FOXBORO — Just how did the Jaguars' mediocre offense score 45 points in a road playoff game on Sunday?
By excelling where it has all season: in the red zone.
The Jaguars scored 5.49 points per possession in the red zone this season, tops in all of football. Think that was a weird outlier of life in the AFC South? Well, the Jags took five trips to the red zone on Sunday against the Steelers, and they scored a touchdown each time.
We discussed this territory a bit last week, in describing Tennessee's capabilities down near the goal line — revealed more during the Titans' 2016 campaign. In many ways, New England's conquest of the Titans can serve as a kind of rehearsal for what it will face from the Jaguars offense.
Like Tennessee, Jacksonville likes to run the ball a lot, behind a bruising former SEC star. Like Tennessee, Jacksonville's quarterback can be mobile when he needs to be. It's just that Leonard Fournette is a bit better than Derrick Henry, and Blake Bortles has excelled more so in the red zone this season than Marcus Mariota.
To hear the Patriots talk about it, Jacksonville's red-zone success centers on Fournette. The rookie has 12 touchdowns in 14 games this season, including his three in Pittsburgh on Sunday, and no team was more committed to the run this year than the Jaguars. The Jags led the NFL in rush attempts and yards this season and finished behind only New Orleans in rushing touchdowns.
"They’re committed to running the ball. If you can run the ball in the red area, it’s one of the easiest ways to score," safety Duron Harmon said. "When you’re so committed to the run, play-action is key there — misdirection, boots. I think just marrying those two up — how committed they are to the run game and then hitting some play action — definitely helps."
Just take a look at the Jaguars' final touchdown from Sunday's 45-42 upset of the Steelers. On a second-and-8 from the Pittsburgh 14-yard-line, Bortles faked a handoff to Fournette straight up the middle. The Steeler defense, already thinking run in the final minutes of the game, bit on the fake, with nine guys within five yards of the line of scrimmage by the time it became clear Bortles had held onto the ball.
Fullback Tommy Bohanon pretended to serve as a lead blocker before slipping behind linebacker Vince Williams. Williams was diving to tackle Fournette while his man, Bohanon, was settling under the easy touchdown catch from Bortles. It essentially put the game away.
"Think about it, when you’re committed to the run as much as they are, when you lead the NFL in rushing, eventually people are going to try to get in that box [and] be heavy in the box," Harmon said. "You run the ball five times in a row and then pop a play-action in there. A lot of the defense is thinking it’s going to be a run because you’ve been successful in the run.
"Their coaching staff does a great job of just mixing it in. When he mixes it in, it creates big plays for them and allows their offense to keep moving down the field."
Jacksonville had run on five of the previous seven plays on that drive. They had run on nine of their previous 11 plays in the red zone on the day. Bortles' toss to Bohanon was the Jags' only red-zone completion of the game. They scored 45 points.
Bortles had a 106.1 passer rating in the red zone during the regular season — ninth-best among NFL starters, barely behind Tom Brady. Bortles threw 18 touchdowns to zero picks in the red zone.
New England's defense, of course, thrives on stopping teams in the red zone. That’s how the Patriots consistently rank in the top 10 in points allowed despite almost never ranking there in yards allowed. (The gap this year — fifth in points allowed and 31st in yards allowed — is especially remarkable.) The Pats know holding opponents to field goals will generally be enough for their potent offense.
Jacksonville makes that task tougher.