The Jacksonville Jaguars have lost rookie WR Jarrett Dillard for the year due to a broken ankle/leg.  Dillard played in 7 games for the Jags this season and he caught 6 passes for 106 yards (17.7 avg).  The Jaguars will replace Dillard as the #4 WR with rookie 7th round pick Tiquan Underwood out of Rutgers.  He has not caught any passes yet this year for the Jaguars. 

The Jaguars got a huge road win earlier today in the Meadowlands as it was sealed by a 21-yard field goal by Josh Scobee as time expired.  David Garrard was solid today completing 16 of 26 passes for 221 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 11 yards (1.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Maurice Jones-Drew had another outstanding game as usual with 123 yards rushing on 24 carries (5.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 22 yards (11.0 avg) today.  TE Mercedes Lewis (2 rec, 58 yards) and WR Mike Sims-Walker (3 rec, 49 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Jags today.  The Jaguars finished up with 347 total yards (139 rushing, 208 passing) in this game.

Safety Sean Considine (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and CB Rashean Mathis (4 tackles, 2 passes defensed and a interception) led the way for the Jags’ D today.  The Jets finished up with 322 total yards on offense (110 rushing, 212 passing) in this game.  The Jaguars are now back in the playoff hunt with a 5-4 record on the year.

The Jaguars have been outscored 71-13 in their last two road games so Coach Del Rio hopefully did something different with the team this week to prepare for the game in New Jersey against the Jets.  The Jaguars will probably tighten up the chinstraps and come out trying to run the ball against the Jets who are allowing 108.1 yards rushing and 4.0 yards per carry this season.  LBs Bart Scott and David Harris will be tough for Drew to get yards on inside so look for the Jags to run a lot of sweeps on Sunday.  The Jaguars will probably try to throw the side opposite of Darrelle Revis which means that Torry Holt or rookie Mike Thomas could have a big game against the Jets with Mike Sims-Walker likely having a tough afternoon dealing with Revis.

The Jets will likely come out running the ball with Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene against a Jags’ D that is allowing 119.8 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  The Jets hope that they get their running game going which is averaging 177.6 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry so that they can protect Mark Sanchez.  Jerricho Cotchery, Braylon Edwards and Dustin Keller could make some big catches against a Jags’ D that is allowing 242.3 yards passing per game and QBs have a 100.2 rating against them.  Still, CB Rashean Mathis is a pickoff artist so Sanchez will have to be careful when throwing in his direction.

PREDICTION:  JETS 27, JAGUARS 10

The Jaguars were ball hogs in this game as they had possession of the ball for 36:13.  David Garrard completed 18 of 27 passes for 264 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 9 times for 29 yards (3.2 ypc) today.  Maurice Jones-Drew was very busy in this game for the Jags as he carried the ball 29 times for 97 yards (3.3 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 3 passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg) in this game.  Rookie RB Rashad Jennings had his best game of the year for the Jags today as he carried the ball 2 times for 29 yards (14.5 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 1 pass for 9 yards.  WR Mike Sims-Walker had another huge game for the Jags today with 6 catches for 147 yards (24.5 avg) with a TD grab.  Torry Holt pitched in with 4 catches for 37 yards (9.3 avg) but he lost a fumble.  The Jaguars finished up with 426 total yards on offense (173 rushing, 253 passing) in this game.

The defense played pretty well for the Jags in this game until 4th quarter.  Linebacker Daryl Smith led the way for the Jaguars in this game with 8 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and 2 QB hits.  The Chiefs finished up with 301 total yards on offense in this game (60 rushing, 241 passing).  The Jaguars are now 4-4 on the year.

