The pieces are in place offensively, so their chances for a first trip to the Super Bowl will ride on the play of an underachieving defense

The Jaguars expect big things out of Brackens, whose production dropped during an injury-plagued 1998.   Al Messerschmidt

The 96-by-203-foot mural is displayed on the side of an office building in the heart of downtown Jacksonville. The tribute to the Jaguars, however, doesn't feature quarterback Mark Brunell or All-Pro tackle Tony Boselli or any of the offensive stars who helped turn the expansion team into a perennial playoff participant. Rather, front and center in the painting are defensive linemen Joel Smeenge and Renaldo Wynn.

As the Jaguars embark on their fifth NFL season, the selection of subjects is fitting because if Jacksonville expects to make its first Super Bowl appearance, the defense -- and in particular the team's pass rush unit -- must raise its level of play. Though the Jaguars have been to the playoffs each of the last three years, they have never sent a defensive player to the Pro Bowl. "We need an identity," says fourth-year linebacker Kevin Hardy. "Teams used their entire playbooks against our defense last year because we weren't solid in any one area. We need to get better at everything."

Last season, using the bend-but-don't-break philosophy of defensive coordinator Dick Jauron, Jacksonville had the third fewest sacks (30) in the league and ranked 25th in total defense. Nowhere were the Jaguars' shortcomings more evident than in a 34-24 loss to the Jets in the AFC divisional playoffs. Vinny Testaverde threw for 284 yards, Curtis Martin ran for 124 more and two scores as New York had its way against the beleaguered defense. "We couldn't stop them," says Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin. "You can't beat anybody with a defense like that. A game like that makes you think you might need to improve your defense."

Last January, Coughlin hired former Panthers coach Dom Capers to take over for Jauron, who had left to coach the Bears. Capers, the former Steelers defensive coordinator, is a proponent of the attack-style, zone-blitz scheme and likes to run a 3-4 alignment. Coughlin, however, prefers the more traditional 4-3 set, so the defense will have the mind of a 3-4 (lots of blitzes and stunts) and the body of a 4-3 (steady gap control to stop the run). "The players love this new defense," says Hardy, "because for once we can start taking the game to people, instead of the other way around."

It might not be as easy as that. Jacksonville lost defensive linemen John Jurkovic and Kelvin Pritchett to free agency, and Don Davey and Jeff Lageman to retirement. New faces include Larry Smith, a second-round draft pick out of Florida State, and Gary Walker, a free-agent pickup from Tennessee who had only one sack in '98. Walker will start at right tackle. Capers hopes that Smith will give the Jaguars some much-needed depth.

Wynn, the team's No. 1 pick in 1997, who split time at tackle and end last season, will line up at left end full time. He'll be backed up by Smeenge, the franchise's alltime sacks leader.

Coughlin is counting on right end Tony Brackens, a second-round draft pick in 1996 who is in the final year of his contract, to finally emerge as a leader and the kind of player this unit desperately needs: a guy who gets after the quarterback. An avid rancher who spends his off-seasons on his family's 1,800-acre spread in Fairfield, Texas, Brackens used most of his rookie signing bonus to buy cattle, then wrassled up seven sacks in each of his first two seasons. But shoulder and ankle problems limited him to only eight starts and 31-2 sacks in 1998. "Tony is absolutely the key," says Coughlin. Brackens concurs. "We all know the order of business this year," he says. "If I struggle, if the defense struggles, then the team will struggle. I'm planning on being all over the place. It's going to be hard for people to find me. I might even switch numbers."

But Brackens is in fact a quiet type who may not be suited for a leadership role. A more likely candidate is Hardy. A Pro Bowl-caliber linebacker, Hardy had a team-high 112 tackles last year and should flourish even more in Capers's defense, blitzing behind Brackens and in tandem with strongside linebacker Bryce Paup. Hardy, who has been awarded eight game balls since the Jaguars selected him with the second pick in the 1996 draft, is a pitchman for a soda company. His smiling mug can be seen splashed on billboards across Jacksonville. Considering the Jaguars' defensive mission in 1999, those advertisements carry an appropriate slogan: TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

-- David Fleming

Fast Facts

1998 RECORD: 11-5 (1st in AFC Central)
     NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 5/20/10; defense 22/23/25

1999 SCHEDULE STRENGTH (rank): 22
     Opponents' 1998 winning percentage: .491; Games against playoff teams: 4

Player to Watch

The first thing that free-agent tight end Kyle Brady did after signing with the Jaguars was walk up to second-year strong safety Donovin Darius and show him the scar on his chin. While running a slant pattern in the playoffs last season, Brady, then a Jet, was knocked so silly by a Darius tackle that he needed smelling salts. It was just one of the many nasty hits administered by Darius, a 1998 first-round draft pick. "Donovin has one speed," says Jacksonville linebacker Kevin Hardy. "Full tilt." Last year Darius topped the secondary with 74 tackles, leading then defensive coordinator Dick Jauron to comment that the safety brought an element of violence to the defense. Says Darius, "That's the highest compliment I can think of."

Other Info

1999 Team Schedule
Team Depth Chart