Givens's streak at 6

FOXBOROUGH -- There would be plays that swallowed up more yardage, more electrifying gains that ignited roars from the crowd at Gillette Stadium last night, but in the grand scheme of things, a tidy 3-yarder midway through the third quarter carried a lot of weight.

Besides giving the Patriots a 14-3 lead that for all intents and purposes felt insurmountable, the short toss from Tom Brady kept an impressive streak alive for David Givens. For the fourth-year wideout from Notre Dame, it ran to six his streak of playoff games with a touchdown reception. It's two shy of the NFL record held by former Steelers great John Stallworth, but Givens was hardly putting much thought into the category, though it wasn't verified because Givens showed his great speed with a rapid exit from the locker room.

Two lockers down from Givens's, tight end Christian Fauria was telling reporters ''that I still think our best game is out there," and three lockers in the other direction, media members were lined up four- and five-deep to speak to tight end Benjamin Watson. Givens was nowhere in between, though it shouldn't have rated as a surprise, for he's kept his distance from the media for most of the last two seasons.

Not that his teammates cared. All they know is, when the game is on the line, Givens has turned into a dependable target.

Explaining that his team is not built around Randy Moss-like receivers, Brady tipped his helmet to the guys he throws to. ''We have guys who get open, like David," said Brady (15 of 27, 201 yards, 3 touchdowns). ''David is showing he gets open. He's tall, smart, so his number is called. He's making the play when his number is called."

Givens's touchdown was hardly memorable, at least when compared with the play that set it up. With the Patriots clinging to a 7-3 lead and looking beatable, Brady hit Watson with a short pass on second and 9 that the tight end coughed up as he was brought down at the 12. The ball bounced forward, the Patriots' Andre' Davis fell on the loose ball at the 3, and on the very next play, Brady lobbed a perfect strike over the Jaguar defense that fell into Givens's hands just inside the end line.

For Givens, who leaped high and made a nice grab, it was his only reception of the night, but it kept him on track toward a possible NFL mark.

His playoff streak goes back to the AFC Championship game at the end of the 2003 season, when he had a touchdown catch against the Colts. In the Super Bowl against Carolina, Givens had five receptions, one for a TD.

In last year's playoff run, Givens had one touchdown in each of the three wins, against Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia in the Super Bowl.

During that six-game streak, Givens has 25 catches, which means he's scoring a touchdown on roughly 25 percent of his receptions. Compare that to his regular season, which featured a career-best 59 receptions, but only two touchdowns. Or compare that to teammate Troy Brown, whose 48th postseason catch last night resulted in just his second touchdown.

Then again, it's yet another hard-to-explain aspect to this record playoff run by the Patriots.