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As NFL scouts tour America's colleges this month, their calendars littered with pro days, the 2010 NFL Draft's top prospects seem to have already sorted themselves out through the moving and shaking of the pre-draft process. Some of the biggest names, such as Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh, Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, and Tennessee's Eric Berry, have been atop draft boards from the get-go. Two quarterbacks—Oklahoma's Sam Bradford and Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen—crept their ...
Without question, the New England Patriots have been the class of the NFL since Bill Belichick became their head coach back in 2000. Their three Lombardi Trophies, four Super Bowl appearances, 14 playoff wins, and .700 win percentage set them apart as the top franchise of the Noughtiesùa decade in which they endured only one losing season. YouÆd figure that the home for a team like this would be, ...

Jacksonville Jaguars Are Rough, But Are They Ready for New England?

Posted: 24th December 2009 by Jack Harver in NFL
When told that the weather outside figures to be frightful in Foxborough on Sunday, Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio was unfazed. "That would be great," he said earlier this week. "We have a group of mudders. We don't get to see snow down here. I think our guys look forward to that sort of thing." With rain and cold temperatures forecast for the weekend, Del Rio and his Jaguars will likely get ...
In eking out an 18-15 comeback victory Sunday over the run-down Buffalo Bills, the Jaguars (6-4) continued to ride a string of closely-contested wins against less-than-stellar competition. Jacksonville's last three opponents boast a combined record of 10-20, and each came within a field goal of leaving the Jaguars at .500 or below. Nevertheless, six wins over the past nine weeks have pushed Jacksonville near the front of the AFC's wide-open wild card ...
By now, Maurice Jones-Drew's refusal to take a fourth-quarter touchdown against the New York Jets has been widely witnessed, argued about, and gushed over. For those who managed to miss its coverage in the sports media, Jacksonville's vertically-challenged star running back skidded to a halt one yard from the end zone on the Jaguars' game-winning drive in New York last weekend. A score would have given his team the lead, but ...
By and large, fourth-quarter strategy is discussed in terms of timeless horse sense. Kill clock to protect a late lead, run out of bounds to save time for a late comeback, cling to your timeouts for dear lifeùthat sort of thing. (And, of course, John Madden's sage admonition to play for overtime when tied.) Within that school of thought, punting for field position when leading and never taking sure points off the ...
[Article originally published by Stadium Journey .] Ten weeks into the 2009 season, Jacksonville Municipal Stadium has been one of the NFL's most buzzworthy facilities. Not for being big and flashy like the Dallas Cowboys' new billion-dollar homeùit isn'tùand not because it's on a farewell tour like Giants Stadium. (Not yet, at least.) Instead, "The Jack" has been a hot topic for the national media because it's practically empty for ...
At first glance, the Jaguars don't appear to be back from an off week of running the ball. Jacksonville's 170-yard output Sunday against the Chiefs fit right in with the Jaguars' previous two games, in which their rushing attackùthe NFL's sixth-best through nine weeksùhit for over 150 yards, including 217 in last week's 30-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew's 97 yards against Kansas City, too, was relatively pedestrianùonly ...
Jacksonville's 30-13 whipping at the hands of the previously winless Tennessee Titans Sunday sent out a news flash that should hardly have been news: The Jaguars aren't the New England Patriots. Nor, for that matter, are they the Indianapolis Colts. After watching two of the NFL's perennial passing powerhouses drub Tennessee by a combined score of 100-9, Jacksonville's aerial attack came into Sunday's game smelling blood. Five of the Titans' first six opponents had ...
For the first time in three years, Jacksonville's second game against Tennessee offers a shot at a season sweep. The Titans spoiled the Jaguars' season openers in 2007 and 2008. Last year, Tennessee followed up on that Week 1 triumph with a 24-14 road win in Jacksonvilleùtheir third sweep in the series since 2000. Over that stretch, the Jaguars have lost 11 of 19 games in the rivalry. In the teams' Week 4 ...