Going into the regular season finale against the pesky Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars are virtually playing for nothing more then a meaningless 12th win. Already locked into the 5th seed of the AFC playoffs, the Jaguars can not move up or down in the standings regardless of the outcome. Coach Jack Del Rio is expected to rest his star players on Sunday. The main players such as running back Fred Taylor, quarterback David Garrard and cornerback Reshean Mathis are almost certainly going to be watching from the sidelines.

The last time the Jaguars made the playoffs, they went into the final game of the year in the same situation. With nothing to gain, the Jags actually lost their key defensive player to injury. Middle linebacker Mike Peterson broke his hand and had to play the playoff game against the Patriots with a cast. He ended up missing an important tackle on Ben Watson who scored a back breaking touchdown to seal another New England playoff win. This time around, Del Rio will not make the same mistake as he knows the only thing his jags can lose is possibly a little bit of the momentum that they have sparked up lately. Garrard does not see that happening, “Well I missed three games and came back and did pretty decent,” the starting quarterback said. “I’m not going to think if I do miss some time in this game that the passing game is going to be off. It shouldn’t be. We’re professionals and we know how to play.” A couple of series for Garrard and the first team offense is normal for teams trying to stay healthy for the playoffs but don’t expect to see them in the second half.

The Jaguars will either play the Pittsburgh Steelers or San Diego Chargers on the road in the wild card round of the playoffs. They have beaten both already this year including the jags biggest win of the season coming in Pittsburgh in terrible conditions. They proved they have the right kind of mix to get it done in cold weather by pounding the ball with Taylor and his tag team partner Maurice Jones-Drew. The defense plays a smash mouth kind of football and without Willie Parker, the Steelers might have to become a one dimensional team, but this is a topic for next week. The Texans have a chance to finish .500 for the first time in franchise history and they always play Jacksonville tough to begin with. It should be an interesting game even without the Jaguars playing their starters.

Prediction: Jaguars 27 Texans 21.

After the first half, the Jaguars are up big over the Raiders 28-3. Capitalizing on two interceptions by JaMarcus Russell and another big day for the Jacksonville offense, the Jaguars have blown this game open. The Jags could have taken a 35-3 lead into the locker room but David Garrard threw his 3rd interception of the season at the Oakland 2 yard line. Earlier in the game Garrard hit Greg Jones for a 2 yard touchdown but this time he was picked off. Fred Taylor of course is having another monster game. On just 4 carries, he has 72 yards including a 62 yard touchdown run on the team’s opening drive. His counterpart, MJD, has also put up big numbers in the first two quarters. The human bowling ball has 26 yards on 3 carries with a touchdown scamper of 14 yards. He also is the team’s leading receiver so far with 4 receptions for 78 yards. The defense is playing solid as usual and will look to reek more havoc in the second half.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be looking to lock up a playoff berth this Sunday at ALLTELL Stadium against the 4-10 Oakland Raiders. With a win, the Jags (10-4) automatically clinch one of the wild card spots in the clustered AFC. The Jaguars right now are one of, if not the hottest team in the conference. Coming off their gigantic win last week in the snow in Pittsburgh the Jags will look to pound the ball on the ground again with their dynamic duo.

Boasting the second best rushing attack in the NFL, the Jaguars will hopefully continue to do what they have done all year. That is, let Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew ware down the opposing defense and then watch David Garrard pick apart the secondary. The second best rushing team in the league will go head to head with the league’s second worst rushing defense. The Jaguars have been smashing their opponents in the mouth on both sides of the ball all season long. Look for more of the same this Sunday.

 The Raiders number one overall pick, quarterback JaMarcus Russell might get the start this Sunday but it is unconfirmed as of Friday. “How it will play out, I don’t know that,” head coach Lane Kiffin said on Thursday. “But both guys will play and hopefully JaMarcus will play for an extended period of time.” The other quarterback he is referring to is Josh McCown, who has started most of the season for Oakland. Whoever the quarterback is, look for the Jags defensive line to get to him often this week as they did against Big Ben last week in Pittsburgh.

