4 reasons why Jaguars have a shot vs. Patriots
Anyone think Tom Coughlin, the head of football operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars, has ideas on how to beat the New England Patriots in a championship game?
The easy belief is that the Patriots earned a bye to another Super Bowl when the Jaguars shocked the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. After all, Tom Brady vs. Blake Bortles looks like Goliath vs. David’s erratic brother. Vegas sure won’t be buying the team from Duval County, and with clear reason: Gillette Stadium is a fortress in January.
But those who cast off the Jags are asking for the same kind of surprise the Steelers are now feeling. Jacksonville poses problems for the Pats that most other teams do not.
As New York Giants fans remember from Coughlin’s colossal Super Bowl upsets of the Pats in the past, the key to beating Bill Belichick include the following: 1) an interior pass rush; 2) physical, fast cornerbacks; 3) a power rushing game; and 4) a quarterback who won’t beat his own team.
The Jags have shown all of the above at times throughout the season. Defensive lineman Calais Campbell is a monster on the inside – one of the best in the league at his position. He will make it difficult for Brady to step up into the pocket consistently and find his receivers. That, in turn, will be made more difficult still if the Jags play man coverage, which is something they have the athletes in the secondary to do. The “Jaxson Five,” led by Jalen Ramsey, have the speed to keep up with Danny Amendola, Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan. Brady is always able to buy time with his feet, one of the rare underrated things about him, and that time might be shorter next week.
Speaking of time, the clock is something the Jags are designed to exploit. In a pass-heavy era, head coach Doug Marrone has built a run-first team. That is the identity and the Jaguars are unashamed to admit it. “The plan was to run the ball last year, too,” quipped general manager Dave Caldwell back in July.
Leonard Fournette, when healthy, is a game-breaker and T.J. Yeldon ran with toughness Sunday in Pittsburgh. Bortles has become far more reliable both as a runner and a passer. He may not break the game open, but this season he has been less likely to break the game plan. His own rushing can keep the Pats from stuffing the box constantly.
“When we have more typical boxes,” said offensive lineman Patrick Omameh last week, “those are situations where Leonard, Chris [Ivory], T.J., or whatever running back is back there will have better opportunities at making his reads and making the big play.” On Sunday the Jags were perfect in red-zone efficiency and goal-to-go efficiency.
The big question coming into Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh was whether the Jags could score with a high-powered team. That question was answered affirmatively, as Fournette ran for more than 100 yards and scored three times. Belichick is the game’s best at taking away his opponent’s top option, but the Jags flashed some play-action Sunday and offensive coordinator Nate Hackett – formerly of the Bills like Marrone – will have some sense of what the Pats like to do on defense.
There are, of course, challenges that appear overwhelming. Start with the obvious: Rob Gronkowski. He has been too strong and too quick to defend in the NFL. The assignment may fall to Myles Jack, who was fast enough to play some offense at UCLA, but he’ll need help, and the communication on the field will have to be crisp. It wasn’t sterling on Sunday, as the Steelers gashed the Jags’ defense on several big plays. And that unsightliness wasn’t the first struggle against a Brady prototype: Jimmy Garappolo led the 49ers to a 44-33 whipping of Jacksonville on Christmas Eve. That is a game tape Belichick will surely study (if he can bear the sight of his former player tearing it up). If you can make a secondary full of ball hawks guess, you can make them guess wrong.
In 1968, Jacksonville went through a consolidation and declared itself the “Bold New City of the South.” The nickname has stuck around and it takes on new meaning with these Jaguars. Regardless of a lack of experience, the team is relentlessly unafraid. It has the speed and strength that the Atlanta Falcons showed in the first half of last year’s Super Bowl, and it seems to want to be dared to show up in big games.
It’s understandable to expect another Patriots blowout, especially after the Jags’ rival got blown out on Saturday in Foxborough. But in Duval they constantly expect something else: a fight.
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