Jags crack first in brilliant offensive exhibition

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January 13, 2008

Hector Longo The Daily News of Newburyport Mon Jan 14, 2008, 12:28 PM EST

FOXBORO | Give the Jaguars credit. They played near-flawless on offense and matched the Patriots as long as anyone but Indianapolis.

In the end, the Jaguars succumbed, Tom Brady's 17th straight victim, 31-20, in the AFC Divisional playoff at Gillette Stadium last night.

"We didn't flinch as an offense," said Jacksonville receiver Matt Jones, almost defiantly. "I thought we moved the ball well. We just settled for two field goals when it would have been good to get two touchdowns."

Sure, Matt.

And skipper Joe Hazelwood just barely scraped the ocean floor with the Exxon Valdez when he should have steered left.

One illegal procedure, one missed blitz pickup and a bad Dennis Northcutt drop at the goal line provided all the breathing room the laser-efficient Brady needed to carve up the Jaguars and reserve a spot in next Sunday's AFC title game. That battle for the AFC's slot in Super Bowl XLII will be here at 3 p.m. against the winner of today's San Diego-Indianapolis collision.

With the knockout punch at his grasp, Brady and Co. delivered the haymaker, a decisive six-play, 76-yard TD drive, capped by a nine-yard scoring toss to tight end Ben Watson that made it a two-score game, 28-17, heading to the fourth. It ended any realistic hopes Jack Del Rio and the boys might have been conjuring.

"They have an explosive offense," admitted Jacksonville's Fred Taylor. "You want to try to keep up with them, and you have to put it in the end zone. They put it in the end zone from anywhere."

Playing the Patriots this season has been like trying to crack the seal on a pressure cooker. Too often, the opposition has tried too hard or made those one or two fatal mistakes.

Everyone, at one point, gets scorched.

So congrats, Jacksonville. You stopped Randy Moss | and nobody else.

In one of the most economical offensive performances in New England playoff history, the Pats scored points on five of their first seven possessions. Only a Stephen Gostkowski missed field goal and the halftime whistle stopped the Pats.

Up until the final, clock-killing Pats drive, New England had run 63 plays on offense for 387 yards, an average of 7.3 yards per play.

The Patriots, playing in the AFC title game for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, clicked on 6 of 10 third-down conversions.

Brady had even the most worthy mathematical scholars dumbfounded as the calculated his QB efficiency rating.

Brady solved Jacksonville's cushy, deep zone from the start, ignoring Randy Moss and spreading the ball in short bursts all over the field. Brady hit an unconscionable 26 of 28 passes | the two incompletions were drops | for 262 yards and three TDs.

Jacksonville spent most of the night just one defensive play from one of the great upsets in league history. It might as well have been 100 plays.

"It's a little frustrating because we didn't get off the field when we needed to," said Jacksonville defensive back Rashean Mathis. "You have to win third down to be able to win the ballgame."

It might not have been one of the toughest games, or his best, but by far, the NFL's most consistent passer since 2001 has never been more unflappable.

Jacksonville, the darling of NFL fans outside the six-state New England region, had to reach brilliant levels offensively.

David Garrard, 22 of 33 for 278 yards, nearly pulled it off.

There were two Jags moments of truth.

First came the one real offensive stutter, down 21-14 late in the third.

Garrard had little to do with the 5-yard flag and the near-sack. In fact, he made an absolutely money pass on third-and-long to Dennis Northcutt at the goal line.

The journeyman receiver, with Asante Samuel closing hard with a clean shot in his sights, flinched and bailed to the turf, the football dribbling off his hands to the Gillette Stadium turf.

Settling for three there, a Josh Scobee 39-yarder, might as well have been a turnover with the roll Brady was on.

Like a penned-up tiger shark at feeding time, the Pats offense again tore through the Jags, down the field.

The Jags' last stand was meager as Brady spotted a wide-open Watson for his second TD grab of the night. It was a third-and-four at the 9, and the NFL's 2007 Player of the Year simply wouldn't be denied.

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Jags crack first in brilliant offensive exhibition

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