BY NICK ST. DENIS
LeGarrette Blount was in no hurry to leave the stadium Saturday night. The same can't be said about his swiftness in finding the end zone.
The New England Patriots tailback scored three rushing touchdowns in the first half and another in the second as his team blew past the Indianapolis Colts, 43-22, in Divisional round action en route to an AFC Championship berth.
An hour after the game, Blount was still fully uniformed in the locker room while most of his teammates were in street clothes, according to Shalise Manza Young of The Boston Globe.
Cornerback Aqib Talib won't hold it against him.
"He's feeling himself; he doesn't want to take his uniform off," Talib said. "I wouldn't either if I scored four touchdowns."
Blount amassed 166 yards on 24 carries, with his 73-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter accounting for a large chunk of that total. As usual, the battering ram accumulated a fair amount of yards after contact, and he returned two kickoffs for 37 yards.
"I'm glad he's on our team," Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich said, via Patriots.com. "I wouldn't want to be hitting that guy."
Fellow back Stevan Ridley found the end zone twice himself, rushing for 52 yards on 14 carries.
In total, New England called 46 rushing plays to 25 passing plays. Quarterback Tom Brady put up pedestrian numbers, but pedestrian numbers were all that was necessary.
"The more runs we get, I think the better we are," Patriots guard Logan Mankins said, via Patriots.com, "and the better chance we have to win."
The Patriots will face the winner of the Denver Broncos' Sunday bout with the San Diego Chargers. If the Broncos win, New England will travel next weekend. If the Chargers win, the conference finale will be held in Foxborough.
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