The Jaguars have got a lot of production out of their rookies so far this season.  OT Eugene Monroe (1st round, #8 overall) has played in 6 games (4 starts) for the Jaguars this season.  He looks to be a starter for a long time with the Jaguars.  OT Eben Britton (2nd round, #39 overall) has played in six games (all starts) for the Jaguars so far this season and he even has 1 tackle.  Like Monroe it appears that Britton will be a fixture on the offensive line.  DT Terrence Knighton (3rd round, #72 overall) has been o.k. for the Jags so far this season with 20 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  CB Derek Cox (3rd round, #73 overall) has not made it to the field in a regular season game yet.  WR Mike Thomas (4th round, #107 overall) has been stepping up lately for the Jaguars.  He has caught 18 passes for 176 yards (9.8 avg) and he has also carried the ball 7 times for 52 yards (7.4 ypc) so far this season.  Thomas is working his way into the offense as the Jags have a need at WR.  Thomas has also returned 13 kickoffs for 334 yards (25.7 avg) and 8 punts for 45 yards (5.6 avg) so far this season.  WR Jarrett Dillard (5th round, #144 overall) has caught 4 passes for 66 yards (16.5 avg) so far this season for the Jaguars.  TE Zach Miller (6th round, #180 overall) has pitched in with 5 catches for 30 yards (6.0 avg) so far this season and he has also made 2 tackles.  RB Rashad Jennings (7th round, #250 overall) has carried the ball 18 times for 68 yards (3.8 ypc) and he has also caught 3 passes for 6 yards (2.0 avg) so far this season.  Jennings has also returned 3 kickoffs for 56 yards (18.7 avg) so far this season.  WR Tiquan Underwood (7th round, #253 overall) has not caught a pass yet this season but he has returned 2 kickoffs for 38 yards (19.0 avg) for the Jags.  The Jaguars really found some pretty good players last April in the NFL Draft.

The Jaguars have claimed 26-year old safety Anthony Smith off waivers from the Rams.  Smith played in 2 games for the Rams this season and he made 4 tackles including one of them that was for a loss.  Smith has played in 48 games in his 4-year NFL career and he has made 110 tackles, forced 1 fumble, defensed 11 passes and he has 4 interceptions.  Smith replaces CB Scott Starks on the roster as he was placed on the Injured Reserve List with a injured hip.   Starks played in 5 games for the Jaguars this season and he had 7 tackles. 

The Kansas City Chiefs are well rested coming off their bye week.  But they weren’t with controversy last week as they suspended Larry Johnson for this game.  Too bad for him because the Chiefs will likely come out running this week against the Jaguars.  Jamaal Charles is a very talented running back and he should do some damage against the Jags’ D which is allowing 128.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  This also could be the week that Matt Cassel truly breaks out for the Chiefs.  He has been sacked 27 times already this season but the Jags only have 5 sacks this year.  Dwayne Bowe, Bobby Wade and the newly acquired Chris Chambers should all be really active in this game.

The Jaguars will likely come out running with Maurice Jones-Drew against a very soft Chiefs’ run D which is allowing 131.0 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry.  The Chiefs only have 9 sacks this season so David Garrard should have plenty of time to throw the ball.  Mike Sims-Walker, Torry Holt, Mike Thomas and Mercedes Lewis should all be effective against a Chiefs’ D that is allowing 252.1 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  JAGUARS 30, CHIEFS 27

The Jaguars need kicker Josh Scobee to get his act back together.  He has made 8 of 12 field goals this season and he is 13 for 14 on extra points.  With the offense the Jaguars have they can not afford to leave points on the football field.  Scobee better get his act together soon if he wants to be on the Jaguars next season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) became the first team to lose to the Tennessee Titans (1-6) this season.  It was not a good game for the Titans defense as they let Titans’ RB Chris Johnson run all over them.  Johnson had 228 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.  He had a 52-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter and a 89 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter to seal the deal for the Titans.  Vince Young made his first start of the season for the Titans, and the Jaguars were not able to force him into any mistakes as Young did a good job managing the game.  Justin Durant was the only one who showed up for the Jaguars’ defense, getting 12 tackles.

The Jaguars had a great game on the ground too, but it wasn’t enough for them.  Maurice Jones Drew had 177 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries!  I’m no genius, but you would think that the Jaguars would feed Jones-Drew the ball more than eight times when he is getting huge runs.  He had an 80 yard touchdown run near the end of the first half, and followed that up with a 79-yard touchdown run early in the second half.  David Garrard had a bad game, throwing two interceptions and getting 139 yards on 14/27 passes.