A spectacular comeback helped put the Atlanta Falcons in position for their third playoff berth in four years.

With coach Mike Smith expected to be on the sideline after a medical scare, the Falcons will try to hold on to that spot Thursday night against a visiting Jacksonville Jaguars team that showed it’s not just content to play out the string.

It appeared that Atlanta’s playoff hopes might take a hit this past Sunday when it trailed 23-7 at halftime in Carolina. The Falcons, though, responded with 24 unanswered points in a 31-23 victory and received additional help later in the day with Chicago’s stunning overtime loss in Denver.

Matt Ryan had three of his career high-tying four touchdown passes over the final 24 minutes against the Panthers, including two to Julio Jones in the fourth quarter.

“We approached it as the first of four legs,” Ryan said of the team’s remaining games. “We’ve knocked the first leg out and now we’ve got to move on and keep going.”

You can watch this game live on Sportsnet starting at 8pm ET.

Atlanta (8-5) enters this week tied with Detroit for the NFC’s final playoff berths, and leading Chicago, New York Giants and Dallas by one game. The Falcons have a trip to NFC South leader New Orleans remaining on their schedule, which could make winning this week’s game crucial to their postseason hopes.

Judging by their most recent performance, the Jaguars (4-9) might not make it easy for Atlanta. Jacksonville is coming off its highest-scoring game in nearly four years, a 41-14 rout of Tampa Bay on Sunday that snapped a three-game skid.

Maurice Jones-Drew scored a career-high four times while helping interim coach Mel Tucker earn his first win and set a franchise record with his 71st career touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Rookie Blaine Gabbert threw two of those TDs to the running back while topping 200 yards for the third time this season.

“This is what we expected to have all year,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “It didn’t work like that, but hopefully it will be good momentum for us.”

While the Jaguars will seek to win consecutive games for the first time this season, the Falcons will try to claim their seventh victory in nine contests and will likely have Smith to help them in that attempt.

The 52-year-old Atlanta coach checked into a Charlotte hospital after he reportedly became ill and walked off the team plane following Sunday’s win. The Falcons released a statement that Smith was examined for a “non-emergency matter” but did not offer further details.

He returned to Atlanta early Monday morning on owner Arthur Blank’s private jet and was back at practice that night.

“I’m really embarrassed to have to even be talking about it,” Smith said. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’d prefer to talk about the way our guys played in the second half and we’ve got a short week and we’ve got to get ready for Jacksonville.”

Smith had the Falcons ready to play on three days rest last season when they beat Baltimore 26-21 during an eight-game win streak. However, they weren’t ready the last time they faced the Jaguars, losing 13-7 during a 4-12 campaign in 2007.

Smith was hired after that season and led the team to an 11-5 record in his first year.

Atlanta finished last season with the NFC’s best record (13-3) but needs to win out and have New Orleans lose its remaining games to repeat as division champs.

They’ll try to take a step toward fulfilling at least one part of that scenario by earning their second win in five games against Jacksonville. Atlanta claimed that victory during the previous matchup at the Georgia Dome on Dec. 28, 2003.

Ryan, who has topped 300 yards in three of the last five games, will try to lead his team to another win by setting a single-season mark. He needs 232 yards to top last year’s 3,705.

Top receiver Roddy White is 35 yards shy of his fifth straight 1,000-yard season and had four catches for 81 yards against the Jaguars in 2007.

Jones-Drew needs 170 yards to top his career high of 1,391 set in 2009.

The contract of Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Gene Smith comes to an end at the close of this season. Things haven’t started out beautifully for the 2-6 Jags and it remains to be seen if Smith will be rehired.

However, the 47-year-old tells the Florida Times Union that he could have already signed on for more time with the team but declined a contract-extension offer from owner Wayne Weaver this past offseason. The rejection was “because he felt uncomfortable adding years to his contract when Jaguars’ scouts and other employees were either not getting extensions or subjected to salary freezes,” the Times-Union reports.

“A contract was extended to me and I declined it,” Smith said, the paper reports. “I did not think I deserved an extension based on the conditions. Our scouts and other employees weren’t being extended. I didn’t think I deserved it. However, I do appreciate that Wayne [Weaver] offered me one.” Smith also went on to say that his decline is not an indication that he’d like to leave the Jags.

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Source: Florida Times-Union

Related: Jacksonville Jaguars

When the Jacksonville Jaguars promoted Gene Smith to general manager in 2009, it came amid a groundswell of support.

The motto “In Gene We Trust” become a popular phrase on Internet message boards and talk-radio shows.

Nearly three years later, and after the worst start in franchise history, that confidence has seemingly been shaken.

Although team owner Wayne Weaver has expressed faith in Smith’s rebuilding project, he declined to extend the contract of his longtime scout-turned-personnel chief in January. So much like everyone except coach Jack Del Rio, who has two years remaining on a four-year, $21 million deal, Smith is in the final year of his contract.

