New England Patriots' Tom Brady, Bill Belichick building on legacy

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Arguably the greatest coach and quarterback tandem in NFL history added to its legacy Sunday night at Gillette Stadium as the New England Patriots advanced to a record ninth Super Bowl -- the record seventh for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

A week after scuffling along early before pulling away from the feisty Houston Texans, New England controlled the game almost from start to finish in a 36-17 romp over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium.

It was the Patriots' record sixth straight trip to the conference title game.

As he's done so many times over the years against Pittsburgh, including two previous AFC title game wins (2001, 2004 seasons), Brady carved up Pittsburgh's defense on the way to a franchise postseason-record 384 yards passing.

Brady threw three touchdown passes to wide-open targets -- with a pair to Chris Hogan that included a pretty 34-yard connection on a flea-flicker in the second quarter.

While Brady and his targets were piling up passing yards, New England's stingy defense remained just that. The Patriots had a goal-line stand in to force a field goal in the second quarter and go to the locker room with the 17-9 advantage. Another four stops on the doorstep to the end zone early in the fourth quarter closed any hopes of a Pittsburgh comeback.

Now, Belichick and his ring-hungry troops move on to Houston for a Super Bowl LI battle with presumed NFL MVP Matt Ryan and the upstart Atlanta Falcons.

Normally reserved and tight-lipped, even in the aftermath of victory, Brady, Belichick and Co. clearly celebrated a win that has the team on a cusp of what would be a fifth Lombardi Trophy for the ongoing New England dynasty.

"It was a good day. I mean, we're going to the Super Bowl, man. You've got to be happy now," the 39-year-old Brady said of his latest Super Bowl run, even though he declared it hadn't really "sunk in yet."

"We have a special team, a special group of guys that really work hard," Belichick said. "They deserve the success that they've had. I mean it's hard to win 16 games in this league. You've got to give a lot of credit to the players and the job they've done all year week after week. It's tough but they come in and grind it out."

Even some 12 hours after the biggest win of the year, Belichick used his traditional day-after media briefing to continue to praise his players rather than his usual tact of turning to the upcoming foe.

"Obviously it was a great win for our team and our organization (Sunday) night," Belichick said. "It's great to see the players who have worked so hard take so much satisfaction in their relationship with their teammates and the goal that they accomplished. Another step in a season where the team has already won 16 games, but it was another significant step. When you see them reacting and congratulating each other and celebrating like that, you know you have a closeness on the team that's special.

"These guys work hard. They put up with a lot from me. They put up with a lot of significant demands and requirements here," Belichick added. "But it's done with the intent to try to produce a good product and a good team. They buy into it and they perform well in critical situations like last night. I take a lot of satisfaction in seeing them achieve that because they've worked so hard for it and I think they deserve it. But you have to go out and prove it."

What this latest version of New England -- the preseason favorite to win Super Bowl LI -- has proven is that it is championship-caliber. It's shown that the latest potent Brady-led passing attack paired with the NFL's top scoring defense is a nearly unbeatable combination.

And Belichick and Brady have once again proven their greatness to continue an unprecedented modern dynasty with a chance to secure another Super Bowl ring in two weeks against Atlanta.

So it was that even as Belichick spent a little extra time to praise his worthy players, the coach was just about ready to turn the page to the final challenge, the final step on another championship road.

"We'll start digging into them before the day is over," Belichick concluded.

Because as the team's 2014 Super Bowl championship motto might have put it, the Patriots are on to the Falcons.

This time, New England has a similarly simple motto with another title in sight -- #OneMore

One more is all that's left this winter for the greatest coach and quarterback tag team in football history.