The Jaguars are heavy favorites this week, as they should be. Analysts across the country are finally starting to notice this team and give them respect. Look for the Jags to be hungry on Sunday as a playoff berth is in reach. Taylor and MoJo should have field days on the Oakland defense and Garrard will continue to get the job done under center. The Jaguars offense scored 29 points in the terrible weather last week against one of the best defenses in the NFL, Jacksonville will have an easy time with the lowly Raiders in what should be a blowout win.

Prediction: Jacksonville 38, Oakland 10.

Once again our franchise player was snubbed for the NFL’s annual all star game. Fred Taylor, who is enjoying one of his finest seasons of his 10 year career, was again left off the AFC roster for 2007. The AFC undoubtedly has an overload of exceptional running backs compared to the NFC and because of the small market that Taylor plays in he was overlooked again.

Ladanian Tomlinson of San Diego was of course chosen as the starter because he is the best running back in the league, as well as the most popular. Willie Parker of the Steelers was selected as a backup and it was well deserved. Parker has had a tremendous year for Pittsburgh and has put up some gaudy numbers as he sets the tone for the Steelers offense. The third running back chosen was Joseph Addai of the Indianapolis Colts and it is never fun to watch one of our rivals get picked over one of our guys. However, you can make a decent case for Addai because he has good numbers this year and takes a lot of pressure off of Peyton Manning in the Colts offense. But come on, where is Taylor? He has put up ridiculous statistics this year and unlike any of the aforementioned half backs, Taylor splits carries with Maurice Jones-Drew. Taylor has piled up 1,091 yards (4th in conference) on 216 carries for an average of 5.1 yards per carry, easily the best average among starters in the AFC. Without Jones-Drew, Taylor would lead the league by about 300 yards.

One of the main factors that separate Taylor from the other running backs that were chosen is the lack of touchdowns. Willie Parker, who has only 2 touchdowns this year, gets almost all of the carries for Pittsburgh and leads the league in most rushing categories so the low touchdown total does not hurt him as much. It is not really fair to Taylor because the human bowling ball (Jones-Drew) gets virtually all of the carries inside the ten yard line. Only one of Fred’s four touchdowns have come inside the 5. With touchdown runs of 50,80 and 12 yards respectively, it is evident that Taylor must break a big run if he is going to hit pay dirt. With that said, Freddy has never complained nor will he in the future because he is the ultimate team player and his main objective is to win games on Sundays. If by chance he gets in the end zone then that is just an added bonus.

For us loyal fans of the Jaguars, we know what kind of player #28 is and he does not need to go to Hawaii to prove himself. The important thing (and Taylor 100% agrees) is that the Jags are on the verge of storming into the playoffs and “Fragile Fred” is carrying us there on his shoulders. It is funny that only a couple of years ago, the so called “experts” took the liberty of slapping that nickname on him. Now the league is starting to take notice but for the fans that have seen him play since he stepped out of The Swamp as a Gator and into the Jaguar teal and black, we know how gifted and hard working this man really is. Keep up the good work Fred.

On that note, Taylor shouldn’t feel too somber because no other Jaguars were selected either. At 10-4 and having the 3rd best overall record in the conference, apparently no Jaguar was deserving enough of a trip to the Aloha State in February. The Pro Bowl, like any major sports All Star game, is more of a popularity contest then anything else. This year however, the players that were selected actually had the statistics to justify their votes. The Jaguars players that were deserving of some consideration can either pout about not being chosen for the Pro Bowl or they can continue to get it done on the field for the team. With the character of this team from the coaching staff on down through the players, I would imagine the latter will happen.

The Jaguars inched one step closer to a playoff berth with their biggest win of the season on Sunday against the Steelers. Both teams were 9-4 coming into the game. Pittsburgh certainly did not offer the usual comfortable weather that Florida has consistently for the jags. A mixture of snow, heavy winds and freezing temperatures was expected to keep the Jaguars from even competing in this game. The weather factor was supposed to play into the hands of the Steelers as they are one of the few NFL teams who rely on bad weather to expose their opponents. Coming in 7-0 at home, the Steelers fell behind 22-7 in the 3rd quarter before making a quick comeback in the 4th. However, Fred Taylor and the Jaguars offense once again stepped up when they needed to and pulled out the win on the last drive.

