Jaguars, in the end, find they didn't have enough to hold off Patriots

FOXBOROUGH – The Jacksonville Jaguars mistakenly thought they had the Patriots exactly where they wanted them.

“We were 30 minutes close,’’ bemoaned cornerback A.J. Bouye. “We were 15 minutes close, then six minutes close.’’

Close, but no cigar. And no trip to the Super Bowl, either.

The Jaguars’ stout defense held the Patriots to a meager 10 points through the first three quarters of the AFC Championship Game. But as a host of other vanquished opponents can attest, you need a full sixty minutes to beat the Patriots.

In the fourth quarter, Jacksonville not only bent, but broke, allowing the Pats to score two touchdowns and post a come-from-behind 24-20 win.

With just over 12 minutes remaining and in possession of a 10-point lead, the Jags had the Pats backed up at their own 25-yard line, facing a third-and-18. But Tom Brady found Danny Amendola over the middle for a 21-yard gain which extended the Pats drive to midfield.

“Obviously, I would like that play back,’’ said safety Tashaun Gipson, who was victimized on the catch. “I’m a better player than to give up a third-and-18. Nine times out of ten, I like myself to make that play. Unfortunately, it worked out that way and they got (the completion). If you’re out there playing, you’ve got to make that play.’’

Four players later, the Pats were in the end zone and trailed by just a field goal.

“Brady and Amendola, man, that’s what they do,’’ said linebacker Myles Jack. “When you’re playing a great quarterback, he’s going to make plays like that. He had a little bit of time back there and he found him.’’

And still, the Pats weren’t done.

As both offenses seemed to temporarily stall out, the teams engaged in a battle of field position. When the Jags punted the ball to midfield, Amendola returned the ball 20 yards and the Pats took over at the Jag’ 30-yard line.

The Pats had faced this scenario before; the Jags hadn’t. And it showed.

In just five plays, Brady drove the Pats the final 30 yards, culminated by a quick pass to the back of the end zone to Amendola.

“We played great red zone ball all season,’’ said safety Barry Church. “We were No. 1 in red zone efficiency, so we knew we had a chance still. (Brady) was just able to buy time and make a play in the back of the end zone. Great throw, great catch and there isn’t anything more you can say about that.’’

“It was tough not getting that stop,’’ said defensive lineman Calais Campbell, “especially because we had a couple of timeouts left.’’

In the end, the Jags loss might have been the result of inexperience in big games. Even after a road victory in Pittsburgh to bring them to the conference championship, this was a largely untested group on the playoff stage.

“We didn’t do enough to close the deal,’’ said brash cornerback Jalen Ramsey. “It was just kind of a tale of two halves, in terms of how we played defensively. So maybe (experience) was (the difference). I can’t say for sure, but maybe.’’

If the game fully slipped away from the Jags in the fourth quarter, the seeds of the Patriots’ comeback were planted in the final few minutes of the first half. On successive plays, the Jags were whistled for a delay of game penalty and then were flagged for holding, negating a big third-down conversion.

The Pats got the ball back with 2:02 to go before the break and covered 85 yards in six players to go into halftime trailing by only four, 14-10.

“That was definitely big, especially with them getting some momentum at the half,’’ conceded Jack.

The Jaguars enjoyed an enormous turnaround season, held off Buffalo in the wild-card round and then shocked Pittsburgh on the road. But the road came to a dead end at Gillette, offering little in the way of consolation.

“At the end of the day, you lost,’’ said Jack. “We wanted to go to the Super Bowl. A lot of people thought we were just happy to be here, to come to Gillette Stadium, but we came out gunning. We wanted to win. We were fighting and fighting. But New England became New England in that second half.’’

“The loss as a whole is going to haunt, it’s going to hurt,’’ concluded Campbell. “But we have to channel that and use it as motivation. We didn’t get the job done this year. We didn’t make the plays we needed to make.’’

Reminded by a reporter that the Jaguars had surpassed expectations by making the Pats rally in the closing minutes, Ramsey was in no mood for platitudes.

“We did alright but we didn’t win, though,’’ said Ramsey. “That’s what matters at the end of the day. We had bigger goals, bigger aspirations.’’

But like many visitors to Gillette before them, they ultimately came up empty.