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.

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.

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.

This game should be a doozy — the Jaguars have always played the Colts extremely well.   Could the Jags hand the Colts their third loss of the season?  Time will tell!