• The Patriots lead the Jaguars, 24-20, late in the A.F.C. Championship game after two Danny Amendola touchdowns. New England erased a 10-point lead with two straight scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
• Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was knocked out of the game late in the first half and will not return with a concussion.
• Here’s the A.F.C. Championship game box score.
Patriots grab the lead on Amendola’s circus catch.
It had been a defensive clinic for both teams over the last few drives, but the Patriots showed why experience is so valuable in the N.F.L. by taking a 24-20 lead thanks to Danny Amendola’s circus catch in the back of the end zone. It was Amendola’s second touchdown of the quarter.
The Patriots started the drive on Jacksonville’s 30-yard line after a series of punts by both teams finally broke New England’s way with a 20-yard return by Danny Amendola giving them a short field.
New England then went into automatic mode, with a series of short runs and passes pushing the ball into the end zone in a span of 2 minutes and 10 seconds of game clock.
Continue reading the main storyJacksonville has plenty of time to score, but with New England’s defense having tightened up considerably, that could be very difficult unless the Jaguars have something hidden up their collective sleeve.
Tom Brady’s not done yet.
Repeatedly throwing deep down field, Tom Brady and the Patriots showed they are still fighting in this game, and they went 85 yards on 8 plays, with Danny Amendola diving into the end zone for a touchdown, that made it a 20-17 game.
The Patriots dodged a bullet on their previous drive when a fumble by Dion Lewis gave the Jaguars a huge scoring opportunity that they proceeded to immediately waste. Jacksonville’s three-and-out gave Brady the ball back on his own 15-yard line, and as so many teams have found out over the years, the more opportunities you give Brady, the worse off your team tends to be.
The 40-year-old quarterback, who was supposed to be limited by an injured hand, endured a sack by Marcell Dareus on the drive, but looked spry and aggressive, challenging Jacksonville’s star-studded secondary and repeatedly finding success.
Brady has now completed 23 of 32 passes for 263 yards against the most talented secondary in the N.F.L.
Jaguars force a huge fumble to thwart Patriots’ drive.
The Jaguars got a huge break when a 22-yard gain by the Patriots ended with Myles Jack jarring the ball out of Dion Lewis’s hands for a fumble and a recovery, giving Jacksonville’s offense a chance to extend its lead. Tom Brady had picked up a quick first down with an 18-yard pass to Brandin Cooks, and then the Patriots appeared to have a huge gain on a trick play that involved a short pass from Brady to Danny Amendola who then threw across the field to Lewis. Lewis rumbled for big yardage, but then Jack simply stole the ball out of his hands, and the call stood up to a review by officials for the first turnover of the game.
Patriots will have to come back without Gronkowski.
Rob Gronkowski is officially out for the remainder of the game with a concussion, which will continue to limit New England’s offense as they start their first possession of the fourth quarter down 20-10.
Jaguars build 10-point lead in fourth quarter.
It briefly looked like New England had made some terrific second-half adjustments to limit Blake Bortles’s effectiveness, but the Jaguars’ quarterback made some adjustments of his own. Jacksonville picked up 66 yards on 11 plays, setting Josh Lambo up for a 43-yard field goal that increased Jacksonville’s lead to 20-10.
The teams traded punts, with the battle of field position resulting in Jacksonville starting its latest drive from the team’s own 9-yard line. But a pair of runs by Leonard Fournette generated 7 yards, and that generated enough cushion for Bortles to pick up a first down with an 18-yard pass to Marqise Lee.
Bortles picked up two more first downs with passes to Allen Hurns and Lee, the first of which came on a flea flicker, and then Fournette rumbled for 14 yards on the ground.
The next two plays went nowhere, closing out the third quarter, and the fourth quarter began with Jacksonville facing a 3rd-and-8 from New England’s 25-yard line. Bortles threw an incomplete pass, but the Jaguars had gone far enough to set up Lambo’s kick.
With Gronkowski sidelined, Patriots stumble.
Still without Rob Gronkowski, who is being evaluated for a concussion and is listed as questionable to return, the Patriots started the second half out of sync. A pair of deep passes from Brady to Brandin Cooks went for nothing thanks to fantastic coverage on one play and a drop by Cooks on the second, and the drive ended with New England punting the ball away.
Jaguars open second half with a field goal.
Blake Bortles was as close to perfect as he gets in the first half, completing 13 of 15 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown. But after stretching his streak of consecutive completions to 12 to open the second half, he had a ball knocked to the ground on a 3rd down pass attempt, resulting in Jacksonville sending Josh Lambo out for a 54-yard field goal attempt that he sent right through the uprights for a 17-10 lead.
Jacksonville did not stray from what typically works for them on the drive, with Leonard Fournette running the ball several times and Tommy Bohanon, the team’s fullback, contributing a solid 20-yard catch-and-run.
The Jaguars got some bad news on the scoring drive when Cam Robinson, a rookie who starts at left tackle, was removed from the game with a shoulder injury. He is listed as questionable to return.
Halftime: Jaguars have the lead, but not the momentum.
At halftime, the Jaguars are on top 14-10, but they ceded much of the momentum of the game by letting the Patriots sneak in a score in the final minute of the first half, thanks largely to penalties.
The Jaguars’ offense got the ball one more time, and despite having a pair of timeouts and 55 seconds left, they stuck to a conservative game plan and kneeled on the ball for two plays to ensure that they went into the locker room with a lead.
