Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots (3:05 pm)
Definitely an interesting match up, and not the one most expected. Vegas has the Patriots as a favorite by more than a touchdown, but some consider the Jags to be the best overall team in the NFL aside from the quarterback position. Jacksonville QB Blake Bortles has struggled mightily at times, although he did play one of his best games of the season last week.
While Bortles' ability to be effective against the Patriots is seriously in question, a lot of mystery also surrounds the health of New England QB Tom Brady. Apparently Brady hit his throwing hand on a Patriots player's helmet during practice earlier this week. Brady has since worn gloves to cover the injury, but reports have surfaced that he needed stitches in his right thumb. How effective he is able to play thru the injury will greatly impact today's game.
The Jaguars have an excellent defense, especially against the pass. They are probably the league's best defense and are loaded with playmakers who create turnovers and defensive scoring opportunities. The Jags will likely need a few big plays today, and the effectiveness of RB Leonard Fournette, who looked every bit the once in a generation talent I believe him to be last week before tweaking an ankle injury that has plagued him for a lot of the season, will also be key.
Im in the minority but I really believe that if Bortles can be reasonably effective (which the Jags coaches can help him with by making sure the right plays are called) and if Fournette can play near his best, I see Jacksonville winning this game.
Final score: Jaguars 24 Patriots 20
-While many analysts still are not giving Case Keenum the credit he deserves, he has the opportunity to help his team to a conference championship and a trip to the Super Bowl today (image from SB Nation).
Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles (6:40 pm)
All week long, commentators have complained about the lack of elite QBs left in the playoffs, but I think this is a wonderful matchup. It puts two excellent defenses against one another, and it should be a hard fought, physical game played in the elements outdoors, which is something the average football fan once enjoyed before so many became obsessed with offense. I love a good defensive game personally. And these QBs are nothing to be upset about. Minnesota's Case Keenum has had an amazing year and has played consistently at a very high level. While it is unfortunate for Philadelphia that their QB Carson Wentz got injured for the season weeks back, backup Nick Foles is competent and even took the Eagles to the playoffs as their starter back in 2013.
I believe this game will be rather low scoring and very competitive, but I believe the difference will be the superiority of the Vikings passing attack. Both defenses will be physical and will make things difficult for the offenses they are going against, but despite the Eagles home field advantage Keenum will be more effective than Foles, and the Vikings WRs Stephon Diggs (last week's hero) and Adam Thielen will out perform the Philadelphia WRs. Diggs and Thielen are both capable of being the go to WR on a lot of teams, and paired together they are quite valuable to the Vikings. This game will probably be close into the 4th quarter, and maybe all the way to the end, but the Vikings pull it out and become the first team to host the Super Bowl.
Final score: Vikings 20 Eagles 12
IDK about you, but a Jaguars-Vikings Super Bowl sounds pretty good to me.
