This is going to be an interesting one to watch. The Jacksonville Jaguars seem to have the right formula to pull off the upset in Foxboro, but can they really do it? The blueprint to beat the Patriots has been laid in place by the Eagles, Ravens, and Giants respectively. It all starts with the running game. The Jags must control the clock with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. This is important for multiple reasons. First and foremost it wears down the defense and will make New England bring their safeties closer to the line of scrimmage. Rodney Harrison plays a lot on instinct and aggressiveness, especially in run support. This will end up leaving the secondary open for the play-action pass over the top. The most important aspect of having the running game going, is it keeps Tom Brady and company on the sidelines, where they can't score points. Jacksonville also has an excellent front seven lead by DT Big John Henderson, who can put pressure on you without blitzing. This also has helped others who have tried to defeat the Pats. You pressure Brady, he will try and force the ball to Randy Moss and the defense can force the interception. If Jacksonville can control the clock and get to Brady, I like their chances of pulling out a win.
All that being said, the so-called "blueprint" and "formula" to beat New England only took the teams that used it to the fourth quarter. That was when the light bulb went on above Brady's head as he thinks to himself, "wait a second, I have Randy Moss and the most potent offense the NFL has ever seen" and he then proceeds to work his way down the field and score the winning touchdown. The point here is that no one has been able to execute well enough to pull out the W against New England. When it has been crunchtime in each of the Pats games that were close, either the defense forces a turnover, or the offense does what it always does...score. I just can't take the Jags to win this one, I like New England, 34-20
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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