FOXBORO — There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 to 150 plays in a typical NFL game, five or six that tend to tilt the favor to one team or the other when it comes to the matter of momentum.
Think back to the Patriots’ 35-14 win over the Tennessee Titans last weekend in the AFC divisional round.
There was the apparent false start by Geneo Grissom on fourth down in punt formation that ended up being a neutral zone [...]
FOXBORO — There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 130 to 150 plays in a typical NFL game, five or six that tend to tilt the favor to one team or the other when it comes to the matter of momentum.
Think back to the Patriots’ 35-14 win over the Tennessee Titans last weekend in the AFC divisional round.
There was the apparent false start by Geneo Grissom on fourth down in punt formation that ended up being a neutral zone infraction on Brynden Trawick. So, the Patriots retained possession rather than punting and likely giving the Titans prime field position.
They capitalized on the opportunity and drove for a touchdown to extend their lead to 21-7.
On the ensuing possession, running back Derrick Henry was tackled for a 5-yard loss on fourth and 1 at the New England 46. The Patriots failed to cash in but they did deny the Titans another opportunity to reduce the deficit.
Deflated, the Titans meekly succumbed in the second half and the Patriots were back in the AFC Championship for the seventh straight season.
“You talk about the playoffs, every single team that is in the playoffs has had a great season,” special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “They are very good football teams right down the line, every single one of them. The margin for error becomes slimmer and slimmer.
“I think you get into some of these games, and you see it is not like one team is going to really overwhelm the other. There is a lot of balance within the games, and it comes down to critical situations, a lot of times executing situational football and fundamentals that you have worked on all year long.”
The Patriots are heavy favorites to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars when the two meet at 3:05 p.m. Sunday in the AFC Championship at Gillette Stadium.
And while they may very well win in resounding fashion, there figures to be, as generally is the case, a handful of plays that are a springboard or a stumbling block on the way to success.
“This is really when you see the little things make a difference,” Slater said. “You strive all year long to be that team that is going to be able to execute in those situations. We were fortunate enough to do it [Saturday] night. You saw Jacksonville do it. You saw a number of other teams do it last weekend.
“That is the name of the game — executing when the pressure is on and trying to make more plays than the other team.”
The Jaguars were aggressive in applying pressure on potential outcome-altering plays during the regular season as they went 10-6 and won the AFC South one year after going 3-13 and finishing last in the division.
They successfully executed three fake punts, all of which resulted in or led to touchdowns in victories. And last weekend in a 45-42 knockout of the Steelers, they set the tone early by going for it on fourth and goal at the Pittsburgh 1 on their opening possession.
Rookie running back Leonard Fournette dove into the end zone and the Jaguars had a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as they earned a spot in the AFC Championship for the first time since 1999.
“You don’t know how it will affect the outcome, but usually the team that goes for it, if they get it, that’s a huge play for the offense,” safety Devin McCourty said. “But if you get a stop defensively, that’s a huge momentum swing and the offense comes on.
“So, I think we do look at those things as not just another play for us. It’s a situational play that we know if we take advantage, it can turn for us.”
The Jaguars converted 10 of 13 fourth-down opportunities during the regular season and are 2 for 2 in the postseason. Defensively, the Patriots got off the field on 13 of 23 occasions during the regular season and once — the big stop on Henry — in three tries against the Titans.
The Jaguars don’t see it as aggressiveness in those situations but rather a calculated opportunity based on analytics.
“I’m looking at situations, looking at how we’re doing it, obviously, what the matchups are, things of that nature,” first-year coach Doug Marrone said. “It’s not one of those things where it’s like off the cuff like we need to do something or anything like that. They’re well planned out and they’re obviously part of the game plan.”