The Jaguars defense was unable to come up with an answer for the Patriots passing game en route to a 35-7 loss.
In the wake of the loss, Don Banks of SI.com writes that the Jaguars “turned out to be who we thought they were,” i.e. a team without playoff makeup.
Jaguars QB David Garrard threw a pair of interceptions, but coach Jack Del Rio said that the loss can’t be put solely on his shoulders.
Said Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew, “It hurts more because you go into the game so high on your team and yourself and you want to go out and show the world what you can do and the last three weeks we pretty much laid an egg. That is the toughest part about it. You’re supposed to play your best ball in December and we’re not playing our best ball at all.”
Del Rio chose to go for a first down on a fourth-and-one from the Jaguars 35 in the first quarter, largely because he didn’t trust his defense’s ability to make stops.
Patriots QB Tom Brady was 23 of 27 for 267 yards and four touchdowns.
Patriots WR Wes Welker had 13 catches for 138 yards, tying the NFL record for most games with 10+ catches in one season and breaking his own franchise record for most catches in a season.
The Patriots secondary made a plethora of big plays, including interceptions by S Brandon Meriweather and CB Shawn Springs.
After RB Lawrence Maroney was benched for fumbling, the Patriots turned to RB Sammy Morris and he responded with 95 yards on 12 carries.
Patriots RB Fred Taylor also saw action against his former team and finished with 35 yards rushing in his first game action since early October.