The Detroit Lions improved to 4-4, after their 31-14 victory on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Lions were led by running back, Mikel Leshoure who had 16 carries for 70 yards and three touchdowns. All three of Leshoure’s touchdowns came inside the 10 yard-line in the second quarter to give the Lions an early 21-0 lead. His three touchdowns was the first time the young back punched in multiple touchdown runs.

Running back, Joique Bell also had an effective game running the ball, with 13 carries for 73 yards and one touchdown. Bell’s 10 yard touchdown run was in the fourth quarter, solidifying the victory.

Quarterback, Matthew Stafford completed 22-of-33 passes for 285 yards. Stafford was held without a touchdown pass for the second time this season, meanwhile he threw at least one touchdown pass in each game he played in last season.

Stafford and star wideout Calvin Johnson were able to connect seven times for 129 yards. Johnson has surpassed the 100 yard mark four times this season, but still only has one touchdown. His seven receptions this week was his best since his 10 catches against Tennessee earlier in the year.

Jaguar quarterback, Blaine Gabbert completed 27-of-38 passes for 220 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Gabbert’s first touchdown pass came in the fourth quarter to wideout Michael Spurlock. Spurlock’s five yard touchdown was his first of the year. He finished off the game with five receptions for 35 yards along with his touchdown.

Gabbert’s second touchdown pass was in the fourth quarter to rookie wideout Justin Blackmon. Blackmon, also caught five passes for 32 yards along with his touchdown. Wide receiver, Laurent Robinson returned from a concussion catching six passes for 41 yards.

Running back, Rashard Jennings continues to be Jacksonville’s number one back after Maurice Jones-Drew’s injury. Jennings carried the ball 12 times for 45 yards and also had three receptions for seven yards. The Jaguars are still unaware about when Jones-Drew will return from the foot injury.

The 1-7 Jaguars remain winless at home and will be back in action on short rest on Thursday against the Indianapolis Colts. As for the Lions, they will have a tough match-up on the road against divisional rivals the Minnesota Vikings.

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The Green Bay Packers surprisingly struggled against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but were able to hang on to earn themselves a 24-15 victory and improve to 5-3 on the season.

The Packers were without number one and two wideouts Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson. Jennings will miss about six weeks after opting for surgery on his groin. As for Nelson, he was inactive because of a hamstring injury. Lets not forget all of the injury woes the Packers are facing on the defensive side.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 22-of-35 for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Rodgers has thrown at least two touchdowns in the last five games for the Packers. Rodgers connected with wideout Randall Cobb on a five yard touchdown pass in the 1st quarter and veteran wideout Donald Driver in the 4th quarter.

James Jones led the Packers receiving core with seven receptions and 78 yards. Cobb continues to make a name for himself after catching his 4th touchdown pass of the year, already three more than last season. Cobb has already surpassed last seasons yards and receptions totals.

Green Bays running game continues to be non-existent and the absence of Cedric Benson continues to hurt them week after week. Alex Green carried the ball 22 times for an unproductive 54 yards. Green Bays rushing high of the season is held by Benson with 84 yards. Since he went down with a season ending injury, there has not been a single back to run for more than 65 yards.

In the 2nd quarter, Green Bay’s special teams came up with an enormous punt block that was recovered in the end-zone to help put seven points on the board.

Jacksonville quarterback Blaine Gabbert threw a career high 303 yards and tossed one touchdown pass in the defeat. Wideout Cecil Shorts led the receivers eight receptions for 116 yards.

The Jaguars lost star running back Maurice Jones-Drew to a foot injury last week, therefore promoting Rashard Jennings as the starting back. Jennings carried the ball 17 times for 59 yards, including six receptions for 56 yards. Jacksonville will face another NFC North opponent, the Detroit Lions, next week at home.

Green Bay’s victory is their third straight this season, and they have won 16 of their last 17 games at Lambeau Field. The Packers are now tied for second with the Minnesota Vikings. They will be welcoming the Arizona Cardinals to Lambeau next week as they look for a 4th straight win.

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Judging by the fact that the 2011 Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11) finished dead last in overall offensive yardage, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch pointing out that the 2012 squad has plenty of room to improve and then some.

Running the football was not really an issue last season, considering that Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew led the league’s rushers with 1,606 yards on the ground. After letting go of his desire to renegotiate the final two years of the front-loaded deal he signed five years ago, Jones-Drew officially ended his 38-day holdout on Sunday, only a week before the Jaguars season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

But despite having the number one rusher in the NFL, rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert’s tremendous struggles in 2011 plummeted the Jaguars offensive efficiency to rock bottom. The former University of Missouri quarterback’s 11 interceptions in 15 games was not an abysmal total, but with 12 touchdown passes, a 50.8 completion percentage, an average of only 147.6 passing yards per game, and a visible fear of hanging in the pocket and taking the big hit, the consensus was that Gabbert clearly was not prepared for the starting role just yet.

