With the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars set to square off this Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the last time these teams met in the postseason.
The date was Jan. 12, 2008. The Patriots were two weeks removed from finishing off the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history. The Jaguars had gone 10-6 and blew a 19-point lead in the wild-card round before rallying to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
New England also was three weeks away from the most devastating loss in franchise history — Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants — so its entire playoff run that year has been wiped from the memories of many Patriots fans. (Tell me one interesting fact about the AFC title game against the San Diego Chargers. You can’t.)
This Patriots-Jaguars game, though, is worth remembering for one reason: It featured one of most surgical Tom Brady performances of the 40-year-old quarterback’s storied career.
Coming off a record-setting regular season, Brady was nearly immaculate against Jacksonville in the divisional round, completing 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions in a 31-20 Patriots victory. His 92.9 completion percentage still is his highest ever in 288 career games, and his 141.4 passer rating ranks first among his 35 postseason performances.
The Jaguars’ defensive game plan predicated on preventing the home run, so Brady was content to calmly dink and dunk his way down the field on drive after drive.
His first incompletion didn’t come until four-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, on his 17th pass attempt of the night. His second didn’t come until 6:46 remained in the game. And he did this all while targeting Randy Moss — who was in the midst of one of the best seasons ever by an NFL receiver — just once, on New England’s very first drive.
Wes Welker was Brady’s favorite receiver that night, catching nine passes on 10 targets 54 yards. Brady also completed five passes to Kevin Faulk, three to Donte’ Stallworth, three to Jabar Gaffney, two to Ben Watson, two to Laurence Maroney (who rushed for a game-high 122 yards on 22 carries) and one to Kyle Brady.
The Patriots have beaten the Jaguars in each of their last six meetings, including two in the postseason. They’ll meet again this Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium for the right to advance to Super Bowl LII.
Thumbnail photo via YouTube screenshot
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