American football: Patriots brilliant in third-title bid

Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes as the New England Patriots began their quest for an unprecedented third Super Bowl title in a row by routing Jacksonville 28-3 in a National Football League playoff game yesterday.

The Patriots stretched their playoff win streak to an NFL record 10 games in a row, Brady running his playoff record to a perfect 10-0 and New England's Bill Belichick improving to 11-1 as a playoff coach.

New England's Willie McGinest made 4 1/2 sacks, a one-game playoff record, and stretched his career playoff total to a record 16 sacks.

He said the Patriots are not looking past their next challenge despite the easy triumph.

The reigning champions advanced to a second-round playoff game next weekend at Indianapolis or Denver, their destination depending on the outcome of today's game between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

Brady threw a 10m touchdown pass to Troy Brown early in the second quarter, connected with David Givens for a 3m touchdown midway through the third and then teamed with Ben Watson on a 58m touchdown toss to give the Patriots a 21-3 lead after three quarters.

New England's Asante Samuel returned an interception 68m for a final touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, sealing Jacksonville's fate.

Sean Taylor scored on a 47m fumble return before being ejected and the Washington Redskins' tenacious defence made an early lead stand up, giving the Redskins a 17-10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in National Football League wildcard play yesterday.

The Redskins survived Taylor's ejection and their own offensive woes as Washington won despite compiling just 110m of total offence, the lowest total of any winning team in NFL playoff history.

Washington scored 14 first-quarter points on a 5m run by Clinton Portis and Taylor's long run and that turned out to be enough for the Redskins, despite their inability to move the ball at all in the second half.

Portis' run was set up by a key interception by LaVar Arrington that lifted coach Joe Gibbs to yet another playoff win, in his second season coaching after returning to the Redskins.

Gibbs improved to 17-5 in the play-offs in his first post-season game in 13 years. Gibbs first coached the team from 1981-92, winning three Super Bowl titles.

Washington advance to play the Seattle Seahawks next Sunday in Seattle in the next playoff round.

Matt Bryant kicked a 39m field goal to put Tampa Bay on the scoreboard in the second quarter, but Washington's John Hall answered that with a 43m field goal to make it 17-3 Redskins at the half.

Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Chris Simms led the Buccaneers on a drive early in the third quarter and completed it with a 2m touchdown run early in the third quarter, but that was all the offence the losers could generate.

Taylor was ejected late in the third quarter for spitting at a Tampa Bay player, but the Redskins' defence didn't miss a beat without him, frustrating the Buccaneers' offence in the final quarter as well.

Tampa Bay apparently scored a late touchdown when Simms hit Edell Shepherd with a 32m pass with less than three minutes to play, but Shepherd lost control of the ball before landing in the end zone, making the pass incomplete.

Washington quarterback Mark Brunell struggled all day, going just 7-for-15 for 37m and an interception. Portis managed just 48m rushing on 16 carries.

Simms wound up 25-for-38 for 181m but threw two interceptions.

The Bucs could not generate any kind of a ground game to help him out, however, as rookie running back Cadillac Williams was held to just 45m on 18 carries.

* The Minnesota Vikings have begun rebuilding their scandal-scarred NFL club by hiring Philadelphia Eagles assistant Brad Childress as coach.

Childress replaced Mike Tice, who was fired last week when the Vikings failed in their bid to reach the playoffs despite compiling a respectable 9-7 record.

The Vikings have endured several off-the-field problems, including a season-long suspension for running back Onterrio Smith for substance abuse and a raucous October boat party that resulted in several members of the team being charged with lewd conduct.

Tice was at the centre of another scandal when the league fined him US$100,000 ($147,000) for scalping Super Bowl tickets.

What's next

Today's wildcard clashes:
* New York Giants v Carolina Panthers.
* Cincinnati Bengals v Pittsburgh Steelers.

Winners advance to NFL divisional playoffs next weekend.
* January 23: Conference playoffs.
* February 5: Superbowl XL in Detroit.

- REUTERS