Jerry Porter And Troy Williamson Should Bring Some Life To The Jacksonville Receiving Core

The Jacksonville Jaguars, who have been searching for a No. 1 wide receiver since Jimmy Smith retired, reached a contract agreement Friday with Jerry Porter, one of the top wide receivers in the unrestricted free agent market.

Porter, 29, was expected to sign a six-year, $30 million contract later on Friday. He played the first eight years of his career with the Oakland Raiders.

Jerry Porter needs the Jags just as bad as the Jags need Porter. Remember, Porter played on the Raiders his first 8 seasons. The Raiders that I can remember never had a very good quarterback to get the ball into Porter's hands during those 8 seasons. Hopefully, now that Porter has a very good quarterback in David Garrard, Porter can finally unleash his true potential.

In addition, the Jaguars on Friday completed a trade they agreed to earlier in the week, adding former Minnesota first-round wide receiver Troy Williamson in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick. Williamson, who was a disappointment in his three seasons with the Vikings, should add a deep threat to the Jacksonville offense.

Again, look where Troy Williamson came from. The Vikings haven't had a good quarterback since early 2000s when Daunte Culpepper was in his prime.

With the emergence of quarterback David Garrard in his first season as the full-time starter in 2007, the Jaguars are making a concerted effort to upgrade his arsenal of receivers in an attempt to close the gap with Indianapolis in the division.

News That Would Devastate Michael Vick

The Atlanta Falcons continued their franchise makeover in earnest on Friday, releasing tight end Alge Crumpler, quarterback Byron Leftwich, offensive tackle Wayne Gandy, cornerback Lewis Sanders, wide receiver Jamin Elliott, linebacker Marcus Wilkins and defensive tackle Rod Coleman.

"This is a difficult day for the entire organization," Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement. "A number of these players have contributed to this organization on and off the field at a high level and we greatly appreciate their efforts. These decisions weren't easy, but we felt they were necessary to build a team in the long-term best interest of the Falcons and its fans."

I just don't understand why teams have been releasing their best players lately. Michael Vick's favorite receiver, and arguably the team's best receiver, Alge Crumpler was released. Why would you get rid of your best receiver? It makes no sense. What are they thinking?

Crumpler, who just completed his seventh season, all with Atlanta, has 316 career catches for 4,212 yards and 35 touchdowns. He had been with the team since 2001 and was selected to five Pro Bowls.

Leftwich, formerly a starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars, was acquired by the Falcons during the season after the Jaguars released him in order to go with David Garrard. He alternated with Joey Harrington as the Falcons' starter last season.

"As a football coach it is never easy to cut any player, especially veteran players who have been valuable members of the organization," said new coach Mike Smith, who was hired last month.

That's probably why Alge Crumpler was released....because the Atlanta Falcons just got a brand new head coach who feels no sympathy or understanding in getting rid of players who he has no prior connection with. And that whole it is never easy to cut players thing is just a cover up. He doesn't mean it.

From all indications, the shake-up isn't done. Veterans such as Warrick Dunn and Lawyer Milloy could become victims of the cap, though they weren't included in the original round of cuts.

Oh, and I'd take Leftwich over Harrington any day

The New England Patriots Advance In The Playoffs

This game was in a dead heat going into halftime. Then, I realized the New England Patriots would do what they always do. That is, keep the game relatively close to make the game exciting and keep viewers glued to their screens, but then blow it open in the end.

I want to know what happened to this amazing Jacksonville Jaguars defense I heard about? All of a sudden they decided to not show up? They could not stop the Patriots on any drive. The punter only came out once for the Patriots....and that was in the last minute of the game!

The Jaguars struck first. They answered after the Patriots responded with two touchdowns. However, the give-and-take with Tom Brady & Company finally took a toll on Jacksonville.

David Garrard did all he could to keep his team in the game, but his receivers dropped some key catches that might have possibly made a difference. As for the Jaguars' amazing running game, I'd rather not even mention how terrible it was.

David Garrard kept the Jaguars close, completing 14 of 18 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns through three quarters, including an 8-yard touchdown pass as his knee brushed the tips of the turf while in the grasp of linebacker Mike Vrabel. Garrard also hit Ernest Wilford for a 6-yard TD to make it 14-14 with 7:46 left in the half.

The Jaguars scored on a spectacular opening possession that gave them hope of ending New England's chances to top the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who won all 17 of their games. However, the Jaguars first touchdown was one of controversy.

Garrard found a wide-open Marcedes Lewis for 34 yards on a fourth-and-1 from the Patriots 43. Then, on third-and-goal from the 8, Vrabel wrapped up Garrard and was bringing him down when he flung the ball into the end zone and into the arms of Matt Jones.

