Battered Jags Seek Solace In Tampa Bay

The Jacksonville Jaguars will have two tough setbacks to
 overcome when they take the field this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
 in a rare meeting between in-state foes from Raymond James Stadium.

 The Jaguars had the opportunity to tie the powerful Indianapolis Colts for
 first place in the AFC South division, as well as gain some respect on the
 national stage, with last Monday's pivotal showdown with the defending world
 champions at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. But the Colts' surprisingly easy
 29-7 victory proved that Jack Del Rio's club still has some work to do before
 it can be mentioned among the NFL's elite.

 Making Monday's defeat even harder to swallow for Jacksonville was the injury
 suffered by starting quarterback David Garrard. The strong-armed signal-caller
 badly sprained his left ankle after being sacked early in the second quarter
 and sat out the entire second half against Indianapolis. Garrard has been
 ruled out of Sunday's contest, which will leave the offense in the unproven
 hands of second-stringer Quinn Gray.

 Gray, a third-year undrafted free agent who entered the Indianapolis game
 having thrown just 36 passes in NFL regular-season action, struggled badly in
 his relief effort. The 28-year-old completed just 9-of-24 throws for 56 yards
 and was intercepted twice, producing a woeful 11.1 quarterback rating.

 The Jaguars have even less experience behind Gray. Rookie Lester Ricard was
 promoted from the practice squad during the week to serve as the backup, with
 wide receiver Matt Jones -- who played the position collegiately at Arkansas
 -- currently penciled in as the emergency quarterback.

 Tampa Bay doesn't have such worries at quarterback, where offseason signee
 Jeff Garcia has played flawlessly in directing head coach Jon Gruden's West
 Coast offense, but the Buccaneers will also be trying to shake off a loss in
 its previous game.

 Garcia extended his streak of passes without an interception to 270
 consecutive throws in Tampa Bay's 23-16 defeat at Detroit last Sunday, but the
 gritty veteran did commit two costly fumbles that the Lions converted into
 touchdowns. He also completed a franchise-record 18 straight passes during the
 first half and finished with a season-high 316 yards along with two
 touchdowns.

 The loss dropped the Bucs to 4-3 on the season and a half-game behind first-
 place Carolina in the NFC South standings.

 Jacksonville, which had a four-game win streak halted on Monday, begins a
 stretch of three consecutive road tilts this week and has won both of its two
 previous away games in 2007. However, Tampa Bay is 3-0 at home so far this
 season and has outscored its opponents by a 68-27 margin in those encounters.

 SERIES HISTORY

 Jacksonville has a 2-1 edge in its all-time series with Tampa Bay, including a
 17-10 home victory when the teams last faced off, in 2003. The Buccaneers'
 lone win in the series was a 17-16 home triumph in 1995.

 Gruden is 1-1 against Jacksonville in his career, including 0-1 since coming
 to Tampa Bay in 2002. Del Rio is 0-1 against both Gruden and the Bucs as a
 head coach.

 The Jaguars and Buccaneers also met in the 2007 preseason, a 31-19
 Jacksonville home victory on August 18.

 WHEN THE JAGUARS HAVE THE BALL

 With Gray set to make his first regular-season start under center,
 Jacksonville will rely even more on a ground game that ranks third in the NFL
 in rushing yards (148.5 ypg) at the moment. Maurice Jones-Drew (359 rushing
 yards, 4 TD, 16 receptions) and Fred Taylor (352 rushing yards) have evenly
 split carries in the backfield, with the younger Jones-Drew having been the
 more effective of the duo lately. The second-year standout had 125 yards and
 two scores on just 12 attempts in the team's Week 6 win over Houston and is
 averaging a robust 5.4 yards per rush on the year. Taylor did lead the Jaguars
 with 55 yards on 11 carries against the Colts, however.

 Even when the efficient Garrard was taking the snaps, Jacksonville's aerial
 attack has hardly struck fear into opposing defenses this season. The Jaguars
 average just 185.2 passing yards per game (26th overall) and lack playmakers
 at the receiver positions. Dennis Northcutt (22 receptions, 1 TD) has been the
 team's most productive wideout, while first-round disappointment Reggie
 Williams (11 receptions, 3 TD) has been the most effective red-zone target.
 Ernest Wilford (13 receptions) put together his best outing of the year in the
 Indianapolis loss, grabbing a team-best six passes for 53 yards.

 Jacksonville's two-back tandem will be going up against a Tampa Bay defense
 that can be susceptible to strong running games. The Bucs rank just 21st in
 the league in rushing yards allowed (123.2 ypg) and surrendered 147 on the
 ground to the Lions, who averaged better than six yards per carry in last
 week's win. Tampa Bay does boast an excellent linebacker trio headlined by 10-
 time Pro Bowler Derrick Brooks (55 tackles) on the weakside and active first-
 year starter Barrett Ruud (66 tackles, 1 INT, 3 forced fumbles) in the middle.

 The Buccaneers also possess a quality secondary led by perennial All-Pro
 cornerback Ronde Barber (29 tackles, 6 PD) and hard-hitting strong safety
 Jermaine Phillips (46 tackles, 2 INT, 1 sack). Philip Buchanon (33 tackles, 2
 INT) has also done a fine job filling in for the oft-injured Brian Kelly at
 the other corner spot on the NFL's fifth-rated pass defense (185.6 ypg).
 Tampa's most consistent pass rusher has been under tackle Jovan Haye (32
 tackles, 4 sacks), who has notched a sack in three of the last four games.

