Patriots v.s. Jaguars Preview

This is the early season matchup a lot of people were looking forward to. The rematch of the AFC Championship of last season. If that wasn’t already enough hype for this game, there was plenty of trash talk leading up to it. Although the Patriots are not the only victim to Jalen Ramsey’s vicious mouth, he had some pretty ballsy words about one of the greatest tight ends to tough the earth. It will be interesting to see this affect the outcome.

The offense looked way better than a lot of people expected last weekend against a very solid defense. What was most important was how well the offensive line held up around Brady. The Texans have a vicious pass rush, as do the Jaguars, and it was held in check last week. That will be a big key to winning this game. Brady can clearly make things happen no matter who is on the field. A heavy dose of Gronk, Dorsett, and White made the passing game look great. White might be a little tougher to find this week with an athletic linebacker like Telvin Smith on the field. If Jalen Ramsey really covers Gronk like he thinks he is going to, look for that to open up opportunities for Chris Hogan, Dorsett again, and maybe a second tight end like Dwayne Allen or Jacob Hollister. Cordarrelle Patterson might end up being a guy this defense forgets about as well and has the ability to bust one loose.

It shouldn’t take too much for this defense to handle the game. The coverage was 10 times better last week which lead to the pass rush looking fantastic. Blake Bortles is nothing special, and Fournette might be out this week. With no Fournette there really isn’t too much to be afraid of. The Jaguars receivers are nothing special and should be easily handled by the Pats secondary. A couple sneaky players might be Austin Sefarian-Jenkins and T.J. Yeldon. The Pats linebackers did look much better in coverage last week, but ASJ beat the Pats as a Jet, and no matter what backs have found ways to beat the Pats in the passing game. Either way Bortles mistakes should help lead to a W.

The Jags looked pretty good last week but also almost lost to the Giants. Not too impressive either. It might be a good game but the Pats should run away in crunch time. 27-17 Pats.

-Jake Kobierski (@TheRealKobe83)

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