NFL Playoffs: Can the Jacksonville Jaguars defense keep Tom Brady in Check
By Jon Dove
The NFL Playoffs continue to roll closer to the Super Bowl and this week we have the interesting matchup of the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. the New England Patriots.
At the beginning of the year nobody would have predicted that the Jacksonville Jaguars would be facing the New England Patriots in the NFL Playoffs– especially in the AFC Championship Game. However, Jacksonville has ridden their defense to one game away from a Super Bowl appearance.
It’s a completely different animal they face this week. Taking on the Tom Brady and the Patriots in Foxboro is a daunting task. Jacksonville will not only be battling the players on the field, but also the crowd noise.
The defense shouldn’t be at much of a disadvantage on the road, but the Jaguars offense will likely need to operate with silent counts.
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Blake Bortles and company need to focus on moving the chains and avoiding turnovers. They also have to hope that their defense can do just enough to rattle Brady. It seems like an impossible task, but Jacksonville has the talent to accomplish this goal.
The key will be for the Jaguars defensive line to be able to generate pressure. If they can make Brady move in the pocket with just their front-4 then things might get interesting.
This will allow the linebackers and secondary to focus on shutting down Rob Gronkowski. It will be interesting to see how Jacksonville plans to handle the game changing tight end. They have super athletic linebackers like Telvin Smith and Myles Jack who can hold up in coverage.
Maybe, they do something where one of those linebackers and say Barry Church follow Gronkowski all over the field.
Another key to the game will be keeping things close in the early going. The Jaguars can’t afford to be playing from behind– especially with the erratic Blake Bortles under center.