FOXBORO, Mass. — Bill Belichick did not give his usual glowing review of a New England Patriots opponent Monday, saying on a conference call he hadn’t had enough time to properly study the Jacksonville Jaguars after their upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers one day earlier.
But that didn’t stop his players and assistants from shoveling praise on the Jaguars’ fearsome defense, which will look to slow down Tom Brady and the NFL’s second-highest-scoring offense this Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.
“You can’t say enough good things about this defense,” Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “They are good at all three levels. You turn on the tape, and the good Lord made corners, made defensive ends and made linebackers, and they are just out there. They are made to do this, and they do it at a high level. … There is no weakness.”
The Jaguars, who loaded up on that side of the ball last spring by signing defensive end Calais Campbell and cornerback A.J. Bouye to big-money contracts, ranked second in the NFL in both total defense and scoring defense during the regular season (the Minnesota Vikings led in both).
They’re an aggressive, disruptive, ball-hawking, play-making group that tallied the second-most sacks in the league (55, including a combined 46 by D-linemen Campbell, Yannick Ngakoue, Malik Jackson and Dante Fowler), the second-most interceptions, the fourth-most fumble recoveries and the second-most total turnovers.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said this is “no question” the best defense New England will have faced this season.
“They have really, really, really good players at all three levels of the defense,” McDaniels said. “They’re very well-coached. … There’s nothing they don’t do well.”
Watching the Jaguars on film, their team speed jumps off the screen. These guys are fast, and not just in the secondary, which is led by first-team All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Bouye, a Pro Bowl selection and second-team All-Pro this season.
“They’ve got a lot of team speed at every position, honestly,” Patriots wide receiver Phillip Dorsett said. “When it comes to even the D-line, linebackers are fast, safeties and all that. I mean, they fly around. We haven’t seen a defense like that this year, I would say.”
Jacksonville has used that speed to score a league-high eight defensive touchdowns this season, including the playoffs, a remarkable seven of which came from front-seven players. Ngakoue, Fowler and linebackers Myles Jack and Telvin Smith all have scored on 50-plus-yard fumble returns, including a 50-yarder by Smith in the Jaguars’ divisional-round win over the Steelers.
“It has to do with just with the players they have out there — the front they have, the linebackers, the secondary,” Patriots safety Duron Harmon said. “Like their whole defense is a special, special unit. They played well together all year. Like you said, scoring touchdowns, picking off balls, strip-sacking the quarterback — just creating turnovers and helping out their offense when they can. They do a good job of playing complementary football.”
This Jaguars’ defense is oozing with confidence entering the franchise’s first AFC title game since the 1999 playoffs. And though it’s coming off of its worst statistical performance of the season — allowing 42 points and 469 passing yards against Pittsburgh — a closer examination reveals a better showing than the numbers would indicate.
Jacksonville gave up a boatload of yards to Ben Roethlisberger, sure, but one of Pittsburgh’s six touchdowns was a meaningless score with one second remaining and three others came on incredible catches by Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell.
Make no mistake, this will be the toughest test yet for Brady and Co.
“When you turn that film on, you just kind of sit back and go, ‘Man, these guys are really good,’ ” Slater said. “And then, ‘Oh, you have to snap out of that. We are playing these guys.’ As a fan, it is fun to watch them. They pose a big challenge for us as an opponent, and we are excited about the challenge. We will see how it goes.”
