Pats bring swift end to Broncos

Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

Tom Brady’s way of dealing with Tebowmania was to silence it with a record-shattering performance.

Brady threw six touchdowns passes, five in the first half, and put the New England Patriots into the AFC championship game after roughing up Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos 45-10 Saturday night.

The Patriots (14-3), winners of nine straight games, will host either Baltimore or Houston next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl. Saturday night’s romp snapped a three-game postseason losing streak, two of those at Gillette Stadium, and lifted the Patriots to the verge of their fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 seasons. They’ve won it three times.

Brady even punted with 2:56 remaining, 48 yards on third down.

And so ended one of the season’s most exciting story lines — one that caught the nation’s attention and began when Denver was 1-4 and made Tebow a starter. The one-time third-stringer promptly won six in a row and seven of eight, with a string of stunning comebacks, and the Broncos ended up backing into the AFC West title.

Brady threw touchdown passes to Rob Gronkowski, and his six touchdowns matched the NFL playoff record set by Daryle Lamonica in 1969 and matched by Steve Young in the 1995 Super Bowl. Gronkowski’s three TD catches in the first half matched the NFL record for an entire playoff game.

Tebow struggled to move the Broncos. He was also strip-sacked on Denver’s sixth play from scrimmage to set up Gronkowski’s diving 10-yard touchdown catch that gave New England a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

The Broncos seemed to respond when Quinton Carter intercepted Brady, giving Denver the ball at the New England 24. Four plays later Willis McGahee ran it in from the 5.

But Brady hit Gronkowski from 12 yards to make it 21-7 and just before the two-minute warning, he connected with Deion Branch on a 61-yard TD pass down the left sideline to take a 28-7 lead.