FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Coach Bill Belichick was asked Sunday what it meant for the New England Patriots to be playing in another AFC championship game.
Their 41-28 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium sent the Patriots to their eighth consecutive AFC title game.
As is his custom, Belichick dismissed the achievement.
“I mean, honestly, I don’t care about that right now,” he said. “I’m worried about this team and what this team has done. This team has worked hard all year to put itself in position to compete for the AFC championship, obviously, against a great team in Kansas City.
“Whatever happened last year or some other year, what it is, it is. It’s all in the books.”
But the players know it’s a special accomplishment.
“It’s a testament to the organization,” said safety Duron Harmon. “How hard we work, how hard Coach Belichick pushes us, how he holds us to that standard of excellence that will allow us to each and every day try our best, no matter what day it is. I’m blessed to be part of this organization and play with the teammates I have.”
And they know they don’t have much time to celebrate. Next Sunday they will play the Kansas City Chiefs for a spot in the Super Bowl.
“We are happy to win. It’s hard to win in this league, especially in the playoffs against a team that hasn’t really lost on the road all year long,” said special teams ace Matthew Slater. “We’ll enjoy tonight, go hug our wives, girlfriends and kids, and then we’ll be back in the lab tomorrow.”
THE PATRIOTS are 10-4 all-time in the AFC championship game, including 3-3 on the road. But they have lost their last three on the road: at Indianapolis (38-34, 2006), at Denver (26-16, 2013) and at Denver again (20-18, 2015).
Before that they won AFC championship games at Miami (31-14, 1985), Pittsburgh (24-17, 2001) and Pittsburgh again (41-27, 2004).
TOM BRADY continues to rewrite the NFL postseason record list.
On Sunday he threw 44 passes without an interception, setting an NFL record of 228 consecutive passes without an interception. Drew Brees held the previous record of 226. He also threw a touchdown pass in a record 13th consecutive postseason game. And he extended his record of 300-yard passing games to 15.
Running back James White caught 15 passes to tie Darren Sproles for receptions in a postseason game.
Julian Edelman set a career playoff high with 151 receiving yards. He is now seventh on the NFL’s all-time postseason list, passing Art Monk, Drew Pearson, Paul Warfield and Fred Biletnikoff in the game. He has 1,175 receiving yards in the postseason, six behind Hines Ward. His nine catches also moved Edelman to second all-time with 98. Jerry Rice has 151.
THE POSTSEASON share for this game was $29,000. Each player for the Patriots will receive $54,000 for playing in the conference championship game.
Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or:
mlowe@pressherald.com
Twitter: MikeLowePPH
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.