The Thursday night (Dec. 15) game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons offers a number of must-start players during the NFL Week 15 schedule. It might seem like a pretty easy game for the Falcons to win (on paper), but Jacksonville might have something to prove during a rare national game for the team. That might become an incentive for Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert to put up big numbers. Against one of the weaker secondaries in the league, Gabbert will certainly get his shots.

The Falcons give up just 95.2 yards on the ground, making me want to rule out any Jaguars running back. The team gives up 241 yards through the air though, raising the potential that Gabbert could have a good game. He is coming off a Week 14 performance of 217 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I think he could add a third touchdown to those numbers against Atlanta, but those 18 points don’t seem like enough to make him a must-start. I classify Gabbert as a risk that could yield nice rewards if you are a Jaguars fan.

On the other side of the ball is Matt Ryan, who just threw for 320 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers. It made him one of the most successful fantasy players in Week 14, and he could duplicate those numbers this week. I don’t think he will though, as he goes up against a Jaguars defense that allows only 190 passing yards per game. I feel that Ryan will have a bad week against the Jaguars, and that he is going to put the Falcons at risk of losing this game if his backs can’t manufacture yards.

This is a trap game for fantasy owners that are holding on to Falcons players, and the chance is there that neither receiver Roddy White or Julio Jones will get into the end zone. They are both great players, but I fear that this is a week that neither one is a must-start. Explore other options if you are holding on to a deep selection of receivers in your league.

Michael Turner is the guy that will have a huge game on Thursday night, likely rushing for somewhere between 125 and 145 yards due the heavy workload he is going to get. I wouldn’t rule out Turner getting into the end zone three times and helping the Falcons avoid throwing the ball much. On the other side of the ball, Maurice Jones-Drew is likely to have around 85 rushing yards with the possibility of a touchdown. It’s hard to suggest benching Jones-Drew, but he won’t have a good game against Atlanta. Those 8.5 points are probably good enough to keep him in the starting lineup of most fantasy teams though.

That brings me to Tony Gonzalez, a player I also consider a must-start this week as Ryan will get forced to dump the ball to him if the Jaguars cornerbacks are doing their jobs. I think that Ryan could hook up with Gonzalez for one or two touchdowns, which is another reason why Jones and White may let down owners this week.

My overall prediction is that this game is going to stay a lot closer than a matchup between 4-9 and 8-5 teams normally is.

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Week 11 of the NFL season is almost underway. Here are my sits and starts for this weekend’s AFC South games:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Start – Maurice Jones-Drew(notes)

Yes, this is one of the more obvious choices I can make, but it’s the best one out there for the Jaguars. The Cleveland Browns have the NFL’s 30th-ranked rush defense, and with one of the team’s key run-stoppers, T.J. Ward(notes), missing the game, it’s only going to get worse. The Browns do have the advantage in pass defense, but the Jaguars haven’t thrown the ball well anyways. I think Jones-Drew gets plenty of yardage in the game, but I’m just not sure how often he’ll visit the endzone.

Start – Jaguars defense

If the Browns weren’t able to put a touchdown up on the board against the St. Louis Rams’ awful defense, then what should we expect out of them this week against a Jaguars defense strong against both the rush and the pass? This matchup is going to be a low-scoring and physical one with little offense to find outside of Jones-Drew. If you have the Jaguars defense, this is the week to start it.

Tennessee Titans

Start – Damian Williams(notes), WR

With the Titan receiving corps riddled with injuries, Damian Williams has stepped up in recent weeks. He’s averaging four catches a game since week five, and Williams has also scored a touchdown in four out of the team’s last six games. Those are solid numbers to rely on as the Titans take on an Atlanta Falcons pass defense ranked 23rd in the NFL. I’m expecting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck(notes) to look for Williams early in the game in hopes of freeing up the running game.

Sit – Titans defense

The Titans defense did an outstanding job against Cam Newton(notes) last weekend, but I don’t see a repeat performance happening against the Falcons. Atlanta enters this game in danger of losing its second straight game at home, and I think the Falcons have too many weapons for that to happen. Look for Michael Turner(notes) featured early in this game in hopes of exploiting the Titans’ 22nd-ranked rush defense. I just don’t see this ending well for Tennessee on Sunday.

Bye – Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts

Derek Ciapala has been playing fantasy football for over 10 years and has hosted an IDP league every year since 2001. He’s hoping to win another trophy in this year’s league. You can follow him on Twitter @dciapala.

