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Brady, Gronkowski lead Patriots over Chiefs, 27-20

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Tom Brady lunges over the goal line for an early touchdown to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Tom Brady lunges over the goal line for an early touchdown to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.

FOXBOROUGH — There was no rust for the New England Patriots. There was no sign of the team that lost its final two games of the regular season. There was only Tom Brady (and Rob Gronkowski) and yet another playoff victory for the Patriots. New England took care of business Saturday in Foxborough, dispatching the Chiefs 27-20.

The Patriots’ win sets up a possible Brady-Manning XVII in the AFC Championship Game, if the Broncos can take care of business against the Steelers on Sunday.

On Saturday in Massachusetts, it was all about the Patriots’ aerial attack led by their Hall of Fame quarterback. They relied heavily on No. 12, who was accurate and effective throughout the contest.

The injuries that were of concern to the Patriots heading into the game — Brady’s ankle, Gronkowski’s knee and Julian Edelman’s foot — did not hinder New England in their pursuit of another AFC Championship game appearance. In fact, with the Patriots returning to health, they resembled the team they were early in the season, when they were dominating many of their opponents.

Brady will appear in his 10th conference championship game next weekend.

Should the Broncos win on Sunday, it would set up yet another critical game in the storied rivalry of two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Because of Manning’s poor performance and plantar fascia this season, it had looked, until recently, that there might never be another meeting between the two greats. Brady leads the career head-to-head battle, 11-5, including a 2-2 split in the playoffs.

Rob Gronkowski delivers a patented spike after catching one of his two touchdowns on the night.Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Rob Gronkowski delivers a patented spike after catching one of his two touchdowns on the night.

As soon as New England touched the ball Sunday, their late-season performance looked like a mirage.

The Patriots came out throwing. Literally, throwing only. They opened the game with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that featured zero runs and included third-down conversions by Gronkowski and Edelman — two players whose health status had been in question entering the contest. And then to cap it all off, Brady fired a pass to Gronkowski in the front left corner of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown to put the Patriots ahead 7-0.

The Patriots were ahead 7-3 in the second quarter when the Chiefs were trying to pin them deep with a punt. As cornerback Jamell Fleming tried to catch the ball to down it, Patriots WR Danny Amendola laid him out with a dirty hit before the ball even arrived. Amendola was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct but it only cost New England two yards because they were so close to their own end zone.

At the end of the ensuing drive, Brady elected to take matters into his own hands to extend the lead. The superstar quarterback appeared to finish off a 98-yard drive with an 11-yard run into the right corner of the end zone, but was hit and knocked out of bounds just shy of the goal line.

Brady, fired up after the long run, didn’t care. On the next play, he snuck in for a one-yard touchdown, eliciting “Brady, Brady!” chants from the Foxborough faithful who had remained on their feet since kickoff. The touchdown put New England ahead with 3:23 left in the first half.

Alex Smith and the Chiefs have their 11-game winning streak come to an end against the Patriots.Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Alex Smith and the Chiefs have their 11-game winning streak come to an end against the Patriots.

The Chiefs kicked a field goal before halftime to go into the locker room down 14-6.

And when action resumed in the third quarter, the Patriots only tightened their grip on the game. First, Chandler Jones — who had shown up shirtless at a police station last week after a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana, according to the Boston Globe — stripped Knile Davis on the Chiefs’ first possession of the third quarter. And Brady and Co. took advantage, quickly marching 69 yards on a drive capped off with a 16-yard touchdown reception to Gronkowski to put them ahead 21-6.

But the Chiefs didn’t quit. Alex Smith channeled his inner Russell Wilson on the next drive, escaping pressure from all over on one play and then hitting Jason Avant on a 26-yard gain on a play that long had seemed dead. He kept the Chiefs moving and then hit Albert Wilson in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown to make the score 21-13 with 2:12 left in the third quarter.

A pair of New England field goals had them ahead 27-13 with 10:20 left in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs, down 14 points, threatened late but horrific clock management meant that by the time they did score a touchdown on a one-yard Charcandrick West run, there was only 1:13 remaining in the contest.

But Gronkowski recovered the onside kick and the Patriots were able to run out the clock and secure the victory.

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