Jaguars vs. Patriots 2018: Time, TV schedule for AFC Championship Game

There was only one blowout win during the Divisional Round, and it was the New England Patriots’ 35-14 victory over the Titans. Tom Brady and Co. can’t count on another easy game for the AFC title, as they play host to an energized — and confident — Jacksonville Jaguars team on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET on CBS (live streams at CBSSports.com, Yahoo! Sports, and FuboTV).

Apparently, it just wouldn’t be the NFL playoffs if the Patriots weren’t suiting up in the AFC Championship game, as they are now the only team since the merger in 1970 to compete in seven straight conference championships. Luckily for the Jaguars, they’re only 3-3 in those games, and the team hasn’t claimed the AFC title in back-to-back seasons since 2003 and 2004. While that stat may be encouraging, of the 13 total conference championships they’ve played in, they’ve won nine and are 6-1 when playing at home.

Jacksonville’s win over the Steelers was both surprising and exciting, as the franchise now heads to its third AFC Championship ever. They lost both, first to the Patriots in the 1996 season, and then to the Titans in 1999. In fact, aside from this season’s preseason meeting, the Patriots have seemingly had the Jaguars’ number for decades, topping them in two all-time postseason meetings, including most recently in the Divisional Round following the 2007 season. New England has won 10 of the 11 meetings between the teams.

History might not be on their side, but things are different for the Jaguars this season. Coming off a three-win season, the team saw a resurgence in the offseason with the addition of Tom Coughlin to the front office — cue Brady and Bill Belichick’s demise music — and an impressive draft class. The team now boasts one of the best defenses in the NFL, and an offense that — despite being led by Blake Bortles — has had an impressive ground game to open up passing opportunities for the oft-mocked quarterback.

It will take a lot for Jacksonville to get an upset on the road against one of the league’s best postseason teams of all time, but there is definitely a chance given the way it embarrassed the Steelers last week.

Brandin Cooks and Chris Hogan are likely to have a quiet day, especially as the Jaguars play press coverage, forcing the duo to run deep route after deep route, while also clearing out room for the receiving backs and Amendola.

Jacksonville has also won the turnover battle in each of the first two playoff games this postseason. In fact that Jaguars have yet to turn the ball over once in January 2018 (knock on wood). The proof is in the pudding. Though forcing New England into turnovers is an extremely tall task. The Patriots only had 12 giveaways all season — the second least in the league. Tom Brady only had one multi-interception game this season, and only threw eight picks total.

Despite having two of the best coverage linebackers in the game, the Jaguars cannot expect them to hold up in man coverage against Gronkowski. They’ll likely feed Gronk a heavy dose of double teams and zones, which will lead to open receivers elsewhere, but there will be times where they will have to single up on him in man coverage.

Jacksonville may have gotten the best of the Steelers last week, but don’t expect the Patriots to be blindsided on Sunday. Belichick and Brady aren’t likely to let the Jaguars get the best of them in front of their home crowd — and with the most experienced QB and team still in the Super Bowl race, it’s hard to think they fall one game short of the Super Bowl. The experts at SB Nation are split right down the middle with four of eight picking the Jaguars to earn the AFC title.

Check out our Super Bowl picks and predictions for even more expert opinions.