The Patriots’ offensive line, from left to right, is Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen, Stephen Neal and Nick Kaczur.
The fullbacks are Heath Evans most of the time and Kyle Eckel or Junior Seau some of the time.
The tight ends are Benjamin Watson, Kyle Brady and Steven Spach. And I forgot: Mike Vrabel.
And the backs, as you now have seen, are Kevin Faulk (he started) and Laurence Maroney.
These guys were the best players on the field, especially when it counted, late in the game. Tom Brady might have had one of his least inspiring performances in a playoff game, but his presence certainly helped the aforementioned guys absolutely pave their way to an AFC championship victory. It was a really tremendous rushing performance against one of the more formidable fronts in the NFL.
More than once, Evans blocked two or three guys — all crucial hits, too — on first-down runs. Faulk made catch after clutch catch. Maroney ran through traffic, between hits and inflicted more pain on Chargers defenders than they did on him.
