The Jacksonville Jaguars had a great season this year as they finished 11-5 during the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs.  Jack Del Rio made the big choice to let Byron Leftwich go and hand the job to David Garrard and that was the biggest reason the Jags were so good last season.  Jack Del Rio has now been the head coach of the Jaguars for 5 seasons and he is 45-35 (.563 %) in the regular season and he’s 1-2 (.333 %) in the post season.

The Jaguars played tough last Saturday Night but it wasn’t enough to win the game.  David Garrard had a good game as he completed 22 of 33 passes for 278 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 14 yards (4.7 ypc).  Fred Taylor didn’t find much running room against the Patriots as he rushed for 47 yards on 13 carries (3.6 ypc).  Maurice Jones-Drew only rushed for 19 yards on 6 carries (3.2 ypc) but he also caught 6 passes for 49 yards (8.2 avg).  Mercedes Lewis (4 rec, 74 yards), Matt Jones (3 rec, 48 yards, TD) and Ernest Wilford (2 rec, 21 yards, TD) all played well in the passing game for the Jaguars.  The Jaguars finished up with 80 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 33 passes for 270 yards.

The defense (which didn’t play well) was led by linebacker Daryl Smith (14 tackles) and defensive tackle John Henderson (8 tackles, sack).  The Patriots finished up with 145 yards rushing on 29 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 28 passes for 258 yards.

The Jacksonville Jaguars rolled into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers at Heinz Field but their task this week will be much tougher.  Now they have to deal with the 16-0 Patriots in Foxboro.  Not only that but Tom Brady always saves his best for the post season as he has a career record of 12-2.

The Jaguars will try to  push the Patriots around in the running game.  The Jags have a physical offensive line to couple with Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor to pound on the interior of the Patriots defense.  That makes NT Vince Wilfork, Tedy Bruschi and Junior Seau the focal point of the defense for the Patriots in this game.  Also, QB David Garrard isn’t afraid to take off either as evidenced last week when he led the Jaguars in rushing.  Garrard had been effective throwing the football until last week when he kept throwing the ball to Steelers defensive backs.  He can’t do that again this week because corners Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs are big time playmakers who can take any interception to the house.

The Patriots will try to jump on the Jaguars early with the passing game to take the Jaguars out of their offense.  The Jaguars don’t have much of a pass rush so they will likely be at the mercy of Tom Brady and his receivers.  That is bad news for the Jaguars as Brady will move the football around to Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney, Donte’ Stallworth and Ben Watson.  Still, Brady must be careful when dealing with cornerback Rashean Mathis who intercepted two passes last week against the Steelers taking one of them to the house.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 34, JAGUARS 21

What a football game this was.  The Jaguars rolled to a 28-7 lead after three quarters only to see the Steelers score three unanswered TDs to take the lead in this game.  The game all came down to a 4th and 2 play with not much time left when David Garrard had a nice long run to move the chains for the Jags and set up Josh Scobee to hit the eventual game winning field goal.  Garrard almost was the goat for the Jags in this game as his two 4th quarter interceptions really put the team behind the 8-ball but he came up big when the team really needed it.  Garrard completed 9 of 21 passes for 140 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  He also carried the football 5 times for 58 yards (11.6 ypc) to lead the Jags in rushing.  Fred Taylor found the Steelers defense a little tougher than the last time they played as he carried the football 16 times for 48 yards (3.0 ypc) with a TD run.  Maurice Jones-Drew was the biggest thorn in the Steelers side in this game.  Drew returned a kickoff 96-yards in the first quarter to set Fred Taylor up for a 1-yard TD plunge.  This deflated the crowd a bit at Heinz Field as it answered a long Steelers TD drive on their first series of the game.  Drew carried the ball 8 times for 29 yards (3.6 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught one pass…..a 43-yard TD!  The Jaguars finished up with 135 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 9 of 21 passes for 104 yards.

