FOXBORO – Bill Belichick and his staff have been handing out pop quizzes all week trying to get his team familiar with the Jacksonville Jaguars. They’ve talked them up, created a pre-bye week boogeyman and have gotten buy-in from the team that these Jags are for real. Jacksonville’s win over Miami last weekend helped. But here’s the facts: Jacksonville played its first two games at home. The win over Miami came when quarterback Blake Bortles played the best game of his career and Miami is, for some reason, an easily distracted team. And the Jaguars are tremendously beat up coming into this game with seven starters possibly sidelined. The Patriots have next week off. If they want to be able to enjoy their break, they need to start better than they have, keep doing what they’ve been doing in the middle 40 minutes, and shut things down at the end. I would bet they’ll be able to.
WHEN THE PATRIOTS HAVE THE BALL
The Jags – like the first two teams New England’s faced – have front-seven talent and are a little dicier out back. Add in the fact Jacksonville plays a style similar to the Seahawks, which the Patriots attacked in February with short, quick passes, and you have a recipe for another “dink, dunk, wait for the busted coverage” approach. In other words, more Dion Lewis? More Dion Lewis. I’d also be interested to see if Travaris Cadet gets a little action this week as well to get his motor running. Same with Blount, especially late if the Patriots can get separation prior to the fourth quarter. The Jags’ best defender is Paul Posluszny, their middle linebacker. He makes plays in both the running game and passing game and is a borderline Pro Bowl-level player. Defensive end Jared Odrick is another solid player, a former Dolphin. Strong safety Jonathan Cyprien is doubtful, so Tom Brady will have a chance to get after his replacement and former teammate Sergio Brown, who was with the Colts last season and is a garden-variety talent at free safety. The corners are bigger guys, Aaron Colvin and Davon House (6-0 and 6-3). Both are fourth-rounders. Also, garden-variety talent. If the Patriots don’t play well against this group, it will be more about the Patriots’ failure to execute than Jacksonville stopping them.
WHEN THE JAGUARS HAVE THE BALL
Bill Belichick compared Blake Bortles to Tyrod Taylor earlier this week in terms of mobility. Both are pretty big, strong and elusive. The difference I’ve seen is that Bortles is still a throw-first guy; Taylor turned into a scrambler last week after pressure ruined his poise. Bortles is coming off his best game, a two-touchdown, zero-pick game win over the Dolphins. The lack of sacks and picks was a departure for him as he continues to grow into the job. He went down 55 times in 14 games last season. He still isn’t very accurate. He hasn’t had a game with better than 60 percent completions in the last nine, dating back to last season. His weapons so far have been Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns. Robinson’s a 6-3, 220-pounder. A very good young player that Bortles is showing a willingness to heave the ball in the general direction of. The Patriots are on alert for “shot” plays this week. Hurns is a 6-3, 205-pounder. Jacksonville has struggled to get its tight ends involved at all so far. The Jaguars have a pretty good offensive line and have been blowing teams off the ball, including Miami last week. Rookie back T.J. Yeldon has been a workhorse early. The problem for the Jags, though, is injuries. Their right guard Brandon Linder is doubtful, left tackle Luke Joeckel is questionable, Hurns is hurt and so is speedy Marqise Lee. The Patriots need to bottle up the running game, reduce the Jags to low-percentage downfield throws and not worry about yardage between the 30s in this one. Jacksonville is 8 for 26 on third down so far this year. Thirty percent doesn’t get it done.http://espn.go.com/blog/jacksonville-jaguars/post/_/id/14673/jaguars-may-be-down-five-starters-against-patriots-including-best-lineman-brandon-linder
THE KICKING GAME
Jags kicker Jason Myers has missed an extra point this season. He’s 4 for 5 on his field goals. Punter Bryan Anger is a middle-of-the-road punter with a 38.1 net average. Their returner is in flux this week with players coming back from injury in the mix. Rookie Rashad Greene has done a nice job there. The Patriots’ special teams under new coach Joe Judge have been efficient and disciplined, a trait that stood out in contrast to the Bills special teams last week.
PATRIOTS MEDICAL REPORT
OUT: OL Ryan Wendell, illness; QUESTIONABLE: DL Dominique Easley, hip; PROBABLE: DL Trey Flowers, knee, LB Donta Hightower, shoulder, CB Logan Ryan, shoulder
JAGUARS MEDICAL REPORT
OUT: DE Andre Branch, knee, CB Dwayne Gratz, ankle, TE Julius Thomas, hand; DOUBTFUL: DT Sen’Derrick Marks, knee, RB Denard Robinson, knee, SS Jonathan Cyprien, calf; LT Luke Joeckel, ankle, G Brandon Linder, shoulder; RB Toby Gerhart, abdomen, WR Allen Hurns, thigh, WR Marqise Lee, hamstring
GAME WITHIN THE GAME
For the Patriots, it’s starting quickly and finishing off the Jags, a team that could be overlooked despite Bill Belichick’s efforts to make sure his team understands there is talent and hunger on that team and the Patriots are the kind of team that Jacksonville will use as a measuring stick. For the Jags, it’s not getting overwhelmed, especially on offense where they are very young.
JAGUARS GOTTA STOP
Rob Gronkowski. Nobody’s done it yet. Sergio Brown, who played for the Colts last year and got Gronk’s irish up with a large amount of jabbering, could get a lot of duty on Gronk as the Jags free safety. Brown plays the Earl Thomas-type role in this defense which is similar to that of the Seahawks.
PATRIOTS GOTTA STOP
T.J. Yeldon. The Jags gave it to the rookie 25 times last week in their win over Miami. He didn’t rip it up – going for 70 yards – but the Patriots haven’t really been that stingy against the run so far this season. DeAngelo Williams went for 127 in the opener and LeSean McCoy had 89 on 15 carries last week. The Patriots need a better job against the run this week to put the ball in Bortles’ hands and make a so-so quarterback in terms of accuracy try and beat them.
DON'T BE SURPRISED IF...
New England Patriots
The Patriots are able to get some early separation and start better than they have the first two weeks on both sides of the ball. The Jags just haven’t faced an offense that will stress you as much as the Patriots do and adjusting to the formations and threats is an adjustment.
THAT SUMS IT UP PATRIOTS STYLE
“It’s a very talented team. They’re young, they’re hungry, and they play very, very well. Their game last week against Miami I think was a carryover from a lot of what we saw in preseason – how efficient they were, the growth and maturity of their young players.” Bill Belichick, Patriots coach, on the young Jaguars
THAT SUMS IT UP JAGUARS STYLE
“We know the challenges that we’re facing and we know when you have great challenges like this, you have an opportunity for great growth as a team. I think that’s the challenge for us as a team is to go in there and do what we do and do it to the best of our ability, and know that this challenge is exactly what we need. It’s an opponent and a coaching staff that we hold in high regard, yet this game, like I said, in our guys’ minds and our coaches’ minds it’s about what we do and our approach and how we go up there and take this challenge on. And our players are excited about it.” – Gus Bradley, Jaguars coach, on visiting the Patriots.
THE WINNER IS...
Patriots 37, Jaguars 13