NFL Playoffs - Jaguars @ Patriots
Patriots -13
This is a
great spot for the Pats and they have proven in the past to
shine in this role. They are coming off a
perfect regular season, but more importantly they are coming off a bye and going up against a team that was on
life support last week vs. the Steelers. The Jaguars
choked away an 18 point lead, only to come back in the final seconds for an
epic and emotional win. That game went down to the wire and was an
exhausting effort for the Jags. It was also an emotional win, as it looked
pretty bad for this team in the waning minutes of the game. I'm not sure how this team will respond off such an exhausting and
emotional win. They take on a very healthy and very rested Patriots team that have been blowing teams out all season.
The Patriots are 6-0 straight up in their last 6 home playoffs game, 4-0 ATS in their last 4. The margins in those games have been by 21, 25, 17 and 10 points, so 3 of their last 4 wins at home have been by
bigger margins than this
13 point spread. And to be fair, those Patriot teams were no where near as good as this current team. They certainly weren't as
explosive on offense as this team. Head Coach Bill Belichick is a
brilliant defensive strategist; he will find ways to make things tough for the Jags young QB David Garrard. Garrard played his
worst game of the season last week vs. the Steelers. He completed only 9 of 21 passes for 140 yards with 2 interceptions. Now he takes on a Patriots defense that will have him guessing all game. They will show him different fronts and schemes that this
inexperienced QB has never seen. The Patriots will
blow out this Jags team that is happy to have just won last week in Pittsburgh.
