Danny Amendola 'a (expletive) animal' in AFC title win over Jaguars

FOXBOROUGH — In New England, it’s death, taxes, corruption on Beacon Hill, and Danny Amendola lighting it up in the playoffs.


Amendola, who has been one of the most dependable receivers in the league the last two seasons, showed his flair for dependability — especially on the biggest of stages — again on Sunday, finishing with seven catches on a team-high nine targets for 84 yards and a pair of touchdowns. There was also a colossal 20-yard punt return in the fourth quarter that set up the game winning score.

“When you look up ‘good football player’ in the dictionary, his picture is right there beside it,” Bill Belichick said of Amendola after the game. “It doesn’t matter what it is. Fielding punts, third down, big play, red area, onside kick recovery – whatever we need him to do. He’s just a tremendous player, very instinctive, tough, great concentration. He had some big plays for us today.”

“Amendola is a (expletive) animal. A (expletive) animal,” said Dion Lewis. “He’s a beast.”

“He’s a baller,” shrugged Rex Burkhead when asked to describe Amendola, who now has 18 catches on 22 targets for 194 yards and two touchdowns in two playoff games.

“You just wait for it,” said Nate Solder with a smile. “Come the end the season, he’s going to make some unbelievable catch on a third-down conversion. It’s going to be a touchdown, it’s going to be something big and there he was. I was not surprised and the guys that know him weren’t surprised. That’s just the way that he is.”

On a day where the Patriots lost Rob Gronkowski midway through the second quarter and couldn’t get anything going on the ground, New England needed someone to step up on offense. Amendola rose to the occasion with the season on the line. Trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots needed a spark, and Tom Brady crafted an 85-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Amendola.

On that series, Amendola accounted for 44 yards. That included a colossal reception on a third-and-18 where Amendola hauled in a grab to keep the chains moving. The series ended with a 9-yard scoring strike where Brady hit him in stride coming over the middle.

“The third-and-18 play, basically I think I had a little bit of an option route in the middle of the field and I saw that there was room,” recalled Amendola. “I had pointed out the line [to gain] before the play snap so I knew where to get to and Tom  had a laser and it was perfect.”



And on the second drive — after a masterful 20-yard return from Amendola that got the Patriots down to the Jacksonville 30 — Amendola accounted for 12 of those yards, including a touchdown catch where he tip-toed along the back line for the score that ended up putting the Patriots up for good.

“It’ s a play we’ve worked on—I scored on it a couple of times this year, I think, actually,” Amendola said after the game. “I have a crosser in the back of the end zone and Tom reads the first whip route on the left to (Brandin Cooks) and then if he doesn’t have it then his eyes come to me in the back. We had it and it was a zone coverage.”

Amendola has a completely unique career arc with the Patriots. Derided as a bust by some after an underwhelming first year (2013), four years later, he’s managed to become absolutely vital to what the Patriots want to accomplish offensively.

“I’m thankful for my opportunity here, and what it’s been the last five years. I have a lot of great memories here,” he said. “Any negative thing or anything that’s tried to hinder me, I try to ignore and focus on the positive things that have been going on in this building for the last five years for me. I’ve tried to build off that and be a good teammate, and that’s the only thing I really focus on.”