With the 2007 season over for the Jacksonville Jaguars, they can now sit down and look back at what was considered a very good year. After the 2006 season ended like a bad nightmare by losing their final three games and miss out on the playoffs, the Jaguars wasted little time getting the bad taste out of their mouths.

It started right after the preseason schedule concluded when Head Coach Jack Del Rio abruptly changed his mind and cut starting quarterback Byron Leftwich. Insert career backup David Garrard. This is where every football analyst and fan raised their eyebrows and scratched their heads thinking about how dumb Del Rio is. People across the country were taking bets as to which team Del Rio would become defensive coordinator for after Jacksonville floundered in the regular season and Del Rio would get canned. 17 weeks later it was Del Rio who got the last laugh as he had a new challenge; preparing for a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Garrard was playing quite well through the first quarter of the season, leading the Jags to a 3-1 record before getting hurt on Monday Night Football against the Colts. After losing to Indy, it would have been easy for the Jaguars to fold with the inexperienced Quinn Gray under center. But Gray held his own and won two out of the three games he started in place of Garrard and from there Jacksonville found their identity as a team.

Led by the resurgent Fred Taylor, who has been the subject of just about every article I have written here, the Jaguars boasted the NFL’s second best rushing attack. Second year back Maurice Jones-Drew avoided a sophomore slump as he once again proved he can play at a very high level in the league. Forget all the touchdowns MoJo scores, it was evident that the 5’7 212lb. human bowling ball can hold his own when he planted Charger linebacker and steroid user Shawn Merriman flat on his back while blocking out of the back field. Taylor, who finally will be going to the Pro Bowl, was a little slow out of the gate but started racking up yards and touchdowns while continuing to lead the team as a captain.

 The Jaguars have a lot to look forward to going into 2008 as Del Rio has already let it be known what he wants and that is the AFC South crown. Jacksonville will need to make a couple of minor additions but nothing serious as they are already well built for next year.

It is no secret this week. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the underdogs going into their Divisional Playoff game against the only undefeated team since 1972. Listed as 13 point favorites, the New England Patriots will look to keep their magical season alive against what should be their most difficult match up to date. Everyone knows how lethal the Patriot offense is, led by NFL MVP quarterback Tom Brady and the resurrected Randy Moss, the Patriots put up 589 points and 79 touchdowns as a team which are both NFL records. The Jaguars will either make history or become another chapter in New England’s, here’s how Jacksonville can pull off the upset.

KEEP TOM BRADY ON THE SIDELINE

How do you keep Brady, Moss and company from putting points on the board? Make them watch impatiently from the sideline. The only way Jacksonville can do that is if the dynamic duo of Pro Bowl running back Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew are effective on the ground. Picking up about four yards a carry, which hasn’t been a problem for these two as Taylor averaged 5.4 during the regular season and MJD averaged 4.6 a carry, is pivotal for Jacksonville’s offense to stay on the field. By running the ball efficiently, the Jaguars can control the clock and tempo but most of all it will allow quarterback David Garrard to be relaxed and utilize the play action. This will be the most crucial part of the game for the Jaguars because the Patriots can score, on anyone, and the best defense against a team like this is a good offense.

 HIT THEM IN THE MOUTH

This shouldn’t be a problem at all for Jacksonville as they are known for being one of the more physical teams in the league. On both sides of the ball, the jags are very physical and play a smash mouth type of football that could present some problems for the Patriots who are more of a finesse team. The defensive front seven of Jacksonville are not afraid to mix it up, therefore watch for some heavy hitting. If the Jags can make their presence known early, they could make Tom Brady a little uncomfortable sitting in the pocket which could lead to some bad throws.

