No Gronk? No problem. Tom Brady, Patriots, rally past Jacksonville to reach Super Bowl

Tom Brady in a big game is about as much a certainty as the proverbial death and taxes.

Down two scores in the AFC Championship Sunday, facing one of the best defenses in the world, Tom Brady found a phone booth, found his Superman cape, and calmly led the New England Patriots to another Super Bowl.

The Patriots rallied to beat Jacksonville 24-20, and Brady added to his legend without his favorite target, tight end Rob Gronkowski, who left the game with an apparent concussion in the first half.

Brady threw two fourth quarter touchdown passes to help his team overcome a 20-10 fourth quarter deficit. After the first, a pumped up Patriots defense quickly stopped Jacksonville.

And even before Brady took the field, down 20-17 with six minutes left, some fans were already calling it.

But this time, Brady didn’t score. He was human. The Patriots punted. Brady let his defense help him and Danny Amendola returned a punt to the the Jacksonville 30. From there, TB 12 did his thing, finally finding Amendola in the back of the end zone and Amendola made a historically good catch.

Brady finished the game, completing 26-of-38 passes for 290 yards and those two fourth quarter touchdown passes.

So, in the end, Brady stuck his team in the Super Bowl for the eighth time in his career. In two weeks, Brady will try to win his sixth Super Bowl ring.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have won an NFL record six Super Bowl titles as a franchise, through Steel Curtains and Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. In two weeks, one man could catch a franchise.

Reaction was electric.

This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 6:07 PM.