Yes, I say play IN game.  If the season were to end today, Jacksonville would be the last Wildcard team to make it in.  The Dolphins are two positions out right now, with Baltimore one spot ahead.  Winning the game would still require some help (we would need New England or Baltimore to lose), but it puts us in a MUCH better position.  Since we can’t make other teams win or lose, we just need to focus on ourselves here.

Jacksonville is tough team to figure out- as they seem to run very hot and cold.  They swept a tough Houston team, blasted the Titans, and hung tough with Indi- but they were steam rolled by a mediocre Seattle, got pounded by San Fransisco, and had close calls against the Bills, Rams, and Chiefs.  If the Jags are on their game though, they will be tough to stop.

Much like last week, I feel like the pass will be key to this game.  Not only is Jacksonville’s pass defense much weaker than their run defense (23rd in the league, vs 11th in the league), but Ricky Williams has been held up by injuries to his chest and lower body.  If this team wants to depend on him down the stretch, the Phins must take advantage of teams that will allow them to have success through the air.  The Jags are missing their top corner in Rashean Mathis, and much like the Dolphins, are relying on inexperienced corners. If Henne and the receivers can execute like they are capable of, then we should find a lot of success against this Defense.

In fact, this game may come down to whose young corners can make the most plays.  Mike Sims-Walker has come up huge in games for the Jags, though he has also disappeared for spells.  Luckily, he seems to be their only big play threat at receiver, so we should be safe rolling safety help to his side of the field.  Of course helping our corners will be the fact that the Jags are also starting rookie tackles at both ends, and have given up 34 sacks, good for 5th worst in the league.  Of course, we are having some troubles with injuries to our older OLBs JT and Joey Porter.  Taylor has returned to practice this week, but Porter is still sitting out.  This game should be a prime opportunity to get Cameron Wake some more snaps, and allow him to use his speed and power to get to the QB.

Of course we can have an All Pro lineup of pass rushers and corners, and it won’t do us a lick of good if we can’t contain their prime weapon- Maurice Jones-Drew.  In his first season as a featured back, he has already surpassed 1,000 yards on 4.6 YPC- with a league leading 13 rushing TDs.   You also can’t ignore him as a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, with 42 receptions for 279 yards.   Containing him is not impossible though- he has had 5 games this season where he has been held to under 3.5 YPC, and 7 games of less than 100 yards, including a 14 yard game against the Titans, and a 34 yarder against Seattle.  If the front seven can step up and contain him without extra help in the box, this game gets a whole lot easier.