Pats are just Super

FOXBOROUGH – The window for Tom Brady remains open.For the sixth time in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era – and eighth overall – the New England Patriots are headed to the Super Bowl.Sunday?s 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts was every bit as dominating as the score would indicate. Never were the Patriots in peril as they ran roughshod over Andrew Luck and the Colts for the fourth time since the young Stanford alumnus was drafted. Two of those routs have been playoff victories.With eight Super Bowl appearances, the Patriots have tied the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers for the most ever. Moreover, Belichick moves ahead of former Cowboys coach Tom Landry to become the all-time leader in NFL playoff victories with 21.Led by Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, the Patriots won their first three Super Bowls – in 2002, 2004 and 2005 – but dropped their last two, including the 2008 game in which the New York Giants spoiled their perfect record. They also lost to the Giants in 2012.?I only have one thing to say,” Belichick said on the field after the game. “We?re on to Seattle.”The Patriots will play the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, Feb. 1 in Glendale, Ariz. The Seahawks pulled out a heart-stopping 28-22 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers earlier Sunday.The matchup will be an interesting one, with the Patriots playing against the coach whom they fired – Pete Carroll – before Belichick was brought on.All the accolades don?t belong to Belichick. Brady threw three touchdown passes for his seventh career playoff game with at least that many. Legarrette Blount had 30 rushing attempts – and 148 yards and three touchdowns – to set a Patriots playoff record for attempts. The 45 points tied a Patriots playoff record achieved in 2012 against the Denver Broncos.?We worked our tails off to get to this point,” Brady said. “We?ve got one more to close the deal. I know we?ve had some ups and downs this year, but right now we?re up.”The Patriots had a huge advantage in time of possession, 37:49 to 22:11 – by design, as their goal was to keep the explosive Luck off the field as much as possible.The Patriots sprung to a 14-0 lead before the first quarter was over – a deviation from the last month of the season, when the Patriots got off to slow starts. Although the Colts went on a long drive midway through the second quarter to close the lead to 14-7, Stephen Gostkowski?s field goal in the final seconds of the half made it 17-7.The Patriots employed some trickery to open the second half, with Brady hitting tackle Nate Solder – who had reported as eligible – for the lineman?s first-ever NFL touchdown. They never took their foot off the throttle until they had put up 45 points early in the fourth quarter.The win, and the trip to the Super Bowl, is vindication for Brady and the Patriots, who opened the season at 2-2, with unimpressive losses to Miami and Kansas City. The 41-14 loss to the Chiefs, in a Monday night game, represented a nadir for Brady.After that game, and for the first time in his illustrious career, he had to deal with the doubt of fans who had always shown supreme confidence in him. There were calls throughout the national media for the Patriots to try their lot with rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo – a suggestion that Belichick scorned without even making a comment in a news conference.However, the Patriots rallied to demolish the Cincinnati Bengals, 43-17, on national television the following Sunday, and proceeded to reel off a seven-game winning streak before falling to the Packers in Green Bay, 26-21.The Patriots won their next three, including a gritty 23-14 nationally televised win over the San Diego Chargers. Their only other defeat was in the meaningless season finale vs. the Buffalo Bills.