***SWAMP AFC CHAMPIONSHIP - JAX @ NE***

***JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS***

The matchup in the AFC Championship is not what most expected but certainly one of intrigue as those pesky young Jaguars continue their postseason surge and try their luck in Foxborough, the home of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. Many if not all of the NFL world thought that a Pittsburgh Steelers vs Patriots was inevitable. Although I did believe that the Jaguars would give the Steelers all they could handle last week and backed them with the points, I was very surprised when they won outright as I had Pitt already beating the Pats in a rematch of that game between the two with the controversial ending earlier this season. That being said, while I expected a better game from Jags QB Blake Bortles compared to his previous outing against Buffalo in the Wild Card round, I was very impressed with how much he stepped up and rose to the occasion. With the world against him, telling him he is no good and that he can't do it (including myself) he fearlessly led his team to victory for the second time in Pittsburgh this season. The first time around a lot could be attributed to the 5 interceptions thrown by Big Ben but this time around, it was the Jags offense that punched Pittsburgh right in the mouth and it happened immediately. Kudos to you Blake, or should I say Bane Bortles as memes circulated the internet posing Bortles as the villain Bane while he blows up Heinz Field with explosives in the most recent Batman movie of the Christopher Nolan series: The Dark Knight Rises, too funny man! Needless to say, this team is growing up in a hurry and most importantly oozing with confidence at the moment which makes them extremely dangerous as they move on to Foxborough. I believe that the Jaguars 100% really think they can win this game, and then the Super Bowl, which was stated by CB Jalen Ramsey to the fans who were there to welcome the team back to Jacksonville after the Pittsburgh game last Sunday night. They just might.

This Jaguar team looks a lot like those few teams that were able to do the unthinkable, and take down the Patriots in the postseason. All those things had one main feature in common and that is a stellar defense. The Giants, Jets, Ravens, Broncos, all of them all had a dominant defense, and the Jags honestly in my opinion may have the best defense I've seen in a long time. This unit is so loaded with talent and so young that the sky is the limit for them, and they know it- which gives them that necessary swagger and confidence to be able to impose their will on offenses and capitalize on their skill level. Clearly, there has been an endless amount of defenses with superior talent on it before, but it is really rare and special when literally every single position on a defense is as deadly as this Jaguars unit, and most importantly - they buy in to the big picture and play as selfless and together as they do. I know the immediate response here is "well how great can they be, the Steelers just hung 42 points on them last game." That is true, but need I remind you that the Jags jumped out to an almost immediate 21-0 lead early in the first half of that game, and soon after led 28-7 before giving Pitt hope with a 4th down prayer for a TD to close the first half. In the second half, Jacksonville literally answered every Pittsburgh score with another one right after. So my point is, I believe the edge on the Jags D diminished a bit after they built such a huge lead so early. In my opinion they most likely switched their gameplan to more of a 'prevent' type approach late in the game and the Steelers WRs made some TREMENDOUS plays to get scores in a comeback attempt late in that game. The coverage was nearly perfect and Antonio Brown was able to do what he does and make an improbable catch. Ya gotta chalk that up to Antonio Brown being Antonio Brown. The Pats don't have an Antonio Brown, or a JuJu Smith-Schuster, or a Martavis Bryant. I feel like the Patriots smaller WRs may struggle against this physical secondary. The Jags will undoubtedly have a gameplan ready to hopefully at least slow down TE Rob Gronkowski. I wouldn't be surprised to see them put CB Jalen Ramsey on Gronk when he is split out wide and Ramsey has also stated how Gronk hasn't seen a corner like him before. As we have seen in the past, when a superior CB is lined up on Gronk, he struggles at times. Remember when he flipped out and laid a dirty hit on Bills CB Tre'Davious White and got suspended for it? White was frustrating him all game and I would expect Ramsey to do the same if that is the route the Jags went. However there are going to be times where Gronk is lined up inside on the line and sometimes blocking, but luckily the Jaguars have some of the quickest LBs in Telvin Smith and Myles Jack who will be able to run with the Gronk beast and I like their chances in doing so sporadically, especially if Brady and Gronk are out of rhythm early on. That is where the other key lies my friends, the Jags have the necessary pieces up front to get to QB Tom Brady and lay some hits on him. We all know now that how you beat Tom Brady or I should say what gives you your best shot at doing so is pressure up the middle and disrupting the pocket, and most importantly- laying some clean hits on him when you get the chance. We saw those teams I mentioned above lay down that blueprint down and then the others follow it in those games to victory.

