New England Patriots: 5 Jaguars to fear in AFC Championship matchup
The No. 1 seed New England Patriots are set to host the Jacksonville Jaguars in an AFC Championship game Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
The New England Patriots have advanced to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship game with an impressive 35-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
If Tom Brady and company are to book their tickets to Minnesota with a chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions, they will have to defeat a very talented and confident Jacksonville Jaguars team.
In shocking the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, the Jaguars got good play from quarterback Blake Bortles and despite allowing 42 points to Ben Roethlisberger, the defense proved they are big time. With cornerback Jalen Ramsey guaranteeing a victorious trip to the Super Bowl, the Patriots will have their work cut out for them on the offensive side of the football.
Defensively, New England have to keep Jacksonville’s running game at bay and keep Bortles from scrambling outside the pocket. Similar to Marcus Mariota, if the Patriots can keep Bortles in front of them, they should be able to limit a Jacksonville offense that uncharacteristically put up 45 points against the Steelers.
In all, it will take an outstanding coaching performance by Bill Belichick who talked about how impressive Jacksonville is in his weekly conference call with the media.
"“They do a lot of things well, play good defense, can rush the passer, can stop the run, turn the ball over, can run the ball, have a lot of explosive players in the passing game, they’re good in the kicking game, they’re very aggressive in the kicking game,” Belichick said. “They’re well coached. I know that, for sure. They’ve handled the situations that have come up in those games very well – fourth-and-1 in the first quarter, things like that. They’ve really done a good job, so year, it’s impressive.”"
Impressive all over the field indeed, but who are the Jacksonville Jaguars players the New England Patriots should fear? Which players have the capability of making Sunday night a not so great night in Foxboro?