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January 6, 2007

ESPN
http://tinyurl.com/2ebeyp
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Excerpt:

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Jaguars at Patriots, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET

1. Should the Patriots be concerned about their
defense?

Yes. For all the love that has been earned by
Tom Brady, Randy Moss and the rest of the
New England offense, the Patriots' defense
hasn't exactly been the holding up its end of
the deal.

Three ordinary quarterbacks picked them
apart in the second half of the season -- Phil-
adelphia's A.J. Feeley, Baltimore's Kyle Boller
and the New York Giants' Eli Manning -- and
it also became quite clear that a talented run-
ning back could create problems for them. The
reality is that the Patriots' defense isn't scaring
any opposing offenses right now.

Their biggest weakness is the linebacking corps.
Mike Vrabel is a Pro Bowler and Adalius Thomas
is a gifted player, but age is an issue for inside
linebackers Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi. We
already know the Jaguars love pounding the ball
on the ground with Fred Taylor and Maurice
Jones-Drew. You can expect them to do even
more of that on Saturday night.

2. Will the Jaguars' injuries on defense catch up
to them?

It's hard to think they won't. Jacksonville has
played a fair share of this season without three
key starters -- including defensive tackle Marcus
Stroud and middle linebacker Mike Peterson --
and the Jags lost defensive tackle John Hender-
son to a strained hamstring early in their AFC
wild-card victory over Pittsburgh.

Now it's one thing for the Jaguars to lose Stroud
and find a way to succeed. But if Henderson's
hamstring injury lingers for another week and
Peterson can't find a way back to the field (he
has missed seven straight games with a broken
right hand), Jacksonville will be incredibly vul-
nerable in the heart of its defense.

So far, the Jaguars haven't paid a heavy price
for those problems. They got a huge game from
rookie defensive tackle Derek Landri in the Pitts-
burgh win (two sacks and one interception) and
they also received valuable snaps from defensive
tackle Grady Jackson.

That said, the Jaguars are starting two rookies
-- outside linebacker Justin Durant and free
safety Reggie Nelson -- and it's a safe bet that
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels
caught that on the scouting report as well. At
some point, they're going to be tested and pos-
sibly exploited.

3. Is it possible the Patriots will have a letdown
after making history during the regular season?

We'd put better odds on Patriots head coach Bill
Belichick appearing on "Dancing with the Stars"
than of the Patriots coming out flat after a two-
week layoff.

By the time the Pats take the field Saturday night,
Belichick will have his team convinced that they
barely tapped into their potential during their first
16 games. They'll be ready to play. You can count
on that.

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Chargers at Colts, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

1. Can the Chargers win if Antonio Gates is seri-
ously injured?

No. The Chargers need their Pro Bowl tight end
on the field because he's the one player who opens
up their passing game. A trade for wide receiver
Chris Chambers has helped ease some of the burden,
but Gates is still the man quarterback Philip Rivers
looks to most often.

Without Gates, Rivers -- who has struggled at differ-
ent times this season -- won't be nearly as comfort-
able against the Colts. Gates is the kind of athletic
tight end who can create all kinds of matchup prob-
lems for a Cover 2 scheme.

The question now is how seriously Gates was in-
jured in the win over Tennessee. He was carted off
the field with an injured left toe and coach Norv
Turner said after the game that the tight end will
be questionable for Sunday.

In his absence against the Titans, the Chargers still
managed to get big games from Chambers (six re-
ceptions, 121 yards) and Vincent Jackson (five
catches for 114 yards and one touchdown), but
that won't be so easy to do against Indianapolis.

The Colts have one of the best pass defenses in
the NFL and cornerbacks Marlin Jackson and Kel-
vin Hayden have the size to match up with bigger
wide receivers.

2. How badly do the Colts need Marvin Harrison
back on the field?

It's hard to say a team badly needs a player back
when they've won 13 games, but the Colts have to
be breathing easier with the knowledge that Harri-
son is improving. A left knee injury has sidelined
him since Oct. 22, and that's a long time to go with
out a future Hall of Famer.

Let's put it this way: The Colts can advance to the
AFC Championship game without Harrison, but
they aren't going much further without him. As
proof, just think of what he could've meant to Indi-
anapolis in the loss to New England earlier this
season.

The word out of Indianapolis is that Harrison
should be good to go. Colts president Bill Polian
has told local media that Harrison's knee is fine
and that the team isn't worried about him being
rusty once he returns.

Still, there was talk that Harrison was going to
play a few snaps in a season-ending loss to Ten-
nessee before team trainers nixed the idea after
his pregame workout. The Colts have to pray
that another setback doesn't prevent Harrison
from taking the field this time around.

3. How much will the Colts benefit from the bye
week?

Harrison wasn't the only Indianapolis player who
needed the rest. The Colts sat several injured
starters in that Tennessee game -- including de-
fensive tackle Raheem Brock, defensive end
Robert Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea -- so
that means most of the Colts will be fully healed
when this game kicks off.

That wasn't the case when San Diego beat Indi-
anapolis 23-21 on Nov. 16. The Chargers inter-
cepted Pro Bowl quarterback Peyton Manning
six times in that contest and we're thinking Man-
ning would like to face the San Diego defense
with all his weapons this time around.

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