Jags did what it takes to stop Patriots -- and still lost

Tom Brady completed 92.9 percent of his passes (26 of 28) against the Jaguars, setting a single-game NFL record. Jim Rogash/Getty Images

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FOXBORO, Mass. -- If you're one of New England's remaining postseason opponents -- and you know who you are -- here's the really scary part about Saturday night's outcome at Gillette Stadium: The wild-card Jacksonville Jaguars came pretty darn close to playing the game that it's going to take to finally beat these perfect-season Patriots. And it still wasn't nearly enough.

Blueprint? Blueprint this.

Going into New England's 31-20 AFC divisional-round defeat of Jacksonville, the Jaguars knew they had to keep New England's bevy of playmakers in front of them, making the Patriots dink and dunk their way down the field rather than striking for the game-turning big play.

They did that. Home-run threat Randy Moss was bottled up by a two-deep zone and had just one catch for 14 yards, and that came on the Patriots' first drive. And Jacksonville didn't surrender any gain longer than a 33-yard Laurence Maroney reception until nine minutes remained, when receiver Donte Stallworth hauled in a 53-yard pass from Tom Brady.

The Jaguars knew they had to limit the number of New England's possessions, controlling the clock and making their offense their best defense against the high-scoring Patriots.

They did that. New England had just three meaningful drives in the first half, and four more in the second half, with Jacksonville piling up 350 yards of total offense, 22 first downs and 27:40 of possession time.

And the Jaguars knew they had to keep the game close well into the fourth quarter, staying within one possession of tying the score or taking the lead against a record-breaking Patriots team that played from ahead most of this season.

They did that, too. The Patriots led only 28-20 with under seven minutes remaining, before a 35-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal pushed New England's lead into double digits for good. Jacksonville led 7-0 after its first drive, tied the Patriots at 14-14 at the half, and cut it to 21-17 with just three minutes to go in the third. But no matter, the Patriots still prevailed.

It wasn't the perfect game, but Jacksonville proved it had the right idea of how to beat the Patriots. It's just that when push came to shove, it couldn't actually beat the Patriots. And how can you, really, when Brady barely lets the ball hit the ground, going 26 of 28 to set an NFL one-game record for completion percentage (92.9)? And when Patriots punter Chris Hanson doesn't even take the field to ply his craft until less than a minute remains? And when New England methodically cobbles together three different scoring drives of at least 74 yards, with nary a turnover throughout the game?

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