FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Julian Edelman has made such a name for himself as a wide receiver and punt returner for the Patriots that people may have forgotten he was a quarterback at Kent State University and threw for almost 5,000 yards in his career.
Well, he reminded everyone on Saturday night.
Edelman threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola to help the Patriots rally past the Baltimore Ravens 35-31 in an AFC divisional-round game at Gillette Stadium. The touchdown tied the game at 28 after the Patriots had been down 14 points.
Trailing 28-21, the Patriots had a first down at their 49 when Edelman took a lateral from Tom Brady on the left. He then threw a perfect spiral to Amendola, who was 10 yards behind the nearest defender and cruised into the end zone, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
“We just called it at the right time and got some production out of it,” said Edelman. “We practice it a little bit here and there.”
“It’s a testament to Julian,” said Amendola, who scored two touchdowns in his best performance in two years. “He has a great arm and is a great athlete. He put it on the money, that’s for sure. It was a good throw.”
And maybe it will stop his teammates from mocking him. Brady always makes fun of Edelman’s throwing ability, as does his roommate, Matthew Slater.
“I can’t say anything tonight,” said Slater. “He’s got the upper hand on me for sure.”
“Pretty sweet play,” said Brady, who added it was called at the perfect time. “We needed it.”
JONAS GRAY was the top name on the Patriots’ inactive list. Just eight weeks after bursting onto the scene with 201 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a 42-20 win at Indianapolis, Gray was out against the fourth-ranked rushing defense in the NFL. Gray was listed as being limited with an ankle injury on the injury report all week.
THE GAME-TIME temperature was 20 degrees, with a wind chill of 8, which is normally good news for the Patriots.
According to the Patriots PR staff, they are now 11-1 in the playoffs when the game-time temperature is 29 or lower. Of course, the loss was to Baltimore, a 33-14 decision in the 2009 wild-card game at Gillette. The temperature that day was 20, with a wind chill of 8 – the exact conditions on Saturday night.
Since 1993, the Patriots are 38-9 when the temperature is 34 or lower. And Saturday was the 11th anniversary of the coldest game in team history – a 17-14 divisional-round victory over the Tennessee Titans at Gillette. The temperature that night was 4, with a wind-chill of minus-10. Beer was freezing in cups before anyone had a chance to drink it.
ROOKIE CENTER Bryan Stork left with a knee injury in the second quarter. He didn’t return, and right guard Ryan Wendell moved over to center – where he was the starter last season – with Josh Kline coming in at right guard.
Wendell said it didn’t take too long to get back into playing center.
“We always practice for any kind of injury,” he said. “And it makes it easy with the guys around you, Dan Connolly and Josh Kline did a great job.”
CORNERBACK BRANDON Browner also went out with a knee injury in the fourth quarter and did not return. He was walking with a slight limp in the locker room after the game and said, “I’m all right. I’ll be all right.”
THE PATRIOTS will be playing in the AFC title game for the fourth straight year. Only four teams – Oakland (1973-77, five in a row), Philadelphia (2001-04, four), Buffalo (1990-93, four) and Dallas (1970-73 and 1992-95, four each time) – have accomplished the feat.
IT WAS a good night for Brady. His 4-yard TD run in the first quarter gave him five in his playoff career, tying Curtis Martin for the team record. He also set the franchise record with 367 passing yards.
He also became the NFL’s all-time leader in postseason TD passes (46) and the all-time passing yards leader (6,791). The latter record may be brief – Peyton Manning, in second with 6,589, plays on Sunday.
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