Can the Jaguars upset the Patriots? Arguments for and against

A question that sports writers have been debating this week is whether the Jaguars can beat the Patriots. At first glance, the answer seems to be a resounding “no”. The Patriots are undefeated, they appear superior in every facet of the game, they are playing at home, and one can argue that they are a team of destiny this year.

One of the main proponents of the “Jaguars will win” camp is Jeremy Green of Scouts, Inc. In his article, “I said it before, I’ll say it again — Jags will beat Pats”,he lays out several reasons why he believes the Jags are capable of pulling off the major upset:

1) Jacksonville played in the tougher AFC South while the Patriots played in an easier division.

2) The Patriots defense is overrated.

3) the Jags’ running tandem of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor will be the answer to keeping Tom Brady and Co. off the field and controlling clock.

4) Coach Jack Del Rio will have a good game plan ready for the Pats.

Other writers, such as SI.com’s Tim Layden, are saying, hold on, let’s not give too much love to the Jaguars. In his article “Don’t Jump on the Jacksonville wagon”, he says that although this Jacksonville team may have the personnel and game plan to defeat the Patriots, this is not the same team that was red hot going into the playoffs, and the Pittsburgh game showed that.

The examples he gives: David Garrard was error-prone and threw costly interceptions. He was unlike his accurate, mistake-free self during the regular season. The running game was not explosive, and only averaged a little over 3 yards per carry. Add the fact that the Jacksonville defensive front line is banged up and Layden feels the Jaguars won’t have enough to topple the mighty Patriots.

What do you think? Are these Patriots just too good? How well do the Jacksonville Jaguars have to play to beat the Pats? Or is their best effort going to fall short?