The window for Super Bowl contention is wide open once again for the New England Patriots.
Six years after kissing goodbye to the franchise’s storied Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era that produced six NFL titles and three more Super Bowl appearances, the Patriots are a step away from adding to those lofty totals after a divisional round victory Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.
Second-year quarterback Drake Maye threw touchdown passes to Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs and Demario Douglas and the defence intercepted Houston Texans pivot C.J. Stroud four times in a 28-16 victory at Gillette Stadium, which has hosted five times more playoff wins than losses by the home team.
All this despite Maye fumbling four times and tossing an interception.
Teams ‘battled the elements’
“Just proud of the guys,” Maye said, via The Associated Press. “Battled the elements. This is New England. This is what we’re trying to embrace and we want to embrace all season long. Props to our defence, played a hell of a game. We’ve got to protect the football better, but we made enough plays to win it.”
There was no standout performance on offence for the Patriots with Rhamondre Stevenson rushing for 70 scoreless yards and Boutte adding 75 yards through the air on three catches.
But there was no need for one with the Texans struggling to run the ball (48 yards on 22 carries) and Stroud completing less than half of his passes for 212 yards and one touchdown. Oh, they also turned the ball over eight times.
“They bring it every week,” Maye said of his defense. “It’s fun to watch. And we could help them out some more, but just proud of the guys.”
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The victory means the Patriots will renew a decade-old rivalry with the top-seeded Broncos next weekend in Denver. That was when the Brady-led Patriots and Peyton Manning’s Broncos met twice in the conference championship over a three-year span as they each won a Super Bowl title — New England in 2013 and Denver in 2015.
This year, however, will not feature a clash of future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
While there is still time for Maye after a standout sophomore season, the Broncos will be starting former Patriots backup Jarrett Stidham at quarterback after second-year starter Bo Nix broke his ankle Saturday in their 33-30 divisional round win over the Buffalo Bills.
The late game saw the Chicago Bears hosting the Los Angeles Rams for the right to face the Seahawks in Seattle for the NFC championship.
The Seahawks pounded the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 on Saturday night to reach the NFC title game for the first time since back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014.