National Football League

LeGarrette Blount makes some history with 4 rushing TDs

Published Jan. 11, 2014 11:50 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Ross Jones

The Patriots made one of the stealthiest offseason acquisitions this past offseason when they dealt running back Jeff Demps and a seventh-round pick to Tampa for LeGarrette Blount. The front-office move paid off in January.

The fourth-year running back bludgeoned the Colts defense in the Patriots' 43-22 win Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. He broke a Patriots team record for touchdowns in a single postseason game. He finished the game with 24 carries, 166 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Blount joined Ricky Watters, who had five touchdowns for San Francisco on Jan. 15, 1994, as the only players with four or more in a playoff game. And the six rushing touchdowns by the Patriots tied the 49ers' total in that game for second most in playoff history. Blount's big rushing performance came two weeks after he ran for 189 yards and returned two kickoffs for 145 yards in a 34-20 victory over Buffalo in the regular-season finale.

While most of his work typically comes on third down and goal-line area carries, Blount was a workhorse throughout the evening. He even broke a 73-yard TD run, which stretched the Patriots'€™ lead to two scores with 12:55 remaining in the fourth quarter:

Blount, who was best known for throwing a punch during his days at Oregon and went undrafted, has been a pleasant surprise this season.

''He's got that combination of size, power and quickness and speed,'' Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. ''He can run hard. He can make guys miss and he can go the distance.''

That allowed the Pats to advance to the AFC title game without getting a single TD pass from Tom Brady, who completed 13 of 25 passes for 198 yards. New England will face the winner of Sunday's between the Broncos and Chargers, without getting

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

share

Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Football League