Jaguars Hit Roadblock Near Finish

This is no longer a football season, but rather a farce, a competitive quest that results in getting embarrassed rather than making a stirring late-season drive to make the playoffs.

The teams that have had the most to play for the past two weeks haven’t shown up.

A week ago, six NFC contenders needing desperately to win flopped on their facemasks. You knew it was going to be a fluke if the Rams made it to the Super Bowl, but this looks to be some kind of organized plot to eliminate all worthy competition.

Whatever the reason for the lackluster play, the trend continued this week with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions losing to teams already down for the count, and continued Sunday, guaranteeing that a team finishing 8-8 in the NFC will make it as a wild card.

And after watching the Jacksonville Jaguars, purportedly the AFC’s best team, get dismantled, 41-14, by the Tennessee Titans before 66,641 in Adelphia Coliseum, it might be time for Georgia Frontiere to start working on that Lombardi Trophy acceptance speech.

On the bright side, at least the season will end with a good laugh.

The Jaguars were supposed to be the best the NFL had to offer, a consensus preseason pick to the win the Super Bowl, and they seemingly had lived up to expectations, posting a 13-1 record--the best mark in the league.

But upon closer examination they were exposed as impostors.

Quarterback Steve McNair, who had thrown one touchdown pass against the Titans’ last seven opponents, threw five against the Jaguars and took a seat for the entire fourth quarter to keep himself from running up the score.

“A lot of people thought that the weak link on this team was Steve McNair,” was Tennessee running back Eddie George’s astute observation. “But he couldn’t have had a better day against the best team in the NFL. And he’s going to have more days like this to come.”

Maybe against the Rams in the “Moving Van” Super Bowl, which would also celebrate the benefits of hijacking a football team--St. Louis taking the Rams from Anaheim and Nashville plucking the Oilers from Houston.

The way the Jaguars are playing, they have no reason to object.

“We’re going to have to play our tails off to get that 14th win,” said Jacksonville Coach Tom Coughlin, and ordinarily the top team in the AFC wouldn’t have to worry about finishing up the season against the likes of the Bengals, but that’s the state of the game right now.

Jacksonville played with no zest, and that was before quarterback Mark Brunell limped off with a sprained knee, which could really flatten the Jaguars’ chances for postseason success.

Coughlin said he did not know the extent of the injury to Brunell, who left the team’s locker room on crutches without comment. Brunell injured his knee while throwing an incomplete pass into the end zone with more than three minutes remaining in the second quarter. He remained in the game for one more play, a handoff to Fred Taylor, who ran one yard for a touchdown in response to Tennessee’s 17-0 lead.

Arthur Fiedler took over for Brunell--pardon--that’s Jay Fiedler, who will most likely have to orchestrate a season-ending win, or risk losing the home-field advantage through the playoffs to either Tennessee or Indianapolis.

“Things better change or we will be home real soon,” said Tony Boselli, Jacksonville offensive tackle. “When the bell rang, we didn’t show up today. Maybe our guys are comfortable or satisfied, I don’t know, but it better change or we will be done real quick.”

None of this makes any sense, of course. How does anyone explain New Orleans beating Dallas? The Titans thrashing the Jaguars by 27 points?

“When we came in here our objective was to stop the run and be able to run, but we did not stop it, and we were unable to run,” said Coughlin, a Bill Parcells wannabe. “We got ourselves beat, and beat soundly. Right now I don’t have any explanations for this.”

The Jaguars have lost twice this season to the Titans, who couldn’t beat the 49ers, who were playing with Jeff Garcia at quarterback. How odd, but then they have also beaten the Rams, and have a better record against AFC opponents than the Colts, which will earn them home-field advantage through the playoffs if the Jaguars and Colts lose their final games, while Tennessee wins.

“We still don’t get respect around the league,” Titan defensive end Jevon Kearse said. “And even with this win right here we still might not get respect.”

Name a team that really does deserve any respect at this time of year, besides Baltimore (8-7), which is playing as well as any team, and will not be in the playoffs. Tampa Bay is in position to win the NFC Central title and lost, 45-0, to the Raiders a week ago. The Colts needed a field goal this week with four seconds remaining to beat the expansion Browns by one point, and the Rams still have not defeated a team this season with a winning record.

This year’s playoffs might get underway without the 49ers, Packers or Cowboys. If the playoffs mean so much, how come so many teams have trouble getting up for the games that will determine whether they make it or not?

“I thought we had prepared well, there was a lot of motivation coming into the game and I thought our people would look forward to playing with great enthusiasm and effort,” Coughlin said. “But once it started to slip it looked like it was the kind of effort that we’re not accustomed to getting.”

How can Detroit, emotionally flat, as Coach Bobby Ross suggested, fall to Denver? How can Carolina stagger in Pittsburgh, and Green Bay wilt in Tampa? How odd that the lack of emotion would be so widespread.

“We weren’t playing with any fire,” Taylor said. “They just wanted it a lot more.”

The Titans, the only AFC team to go undefeated at home this season, manhandled the Jaguars’ highly-regarded defense from the start. Tennessee marched 78 yards in 13 plays with McNair connecting with tight end Michael Roan on a four-yard touchdown pass, and then came back on their next possession with a seven-play, 95-yard drive culminating in McNair’s 62-yard scoring pass play to tight end Jackie Harris.

Tennessee added Al Del Greco’s 30-yard field for a 17-0 lead, reminiscent of its 21-0 quick start against the Rams before settling for a 24-21 victory.

“I think this shows we’re a team to be reckoned with,” Tennessee tight end Frank Wycheck said.

At least until next week.