The Jaguars played almost a flawless game on both sides of the ball throughout the entire game. The Steelers capitalized on David Garrard’s second interception of the season to begin their comeback in the fourth quarter. Ben Roesthlisberger was pressured all day by the Jags defense and had a difficult time getting anything going on offense with his bad shoulder. The Jaguars swarmed Big Ben all day long and finished with 5 sacks, including 2 by Brent Hawkins. Roesthlisberger missed practice all week except for Friday and could not get the Steelers offense clicking. Willie Parker had another 100 yard rushing game as he continues to lead the league in most rushing categories. Minus Pro Bowl Defensive Tackle Marcus Stroud, the Jags defensive line had a hard time containing Parker as he repeatedly broke to the outside and into the secondary. However, the Jaguars did not have a problem getting to Roesthlisberger as they consistently pressured him to make inaccurate throws and scramble out of the pocket.

As for the Jacksonville offense, they brought their A game once again. For the eighth straight game, the offense put up at least 24 points. The game would have been a lot easier for the Jaguars but after two Garrard touchdown throws, Josh Scobee could not connect on the extra points and kept they Steelers within 2 scores. Jack Del Rio showed how much confidence he had in his offense and because of the weather conditions, went for it on 4th down three times, converting each one including twice on the same drive that ultimately ended with Garrard hitting Reggie Williams in the end zone on 3rd and Goal. One minute and thirty-three seconds later after a 3 and out by the Pittsburgh offense, Garrard rolled out of the pocket and launched a beautiful bomb to Dennis Northcutt for a 55 yard touchdown. Northcutt had single coverage downfield and Garrard exposed the big mouth safety Anthony Smith, who was burnt for a long touchdown for the second week in a row. Northcutt finished the game with 81 yards on 4 receptions and the touchdown. Ernest Wilford finally got his first touchdown of ’07 when Garrard hit him in the front corner of the end zone to give the jags a 10-7 lead in the first half.

For all of the big plays made through the air, it was the running game that once again broke through for Jacksonville. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew again proved to be a killer duo on the ground for the Jaguars. Taylor, who will be looking to make his first Pro Bowl of his 10 year career on Tuesday, racked up his 4th straight 100 yard game. He piled up 147 yards rushing including the game winning 12 yard touchdown run with under 2 minutes to go in the game. MoJo compiled 99 total yards (69) rushing as he picked up two crucial first downs when Del Rio elected to go for it on 4th down. Jones-Drew also had two first down runs on 3rd and long to keep Jaguar drives alive. Once again, MJD proved to be a receiving threat as well making 5 catches for 30 yards.

But it was Taylor who once again led the way and got the Jaguars within one win of returning to the AFC playoffs. For a guy who has played his entire football career in the Sunshine State where he grew up, the wintry mix was supposed to keep him in check on Sunday. Doubt it, “I love it,” said Taylor, who now has 46 career 100 yard games with 15 of them in December. “I heard some of our guys talking this week about the weather, and I told them they were making too big a deal out of it.” Taylor continues to lead this team on and off the field as the Jaguars now control their own destiny.

 A win against the Raiders this Sunday would ensure the Jags will be playing in January and their first round game could very well be right back here in Pittsburgh, with similar conditions. Not that’s necessarily a bad thing, “The Jaguars are the Pittsburgh of the South,” said Willie Parker, who admired what the Jags did on Sunday from both sides of the ball. “The weather was kind of bad, and they came in like they’ve been playing in it for a while. We’ve got to use our weather to our advantage.” Del Rio agreed, “We know we have to play in this kind of weather in order to advance in the AFC tournament, so it was a good experience.” The Jags have the 3rd best record in the AFC at 10-4 but since the Indianapolis Colts clinched the AFC south division again, the Jaguars sit in 5th place with the top wild card spot.

Game ball goes to………Fred Taylor. You can make a case for the entire offense from the offensive line to Garrard to the receivers, but bottom line is Taylor was the game breaker again for Jacksonville.

