12-4 Jacksonville heads into New England with a lot of question marks. Is Leftwich ready? Apparently the coaches feel he is & after a 6 week lay off Byron makes his return to the field against the defending SB champs. The strength of the Jags is obviously their D, however they have at least 3 key players in the front 7 listed as questionable. But maybe the biggest question of all is, can they handle the added pressure of playoff time? The combo of Brady & Belichick have yet to lose a playoff game. This season has probably been the toughest in terms of facing adversity. Which is saying alot when you consider the challenges they had to face in prior SB seasons. The one constant has been #12. He's carried the team when they could have easily folded. Now that they're as close to full strength since opening day, the Pats are primed for yet another SB run. Jags offensively rely on the run & controlling the clock. However they do have some threats on the outside in veteran Jimmy Smith & rookie Matt Jones. Jones especially presents some serious matchup problems. With a banged up secondary the Pats are going to have to rely on their front 7 to apply pressure on Leftwich. The success they have in stopping the run will determine their success in getting to #7. Jags D is considered to be one of the best. They may have the best DL in all of football. Unfortunately for Jags fans they may not all be available on Saturday night. Hayward & Spicer haven't practiced as of yet. Expect to see a lot of screens & quick slants early. The sure handed Watson could be a big factor on Saturday night. Prediction: Pats 16 Jags 7
It's gonna be a straight up defensive slugfest, the score your predicted is very accurate of what should go down, unless Jacksonville has a sudden offensive coming out party or something.
I agree with Porky. I think the Jaguars will give the Patriots a run for their money but in the end the Patriots should come out the winner. It'll be a close one.
I think the Jags will win, but it will be extremly close, they are probly 3 jaguar defensive starters out so they will help out the Pats
either way its gonna be a close competative game and i think both teams have a very good chance of winning it
I hear you guys on the fact that they have a good defense but I really don't believe they can keep us under 20 points. Brady has been carving up good defenses and at home he is practically lights out. Tampa has a pretty damn good defense and we put up 28 on them. There is no reason why we can't score 20+ on the Jags. As for the defense I'm still scared our secondary could get lit up, I think with bruschi in there we should be able to take the run game away and then let Colvin and Willie T-off from the edges. Then our secondary will be able to have some success, but the size advantage the jags receivers have is something to worry about. I think it will be tough but the pats win this one. Pats 24 Jags 17
Well I was right in a sense that Watson would be a factor in the game. However the 1st screen set up for "the other Big Ben" didn't go as planned with Henderson laying him out, but he got his payback in the 2nd half with a 63 yd TD.
I'm scared to say the Pats are back but they are.. should be intresting to see how they play against Denver. Every game this week is going to be nice.
