Brady leads Patriots past Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. (AP)
Coming off consecutive prime-time games at home and facing one of the
NFL's worst teams on the road, the New England Patriots were poised for
a letdown.
They surely didn't expect a near meltdown.
Tom Brady overcame a rough start by throwing two touchdown passes, and
the Patriots held on to beat the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars 23-16 on
Sunday.
''We came out flat and I think it showed out there,'' Patriots receiver
Wes Welker said. ''We've got to do a better job of starting fast and
doing what we do to take control of the game. ''
| WEEK
16 SCOREBOARD |
Falcons
31, Lions 18
Panthers 17, Raiders 6
Dolphins 24, Bills 10
Bengals 13, Steelers 10
Patriots 23, Jaguars 16
Colts 20, Chiefs 13
Saints 34, Cowboys 31 (OT)
Redskins 27, Eagles 20
Rams 28, Buccaneers 13
Chargers 27, Jets 17
Packers 55, Titans 17
Vikings 23, Texans 6
Broncos 34, Browns 12
Bears 28, Cardinals 13
Ravens 33, Giants 14
Seahawks 42, 49ers 13 |
A week after falling behind 31-3 against San Francisco, the Patriots
found themselves down 10-0 in Jacksonville. Brady had two interceptions
in the first quarter, the second one helping the Jaguars (2-13) build a
double-digit lead.
But the Jaguars faded in the third quarter for the fourth consecutive
week, lost for the 11th time in the last 12 games and set a franchise
record for losses in a season.
Brady had a lot to do with the home team's latest setback, finding his
rhythm after a sluggish start and picking apart Jacksonville's defense.
He hooked up with Welker for a 2-yard score on the second play of the
fourth quarter, putting the Patriots (11-4) ahead 23-13. That seemed
like plenty of cushion against the offensively challenged Jaguars.
Jacksonville, though, had two decent chances to tie things in the
closing minutes.
Trailing by a touchdown, the Jags faced third-and-goal at the 1 when
tight end Zach Potter jumped before the snap. So the short-yardage
situation became a passing play, and Chad Henne was sacked, leaving
Jacksonville with a fourth-and-goal play at the 10.
Chandler Jones hit Henne as he tried to throw, and Patrick Chung
intercepted the floater over the middle.
''It's a bad feeling, obviously,'' Potter said. ''It puts our team in a
bad situation there. It's not the one play that cost us the game.''
Potter said he had trouble hearing the snap count because thousands of
Patriots fans scoped up tickets and helped give Jacksonville its
biggest home crowd since 2004.
''It was really loud, which you don't usually expect at home,'' Potter
said.
Coach Mike Mularkey, though, blamed the officials for failing to
recognize and penalize New England for yelling out cadence during a
hard shift.
''That was disappointing because that was brought up to the officials
before the game,'' Mularkey said. ''That was addressed. We practiced
it. We practiced it the whole week with those guys shifting with the
cadence. ... Obviously they didn't call it and we jumped. Very
frustrating.''
Regardless, the Jaguars got the ball back after the Patriots failed to
run out the clock.
Henne connected with Toney Clemons on fourth down with 22 seconds
remaining and then Jordan Shipley for an 18-yard gain that put them at
the New England 12. But Chung intercepted Henne's final pass,
essentially a jump ball to the middle of the end zone.
''A win is a win, but we know we've got to play better no matter
what,'' Patriots safety Devin McCourty said. ''It's better to come out
here when you're not at your best and get a win. I think this team
really understands it's all about us. We've got to play our best each
week. It's disappointing knowing that we didn't play as good as we
could.''
New England avoided consecutive losses in December for the first time
since 2002.
Brady completed 24 of 41 passes for 267 yards, his worst outing in six
games against Jacksonville. Welker caught 10 passes for 88 yards,
passing Jerry Rice and Andre Johnson for the most 10-catch games (18)
in NFL history. Stevan Ridley ran 18 times for 84 yards.
Brady entered the game having thrown for 1,207 yards, with 13
touchdowns and no interceptions, in five wins against the Jaguars. His
string of success ended with his first pass, though.
Ridley tipped the ball down the sideline, and safety Chris Prosinski
picked it off for his first interception of the season. Jacksonville
moved the ball, but settled for a field goal.
And that was the story of the day for Mularkey's team.
The Jaguars had the ball inside New England's 25 seven times, but came
away with a touchdown and three field goals.
And not scoring touchdowns against the league's most prolific offense
is hardly a formula for success.
''We had them on their heels for a while,'' Jaguars defensive end
Jeremy Mincey said. ''They just capitalized, got a few interceptions
and a few first downs on us. We held their scoring average down, which
is good, and held them to a lot of field goals, which was excellent. It
still wasn't enough.''
Henne completed 29 of 51 passes for 348 yards, with a touchdown and
three interceptions. His 3-yard TD pass to Justin Blackmon to open the
game was Jacksonville's first touchdown on its opening possession since
Oct. 9, 2011, against Cincinnati.
But the ending is all that matters for Jacksonville, which left owner
Shad Khan with decisions to make about Mularkey and general manager
Gene Smith.
NOTES: Brady has thrown a TD pass in 47
consecutive games, tying Johnny Unitas for second on the NFL's all-time
list. He trails Drew Brees by seven. ... Mularkey gave every player a
baseball bat before the game with the words ''violent, physical,
relentless'' on it as a motivational tool. ... Jaguars WR Cecil Shorts
III and G Uche Nwaneri left the game with concussions.
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