Game Summary: After a two-week layoff, the undefeated New England Patriots returned to action against the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars with an AFC Championship Game appearance on the line. Jacksonville, with their power running game and mistake-free aerial attack, seemed custom-built to defeat the mighty Patriots, and they had passed their first tough playoff test against Pittsburgh a week earlier. Still, the Pats immediately thwarted the Jaguars' plan to play mistake-free football when Rodney Harrison picked off David Garrard on Jacksonville's second offensive play, an INT that would eventually set up a Patriots field goal. Garrard struck back quickly, though, connecting with Dennis Northcutt to give JAX the lead at the end of the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter was full of mistakes (Tom Brady lost a fumble and Garrard was picked twice more by Harrison), but featured one big offensive play -- a huge Brady-to-Randy Moss TD that put New England up 10-7 at the half.
On the first drive of the 3rd, the Pats used a big run by Laurence Maroney to set up another Stephen Gostkowski FG, making the score 13-7. On the ensuing drive, Garrard made a daring escape from pressure in his own end zone, sparking a long Jacksonville march downfield that ended with Maurice Jones-Drew running it in to give the Jags a 14-13 lead. But the Patriots proved once again that their talent is only matched by their resiliency, as Brady led the team down the field to set up a go-ahead FG by Gostkowski. Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio decided to punt on the next drive, hoping that his defense could give them the ball again with time enough to score, but a Patriot first down meant the Jaguars' last hope was a punt return with 0:31 left in the game. Northcutt took the kick, motored upfield and shed several tacklers, but was tracked down before he could score, and the game was over. The Patriots didn't win pretty -- as has often been the case in the season's second half -- but they made the plays when they had to, and advance to the AFC title game. 16-14 Patriots, final score.
