Jaguars Need Complete Effort vs. Patriots

By Scott Serrano
SportsTicker Staff Writer

Three strong quarters and late, clutch play was enough for the Jacksonville Jaguars to slip past the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-29, in an AFC wild card game on Saturday. That won't cut it in the divisional round against the unbeaten New England Patriots (16-0) this weekend.

The Jaguars (12-5) looked like world-beaters, physically dominating the Steelers on both sides of the ball in opening a 28-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Using the same blueprint universally regarded as the only way to defeat the Patriots, Jacksonville rode the backfield tandem of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, who combined for three of the team's first four TDs.

Defensively, the Jaguars kept the Pittsburgh offense grounded, intercepting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger three times. Cornerback Rashean Mathis brought one of those interceptions back 63 yards for a touchdown to give the Jaguars a 14-7 lead. "Certainly getting this experience (Saturday) should be good for our football team going forward," Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio said. "Ultimately we made enough plays to win, and we needed it. We needed every bit of it." A 43-yard swing pass from quarterback David Garrard to Jones-Drew for a touchdown made it 21-7 at the half, and a 10-yard scoring jaunt by the backup halfback in the third quarter put Jacksonville ahead by 18 points and seemingly on its way to the next round. Then it almost all fell apart.

On the first play of the first quarter, Roethlisberger hooked up with Santonio Holmes on a 37-yard TD pass. The quarterback then hit tight end Heath Miller for a 14-yard TD on the ensuing possession to pull his team within 28-23. Garrard, who had thrown only three interceptions all season, was promptly picked off by Ike Taylor. Less than three minutes later Najeh Davenport scored from 1-yard out and the Jaguars trailed 29-28 with 6:28 left.

For the game, Garrard completed just 9-of-21 passes for 140 yards, one touchdown and two costly second-half interceptions. But Garrard, not an exceptional runner, atoned for his poor passing day when he found a seam on a 4-and-2 play and rambled 32 yards to the Steelers 11 with 1:56 left. "I wanted the ball in my hands to make up for earlier mistakes," Garrard said. "(I learned) I can make mistakes and rebound from them." Josh Scobee then won the game by kicking a 25-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining. "They came back on us," Del Rio said. "We made some mistakes, but they did some things to get back in it as well. "At the end, we had the winning plays. That's what it takes in this league, in this playoff tournament."

In New England, the Jaguars face a team that has much more playoff experience, much like the Steelers. While the Patriots have won three of the last six Super Bowls, the Jaguars don't have a player who's won a Super Bowl ring. But the Jaguars know that they will need to play more than just 40 minutes of solid football to have a chance in Foxborough. That means no interceptions by Garrard and no break downs in their pass defense against Tom Brady and the record-breaking Patriots offense. "We know that if we bring our A game, eliminate mistakes and play with everything we have, then we'll have a great chance" Garrard said. "They are really, really good."