Jacksonville Jaguars Football Team

Rob Johnson moved the Jaguar offense down the field during a two-minute drill, hitting a few passes underneath, missing one down the sideline and watching his last pass get dropped in the end zone. The result was a field goal--progress for the second-year quarterback from El Toro High and USC. "I thought we did all right," Johnson said last Wednesday during the Jaguars' minicamp. "I'm getting a lot more comfortable with the offense, where guys are going to be.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- The Indianapolis Colts have surged into unfamiliar territory -- but took a well-worn path to get there. The Colts improved to 14-0 on Thursday for the first time in franchise history, and did so with yet another come-from-behind effort in the fourth quarter. Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes -- the clincher a 65-yarder to Reggie Wayne with 5:23 to play -- to lift the Colts to a 35-31 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. In a game that had nine lead changes, Indianapolis overcame a deficit in the fourth quarter to win for the seventh time this season, the most by any team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

The differences are apparent at first knock. The security guard for the Jacksonville Jaguars glares and asks for identification. The security guard for the Carolina Panthers smiles and asks if you want a cold drink. The differences are also apparent at introduction. Tom Coughlin, Jacksonville's coach, acknowledges that he doesn't allow his players to sit on their helmets. Or slouch in the huddle. Or show up at the stadium wearing clothes bearing a sports insignia other than a Jaguar.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have an inside track on an NFL playoff berth, one of the league's most marketable stars in running back Maurice Jones-Drew and play in a sun-splashed region filled with passionate football fans. Then why, in winning Sunday for the seventh time in 10 games, did the Jaguars draw a home crowd of just 42,079, the smallest in franchise history? It's a confounding problem, one that happens regularly, and eventually could lead to the Jaguars' leaving for Los Angeles, even London, or perhaps playing part of their schedule in Orlando.

New England (9-7) at Jacksonville (11-5) 9:30 a.m., Channel 2 * HEAD TO HEAD: The Patriots are 3-0 against the Jaguars, including a 26-20 victory last season and a 20-6 victory in the AFC championship game on Jan. 12, 1997. In the latter, the Jaguars outgained the Patriots, 289 yards to 234, but were victimized by four turnovers as they attempted to reach the Super Bowl in only their second season. * SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS: In a game matching banged-up teams, the Patriots are hurting more.

The Cincinnati Bungles are back. The Jacksonville Jaguars think they might be too. Mark Brunell threw for two touchdowns, and Stacey Mack ran for two Sunday to help the desperate Jaguars end a losing streak at five games with a 30-13 victory over the mistake-prone Bengals. The Jaguars (3-5) scored 21 points in the third quarter to take a 28-13 lead and, unlike the last two weeks, they held onto a double-digit lead. "Finally," Jaguar linebacker Kevin Hardy said, as he let out a sigh.

In beginning their quest to get their grip on another Lombardi Trophy, the New England Patriots on Saturday wrapped their arms around another valuable prize: The Leftwich statue. The Patriots sacked Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich four times -- and corralled his backup, David Garrard, twice more -- putting a defensive stamp on their NFL-record 10th consecutive playoff victory, a 28-3 pounding of the Jaguars on a frigid night at Gillette Stadium.

Nobody had to ask Donovan McNabb how he felt after this one. Led by rookie John Henderson's three sacks, the Jacksonville Jaguars chased McNabb until he was literally sick to his stomach Sunday and continued their surprising start with a 28-25 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. McNabb threw for 230 yards and ran for 100, but he paid an extreme price.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Indianapolis Colts are defending Super Bowl champions, have a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Peyton Manning, and -- after a 29-7 victory over Jacksonville on Monday -- are 6-0 for a third consecutive season. Still, they're playing in the shadow of the New England Patriots. That makes the Colts the Greatest Sideshow on Turf.