Jacksonville will get the ball to start the second half, which could let them regain some momentum, but the Patriots are known for second-half adjustments so it could be considerably more difficult for Jacksonville regardless of Rob Gronkowski’s status.
Jaguars’ mistakes give Patriots some relief.
As they have so many times, Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense willed the team back into contention in a game that seemed to be slipping away. A pair of gigantic penalties against the Jaguars defense provided most of the yardage, but James White took care of the scoring with a 1-yard run that narrowed Jacksonville’s lead to 14-10. Unfortunately for the Patriots, they may have lost Rob Gronkowski in the process.
New England got a strong start to the drive with Brady finding Brandin Cooks for a 10-yard gain. Short passes to Danny Amendola and James White picked up a second first down, and the Patriots got 15 yards by way of an unnecessary roughness call against Barry Church for going helmet-to-helmet on a collision with Gronkowski. The hit sent Gronkowski off the field so he could be evaluated for a concussion, potentially ending his day, but the Patriots immediately picked up another 32 yards on a pass interference call against A.J. Bouye, setting them up to score on the 85-yard drive that took just 67 seconds off the game clock.
Closing the gap, especially with Jacksonville getting the ball to start the second half, was a huge development for New England, but Gronkowski’s status going forward could determine the outcome of this game.
Jaguars threaten again, but Pats’ defense holds.
The Jaguars had everything going their way, with touchdowns on consecutive drives and a third chance to score thanks to a miracle 26-yard reception by Keelan Cole that extended the drive. But a penalty pushed them out of scoring range, a sack forced them into a punt, and Jacksonville gave the ball back to Tom Brady and the Patriots with just over two minutes left in the half. An 11-point lead feels comfortable, but if the Patriots can narrow that to four points before halftime, the makeup of the entire game would be dramatically different.
Fournette gives Jaguars a 14-3 lead in first half.
Leonard Fournette barreled into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown and the Jaguars, against all odds, are leading 14-3 in a game that is going exactly as they had hoped.
The Jacksonville defense did its part by following up the team’s first touchdown by continuing to suffocate New England’s offense. Tom Brady has completed just 1 of 3 passes since his 6-for-6 start, and the Patriots have resorted to punts on consecutive drives.
After New England’s second punt, Bortles and the Jaguars took over at their own 23-yard line and through a combination of Fournette, Corey Grant, and a beautiful 27-yard completion to Allen Hurns, they found themselves with yet another 1st-and-goal.
This time instead of using Fournette as a decoy, they just gave the ball to the huge rookie running back and let him ake care of the scoring by himself. His injured ankle does not appear to be limiting him thus far as he has 38 yards on 9 carries despite a defense that seems designed to try to take him out of the game.
Jaguars grab the lead after a balanced drive.
The Jaguars defense produced a quick three-and-out, and given another chance on offense, Jacksonville was far more aggressive. The change in strategy paid off with a smooth-as-butter 76-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bortles to Marcedes Lewis. With the extra-point, the Jaguars are now on top 7-3.
Once they got the ball back, the Jaguars went to work immediately with a 20-yard catch-and-run by Corey Grant. They then had a series of solid gains with a 7-yard pass from Blake Bortles to Marqise Lee, a pair of runs by Leonard Fournette that combined for 10 yards, and a nice pass by Bortles that found Keelan Cole on the sideline for an 11-yard gain.
The first quarter ended after Cole’s reception, but after changing sides of the field, the Jaguars picked up right where they left off with another impressive catch-and-run by Grant that went for 24 yards.
Set up with a 1st-and-goal at the New England 4-yard line, everyone was expecting a Fournette run up the middle, but Bortles faked to his power back before lofting a pass over the right side of the line for the Lewis touchdown.
Dropped passes hurt Jaguars as drive stalls out.
The Jaguars stayed true to their style of football on their opening drive, running the ball and going for conservative passes, but a pair of dropped balls resulted in them punting away the ball after picking up 23 yards.
Jacksonville started the drive from their own 26-yard line and they alternated between runs up the middle by Leonard Fournette and passes by Blake Bortles, which were on their mark even if they lacked much zip on them.
But after picking up two quick first downs, the Jaguars stalled thanks to a badly dropped pass by T.J. Yeldon on 2nd-and-8 from the Jacksonville 49-yard line, and a more difficult drop from Marqise Lee on 3rd-and-8.
Often mocked, the Jaguars succeeded this season by executing their game plan each and every week. Dropping easy passes that Bortles threw accurately could be a major problem.
Patriots’ first drive ends with a field goal.
New England is up 3-0 after a drive that showed some serious promise before fizzling out in the red zone.
The Patriots got the ball first and Tom Brady immediately completed a 5-yard pass to Dion Lewis and a 31-yarder to Brandin Cooks. The offense then managed just 8 yards on three short plays — a short run by Brady, a reverse to Rex Burkhead and a short completion to Burkhead — before aggressively going for it on 4th-and-2 with Brady tossing a high floater of a pass that somehow found its way into Danny Amendola’s hands for a 20-yard gain, putting the Patriots in the red zone.
Jacksonville then tightened things up considerably, and a sack on 3rd-and-goal from the 12-yard line forced New England to send Stephen Gostkowski in for the 31-yard kick.
Despite having a stitched-up hand that was the subject of a great deal of speculation, Brady looked perfectly comfortable on the opening drive, completing all six of his passes for 57 yards.
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