“We ask players to play out contracts and we have players who sign one-year contracts. I’m no different,” Smith said last week as the Jaguars (1-5) prepared to play the Baltimore Ravens (4-1) on Monday night.

Smith wants to stick around. He believes this team will be a playoff contender soon, regardless of what happens against the Ravens.

“People can doubt you, but you can never doubt yourself,” Smith said.

There are plenty of doubters these days.

The Jaguars have lost eight of nine dating to last season and have dropped five in a row for the first time in a decade. Much of the blame has fallen on Del Rio, but the franchise struggles also raised questions about Smith’s direction.

Smith agreed with the decision to cut veteran quarterback David Garrard five days before the opener, a poorly timed moved that didn’t look good until Garrard announced last week that he needed surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back.

Of Smith’s 20 draft picks over three years, only eight have become starters. Of those eight, rookie guard Will Rackley already has been benched, and cornerback Derek Cox and offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton have been in and out of the lineup because of injuries.

Five of the 20 picks are on injured reserve, including tight end Zach Miller, running back Rashad Jennings and defensive end Austen Lane.

“Injuries are something you can’t control in football,” Smith said. “Availability supersedes ability. They’ve got to be on the field to help you win. As frustrating as it is, you’ve got to get them healthy, and at some point, they’ll be back out there.”

Making matters worse, Smith’s most significant draft pick — franchise quarterback Blaine Gabbert — has been slow to develop.

Gabbert took over the starting job in Week 3 and has done little to improve the NFL’s worst offense. The 10th overall pick in April’s draft, Gabbert has the same number of turnovers as touchdown passes (four) and has really struggled in crunch time of close games.

“The offense will grow as Blaine grows,” Smith said. “He’s done some things that will help us win games in time and help us stack some wins. As things function better around him, you’ll see better performance out of that position. He’s got a legitimate skill set to lead us where we want to go. But there’s a learning curve and some patience that go along with it when you’re playing arguably the most difficult position to play in football.”

When Smith replaced former personnel chief James “Shack” Harris, the Jaguars were a mess. The roster was spotted with free-agent failures and draft-pick busts. Smith wanted to rebuild mostly through the draft, a time-consuming process that often yields sustained success.

Few can question what Smith has done with the defense. Jacksonville ranked near the bottom of the league in nearly every defensive category in 2010.

Smith drafted stout defensive tackles Terrance Knighton (2009) and Tyson Alualu (2010), then added linebackers Paul Posluszny and Clint Session, safety Dawan Landry, cornerback Drew Coleman and defensive end Matt Roth in free agency this summer. Together, they have made Jacksonville one of the league’s top defenses.

The unit has been mostly overshadowed by the offensive problems.

Smith isn’t sure what the future holds. Weaver said in January that “if we’re not in the playoffs next year, there won’t be many people around here.”

Smith insists the team is close, closer than most outsiders think, and on the verge of something special. If it does get turned around, “In Gene We Trust” will be the talk again.

“People have a short memory as where we were as an organization two and half years ago,” Smith said. “This was a very trying situation. I know the arrow’s up; I know winning will come. It does take patience when you’re trying to do things the right way. But when you do sustain winning, it can be something that over the course of time we can be proud of. We don’t want to try to win one year. We want to be competitive every year.”

Read More: Dawan Landry (S – JAC), Reggie Nelson (S – CIN), Andy Dalton (QB – CIN), Blaine Gabbert (QB – JAC), Jimmy Smith (CB – BAL), A.J. Green (WR – CIN), New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars

When the 2011 NFL schedule was released, I presume that most fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars penciled their Week 5 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals as one of the most winnable games of the year. It’s a home date for the Jaguars, and come on, it’s the Bengals. Well, I don’t suspect that too many fans have changed their tune about this week being a good opportunity to notch a win, but the Bengals have looked somewhat decent through four weeks. Defensively, they’ve looked better than just decent. The Bengals sport the top ranked overall defense having allowed a mere 275 yards per game. They’re slightly better against the pass (3rd) than they are stopping the run (3rd), so this week might not be the week that Blaine Gabbert and the Jags’ offense establish the rhythm and consistency that’s alluded them through the rookie quarterback’s first three career starts. Then again, the Jags should have plenty of chances as Cincinnati’s offense has been equally inconsistent. They too have a rookie quarterback, Andy Dalton, under center.

Here’s a few facts and figures for each team in anticipation of Sunday’s showdown in Florida.

