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Final Score
Jacksonville Jaguars 7-7-3-3 — 20
New England Patriots 3-7-0-14 — 24
Box Score
Patriots Score First
The Patriots took the opening drive right down the field, as Brady hit Cooks for 31 yards on his second throw. The drive stalled in the red zone, when Brady was sacked by Dante Fowler on third and goal. Patriots kick for three.
Mercedes Lewis Find The First Touchdown
Jacksonville caps a 7-play, 76 yard drive with a touchdown, as Bortles hit a wide-open Lewis for his first career postseason TD. Jaguars are up in Foxboro.
Fournette Powers For Jaguars Second TD
The Jaguars are moving. Just like last week, the Jaguars are using Blake Bortles in rollout and play-action passing. And it’s working. They drive down the field again, and Fournette barrels over Patriots LB Kyle Van Noy for the second TD.
Patriots Strike Back Before Halftime
In typical Patriot fashion, they cut the lead right before halftime. James White’s touchdown run cut the lead to four, but the Patriots may have lost Rob Gronkowski for the day with concussion symptoms.
Patriots Pull Within Three
The Jaguars have held serve in the second half. New England appeared to have a big play on a double screen to Dion Lewis in the third quarter, but Myles Jack ripped the ball away to send Tom Brady off the field.
Without Gronkowski, the Patriots relied on Danny Amendola to get back in the game. Brady hit Amendola three times on an early fourth quarter drive, including a nine-yard crossing route to cut the lead to three.
They Did It Again
The Patriots got a much-needed stop, and went right back down the field for the go-ahead score. Once again it was Amendola, who made a sensational grab to put the Patriots ahead.
Jaguars Come Up Short
It was a valiant effort from Blake Bortles on the day, but he was unable to lead the Jaguars to victory in the final minutes. On fourth and long to decide the game, Bortles made a nice throw to Dede Westbrook, but it was tipped away by Stephon Gilmore at the last second.
Bortles finished with 293 yards and a touchdown.
Game Preview
For only the second time in franchise history, the Jacksonville Jaguars are one game from the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots are in this position for the seventh straight season.
It’s easy to see the differences between these teams before they square off on Sunday for the AFC title. The Jaguars are young, fueled by a defense that talks as hard as they hit. The Patriots are led by an aging star and an older coach, representing the antithesis of trash talk at almost every opportunity. The Jaguars even noticed this week how much praise the Patriots were piling on. They weren’t buying it.
If there’s one hand in Boston that didn’t need four stitches this week, it was the quarterback of the Patriots. Brady’s hand became a national story this week, and he’ll play with a glove on Sunday, something he openly dislikes.
A bum hand makes things harder against the Jaguars defense, who are equally strong up front and in the back. The Jaguars have All-Pros all over, but surrendered 42 points last week at Pittsburgh. The Patriots will borrow from the Steelers and former quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who lit up this defense for 44 points during the regular season. Expect plenty of Rob Gronkowski, who is rarely healthy this late in the season and should play a huge role.
When the Jaguars have the ball, the pressure is on Blake Bortles. Leonard Fournette will do as much as he can, but there will be at least three times this game where Bortles will absolutely have to make a play for his team. The Patriots have curtailed mobile quarterbacks this season, and will force Bortles to play with his arm.
If you’re looking for an X-factor, look no further than Tom Coughlin. In his first year as Jaguars VP of football operations, he’s once again found himself as the underdog against Bill Belichick. Coughlin won’t have a direct impact in Sunday’s game, but the former Giants head coach knows how to stop the Belichick machine. Coughlin was 5-2 against Belichick in his coaching career, following up both losses with Super Bowl rematch wins.
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