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Four of the five teams that gave up the fewest points during the regular season are the last four left with a shot at the Super Bowl Sherrick McManis Jersey , something that had never happened since the NFL-AFL merger nearly a half-century ago.

And three of the four toughest to gain yards against are still around, too.

Still think that all a team needs to succeed in the modern game is an elite QB? Go ahead and take a close look at Sunday’s matchups for the conference championship games.

Sure, Tom Brady (assuming his injured right hand is good to go) and the New England Patriots will be playing for the AFC title, just like they always do, but they’ll be going up against Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Over in the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles will send Nick Foles out to face the Minnesota Vikings and Case Keenum, hardly a marquee matchup between quarterbacks, and one set up by injuries to other signal-callers.

What this quartet of teams does have in common is solid defense, showing once again that while everyone is paying so much attention to one side of the ball, it’s the other that might truly matter the most. The more league rules and officiating tend to favor offenses, the more figuring out ways to slow that down is imperative.

”When you have a defense that can shut that type of firepower down,” said Brian Robison, a linebacker on the Vikings defense that ranked No. 1 in yards and points allowed, ”it allows you to win ballgames.”

Minnesota gave up 15.8 points per game. Jacksonville was No. 2 at 16.8, followed by No. 4 Philadelphia’s 18.4 and No. 5 New England’s 18.5.

”There’s teams that have really good defenses that aren’t talked about,” Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. ”We’re one of them.”

It’s the first time since the 1970 merger there has been that sort of defensive dominance among the NFL’s final four. The closest was at the end of the 2010 season Art Monk Jersey , when teams that ranked No. 1 (Steelers), No. 2 (Packers), No. 4 (Bears) and No. 6 (Jets) in points allowed reached the conference title games.

”The most heralded guys on the field are the quarterbacks. So I would say, nine times out of 10, your detail goes into your offensive planning and things like that,” said Jacksonville’s leading tackler, Telvin Smith, who returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown last weekend. ”Offense sells tickets, and defense wins championships. I’m happy I’m on the defensive side.”

He is part of a young, talented and speedy D that rose to prominence quickly via a combination of shrewd drafting (linebackers Smith and Myles Jack, defensive ends Yannick Ngakoue and Dante Fowler Jr., cornerback Jalen Ramsey) and free-agent signings that panned out (defensive lineman Calais Campbell, cornerback A.J. Bouye, safeties Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson).

Take a look at the regular-season rankings in various defensive categories, and you can’t miss the Jaguars. That helps explain how they made it this far with Bortles, whose 84.7 rating ranked 22nd among QBs with at least 100 pass attempts and whose 13 interceptions were exceeded by only six players.

Campbell tied for second in NFL with 14.5 sacks Adam Vinatieri Jersey , while Ngakoue added 12 and led the league by forcing six fumbles. Bouye tied for third with six interceptions, while Ramsey, Gipson and Church each had four. As a unit, the Jaguars were No. 2 in yards allowed at 286.1, trailing the No. 1 Vikings (275.9), with the Eagles (306.5) at No. 4. The Jaguars were also second in sacks and total takeaways, while they topped the NFL with seven defensive TDs.

Exceptional defense can carry a team far: In nine of the last 10 seasons, the No. 1 or No. 2 team in points allowed participated in a conference championship game. The exception was 2015, when the Seahawks led the league in that category but lost in the divisional round, and the Bengals ranked second but lost in the wild-card round.

”Now it’s down to, `May the best defense win,”’ Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham said. ”We each get to showcase what we can do.”

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AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell in Eden Prairie, Minnesota; Kyle Hightower in Foxborough, Massachusetts; Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida; and Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

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Julio Jones insists his status for training camp was never in doubt.

Jones, the five-time Pro Bowl receiver Anthony Castonzo Jersey , was back for the start of Falcons training camp Friday after missing a mandatory minicamp in June while asking that his contract be reworked.

Jones dismissed reports he wouldn’t report without a new deal as ”he said, she said” speculation.

”We knew all along we were going to get it handled,” he said.

For coach Dan Quinn, the most important fact was seeing No. 11 catching passes from Matt Ryan.

”It was awesome to have him back,” said Quinn, adding Jones’ routes were ”really sharp and clean.”

Jones drew cheers from fans when he caught a pass on the sideline in front of cornerback Desmond Trufant late in the practice.

General manager Thomas Dimitroff said Thursday the team made an ”adjustment” to Jones’ five-year, $71.5 million contract. Jones is entering the third year of the deal.

Dimitroff said the tweak to Jones’ deal wouldn’t affect the team’s hopes to negotiate contract extensions for left tackle Jake Matthews, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, and safety Ricardo Allen. On Friday, the team agreed to a five-year, $75 million extension for Matthews.

The biggest new deal of all came earlier in the offseason – a five-year, $150 million extension for Ryan, the most lucrative contract in NFL history.

Ryan’s contract, and the team’s talks with Matthews, Jarrett and Allen, were among the reasons Dimitroff said the Falcons couldn’t renegotiate Jones’ contract until after the season.

Jones confirmed he told Quinn this month he would report to training camp.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank said at the NFL owners meeting in May he expected Jones to play his entire career with Atlanta.

”Our relationship has always been excellent so I had the confident in Thomas and the confidence in J.J. being a great Falcon for us not only on the field but off the field and a leader in the locker room Tyrone Crawford Jersey ,” Blank said Friday.

Jones said he and Blank ”reiterated what he had told us – that I’m going to be a Falcon forever.”

Asked if it was difficult to be away from the team for the mandatory minicamp and other offseason work, Jones said he told Quinn ”It was just me getting healthy as far as some stuff with me, getting back right and feeling 100 percent.”

A healthy Jones is especially important to the Falcons’ hopes of returning to their offensive form of their 2016 Super Bowl season, when they led the league in scoring.

One year ago, Jones was recovering from minor offseason surgery on his left foot and was limited in the first training camp with offensive coordinator Steve Sarkasian.

Jones didn’t miss a game last season despite having two ankle injuries – plus back, ribs, thumb and knee injuries.

Jones, who also participated in an informal passing camp led by Ryan in California this month, has no injury concerns.

”For me and for the team it’s better than I’m healthy and can do everything,” he said.

Quinn said wide receiver Russell Gage used advice from Jones to fine-tune a route at the California camp.

”Those were the things that don’t show up on the stat sheet that often speak to who he is as a teammate,” said Quinn of Jones.

It’s not unusual for Jones to be included on Atlanta’s game-week injury reports, but he has missed only three games the last four seasons. He has broken his right foot twice, at the NFL combine in 2011 and in 2013 when he missed 11 games.

Jones has remained one of the NFL’s most productive receivers. He had 88 catches for 1,444 yards and three touchdowns in 2017. Jones and Marvin Harrison are the only players in NFL history to have at least 80 catches for at least 1,400 yards in four straight seasons

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