After placing second year quarterback Blaine Gabbert on injured reserve earlier in the week, the 1-9 Jacksonville Jaguars finally experienced a change in fortune.

Backup Chad Henne hadn’t started a game in more than a calendar year, but in the end he gave the team and its fans a reason to smile on Sunday, as he led the Jags and their 29th ranked scoring offense to their first home win of the season, a 24-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans (4-7).

“Hopefully this builds confidence for everybody throughout these next five games, builds new life,” said Henne, who threw for 261 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Henne provided a spark off the bench last week in Houston when he replaced the injured Gabbert and finished against with 354 passing yards and four touchdowns against an elite Texans defense. The Jaguars went on to lose a tough one in overtime, 43-37, but Henne helped them put up a valiant effort against a team that was 8-1 at the time and has established itself as one of the league’s powerhouses.

After Jake Locker’s six yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kenny Britt cut Jacksonville’s lead to 21-19 with 4:52 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars quickly went three and out and punted the ball right back to the Titans. Jaguars safety Dwight Lowery came up huge on the second play of the possession, intercepting Locker on a tipped ball at the Jacksonville 43 yard line with just under three minutes left to go.

For Lowery, who was sidelined the previous five games, it was his first pick of the season.

“It was nice to get a timely play that put us in position to win,” said linebacker Russell Allen, who assisted Lowery on the interception with the deflection. “It’s something we pride ourselves on: If we’re a position to win with our defense on the field, that’s right where we want to be. Today we were able to put it away.”

Locker had 261 yards through the air, two interceptions and one touchdown.

Five rushes by running back Rashad Jennings allowed kicker Josh Scobee to knock through a 41 yard field goal with only 24 seconds left, extending the Jags lead to 24-19 and virtually ending the game.

The defense forced another takeaway when cornerback Mike Harris then intercepted Locker at the Jaguars 42 to seal the team’s first home win since 2011.

Jacksonville never trailed after falling behind 3-0 on the game’s opening possession. Jennings’ one yard touchdown run late in the first put the Jaguars ahead 7-3. Cecil Shorts’ 59 yard touchdown reception added to the advantage at 14-6 at the 8:40 mark of the third quarter. Justin Blackmon’s seven yard touchdown catch kept it a two possession game, 21-12, a little more than halfway through the fourth.

“It’s good to have something good happen, really good,” said Jaguars head coach Mike Mularkey. “They needed that. A lot of people needed that. It was well earned.”

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The Jacksonville Jaguars (1-9) weren’t supposed to present any sort of problem for the Houston Texans (9-1) on Sunday. With polar opposite seasons taking place for the two AFC South representatives, the consensus was that the Texans would glide past the Jags with utmost ease.

Instead, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak and his men let out a huge sigh of relief as Andre Johnson turned a screen pass into a 48 yard trip to the end zone to win the game in overtime, 43-37.

“All the good teams find a way to win, no matter if it’s ugly, pretty or whatever,” said Johnson, who finished the day with the lone touchdown and career highs of 14 receptions and 273 yards. “In the win column, it either says ‘W’ or ‘L.’ They don’t ask how you got it done.”

But he was not the only one with video-game like numbers. Matt Schaub threw for 527 yards – second most all-time – and tossed five touchdown passes, two of which came in the fourth quarter during a string of 16 consecutive completions that got the Texans even after trailing 34-20 with 12:33 left to go in regulation.

It was not the first time that a Houston quarterback put up 527 yards through the air. Hall of Famer Warren Moon also did it back in 1990 with the Houston Oilers, who eventually went on to become the current-day Tennessee Titans.

After witnessing a tie just last week between the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers – the NFL’s first since 2008 – this matchup was not far from producing yet another. A 33 yard Jaguars field goal deadlocked the two sides at 37 in overtime with 4:21 remaining following a 25 yarder made by Houston around the eight minute mark.

“I told them afterwards, we didn’t come here for a tie,” said Jaguars coach Mike Mularkey. “We had some chances. We just did not make some of the plays that we haven’t made throughout the year.”

Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert was unable to return to the game after taking a sack from Houston safey Danieal Manning and injuring his elbow on the play. Backup Chad Henne played the rest of the way and had an excellent performance with 354 yards and four touchdowns.

“You’ve just got to always be prepared and ready to go in,” Henne said. “I’ve been preparing these last couple weeks like I’ve got to be the starter, and any time he (Gabbert) goes down, just jump in and hopefully not lose a step.”

