Patriots Live Blog: Pats Beat Chiefs 27-20, Advance To AFC Championship Game
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
Final, 27-20 Patriots: The Chiefs nearly picked off an unwise Tom Brady pass, but it magically bounced into the arms of Julian Edelman for a first down. After that, it was a just a couple of kneeldowns, and the Patriots had their victory.
It's on the AFC Championship Game, where the Patriots will either host the Steelers or travel to Denver to take on the Broncos. We'll find that out tomorrow, but for now, it's a Victory Saturday for the Patriots.
Fourth quarter, 1:13, 27-20 Patriots: Rob Gronkowski recovered the high onside kick. Pats take over at the K.C. 45-yard line.
Fourth quarter, 1:13, 27-20 Patriots: Well. The Chiefs scored. Finally. Did it take too long? We'll find out after the onside. If the Patriots recover, the Chiefs still have all three timeouts, and could theoretically get the ball back with a little less than a minute left. If the Chiefs recover, they'll be in decent shape -- at least theoretically. They'll have to score quickly, which ... err ... hasn't been their strong suit today.
Sixteen plays, 80 yards, 5:16, capped off with a Charcandrick West touchdown on an option.
Fourth quarter, 2:00, 27-13 Patriots: Clock management never has been Andy Reid's thing. After Albert Wilson made a catch and was tackled on the 1-yard line by Malcolm Butler (he got smoked on the play), the clock was running. The Chiefs jogged to the line and handed it off. Jonathan Freeny made a diving tackle in the backfield. The clock was at 2:33. Inexplicably, the Chiefs let all 33 of those seconds off the clock. They have three timeouts, for the record.
Fourth quarter, 3:30, 27-13 Patriots: The Chiefs are driving, but slowly. They're on the 26-yard line, showing very little urgency to actually advance the ball more than 8 yards at a time. Time is not their friend.
Fourth quarter, 6:29, 27-13 Patriots: New England couldn't move the chains and couldn't even burn much clock. Ryan Allen came on to punt, and it bounced into the end zone. So the Chiefs still have life.
Fourth quarter, 7:28, 27-13 Patriots: The call on the field was overturned. No pick.
That helps Alex Smith's stat line, I guess, but more pressing, it helps the Patriots, who now take over at their own 49-yard line instead of their own 23-yard line. The Chiefs do have three timeouts, so it's basically desperation time now. A Patriots field goal essentially ices the game, and they only need about 15 yards for that.
Fourth quarter, 7:38, 27-13 Patriots: Ruling on the field was upheld. Incomplete.
Fourth-and-10, Smith lined up in the shotgun. He patted the ball for a while, ran to the right, threw a deep prayer, and ... picked. Duron Harmon along the sideline.
The Patriots would have been better off not intercepting it, field position-wise. But sometimes you see a play to be made, and you make it.
The play is under review. The Patriots are actually hoping it gets overturned.
Fourth quarter, 7:38, 27-13 Patriots: Who knew that Devin McCourty could lay the wood?
On a third-and-10, Smith didn't exactly fire a bullet to Chris Conley on a post pattern. McCourty flew over from the safety position and demolished the receiver, knocking the ball loose.
It was ruled an incompletion, but Conley did catch the ball, tuck it, and take two steps, before losing it. I think it should be overturned but I don't think it will, if that makes sense. (If you watch the NFL every week, then that definitely makes sense.)
Fourth quarter, 10:20, 27-13 Patriots: A most unimpressive drive from the Patriots, though they're able to tack on a very important three points.
A 15-yard pass to Martin on the first play of the drive was really it on that drive, and Gostkowski came on to hit a 32-yarder.
The Patriots can now breathe a little easier with a 14-point lead, but they still need a stop to really help cement a victory. A K.C. touchdown here would make the final minutes rather excruciating for the home team.
In other news, Jon Bon Jovi himself just led a singalong to "Livin' On A Prayer." People seemed to enjoy that.
Fourth quarter, 12:26, 24-13 Patriots: Three-and-out, with a bullet.
On third-and-10, Smith dropped back, and the pocket collapsed on him, thanks in part to Ninkovich absolutely dominating Donald Stephenson and driving him into the quarterback. Smith fell, and Chandler Jones fell on top of him, and the Chiefs had to punt. On the punt, K.C. got flagged for a delay of game.
Danny Amendola returned it 22 yards to the Chiefs' 32-yard line.
