After back-to-back losses to the Colts and Bills, the Patriots head into week 17 desperate for a win and to get the ship heading in the right direction. The team seemed to lose their bearing surprisingly after coming off their bye week. The team has looked flat at the start of the games which has caused them to face deficits. They make the second-half comeback but then have too much to do to claim victory at the end. Mac Jones has seemingly hit the rookie wall, and the defense got shredded by Josh Allen last week. Thankfully, if a team is in a slump, then the perfect team to seemingly face in 2021 is the Jacksonville Jaguars. In this article, we preview both teams and make a score prediction.
1. The Jaguars-the organization, fans, and players will want this nightmarish season to end with the team having only two wins from the 15 games they have played. In April, the season looked promising when the team selected quarterback Trevor Lawrence as their number one pick in the draft. However, the team has played with controversy off the field and a lack of cohesion on it. The firing of coach Urban Meyer has not brought immediate success with the team on a six-game losing streak and back-to-back losses to the Texans and the Jets. Yes, that is not good. Lawrence will be looking to end the season feeling better about himself and the team having just 9 touchdowns and 14 interceptions this season. However, he will face a hungry Patriots defense that will want to prove that the performance against the Bills was an aberration by forcing pressure and creating turnovers. Although Trevor had a solid game against the Jets, he failed to throw a touchdown in the air. The Jaguars also are the 31st in the NFL with 26 turnovers this season.
2. The Patriots-Mac Jones will want to get back to his best against this Jaguars defense. He will want to get Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry more involved in the offense. The running game will be back to its best with Rhamondre Stevenson returning from the Covid list. Josh McDaniels needs to put pressure on the defense by playing uptempo and getting creative with his play-calling which has been lacking in some games. The Patriots will also want to cut out the penalties which have been a feature of recent performances.
3. Head to Head-the Patriots have dominated the Jaguars when the teams have faced each other in the past. The Patriots are 13-2 in the fifteen games they have played the Florida-based franchise. The Patriots are also a perfect 8-0 against Jacksonville at home. However, the Jaguars at least have bragging rights based on the last matchup which they won in Florida in 2018.
4. Stats-Damien Harris is one of the under-appreciated players in the NFL. He has made history as a Patriots running back because he joins Curtis Martin as the only running backs with at least 1500 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in his first 25 games.
5. Score Prediction- the Patriots badly need this win to cement their place in the playoffs and to build momentum towards the postseason. The team has been successful against bad teams this season because they are 6-1 against teams below .500. I think the Patriots’ defense will force turnovers, and the offense will dictate the game by playing an efficient brand of football.
Final Score-Patriots 30-Jaguars 13