 WHEN THE BUCCANEERS HAVE THE BALL

 While the Tampa Bay offense can hardly be described as an explosive unit, the
 team has gotten excellent quarterback play out of the hard-nosed Garcia (1504
 passing yards, 7 TD, 0 INT), who's connected on better than 70 percent of his
 passes this season and did not have a turnover until last week's two fumbles.
 The 37-year-old has developed a nice rapport with fellow veteran Ike Hilliard
 (36 receptions, 1 TD), who matched a career-high with nine catches against
 Detroit and finished the game with 92 yards and a touchdown. Thirty-five year-
 old Joey Galloway (27 receptions, 3 TD) remains a dangerous deep threat, but
 the Bucs will be without No. 3 wideout Michael Clayton (6 receptions) after
 the former first-round pick suffered a high ankle sprain last Sunday. In
 addition, tight end Alex Smith (14 receptions, 2 TD) could miss a second
 straight game with an ankle problem.

 Injuries have affected Tampa Bay's run game as well, as No. 1 back Cadillac
 Williams is done for the year with a knee injury and top reserve Michael
 Pittman is currently sidelined with torn ligaments in his ankle. Their
 absences have provided an opportunity for special teams ace Earnest Graham
 (268 rushing yards, 3 TD, 23 receptions), one the fourth-year pro has taken
 advantage of. Graham tied a team-record with 13 catches last week and amassed
 191 yards from scrimmage (92 rushing, 99 receiving) on the afternoon. Michael
 Bennett (74 rushing yards, 10 receptions), acquired in a trade with Kansas
 City prior to the Detroit game, had 22 yards on three carries in his Bucs
 debut.

 Jacksonville's defense has been quite stingy this season, having yielded the
 second-fewest points (14.5 ppg) in the NFL thus far, but the normally-sturdy
 group was pushed around by the mighty Colts on Monday. Indianapolis racked up
 384 total yards on the Jaguars, including 141 on the ground, and gained 24
 first downs. Middle linebacker Mike Peterson (36 tackles, 2 sacks) had 10
 tackles in the loss and is the emotional leader of a stop unit that also
 contains a pair of Pro Bowl tackles in Marcus Stroud (18 tackles, 2.5 sacks)
 and John Henderson (12 tackles, 1 sack) plus one of the league's premier
 cornerbacks in Rashean Mathis (29 tackles, 1 INT).

 The Jaguars enter Sunday's game ranked 13th overall in total defense (318.0
 ypg) and have compiled a solid total of 17 sacks on the year. Underrated end
 Paul Spicer (17 tackles, 2 forced fumbles) has had five of those takedowns and
 sacked Peyton Manning twice in Monday's setback.

 FANTASY FOCUS

 Since both teams are holding the opposition to under 16 points per game, the
 likelihood of a low-scoring struggle makes both defenses an attractive play
 but presents riskier scenarios for the majority of the offensive performers.
 Having Jones-Drew and Taylor share the work in the Jacksonville backfield
 limits the fantasy potential of both runners, but each should receive enough
 touches to make an impact with the Jaguars sure to pound the football on
 Sunday. Jones-Drew, who's beginning to establish himself as the preferred
 choice and receives more of the goal-line carries, is the more attractive
 option. Stay away from Gray and the Jacksonville receivers, though.

 On the Tampa side, Graham's breakout game last week probably has owners taking
 notice, but don't anticipate a repeat against a Jaguars' D that considerably
 stronger than the one he faced in Detroit. The Buccaneers have been throwing
 the football more in recent weeks, providing a boost to the prospects of
 Garcia, Hilliard and Galloway.

 OVERALL ANALYSIS

 Jacksonville hasn't been too hard a team to figure out so far this year. Whe
 The Jaguars enter Sunday's game ranked 13th overall in total defense (318.0
 ypg) and have compiled a solid total of 17 sacks on the year. Underrated end
 Paul Spicer (17 tackles, 2 forced fumbles) has had five of those takedowns and
 sacked Peyton Manning twice in Monday's setback.

 FANTASY FOCUS

 Since both teams are holding the opposition to under 16 points per game, the
 likelihood of a low-scoring struggle makes both defenses an attractive play
 but presents riskier scenarios for the majority of the offensive performers.
 Having Jones-Drew and Taylor share the work in the Jacksonville backfield
 limits the fantasy potential of both runners, but each should receive enough
 touches to make an impact with the Jaguars sure to pound the football on
 Sunday. Jones-Drew, who's beginning to establish himself as the preferred
 choice and receives more of the goal-line carries, is the more attractive
 option. Stay away from Gray and the Jacksonville receivers, though.

 On the Tampa side, Graham's breakout game last week probably has owners taking
 notice, but don't anticipate a repeat against a Jaguars' D that considerably
 stronger than the one he faced in Detroit. The Buccaneers have been throwing
 the football more in recent weeks, providing a boost to the prospects of
 Garcia, Hilliard and Galloway.

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