Source: NFL.com

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By Brendan Porath

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Nov 15, 2011 – Coming off their first road win of the season, the Jacksonville Jaguars travel to Cleveland this week to face a struggling and injured Browns team on the shore of Lake Erie. After starting the season 2-1, the Browns have been one of the worst offensive teams in the league under first year coach Pat Shurmur. Quarterback Colt McCoy has had difficulty carrying the offense with both running backs Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty out injured. Both Hillis, as well as impressive second year safety T.J. Ward, have already been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Jags.

While the Jags managed to avoid the embarrassment of losing to the lowly Colts, the Browns suffered an embarrassing loss at home to the previously 1-7 St. Louis Rams. Cleveland botched a game-winning chip shot field goal with just seconds remaining, losing their third straight game. This week is a golden opportunity for the Jags to get their second straight road win, and fourth of the year, against a Cleveland team that certainly looks to be on the downslide.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns

Sunday, November 19th, 1:00 on CBS

For more on the Jaguars’ opponent this week, visit SB Nation Cleveland and SB Nation’s Browns blog, Dawgs By Nature.

Read More: Peyton Hillis (RB – CLE), Montario Hardesty (RB – CLE), Colt McCoy (QB – CLE), T.J. Ward (DB – CLE), Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams

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Can the Indianapolis Colts finally win their first game? If they are destined to win this year, this will be the week. The Colts host the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 13 in what is a very winnable football game. Colts fans have struggled to deal with playing without Peyton Manning(notes). At 0-9 on the season there are few chances left at getting a win. The 2-6 Jaguars present a great opportunity for them.

Indianapolis often gets beaten badly by Jacksonville’s running game. The Colts’ defense has been terrible at defending against the run. Frankly, the defense has been terrible at everything this year. Indianapolis is giving up 31.4 points per game in 2011. Only two teams in NFL history have been worse. This statistic is greatly affected by the lopsided 62-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Colt fans have been subject to several blowout losses lately though.

One big reason the Colts can defeat the Jaguars is the poor play of quarterback Blaine Gabbert(notes). Gabbert has not played well at all in his rookie season. Dwight Freeney(notes) and Robert Mathis(notes) will need to break out of their slumps and put pressure on Gabbert.

While they do have the look of an 0-16 team, every fan wants to see the team win at least one game. The talent is certainly there, they just need to put it all together for a full game. I think and hope that this is just the week.

Veteran center Jeff Saturday recently held a team meeting to address the team on their winless season. The players in the locker room are not used to losing and this shows that they still care and are certainly not tanking the season in hopes of the number one draft pick. As great as Andrew Luck may someday be, these players want to win badly and have too much pride to not give it everything they have in an attempt to win this season. Going 0-16 is an embarrassment and something no professional player wants on their resume.

I’m predicting the first win of the season this week for the Colts. They will finally rally behind the veterans on the team and win the game on a late field goal by veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri(notes). This will still keep the team in the suck for luck sweepstakes.

Prediction: Colts 20, Jaguars 17

Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and has been a lifelong fan of the Indianapolis Colts. He attended Super Bowl XLIV in Miami and follows the team closely. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.

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By Ryan Van Bibber

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Nov 11, 2011 – Is this the week the Indianapolis Colts finally win their first game of the season? They are at home where the reality of being 0-10 by 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon might be just enough to scare them straight for a week. They host the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team with just two wins, including a stunner over the Ravens in October. 

The experts mostly see the Colts dropping their tenth straight game this week. Mike Tanier at the New York Timespicks the Jaguars, noting some historical significance. 

The Colts and the Jaguars have met 20 times. Peyton Manning was the Colts quarterback for 19 of those meetings. The only other quarterback to start a game for the Colts against the Jaguars was Craig Erickson in 1995: he threw just 16 passes, but two of them were touchdowns in a 41-31 victory. No word yet on whether the Colts have contacted Erickson for Sunday.

Peter King picks the Jags to win as well. Only ESPN features a few experts who favor the Colts this week. 

Follow the Colts at Stampede Blue. For more on the Jaguars, check out Big Cat Country. 

Read More: Peyton Manning (QB – IND), Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts, Nov 13, 2011 1:00 PM EST

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In surprising news, the Jacksonville Jaguars have placed wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker on injured reserve with a knee injury. The team announced the move earlier today. It’s unknown when Sims-Walker injured his knee, but it had to have been on Sunday against the Houston Texans. Sims-Walker played in the game after dealing with the flu during the week and Jaguars head coach noted Sims-Walker was effected in the game, lacking energy. Sims-Walker missed practice this week apparently due to having a tooth pulled.

With Sims-Walker being placed on injured reserve, it opens up a roster spot for former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Brian Robiskie, who was waived by the team yesterday. The Jaguars receiving group has been abysmal this season and it seems the team is desperate to get help from anywhere. During the season, the Jaguars have signed two players that were released from their team mid-season and teams that were hurting at the receiver position.