REPORT CARD VS. STEELERS

PASSING OFFENSE: A -- A week after a sloppy, disjointed two-pick performance in a win over the Texans, Tom Brady and the passing attack was nearly flawless to blow out the Steelers. As Brady has done so many times over the years -- he entered the AFC title game with six straight 100-plus passer ratings against Pittsburgh -- the New England quarterback carved up Pittsburgh's zone coverage. Though the opening drive resulted in a field goal after a third-down drop/deflection off the hands of rookie WR Malcolm Mitchell and the Patriots were forced to punt on the next series, that was the end to the fight. Brady completed 32 of 42 throws for a postseason franchise-record 384 yards with three touchdowns and no interception for a 127.5 passer rating. Chris Hogan was his top target, finding himself wide open for a 16-yard touchdown in the first quarter and then again on a flea-flicker for a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Hogan, returning from a thigh injury, had game highs with nine catches for 180 yards and the two scores. Julian Edelman was his usual productive self, notching another 100-yard effort with eight receptions for 118 yards and his own wide-open, 10-yard score late in the third quarter. New England's line gave Brady more than enough time to work most of the afternoon and he took full advantage.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C-minus -- It's a good thing the passing attack was near-perfect, because New England got little help from the ground game. Removing three Brady kneel-downs to end things, the Patriots ran the ball 24 times for just 60 yards (2.5 average). The only real production came on LeGarrette Blount's pile-moving, 18-yard run in the third quarter that set up the big back's own 1-yard touchdown. Even with the chunk yards, Blount tallied a mere 47 yards on 16 attempts (2.9 per carry), while Dion Lewis was quiet again with just 11 yards on his six attempts (1.8). The running game wasn't a huge part of the game plan and not really needed Sunday, but Bill Belichick admitted that New England would clearly have liked to have received more from his backs.

PASS DEFENSE: B -- The Patriots gave the Steelers very few chances to make big plays through the air, and key drops by Pittsburgh wide receivers Cobi Hamilton and Sammie Coates ensured a solid day by the New England back end. As he's done in past meetings, Malcolm Butler was the point man dealing with Antonio Brown, who had a quiet seven receptions for 77 yards, with no catch longer than 18 yards. Ben Roethlisberger's numbers -- 31 of 47 passing for 314 yards with one touchdown and one interception for an 83.1 rating -- weren't enough to keep the Steelers in the game. New England continued its season-long trend of avoiding the big play allowed and tackling well to avoid catch-and-run plays. So even with Roethlisberger completing 13 straight passes at one point, much of it were on short crossing routes and never led to a swing in momentum. The Patriots didn't get much consistent pressure on Roethlisberger while cornerback Eric Rowe allowed guys to get behind him on the outside, but the bad drops and otherwise consistent coverage/tackling kept the potentially dangerous Pittsburgh passing attack in relative check.

RUSH DEFENSE: A -- With Le'Veon Bell leaving the game for good with a groin injury in the second quarter, the battle between the elite running back and the NFL's No. 3 rush defense never came to fruition. New England held Bell to 20 yards on six early carries and seemingly was matching the back's unique patience with some two-gapping patience of its own on defense. Veteran backup DeAngelo Williams came on to run 14 times for 34 yards and a touchdown, which included a long run of 15 yards. New England's impressive front tackled Williams for losses of one and three yards on a first-and-goal stand late the second quarter to force field goal. The Patriots also held Williams to one and three yards on first-and-goal from in the fourth quarter for another stout stand. While Williams' touchdown was the first allowed in nine games for the defense, the unit more than did its job even if that job became easier with Bell sidelined.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B -- There were no real big plays in the kicking game, but aside from a Stephen Gostkowski missed PAT, New England was solid in the third phase. Gostkowski hit his three field goal attempts -- 31, 47 and 26 yards -- and mixed short kickoffs with late touchbacks as the Steelers averaged just 20.7 yards on returns. Ryan Allen only punted twice, but had a 43.5-yard net. Antonio Brown was held to 10 yards on his lone punt return. It was a quiet day in the kicking game, and Danny Amendola closed the door on any potential miraculous Steelers comeback when he guided an onside kick out of bounds to secure possession for the Patriots.

COACHING: A -- Coming off a sloppy win over the Texans, New England cleaned up most of its issues over the week to put forth an impressive performance against Pittsburgh. Belichick and his staff deserve credit for that. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spread the Steelers out and took advantage of the visitor's soft zones. His second-quarter call for a flea-flicker was perfect timing for the big touchdown. New England's passing game looked like the precision unit that's come to be expected. Defensively, Matt Patricia's unit played it safe, tackled well and played stout on the goal line when needed. There were few chances and few mistakes. Belichick's group uses its veterans to set the tone -- Brady was all business all week -- and that trickles down through younger players and newcomers. The Steelers didn't put up much of a fight, particularly on defense, and the Patriots executed a clean, efficient game plan to near perfect.