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January 12, 2008

Halftime notes

These are courtesy of the Patriots' PR staff:

BENJAMIN WATSON SCORES SECOND CAREER PLAYOFF TD
Benjamin Watson caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to tie the game at seven in the first quarter. The scoring catch was Watson’s second career playoff touchdown reception, with his other scoring grab also coming against Jacksonville in a wild card matchup on Jan. 7, 2006. Watson’s previous playoff touchdown came on a 63-yard scoring grab and was the longest touchdown reception in Patriots postseason history.

BRADY THROWS TOUCHDOWN IN 13th STRAIGHT PLAYOFF GAME
Tom Brady threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Benjamin Watson in the first quarter, marking Brady’s 13th consecutive playoff game with a touchdown pass, tying Dan Marino for the second longest such streak in NFL history. Marino also threw a touchdown pass in 13 straight playoff contests from 1983-1995. Brett Favre holds the NFL record, throwing a scoring pass in 17 consecutive games from 1995 to the present. Brady was held without a touchdown pass in the first two playoff games of his career, but has had at least one scoring toss in 13 straight games from Super Bowl XXXVI through tonight.

WARREN STRIP-SACK SETS UP TOUCHDOWN
Ty Warren sacked David Garrard and caused him to fumble in the first quarter, giving the Patriots possession at the Jaguars’ 29-yard line. Mike Vrabel recovered the loose ball, setting up a seven-play drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney and a 14-7 Patriots lead. The forced fumble was the first of Warren’s 12-game playoff career and the fumble recovery was the second of Vrabel’s 17-game playoff career.

MARONEY SCORES FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF TOUCHDOWN
Laurence Maroney gave the Patriots a 14-7 lead with a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. The touchdown run was the first of Maroney’s playoff career and came in his fourth career postseason game. In the 2007 regular season, Maroney led the team with six rushing touchdowns, a total that tied his career high, also set as a rookie last season.

PATRIOTS ALLOW OPENING-DRIVE POINTS IN PLAYOFFS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1998
The Jaguars scored a touchdown on their opening drive of the game, marking the first time the Patriots had allowed their opponents to score points on their opening drive since the 1998 wild card playoffs, when Jacksonville’s Mike Hollis converted a 35-yard field goal to give the Jaguars a 3-0 lead over the Patriots on Jan. 3, 1999. Prior to tonight, the Patriots had held their opponents scoreless on opening drives in 14 consecutive playoff contests. In the regular season, the Patriots allowed only one opening-drive touchdown - in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants on Dec. 29.

QUICK HITS
§ Stephen Gostkowski missed a playoff field goal for the first time in his career when he missed a 35-yard attempt in the second quarter. Gostkowski had been a perfect eight-for-eight in his three-game playoff career entering tonight’s game.

§ When Jacksonville scored first in tonight’s game, it broke a string of five straight playoff games in which New England had scored first. The Patriots have now scored first in 10 of their last 12 postseason games.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 9:55 PM | Permalink