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20 things we learned during NFL playoffs' championship game Sunday

The Patriots have reached the Super Bowl for the third time in four years, while the Eagles haven't been since the 2004 season.
Corey Graham #24 of the Philadelphia Eagles is congratulated by his teammates after getting an interception during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field on January 21, 2018.

The 20 things we learned from the NFL playoffs' championship game Sunday:

1. The Patriots are headed to their 10th Super Bowl (no other franchise has gone more than eight times). A win in Super Bowl LII will put New England in a tie with the Steelers' record for most Lombardi Trophies won (six).

2. UFC fighters might want to talk to Tom Brady's cut man. Four days after getting a laceration on his throwing hand stitched up, he completed 26 passes for 290 yards and two scores against the Jaguars to win his eighth AFC title.

3. Brady showed no fear of Jacksonville's Pro Bowl corners A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey, drawing a pass interference flag on each for a total of 68 yards and setting up New England's first TD.

4. Could Danny Amendola be Bill Belichick's favorite football player? After all, what "job" can't he do? Sunday, Amendola completed one pass for 20 yards, rushed once for 3 yards, returned a pair of punts ... and wasn't bad on his bread-and-butter stuff — grabbing seven Brady passes for 84 yards and scoring twice, including a beautiful 4-yard snatch in the back of the end zone that put New England ahead for good.

5. Super Bowl LII will mark the 14th time in the past 15 seasons that the AFC's starting quarterback will be Brady, Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger. Over the same period, Eli Manning and Russell Wilson (twice apiece) are the only NFC passers to start multiple times.

6. The Patriots will technically be the home team in Super Bowl LII, but they may want to opt for white jerseys. The team wearing white has prevailed in 12 of the past 13 Super Bowls. During that span, New England is 4-0 in white and 0-2 in blue.

7. CBS analyst Tony Romo sure seemed to have a man crush on Jaguars defensive coordinator Todd Wash. If you had a nickel for every time the former Cowboys quarterback praised Wash on Sunday ... you'd probably have at least $1.50.

8. The Jags nearly became the first team ever to make the leap from a three-win campaign to the Super Bowl in a year. Instead, they remain one of four franchises (along with the Browns, Lions and Texans) to never reach the big game.

9. A few months ago, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Jacksonville would move on from QB Blake Bortles in 2018. But after watching him gracefully handle questions for weeks about outsiders' disparaging opinions of him, even as his postseason play incrementally improved each week, paying him $19 million for another year of service suddenly doesn't seem like a bad option. His performance Sunday (23-for-36, 293 yards, TD) was nearly as good as Brady's.

10. Jaguars K Josh Lambo finished 23 of 24 on FG attempts this season. This is the same guy who wasn't good enough for the Chargers.

11. Entrust your allotment of lottery money to Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery, who said at the end of the 2016 season: "I guarantee you we are going to win the Super Bowl next year." So what if Jeffery, who scored twice Sunday, was a member of the Bears at the time of his proclamation? That doesn't detract from the fact he might still be right.

12. The Vikings allowed a league-low 15.8 points per game during the regular season. Philadelphia burned them for a season-high 38 Sunday.

13. Eagles TE Zach Ertz (0 points Sunday) < wife="" julie="" ertz="" (1="" goal="" in="" team="" usa's="" 5-1="" win="" over="" denmark="" in="" a="" soccer="" friendly="" that="" was="" played="" concurrently="" with="" the="" nfc="" championship="">

14. Zach Ertz's 93 receiving yards > total receiving yards for every other player in the NFC title game

15. Vikings LB Eric Kendricks (6 tackles) < eagles="" lb="" mychal="" kendricks="" (8="">

16. Foles > Skol

17. Yes, it's slightly premature to look toward next season if you're the Eagles front office. But with Nick Foles, 29, under contract for one more year, is it worth trying to spin him off for the second time in three years to a franchise that might view him as a potential starter?

18. The Vikings have a much bigger quarterback quandary. Kyle Sloter (who?) is the only one currently under contract in Minnesota for 2018 with Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater all scheduled to become free agents.

19. Patriots DB Eric Rowe was a second-round pick of the Eagles in 2015 but didn't stick around much longer than Chip Kelly. Philadelphia DE Chris Long and RB LeGarrette Blount won rings with New England last year. Reunion should be fun for all parties.

20. Brady will become the first 40-year-old to start a Super Bowl.

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