All Pro defensive tackle Marcus Stroud was placed on IR yesterday by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Stroud said he had a bad bone bruise on his ankle (the same ankle he had surgery on in the off season) and would be out 6-8 weeks, ending his season. For Stroud, it was a difficult season, including a month long suspension from the NFL because of violating the league’s anabolic steroids and related substances policy.

Nevertheless, Stroud and line mate John Henderson make up one of, if not the strongest defensive tackle tandem in the league. In the nine games Stroud played in 2007 he recorded 22 tackles to go along with 3 sacks. The 7 year veteran out of Georgia will be sorely missed, especially this Sunday when the Jags have to shut down Willie Parker of the Steelers.

Eight year veteran defensive lineman Rob Meier will fill in for Stroud for the remainder of the season. Meier has pretty impressive numbers for a backup so far by piling up 20 tackles and 2.5 sacks this year. Although Meier is a good option to have for Jack Del Rio, he does not bring the same presence as the Pro Bowler Stroud. Look for Pittsburgh to run early with Parker and Najeh Davenport to try and exploit the Jaguars weakened defensive line.

What more does Fred Taylor have to do to get to Honolulu? The franchise running back has yet again put up stellar numbers but continues to get overlooked. Taylor is in his 10th year, all with the Jaguars since being drafted 9th overall in 1997. This is the same draft class that produced Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Randy Moss to name a few. The former Florida Gator has been putting up big numbers since he was a rookie but never got the attention from around the league to make the Pro Bowl.

Taylor does not get the recognition across the league the same way running backs like Ladanian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson get because of a few factors. One of course is the market differences. LT plays for a popular Chargers team in San Diego. “The market thing, we all know how that works,” Taylor said. “I’ve just got to play a little bit better. We’ll see what happens. I’ve got a lot of juice left in my legs. Right now, I think I’ve made a late push.” The Chargers have a longer and more accomplished franchise then Jacksonville and LT is the top back in the NFL. Larry Johnson has had a couple big breakout seasons since he took over as the starting running back in Kansas City for Priest Holmes.

In the late 90’s and at the beginning of the new century, Taylor was known around the league as a feature runner. He did get some attention but somehow never got to the Pro Bowl. He was routinely compared with Eddie George of the Titans, Edgerrin James of the Colts, Corey Dillon of the Bengals and Curtis Martin. They were the top running backs of the AFC year in and year out but for whatever reason; one of them always got the nod over Taylor for a trip to Hawaii. “A lot of it is timing,” he said. “I’ve put up Pro Bowl numbers over the years and . . . for a three-or-four year window, if I had been in the NFC, maybe I would have been in the Pro Bowl several years.”

This year Taylor came into the season with second year phenom Maurice Jones-Drew expected to see an increased workload after having an incredible rookie season last year. MJD has put up impressive numbers again so far this year with 8 touchdowns and a 4.5 rushing average but it’s the veteran Taylor who has about 50 more carries at this point.

Taylor has taken it upon himself to be the leader of the team. His stats speak for themselves, Taylor has 944 yards on 191 carries for a 4.9 rushing average with 3 touchdown runs of 4, 50 and 80 yards respectively. The 80 yarder he broke on Sunday set a franchise long in the regular season (Taylor also has the postseason record with a 90 yard run against the dolphins in 1999, this is also an NFL playoff record.) To go along with the rushing stats, Taylor has caught 9 passes for 68 yards this season. Up until last week Fred was the only captain on the team (most teams have 3). Coach Jack Del Rio recently appointed his quarterback David Garrard and defensive end Paul Spicer the 2nd and 3rd team captains. Taylor has always been a leader on this team but the past two seasons he has been almost completely healthy and can lead by example on the field more because of it. The whole Pro Bowl ordeal does not seem to matter that much to Taylor, he just wants to win. On ESPNEWS Tuesday he said, “I know the team is gonna depend on me so I’m gonna try my best to help us make that late push.” At 32 years old, the window for winning a championship and making his inaugural visit to The Aloha State is shrinking each year but Taylor says, “We’ll see. I plan on running until the wheels fall off.”

