Jags continue stellar run defense

Football Betting Lines

10/09/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars must have been playing some old hits from Martha and the Vandellas in the locker room at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium this past Sunday.

If so, the hit song "Nowhere to Run" would have been a perfect pick for the way the Jaguars handled Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson and the Kansas City Chiefs during a 17-7 victory. Johnson had absolutely nowhere to run and finished the day with a mere 12 yards on nine carries. Kansas City was held to just 10 total yards on the ground -- the second-fewest total in franchise history.

Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio has done an outstanding job with the run defense since a season-opening setback versus Tennessee in which the Titans racked up 282 rushing yards, including a career-high 175 from running back Chris Brown. Jacksonville forced seven punts on Sunday against the Chiefs and would have pitched a shutout had it not been for Brodie Croyle's last-second touchdown pass to Samie Parker. The Jags sacked Kansas City starting quarterback Damon Huard three times before knocking him out of the game with a shoulder injury.

Over the last three games, the Jaguars have allowed a combined 139 yards on the ground in wins over Atlanta, Denver and Kansas City. In a Week 2 victory over the Falcons, Warrick Dunn was held to 50 yards rushing, then Broncos running back Travis Henry ran for just 35 yards the following weekend. We all know what happened to Johnson in Jacksonville's third straight win, which kept the team tied for second with Tennessee in the AFC South. The 5-0 Indianapolis Colts are at the top.

A big reason for the success of the run defense has been the play of monster tackles Marcus Stroud and John Henderson. Stroud leads the defensive lineman with 16 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks, while Henderson, Rob Meier and Paul Spicer each have seven stops and at least one sack. Spicer has two sacks.

An amazing sidebar to Sunday's win at Kansas City is how the Jaguars quieted the sellout crowd at Arrowhead Stadium. The home of the Chiefs has been a house of horrors over time for opposing foes, but Del Rio's bunch didn't care. Jacksonville made itself at home and almost became the third team ever to post a shutout in Arrowhead.

"I try to tell our fans this all the time," Jags star linebacker Mike Peterson said after the game. "They may not think it's big, but that crowd [support] is big, man. When someone makes a play, everybody is screaming and hollering. The guys on the field feed off that. I feed off it. So it was big to be able to take out that crowd early."

Peterson finished second on the team with six tackles on Sunday, while Sammy Knight led the defense with eight stops. Meier and Spicer each had a sack, while rookie safety Reggie Nelson collected his first-career interception against the Chiefs, who registered 271 total yards of offense, 100 of which came via eight receptions for Tony Gonzalez.

The Jaguars will now return home for two straight games against division- rivals Houston and Indianapolis. Jacksonville should have an easy time stopping one of the worst rushing teams in the Texans before the Colts bring one of the top run games to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

GARRARD GETS JOB DONE

David Garrard is not the best quarterback in the NFL, not the flashiest and certainly doesn't have the strongest arm. But the Jaguars are glad to have him under center.

Garrard has led the Jags to a 3-1 record with his ability to get all of his weapons involved. There is no go-to receiver in Jacksonville because Garrard has faith in every receiver, resulting in 11 different players catching at least one pass this season. In Sunday's win over Kansas City, Garrard completed 20-of-27 passes for 218 yards to nine different players. Dennis Northcutt was Garrard's favorite target this week with four catches for 73 yards and a touchdown.

The athletic Garrard owns a passer rating of 105.4, the fifth-best mark in the NFL behind Peyton Manning's 108.6 rating. He has completed 66.7 percent of his passes and has also rushed for 108 yards. Garrard and Jeff Garcia of Tampa Bay are the only two quarterbacks who haven't thrown an interception this season.

Garrard is the first quarterback in Jacksonville history to not throw an interception in the first four games of a season. Garrard hasn't been picked off since the Chiefs' Ty Law intercepted one of his passes on December 31 of last season.

"My goal as a quarterback is always to win ballgames," Garrard said. "I could care less about stats. My concern is wins and losses. That's always what quarterbacks are judged on."

After previously being criticized for his accuracy and interception ratio, Garrard has joined former Jags signal-caller Mark Brunell as one of the team's two quarterbacks to have a passer rating higher than 100 in three straight starts.

JONES-DREW FINALLY BREAKS OUT

Jaguars second-year running back Maurice Jones-Drew returned to his rookie form on Sunday against Kansas City. After recording no more than 37 yards in each of his first three games this season, Jones-Drew broke out for 82 yards on nine carries along with his first touchdown of 2007.

Jones-Drew gave Jacksonville a 10-0 lead in the second quarter with a 52-yard TD run in which he made a move on Chiefs safety Jarrad Page that had his teammates comparing him to Barry Sanders. Jones-Drew spun Page around much like how Sanders used to during his playing days with the Detroit Lions.

"He made the guy spin around right on the sidelines," said Jags running back Fred Taylor in reference to a Sanders run. "I don't remember the guy's name, he was No. 42, but Sanders made him spin all the way around like a whirlybird. Mo did the same thing."

Being compared to Sanders must have been very flattering for Jones-Drew, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Sanders is a Hall of Famer, Jones-Drew is just starting his promising career.

Jones-Drew, who had 16 touchdowns during his rookie campaign, owns 182 yards on 42 carries for a 4.3 average this season.

UP NEXT: JAGS TRY TO GIVE HOUSTON PROBLEMS

The Jacksonville defense will be ready this Sunday in a showdown against the AFC South-rival Texans. The run defense will certainly be under a microscope after what it has done the past three wins.

Houston is coming off a dramatic home win versus the Miami Dolphins, as kicker Kris Brown booted five field goals, including the game-winner from 57 yards away as time expired. The Texans only had 74 yards rushing, with Ron Dayne's 40 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries leading the way. Starter Ahman Green is still nursing an injury and may not play Sunday in Jacksonville.

The Texans lead the all-time series with Jacksonville by a 6-4 count, including a series sweep in 2006.