New England at Jacksonville

The New England Patriots probably just played their two biggest games of the season back-to-back at home. They beat Houston badly, and almost came back from the dead vs. San Francisco, but suffered a loss in the end. A lot of energy was used up last week in that attempted comeback. They now head on the road after a big Monday Night game at home, followed by a big Sunday Night game at home, to face lowly Jacksonville. I can hardly see this team taking the field with their "A" game after those two highly-physical and emotional games. Better than two-touchdown road favorites are very rare, and certainly the line is fair if the Pats pack their "A" game. But, I don't see it happening against the 2-12 Jaguars. Jacksonville seems to play big against big teams, as they took Minnesota to overtime on the road, won at Indianapolis, had a chance late to win at Green Bay, and lost in overtime to Houston. Don't be surprised if they hang around here too. As great as the Patriots are, they are not immune to letdowns. In fact, in late season play (from week 7 on), the Pats are just 9-25 ATS in their last 34 games when facing teams at .250 or worse! This is an ugly one, but the references I just made were supposed to be ugly as well. Back ugly and take the points on Jacksonville.