FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEKLY FEATURES

JAX (3-1) vs SD (2-2)

Game Prediction: JAX 23, SD 13

The Chargers at home have never scored less than 28 points this season and the Jaguars have never allowed more than 12 points on the road. Something's gotta give and it probably won't be the Jaguars defense.

Pre-Game Notes - JAX

The Jaguars held all opponents to few scores and lesser yards until finally the Colts came to town. in the end, the best offense actually can beat the best defense. At least at home.

Running Backs: Fred Taylor has hardly been the workhorse back of last season and has only one touchdown on the season and no games with more than 81 yards rushing. Last week against the Colts, he had 68 yards on 21 carries and the Jaguars were forced to the air to catch up. This offense needs a sound rushing game and should find some room this week on the road with a good reason to want to chew the clock up.

Wide Receivers: Last week when the Jaguars had to throw, Leftwich did a nice job at using all four wideouts. Jimmy Smith (3-59) had the lone touchdown catch but Ernest Wilford (6-56), Troy Edwards (4-54) and even Reggie Williams (3-40) all contributed. Until last week, none of the wideouts other than Smith had over 37 yards in any game this season.

Ernest Wilford continues to impress and even though Reggie Williams had three catches, he's still considered not as far along as fellow rookie Wilford.

Tight Ends: George Wrighster continues to be good for about three catches and maybe 30 yards a game.

Update: Unfortunately, Wrighster is having back problems and has not practiced this week. He is questionable to play and Todd Yoder is the more likely starter this week.

Match Against the Defense: The Chargers aren't nearly so much fun to play against anymore. After starting the season out as a rushing doormat again, they tightened up and held Denver to only 30 total rushing yards and Chris Brown only managed 55 yards on 15 carries. WIth the Jaguars rushing game already struggling, this is not the enticing matchup it appeared to be a month ago.

Where this game will hinge for the Jaguars is once again with the pass. In the last three games, each opponent has thrown for two touchdowns and over 250 yards against the Chargers in spite of the run not working. That's a tall order for Leftwich but he showed better command last week in the loss to the Colts and some surprisingly good vision and reads. The Chargers are now committing to stopping the running backs and leaving the secondary more open than before.

George Wrighster is actually in a good spot for another score given that all opponents have success with their tight ends against the Chargers and both Shad Meier and Chris Baker scored. Jimmy Smith is the best candidate to for a touchdown by a wideout but Leftwich has been spreading the ball out well enough to make a scoring forecast pretty tough to make for what should be one score.

Pre-Game Notes - SD

The Chargers have improved this season, hard as it is to believe but at 2-2 with wins over the Texans and Titans, there's a chance they don't get another first pick of the draft this year.

Running Backs: LaDainian Tomlinson comes off his best game of the year- 147 rushing yards and one touchdown against the Titans. He'll be facing a much more daunting task this week than in week three when the Broncos held him to only 60 yards on 22 carries but the recent success of Brees should help relax the defense a bit more.

In a nice surprise cameo, even Jesse Chatman gained 23 yards on three runs with one touchdown last week. Hope you didn't blink.

Wide Receivers: Reche Caldwell now has scored in three of four games this year and mostly as a replacement for the perpetually injured Tim Dwight. Caldwell only had three catches last week but gained 110 yards and one score thanks to the 58-yard touchdown reception, He was the only wideout with a catch though which is almost true in any given week. No other wideout has gained more than 25 yards in any game this season.

Tight Ends: Antonio Gates comes off a seven catch, 57 yard effort with one touchdown - his first of the season. Each week Caldwell and Gates are the only two receivers of note for the Chargers and Gates has been the leading receiver in three of the four games this year.

Match Against the Defense: Tomlinson at home should be a good fantasy start, but the Jaguars defense has been great at holding points down. Not to worry though, the biggest weakness (if there is one) with the Jags is the run defense and Edgerrin James and Chris Brown both scored and had decent yardage pitted against Jacksonville. Even Travis Henry (23-75) did okay and none of them have the talent of Tomlinson at home.

Drew Brees is much more likely to turn in a more typical "bring on Rivers" game than what you saw last week. The Jags have been tough against all opposing passing games and only Manning was able to do well. Brees is not, if you were not aware, the same level as Peyton Manning. As with all Jacksonville games, expect the score to be lower than usual and for the only opponent success to be rushing if only by volume of carries.