Jaguars laying in the weeds with no distractions and a top defense

The underdog Jacksonville Jaguars could spoil the party of the New England Patriots on Sunday. The Jags, the No. 3 seed in the AFC, surpassed expectations by reaching the AFC Championship Game with a talented defense, rookie running back Leonard Fournette and an unheralded quarterback in Blake Bortles.

Standing in the way of the Jags’ first Super Bowl berth is Tom Brady and the No. 1 seed Patriots. Sunday’s game is no easy task; then again, who said beating the Patriots was easy? The Jaguars do have a man in the front office who has spoiled two Super Bowl parties for the Patriots, Tom Coughlin, who as coach of the Giants, won two titles against Brady and coach Bill Belichick.

Coughlin isn’t coaching. He’s in the press box grinding on every play as the vice president of football operations for the Jaguars. He can offer coach Doug Marrone all the advice he wants, it is still Tom Brady. It is still Rob Gronkowski. It is still Josh McDaniels calling plays. It is still Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots are 21-4 in the postseason and haven’t lost there since 2013 (the 2012 season).

It is still a Patriots defense that allowed 14.0 points per game the last 12 contests of the regular season.

The Jaguars are not flinching.

“We have earned the right to be here,” defensive end Calais Campbell said. “We have put a lot of time and effort in, so this is an opportunity we feel like we deserve and we have prepared for. I can honestly say I expect to be here.”

The Patriots don’t expect to be here, they know they will be here. If anything, this is what this franchise is playing for: championships.

Yet there were some questions:

How long does Brady, at 40 years of age, have left in his body to keep chasing rings? The season started off with a home loss to Kansas City. The Chiefs, along with the Steelers, moved to the front of the AFC as the Patriots just kept playing and waiting.

The Patriots defense struggled, allowing 440 yards per game in the first six weeks of the season. A funny thing happened along the way: Brady kept being Brady.

The defense improved and a Week 15 matchup with the Steelers, as close as it was, turned toward the Patriots in a 27-24 victory Dec. 17. It turned the tide in the AFC, maybe all of football. The Chiefs, after their 6-2 start, went on a four-game losing streak, prompting Andy Reid to defend quarterback Alex Smith.

The Patriots?

All they had to deal with was an ESPN story saying the Big Three was in trouble, implying that Brady was upset at Belichick for kicking his personal trainer off the sidelines and went behind Belichick’s back to owner Robert Kraft to get backup Jimmy Garoppolo traded to San Francisco.

It was a mess.

The Patriots, in their typical way, brushed it aside, like they do anything else and now are here, in the AFC title game again.

“A couple weeks ago it was, ‘Let’s talk about an article and ask them,’ ” safety Devin McCourty said. “For us, we just stick to how do we win a football game? How do we study the film, find out how to execute offensively, defensively, special teams? And that’s what makes us happy at the end of the day. You see it in our locker room.”

Even the controversy of Brady’s nicked-up right hand, a story that carried weight for three days leading up to the game, was really nothing in the Patriots universe.

Brady and anyone surrounding the Patriots acted like nothing was really going on. He’s officially listed as questionable for the Jaguars game, and he’s going to play.

“Tom always looks good,” linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. “He’s handsome and he’s good at football.”

“Tom always tends to show up in big games,” wide receiver Danny Amendola said. “This is a big game.”

The Jags and Brady know he’s going to play. This party the Patriots are planning is just two victories away from starting.

Here come the Jaguars with their brash young defense, which finished second overall during the regular season. Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey guaranteed his team would not only beat the Pats but win the Super Bowl.

Will they stop the Patriots?

“Their reputation is what it is,” Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack said. “New England deserves all the credit they get. They’ve been doing it for years, since I was in middle school. You put that in perspective. At the same time, we have to realize you can’t get involved in what’s surrounding them. You just have to play your game. At the end of the day, all the hype and the hoopla doesn’t matter once the ball is snapped.”