Columnist Sal DeFilippo: Jaguars flying high under the radar

Sal DeFilippo

Friday, Oct. 1, 2004 | 10:05 a.m.

Sal DeFilippo's pro football picks column appears Friday. Reach him at sal@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4076.

The Indianapolis Colts scored 35 points in the first half last week.

The Jacksonville Jaguars scored 35 points in their first three games.

Yet, when you look at the AFC South standings, you wonder two things: How Jacksonville can possibly be alone in first place, and what geographical wizard thinks Indianapolis is in the South?

As far as the latter goes, we'll just let that slide. After all, it took the NFL more than 20 years to get Atlanta and New Orleans out of the NFC West, while Arizona played in the NFC East.

But concerning the Jaguars' surprise start, they are following a simple formula:

Keep the game close, stay within striking distance while lulling the opponent into a false sense of security.

Score a touchdown, on the last play of the game if possible.

Drive home safely.

The Jaguars trailed Buffalo 10-6 with 2:07 remaining in the season opener, but marched 80 yards to win the game, culminating the drive with a fourth-down, 7-yard touchdown pass with no time remaining. In fact, the Jags scored without ever setting foot in the end zone -- receiver Ernest Wilford was forced out of bounds after making the catch, but the referees ruled the contact caused him to land out of bounds, and the touchdown stood. Jacksonville won 13-10.

In Week 2, riding the wave of their offensive outburst, the Jags employed a different strategy, actually leading 7-6 at halftime. They tried to let Denver take a late lead, but usually reliable Jason Elam was short on a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter, and when Denver moved inside the Jacksonville 25 in the final minute, right on cue, the Broncos' Q -- Quentin Griffin -- fumbled and the Jaguars prevailed.

Last week's victory against Tennessee was particularly impressive, since Jack Del Rio's club trailed twice in the second half. Down 6-0 at intermission, Byron Leftwich led a touchdown drive that put the Jags ahead by one late in the third quarter. But with less than six minutes remaining, the Titans' Chris Brown scored on a 26-yard run and Tennessee regained the lead.

This put the Jaguars in an uncomfortable position. I can imagine Leftwich huddling with the coaches on the sideline.

"You mean we have to score another touchdown? We just scored one of those last quarter, you know. We even landed in bounds this time. Doesn't that meet our quota?"

As un-Jaguar-like as a two-touchdown game might seem, Fred Taylor's 1-yard run with nine seconds remaining gave Jacksonville its third win. And I'm not sure anyone was accusing the Jags of running up the score when they made a two-point conversion to finish with a season-high 15 points, but they certainly delivered in the clutch.

It's true that not every team is lighting up the scoreboard these days -- Miami's best chance at hearing "touchdown" is to drive up the road and hang out at Cape Kennedy, and let's just say when you hear the phrase "Cardinals' biggest offensive threat," you think of Albert Pujols considerably sooner than Emmitt Smith. In fact, you probably think of Tony Womack before anyone in shoulder pads comes to mind.

The Atlanta Falcons beat the Cardinals in a 6-3 thriller, the same score by which the Braves beat the Marlins on Sunday. And San Francisco was shut out for the first time since October 1977, back when Joe Montana was still in college.

Still, 35 points generally doesn't add up to a 3-0 mark. Kansas City has 62 points and hasn't won a game. Indianapolis hit the century mark after its first three games, yet is only 2-1 heading into this week's showdown at Jacksonville.

It will certainly be a tough task, even for Del Rio's grand defense, to shut down Peyton Manning and Co. But if Jacksonville can stay close, they've already proven that when they have to, they know how to get their points across.

This week's picks: A 1-2 mark against the spread puts the season ledger at 5-4. This week, I'll take the Bengals plus 4 at the Steelers, the Saints -3 1/2 at Arizona and and the Chiefs plus 5 1/2 at Baltimore on Monday night.