For more on the Jacksonville Jaguars, visit SB Nation’s Jaguars blog Big Cat Country.

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston star receiver Andre Johnson will miss his fourth straight game Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a hamstring injury.

Johnson returned to practice this week and the Texans had hoped he would be able to play. He made progress, but Johnson said Friday that he would sit out another week.

“I don’t feel like I’m ready to play,” he said. “I’m not at full speed yet. I said I wouldn’t put myself out there until I’m able to run full speed.”

He was injured on Oct. 2 against Pittsburgh and had a minor procedure to repair the right hamstring injury early that next week.

Coach Gary Kubiak said it was difficult to make the decision to keep him out another game, but that it’s better to get him completely healthy than to rush him back and have problems later in the season.

Johnson said there isn’t anything specific he can do to speed the process, but that he simply has to continue working with trainers to improve.

“I just have to keep maintaining the rehab and keep pushing myself,” he said. “It gets frustrating because every week a game goes by that you wish you could be out there, but it’s just part of the process. I’ll just keep working hard at what I’m doing and hopefully next week I can get back on the field.”

The Texans (4-3) lost to Oakland and Baltimore in their first two games without Johnson, before bouncing back with a 41-7 win over AFC South rival Tennessee to take the division lead behind a 115-yard rushing and 119-yard receiving day by Arian Foster.

Foster’s 287 yards receiving in the last three games have led the team with Johnson out. Kevin Walter has added 168 yards and Jacoby Jones has 112 yards receiving in that span.

Johnson said he’s probably about 70 to 75 percent recovered and that it wouldn’t be smart for him to return if he isn’t close to 100 percent.

“Who wants to go out on the field and see a half speed Andre Johnson? That’s not a good thing,” he said. “You will be out there hurting your team and you could have somebody out there who could go out there and give it all they’ve got and make plays for you.”

Johnson isn’t in any pain, but said that he isn’t feeling like he did before the injury yet.

“It’s just tugging, but that’s part of it,” he said. “Those things are going to happen when you have procedures done. You just have to get used to getting back to doing things that you normally do. It’s just part of the process and I’ll just keep working on it and trying to get better.”

He had 25 receptions for 352 yards and two touchdowns in Houston’s first four games.

Read More: Maurice Jones-Drew (RB – JAC), Ray Rice (RB – BAL), Blaine Gabbert (QB – JAC), Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville Jaguars, Oct 24, 2011 8:30 PM EDT

The Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars continue down a line of unsexy Monday Night Football games as Ray Rice and his band of brothers head down to Florida to visit Blaine Gabbert. The Week 7 NFL picks seem to favor the Ravens, not surprisingly, as Gabbert, Maurice Jones-Drew and the rest of the crew were shut out in this week’s predictions.

SB Nation’s Andrew Sharp predicts Baltimore will cover the nine point spread and that the Ravens are going to run away with their Monday Night Football affair, CBS Sports has the Ravens in a sweep on their picks for the week and the entire panel of ESPN experts – aside from Ron Jaworski — decided that the away team would win. Peter King of Sports Illustrated has the Ravens, too, as he compared the Jaguars to a junior varsity team.

The Ravens are in the JV part of their schedule — Houston (minus Mario Williams and Andre Johnson) last week, the Jags this week, feeble Arizona next Sunday — but then, in 19 days, they’re at Pittsburgh, then take a 2,550-mile jaunt out to Seattle, then have the suddenly formidable Bengals and 49ers in a five-day span at home. They can’t afford a letdown in these next two if they want to win the AFC North and hope to get a playoff bye.

For more on the Ravens, be sure to check out Baltimore Beat Down. The Jacksonville Jaguars also have a bustling blogging community at Big Cat Country. Make sure to check out all of this week’s NFL picks and predictions as well.

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

Rex Ryan’s source of motivation for this week’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars is easy to come by: Game film from Nov. 15, 2009.

The Jets lost, 24-22, to the Jaguars on that date, “embarrassed,” out-played physically and even out-grounded and out-pounded on their home turf, Ryan recalled.

“This one won’t be hard to get our team up for,” the Jets coach said today. “We know what happened the last time we played them. … We’ll let the video do most of the talking.”

The roster has changed since that day, but many of the core pieces are still in place: Quarterback Mark Sanchez, who famously read off a prepared script in his post-game press conference; and a majority of the defense, which let Jacksonville drive 80 yards for the winning field goal as time expired.

The Jets are coming off a Week 1 victory against the Dallas Cowboys that was emotional, coming on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and exhausting, as they had to overcome a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit.

