The Jaguars on Sunday were on the brink of letting recent AFC championship game history repeat itself. Then "Sacksonville" found its best self and put the Patriots away.
Jacksonville held a double-digit advantage in the fourth quarter like it did in that title game, but this time, the Jags built on their lead with big plays to squash another potential Tom Brady comeback. They used much of the same formula that worked in their playoff matchup, with Blake Bortles passing effectively and the defense manning up to force a high-powered offense into long, sustained drives.
The result in 2018 was a 31-20 win, not a heartbreaking, 24-20 loss.
Much has been made about how the Jaguars were not aggressive enough in January. The fact that eventual Super Bowl-champion Eagles coach Doug Pederson called out the Jaguars for that mistake added insult to the inability to finish.
But an improved, attacking attitude was not the only thing that allowed the Jaguars to take early control of the AFC title race. They also had the personnel to do the job better.
Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and defensive coordinator Todd Wash all called a great game Sunday, out-coaching New England's Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels. But the Jags would not have won the rematch had VP of football operations Tom Coughlin and general manager Dave Caldwell not understood the roster tweaks that were needed.
MORE WEEK 1: NFL scoreboard, stats
Leonard Fournette was not available to play the closer role in the backfield, but that didn't matter. Jaguars saw their upgrades in all three phases of the game at work.
The defense lost linebacker Paul Posluszny to retirement and nickel corner Aaron Colvin to free agency. To help replace them, the Jaguars used a third-round pick on safety Ronnie Harrison and signed cornerback D.J. Hayden. Harrison and Hayden were critical to Sunday's game because the Jaguars used their nickel package as their base. Harrison flew around the field as the "big nickel" linebacker hybrid from the strong side and racked up a team-high seven tackles. Hayden recorded four tackles, including a sack of Brady.
The Jaguars mixed up their coverage of Rob Gronkowski, and Harrison's size played a part in containing the Patriots' dominant tight end. There was nothing downfield to be had, and the Jags were able to limit what Pats backs and receivers could do after short catches in the open field. Last year, former Patriots Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola had their way. This time, James White and Chris Hogan were limited factors when the game's outcome was still in doubt.
Jacksonville's offense moved on from familiar names like Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Marcedes Lewis. Enter Donte Moncrief and D.J. Chark at wide receiver to supplement elevated starters Keelan Cole and Dede Westbrook. The moves were prophetic considering the fact that the Jaguars lost Marqise Lee to an injured knee in the preseason. At tight end, Lewis, a venerable blocker who provided an occasional receiving impact, was replaced by Austin Seferian-Jenkins. The Jaguars also took a chance on another good receiving tight end in Niles Paul.
Against New England, the big bodies of Moncrief and Seferian-Jenkins were key in finishing a pair of first-half drives with short TDs in the red zone. Paul used his athleticism to get himself free for a 22-yard pass in the fourth quarter. Chark lost a fumble after his only catch, but his speed merited coverage attention in four-wide sets.
PATRIOTS vs. JAGUARS:
Team, player stats from Sunday's game
The Patriots excel at taking away opponents' superstars. With Fournette out, they wanted to let Bortles try to beat them. The problem for New England: When Bortles threw, the diversity, depth and underrated skills of a quick, sure-handed receiving corps was on display. Jacksonville always had a favorable, single-coverage matchup against a defender in the back seven. Cornerback Eric Rowe was the New England defender exploited most often ... until the Patriots were forced to bench him in favor of Jason McCourty.
That — being able to use multiple personnel groupings and not designating a player as a single go-to guy — is a page out of the Patriots' playbook. It's also how the Jaguars allowed Bortles to throw everywhere aorund the field with no pressure in his face.
Jacksonville's biggest free-agent acquisition, left guard Andrew Norwell, already was a major run-blocking upgrade over Patrick Omameh. But after left tackle Cam Robinson left the game early with a knee injury, Norwell showed the value of his pass protection prowess and made sure Robinson's replacement, Josh Wells, was not overwhelmed on Bortles' blind side.
For the Jaguars, Norwell channels the mean, nasty streak needed to push around a team like the Patriots. He is to the offense in 2018 what Calais Campbell was for the defensive front in 2017.
Then there's punter Logan Cooke. The Jaguars' rookie, seventh-round pick who replaced Brad Nortman also was critical Sunday, as he dumped two of his three punts inside the 20. The Patriots at one point burned 8:20 on a field-goal drive after starting from their own 6-yard and later went three-and-out from their own 10.
Scoring often and possessing the ball are vital elements to taking down New England, but so are any advantages in the field-position battle.
MORE: Week 2 highlights, injury updates
The Jaguars needed to do three things better to beat the Patriots this time around: Be even more prolific in the passing game, get a little more physical and play smarter situational football — all the way through the final gun. All that came to fruition, and the result would have been more lopsided without two fluky giveaways.
When it last played New England, Jacksonville was the scrappy upstart enjoying a playoff breakthrough. The team was figuring out how to counterpunch the big, bad bully on the block. The difference Sunday was in how the Jaguars came out swinging with more heavyweights and throwing more haymakers than the Patriots could handle.
The Jaguars still have a long way to go before they can truly rip away the conference championship belt. But they beat up the Patriots in Week 2 — something most teams don't do early in a season.
