Patriots-Jaguars Review

The Jacksonville Jaguars came into Foxboro on Saturday needing to play the perfect game in order to beat the Patriots. The Jaguars played about as perfect of a game as you can against the Patriots and never once did I feel like the Patriots were in danger of losing this game. Garrard had a good game, going 22-33 and passing for 278 yards with two TDs. However, he had an interception and a fumble, both of which came at horrible times. Is there a good time to have an interception or a fumble? Garrard needed to play the game of his life, which he might have, in order for the Jags to have a chance to win this game. I'm still not quite sure what to think about the Patriots pass defense giving up so many yards to Garrard and an unknown receiving corps but they should get a lot of credit for shutting down the number two running game in the entire NFL, holding them to 80 yards on the ground, which is about half of what they averaged during the regular season.

Here are my thoughts on Saturday night's thumping of the Jaguars:

∙ This was a very strange game plan by the Patriots. Tom Brady was on fire the whole game and yet, they kept running the ball. They had 28 pass plays and 27 running plays. I don't remember the last time that happened. I kept waiting for the Patriots to go to three and four wide receivers like they've done most of the year but it rarely happened. Yeah, it was strange. But it was effective. For the day, Laurence Maroney had 22 carries for 122 yards and a TD. He also had 2 catches for 40 yards. Why do I get the feeling that Bill Belicheat knew Maroney was this good but kept holding him back, waiting for the perfect moment in the playoffs where he'd just domintate a game? Yeah, Belicheat is that good.

∙ Did the Patriots design two plays in the end zone for Benjamin Watson, who caught both balls for TDs? Strange.

∙ What's up with Randy Mosss only having one catch on the only ball Brady threw in his direction? Like I said, this was just a very strange game plan all around. But it worked.

∙ Not sure what Belicheat was thinking on the opening TD by the Jags. It looked pretty close to me and the announcers even said that Garrard doesn't have to have his knee down, just his shin. His shin was clearly down so it looked like a reviewable play. I know that Belicheat likes to save his timeouts and that may have ended up costing him one but they finished the half with all three of their timeouts.

∙ Brady was sacked on the Patriots first offensive play of the game. He wasn't sacked again the entire game.

∙ Rodney HGHarrison is the most frustrating player to watch. If he played for another team I would absolutely hate him. Heck, he plays for the Patriots and I still might hate him. I think he got called for three personal fouls and there were at least two others that the referees let go. My favorite was the hit on the opening kickoff when he jumped into the end of the play five yards out of bounds. His hardest hit all night was on Richard Seymour, one of his team mates. And yet, he nearly intercepts a pass in the end zone and then comes up with a big pick off on the next series. Frustrating, very frustrating.

∙ Junior Seau led the Patriots with 10 tackles, 5 solo. He's 38 and technically retired three years ago.

∙ Just wondering if the Patriots are out to break as many records as possible this year. Tom Brady finished the game 26-28 for 262 yards and three TDs. His completion percentage was the highest ever in a playoff game and Phil Simms, who previously held the record and was the announcer for the game, was pretty ticked off about it. The two incomplete passes were a dropped ball by Wes Welker that hit him right in the hands and an incomplete pass to Bejamin Watson that could have been called pass interference.

∙ Do you think that Bob Kraft wears the same shirt and tie every day or just on days that the Patriots play? I have a strange feeling he might wear that shirt and tie every day. One thought about Kraft- whenever they show him, he's always in the owners box, where he should be. During the Cowgirls-Giants game on Sunday, I found it interesting that Jerry Jones, the Cowgirls owner, was first shown in his box seats. Then on the last drive by the Cowgirls, he's shown standing about three feet from head coach Wade Phillips. That's gotta drive a coach insane to have the owner standing right next to you. Kraft has hired the right personnel to run his team on game day and he knows that he has no place on the field during a game.

∙ I don't know what to make of the fake play that went for a TD. I've watched it a bunch of times and think it's hilarious. I mean, what was Brady doing there, waving to Gisele? Could he have taken a little longer to throw the ball, maybe grabbed a bite to eat?

∙ Jack Del Rio, head coach of the Jags, scares me a little bit. He seems like he could be a total psycho, especially with that black leather jacket. Yeah, he looks like he might be normal but then again, he looks like he could snap at any second. Did I mention that he's wearing a black leather jacket? I think I'd cross the street to avoid walking past this guy. Is he packing?

∙ You know it's a good day when your punter is only on the field for one play. For the year, Chris Hanson (the Patriots punter in case you've never heard of him) only has 44 punts, lowest number in the NFL this year among full time kickers.

∙ I don't understand the pre-game, half-time and post game analysis by CBS. The half-time show is a copmlete waste. Do they really need five guys sitting around saying the exact same thing? And what happened to Bill Cowher? He looks like he's shrunk to about half of his size. And was that botox leaking out of Dan Marino's face? What happened to the days of showing highlights? And the post-game analysis consisted of letting us know that James Brown was on his way to the hospital for the birth of his grandchild. Good post game wrap up, guys.

∙ Up next for the 17-0 New England Patriots are the San Diego Chargers, who somehow managed to beat Indianapolis on the road with a back up QB and a bunch of scrubs. That's an awfully long flight to come to New England to get demolished.

More NFL picks and pre-game analysis of both AFC Championship games to come later in the week.