This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The New Orleans Saints got two touchdown passes from Drew Brees, two interceptions by Marcus Lattimore, and rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-14 on Sunday to advance to the NFC championship game.

Using a dominant ball-control offense after a horrendous start, Brees took the Saints on scoring drives of 92, 79 and 67 yards. And a few gambles paid off to assure New Orleans will host the Rams (13-4) next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl.

Los Angeles, who fell 45-35 at the Superdome in November, will try again next week, with the winner taking on either Kansas City or New England in the Super Bowl in Atlanta. The Saints’ win finished off a sweep of the divisional round by teams coming off byes.

Wil Lutz added two field goals for the Saints, who last got this far in 2009, when they won the Super Bowl. Philadelphia will not repeat as NFL champion; no team has done so since the 2004 Patriots.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tom Brady threw for 343 yards as he reached yet another AFC Championship game. Photograph: David Butler II/USA Today Sports

Earlier, Sony Michel ran for 129 yards and had three touchdowns as the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers 41-28 to earn their eighth straight trip to AFC championship game.

New England will play at Kansas City in next week’s AFC title game. The Patriots beat the Chiefs 43-40 in Foxborough in Week 6. It is the 13th conference championship game appearance by the Patriots during the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era.

“It’s going to be a good game,” Brady said of the rematch with the Chiefs. “They’re a good team. We played them earlier this year. I know everybody thinks we suck and, you know, we can’t win any games, so we’ll see. It’ll be fun.”

The Chargers, meanwhile, haven’t reached the AFC title game since the 2007 season. Brady finished 34 of 44 for 343 yards and a touchdown. He improves to 8-0 as a starter against Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who drops to 1-8 against New England all-time.

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Rivers finished 25 of 51 for 331 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He is 0-5 in games played in Foxborough, including 0-3 in the postseason.



James White tied Darren Sproles’ NFL postseason record with 15 catches, totaling 97 yards. New England scored on their first four possessions of the game to build a 35-7 halftime lead.

“We dug ourselves a hole in the first half,” the Chargers head coach, Anthony Lynn, said. “One game doesn’t define where we are as a football team.”