Fourth quarter, 14:46, 24-13 Patriots: That touchdown didn't come, and again, the Patriots were fortunate. The first play of the quarter had LaFell either cutting his route a bit short or Brady thinking something else wa coming, because it was nearly picked by Marcus Peters. On second down, Brady went incomplete up the left seam to Keshawn Martin (if Brady could've waited another tick, Martin would have been open in the end zone), and Brady skipped a pass to Martin on third down.
Gostkowski hit the 40-yarder, his first field goal of the day, and the Patriots now lead by 11. The Chiefs need a field goal and a touchdown with a two-point conversion just to tie it out, and they need to do it quickly. That latter part has not proven to be easy thus far.
End of third quarter, 21-13 Patriots: The Patriots are in position to score, thanks to two receptions from Edelman (9 yards, 14 yards), and a 29-yard catch-and-run by James White. The running back followed that up with a 5-yard run, too.
It's first-and-10 at the K.C. 22-yard line to start the fourth. Considering how painstakingly difficult it's been for the Chiefs to score a touchdown all day, a Patriots touchdown here might be enough to hold up for a win.
Third quarter, 2:12, 21-13 Patriots: The Chiefs put together yet another long, methodical drive, but they weren't going to settle for a field goal this time. On fourth-and-3, they sent the kicker back to the sideline and decided to go for it. Smith delivered a quick pass to the left side to Avant, who came down with the ball right near the first down. But it didn't matter, because of an illegal hands to the face penalty on Akiem Hicks.
That gave K.C. an automatic first down, and Smith delivered a strike to Albert Wilson in the end zone for six. This game's not over yet.
That drive looked to be over before it started, but Alex Smith authored one of the most absurd plays you'll ever see to escape heavy pressure and deliver a first-down pass up the field. Look:
Defensively, the Patriots were without Jamie Collins on that drive. He's questionable to return with a back injury, though he is on the bench, and not the locker room. Jerod Mayo is also questionable to return with a shoulder injury.
Third quarter, 8:24, 21-6 Patriots: Points off turnovers figured to play a huge factor today, and the Patriots just cashed in.
Rob Gronkowski was in single coverage out wide left, and he put a double move on Eric Berry, who bit hard on the fake. Gronkowski then turned it upfield, and Brady lobbed it right into the big man's chest at the goal line. Touchdown.
It was an impressive drive right from the start. Brady hit Gronk on a slant for 19 yards to start it, and then Edelman went 11 yards on a sweep. Edelman then made an incredible catch up the left sideline for 14 yards, and after a brief delay for the officials to force New England to not rush to the line, Brady hit White for 10 yards. Then came the touchdown.
With it, Gronkowski set the all-time record for most postseason touchdowns by a tight end. It was his eighth career playoff TD, and second of the night.
Third quarter, 10;31, 14-6 Patriots: The Chiefs were putting together another long yet slow drive, when Chandler Jones knocked the ball out of Knile Davis and Dont'a Hightower hopped on top of the loose ball.
It's going to be reviewed, but I've yet to see an angle that shows Davis to be down before fumbling. We shall see.
UPDATE: The call stands. First-and-10 Patriots at their own 31-yard line.
Third quarter, 14:55, 14-6 Patriots: The second half is underway. Davis took it out from deep in the end zone to the 25-yard line, where Chiefs takeo ver.
Halftime, 14-6 Patriots: The Chiefs only seemed mildly interested in scoring a touchdown there, and as a result, they ended up with a field goal. There was no killer instinct, no urgency, and really no order. They ended up taking a delay-of-game penalty on third-and-goal from the 9-yard line, which came after Smith overshot Kelce by about 8 feet in the end zone. And on third-and-14, Smith overthrew Conley in the left side of the end zone by about 10 yards. The front row of fans had a better chance of catching that pass.
The Chiefs then kicked off with 12 seconds left for a touchback. Brady took a knee, and that's the half.
Second quarter, 1:30, 14-3 Patriots: Chiefs converted it. Long, 26-yarder to Jason Avant.
Second quarter, 2:00, 14-3 Patriots: Huge play coming up on the other side of the two-minute warning, as the Chiefs face a third-and-7 at the NE 46-yard line. The Patriots are looking for a stop and a score. The Chiefs would feel a lot better at halftime if they only trailed by one score, especially considering they're getting the ball to start the second half.
Second quarter, 3:16, 14-3 Patriots: Costly offsides penalty for the Patriots on the kickoff. Instead of a touchback, they had to rekick, and Knile Davis took it 34 yards out to the 34-yard line.
Second quarter, 3:23, 14-3 Patriots: That right there, my friends, is a 98-yard touchdown drive.
After the ruling on the field stood, Brady called his own number, getting behind Bryan Stork (who's back now) and falling over the goal line for six. David Andrews was in at fullback on the play.