The Pro Bowl voting ended today and the rosters will be announced next Tuesday. Lets hope the guy who has carried this franchise from the bottom up to the top over the past decade can finally get his chance at what he deserves, a trip to Honolulu.

The Jacksonville Jaguars showed up on Sunday with a mission and played with a vengeance. Led once again by the familiar faces of David Garrard, Fred Taylor and the solid defensive corps, the Jags routed the Panthers 37-6 to improve to 9-4 on the year. Sitting comfortably with the top wild card spot in the AFC playoff picture, the Jaguars head north to face the Steelers, who took a spanking at the hands of the New England Patriots 34-13. The Steelers are the only AFC North team Jacksonville will play this season. For now, let’s recap the dominating win by the Jags on Sunday!

What more can you possibly say about David Garrard? The 6 year veteran quarterback provided yet another stellar game under center. Garrard completed 20 out of his 36 passes for 230 yards and threw 2 more touchdowns. Garrard again protected the ball extremely well by not throwing an interception as he now has 13 touchdowns compared to 1 interception with three games remaining. David’s quarterback rating for the season actually dropped from 104.7 down to 103.3 and he played a flawless game. He eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark for the first time in his career and his game management continues to impress people around the NFL.

Another impressive performance was turned in by cornerstone running back Fred Taylor. Fred has essentially discarded the “Fragile Fred” label and has had a resurgence in the past two seasons. Playing with fire and determination again because he is finally healthy, Taylor is unquestionably the leader of the team and continues to lead by example every Sunday. Taylor put up 132 yards on just 18 carries including a franchise record 80 yard touchdown run. It was just the third touchdown of the year for Taylor as once again he had to break a long run to get in the end zone. It does not seem too fair to the longest tenured player on the squad that he can’t get any handoffs inside the red zone. I understand MoJo is more of a power back and bowls his way into the end zone but Taylor has taken it to the house enough times throughout his career that he deserves more opportunities.

The receiving corps once again did a good enough job to be productive and get in the end zone more then once. Reggie Williams started the scoring by catching a short pass and breaking a couple tackles for a 22 yard touchdown catch. Matt Jones continues to see limited playing time but snatched a 6 yard touchdown toss from Garrard for his second score of the season. If Jones were healthy the Jaguars would be a very scary passing team. For now though, Garrard must continue to get the ball into the hands of his top three receiving options is Dennis Northcutt, Ernest Wilford and the aforementioned Reggie Williams. Williams had another solid game grabbing five balls for 90 yards including the one TD. Wilford had a mediocre day, catching four passes for just 38 yards but continues to have a quietly productive season. Northcutt who has consistently led the Jags receivers for most of the year had just three catches for 37 yards. The fact is that Garrard spreads the ball out nicely and uses all of his targets whether it is a receiver, tight end or running back.

With the return of All Pro defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, the Jaguars defense was in control from the first snap of the game. As I wrote in last weeks column, the defense needed to shut down Steve Smith and Drew Carter to ensure DeShean Foster would have a rough day. To say the defense shut them down would be an understatement. The jags pressured Vinny Testaverde and prevented Smith from making the big play all day. Clint Ingram picked off Testaverde in the beginning of the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown to ice the game. Testaverde finished 13 for 28 throwing for 84 yards and no touchdowns before being lifted in favor for rookie Matt Moore, who did not fare much better. Foster carried the ball only 11 times for 46 yards as the Carolina offense simply could not get anything going.

Next up for the Jaguars are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who also sit at 9-4 but lead the AFC North division and are in 3rd place overall in the conference. The jags match up quite well with the gold and black but it will come down to execution again. Can the Jaguars take advantage of the Steelers who are coming off a lopsided loss against the Patriots? Find out later on the week as I go inside the huddle and pick out what each team will need to do.

The Jaguars will again be without the services of defensive captain and middle linebacker Mike Peterson who continues to recover from a broken hand. Starting defensive end Reggie Hayward missed practice this week and will not play on Sunday against Carolina. The Panthers will be without first round draft pick wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett from USC who is hampered by a knee injury. Linebacker Na’il Diggs, running back DeShaun Foster and safety Chris Harris practiced Friday and are all probably for Sunday.

