FOXBORO — Situational football has always been a point of emphasis during coach Bill Belichick’s 18 seasons in New England.
And, not surprisingly, a strength of the Patriots.
But when it came to continuing drives against Jacksonville and stopping drives by the Jaguars on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, the situation repeatedly proved to be dire.
The Patriots were 2-for-9 on third and fourth [...]
FOXBORO — Situational football has always been a point of emphasis during coach Bill Belichick’s 18 seasons in New England.
And, not surprisingly, a strength of the Patriots.
But when it came to continuing drives against Jacksonville and stopping drives by the Jaguars on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, the situation repeatedly proved to be dire.
The Patriots were 2-for-9 on third and fourth downs while the Jaguars converted 6 of 10 third-down opportunities heading into the fourth quarter, which began with the visitors kicking a field goal to up their lead to 10 points.
The Patriots, though, got untracked and rallied for a 24-20 victory to extend their season until Feb. 4, when they’ll meet the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis.
“We just seemed to be at a higher level of execution in the fourth quarter,” coach Bill Belichick said on Monday in a conference call, citing the improved play of the offense, defense and special teams.
The Patriots were 2-for-4 and the Jaguars 0-for-5 on third down in the fourth.
Two plays in particular stood out. One was made by the offense, the other by the defense.
The Patriots fumbled on their opening possession of the final period and found themselves facing third-and-18 at their 25-yard line with 10:49 to play. That's when receiver Danny Amendola made like the Coast Guard and came to the rescue.
The Jaguars’ secondary was playing Cover 4, in which four defenders each guard a quarter of a deep zone. Amendola slipped behind the linebackers and split the safeties to find a hole where he went low to pull in a well-placed pass from quarterback Tom Brady for a 21-yard reception as free safety Tashaun Gipson arrived too late.
That went for another Patriots first down.
“Tom stepped up and saw him and made a good throw,” Belichick said. “Danny went down and made a good catch on a low ball that probably needed to be thrown low because of the proximity of the defenders. It was just a really well-executed play by those two players.”
Four plays later, Amendola caught a 9-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 20-17 with 8:44 to play.
“That was a big drive,” Belichick said. “Obviously, a catalyst on that touchdown drive. That was a big play to get us going on that drive.”
The Patriots would take the lead with just under three minutes to play when Brady and Amendola hooked up for a second scoring strike. The onus was then placed on the defense.
The Jaguars quickly advanced from their 25 to the New England 38 with 2:07 to play and had all three timeouts and the two-minute warning remaining. The Patriots responded by forcing an incompletion, sacking quarterback Blake Bortles and surrendering a short completion.
Faced with fourth-and-15, the Jaguars lined up three receivers on the left against man coverage. At the snap, Dede Westbrook sprinted across the field with cornerback Stephon Gilmore in pursuit as Bortles stepped up and lofted a deep pass toward the right sideline.
The advantage belonged to Westbrook on the “over route” due to an abundance of space on his part and lack of leverage on Gilmore’s part. For the defender, the choices are to keep up with the route or undercut it.
“Stephon’s got a good feel for that,” Belichick said. “He’s got a lot of experience doing it and he’s got a good feel for running with the receiver or trying to undercut the receiver based on the route and the individual skills of the receiver and the quarterback and so forth.”
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Gilmore went for the undercut and made a terrific play on a well-thrown ball, extending his right hand to knock the pass down 10 yards from the end zone.
It was his second pass breakup of the game, to go along with five tackles.
“He was in really good position and then he’s long,” Belichick said. “He’s got good length and was able to pretty easily reach out — not easily — but I mean he didn’t have to leave his feet. He had enough length to run and stretch and make the play on the ball. It was just an outstanding play. I thought Stephon played well for us.”
The Patriots then ran out the clock and found themselves in an enviable situation — representing the AFC in Super Bowl LII.