Carving Station: Brady’s 26-for-28 Night Puts Away Jags

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn’t like the way the defense executed in the first half and sure enough he expressed his displeasure to the players.

"We get cussed out every week. Nothing new," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "If there’s a problem, Bill has his own spicy way of telling you."

In the second half, the defense improved and made the big stops in the end as the Patriots defeated the Jaguars 31-20 Saturday night in an AFC divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots (16-0, 1-0 playoffs) advance to the conference championship next Sunday, hosting the winner of today’s game between the Colts and Chargers. It will be the Patriots’ fifth appearance in the championship game in the last seven years.

"Whoever it is we know we have to play better," Belichick said.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady couldn’t play much better. He completed 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns. He had a 141.4 passer rating.

After a regular season in which he set an NFL record with 50 TD passes, he set a postseason record by completing 92.9 percent in the game. The Giants’ Phil Simms completed 88 percent (22 of 25) in Super Bowl XXI after the 1986 season against Denver.

Laurence Maroney rushed for 122 yards on 22 carries. He had more than Fred Taylor (47 yards, 13 carries) and Maurice Jones-Drew (19 yards, six carries) combined for the Jaguars.

"We understood coming into this football game we had to shut down the running game if we wanted to have a chance at winning," defensive end Richard Seymour said. "Our defensive front, we took that as our responsibility."

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker had nine receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown. Tight end Benjamin Watson had two receptions, both for touchdowns. The Jaguars (11-5, 1-1) held Randy Moss to one reception.

The Patriots did not allow a touchdown in the second half, holding the Jaguars to two field goals, and corner Rodney Harrison intercepted David Garrard on fourth-and-6 with 4:08 left to seal the victory.

"In the second half we came back after getting cussed out and we had a lot more fire and we were able to make some plays," said Harrison, who has interceptions in four straight playoff games.

The scripts were reversed. The Patriots ran the ball more than they passed and the Jaguars passed more than they ran.

With the score tied at 14, the Patriots received the kickoff to start the second half, and Brady came out throwing and drove the team 82 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown to take a 21-14 lead. Brady completed 7 of 8 passes, four to Welker. The drive began with a 9-yard completion to Welker and ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass to him.

Brady jumped with his empty right hand raised high, as if the ball had been directly snapped to running back Kevin Faulk, shifted it to his left hand to hide it, then threw to Welker.

"I’m looking for my Academy Award on that play," Brady said. "They bit on the run pretty good."

On the ensuing possession, the Jaguars drove to the Patriots 21. On a third-and-11, Garrard threw a pass over the middle that went off Dennis Northcutt’s hands inside the 5. The Jaguars had to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Josh Scobee.

The Patriots made it a two-possession game as Brady hit Watson in the end zone from 9 yards to make it 28-17 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter. Maroney had two long runs on the drive, picking up 29 yards on his first carry and 15 more on the next play.

The Jaguars started the next possession at their 7 and drove 86 yards, setting up a first-and-goal at the 9. But the Patriots defense held, forcing a 25-yard field goal by Scobee to make it 28-20 with less than 10 minutes left.

But the Patriots got the three points right back. It was almost seven when Donte Stallworth slipped behind the defense and caught a pass down the right side for a 53-yard gain to set up a 35-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, who missed one from 35 yards late in the first half, to make it 31-20 with 9:38 remaining.

Brady was perfect in the first half, completing 12 of 12 passes for 120 yards.

The Jaguars won the coin toss, elected to receive and proceeded to drive 80 yards on nine plays for a touchdown. Tight end Marcedes Lewis had two completions that covered 57 yards. His second catch was on a fourth-and-1 as Garrard rolled to his right and hit an open Lewis, who got behind cornerback Asante Samuel for a 34-yard gain to the 9.

On third-and-goal from the 8, Garrard was being tackled by Mike Vrabel but found Matt Jones open on the left side of the end zone. When the ball left his hands, Garrard’s knee was practically on the ground. Belichick looked like he was going to challenge the play, but the Jaguars kicked the extra point before he threw the red flag.

The Patriots answered with a 10-play, 74-yard drive that began with Brady being sacked for a 3-yard loss and ended with him throwing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Watson.

On the second play of that drive, Maroney caught a short pass and turned it into a 32-yard gain. Brady’s next completion came on a fourth-and-5 to Moss for 14 yards. On first-and-goal from the 3, Watson made a leaping catch over safety Sammy Knight in the back of the end zone.

The Patriots forced a turnover on the ensuing possession when Ty Warren stripped the ball from Garrard and Vrabel recovered at the Jacksonville 29.

The Patriots capitalized as Maroney scored from 1 yard out on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-7.