Jaguars get signature win for 2007 in Pittsburgh
During the first four years of the Jack Del Rio era, the Jacksonville Jaguars have been known as a tough, physical, defense-first team that did just enough offensively to be competitive. They also got the reputation for being a team that always found ways to lose in the big games that mattered.
On the frosty turf at Heinz Field, the Jaguars took a huge step toward the post-season, and in the process, got that defining win that they needed. While the win did not result in clinching a post-season berth, the Jaguars only need to win one of the next two games (Oakland 12/23 and @ Houston on 12/30) to lock their spot in the playoffs.
The Jaguars needed to play physically in the trenches. They managed to do just enough defensively to accomplish that feat, while the offensive line spent the majority of the day completely dominating the line of scrimmage. During the course of the game, the Jaguars set a franchise record for the longest drive as they opened the second half with a 20 play, 9:40 clock eating drive that sent the message that they were not going to be pushed around by the home team.
The Jaguars nearly tripled the average yardage allowed against the Steelers by putting up 224 yards rushing, controlling the clock for 37:39, and Pittsburgh on their heels for most of the game, playing from behind. Fred Taylor put up 147 yards on 25 attempts, and Maurice Jones-Drew tacked on another 69 yards on 12 carries.
The match-up was expected to be a physical battle, especially with freezing temperatures and snow falling throughout most of the game. Stealing a page from Steeler lore, the Jaguars were the team that continued to pound the football and grind away at the Steelers defense.
David Garrard threw for nearly 200 yards, putting up three passing touchdowns and one interception. One of those touchdowns tied a Jaguars franchise record when Reggie Williams hauled in his eighth score of the season.
The defense finally found a pass rush, putting pressure on Roethlisberger for the entire game, sacking him five times, and forcing him to rush his delivery on several more occasions.
Still, it came down to the final two minutes, and a 12 yard touchdown run by Fred Taylor that put the winning points on the board with 1:56 to go in the game. The Steelers had a shot at driving back down the field, but the Jaguars defense, which had been doing just enough all day long, found a way to stop the Steelers half a yard short of converting on fourth down.
This game sent a message to the rest of the league that the Jacksonville Jaguars are not a team that is going to roll over, even if they have to go north to play in frozen conditions. This is a team that was built to go north in December, and they proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that this is not your typical team from Florida.
Next week, the Jaguars have the opportunity to clinch a playoff spot. A win over the Oakland Raiders at home will seal the post-season berth and give the Jaguars a chance to capture some magic in the playoffs.
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2 Responses to “Jaguars get signature win for 2007 in Pittsburgh”
December 17th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Tim, I agree that this was a statement game to the rest of the league. I also think that the Jaguars can impose their will offensively on any team in the AFC playoffs. Did you see Earnest Wilford block Palamalo straight up? I have been trying to watch the receivers all year in the run game, and I have been amazed at how well they block on run plays. Not just DB’s, but Safety’s, LB’s, occasionally even D-linemen. They had decent pressure yesterday, which helped hide some of the Secondary mistakes. The INT worries me though, every once in a while Garrard still seems to float passes. He’s been lucky many times this year that they were not intercepted. Its hard to complain with only 2 INT’s all year, but it still worries me in the playoffs.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
The interception didn’t worry me one bit after I saw how he rebounded. He floated a few passes yesterday, but that had had as much to do with the elements they were playing in as anything. Garrard gets away with mistakes in every game. This is par for the course for just about any QB in the league. Even the best get picked off. There’s no perfect quarterback as long as there’s a human being playing the position. Humans are prone to make mistakes. He’s not exempt.
If he had thrown that pick and then folded up like a cheap tent as he did last year at the end of the season, then we’d have something to worry about. The bottom line is that once he put the pick behind him, he was still moving the offense right down the field. He’s playing with a lot more confidence, and he’s also playing with a lot more effectiveness than he did in the past. The maturation process is impressive where he’s concerned.
Like I said before. Every quarterback will get away with a couple during a game. There’s a reason that DBs are DBs and not playing WR. If they had great hands, they wouldn’t be covering the guys that do. So, more often than not, QBs will get away with mistakes. The concern arises when those mistakes start to pile up, or when those mistakes have such an impact on the psyche of the quarterback that they start to snowball. Neither has occurred this year with Garrard.
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