KANSAS CITY -- Tom Brady's been pretty good at this postseason overtime thing.
He added to that legacy in the AFC title game by beating the Chiefs, 37-31, converting three consecutive third downs through the air to get within sniffing distance of the goal line for Rex Burkhead's walk-off plunge.
In three overtime playoff games over the course of his career, Brady is now 3-0, and his opponents in those games never had a chance to even touch the football.
The rules have changed since Brady got Adam Vinatieri into field-goal range in his first playoff start in January 2002. Back then it was sudden death, first score wins.
The rule has changed. The decade has changed. But Brady's teammates were as confident as ever in the 41-year-old when an overtime situation popped up Sunday.
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“You saw me, I ran off soon as I saw it was heads," Devin McCourty said. "I saw heads, 'I saw this before, and I know what happens at the end of this one.' ”
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"Any time we go to overtime and we get the ball, I'm not really worried about anything. I'm going to get comfy."
David Andrews was front and center for New England's overtime touchdown drive in Super Bowl LI that ended in a James White scamper to the goal line. Brady was so locked in even in the immediate aftermath of the run, he wasn't sure White got in so he was reluctant to celebrate with his center.
We know how that one ended. And Andrews seemed to know how Sunday would end before it did.
"Do you not expect that? You've seen it 20 years now," Andrews said. "What do you expect? He's the best. We gave him chances. We battled our tails off. I thought guys up front really played tough. That was a good D-line. We played hard, played physical, and tried not to let him get touched."
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Of having Brady on his side in those spots, Marcus Cannon said simply, "Thankful."
When Burkhead crossed the goal line to extend the Patriots season, Brady popped off his helmet and jumped into the arms of his teammates. It was as excited as he's looked on a football field since Malcolm Butler's interception, which sent Brady into a state of euphoria on the sideline five years ago.
Even if his teammates had a good idea of what was coming at Arrowhead, Brady wasn't taking the moment lightly.
"I was probably," Brady said, "as excited as I've been in a long time . . . I'll remember this one for the rest of my life.”
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