AFC South title within reach for Garrard and the Jaguars

AFC South title within reach for Garrard and the Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Quarterback David Garrard was seemingly another bad game away from getting benched, quite possibly for good, in Jacksonville.

Unlock HQ Video HQ video delivered by Akamai

Coach Jack Del Rio even said publicly that he was sticking with Garrard "as long as he's our best option."

Nearly three months later, Garrard is one touchdown pass from breaking Mark Brunell's franchise record and has a chance to lead the Jaguars (8-5) to their first AFC South title.

What's the difference?

"If I knew that, I would definitely bottle that up and tell nobody," Garrard said.

Although running back Maurice Jones-Drew has received much of the credit for Jacksonville's success this season -- he has six consecutive 100-yard games heading into Sunday's critical game at Indianapolis -- Garrard has been an equally important cog in the team's rise to the top of the division.

Garrard has thrown 19 touchdown passes and just five interceptions in Jacksonville's eight wins and one TD pass and seven picks in the five losses.

He's even better when he's asked to do less. The Jaguars are 6-0 when Garrard has thrown 22 or fewer passes this season, not including a lopsided loss against Tennessee in October when he was knocked out of the game early with a concussion.

"He can't play well by himself," Del Rio said. "It's a team game, the ultimate team game, and David would be the first to tell you that it's a combination of the line doing a good job up front giving him time and the receivers doing a good job getting open down the field and catching the ball. There are a lot of guys doing good things around him."

It starts with Jones-Drew and the running game, which has accounted for more than 200 yards rushing in each of the last three games. That kind of ground game slows down defensive ends, freezes linebackers and creates extra space for receivers and tight ends.

It also takes pressure off Garrard, who has completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 2,141 yards and a career-high 20 TDs. He also has run for 232 yards and four scores.

"Dave has been exceptional," receiver Mike Thomas said. "The guy bounced back from adversity. Dave has always showed that he's a guy that's going to persevere through whatever challenges come his way. This time, he's been on the better half of it.

"He's been playing great. You can look at him and see his comfort level and his belief in his protection, and he's letting the ball fly around. When he has time, Dave is very accurate and a very good quarterback. He's our guy, and we're riding him. We need him to string us along like he's been doing."

With Garrard playing well, the Jaguars have won five of their last six games. Now they're headed into arguably the most important regular-season game in franchise history. With a win Sunday over the Colts (7-6), the Jaguars will wrap up the AFC South and secure a playoff spot for just the third time in the last 10 years.

"This is a big opportunity for the franchise," guard Uche Nwaneri said. "It's been a long time since we had a game against the Colts where it's really going to pretty much decide everything for the division. We're not going to make this something that takes us out of our rhythm, but we understand what's on the line, and we're looking forward to the challenge."

So is Garrard, who struggled mightily in consecutive 25-point losses to San Diego and Philadelphia back in September. He was benched late against the Chargers and might have been pulled for good against the Eagles, but backup Luke McCown tore a knee ligament the previous week, leaving Del Rio with few options.

Nonetheless, the Jaguars were so frustrated with Garrard's performance that they claimed former first-round draft pick Trent Edwards off waivers from Buffalo with the belief that he could end up the starter.

He never got the chance.

Garrard didn't let it happen, putting up five of the top eight passing performances of his nine-year career. He responded exactly as Del Rio wanted -- and even sent a resounding message to anyone who questioned whether he was the right fit for the Jaguars.

"I don't try to worry about answering critics," Garrard said. "The moment you're trying to answer somebody else or please other people, that's when you're setting yourself up. I've said it before: The same people that smile at your face are the same ones that are ready to jab you in the back. The more you win, the more success you have, the more people will come around and say he's a pretty good player or they're a pretty good team. It all comes down to winning and performing."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
source: nfl.com

Will 'Skins stick with McNabb? Coy coach Shanahan won't say

Will 'Skins stick with McNabb? Coy coach Shanahan won't say

ASHBURN, Va. -- Never mind the talk about whether or not Donovan McNabb will be the Washington Redskins' quarterback next season. Coach Mike Shanahan won't even say if McNabb will be his quarterback Sunday.

"We're not committing to tell you who the starters are at any position," Shanahan said Wednesday, explaining how he hopes to keep the Dallas Cowboys guessing about a possible switch to Rex Grossman. "They've got to get ready for a couple of players. That's good for us."

It's important to note that Shanahan was in a playful mood as he dodged those quarterback questions, and that it's hard to find anyone who really believes there's a chance Grossman will supplant a six-time Pro Bowl quarterback for the latest edition of the NFC East rivalry.

"Donovan McNabb is one of the marquee players in this league and can beat you in so many different ways," Cowboys interim coach Jason Garrett said. "We're certainly preparing for him. And if he happens not to be the quarterback, we'll have to make those adjustments."

