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Brady, Pats unstoppable Jan. 11: Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Randy Moss talk about winning as a team

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The next nine passes found their targets before one went right through Welker’s hands with 6:46 left in the game.

One throw the Patriots didn’t make may have helped the Jaguars take a 7-0 lead. David Garrard completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Matt Jones on their first possession. He threw as he was going down while in the grasp of Mike Vrabel, and his knee might have touched the turf before he released the pass.

Belichick pulled the red challenge flag from his sock, but held on to it.

“It was just too late by the time we got a look at it,” he said.

Brady tied it on the Patriots’ first possession with a 3-yard scoring pass to Watson.

New England capitalized on Garrard’s fumble on Jacksonville’s second possession when he was hit by Ty Warren and Vrabel recovered at the Jaguars 29. On the first play of the second quarter, Maroney ran in from the 1.

But Garrard, in just his second playoff game, kept matching the success of Brady, a two-time Super Bowl MVP. He completed 22 of 33 passes for 278 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

“They’re explosive and they’re efficient,” Garrard said. “We felt we could fight fire with fire.”

Garrard directed a 95-yard drive after Jones-Drew misplayed the kickoff and recovered at his own 5. With an excellent blend of passing and running, the Jaguars covered those 95 yards in 11 plays — never even reaching a third down — and tied it on Garrard’s 6-yard pass to Ernest Wilford.

The Patriots then moved to the Jaguars 19, but a chop block against guard Stephen Neal set them back 15 yards and Stephen Gostkowski ended up missing a 35-yard field goal, leaving the score tied at 14 at halftime.

Then the Patriots went ahead on Brady’s acting job and the Jaguars couldn’t come back they way they did a week earlier when they beat Pittsburgh 31-29 on Josh Scobee’s 25-yard field goal with 37 seconds left.

One of their last chances ended when Rodney Harrison intercepted Garrard’s pass with 4:34 left. That gave Harrison four interceptions in his last four playoff games, tying Aenaes Williams’ record for the NFL’s longest playoff streak.

“Rodney’s interception at the end sealed it,” Brady said. “We really needed that play.”

Notes: Gostkowski was 8-for-8 before missing his first field-goal attempt in his four playoff games. ... Welker, who tied for the NFL lead with 112 receptions, added a game-high nine for 54 yards. ... The Jaguars’ streak of 11 games scoring at least 24 points ended.

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