Jaguars rookie receiver Justin Blackmon played a significant role in Henne’s success, hauling in a touchdown and 236 yards on seven receptions.

But as far as wide receivers were concerned, it was Johnson’s day from start to finish.

“I don’t know if that one will ever be touched,” said Kubiak. “That was special from the Texans standpoint.”

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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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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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On a night that NFL fans worldwide have been waiting all offseason for, the drama began a lot earlier than expected when the Cleveland Browns made a bold move for the third pick in the draft, giving up their fourth pick, as well as their fifth and seventh-round picks, to the Minnesota Vikings with less than an hour left till the beginning of the draft.

The night began with Roger Goodell arriving at the podium to announce that the Indianapolis Colts were on the clock, and was soon returning to do the same for the Washington Redskins who had the second overall pick. The Colts and Redskins drafted Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III respectively in two of the most widely expected draft choices in recent years.

The Browns then took Alabama running back Trent Richardson with the third overall pick that they acquired from the Vikings less than an hour before, arguably largely due to rumors that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were willing to trade up for Richardson. The Vikings still managed to get their man, despite dropping down the draft, taking Matt Kalil with the fifth pick.

The Jacksonville Jaguars traded their seventh overall pick and an additional fourth-round to the Buccaneers to move up and take wide receiver Justin Blackmon, before the Dallas Cowboys made unexpected waves to grab the sixth pick, trading their 14th pick as well as their second-rounder to the St Louis Rams. The Cowboys bolstered their under strength secondary with the selection of elite cornerback prospect Morris Claiborne.

With much of the early frenzy subsided, the Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins surprised no one with their drafting of Alabama’s Mark Barron and Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill respectively, both teams filling trouble positions for them over the last few seasons.

Many had the Carolina Panthers taking either a cornerback or wide receiver with their ninth-overall pick, but they selected Luke Kuechly to strengthen their group of linebackers and consequently allowed the Buffalo Bills to pick up Stephon Gilmore, the highly talented corner out of South Carolina, with the 10th pick of the draft.

Defensive tackle Dontari Poe was next off the board, taking recently retired Kelly Gregg’s place at the Kansas City Chief’s. Poe’s selection was somewhat of a surprise, with most predicting Fletcher Cox to be the top nose tackle in the draft. The Philadelphia Eagles, a team in dire need of a nose tackle, saw this as too good of an opportunity to turn down and traded the Seattle Seahawks for the 12th pick, allowing them to acquire Cox.

The Arizona Cardinals briefly bucked the trend of drafting defensive tackles with the acquisition Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd, much to the satisfaction of receiver Larry Fitzgerald, but the Rams returned to the defensive line by selecting Michael Brockers. The rush on defensive linesman seemed to get to the Seahawks who were picking at 15, as they shocked a lot of people when they drafted Bruce Irvin out of West Virginia, considered by many to be a third-round pick.

The New York Jets will be hoping that they have solved their need for a genuine pass-rusher with the addition of Quinton Coples whilst the Cincinnati Bengals took Alabama corner Dre Kirkpatrick with their initial pick in the first round. The San Diego Chargers improved their inconsistent defense with the addition of versatile linebacker Melvin Ingram who is one of the premiere pass rushers in this years’ draft class.

The Chicago Bears continued the run on defensive players with the 19th pick, selecting Shea McClellin to help out Julius Peppers on pressuring the quarterback. Baylor product Kendall Wright became the third wide receiver to be taken in the 2012 NFL Draft with the Tennessee Titans picking him up, whilst the New England Patriots, perhaps unsettled by the declining number of top class defensive ends, traded up to the 21st pick with the Bengals and took Chandler Jones out of Syracuse.

The Browns then used their second pick of the first-round to draft 29-year old quarterback Brandon Weeden, casting serious doubt on the confidence the Browns have in their current incumbent, Colt McCoy. The selection of a quarterback seemed to spark teams’ protective instincts, as both the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers drafting offensive linesmen, with Riley Reiff moving to Detroit and David DeCastro to Pittsburgh.

The Patriots proceeded to trade up for the second time in the draft already, trading with the Denver Broncos and allowing them to bring in Dont’a Hightower to aid what is a quickly improving defense.  The Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers then took the last true pass rushers in the first round with Mercilus Whitney and Nick Perry respectively, either side of the Bengals selecting Kevin Zeitler with the 27th pick.

