Patriots rally to overcome Jets and claim play-off place

THE New England Patriots last night settled a bitter season-long contest with divisional rivals the New York Jets when they won the wild card match between the two sides at the Gillette Stadium in Boston.

Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick saw his side struggle to take control of the game until the fourth quarter when first, quarterback Tom Brady masterminded a 63-yard drive to set Kevin Faulk up for a touchdown and then Asante Samual scored on a 36-yard interception return.

Belichick now sees his team in the divisional play-offs against Indianapolis next week.

The Patriots led 17-10 at half-time thanks to touchdowns from Corey Dillon and Daniel Graham and while the Jets kept in touch in the third quarter, the final onslaught from the Patriots in the final period saw the Boston side run out 37-16 winners.

In Saturday night’s games, the Colts’ defence spared Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning’s blushes in the National Football League play-offs on Saturday, but there was no such escape for the Cowboys’ Tony Romo.

Romo mishandled a snap on a field goal attempt with little more than a minute to play as the Cowboys fell 21-20 to the Seattle Seahawks in a National Conference wild card game.

Before the gaffe, Romo had appeared poised to add to his reputation as a rising young star, having led the Cowboys into field-goal range.

When the Cowboys set up for a 19-yard field goal with 1:19 to play, they seemed sure to be on their way to their first play-off victory in a decade.

But Romo bobbled a perfect snap from LP Ladouceur. He picked up the loose ball and ran to his left but was tripped up from behind by Jordan Babineaux just shy of a first down.

Overshadowed by the chaos was Matt Hasselbeck’s 37-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jerramy Stevens with 4:24 remaining which gave the Seahawks a 21-20 lead. The duo also hooked up for a 15-yard TD in the third quarter.

Defending NFC champion Seahawks will visit Chicago or New Orleans next weekend in the second round.

The Colts booked a second-round clash with the Baltimore Ravens with a 23-8 victory over Kansas City in Saturday’s American Conference contest.

The Colts defence, which ranked last against the run in the regular season, were able to neutralise workhorse Larry Johnson while also having little problem shutting down the rest of the Chiefs’ stuttering offence.

Indianapolis limited Kansas City to 16 total yards on 18 plays in the first half and did not allow a first down until less than four minutes remained in the third quarter.

The Colts held a 435-126 advantage in total yards and garnered 28 first downs to just seven for the Chiefs.

In his ninth season, Manning still carries the burden of never having led the Colts to a Super Bowl.

Manning completed 30-of-38 passes for 268 yards. His favourite target was tight end Dallas Clark, who had nine receptions for 103 yards.

Vinatieri, who was part of three Super Bowl-winning New England teams before signing with Indianapolis in the off-season, connected on field goals of 48, 19 and 50 yards in the first half. He has 29 career playoff field goals, second all-time to Gary Anderson (32).