FOXBOROUGH — In one of the most eventful weeks of his career, Tom Brady was plagued by a single, overriding thought.
“Of all the plays,” he reasoned, “my season can’t end on a handoff in practice.”
The quarterback saw his right thumb get cut up at Wednesday’s practice after a botched handoff attempt. While Brady said he wasn’t sure on Wednesday what was going to happen on Sunday, there was still some overriding concern about just how effective he’d be against the Jaguars.
“I’ve had a couple crazy injuries, but this was pretty crazy,” he said. “I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do on Wednesday, Wednesday night, and then Thursday wasn’t sure. And then Friday (I) gained a little confidence, and then Saturday, (it) was trying to figure out what we could do. And Sunday, try to come out here and make it happen.”
Turns out that in the end, he only needed nine completely healthy digits to get the Patriots to their 10th Super Bowl in franchise history. The quarterback finished 26-for-38 for 290 yards, and his two touchdown passes to Danny Amendola came late in the fourth, helping turn a 20-10 deficit into a 24-20 victory over the Jaguars.
“Tommy’s the best,” Amendola said. “He’s the toughest guy I’ve ever met physically (and) mentally. If there is anything that happens to Tom, I know he can handle it. It was unfortunate to see him get injured midweek. I know mentally, it probably stressed him out a bit and physically I know it’s hard to throw a football with stitches in your thumb.
“(But) everybody knows how tough he is. Everybody knows he’s our leader. It’s a testament to his career, his personality, the man he is. Not only is he the best player in our locker room, but he gets everybody else to play well and step their game up and that’s why he’s the best.”
When confronted with such hyperbole, the coach cocked a dubious eye.
“I mean, look, Tom did a great job and he’s a tough guy. We all know that, all right?” said Bill Belichick. “But we’re not talking about open-heart surgery here."
Sunday started with drama. The quarterback arrived on the field about 50 minutes before kickoff with a wrap on his right hand, and in pregame warmups, it looked like he was do his best to manage the situation. He didn’t airmail any passes, but he was still fiddling with the wrap in hopes of trying to get it right. In the early going, it looked like it was going to be OK, as he was 7-for-7 out of the gate as the Patriots took a 3-0 lead.
The Jaguars weren’t going to make it easy on him, as Jacksonville slowed the New England passing game while putting up 14 points and building a 14-3 lead. The Patriots offensive rhythm really took a hit late in the second quarter after Rob Gronkowski went down after sustaining a shot to the head. New England would cut the Jacksonville lead to 14-10 going into halftime, and 20-10 on a field goal early in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Patriots took on a vaguely desperate vibe with a few gadget plays that looked to give their offense a bit of a jump start.
That’s when Amendola went into postseason mode. The occasionally overlooked receiver, who finished with a seven catches on nine targets for 84 yards, displayed the sort of unique chemistry with the quarterback in big moments that has earned him the nickname “Playoff” Amendola. He delivered a pair of touchdown grabs, as well as a huge reception on third-and-18 early in the final quarter than kept the chains moving in a big moment.
“Danny got behind him,” Brady explained. “It was two safeties and Danny was kind of running through them, and I tried to throw it where he could get it and he made a hell of a catch.”
The first touchdown came with 8:54 left in regulation and the Patriots trailing 20-10. Brady and the offense were on the Jacksonville 9-yard line. Amendola was in the slot, and ran a crosser. Dwayne Allen kind of cleared out some space for him underneath, and Brady hit him at about the 5-yard line. Amendola plunged over, and after the extra point, it was 20-17.
Brady TD ➡ Dola pic.twitter.com/zF86bMmB2G
— '03 Kliff Kingsbury (@fearthe_beard11) January 21, 2018
DANNY. AMENDOLA #PlayoffDola pic.twitter.com/DIuZ6gvwmT
— '03 Kliff Kingsbury (@fearthe_beard11) January 21, 2018