need their receivers to win some one-on-one matchups with Jacksonville's Pro Bowl corners. Brandin Cooks did that in the first half, but he also dropped a potential big gainer here in the third quarter.

The Jags' first drive of the half looked like their drives in the opening 30 minutes: methodical, with some big third-down conversions. Josh Lambo's 54-yard field goal extended the lead to 17-10.

Pats get tighter, but Gronkowski hurt

The Patriots are back in the game, but at what cost?

New England's offense got back in gear with an 85-yard drive in just 67 seconds, aided by a pair of major penalties against the Jaguars. A 15-yard personal foul and a 32-yard pass interference put the Pats in the red zone, and James White capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown dive.

However, the personal foul came on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Barry Church that left Rob Gronkowski woozy. Gronkowski stumbled right to the locker room, and his status for the second half is very much up in the air. Battling the league's best pass defense without your best receiving weapon is not ideal for the Patriots.

The Jaguars will take a 14-10 lead into the half, and they'll receive the third-quarter kickoff.

Jaguars extend lead

Worried yet?

Blake Bortles and Leonard Fournette led the Jaguars on an equally impressive 77-yard drive over 10 plays to build on their early lead. Fournette's four-yard plunge into the end zone has underdog Jacksonville up 14-3 midway through the second quarter at Gillette Stadium.

It's the first time the Pats are behind two scores in a home playoff game since 2014 divisional round comeback against the Ravens.

The Jags are getting the ball to the edge for some big plays by Corey Grant and T.J. Yeldon, and Fournette is starting to find some room in the middle of the field. Bortles has completed nine straight passes. They look like a worthy foe -- the kind of team that ran up a plus-149 point differential this regular season.

Impressive drive gives Jags the lead

The Jaguars offense has been the butt of jokes for much of this season, but they showed precisely what has made them effective on their second drive -- a pristine seven-play, 76-yard touchdown march that put them ahead 7-3.

Blake Bortles effectively used play action throughout the drive, as four of his five completions came after a fake handoff. Jacksonville got the ball on the outside to Corey Grant for a pair of big gains, and on a 1st-and-goal, Bortles found Marcedes Lewis -- who was on the last Jags team to play here in the postseason a decade ago -- for a four-yard score.

Bortles was 5-for-5 on the drive.

Bortles playing well

Blake Bortles has brought his A-game early, and the Jaguars are doing a solid job of controlling the tempo through the first quarter. Though Jacksonville trails 3-0, it's hanging with the Pats and has the ball inside the New England 30-yard-line.

Bortles is 6-for-8 for 54 yards, utilizing play action to get on the edge of the pocket and showing accuracy on his throws. His two incompletions came on well-defended plays where his receiver could have made the catch each time.

The Pats' second drive included a quick first down followed by three runs and out, as they tried unsuccessfully to get both Danny Amendola and James White to the edge against the Jacksonville defense. Tom Brady has completed his first seven passes.

Brady off to strong start

Well, Tom Brady's hand isn't much of a story anymore.

Brady completed all six of his passes on New England's opening drive for 57 yards, including a 20-yard dime to Danny Amendola on 4th-and-1. However, Dion Lewis was stymied on a screen and swing pass, and Brady was sacked on a 3rd-and-goal, forcing the Pats to settle for a 31-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal.

Of note: Brady was in the shotgun for all nine snaps that series. There remains some question as to his comfort getting under center with that injured hand.

Warm and sunny at Gillette

It'd be hard to script better weather for today's AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium, where it's sunny and unseasonably warm for January 21 in New England.

Temperature at kickoff will be 48 degrees. We'd say that's double the 24 degrees it was at kickoff for last Saturday's contest with the Titans, but we remember from high-school science class that temperature doesn't work that way.

The Jaguars have won the toss and have deferred.

Clete Blakeman is your referee. New England is 2-4 in games where Blakeman has been the referee, the last coming in a 2015 overtime loss at the Jets.

Brady Injury in Context

We received some context on what exactly happened to Tom Brady’s right hand thanks to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

According to the report, Brady needed more than 10 stitches on a cut on the inside part of his throwing hand near the thumb on Wednesday. The scene was described as a bloody mess. Brady reportedly collided with running back Rex Burkhead.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Brady suffered a collateral ligament sprain in his right thumb as well.

In warmups, Brady wasn't wearing a glove on his right hand. Instead, the quarterback had a black wrap on his right thumb.

Rex Burkhead active; LaAdrian Waddle inactive

The Patriots will be getting some help back as they take on the Jaguars in the AFC Championship game.

Rex Burkhead is active and in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 17 in Pittsburgh. The running back suffered a knee injury that night and missed the final two regular season games as well as the Patriots playoff win over Tennessee.

Burkhead played in 10 games this season and was productive when on the field. He rushed for a career-high five touchdowns. In the pass game, he caught a career-high 30 passes for 254 yards and three receiving touchdowns.

Inactive for the Patriots are Alan Branch, Mike Gillislee, LaAdrian Waddle, Bernard Reedy, Jacob Hollister, Kenny Britt and David Harris.

Branch (knee) Gillislee (knee) and Waddle (knee) were limited in practice last week – although Branch has said publically that he’s healthy enough to play. Waddle’s injury means that the Patriots will start Cam Fleming at right tackle.

Hollister, Reedy, Britt and Harris are all healthy scratches.

Welcome to Gillette Stadium

Welcome to Gillette Stadium where the Patriots will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship.

A trip to Super Bowl LII is on the line as the Patriots will attempt to overcome some drama this Sunday afternoon. As many of you know, Tom Brady suffered an injury to his right throwing hand during Wednesday’s practice. According to the NFL Network, running back Rex Burkhead collided with Brady in practice. The collision resulted in a deep cut on Brady’s hand. According to NBC Sports Boston, the quarterback received 10 stitches.

Brady missed Thursday’s practice, which is one of the most important practices of the week. He was limited in his return on Friday. Brady has been seen wearing a glove on his right hand, which he normally doesn’t do. It’ll be worth watching this afternoon if Brady’s accuracy or passing is affected in any way due to the hand injury.

Burkhead will have a chance to make amends on Sunday. The running back is reportedly returning to action. He missed the Patriots AFC divisional win over Tennessee and the final two games of the regular season with a knee injury.

Running back Mike Gillislee (knee) and tackle LaAdrian Waddle (knee) aren’t expected to play in Sunday’s AFC Championship game.

Coaches are on the move

It looks like the Patriots will have to replace more than just their offensive and defensive coordinators this offseason.

According to ESPN, the team might also lose special teams coach Joe Judge. Judge is on an expiring contract and according to the report, could follow Josh McDaniels to the Colts or Matt Patricia to the Lions.

If the Patriots don't retain Judge, it would set up special teams assistant coach Ray Ventrone for a promotion. Ventrone has been in this role on the coaching staff for the last three seasons.

It's also looking like linebacker coach Brian Flores might be headed to Arizona. According to ESPN, Flores is set to interview with the Cardinals for the second time this coming week. If he gets the job, he'll reportedly hire former Lions coach Jim Caldwell as his offensive coordinator.

Losing Flores would be a blow for the Patriots as he's set to replace Patricia as the defensive coordinator. In the even he becomes Arizona's head coach, the NFL Network reported the Patriots could hire New Orleans Saints secondary coach Aaron Glenn for the position. Bill Belichick coached Glenn when he was with the New York Jets.