Tom Coughlin has won two Super Bowls as a head coach for the New York Giants, both against the New England Patriots. Now Coughlin is the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who just so happen to be playing the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 21).

Can Coughlin's presence and knowledge be a factor that can aid Jacksonville players and coaches in preparation for their tilt against the Tom Brady led Pats? You betcha.

Coughlin with the Jags

Not many will give the Jaguars a chance at beating New England, they will claim the Jags are too young, too inexperienced, and the Patriots are too good to lose at home against them.

However, there are no guarantees when a team gets this far in the postseason, each team has made it to the semi-finals for a variety of reasons, and when you put them all together it isn't a fluke.

How did Coughlin beat the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl? The biggest reason was what his defense did to the Patriots offense. Most teams like to play zone coverage against Tom Brady, in fear that they will be beat deep and Brady will go over the top. In these cases, Brady picks the team apart in their zone coverage, dinking and dunking, methodically and continuously driving down the field and scoring. Further, along with the zone coverage, most teams like to send a blitz at Brady, and it rarely works, the extra men sent creates more open receivers for Brady to find.

Coughlin does not subscribe to the zone coverage and blitz scheme, and neither does the 2017-18 Jacksonville Jaguars who are coached by his hand-picked protege Doug Marrone. Coughlin played press-man coverage against the Patriots, which didn't allow for Patriots receivers to gain any separation initially once the ball was snapped.

And since Coughlin chose not to blitz, he relied on a four-three pass rush by his four defensive linemen, some of whom were Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan. The Giants front-four were able to pressure Brady enough for him to get uncomfortable and have less than stellar games. Combine the elements of a successful four-man rush and good press man-coverage down the field, it made Brady less than superhuman.

Coughlin knows Tom Brady's kryptonite, and the Jaguars have pieces as good or as better as the players who won two Super Bowls against Brady. Cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye are two of the best in the league in press coverage. Calais Campbell and Marcell Dareus are two of the best defensive lineman in the NFL. The Jaguars have the pieces to get to Brady with just four men rushing, and that could set up for Brady not having much time to throw.

Keys to the game

The key on the Jaguars side will be to execute their gameplan. The key for the Patriots will be for their receivers to shed this press coverage quickly and give Brady a chance to complete passes. The game will be won and lost depending on how the Jags defense performs.

If Tom Coughlin wasn't in the Jaguars organization, I wouldn't give them much of a chance to win, but he knows this Patriots team and scheme well.

We will see if his formula works yet again.

Bill Belichick realizes this game is no cake-walk, he's impressed with the Jags.
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