Legarrette Blount helped give Tom Brady's arm a little more rest.
The bruising Patriots' running back got nearly as many carries (24) as Brady's amount of passes (25) and those runs resulted in 166 yards and four touchdowns. The Patriots scored six touchdowns total against the Colts, none of which came via Brady's arm. The two that Blount did not score in New England's 42-23 win came from the team's other running back Stevan Ridley.
Blount had already scored three touchdowns with more than 10 minutes left in the second quarter, all of which were from two yards away from the goal line. It wasn't until the fourth quarter when the 27-year-old out of Oregon scored his fourth touchdown. On New England's first offensive play of the final quarter, Blount broke loose for a 73-yard scamper into the end zone.
(GIF via SBNationGIF)
With the 73-yard touchdown run, Blount became the second player in NFL playoffs history to score at least four rushing TDs in a game (joining Ricky Waters), per ESPN Stats & Info. The Patriots' six rushing touchdowns was the second most ever in an NFL postseason game.
With his historic performance on Saturday night, Blount has scored eight touchdowns in New England's last three games. Acquired via a trade with Tampa Bay during the 2013 NFL Draft, Blount didn't gain more than 65 yards on the ground until Week 16. Blount scored two touchdowns in each of New England's final two games -- both victories -- and racked up a combined total of 265 yards.
The Patriots are presumably thrilled with their late-blooming running back. Scroll down to watch his first three touchdowns.
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