 GET TO BRADY

If the Jaguars want any chance of moving onto the next round then they have no choice but to put Brady under attack, often. There isn’t a quarterback in the league who likes to consistently feel heat from the defense. The Jags sacked Big Ben 6 times last week and in turn forced him to throw three interceptions. Even though Brady is the MVP of the league, if he gets enough pressure in his face there’s a good chance he will make a mistake. The Jaguars secondary, led by cornerback Rashean Mathis have to make sure Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth are covered well when Brady gets pressured. If the coverage is bad then Brady still has the ability to hit his receivers when their open. Mathis will have his hands full with Moss but he will have over-the-top help from safeties Reggie Nelson and Sammy Knight. That leaves Brian Williams with an important role covering Stallworth and nickel back Terry Cousin trying to slow down Welker, who has had a well documented career season. Simply put, the Jags defense has their work cut out for them but if they can set an early physical presence then they could set the tone for the rest of the game.

KEY MATCHUPS

Here’s a look at some of the important match ups in the game:

      Jacksonville offensive line vs. New England front seven. The Patriots run a 3-4 style defense similar to what Pittsburgh had last week so tight end Mercedes Lewis and fullback Greg Jones will have to get to the linebackers quicker to open holes for Taylor and MoJo.

      Jaguars defensive line vs. Patriot offensive line. If defensive end Paul Spicer and his line mates can break the offensive line of New England then Jacksonville will have the opportunity to blitz their linebackers to put Tom Brady under fire.

      Taylor and Jones-Drew vs. Patriots aged linebackers. It is well known that the Patriots run defense is overrated and that they do not have a linebacker under the age of 30. The Jaguars blocking on Junior Seau, Adalius Thomas, Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi should enable Taylor and MoJo to exploit the 16-0 Patriots only perceived “weakness.”

      Mathis vs. Moss. This should be a good one as the Jaguars top corner goes toe to toe with the leagues’ best receiver. If Mathis can keep Moss in check then it will make life easier for the other defensive backs.

      Terry Cousin vs. Wes Welker. This match up might be the most important, for both teams. Brady relies on his slot receiver for big plays and it is up to Cousin to keep that from happening.

If the Jaguars can play a flawless game and they will need to against a team this good, then there is no reason why Jacksonville can’t pull off the biggest upset of the year. The pressure is all on the Patriots, they are expected to win the Super Bowl but it is the Jaguars who have nothing to lose and you never want to play a team that has nothing to lose.

Jaguar’s middle linebacker Mike Peterson was lobbying this week to head Coach Jack Del Rio to play in this weekend’s Divisional Round Playoff Game against the New England Patriots. However, Del Rio ruled Peterson out for the eighth consecutive game because of a broken hand and the Jacksonville defense will have to find a way once again to shut down the run without their star linebacker. Daryl Smith has filled in quite well for Peterson especially considering that Smith is an outside linebacker.

Safety Reggie Nelson was restrained to riding the stationary bike today in practice because of a thigh injury, in which he played through against the Steelers. Defensive tackle John Henderson, who forms one of the top tackle duos in the league with Marcus Stroud who is already on IR, was forced out of the Pittsburgh game in the first half and was not participating at the start of practice on Wednesday.

Sorry folks but it has taken me a few days to catch my breath after Saturday night’s Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers that certainly lived up to the word wild. To start, hats off to the Steelers. Down by 18 going into the 4th quarter, the Steelers came storming back without a handful of their starters thanks to injuries. It started with a 4th and 12 when Ben Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes on a quick slant and Holmes proceeded to break two tackles and take it to the house. Pittsburgh didn’t stop there as they continued to claw into the Jaguar lead. The “cardiac cats” definitely lived up to their nickname as they saw their big lead disappear and gave every Jaguar fan a near heart attack.

Thanks to a 96 yard kickoff return by Maurice Jones-Drew to set up Fred Taylor’s 1 yard and two interceptions (one for a touchdown) by Rashean Mathis on consecutive Roethlisberger passes the jags had a 14-7 lead and were ready to strike again. A few plays later on 3rd down David Garrard hit MoJo on a swing pass and the human bowling ball did the rest as he out raced Ike Taylor and found the end zone to give Jacksonville a 14 point lead. In the 3rd quarter MJD struck again as he scampered for ten yards and found the end zone again for an 18 point Jaguar lead. Even with Jones-Drew providing a comfortable lead it was anything but comfortable with six minutes left in the 4th as an 18 point lead turned into a one point deficit, thanks largely to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to go for two 2 point conversions instead of kicking extra points.