The Vikings then returned to the first round, giving up their second and third-round picks for the Baltimore Ravens’ 29th pick and consequently selected safety Harrison Smith out of Notre Dame. The San Francisco 49ers surprised some by taking A. J. Jenkins before the Buccaneers traded up to 31st pick, with the Broncos, like the Ravens, moving out of the first round. The Buccaneers then took running back Doug Martin with the pick before the New York Giants finished off the first round with the selection of David Wilson from Virginia Tech.

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The linebacker out of Boston College is undoubtedly the standout inside linebacker of this year’s class and may well fall to the Bills. Having already signed both Mario Williams and Mark Anderson in free agency, Buffalo are making a concerted effort to improve their defense, and the addition of Kuechly to this unit may not be desperately needed, but will be highly desired by the Buffalo top brass.

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With excitement growing over the upcoming NFL draft following the annual Combine, the opportunity arises to evaluate whether or not this draft can live up to the lofty expectations placed upon the class’ offensive players by their predecessors. The exceptional performances of Cam Newton and co. have surprised nearly everyone, coaches and fans alike, and have set the bar high for Andrew Luck and his colleagues.

Although he was drafted first overall by the Carolina Panthers, Newton had his critics before the start of the season, much of which was due to a poor preseason, and was not expected to make the kind of impact that you would expect from a number one pick. In addition to this, the fact Newton is a quarterback, arguably the most difficult position to successfully transition from College Football to the NFL, had many people writing him off before he had even begun.

An exhilarating start against the Arizona Cardinals, with Newton passing for over 400 yards, and people were regretting their decision to judge the quarterback prematurely. Fast forward another few weeks and a string of similarly impressive performances had erased almost all doubts and even had some foolhardy, most likely Carolina fans, labelling him as an ‘Elite Quarterback’.

This heaps pressure onto fellow Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and projected No. 1 pick Andrew Luck considerably. Both will be coming into the NFL with more expectation on them than Newton had and will be required to perform to a similar level now that Newton has set the bar for rookie quarterbacks.

In a year that saw the rise to prominence of the tight end, it was rookie wide receivers that were making a name for themselves. First round wide receivers A. J. Green and Julio Jones both made big contributions to their respective teams, whilst second round pick Torrey Smith had a good season for the Baltimore Ravens, giving their offence a much needed deep threat.

Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State is clearly the best wide receiver coming into the NFL this year, but his ability to make an impact on the level of Green and Jones depends much on which team, and their respective quarterback, drafts him. Georgia Tech product Stephen Hill also excelled at the combine and could find himself drafted late in the first round where many of the elite quarterbacks will be waiting to link up with him.

The offensive line may be one area in which the upcoming set of rookies have the edge on their predecessors, lead by the powerful Matt Kalil. Kalil, the younger brother of Panthers center Ryan Kalil, heads a group of young offensive linemen that include Wisconsin’s Peter Konz and Iowa’s Riley Reiff to name but a few.

It often takes a season or two before a young offensive linesman is ready for a starting role in the NFL, but this group of players seem as ready as any group that has preceded them. The Dallas Cowboys’ Tyron Smith was arguably the pick of the 2011 class and has been tipped to make the daunting move to left tackle this coming season, a position which Kalil has been tipped to be ready for in his rookie season.

With the increase in passing yards per game and the relatively short careers of running backs, many experts are saying the days of running backs being drafted in the first round are numbered, with the class of this year tending to agree with this prediction. Trent Richardson of Alabama is an incredible prospect and has been tipped by most to go with the third or fourth pick in the first round, but beyond Richardson there are no real standout prospects and there is a good chance no other running back will be drafted in the first round.

It is hard to predict the effectiveness of running backs in their debut NFL season due to the nature of frequent injuries in the position affecting how many touches a player is going to get. Richardson will have to outperform DeMarco Murray who was the best rookie running back in the NFL last season, but with the diminishing role of running backs in the professional game, it remains to be seen whether or not this will come to pass.

The extra pressure placed on Luck and Griffin because of Newton’s outstanding season could well be their downfall, with both also unlikely to have a wide receiver of Steve Smith’s quality to pass to. That being said, the fact the top four prospected picks are all offensive players speaks volumes about how talented these players are, and providing they have the right pieces around them, the offensive rookies in the upcoming draft may even be able to outshine a great group in the class of 2011.

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