Also no surprise here as in another week of Patriots postseason football, along comes another week of the Patriot's postseason 'gamesmanship' with it. Last week it was all about the article that came out insinuating that there was a "rift" in the Pats organization between Head Coach Bill Belichick, Owner Robert Kraft, and QB Tom Brady. Apparently, it stemmed around the handling of backup QB Jimmy Garroppolo. That's neither here nor there as the Pats clearly showed last week that they aren't phased by any potential rift's within and focused on winning another Super Bowl as they blew the Titans out of the water in the Divisional game as we expected. Now however, this week's "fake news" or should I say that the latest edition of "The Patriot Games," deals with an apparent injury on QB Tom Brady's throwing hand. Of course, they are keeping it all hush hush and Brady even wore two gloves to his press conference to be sure that nothing was revealed to the media on just how bad of an injury it really is. Apparently he hit it on a teammates helmet who I believe is now being said to be RB Rex Burkhead (who should head for the hills now should the Pats lose). Supposedly, Brady's hand or thumb was cut and he received a few stitches. Brady is actually considered to be 'questionable' for the game which is laughable because we all know this man will play no matter what. So is this just another phony story and Tommy boy is going to light up the Jags as he did the Titans, or is this a trap within a trap and that the Pats are actually making sure that this information is known so that the excuse is already in place just in case they do go down?! I have a feeling it is the latter, and I can totally see this Jaguar defense getting to Tom early and often, hitting him enough to where he may be taken out of the game and then guess what? Mayhem! Why? Because backup QB Brian Hoyer will have to come in and won't stand a chance against the Jags, and Patriot nation will be in an uproar that it could've, should've, and would've been Jimmy G in that backup position instead where they may have still gotten the W! Oh man, what chaos that would bring and then that previous article would come full circle, yikes. One can only dream, because we know damn well Tom isn't coming out of the game unless he is knocked unconscious. Who knows though, at the least I do see this Jaguar defense frustrating him and guys like Ramsey getting in his head similar to how Seahawks CB Richard Sherman and the Legion of Boom did in the infamous "You mad bro?" game.

I fully expect the Jaguars to stick to what they know best and pound the rock with their monster Rookie Leonard Fournette early on until the Pats can stop it, which I'm sure they will gameplan to do. It's no secret that the Pats are going to try to take away Fournette defensively and make QB Blake Bortles be the one to beat them. After the confidence building game that Bortles had last week in Pitt, I doubt he has as good of a game as that but I think he will have the moxie to make some big time throws in this game. In my opinion the Pats defense is strong but can be had, and the Jags have the speedsters to take advantage. Surprisingly, the Jaguar offense has been quite efficient in the redzone where many teams struggle. The Pats defense's bend but don't break persona will be put to the test today as I expect Jacksonville to continue that success and get points on the board when close enough on drives. Jacksonville is playing with house money at this point and although everything is on the line, they in a sense have nothing to lose because nobody expects them to pull out a W here and head to the Super Bowl. After already sending home one future HOF QB in Big Ben last week, why not another? My X-factor here is a bit silly but you know your boy Swampy loves the weird kind of stuff such as the man behind the curtain himself here in Sir Tommy Coughlin! The man who led Big Blue to not one but TWO Super Bowl victories over Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the mighty New England Patriots, returned to his roots since parting ways with NYG and is now the Executive VP of Football Operations for the Jags. It is just nice to know that his presence lurks in the shadows for this one and I would assume he has had some input and advice for Jags Head Coach Doug Marrone, it'd be foolish not to pick his brain a bit for this one. All in all this should be an extremely fun matchup with such a high powered offense and team led by the great Tom Brady and Bill Belichick versus such a young and studly Jacksonville Jaguars defense. I think it's a close one either way and that the Jags will keep it well within the number if not win outright here in a shocker! JAGUARS+7.5