But Ryan is not concerned about the task of recharging his team. This is an AFC contest, which he counts as a game-and-a-quarter for the standings. And while the motivation is of a different kind this week, he is convinced it will be effective.

“When you see the tape, and you get beat physically, the competitor in all of us will tell you, ‘All right, let’s get back out there, and we’ll see what happens this time,’” Ryan said. “And Maurice Jones-Drew is a great back, so we better be ready to go or we’ll get embarrassed again.”

Jones-Drew played the biggest role in getting the best of the Jets two years ago, and not just because he rushed for 123 yards on 24 carries. The Jaguars running back cunningly fell down at the Jets’ 1-yard line on the final drive, negating the Jets’ plan to let him score quickly so they could get the ball back with enough time to attempt a game-winning drive.

Jones-Drew admitted he didn’t realize that was the Jets’ plan at first. But on a 4-yard run to the 10, he noticed several Jets shouting at Marques Douglas not to tackle him. The Jaguars coaching staff called time out and told Jones-Drew to take a knee short of the end zone.

“Coach (Jack) Del Rio and Coach (Kennedy) Pola, the running backs coach at the time, were like, ‘Listen, they’re trying to let you score. The best thing for us right now as a team would be not to put our defense out there. Take a knee,’” Jones-Drew recalled. “My teammates were pretty (ticked) off. “But I told them it was for the right reasons.”

So Jones-Drew took the handoff with 1:48 to play and went down at the Jets’ 1. QB David Garrard, released last week, then kneeled on three consecutive plays. The Jaguars kicked the winning 21-yard field goal.

“It would have worked if we wouldn’t have tackled him the first play,” Ryan said of the Jets’ “Freeway” defense plan. “Ten of us knew to let him score. I’m not going to put Marques Douglas under the bus — I love Douglas — but he had the classic quote of all time. He told me, ‘Hey, he’d been breaking that tackle all day.’”

The afternoon took another odd turn after the game, when Sanchez read prepared comments at the podium. Then a rookie, he had thrown two interceptions, one on the Jets’ very first play from scrimmage. Now a third-year captain, that moment is well in the past.

“We were getting our butts kicked all over the field,” Sanchez said. “I felt like I was the reason for most of our losses, and that’s a tough spot to be in. … It was just stupid and rookie dumb mistakes. But it won’t happen again.”

The Jets also hope conceding defeat late in the game won’t happen again.

Since that afternoon, they have established an identity as a comeback club, capable of clawing back from unlikely deficits like they did in Week 1 against Dallas.

That game tape from two years ago, which had already been screened in some meeting rooms today, is a reminder of the disappointment the Jets felt that afternoon. But, they also hope to use it as a benchmark, of how far they have come since.

“In the end, they pulled it off and that’s not the type of team we are,” tight end Dustin Keller said. “When games are tight, we’re the ones that pull it off in the end. That was two years ago, so we’re a ways away from that, but we’re not going to let the same thing happen again.”

For more Jets coverage, follow Jenny Vrentas on Twitter at twitter.com/Jennyvrentas

Jenny Vrentas: jvrentas@starledger.com

Maurice Jones-Drew says Bears QB Jay Cutler and former Gators coach Urban Meyer are quitters

Even more questionable: Jones-Drew said Cutler was a quitter — just like former Gators coach Urban Meyer. 

“Hey I think the urban meyer rule is in effect right now,” Jones-Drew tweeted after Cutler went out of the NFC Championship Game with a knee injury. ”When the going gets tough……..QUIT.”

Jones tweeted later: “All I’m saying is that he can finish the game on a hurt knee … I played the whole season on one.”

Obviously Jones-Drew took too many blows to the head this season. He says he played the whole season on a hurt knee? Um, didn’t Jones-Drew miss the final two games of the season — two very important games when the Jags were fighting for playoff berth — with a knee injury? 

Jones deserves a Dud of the Week nomination for questioning a fellow NFL player’s toughness before he knows what the medical facts are. Hey, Maurice, when was the last conference championship game you played in? Oh yeah, you haven’t.

 As you know, every Monday morning here at the Open Mike Blog and Interactive Extravaganza, we pick our Studs and Duds from the weekend in sports.

 Jones-Drew, of course, gets one of my Dud nominations.  As for the Stud f the Week, how about Dwight Howard’s play for the Orlando Magic over the weekend?

Howard was incredible Friday night when he scored 31 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in just three quarters of play during the 112-72  thrashing of the Toronto Raptors. He followed that up with 22 points and 14 rebounds in another rout of the Houston Rockets.

This week, once again, there are a slew of good candidates for both Studs and Duds.

If you have time, please vote for Stud of the Week and Dud of the Week in the polls below.

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