Brash Jaguar shows his growth in the victory over the Patriots

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If it's been a while on Sunday that the Jacksonville Jaguars only held the New England Patriots, just barely escape being another unfortunate victim of Tom Brady's return. . Other teams may wither when the Patriots enter their inevitable throws because they are undoubtedly intimidated by the history of their opponents. The Jaguars, in fact, may have been one of those teams in January, when they made a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and saw the Patriots go to the Super Bowl instead.

The Jaguars are not this team now.

"They ——- suck," yelled an unidentified Jaguars player as he headed for the locker room at the end of the match.

It might have been tempting to use the pastel rainbow that arched over the stadium as a sort of sweet metaphor of what the Jaguars found at the end of this game, but that does not fit any just not the personality of this team. The Jaguars are fierce and daring and, especially on Sunday, smart enough to have learned from the way they lost the AFC championship game against the Patriots.

When Brady was about to run away with his 21-point lead, Brady, just 24 yards apart, and January's collapse was still very much alive – Dante Fowler joined Brady's right side and was the only one left. blew from his hand. When the Jaguars would have been conservative to maintain the advantage instead of prolonging it, they instead challenged the location of the ball that would have given the Patriots a first step, and as soon as they gave up the call and received a They kicked a short pass from Bortles to Dede Westbrook, resulting in a 61-yard touchdown that went through the Patriots' defense.

"You have to be realistic," said defensive tackle Malik Jackson. "They're still the team at the top – it's only the second week, but we've done a great job of putting ourselves in the position to take over."

The Patriots, of course, do not do it. In fact, they are not null. So when the Jaguars built another big lead and then slowly let out a fumble, followed by a late trio and a big pass allowed, then an interception of Blake Bortles at deep within their territory, was undoubtedly a melting pot for a team whose local audience is still haunted by the disputed appeal that Myles Jack was down after retrieving a fumble in the AFC championship game.

Jack confessed last week that this game was the most important of his life and that it was no less important for Jaguars. In the off-season, Jack said he was "hypnotized" by Brady in the AFC championship game. That happens to a lot of Patriots' opponents, but a team that has legitimate aspirations at the Super Bowl, it was a physical as well as a physical obstacle – that had to be eliminated and cleanly cleaned.

"When we have a guy like Tom Brady, we saw what happened last year," said Tashaun Gipson, the security manager. "As a defender, we get on a little bit, he's really the best quarterback to tie them in. When they started getting that momentum, it's a scary feeling because you know who they've got to We're a group of trust guys here, we wanted it on our shoulders. "

On Gipson's shoulders was the game's most critical match, with fin Rob Gronkowski. While the anticipation of the pre-game was that Jalen Ramsey, the back of the arena, was on Gronkowski, the Jaguars tilt it instead. Gronkowski had two assists for 15 yards. Although Brady was 24th out of 35 for 234 yards and two touchdowns, the frustration of the offense was such that by the end of the first quarter, the Jaguars were already 14-0. Josh McDaniels shouts at the offensive and Brady rushes furiously to his head and yells "Do your job!"

"A lot of people wanted to see the match with Jalen and I'm sorry because I did not give them that," said Gipson. "I've never come across a tight end which I do not feel like I can cover – I was excited about it – it was probably not so excited." because I'm only Tashaun Gipson. "

The Patriots have a long and rich history of correcting weaknesses early in the season for an end-of-season push in the playoffs. This game will present many opportunities for this. After Trey Flowers left at the start of the match for a concussion, the Patriots struggled to put pressure on Blake Bortles. The defense was the victim of big games. Brady spreads the ball but if Gronkowski is contained, there is no reliable weapon. Jackson said at the end of the match that he could feel that Brady was frustrated.

Imagine that the Jaguars and the rest of the AFC will no longer have to face the Patriots in a few months is absurd – their attempt to return has not succeeded today, but the thrill of fear that they have briefly hit in the defense of the Jaguars was going to tremble. teams that do not share the sense of self-confidence of Jaguars.

For now, however, Jaguars can enjoy the loot of a victory as important to their psyche as anything that happened last season. Ramsey, who spent the off-season giving his opinion to almost everyone in the NFL, was very happy with his teammates after this match, but would not have bothered to criticize the Patriots or evaluate what that meant for the Jaguars in the broad sense.

In any case, he did not really need to say much. It was a game of Jaguar statements and, justifiably, it was a loud game. "Typically, they want us to say no," said Jack. "But it was a big one."