Sammy Knight (13 tackles) and James Durant (12 tackles) were the busiest players on the defense for the Jags.  But it was Rashean Mathis and Derek Landri who were the real stars of this game for the Jags.  Rashean Mathis only had 2 tackles but he picked “Big Ben” off two times including one that he returned 63-yards for a TD.  Reserve defense tackle Derek Landri was all over the place despite only making one tackle in this game.  That’s because Landri also had a sack, an interception and he recovered the fumble to end the Steelers last possession of the game.  The Steelers finished up with only 43 yards rushing on 26 carries (1.7 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 42 passes for 297 yards.

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The Steelers come into this game limping as they did not have a good second half of the season.  The Jaguars are one of the most physical teams in the NFL and they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh 29-22 just three weeks ago.

The Jaguars will do what they do best and that’s run the football despite the Steelers only allowing 89.9 yards rushing per game this season.  That’s because the Jaguars rushed for 244 yards in the first meeting between the teams this season.  Fred Taylor has rolled up an amazing 381 yards rushing in his last two games against the Steelers!  Don’t forget Maurice Jones-Drew who can hurt the Steelers as a runner, receiver or kickoff returner.  If the Jaguars get the running game going the Steelers will be at the mercy of David Garrard.  Garrard has spread the ball around well this season as the Jags don’t have any receivers that really stand out.

The Steelers would be smart if they just came out throwing the football.  The Jaguars allow 213.5 yards passing per game this season so look for Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller to be very active in this game.  Plus, if the Steelers get the early lead they can get the Jaguars away from their running game.  Ben Roethlisberger has played well in the playoffs before and the Steelers will likely be leaning on him without Willie Parker (broken leg) available.  Najeh Davenport will be the main man in the running game but his style doesn’t seem to match up well with the Jaguars defense.

PREDICTION:  JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 21, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 20

Many experts thought the Jaguars made the wrong move in letting Byron Leftwich walk and elevating David Garrard to the starting job…..and they were wrong….big time.  David Garrard took a hold of the starting job and he literally ran with it.  He played in 12 games this season for the Jaguars and he completed 208 of 325 passes (64%) for 2,509 yards with 18 TD passes and 3 interceptions (102.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 49 times for 185 yards (3.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Garrard has now played in 40 games in his NFL career and he has completed 521 of 864 passes (60.3%) for 6,052 yards with 36 TD passes and 16 interceptions (87.7 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 164 times for 822 yards (5.0 ypc) with 7 TD runs.

The Jaguars weren’t 100% positive that Quinn Gray would be a solid #2 QB but he definately proved capable.  Gray played in 8 games for the Jaguars this season and he completed 80 of 144 passes (55.6%) for 986 yards with 10 TD passes and 5 interceptions (85.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 19 times for 57 yards (3.0 ypc) this season.  Gray has now played in 11 games in his NFL career and he has completed 101 of 180 passes (56.1%) for 1,252 yards with 12 TD passes and 5 interceptions (88.5 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 24 times for 84 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.

The Jaguars didn’t play any of their regulars and they still played a good game and could have won it if they didn’t let Andre’ Davis of the Texans to return two long kickoffs covering 201 yards for TDs.  Quinn Gray had the best game of his NFL career as he completed 25 of 39 passes for 302 yards with 4 TD passes.  Greg Jones led the Jaguars in rushing with 71 yards rushing on 14 carries (5.1 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 27 yards (9.0 avg).  LaBrandon Toefield also got some work in as he rushed for 15 yards on 7 carries (2.1 ypc).  Matt Jones had the best game of his NFL career as he caught 8 passes for 138 yards (17.3 avg) with a TD grab.  Ernest Wilford also had an outstanding game as he caught 6 passes for 58 yards (9.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Jaguars finished up with 96 yards rushing on 23 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 25 of 39 passes for 285 yards.

Linebacker Brian Iwuh led the way on defense for the Jaguars with 7 tackles.  The Texans finished up with 170 yards rushing on 34 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 11 of 18 passes for 120 yards.