NFL: Back Jacksonville to fire
August 27, 2007 - Susie Cameron
It may seem odd to back against the World Champions, but the advice is to do so for the AFC South division. Indianapolis should produce a winning record, but another of the division franchises looks poised to finally topple the Colts who have dominated this division since the realignment.
Twelve wins and a playoff berth in 2005 were supposed to pave the way for a deeper playoff run in 2006 for Jacksonville. However, a tougher schedule coupled with injuries galore in the defense and perhaps most crucially to Byron Leftwich saw the organisation drop to .500 last term.
Without Leftwich, the Jags tried to get by with David Garrard once again, but against stiffer opponents, Garrard couldn't get it done. It didn't help that Garrard, like Leftwich, received no help from any of his passing targets. It might have been a totally different story had Leftwich stayed healthy, as his relationship with Reggie Williams looked to be blossoming with 297 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns.
In the past three seasons, the Jags' passing game hasn't ranked better than 19th in the NFL. There are though finally reasons to be optimistic, not least it is a contract year for Leftwich, The quarterback is reported to also finally be comfortable in offense, and he should have more weapons to work with than ever before.



