JAGUARS:

• Club aims for 8th consecutive win at home vs. Bengals.
• Rookie QB Blaine Gabbert (1st round, No. 10) has 90+ 4th quarter passer rating in 2 of past 3 games.
• Since ’10 at home, RB Maurice Jones-Drew has 80+ rush yards in 8 of past 9…Jones-Drew is averaging 97.7 rush yards per game this season (391 total).
• WR Mike Thomas has reception of 30+ yards in each of past 2 games.
• TE Marcedes Lewis (17) needs 2 TD catches to surpass WR Reggie Williams (18) for 3rd-most in franchise history (Jimmy Smith, 67; Keenan McCafdell, 30). Lewis (2,305) needs 18 receiving yards to move into 5th place in Jaguars history (Williams; 2,322). 
• TE Zach Miller registered 1st TD catch of career last week.
• LB Daryl Smith registered 6th career INT last game.
• LB Paul Posluszny leads team with 30 tackles. Posluszny registered 1st sack of season against Saints in Week 4.
• S Dawan Landry posted 1st INT as Jaguar last week.
• DE Austen Lane recorded 1st career sack last game.

BENGALS: 

• In 2 starts on road, rookie QB Andy Dalton (2nd round, No. 35) has completed 37 of 56 passes (66.1 pct.) for 413 yards with 3 TDs vs. 0 INTs & 105.7 passer rating. Dalton had 2 TDs last week (1 pass, 1 rush) & became 1st Cincinnati rookie to pass & run for TD in game since Jack Thompson on 11/18/79.
• RB Cedric Benson posted 14th 100-yard rush game (104) with Bengals last week & Cin. has 12-2 (.857) record in such games. In only meeting vs. Jaguars, Benson rushed for 104 yards on 24 att. (4.3 avg.) with 1 TD.
• Rookie WR A.J. Green (1st round, No. 4) leads AFC rookies in catches (19) & receiving yards (312). Posted 2nd career 100-yard rec. game (118) last week. Green is tied for NFL-best with 3 catches of 40+ yards in ’11.
• TE Jermain Gresham had career-best 70 rec. yards last week. Gresham is averaging 15.1 yards per catch in past 2 (8 catches, 121 yards).
• Bengals have allowed NFL-low 275.5 yards per game in ’11.
• DT Geno Atkins has 2.5 sacks in past 3 games.
• S Reggie Nelson spent 3 seasons (2007-09) with Jaguars

By Matt Conner

– Editor

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May 26, 2011 – You can almost picture the cue cards in the aids hands or a rolling prompter on the screen set in front of Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Gene Smith. One month after selecting his quarterback of the future — and the most important draft decision Smith had ever made — Smith is still publicly backing incumbent starter David Garrard despite the price paid for Gabbert’s services.

And that price was a steep one. To simply jump six picks in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, from No. 16 to No. 10 overall, the Jags gave up their first and second round selections in this year’s draft. The run on quarterbacks was underway and Smith knew he had a short window to get his guy. Just like a QB has to fire a ball at the perfect window, Smith did his best Gabbert impersonation to grab his player ahead of the Minnesota Vikings at No. 12.

But perception is everything and the view from Garrard’s chair could not have been pretty on that day. After all, he’s the $8 million starter who enjoyed a fine season last year. He had a 90.8 QB rating and led the team to an 8-6 record in 14 starts. He had his highest career completion percentage at 64.5 and threw for another high in touchdowns at 23.

In other words, a few months after one of Garrard’s best seasons, Gabbert is taken at a high price. No matter what words are used, it’s clear the franchise believes the investment had to be made now for the sake of the future at quarterback, of which Garrard is clearly not a part. Simply put, the signs all point one direction and one direction only. But Smith refuses to concede that fact.

In a recent story at the Jags official site, Smith explained the quarterback situation a bit more:

“David is our starter,” Smith said. “I know Luke and Blaine will come in to compete certainly for playing time, but coming out of last year with his starts history in the NFL David is our quarterback whenever football starts back up.”

Blaine is even the second back-up mentioned and if you think the order of Smith’s words weren’t carefully chosen, then you would be mistaken. Instead, Smith immediately created a distance between Garrard and Gabbert, showing signs that Garrard is, indeed, the guy for 2011 (whatever is left of it when the dust settles on the lockout).

It’s this sort of quote that polishes the edges off of the tension without alleviating it. It’s lighting a fire without burning someone. it’s the sort of maneuver that cements the position for years to come in Jacksonville without the drama that can typically come with such posturing, and sets the stage for competition to truly create some positive pressure for the most important position on the field.

After the year that Garrard enjoyed in 2010, my guess is that he’ll enjoy another year similar to it in the AFC South. The Colts are human, the Texans keep trying and the Titans are lost. This division is actually up for grabs and Garrard may realize that even if his future isn’t with Jacksonville, he can still enjoy a long career in the NFL with another team given his performance leading the Jags. And that can’t be a bad thing for Gabbert to learn from along the way.

Perhaps that shows that Smith knew what he was doing all along when aiming at the window in the first place.

Read More: David Garrard (QB – JAC), Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars

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