The Jaguars hope to show tonight they're still prime-time players.
After losing their other two prime-time games this year to the Steelers and Texans, the Jaguars close out their home season tonight against the Indianapolis Colts on the NFL Network. The game is also being shown locally on WAWS TV-30.
This is a chance for the Jaguars to salvage something out of a disappointing 5-9 season by sweeping a division rival, snapping the Colts' seven-game winning streak and preventing them from clinching a playoff spot.
"It's a big challenge,'' said cornerback Brian Williams. "National TV, you always want to show up for that.''
It's technically on national TV, but the NFL Network, locked in a legal battle with the cable companies over access to basic cable, has yet to match the wide audience that ESPN has. Still, the game is one the Jaguars appear to be anticipating.
"Our guys are excited about the opportunity,'' coach Jack Del Rio said. "It should be a fun game.''
The game also has an intriguing number of subplots for a team that is out of the race.
To start with, two players who were nearly forgotten, middle linebacker Mike Peterson and wide receiver Dennis Northcutt have been thrust back into the spotlight.
Peterson lost his starting job when he tried to explain to Del Rio why he celebrated a sack in Cincinnati when the Jaguars were trailing, 21-3.
He was subsequently tossed out of a meeting, placed on the inactive list for the game at Detroit, and then brought him back as a backup and special teams player. Peterson will make his first start since his demotion because Daryl Smith was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with a groin injury.
Del Rio said he had no regrets about the Peterson move and this is likely to be Peterson's last home game as a Jaguar. Peterson has special motivation because the Colts let him leave in free agency after the 2002 season.
"Our season hasn't gone the way we wanted it to. I think sweeping a team like the Indianapolis Colts is something we can hang our hats on in the offseason,'' Peterson said.
Northcutt moved into the starting lineup against Green Bay for the first time this season because of Matt Jones' drug suspension and Jerry Porter's groin injury, and gave the Jaguars the deep passing game they haven't had. He caught five passes for 127 yards.
Now he gets his chance to do it again against the Colts, though Del Rio still seems committed to Jones.
When asked if Northcutt isn't a better weapon than Jones, a possession receiver who caught 65 passes, but only two for 30 yards or more, Del Rio said: "I would not make that kind of statement. I think Matt is a good football player. We'll get him back next year.''
The game is likely to turn on whether the Jaguars' secondary, missing injured Rashean Mathis, can stop the Peyton Manning's passing game and whether the Colts' run defense can stop Maurice Drew, who has three of his seven career 100-yard rushing games against Indianapolis.
Drew, though, doesn't feel he has to demonstrate he can be a full-time running back now that Fred Taylor is on injured reserve. He said he had that role his entire career until he was drafted by the Jaguars and started splitting time with Taylor.
"I don't think it's a chance to prove anything,'' Drew said. "It's still football. I do the same things I did in college. I don't think people who say those things [that he hasn't proved he can be a full-time back] understand football.''
vito.stellino@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4279.
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