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JARRETT BELL
Jacksonville Jaguars

Jaguars put on clinic on how to blow lead to Patriots

Jarrett Bell
USA TODAY

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Almost. Would’ve. Could’ve.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) reacts in the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium.

The Jacksonville Jaguars swung hard and had Tom Brady and Co. on the ropes, nearly pulling off a shocker for the ages in the AFC Championship Game.

But you know how the story so often ends when the New England Patriots have their backs against the wall when another crown is still within reach.

Ask the Atlanta Falcons. Or the Seattle Seahawks. Or even Jon Gruden’s old Oakland Raiders.

Now the Jaguars join this collection of would-be spoilers, succumbing to yet another Brady comeback – this time, from 10 down in the fourth quarter – as Bill Belichick’s team rides off to another Super Bowl with a 24-20 result that adds another chapter to the remarkable legacy.

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I mean, as the Patriots head to their eighth Super Bowl of the Brady-Belichick Era, what would it be without another dramatic comeback?

“For them, it might be, ‘We had it and we blew it,’ “ Patriots safety Devin McCourty said, unwinding at his locker in the aftermath. “For us, ‘This is not how we wanted to do it, but we got it done.’ “

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Too bad, Jags. You made ‘em sweat and for a while, silenced Gillette Stadium.

Then the Patriot Way re-emerged in the nick of time, as Brady wound up throwing for 290 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.

“That’s the difference with the Patriots,” Jaguars receiver Marqise Lee, amid a somber, nearly empty visitor’s locker room, told USA TODAY Sports. “There’s no giving up from them. They showed that last year (with the record Super Bowl comeback). They showed poise. They’re so disciplined.”

The Jaguars – with Tom Coughlin, who as coach of the New York Giants beat Belichick twice in Super Bowls, now running the football part of the business - came oh-so-close to executing an impressive blueprint for how to beat the Patriots: roll with swagger, stop them on third downs, spring some creative plays and badger Brady.

All of that helped Jacksonville build a 20-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Then reality set in. Rather than writing the book on how to beat the champs, the Jaguars wound up as the embodiment of a how-to guide for blowing the chance to shock the world.

As Lee put it, “Not cool to fall short. A lot of people didn’t even give us a chance, but we didn’t go out there and lay down. We played our butts off. But you’ve got to find a way. Next year, the big thing for us will be finishing teams off.”

Yet here’s what not to do, as exemplified by Jacksonville, if you expect to beat Bill Belichick’s team when it matters the most:

•  Just before halftime, play into their hands. No NFL team is more efficient in scoring in the final two minutes of the first half than the Patriots, who have now scored 12 times this season in the final minute before halftime. This time, they used a six-play, 85-yard drive capped by James White’s 1-yard TD run to cut into an 11-point lead.

New England started the drive with 2:02 on the clock, which reflected the impact of some key Jaguars mishaps on the previous drive. Jacksonville had back-to-back penalties – a delay-of-game infraction that wiped out a would-be completion for a first down and a holding call.

•  Give them some chunk yards from pass interference penalties. The Jags were stung by a 30-yard pass interference call against A.J. Bouye to help on the drive just before the half. Call it questionable, as the pass to Brandin Cooks might not have been catchable. In the fourth quarter, Jalen Ramsey was flagged 36 yards, helping to flip the field.

•  Lose aggressiveness. After New England’s TD late in the second quarter, the Jaguars had 55 seconds to respond. Instead, they took a knee on back-to-back snaps to take a 14-10 lead into the locker room. Sure, the Jags would get the ball back on the second-half kickoff, which they parlayed into a 54-yard field goal from Josh Lambo.

Yet in a playoff game with points at a premium – and Brady on the other side – the Jaguars squandered a possession that might have added points. Not the best vibe when you’re trying to go to the Super Bowl.

•  Stall out in the second half. Memo to Jacksonville: Field goals won’t cut it against Brady. The Jaguars settled for two in the second half. Even worse, they had trouble flipping the field position and were unable to milk the clock in crunch time. The drive times: 1:34, 2:23, 0:55. During this sequence, McCourty was reminding fellow defenders that they needed to play “perfect” and not allow long drives.

•  Give them a short field. New England’s game-winning drive began at the Jaguars’ 30-yard line, when Danny Amendola – who scored two fourth-quarter TDs – returned a punt 15 yards. This is how poor field position and the inability to move the chains in the clutch will come back to haunt you. It was fitting that Amendola finished the drive that he started with a beautiful toe-tap in the back of the end zone for the 4-yard TD.

•  Keep Brady within striking range. The Jaguars pestered and badgered and hit Brady frequently, evidenced by New England’s 3-for-12 performance on third downs. But in the end, TB12 -- sore hand and all -- led New England’s crusade for deft situational football. After overcoming a 25-point deficit in the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, a 10-point deficit hardly seemed insurmountable. In fact, it seemed only to be a matter of time.

Follow Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.

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