The big play of that drive was a 42-yard bomb from Brady to Martin up the right sideline. Edelman also got the Patriots out of trouble on the first play of the drive, making a 12-yard catch to get Brady out of his own end zone.
Second quarter, 3:25, 7-3 Patriots: The ruling on the field stands. It's third-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
Second quarter, 3:25, 7-3 Patriots: Tom Brady is fired up. He just scrambled right and made a headfirst dive toward the right pylon. He took a huge hit while diving across the line, and he was marked down at the 1-foot line.
He screamed at the sideline, likely to get them to challenge the play, but I don't think it's going to get overturned. I've yet to see a great angle on replay.
Second quarter, 8:59, 7-3 Patriots: Malcolm Butler came up with a huge tackle on first down, tackling Kelce behind the line of scrimmage on a quick pass. Smith went way incomplete on second down, and then Smith's third-and-12 pass went behind the line of scrimmage to Kelce. He was taken down after a gain of a yard, and the Chiefs elected to punt rather than try a very long field goal.
The field position decision paid off, as the ball was downed at the 4-yard line. It moved back to the 2-yard line after Amendola was called for a personal foul for smashing a Chiefs player who was camping out trying to down the punt. If you're going to get a personal foul penalty, it might as well only cost you two yards.
Second quarter, 10:37, 7-3 Patriots: Three-and-out.
Edelman dropped a pass on first down, which was his fourth drop of the game. Stephen Jackson went for a short run on second down, and Brady had nowhere to go on third down, trying to fit a hurried pass to James White over the middle.
On the punt, Frankie Hammond returned it 19 yards, all the way to the New England 36-yard line, and the Chiefs are in business.
Second quarter, 11:29, 7-3 Patriots: After both teams authored long scoring drives, they've now both followed with drives ending in punts. Kelce actually had a chance to convert a third-and-7 at the New England 42-yard line, but he looked to just drop the pass up the left seam. It wouldn't have counted anyway, as Donald Stephenson blocked Jabaal Sheard right in the face, drawing a penalty which was declined.
Danny Amendola fair-caught the punt at the New England 10-yard line, where Brady and Co. will look to generate a bit more than the last drive.
Second quarter, 14:51, 7-3 Patriots: Allen's punt came down at the K.C. 25-yard line, and it was returned by 33-yard line by Ron Parker, who got clobbered by Brandon Bolden. In injury news:
Rookie center David Andrews hasn't played much since ceding his job to Stork, but he'll be asked to step in now.
End of first quarter, 7-3 Patriots: The first quarter comes to a close with an incompletion to Julian Edelman over the middle, which will bring about a New England punt to start the second quarter.
That's actually not as bad an ending for the drive as it almost was. Edelman dropped a pass on the previous play, and he bobbled the ball right into Sean Smith's chest. Smith wasn't able to come up with the interception, which would have set up the Chiefs inside the New England 35-yard line, or perhaps could have led to a pick six.
First quarter, 1:52, 7-3 Patriots: It took a while -- a long while, actually -- but the New England defense came up with a third-down stop. On third-and-6 from the 16-yard line, Alan Branch broke through the line to flush Smith from the pocket. Jamie Collins then raced Smith to the sideline, and the QB threw it away. Cairo Santos came on to kick the relatively short field goal, and the Chiefs came away with three points.
Seventeen plays, 64 yards over 8:31 for the Chiefs there. It was an impressive drive, but honestly I think the Patriots wouldn't mind it if the Chiefs took a half-quarter to score three points for the rest of the game.
Alex Smith was 5-for-9 for 29 yards. Charcandrick West ran for 17 yards on four carries. Five different Chiefs had one reception.
First quarter, 3:27, 7-0 Patriots: The Chiefs converted the third-and-long, with Smith breaking a 15-yard run after seeing a huge vacancy in the middle of the field.
They'll face a third-and-4 from the 26-yard line now, though they just had to take their second timeout of the drive.
First quarter, 4:52, 7-0 Patriots: The Chiefs are driving, but they're in danger of stalling out here. They called timeout prior to a third-and-13 at the 47-yard line.
The Chiefs have made two big plays on third downs already, once with an 11-yard pass to Maclin, and then on a 5-yard pass to Kelce,.
First quarter, 9:00, 7-0 Patriots: Chandler Jones started for the Patriots on defense. That's newsworthy, as you know.
First quarter, 10:23, 7-0 Patriots: One possession, one touchdown, one 7-0 lead.
Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman looked plenty healthy in that drive, with Gronkowski catching an 8-yard touchdown pass to give the Patriots an early lead.
