Recharged and rankled are the New England Patriots
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The Titans (10-7) are coming off their first playoff win in 14 seasons, a 22-21 thriller at Kansas City in the wild-card round Saturday that left the
Chiefs winless at Arrowhead in the postseason since 1994.
The Patriots (13-3) are fresh off their eighth consecutive first-round bye as they seek their third title in four years.
They’re not only refreshed but fired up after a report suggesting a fractured relationship that could break up the franchise’s three most important pieces in
QB Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.
Jacksonville (11-6), coming off its first playoff win in a decade, a 10-3 snoozer over Buffalo on Sunday, visits Pittsburgh (13-3) in the other AFC
divisional playoff game (1:05 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS).
The Steelers are hoping the weekend off helps Antonio Brown return from a torn calf he sustained on Dec. 17 against New England.
The NFC’s top seed, Philadelphia (13-3), hosts the defending conference champion Atlanta Falcons (11-6) on Saturday (4:35 p.m. ET on NBC) and the
Minnesota Vikings (13-3) host the New Orleans Saints (4:40 p.m. ET Sunday on
FOX).
The Saints (12-5) edged Carolina 31-26 Sunday night in the wild-card weekend finale.
The Falcons throttled the upstart Los Angeles Rams 26-13 Saturday night, sending the league’s best comeback story of 2017 to a premature end.
The Patriots have won 11 of 12 after stumbling to a 2-2 start but the buzz around Boston isn’t about their usual dominance but whether that excellence
could be coming to an end soon.
Brady, Belichick and Kraft released a joint statement this weekend dismissing as ”flat-out inaccurate” an ESPN report detailing an array of tension in New
England between the triumphant triumvirate responsible for decorating team
headquarters with five championship trophies.
One of the many things the Patriots are good at is navigating negativity.
Last year they overcame the loss of tight end Rob Gronkowski to win it all and they’re trying to do the same this year without receiver Julian Edelman and
linebacker Dont’a Hightower, two of their biggest stars.
The Titans came back from a 21-3 halftime deficit Saturday at Kansas City and in the process probably saved coach Mike Mularkey’s job .
Team owner Amy Adams Strunk on Sunday said her coach isn’t going anywhere after helping change the Titans’ culture and leading them to their first playoff
victory in 14 years.
The Titans opened as 13-point underdogs to the Patriots (8:15 p.m. ET on CBS).
”This is a good test for our football team,” Mularkey said, ”but these are the type of games you have to win.”
Or go home.
The Titans needed an amazing comeback to get their latest win, which tied for the second-largest rally by a road team in the playoffs. Dallas also overcame an
18-point deficit in 1972 in the divisional round to beat San Francisco.
Only Detroit’s rally from 20 points down in 1957 to beat the 49ers in the divisional round was bigger than Tennessee’s comeback.
The other AFC game is a rematch of Week 5, when the Jaguars beat Pittsburgh 30-9 . Ben Roethlisberger, who threw five interceptions in that game, has led
Pittsburgh to 10 wins in 11 games since then with the lone loss coming against
the Patriots
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In Blake Bortles, the Steelers will face a quarterback who ran for more yards (88) than he threw for (87) Sunday and who put together one decent drive all
day.
”We weren’t sharp, we made some bad plays and did some stupid stuff, but we found a way to win and that’s all that matters,” said Bortles, whose TD pass to
backup tight end Ben Koyack late in the third quarter was his best throw of the
game and a gutsy call on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
Although they’re the sixth seed, the Falcons are the only NFC team to make it back to the playoffs this year, and that edge in experience showed Saturday
night in the Rams’ first playoff game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum since
1979.
One year after advancing to the Super Bowl, the Falcons are ”a battle-tested brotherhood,” suggested coach Dan Quinn, who added Sunday ”That kind of
experience I thought certainly showed up last night.”
After showing impressive poise against the Rams, it’s on to Philadelphia, which is the NFC’s top seed for the first time since 2004 but is led by backup
quarterback Nick Foles following a season-ending knee injury to MVP hopeful
Carson Wentz.
So, it’s no surprise the Falcons opened as 2-point favorites on the road.
The Vikings are coming off a first-round playoff bye for the first time since 2000 and they’ll face a Saints team that features Mark Ingram and rookie Alvin
Kamara, who combined for 1,852 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns during the
regular season but were quiet Sunday, managing just 45 yards on 19 carries but
one of them was a 2-yard TD by Kamara.
The Vikings beat the Saints 29-19 on opening weekend when Sam Bradford and not Case Keenum was under center for Minnesota.
—
The Indiana Pacers look loose and sound confident.
They were laughing
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against LeBron James.
Sure, his sensational 46-point, 12-rebound effort in Game 2 exposed flaws in Indiana’s defense and allowed Cleveland to even the series, but it sure didn’t
shake the faith of the fearless Pacers.
