Just before halftime, Devin McCourty picked off a Blake Bortles pass and the Patriots scored a touchdown that turned what had been a relatively close game into one that the Patriots led by 17 points.
It was a sign of things to come. The Patriots would kick a field goal to open their second half scoring and then drove for four touchdowns that left them on the right side of a 51-17 rout. The win moves the Patriots to 3-0 on the season and leaves the Jaguars licking their wounds a week after they knocked off the Dolphins.
Nothing much went right for Jacksonville once the second half got underway. A 59-yard touchdown by wideout Allen Hurns was overwhelmed by a drive that saw the Patriots move 76 yards on back-to-back pass interference penalties and a fake punt that went nowhere when the Jags were already losing 37-10. The Patriots moved the ball at will, scoring on all nine possessions while Tom Brady was in the game and going on a 17-play drive in the fourth quarter that seemed to go on and on just because New England preferred bleeding clock over scoring more immediately.
Brady threw two touchdowns, which gives him 401 for his career, and Rob Gronkowski went over 100 yards receiving for the 17th time in his career. LeGarrette Blount scored three touchdowns and ran for 78 yards in his first extensive playing time of the season and Keshawn Martin scored his first touchdown since being traded to New England this month.
The Pats have now scored 119 points in three games this season, which has them on pace for mind-boggling totals if they’re able to keep it going over all 16 weeks. The Cowboys will get the next crack at trying to stop them and we’d advise taking the over after watching what the Falcons got up to this weekend.