The Patriots elected to open up in a no-huddle. A first-down pass to LaFell went for no yards, and Edelman and Brady were a little off in their communication on second down. But on third down, Edelman came up with a chain-moving catch, and he made a 13-yard catch over the middle on the very next snap to get the Patriots out to midfield.
An incompletion to LaFell followed by a negative-3 yard completion to LafFEll set up a third-and-13. Brady escaped pressure, stepped up in the pocket and found Rob Gronkowski with a lot of room over the middle. Gronkowski rumbled his way all the way down to the 11-yard line.
On first-and-10 from the 11, Brady escaped a collapsing pocket and rolled to his right before trying to hit Edelman near the 3-yard line, but the two couldn't connect. On second down, Brady hit Gronkowski on a quick route, but he was taken down at 8-yard line. On third-and-7, Brady went back to Gronkwoski on the left side of the field in single coverage. And he made them pay.
Brady was 8-for-11 for 80 yards and a touchdown on that drive, which featured zero rushing plays. Edelman caught two passes for 24 yards, and Gronkowski caught three passes for 43 yards and a touchdown.
First quarter, 15:00: The opening kick went for a touchdown, and we're officially underway.
4:32 p.m.: K.C. won the toss, but referee Craig Wrolstad said, "New England, you have won the toss." Fortunately, Wrolstad recovered and gave the choice to K.C., who deferred. The Pats will start with the ball.
4:30 p.m.: The anthem has been sung, and we're now waiting for the coin toss.
4:25 p.m.: The Chiefs have taken the field. You'll never believe this, but they were greeted with ... boos.
3:30 p.m.: Kickoff is just about an hour away. If you're watching the game, you can watch it on CBS, of course, and you can listen to it on 98.5 The Sports Hub. But if you're unable to watch, you can stream it live on CBSSports.com as well. So basically you have no excuses, people.
3:05 p.m.: The inactive lists are officially out.
For the Patriots, there are no surprise names. Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Chandler Jones, Dont'a Hightower and Rob Ninkovich are all active. So is Sebastian Vollmer.
For the Chiefs, Jeremy Maclin is active. Provided he can actually play and won't be just a decoy, that's huge for the Chiefs. He is their No. 1 receiver, and without him, the Chiefs offense would be in a heapload of trouble. We'll see how he actually looks early on, but his mere presence does force the Patriots' defense into some difficult choices in terms of how they deploy their coverage.
Justin Houston and Tamba Hali are both active as well, though that's not surprising at all.
Here is the list of inactive Patriots:
T LaAdrian Waddle
G Tre' Jackson
LB Jonathan Bostic
WR Chris Harper
S Tavon Wilson
DL Ishmaaily Kitchen
DL Geneo Grissom
And here's the list of inactive Chiefs:
OL Mitch Morse
OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
QB Aaron Murray
CB Marcus Cooper
LB Ramik Wilson
DL David King
DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches
1:25 p.m.: Just getting settled in here at Gillette, and despite the heavy rain that fell from around midnight through the whole morning, it looks like none of it will play a factor today.
The precipitation has moved out of the area (forecast from the professionals can be seen/read here), and the field was covered by a tarp the whole time. Workers are removing the tarp as we speak, and there's even a fella with a squeegee and another guy with a push broom. Together they are making sure that every blade of artificial grass is as dry as can be.
Here's a live look at the field as of 1:25 p.m.:
It's kind of sad, really. It wasn't all that long ago that the Patriots would never think of covering their field. They'd relish the thought of playing a muck-filled defensive battle on their home turf. Alas, the league changed, and the team changed with it. So picture-perfect field conditions are what we get.
In football news, Julian Edelman is already out there making one-handed catches.
12 p.m.: It's game day.
It's been quite some time since the Patriots have played a game with actual excitement surrounding its build-up (Week 12 at Denver, maybe?), and for that matter, it's been nearly two full weeks since the Patriots have played any game, period.
Needless to say, New England is overdue for some football.
There's only a wait of a few more hours left now, as the Patriots and Chiefs will kick off at 4:35 p.m.
Just about every angle has been covered already, but the final piece of the puzzle will be known around 3 p.m., when the injury report is released. With twelve Patriots listed as questionable heading into the game, there's bound to be a surprise name or two on the inactive list. And for the Chiefs, with so many impact defensive players, along with receiver Jeremy Maclin, listed as questionable, the list of inactives is equally important.
We'll have that update when it comes down, as well as observations from the pregame scene, right here in the live blog. And we'll have the whole game covered, from the opening coin toss to the final whistle, right here as well.
