Even when he makes the occasional valid point, I can't take Bklyn seriously when it comes to Bortles.  He has hated on him, bashed him, trashed him, and blasted him from day one.

Here's my take:

Unbalanced and bad officiating was a deciding factor in this game.  I know you have to play well enough to overcome all that.  And the Jags didn't.  But the officiating was clearly biased, though not necessarily in a WWE way as I said last night while I was still raw.  The Patriots got the superstar discount.  Just like MJ used to get no traveling calls against him when he was the biggest traveler the NBA had ever seen up to that point.  But he was MJ and he was the star of the league.  And you can bet your boots that despite the NFL's two major investigations of the Patriots, New England is NFL royalty.  And Tom Brady is the most valuable of its stars.  They got a few calls and many no-calls that affected the outcome of the game.

The PI on AJ against Cooks at the end of the first half was a chicken-scratch call. Both players were engaging one another.  Both players were going for the ball.  And the ball was not catchable, regardless.  If anything, it should have been called on Cooks because of his hitting AJ's helmet.

The quick whistle on Jack's fumble recovery in the 4th quarter robbed the Jags of a potentially game-winning touchdown.

Two no-calls for PI committed against Marcedes when he was being mugged and wrapped by the DB before the ball even arrived.

Grabbing, holding, and wrapping up defensive players by the Patriots offensive line all afternoon was never called.  

The zone, zone, zone defense in the second half is Wash's fault.  You keep riding with what got there and what got you your big lead.  If your spine turns to jelly you will not beat a Belichick coached team.

The vanilla play-calling in the second half in on Hackett.  You have to keep your foot on the gas and keep scoring points.  As long #12 is taking snaps for the opponent, you can bet your backside that they will put them up.  Hackett's lack of faith in Bortles is on him, not on Blake.  And the Patriots making halftime adjustments with Nate having no answer for those adjustments is on Nate.

Bortles played well enough for us to win.  He played mistake-free football, committed no turnovers.  He was one of the few bright spots in the game for the Jags yesterday.  Meanwhile, Robinson is getting schooled by 39 y/o James Harrison, the former baddest man in the game.  The rest of the O-line, an improved asset for much of the second half of the season, couldn't establish dominance over the Patriots defense.  The Patriots!  We're not talking about Vikings or Eagles defense, the Patriots!  Blake Bortles was not your problem yesterday.  This was a team that didn't seize its moment, that came up a step short of its potential.

The Jags lost because, in order of importance, officiating, coaching errors, and execution errors.

All that being said, I love this team.  Love its heart and its grit.  Think we've got a very good coaching staff that will learn and adapt and get better.  And for all those analysts of Fox and ESPN who don't think the Jags even win the division next year, watch and see!  We are the best team in the division and second place ain't even close.

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