Bedard: If you had concerns about the Patriots, they were all on display vs. mouthy Jags

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This was one of those games where those classic New England worrywarts were proven right.

Basically, if you had any offseason/preseason criticism about these Patriots and the makeup of the roster, you can puff out your chest today. There were so many areas where the Patriots came up short, it was basically dealer's choice. Pick a weakness, any weakness...

This 31-20 loss to the Jaguars was that bad. I mean, the Patriots were down multiple scores throughout the game, and they didn't even turn the ball over until the fourth quarter. Just imagine what the score might have been if the Patriots weren't gifted two second-half turnovers to help make things interesting?

Have you been crowing about the Patriots not having enough weapons for Tom Brady?

Well, he completed one pass over 10 yards.

Worried about the offensive tackles?

LaAdrian Waddle got beat off the line by a bust named Dante Fowler, and Tom Brady was strip-sacked on an immense play with 12:35 left in the game when the Patriots just needed to kick a field goal to finally get to within one score. And Trent Brown looked like he needed an oxygen tank.

Feel the Patriots lack a consistent pass rush?

Blake Bortles wasn't sacked once today and was only hit four times officially.

Think the linebackers and still stink at covering running backs and tight ends?

The two positions combined for 12 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown. Anytime Bortles needed to dump the ball off, somebody was there and open.

Think the cornerbacks not named Stephon Gilmore aren't good enough after Malcolm But-lah (who's having his own issues with the Titans, but we digress)?

Eric Rowe was so torched by Keelan Cole, Rowe was benched for Jason McCourty in the second quarter.

Feel the Patriots have too many special teams players who can't contribute on the other three downs (raises hand)?

Well, the special teams heroes forgot to snap the ball/jump offsides when a Jaguar was in the neutral zone on only the biggest punt of the game with 8:01 remaining.

Think Bill Belichick isn't the genius he's made out to be?

For the second-straight time, Doug Marrone and his coaches ran circles around the Patriots' staff and dominated the Patriots on both sides of the ball ... with Bortles as his starting quarterback.

So, yeah, you can say all of those things and more. And you'd be right ...

For one game.

In September.

In Week 2.

That's great, but the NFL season is 17 weeks long. And the games that mean the most aren't played with a heat index of 120 degrees in Jacksonville. They're played in the cold and snow of Foxborough and Pittsburgh and Baltimore ... and that hoodie guy has a pretty good track record when it comes to slow starts and playing deep into winter.

That being said, the Jaguars don't seem to be going away. And they had some interesting things to say in their spacious and fancy locker room after the game.

Jaguars safety Tashaun Gipson, who drew Rob Gronkowski during the game, was as puzzled as anyone why the tight end had only two catches on four targets (one in the second half) a week after Brady was throwing to Gronk in double coverage.

"The crazy part about it is, I was. I mean, he has 7 inches on me!" Gipson told BostonSportsJournal.com. "Last week (Brady) threw one ball into triple coverage, Gronkowski came down with it. He threw another one in double coverage, Gronk came down with it for the first touchdown of the game. It was a bit surprising, but I don’t want to give myself too much credit, but maybe Tom Brady did see me out there.

"I was a bit surprised, especially inside the 25, with the opportunities he didn’t give Gronk. I was definitely expecting more opportunities. (Gronkowski) man, he’s definitely a phenomenal talent. You use him. Tom Brady’s the type to give his best players the ball, so I was a bit shocked. But I can’t complain, it helped us win.

"He’s going to go down as one of the best tight ends ever. The thing with me, get your hands on him early, and use my speed to run with him. His route tree is big, but the thing about him is, when he gets a little frustrated, he’s not a guy who wants to run slants and drag routes. He wants to get the ball down the field and obviously, he’s had success."

Tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who was on the Jets last year and faced the Patriots with the Bucs, said his goal-line touchdown wasn't anything fancy.

"It was going to be man-to-man coverage, we knew, I was going to whup his (Patrick Chung's) ass and I was going to score," Seferian-Jenkins said. "Same shit, simple shit. Man-to-man coverage. They thought they could beat us man to man. They thought wrong."

I told Seferian-Jenkins a lot of Patriots fans thought there should have been offensive pass interference called for a pick play.

"Patriots fans ... I don’t give a (bleep) what they think," he told BSJ.

"Chung’s a phenomenal player though, don’t get me wrong. They have quality players all across the ball. But we knew we were better. We knew we were going to beat them. Simple as that. It’s just another game to us."

Since Seferian-Jenkins has seen the Patriots so many times, I asked his opinion about this version of their defense. He proceeded to give a pretty accurate synopsis of what the Patriots do on that side of the ball.

"I don’t really care," he said. "They get new players every year, they have good coaches, they play man-to-man and whoever starts beating their ass, they go to zone. They’re smart, they make different personnel packages, move people different places. … I don’t know. We know what they’re doing (and) we’re better at it."

Speedy linebacker Tevin Smith — who's mouth might be faster than his feet — sounded the signal that these Jaguars aren't going away.

"We knew their offense runs through 12, 87 and 28," he said. "We stop those guys, force him to get the ball to other guys, we’re going to have something.

"Ain’t nobody scared of nothing. We’re taking on all challengers in every single way. We say we’re the best. We’re not trying to shy away from that. What we do (defensively). It’s easy. But score on us. You know what we’re doing. Score on us."

Smith said he thought Brady was resigned to his fate at one point — that the Jaguars were the better team.

"At the end of the day, I think he knew," Smith said. "That’s the mindset that we have around here, that we’re the best. Prove that we’re not. ‘We don’t care that you all beat us last time.’ We know we’re the best team, we have to go out and execute and that’s what we did."

Sure, the Patriots had a lot of issues in this game. And the Jaguars looked phenomenal. But beware of the challengers who think they won something in Week 2. And be careful about burying the Patriots so early as well.

History tells us things will be a lot different — for both teams — in four months.