Ok here's my unabashed opinion on this Sunday's AFCCG. The Jaguars are very good, their defense is tough, their pass rush is fast and strong and they have a lot of very athletic players that can give TB12 and co. all they can handle. Nobody's questioning that. The Jags offense has playmakers on it, Fournette is a powerful, bruising back with a healthy amount of speed, he has to be respected even if he's not 100%. Bortles is the big question mark, but he can run if he has to and if he doesn't make mistakes this game could be very close. But that's a big IF. They have capable receivers and both lines are physical and strong.
Ok, now that I've sufficiently pointed out their strengths. Here are their weaknesses in my opinion. Their defense, while good, is not at the level of the '85 Bears, '00 Ravens,
'02 Bucs or '15 Broncos. That '15 Broncos team only gave up 16, 18 and 10 points in 3 playoff games...the last against a powerful Carolina team that raced out to a 31-0 lead against Seattle in the Divisional round then completely pounded the Cardinals in the NFCCG. This Jags defense is not that terrific against the run nor are they great against dink and dunk passes either. Pittsburgh was gaining chunks of yardage for stretches of that game and it wasn't just due to deep passes. On defense, if we get a good handle on Fournette and Bortles has to throw, we are in excellent shape to win this game. Turnovers and silly coaching mostly killed Pittsburgh yesterday. I give Jacksonville credit for beating them twice in Pittsburgh this year, but let's not kid ourselves, Pittsburgh did a lot of the damage to themselves.
We have the GOAT, Gronk, a myriad of RBs capable of running and catching effectively, receivers that have a knack for finding holes in coverage and exploiting it and a team that methodically and surgically eliminates its opponents by a thousand cuts? We have one of the greatest coaches in sports history and we're at home. Did I mention we've played in countless big games and have won 2 of the last 3 Super Bowls and came within a couple plays of playing in 3 straight?
Also for anyone talking about that '15 Broncos team being similar to this Jags team, remember in that AFCCG we had literally no one healthy except Brady and Gronk and a virtually decimated offensive line? That's a notoriously hard place to win for the road team and we were a two point conversion away from forcing overtime. Seems like the Patriots are the underdog by the way most people are talking, that's just crazy to me. Is Jacksonville capable of winning? Absolutely they are just like Tennessee was. But with all our weapons, experience and coaching, if we play well, we're virtually unstoppable! Go Pats!
