Jacksonville is one of seven

The Atlanta Falcons nearly won a Super Bowl a year ago behind the NFL’s most potent offense.

It was that side of the ball that ended their chances to get to the big game again.

Atlanta managed only 10 first-half points Ryan Suter Jersey , both coming off Philadelphia turnovers, and lost 15-10 to the Eagles on Saturday. While Philadelphia advances to the NFC championship game, the Falcons (11-7) go home.

”I think that’s certainly something that we have to look at and evaluate this offseason,” Matt Ryan said after concluding a somewhat down season for him in the wake of his 2016 league MVP campaign. ”There were too many times that we were a little bit inconsistent.”

That was exemplified against the Eagles (14-3), who like the Falcons sputtered in the red zone. But Philly got three field goals from Jake Elliott and a touchdown run from LeGarrette Blount.

Most damaging for Atlanta was how it came up empty deep in Eagles territory on its final drive. The Falcons had first-and-goal at the 9, and got to the 2 on fourth down before Ryan’s pass to Julio Jones soared over his head in the end zone.

”Certainly in those situations you want to go to your best players,” Ryan explained. ”You know, obviously rolled to the right and had an opportunity to Julio. It just didn’t work out and that’s disappointing.”

Atlanta was the NFL’s highest-scoring team last season, but its lowest production was in a 24-15 defeat to the Eagles. The offense wasn’t nearly as productive this season, falling to 15th, from 33.8 points a game to 22.1.

The Falcons didn’t come close to their season’s average, or to the 26 they put on the board in beating the Rams in a wild-card matchup last weekend.

So while the defense was vastly improved, particularly in the pass rush, the Falcons fell flat with the ball far too many times.

”That’s one of the areas we are dialed in from the beginning of the season to where how we make sure those aren’t field goals and they turn into touchdowns,” coach Dan Quinn said. ”Was there plays that knocked us out? Could we have done better in the run game down there?

”Those are certainly topics we are going to look long and deep into.”

Star receiver Jones had a strong game with nine receptions for 101 yards. He was targeted 16 times.

But he couldn’t get free downfield, except for a 20-yard reception on fourth down on the final drive. For the Falcons to be Super Bowl threats down the road, Jones must be nearly unstoppable.

Atlanta’s running game was spotty against the Eagles, too. Several times, Tevin Coleman had open lanes and got nice gains. On other plays, he and Devonta Freeman didn’t have an inch to run when Ryan handed off.

Coleman, usually the backup, had 79 yards on 10 carries, with a long of 23. Freeman had only 7 yards on his 10 carries.

In contrast, the Eagles ran for 96 yards and had several big plays on the ground.

Now, the Falcons must cope with a much earlier and nearly as dramatic defeat as what they sustained last February.

”It’s difficult when you get to the playoffs and you’ve put in all the work throughout the year,” Ryan said. ”You’re in a competitive game like tonight. There’s a lot of back and forth. It’s disappointing to not get the outcome that you want.

”The finality of it sometimes is difficult, so we’re disappointed for sure.”

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JAGUARS (12-6) at PATRIOTS (14-3)

Sunday, 3:05 p.m. ET, CBS

OPENING LINE – Patriots by 9 1/2

RECORD VS. SPREAD – Jaguars 9-7, Patriots 11-5

SERIES RECORD – Patriots lead 10-1

LAST MEETING – Patriots beat Jaguars 51-17, Sept. 27, 2015

LAST WEEK – Jaguars beat Steelers 45-42; Patriots beat Titans 35-14

AP PRO32 RANKING – Jaguars No. 10, Patriots No. 1

JAGUARS OFFENSE – OVERALL (6), RUSH (1), PASS (17)

JAGUARS DEFENSE – OVERALL (2) Tyler Ennis Jersey , RUSH (21), PASS (1)

PATRIOTS OFFENSE – OVERALL (1), RUSH (10), PASS (2)

