When the season started I made a bold prediction that the Jags would beat the Patriots this week. There was a lot that went into my reasoning behind the pick. I thought like we all did after watching the Jags in the preseason that they would be a better team than they ended up being. The other thing I factored into the decision was that New England would have their playoff seeding wrapped up by now and would probably play a bunch of back up players for a road game in Jacksonville in the second to last game of the year. Unfortunately this is the worst case scenario the Jags could see when The Pats come to town Sunday.

Even though the Patriots have the division all wrapped up they still have a ton to play for. They are still alive for the number one overall seed that would give them home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They are also trailing but still alive for that number two seed which is huge. The difference between a two and three seed means the difference between an extra week off and the difference between going on the road or playing at home in the second round of the post season. That is a huge advantage that the Patriots will definitely want to take advantage of. Because the Patriots trail in both those seeds they need to win out and get some help. That means all the best players will be in the lineup when the Jags and Pats and it’s a must win for an already good team. Add to that the fact that New England is coming off a loss. I talked yesterday about how important end of the year momentum can be. You know the Patriots will be playing to win.

We have all seen how bad the Jags can be when a good team comes into EverBank Field. Now they get arguably the best team in the AFC when they are in a must win situation. This week could be a really ugly loss and one more loss would guarantee the Jags finish with their worst season in franchise history. It’s just one more thing that didn’t go the Jags way in a season that started with so much hope but will end in the biggest disappointment ever.