Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 166, Ed. 1 Monday, January 15, 2018 Page: 10 of 14
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Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham (55) and cornerback Jalen Mills (31) cele-
brate against the Atlanta Falcons during the fourth quarter in the NFC Divisional Playoff game
Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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ranked second in the NFL during
the regular season in sacks.
After a few ho-hum games,
Bortles, running back Leonard
Foumette and the Jaguars of-
fense showed it isn’t too shabby,
either, outslugging Ben Roeth-
lisberger and the Pittsburgh
Steelers in a stunning 45-42 vic-
tory Sunday.
“Obviously, with what they
have on their side of the ball, it’s
a good team and we know
they’ve got a good offense,” Bor-
tles said. “We knew we had to
keep scoring.”
There’s also this neat nugget:
Jacksonville’s first AFC champi-
onship game appearance came
during the 1996 season —
against New England, which
went on to play in the Super
Bowl under then-coach Bill Par-
cells and lost to the Brett Favre-
led Green Bay Packers.
The Patriots have made it to
the AFC championship game
for seven straight seasons,
clinching this trip with a 35-14
drubbing of the Tennessee Ti-
tans on Saturday night.
“The reality of the NFL is
what we did this week will have
nothing to do with what hap-
pens next week,” Brady said.
‘We’re going to have to go repeat
it, so you’ve got to get right back
to work, right back to the pro-
cess of trying to figure out how to
break down our opponent.
By Dennis Waszak Jr.
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Watch out,
New England. Here comes
SacksonviUe.
Get ready, Philly. The Vikings
are sailing into town.
Tom Brady and the big
game-tested Patriots (14-3)
square off against the sack-hap-
py Jacksonville Jaguars (12-6)
next Sunday in the AFC champi-
onship game in Foxborough,
Massachusetts — with the win-
ner headed to the Super Bowl.
“It’s been an awesome year,”
Jaguars quarterback Blake Bor-
tles said, “and we want to keep it
NFL
Playoffs
course, for New England, which
has advanced to the Super Bowl
in three of the past six seasons.
For fresh-faced Jacksonville,
however, this is all rare territory.
The Jaguars are playing in
the conference title game for just
the third time in franchise histo-
ry, and first since losing to Ten-
nessee during the 1999 season.
Jacksonville is also one of four
franchises to never play in the
Super Bowl.
“I’m sure there will still be
tons of people that are going to
disapprove or talk negative or
hate or do whatever they want,”
Bortles said. “But we get to keep
playing. We get an opportunity
to go play in Foxborough for an-
other week, so I’m just honored
to be able to do this and especial-
ly with this group of guys.”
And, it has all come full circle
for Tom Coughlin, who was
Jacksonville’s coach the previous
time the franchise got this far in
the postseason.
He went on to win two Super
Bowls with the New York Giants
— both against Bill Belichick’s
Patriots — but is now the Jaguars’
executive vice president of foot-
ball operations. He helped assem-
ble a squad with coach Doug
Marrone that has been powered
by a tenacious defense that
th
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In the NFC, Nick Foies and
the resilient Philadelphia Eagles
(14-3) host Case Keenum and
the surprising Minnesota Vi-
kings (14-3) — in a matchup of
teams that overcame losing their
starting quarterbacks.
“They count us out all the
time,” said Minnesota’s Stefon
Diggs, whose 61-yard touch-
down catch as time expired Sun-
day gave the Vikings a stunning
29-24 victory. “Nobody thinking
we can do it. This game was over.
I don’t stop playing till the clock
hit zero. That’s it.”
The Eagles open as a 3 1/2-
point favorite against the Vi-
kings, while the Patriots open fa-
vored by 91/2 in their game.
Being here is nothing new, of
From Page IB
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burgh appeared to do in the run-
up. Coach Mike Tomlin hinted at
facing the Patriots twice back in
December. Running back Le’Ve-
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the pair of “round 2s” the Steelers
will face in coming weeks. Turns
out, one rematch is all the Steelers
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Jarius Wright (17) of the Minnesota Vikings catches the ball
Sunday over defender PJ. Williams (26) of the New Orleans
Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
‘We knew we had this team’s
number,” Jacksonville safety
Barry Church said. ‘All we did
was feed on the fuel that every-
body was providing, the media,
everybody was talking about
how they’re going to run
through us, it’s not going to be
like last [time]. Blake Bortles
this. Blake Bortles that. All he
did was dominate their defense.”
