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

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

Both of these teams are 9-4 on the season and they mirror each other in offensive style and physical play.  This game will come down to who wants it more and it will be interesting to see which team it winds up being.

Despite the Steelers only allowing 72.6 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry it won’t stop Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew from attacking them.  The Jags are averaging 143.8 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry so something has to give and it will be interesting to watch.  David Garrard has been outstanding this season (103.3 QB Rating) as he has been moving the football around as Dennis Northcutt is leading the team with only 39 catches.  That makes it really hard for the DBs to concentrate on any one receiver.

The Steelers will likely come out running the ball with Willie Parker and Najeh Davenport against the stern run defense of the Jags who allow only 93.1 yards rushing per game and 3.9 yards per carry.  Ben Roethlisberger will need to be careful with the ball in this game as the Jags have intercepted 16 passes already this season.

PREDICTION:  PITTSBURGH STEELERS 20, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 17

These two teams run a very similar offense and defense so this should be a close ball game.  The Chargers will attempt to run the ball with LaDainian Tomlinson (733 yards rushing, 8 TDs) to control the clock but the Jags allow 102.7 yards rushing and 4.1 ypc so he might have a hard time rolling up a lot of yards.  Plus, the Jags defense is very physical and they will likely bring the fight to him.  If the Chargers get a running game going that will help Philip Rivers have the time needed to throw the ball to Antonio Gates and Chris Chambers.

The Jaguars are a running team and they will try to push the Chargers defense around.  The Chargers are allowing 119.4 yards rushing per game and 4.5 ypc so Maurice Drew (536 yards rushing, 5.3 ypc) and Fred Taylor (519 yards rushing, 4.2 ypc) should get their yards.  David Garrard is back at QB for the Jags this weekend and that’s a good thing as Quinn Gray kept throwing the ball to the other team.  Garrard has not thrown an interception in 148 passes this season and he has a QB Rating of 102.9 this season.

PREDICTION:  The Jaguars have the QB least likely to make a mistake so I will go with them.  JAGUARS 23, CHARGERS 20.