The Eagles will know who they will play in the Super Bowl by the NFC Championship Game kickoff Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. The AFC Championship Game starts at 3 p.m. in New England. Either the Birds will take on an upstart Jacksonville Jaguars squad that upset the Steelers in Pittsburgh last week to earn the right to face New England, or they will take on the daunting challenge of seeking revenge against the NFL evil empire known as the Patriots.
Jacksonville knows how to beat the Pats. Tom Coughlin, former coach of the New York Giants who is now in the Jags' front office,beat Tom Brady and New England in two Super Bowls. The weather forecast on Sunday afternoon in Foxboro, Mass.is for unseasonably warm weather. Advantage Jacksonville, especially when it easily could've been a frigid, icy, snowy day.
The Jags have a fierce defense, yet they allowed 42 points to Pittsburgh last week, while totaling 45 points of their own. QB Blake Bortls needs to step-up again, as he did against the Steelers, but if the Jaguars win this game, it will be because of their ground game and their defense.
Tom Brady knows how to win big games. Will the young Jaguars wilt under the intense pressure of the AFC Championship Game? New England does have home field advantage. It's the same formula that has gotten them to the Super Bowl before- win the AFC East, build up your record to get home field advantage in the postseason, and rely on experience, talent, your home fans and the weather conditions to vault you into the Super Bowl.
Despite the fact that Jacksonville can beat New England, and knows how to defeat Brady, I just can't see them going into imposing atmosphere and knocking off Brady, Belichek and crew. Somehow, someway, the Patriots always prevail.
The Jags need to be aggressive. Turtling-up and playing too conservatively, too tight ( as the Rams played against Atlanta a few weeks ago) is a sure-fire formula to getting behind and the Patriot avalanche occurring. Limiting turnovers and getting ahead early, as they did in Pittsburgh, will be key.We know from the past that Brady can overcome huge deficits, but make him do it. Get ahead, hunker down with the defense, make Brady beat you, yet don't take your foot off the gas. No lead is too safe against the Patriots.
For New England, they need to force Jacksonville and Bortles to throw the football and play catch-up, as they did last week vs. Tennessee. Getting up on the Jags in such a big game might make Jacksonville crack. Stay in the game and keep it close, and the Jags have a chance.
I think it's gonna be close. No blow-out like last week. No cakewalk for the Pats. They will have to earn their ticket to Minneapolis this time, against a hungry, wide-eyed, nothing-to-lose Jaguar team.
Make it Patriots 24 Jaguars 21
No comments:
Post a Comment