Meet the new Dick Vermeil, so loose, so carefree that he doesn't even plan to have a curfew for his St. Louis Rams this week as they prepare for Super Bowl XXXIV on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. The old Vermeil, whose Philadelphia Eagles reached Super Bowl XV before losing to the Oakland Raiders, was so uptight that he did everything but tuck his players in Super Bowl week. But don't think that means Vermeil will bury his head in Super Bowl hoopla.

Maurice Jones-Drew is a kid at heart and doesn't take himself too seriously. Case in point: On the day before Halloween, the running back drove his Hummer home from Jacksonville Jaguars headquarters wearing the giant, fuzzy red head of a popular "Sesame Street" character. So when a cluster of New York Jets fans taunted him before Sunday's game at the Meadowlands with a singsong chant of " Over-rated! Over-rated! " this 5-foot-7 Elmo impostor was -- what else? -- tickled. "It got pretty bad; they almost rattled me," the former UCLA standout said.

The way Jack Del Rio coaches the Jacksonville Jaguars, he's almost like a kid playing the Madden video game. Just about any place on the field is four-down territory, and punt is a four-letter word. After his team lost its final three games to finish 8-8 last season -- leading to the purge of five assistant coaches -- Del Rio was asked if he was worried about his own future with the franchise. "Contrary to how it's being portrayed in the media," he said, "I don't believe in coaching scared."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Indianapolis Colts are defending Super Bowl champions, have a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Peyton Manning, and -- after a 29-7 victory over Jacksonville on Monday -- are 6-0 for a third consecutive season. Still, they're playing in the shadow of the New England Patriots. That makes the Colts the Greatest Sideshow on Turf.

While the elite of the 2006 NFL draft class were being squired around Manhattan, schmoozing with Donald Trump and staying in a posh Midtown hotel, UCLA running back Maurice Jones-Drew was elsewhere. Jones-Drew was holed up in an economy hotel in Concord, his Bay Area hometown, waiting for his name to be read. And waiting. He sat in one room with his two agents, watching the proceedings, getting increasingly angry as the day wore on.

Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio, an All-American linebacker at USC, wore a blue and gold UCLA basketball jersey to his news conference Monday in tribute, and to pay off a debt, to former Bruin and current Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew. Jones-Drew ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns, had a 93-yard kickoff return for a score and finished with 303 all-purpose yards in Jacksonville's 44-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

So this was what Jack Del Rio was talking about. Hired to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars in January 2003, the former USC linebacker and Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator said that under his leadership the Jaguars would be defined by their defense. How's this for a defining moment: a 9-0 victory Monday over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first goose egg for a defending Super Bowl champion since 1981?

I do not like monsters--in movies, books, under the bed, anywhere. I like Jaguar Coach Tom Coughlin. I understand the contradiction. The stories, after all, are true. When two of his players flipped a car while crossing a bridge the night before a playoff game last season, narrowly avoiding death, Coughlin fined them both $500 for being late to a meeting. As the joke goes here, had they died, the old crank would have fined their estates.

So this was what Jack Del Rio was talking about. Hired to coach the Jacksonville Jaguars in January 2003, the former USC linebacker and Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator said that under his leadership the Jaguars would be defined by their defense. How's this for a defining moment: a 9-0 victory Monday over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first goose egg for a defending Super Bowl champion since 1981?

In beginning their quest to get their grip on another Lombardi Trophy, the New England Patriots on Saturday wrapped their arms around another valuable prize: The Leftwich statue. The Patriots sacked Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich four times -- and corralled his backup, David Garrard, twice more -- putting a defensive stamp on their NFL-record 10th consecutive playoff victory, a 28-3 pounding of the Jaguars on a frigid night at Gillette Stadium.

Two hours before the kickoff of the Rose Bowl game, Jack Del Rio was exactly where he wanted to be. Not that he didn't want to be in Pasadena, rooting on his alma mater, but the former USC linebacker was even more content tucked away in his Jacksonville Jaguar office plotting his team's path to the Lombardi Trophy. It starts tonight with a casual hike through the NFL's version of the Himalayas.