A week removed from an ugly
performance in a wild-card round
win over Buffalo in which he
passed for 87 yards and struggled
with the easiest of throws, Bortles
went 14 of 26 for a touchdown
without an interception. He ran
for 35 more and wasn’t sacked by
a defense that led the NFL and set
a franchise record with 55 during
the season. Jacksonville’s 45
points tied the most ever allowed
by the Steelers in the playoffs.
Not bad for an offense that at
times simply appeared along for
the ride as the NFL’s top defense
carried the load.
“Blake Bortles has always
been criticized,” Foumette said.
“It is different now. He has guys
that have his back, especially me.”
Certainly looked it as Four-
nette scored two first-quarter
touchdowns. The Jaguars built a
21-point lead and responded
whenever the Steelers rallied.
“The guys played with confi-
dence all day long,” Bortles said.
“Obviously, what they have on
their side of the ball, it’s a good
team. We know they got a good
offense. We knew we were going
to have to be efficient, hold on to
the ball for a little bit, so we did it.”
acted some revenge on Brees
and the Saints, at least for their
long-frustrated fans. They put
them through quite the emotion-
al finish to complete it.
Brees connected with Michael
Thomas for two of his three
touchdown passes in a span of
3:09 of the second half. The first
score came after a 12-play, 80-
yard drive. The second was set up
at the Minnesota 40 by an inter-
ception by Williams after an off-
balance throw by Keenum, his
one costly moment of either inex-
perience or recklessness.
When George Johnson
blocked Ryan Quigley’s punt, the
Saints took over at the Vikings 40.
Four plays later, rookie Alvin
Kamara, whose breakout was a
major factor in the team’s NFC
South title and breakthrough
from three straight 7-9 finishes,
caught a 14-yard pass from Brees
for a 21-20 lead with 3:01 left
Forbath’s 53-yard field goal,
his third make of the evening
against his former team, gave the
Vikings their lead back with 1:29
left That was more than enough
time for Brees, the sure-bet Hall
of Famer with a Super Bowl ring
and all kinds of records.
But after Brees got Lutz in po-
sition, there were just enough sec-
onds remaining for Keenum —
the undrafted and undersized all-
time leading passer in NCAA his-
tory at Houston whose first career
playoff start ended in spectacular
fashion. He finished with 318
yards, going 25 for 40, with Diggs
catching 137 yards on six catches.
From Page IB
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“I’m just thankful,” Diggs
said. “They count us out all the
time. Nobody thinking we can
do it. This game was over. I don’t
stop playing till the clock hit ze-
ro. That’s it.”
This wasn’t quite Franco
Harris and the Immaculate Re-
ception for Pittsburgh in the
1972 playoffs, but these Vikings
are on some kind of special path.
They finished 13-3 during the
regular season, giving the career
backup Keenum the keys to the
offense after Sam Bradford went
down with a knee injury after
the opener.
The Vikings will play at Phila-
delphia next weekend, after Jack-
sonville takes on New England
for the AFC title. The Super Bowl
is in Minnesota two weeks later.
“A heck of a game, wasn’t it?”
coach Mike Zimmer said. “And
the good guys won.”
Now the Vikings have spun
an unprecedented scenario in
NFL history. Next weekend, in-
stead of the usual win-or-go-
home stakes, they’re in a win-
and-go-home situation with the
Super Bowl set for Feb. 4 under
the reverberating translucent
roof of U.S. Bank Stadium.
Though only defensive end
Brian Robison remains from the
2009 team that lost in overtime
of the NFC championship game
at New Orleans, the Vikings ex-
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 166, Ed. 1 Monday, January 15, 2018, newspaper, January 15, 2018; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1138230/m1/10/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .