Tom Brady completed 26/28 pass attempts and threw for three touchdowns, as the New England Patriots defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars Saturday 31-20 in their NFL Divisional Playoff game. New England and Jacksonville were tied at the half 14-14 but the Pats were able to pull away in the third quarter outscoring the Jags 14-3. Jacksonville was never able to regain any momentum as they settled for just 2 field goals in the second half.

The Jaguars drew first blood, as quarterback David Garrard hit Matt Jones with an 8 yard pass for a touchdown at the 10:50 mark of the first quarter. After the Josh Scobe point after Jacksonville was on top 7-0. The Patriots got on the board as Brady connected with Benjamin Watson for the first of two touchdowns for the tandem at the 5:51 mark of the period. Steve Gostkowski kicked the point after, and the game remained tied 7-7 as the quarter ended.

New England would take their first lead of the contest in the second period, as the underrated running back Laurence Maroney dove into the endzone for a 1 yard touchdown run. Gostkowski’s kick made it 14-7 New England. The Jaguars would make for a very unpleasant half time for the Patriots as Garrard threw a 6 yard pass to Ernest Wilford, Scobe’s kick tied the game at 14-14 with 7:46 remaining in the half.

New England got the lead back 21-14 as Brady hit Wes Welker with a 6 yard pass in the third quarter with 8:49 remaining, but the Jaguars would not go quietly. they made it a 4 point game at 21-17, when Scobe kicked a 39 yard field goal at the 4:04 mark of the third quarter. Brady would throw his third touchdown of the game as he connected with Watson for the second time this time yard for a 9 yard pass, after the Gostkowski kick it was 28-17 with 49 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Still Jacksonville came back as Scobe hit another field goal this one a 25 yard effort, to once again bring the Jaguars back to within single digits, trailing 28-20. But Gostkowski who had missed a field goal attempt earlier in the game, hit on his second try completing a 35 yard kick through the uprights, and basically that was the game. New England led 31-20 with 6:39 left in the game.

David Garrard had a good game making just one mistake. He completed 22/33 passes, for 278 yards 2 touchdowns 1 interception. In my picks column this week, I said that if Jacksonville would have any chance to win it would be through their running game. Fred Taylor could not get the job done for the Jags as he got 15 carries for a total of 47 yards.

Brady seemed a little rusty, in fact the New England offense seemed just a bit off sync all game long. Maroney had one of his best games of the season, 22 carries for 122 yards, 1 touchdown. New England will host the winner of Sundays contest in the AFC Championship game next week.

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