The New England Patriots punched their ticket to Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, going into a cold, snowy Empower Field at Mile High and beating the Denver Broncos, 10-7, in the AFC Championship Game.
It wasn’t pretty, but the defense stood tall against backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, and Drake Maye and the Patriots offense did just enough, with Maye’s legs (65 yards rushing) proving to be a difference-maker and sealing the game with one final first-down run before New England went into victory formation.
Immediately following the presentation of the Lamar Hunt Trophy to the new AFC champions, WEEI’s 6 Rings Postgame Show, featuring Andy Hart and Nick “Fitzy” Stevens, reacted to the “gritty win.”
“This was a gritty performance,” Hart said. “And I don't want to hear any more about a soft schedule. There's nothing soft about this football team. The American Football Conference representative in the Super Bowl proved its mettle today in a game that just went berserk somewhere in the third quarter, when God was like, ‘You know what this game needs? It needs a blizzard to start right now.’ And just, boom, it became fascinating. I mean, Drake Maye's legs were probably the difference in this football game. His [65] yards rushing may be the difference in this game.”
“That,” Fitzy said, “and the fingertips, just the fingertips, of Leonard Taylor III -- excuse me, let me put some respect on that name: Patriots legend Leonard Taylor III, who was able to alter the flight of the field goal attempt by the Broncos with four and a half minutes left that looked like it would have been right straight and true, tied the ball game up. And then, given the fact that the Patriots offense could gain no footing, no traction or no real positive yards in the second half, was able to just alter the course of history for two football franchises with just one little block.”
Hart circled back to the word “gritty” a few minutes later.
“I keep going back to that word, gritty,” he said. “I think this was a gritty-ass win. And I know people are already going to turn the page and be like, ‘Good luck getting blown out by the Rams or the Seahawks if that's how you're going to play.’ We'll get there. We'll play that. This was, you played the game today you needed to play to win. Like, this was not, as I say, they're not hanging it in the Louvre. But guess what? They might hang a banner at Gillette Stadium if you win one more. And you earned the right to extend your season. You did what you needed to do. They don't give out beauty points in the frickin’ postseason.”
“You say styles make fights, right?” Fitzy added. “So, that’s an old, great sports cliche that I think is very apt for here.”
The Patriots will take on the winner of Sunday evening’s NFC Championship Game between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 60 on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.