FOXBORO, Mass. - All season, Bill Parcells had challenged the New England Patriots to shake the ''club fighter'' mentality he believed impeded the team's progress.
The Patriots coach saw a hard-working group that possessed the talent to throw the big punch but lacked the will, steadiness and timing to land it.
Sunday in Foxboro Stadium, the Patriots never stopped swinging at the Jacksonville Jaguars. New England's offense missed a few haymakers, but its defense pounded Jacksonville persistently.
The Patriots were left standing with a 20-6 victory in the AFC championship game and a spot in Super Bowl XXXI on Jan. 26 against NFC titlist Green Bay.
For most of the afternoon, the first championship game played at this overgrown high-school field belonged on the undercard. Jacksonville botched two punts - failing to get off a kick, then fumbling a return - to help New England score its first 10 points.
Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe almost offset those gaffes by throwing an interception and losing a fumble that generated Jacksonville's pair of field goals.
As if numbed by the zero-degree wind-chill factor, the anticipated scoring gala between the Patriots, the seven-point favorites who led the AFC in scoring, and the Jaguars, boasting the NFL's top passing offense, never materialized.
But just when the Jaguars (11-8) seemed poised to wield the magic that fueled the second-year franchise's improbable surge through the postseason, New England (13-5) connected with its best uppercuts.
''Bill has said for a long time that defense wins championships. Today our defense won the game for us,'' Bledsoe said.
The Patriots' defense packed its most telling heroics into the final four minutes:
- Leading 13-6, New England allowed Jacksonville to creep 5 yards from its goal line. ''The guys were confident. We felt good about what we were trying to do,'' Jacksonville quarterback Mark Brunell said. But safety Willie Clay justified his nickname of ''Big Play'' by intercepting Brunell's pass in the end zone with 3:43 left.
- Forced to punt, the Patriots maintained their aggressiveness when linebacker Chris Slade forced Jacksonville running back James Stewart to fumble, prompting Otis Smith's 47-yard return for a touchdown with 2:24 to go.
- For emphasis, rookie linebacker Tedy Bruschi intercepted another pass on the second play of Jacksonville's next possession, enabling the 60,190 frozen witnesses to feel comfortable in their delirium.
The most delirious fan of all was Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who told the fans and a national television audience during the postgame trophy presentation that Parcells was ''the greatest coach in the history of the game in modern times.''
Rest assured that Parcells, rumored to be bound for the New York Jets or another team if he doesn't obtain more control of football operations, will remember those words.
Kraft's hyperbole has some basis in fact. Parcells became the only coach besides Don Shula (Colts, Dolphins) to reach the Super Bowl with two different teams.
New England proved that it had absorbed the gospel of pride and defense that Parcells preached to the New York Giants, who won Super Bowls under him following the 1986 and 1990 seasons.
''It has been a big, big transition,'' said Slade, a fourth-year player.
When Parcells began harping on his club fighter theme last fall, said Clay, ''Nobody was paying a lot of attention. But now it makes a lot of sense.''
The numbers affirm the Patriots' progress. After yielding an average of 22.6 points in their first 11 games, they've allowed just 10.4 in their last seven, including nine in their two postseason victories.
Though they gained just 234 yards against Jacksonville, the Patriots allowed only 289.
''All year long, it hasn't been a matter of if we make a big play, but when,'' said Jaguars running back Natrone Means, who gained 43 yards on 19 carries after getting 315 yards in two previous playoff games. ''The 'when' never came for us today.''
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