While his teammates and coaches are expected to tune to the showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars to determine their AFC championship game opponent, New England Patriots veteran linebacker James Harrison has another team in mind rather than watch his former team. When asked if he will join his former team, the Steelers, take on the Jaguars, his answer was “I won’t, no.” Harrison said he doesn’t even watch sports, but admitted that he’s a cartoon guy. “Ask me something about Cartoon Network,” said Harrison, who signed with the Patriots after he was recently released by the Steelers, where he saw just 40 snaps this season despite being the team’s all-time franchise leader in sacks with 80.5 in his 14 seasons in Pittsburgh.
The Patriots will take on the Jaguars-Steelers winner in the AFC championship game at Gillette Stadium on January 21. Harrison said he would find out who they will play when he reports to the stadium on Monday. In his second game with the Patriots, Harrison tallied three tackles in the Patriots’ 35-14 win over the Tennessee Titans. While he’s impressive with his performance, Harrison admitted that he has yet to learn New England’s defense. “That’s like asking somebody if they just learned the defense two weeks ago. It's not going to happen,” said Harrison, who blasted the Steelers after he was released.
Brady shines against Titans
Veteran quarterback Tom Brady completed 35-of-53 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots reached their seventh straight AFC championship game.
With his 10th career playoff game with three or more passing yards, Brady moved past Joe Montana for most in the Super Bowl era. Brady is now in solo second for most touchdown passes all-time with 554, overtaking Brett Favre’s 554. Now, Brady will only have retired quarterback Peyton Manning’s 579 touchdowns to chase.
Dion Lewis ran 15 times for 62 yards while Brandon Bolden carried the ball four times for 27 yards and a touchdown.
Danny Amendola caught 11 passes for 112 yards while Rob Gronkowski tallied six receptions for 81 yards and a score. James White accounted for two touchdowns while Chris Hogan caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Brady.
Mariota suffered strained quad in the first quarter
After the game, Titans head coach Mike Mularkey revealed that Marcus Mariota sustained a strained quad in the first quarter of their loss.
According to Mularkey, the injury affected Mariota’s mobility, forcing the Titans to change their game plan against the Patriots. Mariota completed 22-of-37 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns and carried the ball four times for 37 yards. However, Mariota was sacked eight times by the Patriots.
