The New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars will meet for the first time since Week 3 of the 2015 season in this Sunday's AFC Championship, but the Patriots are fully aware they're facing a better team than the one they dismantled by a score of 51-17 two years ago.
It's something they've known since an informal meeting during joint practices in this year's training camp.
"We knew from the beginning they were a good football team," safety Duron Harmon told reporters, according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.
"You could just tell. You could tell the mood around the team - they came up here and instantly they wanted to show that they were a good football team just like we are a good football team, and they did. You saw it then and they didn't have Jalen Ramsey and Calais Campbell practicing at the time. ... We saw it. We saw it. We knew they were going to be a good football team and they just kept progressing, kept getting better, and that's the reason why they're here right now," said Harmon.
Ramsey and Campbell are Pro Football Focus' No. 2 ranked cornerback and No. 4 ranked edge defender, respectively, helping the Jaguars finish the regular season as the league's second-best team by total defense.
