...has just ended with a one-sided 28-3 scoreline in favour of the Patriots. While there are many factors that make up a team losing, I'm going to point the finger squarely at one major error by the Jaguars; starting Byron Leftwitch at quarterback. He had not played a full game in over 2 months since breaking his ankle, was clearly not physically 100% (otherwise why would he be playing with an ankle joint protector?), and it showed. His passing was inconsistent, and he was clearly lacking in mobility.
The "game over" moment for the Jaguars was a ball thrown by Leftwich which was picked off by Asante Samuel of the Patriots and returned for a touchdown. During Samuel's runback you could see Leftwitch trying in vain to intercept Samuel, and then pulling up and jogging to a stop off the field. He clearly could not run at full speed, and had aggravated his ankle injury. He should have been pulled from the game immediately. Instead, the Jaguars inexplicably left him in the game, which resulted in a by-now-hobbled Leftwitch being beaten up further by the New England defense, who swarmed all over him like a pack of hyenas.
The Jaguars finally replaced him with David Garrard, who immediately looked much better, throwing accurate passes to receivers underneath, and running to gain yardage instead of being locked in the pocket like Leftwitch. Unfortunately by this time it was part-way through the fourth quarter, and the Jaguars were in a 3-28 hole.
The last few minutes of the game were grim if you are a Jaguars fan, with Garrard vainly running around trying to make something happen on the field of play, while a clearly hurting Leftwitch hobbled along the sideline.
Note to aspiring coaches: playing Your Guy in a playoff situation, when he is not physically fit or match-fit, is a really really bad idea. Don't do it.