PHOTO BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
New England Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount holds the AFC championship trophy surrounded by fans after the AFC championship game.
By STEVE KRAUSE
FOXBOROUGH — A season that began in uncertainty, with a four-game suspension of their star quarterback, will end in two weeks in Houston with the New England Patriots playing the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
The Patriots punched their ticket to Houston Sunday at Gillette Stadium with a dominating 36-17 rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tom Brady, who returned to the Patriots in Week 5, controlled the game from stem to stern, throwing three touchdown passes, two to receiver Chris Hogan and one to Julian Edelman.
Hogan was the unlikely hero of the game, catching nine passes for 180 yards. And Brady was 32-for-42 for 384 yards.
The Super Bowl, which will be held Feb. 5, will be the seventh in the Brady-Bill Belichick era — an NFL record. It is also the ninth Super Bowl for the Patriots — also an NFL record.
The Patriots’ path to the Super Bowl was made much easier by the first-half injury to Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell, who left midway through the second quarter, never to return. Bell finished the day with only 20 yards. Meanwhile, with Bell out, the Patriots defense could key on Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and receivers, dropping more linebackers into coverage. The defense gave up only two touchdowns — the second well after the outcome had been settled.
Even though the Patriots finished the regular season with a 14-2 record, the knock on them was that they hadn’t faced an elite quarterback since they lost to Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks.
“For a number of different reasons, all of you here know how important this win was,” said team owner Robert Kraft.
Kraft, who at one time was close to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, has had a falling-out with him since the Deflategate scandal. Goodell skipped Sunday’s game, choosing to go to the Green Bay Packers-Atlanta game instead.
Brady came out firing right away, hitting Martellus Bennett for a 12-yard gain and then Edelman for 41. The drive stalled, but the Patriots were deep enough into Pittsburgh territory for a Stephen Gostkowski field goal.
While the Steelers had some trouble getting untracked early, the Patriots never really faltered. And with 2:55 left in the first quarter, Brady hit Hogan with a 16-yard pass for the team’s first touchdown and a 10-0 lead.
That’s how the first quarter ended. But the second period wasn’t even four minutes old when Pittsburgh got one back. Bell was still in the game, and between him and Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh went 84 yards in 13 plays, with D’Angelo Williams running the last five for the score. The PAT was wide, however, and the Patriots had a 10-6 lead.
That quickly became 17-6 when Brady found Hogan again for 34 yards — on a flea-flicker — and a score.
“My motivation (for winning) was right here, with these fellas,” said Brady, pointing to his teammates standing below the dais where the post-game celebration on the field was held. “These guys showed up and they played great. We have to do it again in two weeks.”
The Steelers got a field goal to make the score 17-9 by halftime, but it was a moral victory for the Patriots who put up one of two goal-line stands on the evening.
A Gostkowski field goal at 10:04 of the third period increased the lead to 20-9, and from there, the Patriots poured it on. An eight-play, 88-yard drive culminated with a one-yard plunge by LeGarrette Blount to make it 27-9, and, after a fumble recovery by Rob Ninkovich, Brady found Edelman in the end zone to make it 33-9 (Gostkowski missed the PAT).
Gostkowski added a fourth-quarter field goal, and the Steelers scored a late touchdown to narrow the gap to 19 points.
“We won a lot of different ways, under a lot of different circumstances,” said Brady. “Mental toughness. That makes all the difference.”