The Patriots are moving on to the AFC Championship.
This evening against the Denver Broncos, the Patriots had their most dominating performance of the season, putting a full 60 minutes of football together for the first time all season in a dominating 45-10 win. The victory advances the Patriots to the AFC Championship. The Patriots will host the winner of the Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens game next Sunday.
We'll post a full recap later, but what a dominating performance. The Patriots destroyed the Broncos in all three phases. Tom Brady had the greatest playoff game of his legendary playoff career: throwing for 363 yards and six touchdowns. Rob Gronkowski was on the receiving end of three of those touchdowns, with one apiece going to Deion Branch, Wes Welker, and Aaron Hernandez.
Defensively, the Patriots played in the 3-4 throughout, and shut down Tim Tebow and the Broncos offense completely. It seemed that the Patriots were shutting the Broncos down in the backfield every play. They gang tackled, went for the ball, applied pressure, and covered receivers. What a turnaround for that unit.
Feel free to use this thread to discuss your thoughts on the game!