FOXBORO – OK, so maybe they will be unexpected guests at Gillette Stadium this coming Sunday afternoon.
It’s not as if they haven’t been here before this season.
Back in August, the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars spent the better part of a week in Foxboro, holding two days of joint practices and then conducting a joint walkthrough with the Patriots before defeating them, 31-24, in the two teams’ preseason opener at Gillette.
“There’s a lot of things we need to work on – offense, defense, special teams,” head coach Bill Belichick said after a loss in which the lead members of the Patriots’ cast included quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, running back LeShun Daniels Jr., defensive lineman Josh Augusta and linebacker Trevor Bates. “There were some things that were good and some things we didn’t do well.
“Some of that is our fault. Some of that is good plays by our opponents. We’ll just have to break down each individual play and go through it with the players and make the corrections and move on. That’s what we do at this time of year. We do that in practice and we do that in games, and that’s the mode that we’re in.”
The mode they’re in now?
Win and they’ll advance to Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Feb. 4 for a shot at their third NFL championship in four years.
With their 45-42 upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday afternoon, the Jaguars advanced to the AFC Championship Game at Gillette to play the Patriots, who got there by virtue of a 35-14 rout of the Tennessee Titans in their divisional playoff game in Foxboro on Saturday night.
“Obviously, getting there is a great accomplishment,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty said after his team had defeated the Titans to qualify for its seventh consecutive conference championship game, “but we want to go out there next week and play our best game.”
As for the Jaguars, in terms of point production, they haven’t been any better this season than they were in stunning a Steelers team most felt was destined to meet the Patriots in a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship Game at Gillette. The 45 points matched the regular season high they put on the scoreboard in a 45-7 rout of Houston on Dec. 17.
Offensively, quarterback Blake Bortles completed passes to nine different players for 214 yards – a huge improvement from the previous week when his rushing yardage (88) outnumbered his passing yardage (87) in an ugly 10-3 wild-card win over Buffalo – and rookie Leonard Fournette ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, linebacker Telvin Smith registered 16 tackles and returned a fumble 50 yards for a second-quarter touchdown and the Jaguars survived a 469-yard, five-TD performance by Ben Roethlisberger.
Normally, that defense is clearly Jacksonville’s strength; they don’t call ’em “Sacksonville” for nothing.
The Jaguars’ 55 sacks during the regular season (led by end Calais Campbell’s 141/2, they became the first team since the 2006 Baltimore Ravens to have four players with eight or more) ranked second in the NFL during the regular season to the Steelers’ 56, their pass defense was the stingiest in the league and they were second in both total defense and fewest points allowed (16.8 per game).
The secondary is strong. The Jaguars finished as the only team in the league to have four players with four interceptions or more during the regular season. Cornerbacks A.J. Bouye (six) and Jalen Ramsey (four) and safeties Tashaun Gipson (four) and Barry Church (four) accounted for 18 of of the team’s 21 picks, second most in the league to the Ravens’ 22. The Jaguars’ 33 takeaways were also second in the league to the Ravens, who had 34.
They also have the ability to score on defense. Smith’s fumble return for a touchdown on Sunday was the Jaguars’ eighth defensive TD this season (Smith’s had three of them), the most by one team (including playoffs) since the 2012 Chicago Bears had nine.
