Belichick more than wary of no-name Jaguars

FOXBORO, Mass. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars have no chance to beat the New England Patriots in Saturday night's AFC playoff game.

That's because they have no talent.

No top-level talent, anyway. No stars. No standouts.

Until Tuesday, when 31-year-old running back Fred Taylor was named as an alternate, Jacksonville didn't have a single player selected to the AFC squad for the Pro Bowl.

Oakland had one. Miami had one, for crying out loud. The Chiefs had two. The Ravens had three.

The Jaguars didn't have any, until Taylor replaced Pittsburgh's Willie Parker, who has a broken leg.

As for the undefeated, 13-point favorite, NFL-history-making, 16-0 Patriots, they have eight players heading for Hawaii: Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Mike Vrabel, Vince Wilfork, Asante Samuel, and three offensive linemen -- Dan Koppen, Logan Mankins, and Matt Light.

The way Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio made it sound in a conference call Tuesday, the Patriots should have virtually their entire roster playing in Honolulu.

"I think it's probably the greatest collection of talent that's ever been assembled," he said. "I think they've really got an All-Star cast. I think you've got some certain Hall of Fame players. You've got a whole slew of All-Stars, and Pro Bowl-type guys, and the coaching staff is very strong.

"Obviously, we've got our work cut out for us. It's a huge challenge and a great opportunity. We're just going to do the best we can to put a good plan together and try to go in and compete."

Will the seemingly overmatched Jaguars be able to compete with the talent-laden Patriots?

Here's what Pats coach Bill Belichick had to say about that:

"They're a real good football team," he said of the Jags, who over the weekend became the first team in NFL history to beat the Steelers twice in the same season in Pittsburgh.

"We're talking about a team. We're not talking about players, although they have a lot of them. Fred Taylor is as good a back as we've seen. (Cornerback Rashean) Mathis was out there (in Hawaii, for the Pro Bowl) last year. I thought he was an outstanding player.

"We've been down that road before," said Belichick, recalling a season such as 2003, when the Patriots won the Super Bowl, but sent only three players (Brady, Richard Seymour, and Willie McGinest) to the Pro Bowl.

"Sometimes you get them selected, sometimes you don't. I don't think that's the most important thing. Right now, the most important thing is how well their team is playing.

"They're the only team that's beaten San Diego in the last couple of months. They're good at everything. In the last third of the season, they pretty much led the league in just about everything, offensive and defensively -- points, points scored, points allowed, yards, yards allowed -- you name it.

"They're a very explosive team, with the backs, their receivers, and their quarterback. They sack the quarterback. They have 20 interceptions -- a couple of them run back for touchdowns. They can make plays in all phases of the game.

"They're very athletic, they're physical, and they're one of the lowest-penalized teams in the league. They do a lot of things well. They don't give you very many opportunities. You have to take advantage of the few that are there. More important, you have to play sound fundamentally and technically, or they're going to capitalize on it in a hurry, and they have a lot of players to do it with."

The Jaguars have a powerful 1-2 punch at running back in Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew. They have a highly capable, mobile young quarterback in David Garrard, whose fourth-down, fourth-quarter scramble clinched the playoff win in Pittsburgh. He ranked third, behind Brady and the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, in the NFL quarterback ratings this season.

Defensive tackle John Henderson is a two-time Pro Bowl pick. He's nursing a pulled hamstring, but still had a sack in the wild-card game against the Steelers. Mathis is the team's all-time leader with 21 career interceptions. He picked off two against Pittsburgh, returning one for a touchdown. Rookie free safety Reggie Nelson intercepted five passes.

The Jaguars played four playoff teams on the road this season and beat three of them -- Tampa Bay (24-23), Tennessee (28-13), and the Steelers (29-22 on Dec. 16; then again, 31-29, last Saturday.) They almost beat the defending Super Bowl champion Colts in Indianapolis, losing 28-25.

No wonder Belichick says: "I'm not worried about the voting. I'm worried about the playing."

So, still think the Jaguars have no talent and no chance?

(Contact Jim Donaldson at jdonalds@projo.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)