Espn- Halfway through the first quarter of the New England Patriots' 31-20 divisional-round victory Saturday night, Tom Brady completed a 14-yard pass to wide receiver Randy Moss on an inside hook route to convert in a fourth-and-5 situation.
Then, over the ensuing 52 minutes of the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars that advanced the Patriots into the AFC Championship Game against the survivor of Sunday afternoon's San Diego Chargers-Indianapolis Colts matchup, Moss never caught another pass. In fact, Brady never so much as glanced his way again, let alone tried to get him the ball.
And did it matter?
Uh, no, not at all.
"Here's the thing about this team: Everybody has everyone else's back," said tailback Kevin Faulk, one of several complementary performers who came up big on an evening when the NFL's most explosive offensive unit got next to nothing from the most explosive vertical playmaker in the league.
"There's just an unbelievable trust factor here that is nurtured by the coaching staff. If one guy doesn't do it, all the rest of us know that we have to do just a little bit more then."
In moving to within one victory of a fourth Super Bowl appearance in seven seasons, New England had a lot of role players do a lot as it dispatched a feisty Jacksonville team that came into Gillette Stadium undaunted by the Patriots' perfection.
Brady, as usual, was brilliant. He completed all but two of his 28 attempts, for 262 yards, with three touchdown passes and no interceptions, for a glittering passer rating of 141.4. The only two times the ball hit the ground were on drops, one by tight end Benjamin Watson five minutes into the third quarter, breaking a string of 16 straight completions, and one by slot receiver Wes Welker with just under seven minutes left to play in the game.
Then, over the ensuing 52 minutes of the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars that advanced the Patriots into the AFC Championship Game against the survivor of Sunday afternoon's San Diego Chargers-Indianapolis Colts matchup, Moss never caught another pass. In fact, Brady never so much as glanced his way again, let alone tried to get him the ball.
And did it matter?
Uh, no, not at all.
"Here's the thing about this team: Everybody has everyone else's back," said tailback Kevin Faulk, one of several complementary performers who came up big on an evening when the NFL's most explosive offensive unit got next to nothing from the most explosive vertical playmaker in the league.
"There's just an unbelievable trust factor here that is nurtured by the coaching staff. If one guy doesn't do it, all the rest of us know that we have to do just a little bit more then."
In moving to within one victory of a fourth Super Bowl appearance in seven seasons, New England had a lot of role players do a lot as it dispatched a feisty Jacksonville team that came into Gillette Stadium undaunted by the Patriots' perfection.
Brady, as usual, was brilliant. He completed all but two of his 28 attempts, for 262 yards, with three touchdown passes and no interceptions, for a glittering passer rating of 141.4. The only two times the ball hit the ground were on drops, one by tight end Benjamin Watson five minutes into the third quarter, breaking a string of 16 straight completions, and one by slot receiver Wes Welker with just under seven minutes left to play in the game.
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