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Tom Brady conjures up magical comeback after injury scare as New England Patriots reach Super Bowl 52

Patriot gains: Brady and Amendola celebrate the winning touchdown: Getty Images
Patriot gains: Brady and Amendola celebrate the winning touchdown: Getty Images

Tom Brady recovered from a hand injury to guide New England Patriots to the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons.

Seemingly showing no signs of his advancing years, the 40-year-old quarterback was also equally unfazed that his throwing hand was bandaged after stitches in the week following a freak injury in practice.

But in a career littered with Hollywood finishes, he left it late against Jackonsville Jaguars, his game-winning pass to Danny Amendola, who made a stunning acrobatic catch, coming with just two minutes and 48 seconds remaining on the clock.

That touchdown — Amendola’s second of the game — helped secure a 24-20 victory, setting up Brady for what will be his eighth Super Bowl and the chance to be the architect for a sixth win for the Patriots.

“I’ve had a lot worse,” he said of the injury. “It was a crazy injury. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday was a little scary.

“Then I started getting some confidence and today we did just enough to win.

“I thought, ‘of all the plays, my season can’t end on a hand-off in practice, I didn’t come this far to end on a hand-off’.

“It’s pretty amazing. Just to be on a team that wins these kinds of games. It’s just been a great accomplishment.”

The AFC Championship game had been billed as a battle between David and Goliath, the Patriots having long been the dominant force of the AFC.

But while Brady was on point from the outset, it was the Jaguars who were in the ascendancy for much of the contest. They led 14-3 in the first half and then 20-10 in the fourth quarter before the Patriots’ talisman conjured up a late win.

In all, Brady completed 26 of 38 passes for 290 yards, 138 of those coming in the final quarter of the game. And it was the 54th time in his career that he had made a fourth-quarter comeback and a remarkable 11th in the play-offs.

Coach Bill Belichick downplayed the severity of his star man’s injury, saying “we’re not talking about open-heart surgery here”.

Facing his side on February 4 in Minneapolis are Philadelphia Eagles, after Nick Foles guided his side to a 38-7 win