”It’s a good sign when you lose by three and the best player in the world has a game like that,” Indiana point guard Darren Collison said.
The Pacers shouldn’t be rattled.
They are 4-2 against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs this season, fought back from an early 18-point deficit Wednesday with Victor Oladipo
in foul trouble and still had a chance to tie the score on Oladipo’s wide-open
3-pointer with 27 seconds left.
They still can seize control of the series by winning the next two in Indianapolis.
To avoid such a plight, the Cavs could give their star player some help – or they will need more command performances from The King.
But finding a stronger supporting cast Friday night in Game 3 could be potentially problematic with Kevin Love trying to play through an injured left
thumb. Love, who is right-handed, said X-rays of the hand were negative even
though he sat out the final 3 1/2 minutes of Game 2 as the Pacers continued to
close the deficit.
”He’s great, yes sir,” coach Tyronn Lue said Wednesday. ”Ready to go.”
The Cavs did not have media availability Thursday.
Indiana, meanwhile, spent most of the day working on corrections.
”I’ve already watched it,” Oladipo said, cutting off a question about whether he’d been studying film. ”But I’ll probably watch it again.”
While coach Nate McMillan didn’t provide specific details about what adjustments he might make, the Pacers figure the simplest solution to containing
James and regaining control of the series will be focusing on themselves.
”I think offensively, we didn’t have the proper spacing and we were letting them push us off our spots
Youth Luke Kuechly Jersey , like we did to them in Game 1. And Victor got into foul trouble,” Collison said. ”There were a lot of encouraging signs from
that game because we didn’t play our best basketball.”
—
RAPTORS AT WIZARDS
Raptors lead 2-0. Game 3, 8 p.m. EDT, ESPN2.
NEED TO KNOW: The Raptors had never taken a 2-0 lead in a playoff series until now. With DeMar DeRozan leading the way, this one could be over quickly
unless the Wizards figure out how to play a little defense, particularly on the
perimeter. DeRozan scored 37 points, shot 61 percent from the field and 50
percent on 3s in Game 2. In all, the Raptors have made 29 baskets from beyond
the arc through two games, 11 more than the Wizards. Washington, meanwhile, has
lost seven of its last eight, dating to the regular season. Asked about where
things stand right now, PG John Wall said: ”I’m just always cool. Just stay cool
and understand that we didn’t play our best basketball.”
KEEP AN EYE ON: Washington’s starting lineup. Coach Scott Brooks has hinted about possibly removing C Marcin Gortat and inserting F Mike Scott. That would
make Washington more athletic and nimble, and Scott’s ability to close out on
outside shooters helps the defense against 3s. Plus, Scott offers more scoring
punch.
INJURY UPDATE: Raptors G Fred VanVleet sat out Game 1 because of a bruised right shoulder suffered in Toronto’s regular season finale, and was out of sync
in Game 2. It’s unclear how much – or if – he has practiced the last two days.
Washington SF Otto Porter Jr. has been dealing with a strained right calf
recently and a bum hip before that, but Brooks declared him ”100 percent
healthy” heading into Game 3.
PRESSURE IS ON: Bradley Beal. The Wizards top scorer (22.6 points) is averaging just 14 in the playoffs. He was 3 for 11 in Game 2 and has struggled
from 3-point range
http://www.jaguarscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-blake-bortles-jersey , too. Still, the Raptors know they must keep him under control. ”He’s one of the
most dynamic players in our league,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. ”We’ve got
to treat him as such and not look at him having a couple of games where he
hasn’t shot well. We’ll treat him for who he is.”
—
CELTICS AT BUCKS
Celtics lead 2-0. Game 3, 9:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN.
NEED TO KNOW: The Bucks won at Boston on opening night and have since lost four of five in the series. Milwaukee’s only win during that stretch came April
3, at home. So the Bucks are hoping a change in scenery also helps them change
direction. The Celtics expect to see a different team this weekend. ”You know
they’re going to come out aggressive, they’re going to come out hard,” Boston
guard Terry Rozier said. ”We’re coming out with the mindset that we can forget
about taking care of the home-court (advantage).”
KEEP AN EYE ON: Bucks F Jabari Parker. The Celtics have been challenging Parker and Al Horford has taken advantage in the paint. Now Parker, who has
scored only two points in the first two games while averaging 12 minutes per
game, sounds frustrated as he tries to work his way back from a second serious
knee injury. When asked Thursday about how he gets more minutes, Parker said:
”Be on my coach’s good side. Yeah. Whatever that is, just try to be on the good
side.” Coach Joe Prunty said later he has no issues with Parker. ”He’s on my
good side,” Prunty said. ”We need him and everybody to be ready to go
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