The Patriots’ AFC Championship Game victory in Denver was their ninth win in nine road games. That’s unprecedented in NFL history.
Prior to this season’s Patriots, no team in NFL history had ever gone 9-0 on the road. The Patriots went 8-0 on the road in the regular season and then added a win in their only road playoff game on Sunday.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft gave head coach Mike Vrabel a game ball in the locker room after Sunday’s win over the Broncos and pointed to that achievement as the reason.
“No other team in the history of the NFL has gone 9-0 on the road,” Kraft told the Patriots’ locker room.
Three other teams have won nine road games: The 2007 Giants actually won 10 road games, and the 2020 Buccaneers and 2005 Steelers each won nine. But those teams all lost games on the road, too. The Patriots are the first team ever to play at least nine games on the road, and win them all.
The Seahawks are the favorites in Super Bowl LX.
Seattle opened as a 3.5-point favorite over New England, and the line quickly moved to 4.5 points as bets came in on the Seahawks.
The Seahawks moneyline is -230, meaning a $230 bet on the Seahawks to win the game would earn $100 if the Seahawks win, while the Patriots are at +190, meaning a $100 bet on the Patriots to win the game would return $190 if New England wins.
The total is set at over/under 46.5 points.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is the betting favorite to win Super Bowl MVP at +130. He’s followed by Patriots quarterback Drake Maye at +235, Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba at +550, Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker at +600 and Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson at +2500.
Both Super Bowl teams were preseason long shots. Entering the season, the Seahawks’ odds to win the Super Bowl were 60-1 and the Patriots’ odds were 80-1.
The first half of Sunday’s AFC Championship included an officiating error that robbed the Patriots of a defensive touchdown. And while they still ended up with possession (and scoring on a 12-yard drive), the officials mistakenly ruled a backward pass to be an incomplete forward pass.
After the game, referee Alex Kemp spoke to pool reporter Jeff Legwold. And Kemp took responsibility for the mistake.
Here’s the full transcript:
“Q: What were the dynamics of the second quarter ruling that changed the call from an incomplete pass to a backward pass recovered by New England?
“Kemp: I initially ruled it as a forward pass, which was incorrect. I proceeded to go through the administration of an intentional grounding foul. The down judge and the umpire came and talked to me and provided more information. The down judge explained that he extended his right arm to signal that he had a backward pass and at that point we determined that New England had picked up the then backward pass. We awarded possession to New England with no advance, because at that point we are not allowed to permit an advance.
“Q: Was there an inadvertent whistle?
“Kemp: The whistle stopped the play, but it was after the New England player picked up the ball.”
They got it right, after they got it wrong. But the play should have kept going, and the Patriots should have had a touchdown. The safer approach is to let it keep going, because replay is available to turn the mistaken ruling of a backward pass into an incompletion.
It would be irresponsible to downplay the moment or excuse the mistake because the Patriots eventually scored. With replay not available to keep the play alive, plays like that should be kept alive.
Especially in a game of that magnitude.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye picked up a crucial first down on a run around the left side on a third down after the two minute warning in Sunday’s `10-7 win over the Broncos and no one was more surprised to see it happen than center Garrett Bradbury.
After the Patriots booked their ticket to the Super Bowl, Bradbury said that the play was designed as a handoff to running back Rhamondre Stevenson and that he said “oh my god” when he realized that Maye never handed the ball off.
“After the game, Drake’s like, ‘I debated telling you guys if I was gonna [keep] it or not. But I just decided not to’ . . . I’m expecting Rhamondre to try and hit a hole. And I turn around, Drake’s over there with the ball, and I’m like, ‘Go, go, go!’ Because we didn’t know.’” Bradbury said, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.
Maye confirmed at his press conference that the play was intended to go as Bradbury expected before his improvisation.
“We were in big personnel,” Maye said. “Running the same deal to the right, little stretch play. At some point, they get lackadaisical and got the chance to get around the edge.”
It was the right play at the right moment, which is something the Patriots hope to keep seeing from Maye through the final whistle of Super Bowl LX.
The Patriots will be celebrating their latest Super Bowl berth in Colorado. For now.
Per the team, the Patriots will fly home on Monday, due to the ongoing snow event in Boston.
Fortunately, there’s a two-week delay until the Super Bowl. The delayed flight won’t be a factor in their preparations for Super Bowl LX.
Wherever they are, they’ll be happy tonight. But they also know this isn’t the end of the road. They’ll have a chance to break a lingering tie with the Steelers to become the first NFL franchise to win seven Super Bowls.
And it was snow in Denver that helped the Patriots hold off the Broncos. Once it started to stick, both offenses were stuck in neutral. The Patriots trusted their defense to keep the Broncos from tying the game — and a blocked field goal ultimately was the difference.
