FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — LaGarrette Blount got himself fired by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 18. Now he is heading to the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots.

Blount, who left the Patriots for the Steelers in the last offseason, was released by Pittsburgh after walking off the field before the end of the game. He re-signed with New England, and Sunday he again starred in a playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts.

He set a club postseason record with 30 carries and ran for 148 yards and three touchdowns in the 45-7 blowout of the Colts on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game. Last year, Blount tied a club record with 166 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns in a divisional-playoff win over Indianapolis.

In two playoff games against the Colts, Blount has 314 yards and seven touchdowns — an overall club record for postseason rushing scores.

“He’s really a quality back,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Sunday. “He made some great runs tonight.”

Asked after the game if he had a feeling of redemption, Blount said, “No. It was the feeling of winning the AFC championship.

“My offensive line (which was missing injured center Bryan Stork) played amazing. They played great. I probably should have had more yards than I did. I probably missed a couple of holes.

“Some things looked good to me. It was awesome. No better feeling than winning this AFC Championship Game.”

–The milestones keep piling up for Tom Brady.

Brady won his record sixth AFC championship Sunday, and on Feb. 1 he will tie backup defensive tackle Mike Lodish for the all-time record of appearing in six Super Bowls. Brady will be the first quarterback to go six times and the first player to start six times.

He had his seventh postseason three-touchdown-pass game Sunday, leaving him two shy of Joe Montana’s all-time record. Brady owns a record 20 playoff wins; Montana is second with 16.

Brady and coach Bill Belichick won their sixth conference title together, adding to their NFL record.

After the game, Brady said, “I’m obviously proud of our effort tonight. We won two pretty tough games here at home. Now we have to go win another one.

“Hopefully, our best is yet to come.”

–A week after stinging the Baltimore Ravens by declaring a player as an ineligible receiver for three straight plays on an important drive, New England used that strategy twice in the first three quarters Sunday.

As the Patriots usually do, they also declared an offensive lineman eligible for many plays. In the third quarter, tackle Nate Solder reported as eligible, bringing the latest roar from the crowd after what happened against Baltimore.

This time, Solder caught a pass from Brady and bulled his way into the end zone for a 16-yard score to make it 24-7 five minutes into the second half.

Brady later pointed out Solder played some tight end when he first joined the team.

“It was amazing,” Solder said. “To be a part of a game like that and have a cool play like that was really fun.”

Not for the Colts.

“We didn’t cover him,” Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano said. “(We) didn’t line up right and didn’t cover him, so credit them.”

Said Blount: “Nate is a former tight end turned lineman. We know he has good hands. We had no doubt he was going to catch the ball if he was open.”

–Colts quarterback Andrew Luck endured another dreadful day against New England, finishing with a 23.0 passer rating.

“Not much went right today,” Luck said after going 12 of 33 for 126 yards and two interceptions, his ninth and 10th in four games against the Patriots. “It was a long day. They obviously outplayed us and deserve to move on.”

He is 0-4 against New England, including playoff losses each of the past two years. The Colts haven’t come close in any of the four, falling by a combined 189-73.

“I think specifically to this game, I haven’t really thought too much about the others,” Luck said. “They did a good job making plays and we didn’t.

“It seemed they were more on the details and we weren’t. I know my play was not up to par for where it needs to be to give you a chance to beat a quality team like them.

“It’s a great atmosphere, it’s a fun place to play, but they certainly had our number tonight.”

Said Pagano: “We’re not going to, obviously, pin it on one guy. It takes a lot to come here and win a football game of this magnitude and beat a team that’s as good as that one is. We’ve got to get back to work and find some of those answers.”

–Belichick is known for talking solely about the upcoming opponent, looking at that week’s game and saying, “We’re on to …”

So, when accepting the Lamar Hunt Trophy as the AFC champ, the coach said, “I only have one thing to say — we’re on to Seattle.”