Gaffney soaring, scoring</p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <span class="articleBegin">F</span>OXBORO - Through the first seven games of the season, Jabar Gaffney<font color="#888888"> [stats]</font> was a virtual nonfactor in the Patriots<font color="#888888"> [team stats]</font>’ high-scoring offense.</p> With newcomers Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte’ Stallworth instantly taking over as Tom Brady<font color="#888888"> [stats]</font>’s favorite targets, the sixth-year pro seemed to be completely forgotten - and a potential candidate to lose his job when Troy Brown<font color="#888888"> [stats]</font> came off the physically unable to perform List.</p> However, with his seven-catch, 122-yard performance in yesterday’s 34-13 thumping of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium, a resurgent Gaffney showed he is a viable, big-game option in the Pats’ quest for perfection.</p> After catching only eight passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in the first seven games, Gaffney has 21 receptions for 300 yards and three touchdowns in the last six.</p> He has scored a touchdown in each of the last three games, including a 56-yard catch on the Brady flea-flicker that broke the game open in the third quarter yesterday. He also caught the game-winning TD with 44 seconds remaining in Baltimore a week ago.</p> “It’s just taking the opportunity when they put me in there and I’m just making the most of it and making the plays when my number is called,” said Gaffney.</p> He said it felt particularly gratifying to beat Steelers safety Anthony Smith, who had guaranteed a Pittsburgh victory last week, on the game’s decisive play.</p> “We came out and took care of business,” Gaffney said. “They were doing a lot of talking and guaranteeing victory and saying our receiving corps wasn’t really good, so we went out there and showed them.”</p> He said the flea-flicker initially was in last week’s game plan, but the right opportunity never arose against the Ravens. Yesterday, the Pats pulled it off. Brady threw a lateral pass to his right to Moss, who dropped the ball, picked it up and threw back to the quarterback, who then fired a long strike to Gaffney which fell just beyond the reach of a bewildered Smith.</p> “Everybody bit up on it, so I was like, ‘All right, Tom, get it to me!’ ” Gaffney said. “I knew it was going to be a touchdown. That kind of put (the score) out there a little bit and got us excited and got the crowd back into it, and we kind of rolled from there.”</p> </div></p>