And, for the record, if McNabb weren't starting, he made no bones about the fact that Shanahan should have told him by now.

"I would have hoped," McNabb said. "That's professionalism. Communication."

Yet the very fact that McNabb's status is such a topic demonstrates his uncertain status as he winds down his first season in Washington. With the Redskins (5-8) eliminated from the playoff race, Shanahan has made it clear he intends to use the final three games to determine who should be on the roster next year. Many players also have stated they're playing for jobs, even if that job might be with another team in 2011.

McNabb would seem to fit into that category. He is 34 and is having his worst season since he was a rookie in 1999. He has thrown a career-high 15 interceptions and ranks 25th in the NFL with a 77.1 rating. He has led some good drives, but he has been inconsistent and bounced far too many passes in front of open receivers. When the Redskins gave him a contract extension last month, it came with a clause that allows the team to cut him at the end of the season with no further financial obligation.

McNabb, however, isn't a fan of the play-for-job motivational tactic.

"I look at these three games to get better," McNabb said. "I think when you have a mindset to go out and to try to impress and to do a little bit more than what you're capable of doing, it takes away from being in the framework of the schemes and what we're planning on doing. I think a lot of times you focus too hard on different things, and it takes you away from things that are just easy to you. I think in this situation, obviously with three more games left, we want to do whatever it takes to win and we can't control anything else after that."

Shanahan showed he's not afraid to make a daring, counterintuitive quarterback move when he benched McNabb for Grossman in the final two minutes with the game on the line in a loss at Detroit in October. McNabb wasn't happy, Shanahan couldn't come up with a clear explanation for the decision, and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and McNabb were at odds over whether or not the quarterback had been tipped off in advance about the possible switch.

McNabb followed up with a clear-the-air meeting with the Shanahans. Since then, according to McNabb, "the communication got a lot better."

"I think everyone wanted to know if it was going to get better," McNabb said. "And it did."

Mike Shanahan, however, said he hasn't changed the way he deals with his quarterback. He chalked up McNabb's perception of better communication as the "growth as you get to know people."

"Like any relationship, it does take time," Mike Shanahan said.

The Redskins traded two draft picks to the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire McNabb, and the team has many other deficiencies that will need more desperate attention in the offseason, so it would seem unlikely that the quarterback wouldn't be brought back for a second go-round. Shanahan reiterated Wednesday that it can take two to three years to master a new offensive scheme, and McNabb often has cited how the record improved from 5-11 in his first year with Eagles to 11-5 in his second year.

Unlock HQ Video HQ video delivered by Akamai

"Things can change here, and it will change here," McNabb said. "There were a lot of things in the beginning of the season that myself as well as maybe Kyle or whatever or the players, we weren't on the same page. And now we are. ... There's definitely been big steps."

There also have been nagging questions over McNabb's health. His sore hamstrings were one reason cited by the coaches for the Detroit benching. Around that same time, McNabb himself said the extra offseason work he undertook to learn the new offense was taking a physical toll over the long season.

McNabb now claims to be fully healthy, although he continues to be listed on the weekly injury report with a hamstring issue. Also, the quarterback who has made a name for himself by making plays with his legs has stopped scrambling: He has just six carries for 16 yards over the last five games.

"Quarterbacks never tell you the truth," Mike Shanahan said. "He hasn't scrambled a lot. I think it's probably hurting him a little bit more than he's indicating. Quarterbacks I've been around, they'll never admit to being hurt, so I can't tell you that for sure."

Notes: Mike Shanahan said punter-holder Hunter Smith was cut because of poor punting, not because of the mishandled extra point snap in Sunday's one-point loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Shanahan said just two of Smith's last 20 punts had the hang time the team wanted. Smith, who was released Tuesday and replaced with Sam Paulescu, ranks 31st in the NFL in net average. "It had nothing to do with the hold," Shanahan said. "I admired the way he stepped up and blamed it on himself." ... Shanahan doesn't like practicing on frozen grass fields, so he's holding practice on the team's rarely used artificial turf field this week because of the cold weather.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
source: nfl.com

Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints beat Minnesota Vikings

Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints beat Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints 14-9 Minnesota Vikings

The New Orleans Saints opened their Super Bowl title defence with a 14-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings yesterday.

To celebrate the team's first Super Bowl win, over the Indianapolis Colts in Miami in February, opening night was marked with a rock concert in New Orleans' Jackson Square.

The Saints took to the field to a deafening roar of the fan chant "Who Dat?" and the 70,000 crowd made themselves heard whenever the Vikings quarterback, Brett Favre, was set up for a snap. The 40-year-old said it had been tough to make himself heard.

"Anytime you're in a game like that where there are festivities and everything beforehand, you have got to remain calm," the Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, told reporters.