Jaguar quarterback David Garrard finished up the regular season with 18 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. Garrard almost matched that total on Saturday night alone. The six year veteran making his first postseason start threw two picks in the second half as the Steelers got 10 points from the turnovers including the go ahead touchdown with 6:21 remaining. About 4 minutes later he redeemed himself on a 4th and 2 with the season in the balance. On a designed quarterback draw, Garrard hit the hole and did not stop running until 32 yards later. “They kind of lost their gaps, they thought pass, I was able to get through there,” Garrard said. “I just wanted to get a first down. I did enough to get into field-goal range and that was all I was thinking about.” Josh Scobee booked the Jaguars second playoff trip to New England in the past three seasons when he connected on a 25 yard field goal with 37 seconds left.

Jack Del Rio watched as his team was suffering the worst collapse in playoff history only to rebound with less than two minutes left, reminiscent to week 15 when his Jaguars squandered a big lead only to score late and escape Heinz Field with a win. “I was very proud of our guys for responding after watching that 18-point lead evaporate,” Del Rio said. “Certainly, getting this experience will benefit our football team. We wanted to stay calm, stay poised and understand that that’s what you need to do, make some plays. We needed every bit of them.” Going to New England, Del Rio and the Jaguars will need to be much sharper and Garrard will need to hold onto the ball as he did during the regular season.

All in all a win is a win and the bottom line is Jacksonville is moving on. To beat the undefeated Patriots, the Jags will need their offense to keep Tom Brady off the field. For now the Jaguars and their fans can relax for a couple of days and enjoy their first playoff win since 1999.

Game ball goes to…Cornerback Rashean Mathis. Mathis intercepted Roethlisberger twice in two plays and returned the first one 63 yards for a touchdown. The next pass Big Ben threw was picked off by a leaping Mathis as the Jaguar offense capitalized on the turnover and put 7 more points on the board. Mathis will be tested this weekend as he matches up against the NFL’s top receiver, Randy Moss.

Unlike in 2005, when the Jacksonville Jaguars backed into the NFL playoffs only to get smoked by the New England Patriots in the first round, this Jaguar team is storming through the AFC on a mission. After that 28-3 pounding the Patriots laid on Jacksonville, the Jags were supposed to redeem themselves last season but faltered in December by losing their final 3 games and were forced to watch the playoffs on TV.

What a difference a year makes.

Going into the 2007 season, 5^th year quarterback Byron Leftwich was expected to be back under center for the Jaguars. However, Coach Jack Del Rio surprisingly cut Leftwich and anointed backup David Garrard the starter. When this first happened and caught the league by surprise it was questioned frequently by NFL analysts. Now there is not one expert second guessing Del Rio’s decision. “To make a decision this bold requires some strong conviction, and I have that…I believe David is our guy,” said Del Rio. “He’s proven to be a playmaker for us. He can be a threat both throwing and running it for us.” Garrard proved his coach made the right decision, while silencing his critics at the same time by throwing for 18 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions the entire season. He finished third in the NFL with a 102.2 quarterback rating and has become known around the league as one of the top game managing quarterbacks in the NFL because of his ability to keep the ball away from the opponent.

In order for Garrard to be effective tonight he will need another solid and productive game from his running backs. Pro Bowler Fred Taylor and his counterpart Maurice Jones-Drew will look to repeat their performances from week 15 against the Steelers. It has been well documented about what the two of them combined to do in that wintry grudge match. Taylor exploded for 147 yards on 25 carries and the decisive 12 yard touchdown with less than 2 minutes in the 4^th quarter. The Jaguars captain and franchise player will need to set the tone again in order for the rest of the offense to be effective. The Steelers will be again without the services of their top defensive lineman Aaron Smith so Taylor and MJD will be seeing an 8 man box from the Pittsburgh defense frequently tonight. This should set up the play action pass for Garrard and play into his favor. He likes to spread the ball around to all of his receivers, especially the resurgent Reggie Williams who is showing why the Jaguars took him in the first round a couple of years ago.