After yet another tight and disappointing loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars will need to rebound with a win this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers at ALLTELL Stadium. The 5-7 Panthers are surprisingly good on the road, possessing a 4-2 record away from Raleigh. This will be an interesting game to watch because Vinny Testaverde has played beyond expectations so far this season. Everyone knows that the jaguars run defense is among the tops in the league so if the secondary, led by rookie safety Reggie Nelson, can shut down Testaverde and his two main receiving threats Steve Smith and Drew Carter, then DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams should have a very difficult time running the ball.

            In week 13 the Jaguars went to Indy to take on the first place Colts in what was labeled as the second biggest game of the week. Thursday’s Packers/Cowboys got the spotlight but the AFC South match up stole the show. Led by David Garrard, the first year full time starting quarterback came into the game yet to throw an interception this season. That changed late in the fourth quarter on Sunday but nonetheless Garrard put in yet another impressive performance, throwing for two touchdowns as the Jaguars tried to thwart the Colts. As it has been the last 7 years or so, Peyton Manning was Peyton Manning. After a couple sub-par games in the past couple of weeks, Peyton got back on track by throwing 4 touchdowns, including a back breaking 14 yard toss to Dallas Clark on 3^rd and goal from the 14 with 6 seconds left in the half. That gave Indy a 21-7 lead going into halftime and they never looked back

            Garrard and Jaguar icon Fred Taylor would not let this game get away after Manning’s late touchdown pass. Taylor, who passed the 10,000 rushing yard milestone against the Titans a few weeks ago, had another big game. Taylor ran for 104 yards and his counterpart Maurice Jones-Drew picked up 52 yards and a score. At the beginning of the season the consensus was that the jaguars were a running team. Built solely on the tandem of the veteran Taylor and the sophomore phenom MJD, the jags were not expecting to get yards through the air.

            Oh has that changed.

            Garrard has the 2^nd highest QB rating in the AFC behind Tom Brady at 104.7; he has 11 touchdown throws compared to the one interception and he missed 3 games after getting hurt in the Monday Night game against the Colts in week 7. Stereotyped as strictly a “running” quarterback Garrard has proved all of his doubters wrong and continues to improve every Sunday. Does he have what it takes to be successful in the playoffs? Only time will tell, but the Jags currently lead the AFC wild card and hold tiebreakers over San Diego, Tennessee and Cleveland going into week 14. Hopefully Head Coach Jack Del Rio keeps the players on the right track after losing the close game to the Colts. After last years terrible collapse, losing the last 3 games of the season to finish 8-8 and on the outside of the playoff picture, Jacksonville should have learned their lesson and be prepared to finish this season strong.

            The schedule plays well for the jags to finish the year. After Sundays home game against the diminished Panthers, the jags travel to West Pennsylvania to battle their rivals from Pittsburgh. It’s a shame that these two teams don’t get the chance to play twice a year anymore because of the reshaping of the divisions. The Steelers and Jaguars had many great battles through the years but now must settle playing once a year. Last year the Jaguars stifled Big Ben and the Pittsburgh offense on Monday Night Football and shut out the Steelers 9-0 in a defensive showcase from both teams. This year the Jags are led by rookie Safety Reggie Nelson. The former Florida Gator has 4 interceptions to match his Safety partner Sammy Knight who has quietly put together a very nice and productive season from the Strong Safety position. Don’t forget about Pro Bowl Cornerback Reshean Mathis who continues to do his thing and shut down the other team’s top receiver every week.

            The end of the season has the Jaguars playing the lowly Oakland Raiders at home and the improving Houston Texans on the road in Week 17. Realistically, the Jaguars should be able to win 3 out of the 4 remaining games on paper and match up well against the Steelers. The Steelers game is very winnable and will be a fun game to watch. But if the Jags want to put themselves in position to play Pittsburgh without the added pressure of needing a win to make the playoffs then they must take care of business this week against the Panthers at home.