The New England Patriots are headed to their second straight Super Bowl and third in the last four years after an impressive comeback 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game. This bout featured a huge performance from veteran wide receiver Danny Amendola, who put up a strong outing with seven catches on nine targets for 84 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns.

His two touchdown grabs came in the fourth quarter, helping the Patriots completely erase a 10-point deficit in the period. Following the game, quarterback Tom Brady offered huge praise for the 32-year-old, specifically how he stepped up in big moments in the game.

Per Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston:

“Yeah, it was great,” Brady said. “He’s made so many big catches, and I saw he got the one foot in and I just saw it up on the big screen one time. He’s got great hands and just a great sense about where he’s at on the field. So, I mean, he’s made so many big plays for us, and this was huge, and without that, we don’t win. It was an incredible play.”

Amendola made a couple of key plays leading up to the first touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, collecting three receptions on the drive. The most important was a huge 21-yard grab on 3rd-and-18 to really jumpstart the drive.

On the final touchdown drive, Amendola had a pair of receptions, highlighted by a difficult catch near the back of the end zone where he managed to get both feet in bounds while securely possessing the ball through the ground.

His performance down the stretch was particularly important with All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski out of the mix due to a concussion that he suffered in the first half of the game. Amendola seized the opportunity and made several huge game-changing catches in the process.

Special teams captain Matthew Slater also sung his praise after the game, comparing Amendola's hand-eye coordination to a future Hall of Famer.

“The guy’s got maybe the best hand-eye coordination of any player I’ve ever played with,” Slater said. “And I played with Randy Moss. His hand-eye coordination is elite. How do you measure that? You can’t. It’s just an in-game thing. I don’t know. He’s just so reliable, so consistent. And I think it just says so much about his character.”

Amendola figures to play a big role once again in Super Bowl LII against the Philadelphia Eagles as one of Brady's primary targets, regardless of if Gronkowski is able to play.