Jaguars Left Feeling Like the Losers

The play on offense of the Jacksonville Jaguars was ugly and boring and they seemed to have the perfect excuse: Fred Taylor was injured.

But that couldn’t fully explain the worst offensive performance in team history, one that resulted in perhaps their most hollow victory ever, 6-3 over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

The Jaguars improved to 8-1, the best record in the NFL, despite producing only 132 yards and nine first downs. They lost Taylor in the first quarter when he aggravated his ailing hamstring.

It left the winning locker room sounding as if it were full of losers--and a Super Bowl contender searching for reasons for such a flat effort.

“With Fred, you can say what you want,” offensive lineman Tony Boselli said. “But it’s a team game. No one guy determines how this offense plays. The bottom line is, anyone walking around in this room can tell you we got whipped. Fortunately, our defense whipped them.”

Indeed, Jacksonville’s top-ranked defense held Baltimore (3-6) to 242 yards and only three scoring opportunities.

The last came with Baltimore trailing, 6-3, late in the fourth quarter. Tony Banks drove the Ravens to the Jaguar 34, but Coach Brian Billick passed on a 52-yard field-goal attempt by Matt Stover, and Gary Walker sacked Banks on fourth and three.

It was Baltimore’s fourth loss in five games and its third this season by a field goal.

“For whatever reason, we are short by one thing,” Billick said. “There’s plenty of effort there. We are that one thing short. If I knew what that one thing was, I would change that. But we will have to figure that out individually.”