These Jaguars are a bunch of confident cats.
Based on some of the comments their players are making, you'd almost think they were the ones who went 16-0 during the regular season.
"We're just blessed to have another opportunity, to be on the same field as the New England Patriots," a sarcastic Maurice Jones-Drew told reporters this week. "Tom Brady is my idol. He's from the Bay Area, dates supermodels. He's everything a kid wants to be."
Some Jacksonville players even cracked jokes about "Spygate" and took shots at the Pats' unblemished record.
"They're beatable," guard Vince Manuwai said. "You've seen the other teams almost beat them. We just can't make the mistakes that other teams did."
"It's us against them. They're 16-0, they're wonderful, they're great," said DE Paul Spicer. "But the bottom line is they have to beat us Saturday. Until that happens, we're 1-0 and they're 0-0."
As usual, the humble-pie hungry Patriots are taking the cautious approach with their comments about Saturday night's playoff contest.
"We're all at the bottom of the mountain climbing up," said New England defensive lineman Richard Seymour.
"We're not paying any attention to 16-0," said receiver Jabar Gaffney.
"For us, our record is not 16-0," safety Rodney Harrison said. "It's 0-0. If we don't win, we go home."
QUICK HITS
Pats fans who want to get their blood boiling should read the column on ESPN.com in which the writer insists that Jacksonville will undoubtedly beat New England Saturday.
For a more balanced assessment of the Jags-Pats match-up, check out The Providence Journal's column.
And as you've probably already seen here on patriots.com, New England leads the way with five All-Pro selections this year.
