New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley (22) carries the ball between Indianapolis Colts linebacker Andy Studebaker (58) and safety Antoine Bethea (41) during their AFC divisional NFL playoff in Foxborough, Mass., Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. The Patriots won 43-22 to advance to the AFC Championship game.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – LeGarrette Blount wasn’t satisfied with three short touchdown runs, not against a team coming off the second greatest comeback in playoff history.
So the 250-pound back who makes long runs routine took off on a 73-yarder and carried the New England Patriots to their third straight AFC championship game with a 43-22 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night.
Suddenly, the ground game has replaced Tom Brady as the heart of the Patriots’ offense.
“Once I get into the open field, they’re going to have to chase me,” Blount said. “And if they catch me, they do. And if they don’t, they don’t. They usually don’t.”
They didn’t two weeks earlier when he scored on runs of 36 and 35 yards in the regular-season finale against Buffalo. He also returned kickoffs 83 and 62 yards in that 34-20 victory that gave New England a first-round bye. And they didn’t on his long touchdown that gave the Patriots (13-4) a 36-22 lead early in the fourth quarter against the Colts (12-6).