It’s the dead of winter, meaning the weather in New England can be brutal.

KANSAS CITY http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-jordan-jersey , Mo. (AP) — And that the Patriots are headed to the Super Bowl.It took them overtime and more of Tom Brady’s brilliance to get there — for the third straight year. While the folks back home dealt with a frigid storm, Brady blew through Kansas City’s exhausted defense on a 75-yard drive to Rex Burkhead’s 2-yard touchdown run in a 37-31 victory Sunday for the AFC championship.The drive, during which New England (13-5) had three third-down conversions, was reminiscent of when the Patriots beat Atlanta in the only Super Bowl to go to OT two years ago.Article continues below ...“Overtime, on the road against a great team,” Brady said. “They had no quit. Neither did we. We played our best football at the end. I don’t know, man, I’m tired. That was a hell of a game.”Awaiting them in Atlanta are the Los Angeles Rams, who won 26-23 in overtime in New Orleans for the NFC championship. The Rams (15-3) last made the Super Bowl in 2002 while based in St. Louis, losing to the Patriots.New England benefited from two critical replay reviews and made its ninth Super Bowl with Brady at quarterback and Bill Belichick as coach.“This is crazy,” said Brady, who was 30 of 46 for 348 yards. “What a game.”It’s the first time both conference title games went to OT. The last time both visitors won conference championship matches was 2012; New England was 3-5 on the road this season.“We knew what our record was, but we didn’t let that dictate us,” said defensive end Trey Flowers, who led a staunch charge on Patrick Mahomes. “Whatever happened in the regular season happened. We came out and did it when it counted.”Several times, the Patriots appeared to have it won, only to see Kansas City (13-5) come back in spectacular fashion.Brady, at 41 already the oldest quarterback to have played in a Super Bowl, drove New England 65 yards in 1:24 to Burkhead’s go-ahead 4-yard touchdown with 39 seconds left in regulation. That was enough, though, for his far younger counterpart, the 23-year-old All-Pro Mahomes, to take the Chiefs 48 yards to Harrison Butker’s 39-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to force overtime.It was a sizzling offensive showing in the fourth quarter after defense had been in charge most of the way. Indeed, the Chiefs were blanked in the opening half for the first time all season.And they never saw the ball in overtime, which along with the two replay decisions might call into play NFL rules and officiating.“I thought if we got the chance,” Mahomes said, “we’d score.”Mahomes finished 16 of 31 for 295 yards and three touchdowns.New England became the third franchise to reach three Super Bowls in a row. And Belichick now has 30 postseason victories Greedy Williams Jersey , more than Bill Walsh and Don Shula combined. That Hall of Fame coaching duo also won five Super Bowls; Belichick shoots for No. 6 in two weeks.An apparent muff by the usually reliable Julian Edelman on a fourth-quarter punt return was overturned by a lengthy video review, prompting raucous booing and some demonstrative arguing from the usually laid-back Andy Reid. Edelman definitely touched his next try when Brady’s pass deflected off his hands directly to safety Daniel Sorensen. His 22-yard return set up Kansas City at the Patriots 23, and Damien Williams, who scored three times, had no defender near him down the left sideline for the score that made it 21-17, KC’s first lead.Back came Brady, engineering a 75-yard march on which Chris Hogan’s diving one-handed catch on third down appeared to touch the ground. Reid challenged — and lost.Minutes later, rookie Sony Michel scored from the 10, his second TD of the night.With 3½ minutes remaining, there was plenty of time for more points. Williams’ 2-yard run gave the Chiefs a 28-24 edge that New England took up most of the remaining time overcoming. The Patriots were helped by an offside call on linebacker Dee Ford that negated an interception which would have clinched a KC victory.Butker’s field goal sent it to overtime.“We put ourselves in position to win the game, that’s what makes it so tough,” Reid said. “If it’s a rout, you chalk it up to experience. But this one right here, where you’re in it to win it, that’s a tough deal. We gave ourselves every opportunity to do it, and they got us in overtime.”The Chiefs hadn’t been blanked in any half this season, but they barely were a presence in the first 30 minutes, when they had the ball for 8:53. Mahomes was sacked three times for 43 yards; Kansas City’s record-setting attack ran only 16 plays and gained a mere 32 yards.The zero disappeared quickly in the third quarter. Finally given solid protection, Mahomes unleashed a 54-yard completion to Sammy Watkins over All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore. He then hit another All-Pro, tight end Travis Kelce, on a slant to make it 14-7 — and awaken the slumbering crowd.But one of several bad decisions further damaged Kansas City when Tyreek Hill, the All-Pro flex player, retreated deep in Chiefs territory returning a punt. Eventually, KC had to punt and the Patriots had excellent field position, setting up a 47-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.Not one to be shy about innovation, Mahomes completely sidearmed a throw to Watkins for 10 yards on a third down, then a dump-off to Williams covered 33. Kelce drew a pass interference call on J.C. Jackson in the end zone, and Mahomes threw a strike to Williams for the score.Although the Chiefs were on their heels much of the night http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-sione-takitaki-jersey , they were down only 17-14.LOPSIDED FIRST HALFJust as they did last week in manhandling the Chargers early and cruising, the Patriots delivered a message — and a touchdown — on their first series. It was a classic, covering 80 yards in 15 plays and using up more than eight minutes. Michel, who had 113 yards rushing, scored from the 1.But Brady made a rare mistake on the next dominant drive. His third-down pass from the 1 for Rob Gronkowski was short and Reggie Ragland picked it off.Brady had never thrown an interception from the 1.When the Chiefs finally got a trademark big