FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It wasn’t quite Curt Schilling’s bloody sock. It wasn’t Willis Reed’s gimpy leg, either. But the injured right thumb of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was all that sports fans here could talk about in the days before New England played the Jacksonville Jaguars for the A.F.C. championship on Sunday.

And for good reason. Not only has Brady been the team’s starting quarterback for nearly two decades, but he is perhaps the best quarterback of all time, having played in seven Super Bowls. His backup, Brian Hoyer, has one career playoff start, and would not inspire a fraction of the fear that Brady does.

Patriots fans need not have worried, though Sunday’s game provided plenty of nail-biting moments. By his otherworldly standards, Brady put on a pedestrian performance, but it was enough for the Patriots in a 24-20 win over Jacksonville. Brady will now vie for his sixth Super Bowl title, and his third in four years, when the Patriots face the Philadelphia Eagles in Minneapolis on Feb. 4.