PATRIOTS DEFENSE – OVERALL (29), RUSH (20), PASS (30)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES -Patriots are 3-1 in playoffs against Jaguars. Lone Jacksonville win was 25-10 in 1998 wild-card round when Tom Coughlin was Jacksonville’s coach and Pete Carroll coached New England. … Patriots have won past seven meetings overall and two straight in postseason. … Since Jaguars entered NFL in 1995, they are 1-10 (.091) against Patriots, including playoff games. That’s worst winning percentage of any team vs. one opponent (minimum 10 games) in that span. … Jaguars seeking first trip to Super Bowl, one of four franchises (Lions, Texans, Browns) never to get there. … Jaguars are making third appearance in AFC title game in their 23-year history and first since 1999 season. … Jacksonville lost 20-6 to New England in AFC title game on Jan. 12, 1997. … Jacksonville can become 11th team to defeat top two seeds from their conference in same postseason since 1990 when current playoff format was adopted. … Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone is 1-3 all-time vs. Patriots … Jaguars are 8-0 this season when QB Blake Bortles doesn’t have turnover and 4-6 when he does. … Jags have plus-7 turnover margin on road this season (including playoffs), best mark in franchise history. They have 22 takeaways in nine road games this season, most in NFL and most in single season in franchise history. … Including playoffs, Jacksonville’s defense has scored eight touchdowns this season, three more than any other team. It is most defensive TDs scored in season by one team since 2012 Bears. … In addition to being ranked fourth in NFL in opponent’s red zone TD percentage (43.8), Jacksonville also has best red zone scoring percentage in NFL, scoring TDs on 67.9 percent of trips this season (40 TDs on 56 drives). … RB Leonard Fournette rushed for 109 yards and three TDs in last week’s divisional win. He is only rookie in NFL history with 100-plus yards rushing and three or more rushing TDs in postseason game. … LB Telvin Smith tied career high with 16 tackles and returned fumble for TD last week. He has 27 tackles, forced fumble and fumble return in his two career playoff games. … DE Calais Campbell led AFC with franchise-record and career-high 14 1/2 sacks. … DE Yannick Ngakoue was one of two NFL players (Aaron Donald) with 10 or more sacks (12) and five or more forced fumbles (six). … LB Myles Jack had sack, INT and three pass defenses in first two playoff games. … CB A.J. Bouye has two INTs, forced fumble and seven pass defenses in his past four postseason games. … Patriots playing in seventh straight AFC title game, a record. … New England is 9-4 in AFC championship game overall. Patriots’ 14 appearance rank behind only Pittsburgh (16) and San Francisco (15) for conference title contests. … Coach Bill Belichick is 7-2 all-time vs. Jaguars. … QB Tom Brady is 2-0 in playoffs against Jaguars, throwing for six TDs and no interceptions. …Jacksonville is one of seven NFL teams that Brady has undefeated regular-season record against (5-0). … Jaguars had NFL’s No. 2-ranked scoring defense. Brady has faced top-two scoring defense in playoffs three times (2014 Seahawks, 2004 Eagles, 2004 Steelers). He is 3-0 with passer rating above 100 in each game. … Brady led NFL with 4,577 yards passing and ranked first in AFC with 32 TDs. Both are most by QB at age 40 or older. … RB Dion Lewis has 507 scrimmage yards (126.8 per game) with 5 TDs (three rushing, two receiving) in his past four games, including playoffs. … TE Rob Gronkowski led all NFL tight ends with 1,084 yards receiving, his fourth career 1,000-yard season. That is tied with Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten for most among tight ends in NFL history. … In his past six postseason games, Gronkowski has 512 yards receiving (85.3 per game) and seven TDs. He is looking for his seventh playoff game in row with TD catch. … WR Danny Amendola has 190 yards receiving (95 per game) and TD in past two playoff games. … DE Trey Flowers had sack last week. He has 3 1/2 sacks in past two playoff games. … LB James Harrison has 11 career sacks in postseason, tied for fifth most in NFL history.

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