play on Mahomes’ 42-yard completion to Hill, it went for naught. Mahomes overthrew a wide-open Williams near the end zone, then took a 14-yard sack to send KC out of field goal range.Big mistake.The Patriots kept dominating the line of scrimmage, Brady took them 90 yards and connected with Phillip Dorsett over sloppy coverage by Steven Nelson to make it 14-0 with 27 seconds left in the half.STATSIn Week 6, the Patriots beat the Chiefs 43-40 in a game featuring 946 yards total offense. This one had 814. … New England has played in eight straight AFC title games, but this is its first road playoff win since the 2006 season vs. San Diego. … Brady matched former Patriots K Adam Vinatieri, now with the Colts, for the most wins in NFL history (236). … Kansas City’s defense tied for first in the NFL with 52 sacks, but had none on Sunday. New England had four.COIN TOSSReid’s decision to defer after winning the opening coin toss proved unwise as New England had 22 plays in the opening period, and Kansas City had seven. Then, the Chiefs lost the more important toss before overtime. Less than five minutes later, they were headed to the offseason.UP NEXTThe Patriots head to Atlanta to play the Rams in the Super Bowl. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings played a back-to-the-basics game, leaning on Latavius Murray’s powerful legs and a smothering defense that was in prime form.The Arizona Cardinals just couldn’t keep up on either front.Murray helped the Vikings revive their running attack with a career-high 155 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, wearing down the Cardinals on the way to a 27-17 win on Sunday.“I don’t want to sit here and say that we cracked the code, because they have been vulnerable to the run game, so we have to be honest about that on all levels,” Murray said. “But I will say I feel we’re capable of running the ball that way, no matter who we’re playing.”Starting in place of Dalvin Cook (hamstring) for the third time in the past four games, Murray had 66 yards by halftime to top the team average over the first five games. The previous long gain by a Vikings running back was Cook’s 15-yarder in the season opener, which Murray topped four times against a Cardinals defense that entered the game allowing the second-most rushing yards in the league.“If you allow teams to rush for almost 200 yards on you, you’re not going to win that game. It is what it is,” defensive tackle Corey Peters said. “That’s kind of been our thing all year, and that’s why we’re 1-5.”Even Kirk Cousins joined the fun for the Vikings (3-2-1) with an option-style run across the goal line in the third quarter, before throwing to Adam Thielen for a score on the following possession. The Vikings celebrated their touchdowns with a choreographed a clumsy “dead-arm” dance that Thielen recalled from college.Thielen had 11 receptions for 123 yards Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , his sixth straight 100-yard game to become the first player in the NFL since 1961 to start a season with a streak that long. Thielen’s 58 catches are the most in league history through six games.Budda Baker returned a fumble off a sack by Chandler Jones for a 36-yard touchdown and Tre Boston had a diving interception later in the second quarter, and the Cardinals (1-5) constantly pressured Cousins with four sacks, seven hits and seven deflected passes. He leads league with five lost fumbles.Cousins still managed to complete 24 of 34 attempts for 233 yards, thanks mostly to Thielen and his exceptional ability to get open anywhere on the field and turn off-target throws into clutch catches. He made a toe-dragging sideline grab on third-and-13 right at the first-down marker to extend the opening possession of the third quarter, before capping the drive in the end zone with a 13-yard reception on a seam route after leaving linebacker Josh Bynes in his wake with a stutter step.The tone was set in the first quarter on Murray’s 21-yard touchdown run , when he flattened Antoine Bethea with a stiff arm.“It’s not a game to invite Chandler Jones to come wreck it and get them right back in the game, so we were trying to run the ball,” Cousins said.TESTED ROSENComing off his first career NFL victory last week, Rosen went 21 for 31 for 240 yards. The Cardinals failed to move the chains on all 12 of their third or fourth down plays. That included a third-quarter interception by Anthony Harris and a fourth-and-goal stop of David Johnson by Xavier Rhodes at the 1 in the second quarter.“He can learn from this, being in this hostile environment,” Cardinals coach Steve Wilks said. “This is how the NFL is. He’s got to be able to operate under these kinds of pressures, and everybody around him needs to help him out.”FITZ’S FAILURELarry Fitzgerald, the intended target when Harris jumped his route, had five catches for 39 yards in his hometown. The 15th-year veteran fell to 0-6 in career visits to Minnesota, where the Cardinals have lost 10 straight games since they were in St. Louis in 1977.CHANDLER CHALLENGEThe Vikings missed injured left tackle Riley Reiff (foot), with Jones often overpowering Rashod Hill, who switched sides as rookie Brian O’Neill made his first start at right tackle. Jones had 1½ sacks, and Benson Mayowa had two deflected passes from the other defensive end spot while rotating with Golden.BY THE NUMBERSJohnson had a late touchdown run and 55 yards on 18 attempts, but he lost a fumble in the first quarter. … Danielle Hunter had two of Minnesota’s four sacks, giving him at least one in each of the first six games for the third-longest streak in team history.INJURY REPORTCardinals: LG Mike Iupati (back) was replaced in the third quarter by Jeremy Vujnovich (hamstring), who left in the fourth quarter. RG Justin Pugh (hand) also went out, forcing John Wetzel and Daniel Munyer to man the guard spots.Vikings: CB Mike Hughes limped off in the fourth quarter with a left knee injury, and he was on crutches afterward. Coach Mike Zimmer said Hughes would have an MRI on Monday. … With strong safety Andrew Sendejo (groin) inactive, George Iloka got his first start. Harris frequently rotated in, too.UP NEXTCardinals: Host the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.Vikings: Play on the road against the New York Jets next Sunday.