Unfortunately for the Steelers they are missing important starters on the other side of the line as well. Their two starting tackles (Max Starks and Marvel Smith) are both out for the game and will obviously weaken the Steelers protection of Big Ben. Jacksonville got to Roethlisberger 5 times in their win in the regular season and with the addition of defensive end Reggie Hayward for tonight it could be more of the same. The Steelers biggest injury without question is their All Pro running back Willie Parker, who suffered a broken leg against the Rams in week 16. “Fast Willie” ran for 100 yards against the Jaguars defense in week 15 and his replacement, Najeh Davenport, is suitable but nowhere near the home run threat that Parker possesses.

With all of the major injuries that Pittsburgh has and the style of football that the Jaguars play, it could be a major advantage for Jacksonville as the attempt to become the first team in history to defeat the Steelers twice in one season in The Steel City.

Congratulations to Fred Taylor as yesterday he was announced Offensive Player of the Month for the AFC in December. It marked the first time in Taylor’s ten year career that he has been chosen for this award and also the first Jaguar to win the award since wide receiver Jimmy Smith was picked in 1999. Taylor ignited the top ranked rushing offense in the AFC. And in December he proved why, by racking up 494 rushing yards on 64 carries to go along with 3 touchdowns.

Taylor averaged a league high 123.5 yards per game in the season’s coldest month including 5 consecutive 100 yard games. The defining game for Taylor and his team came in week 15 when Jacksonville went to Pittsburgh and eked out a hard fought win. Taylor set the tone by running for 147 tough yards and the deciding touchdown run of 12 yards with less than 2 minutes left in regulation.

With Taylor winning the Offensive Player of the Month award, it marked the first time this season that a New England Patriot did not. Quarterback Tom Brady won the award for the first two months of the regular season and his main target Randy Moss won the honor in November. If Freddy can continue his resurgence tomorrow night in the wild card round of the AFC playoffs then there is a good chance Taylor will be showcasing his ability in front of Brady, Moss and the rest of New England at Gillette Stadium. However, the Jaguars will have to get past the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night in the most anticipated first round game in the NFL. The Jags will need Taylor to be at his best as it will be a physical football game that will be decided by the effectiveness of the run by Jacksonville.

Taylor wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without middle linebacker Mike Peterson for this Saturday’s wild card Playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Peterson has missed the last 6 games with a broken hand but has not been ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs, should the jags advance in the tournament. In the most anticipated playoff matchup of the weekend, it’s actually the Steelers who are decimated by injuries, which could propel the Jaguars to New England next week.

Veteran Offensive Linemen Max Starks and Marvel Smith will be out for this game. Safety Troy Polamalu and return specialist Allen Rossum are questionable but are expected to play. Jacksonville however, will get a huge boost on the defensive line as Reggie Hayward will be making his return on Saturday.

Without star running back Willie Parker, the Steelers will turn to Najeh Davenport to carry the load on offense. The Jaguars, who boast the league’s 11th ranked run defense, should be able to contain Davenport and force Ben Roethlisberger to win the game with his arm. With that said, the Jacksonville secondary which has improved throughout the course of the season should be able to get enough pressure on Big Ben to force errant throws. As the defense did in week 14 against the bulky quarterback by sacking Big Ben 5 times, look for more of the same this time around because of the injury factor. Subtract two of the Steelers top linemen and add in Reggie Hayward on the defensive line and it could be a field day for the Jacksonville defense.

Tomorrow I will have an in depth preview for the game and break down what the Jaguars need to do to beat Pittsburgh for the 2nd time this year.