Replays showed that Garrard's knee might have been down when he released the ball. But Patriots coach Bill Belichick wasn't quite as quick with his release of the red replay flag: He was running toward the field with his arm cocked, ready to throw it, when the ball was snapped for the extra point.

But Brady broke it open in the third with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker and a 9-yarder to Benjamin Watson -- his second scoring catch of the game.

Tom Brady completed his first 16 passes and was 23-of-24 for 194 yards and three touchdowns in the first three quarters Saturday night to help the New England Patriots open a 28-17 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars in their AFC playoff game.

Laurence Maroney ran 15 times for 111 yards and a 1-yard touchdown as the Patriots tried to extend their perfect season with a 17th consecutive victory.

The New England Patriots will play the winner of Sunday's game between San Diego and Indianapolis for the AFC championship and a berth in the Super Bowl. If the Patriots make it to the Feb. 3 NFL title game, they'll have a chance to complete the league's first 19-0 season.

Jacksonville Jaguars Advance In The Playoffs

What once was a walk in the park for the Jaguars turned into a cliff-hanger. But thanks to Josh Scobee's late 25-yard field goal, the Jaguars defeated Pittsburgh.

Never in the Steelers' 75 seasons had a team beaten them twice in Pittsburgh in the same season. The Jacksonville Jaguars beat history -- and the Steelers -- despite a memorable fourth-quarter collapse that nearly cost the visitors their season.

Thanks to three Ben Roethlisberger picks in the first half, the Jags were walking over the Steelers. Not anymore. Big Ben's big second half placed the Steelers in the lead. However, the score that made the Steelers take the lead was a result of a false pass interference call on the offense. Hines Ward clearly had his hand in the face of the defender's mask, but the refs called pass interference on the defense. This gave the Steelers a fresh set of downs in which they eventually scored to take the lead 29-28

However, David Garrard single-handedly led his team downfield. He daringly attempted a fourth down in which he ran the ball himself to put his team in position to take the lead, which they did via a field goal by Josh Scobee. The Jags took the lead 31-29 and this became the final score after Ben Roethlisberger fumbled the final drive.

Jacksonville appeared to be done after Najeh Davenport's second 1-yard TD run of the game gave the Steelers a 29-28 lead with about six minutes remaining. But quarterback David Garrard, not a great runner, found a seam on a convert-or-else fourth-and-2 play and rambled 32 yards to the Steelers 11 with 1:56 left.

Garrard aided the Steelers' comeback by throwing two interceptions -- one less than he had all season -- only to come up with the play that may have saved the Jaguars' season.

The Jaguars came in off six wins in their last eight games, while the Steelers -- missing five starters, including star running back Willie Parker -- limped into the postseason with three losses in four games and four in seven.

Jacksonville Jaguars really deserve this win. If they would have lost because of that clearly obvious false face mask call, it would have been ashame. The Jags were the hottest team coming into the playoffs. Their young. Their hot. Their fresh. Their hungry and have the will to win. If the Titans win tomorrow, I really believe the Jags have the aggressive defense that will cause the Patriots trouble.

Include MVP In The List Of Tom Brady's Accomplishments This Year

Was their any doubt? Tom Brady rewrote the NFL record book in 2007 and earned all but one MVP vote.

The New England Patriots' record-setting quarterback drew all but one vote Saturday in romping to The Associated Press 2007 NFL MVP award in the same manner his team romped through its schedule, going 16-0. On the way to the first unbeaten regular season since Miami went 14-0 in 1972, Brady put on a performance for the ages.

"I have always been a huge football fan and will always have great respect for the history of this game," Brady said. "I am grateful to all of the voters for any consideration I was given. It is a tremendous honor and I am sure it is one that my family will one day look back on with great pride."

The eight-year veteran who already has won three Super Bowls helped the Patriots tear through the record books by throwing for 50 touchdowns. He beat Peyton Manning's league mark by one, and also threw 23 of those TD passes to Randy Moss, which lifted the receiver past Jerry Rice's record of 22.

New England scored 589 points, another record, as was the Patriots' 75 touchdowns. Brady led the NFL with a 117.2 passer rating -- no, not another record, but close to Manning's 121.1 in 2004. Only one full-time AFC starter, Jacksonville's David Garrard, had fewer than Brady's eight interceptions. And Brady threw 253 more passes than Garrard.

Brady also was tops with a 68.9 completion percentage, and his 4,806 yards were 383 more than runner-up Drew Brees of New Orleans.