The other side of the football was a much different story for Jacksonville. Defense was a strong-suit in 2011, as they allowed an average of just 20.6 points per game, which was good enough for the 11th rank in the league.

However, a great running attack and defensive unit was not enough to allow former head coach Jack Del Rio to keep his job. Management decided to move on, firing him on November 29th. Del Rio held the title of Jaguars head coach dating back to the 2003 season.

In now is Mike Mularkey, a long-time former NFL assistant coach and also Buffalo Bills head coach from 2004-2005. The team is under new ownership and has begun its rebuilding phase. Their key personnel losses this offseason include defensive linemen Matt Roth, Aaron Kampman and Leger Douzable. Among the significant additions are veteran wide receivers Laurent Robinson and Lee Evans, a quality cornerback in Aaron Ross and former Miami Dolphins starting quarterback, Chad Henne. Because of Gabbert’s youth, many believe Henne will take control of the starting position under center at one point or another this season.

Rookie wide receiver Justin Blackmon, who the Jaguars selected with the fifth overall pick in this summer’s draft out of Oklahoma State, is projected to become their primary target for the foreseeable future.

With all that being said, the Jaguars compete in the AFC South, which will likely be run away with by the Houston Texans for a second straight year. In this first season of the next stage for this Jacksonville franchise a realistic goal would be somewhere between six and eight wins.

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Maybe the rest of the league shouldn’t write off this Chargers team just yet. San Diego finally snapped its miserable six game losing streak on Monday night with an eye-opening 38-14 victory over the Jaguars. Many people claimed the 4-7 Chargers season was over heading into this primetime matchup. However, their first win since October 9^th put them just two games behind Denver and Oakland for top spot in the AFC West.

“It’s been a rough six weeks. I haven’t put a complete game together, but I don’t care about the numbers. I just want to win,” said quarterback Phillip Rivers. Rivers has been criticized throughout the year for having what has probably been the worst season of his career. He has a league high 17 interceptions and has looked nothing like the elite quarterback that he has been for several years.

But maybe all Rivers needed was a simple change in the calendar. He now has a 23-2 regular season record in the months of December and January. The Chargers are known for making a run at some point every year, and they hope this win will spark another one.

A win seemed highly probable early on after the Chargers jumped out to a two possession first quarter lead on the 3-8 Jags. Mike Tolbert capped off an 11 play, 70 yard drive with a 13 yard touchdown run on San Diego’s first possession.  They then pushed the lead to 10-0 with a 29 yard field goal with less than a minute remaining in the quarter.

Jacksonville came right back in the second quarter. Rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert led a 79 touchdown yard drive that concluded with a 9 yard touchdown pass to Maurice Jones-Drew. Gabbert went a perfect five for five on the drive, accounting for 49 yards.

The Jaguars offense quickly returned to the field after forcing a three and out. Jones-Drew was in the middle of the action once again after taking a 3^rd and 3 shovel pass 48 yards down to the San Diego 4 yard line. Gabbert finished off the drive with another touchdown pass – a 5 yard fade to Cecil Shorts on 3^rd and goal giving the Jags a 14-10 lead with 2:32 remaining in the half.

From that point on it was all Chargers the rest of the way. Rivers immediately took the Bolts 68 yards to the end zone after throwing a 22 yard back shoulder touchdown pass to rookie Vincent Brown. Jacksonville now trailed 17-14 with less than a minute and a half until halftime.

Chargers safety Eric Weddle then recorded his sixth interception of the year after picking off Gabbert at the San Diego 41. Rivers would go on to add one more touchdown before halftime with a 35 yard throw down field to Vincent Jackson. The Chargers remained just as aggressive in the passing game to open the third quarter. Malcolm Floyd hauled in a 52 yard play action bomb from Rivers to extend the lead to 31-14.

In just 4 minutes and 22 seconds the momentum of the game completely swung. San Diego scored 21 points during that span and never looked back. Despite two nice drives early on, Gabbert was unable to put anything together for the remainder of the night. He did not attempt many throws down field and went just 19-33 for 195 yards. The fans would boo him at times as he struggled mightily.

The Jaguars relied a lot on Jones-Drew, who passed LeSean McCoy as the league’s leading rusher in the fourth quarter. But 97 yards on 20 carries still was not enough to make up for Gabbert’s mistakes. Ryan Matthews, however, had a huge night for the Chargers. He ran for 112 yards on 13 carries and broke a 31 yard touchdown run for the game’s final score in the fourth quarter.

But Rivers was the star of the night. The 29-year-old finally looked like himself going for 294 yards and 3 touchdowns on 22-28 passing. It would be easy to overlook this victory for the Chargers since it came against a 3-8 team that fired their coach the previous week. Their rookie quarterback has played very poorly as well.

But the Jaguars sport one of the top defensive units in the league and the Chargers torched them. Rivers and the rest of the team have a lot to be proud of and could certainly build off of this win.

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