No team knows how to put their proverbial heel to the Jaguars throat and choke the life out of them like the New England Patriots. Time and time again the Jaguars have had the Patriots standing in their path and they have always come up short. Their one win in the series, a 1998 Wild Card game, was thanks in large part because then Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe was sidelined for the game with an injury.
While the 1999 AFC Championship game causes the most heartache for Jaguars fans, that game compares to the collective damage the Patriots have done over the years
1996 AFC Championship Game: 20-6 loss that ended the 96 team's miracle run
1997 Regular Season:26-20 loss that cost the team a divisional title and #2 seed in the NFL playoffs.
2005 Wild Card Round: 28-3 loss that may have been the straw that broke Byron Leftwich's back in Jacksonville
2006 Regular Season: 24-21 loss that cost the Jaguars a shot at the playoffs two weeks after beating Indianaplois 44-17
2007 Divisional Round: 31-20 loss in which Tom Brady was unstoppable.
My point is that the Patriots have simply owned the Jaguars. Whether it's been David Garrard vs Tom Brady, Mark Brunell vs Drew Bledsoe, Tom Coughlin vs Bill Parcells, or Jack Del Rio vs Bill Bellicheck. The results have always been the same.
The Jaguars travel to Foxborough Sunday after having 9 days off. The Patriots defense is not the same defense it was earlier this decade. They don't have Richard Seymour, Asante Samuels, or Mike Vrabel. The players they still do have are on the downside of their careers.
However, they still do have Tom Brady, and he has been the Jaguars personal executioner this decade.Brady has thrown for 887 yards and nine touchdowns in four career games against the Jaguars. More importantly, he has always managed to crush the Jaguars hopes when we've needed them the most.
Will the Jaguars finally get past the Patriots in Foxborough on Sunday? History says we won't.