FOXBOROUGH: The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks each moved within one victory of the Super Bowl after National Football League home play-off triumphs on Saturday.
LeGarrette Blount ran for 166 yards and four touchdowns to spark the Patriots over the Indianapolis Colts 43-22 while Marshawn Lynch ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns to spark Seattle past the New Orleans Saints 23-15.
New England will next face the winner of yesterday’s Denver-San Diego game in the American Conference final on January 19 for a Super Bowl berth.
The other spot in the February 2 NFL championship spectacular in suburban New York will be decided in the National Conference final the same day between Seattle and the winner of Sunday’s San Francisco-Carolina matchup.
New England’s defence intercepted four Andrew Luck passes while the offence ground out 234 rushing yards.
“We’ve done a really great job of that,” said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. “We have been a great running team. It has really been a strength.
“If we don’t make mistakes we’re tough to beat.”
Brady completed 13-of-25 passes for 198 yards in his record-stretching 18th career play-off victory while coach Bill Belichick’s 19th play-off win put him one shy of former Dallas coach Tom Landry’s all-time record.
Luck was 20-of-41 for 331 yards but could not rally the Colts once New England jumped ahead early.
“We couldn’t get over the hump and we paid for it,” Luck said. “They do a good job of disrupting things and they have a great pass rush.”
The Seahawks denied a late comeback bid by Saints quarterback Drew Brees and moved within one victory of their first trip to the Super Bowl since losing to Pittsburgh in 2006.
“It’s only a first step but it’s a hell of a first step,” said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
Seattle, which went 13-3 this season to earn a play-off home-field edge and a first-round bye, will host the winner of Sunday’s Carolina-San Francisco game in the National Conference final.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson said. “Our goal is to win the whole thing.”
Blount scored on three 2-yard runs in the first half, sparking New England to a 21-7 lead, and had a 73-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Luck threw touchdown passes of 35 and 38 yards to LaVon Brazill.
The Colts used two Adam Vinatieri field goals and a safety topull within 21-15 but New England’s Stevan Ridley had touchdown runs of 1 and 3 yards in the second half and Indianapolis could not close the gap.
At Seattle, the Seahawks took support from their notoriously loud fans and improved to 16-1 at home in the past two seasons.
Lynch, who carried the ball 28 times, scored on a 15-yard run in the second quarter and Steven Hauschka kicked field goals of 26, 38 and 49 yards to give the Seahawks a 16-0 half-time lead.
That was the same score entering the fourth quarter, the Seahawks’ NFL-best scoring defence leaving the Saints without a point through three quarters for the first time since 2002.
“Our defence was relentless the whole game,” Wilson said. “That’s what it takes to win.”
Khiry Robinson scored on a 1-yard run for the Saints and Mark Ingram ran for a 2-point conversion to halve the Seattle lead with 13:11 remaining.
The Seahawks answered with a late drive capped by Lynch’s 31-yard touchdown run with 2:40 to play for a 23-8 lead.
Brees marched the Saints 80 yards in nine plays and flipped a 9-yard touchdown pass to Marques Colston with 26 seconds remaining and Colston recovered an onside kick to give New Orleans a chance to win the game.
But Colston attempted an illegal forward pass after a reception three plays later and that penalty resulted in the final seconds being taken off the clock.
Brees completed 24-of-43 passes for 309 yards while Colston had 11 catches for 144 yards.
The NFL announced on Saturday that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will join Bruno Mars as half-time entertainment at the Super Bowl on February 2 in suburban New York.
AFP
