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Shutting'em down Jaguars have allowed only 52 points in five games
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 07:20 PM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Lonnie Marts, who has been playing linebacker in the NFL for a decade, claims this year's Jacksonville defense isn't the best he's played on. But it's close. "The best was in Kansas City," says Marts, who began his career in 1990 with the Chiefs. "But this could be. We've got good young guys. We've got good older guys. If we do a few things, we can get there." This came after the Jaguars, who in their first four seasons thrived on offense, beat the New York Jets 16-6, the third time in five games that Jacksonville held the opposition without a touchdown. With the offense having problems scoring, it's the defense that's the main reason the Jags are 4-1 - they've allowed 52 points in five games, or a little over 10 per game compared to 21 points last season. The record appears destined get better. So should the defense. And eventually the offense will follow -- quarterback Mark Brunell, who carried the team the last few seasons, is off to a slow start. One reason is the schedule. Jacksonville still has two games each with Cleveland, Cincinnati and Baltimore, and the only team with a winning record left on the schedule is at Tennessee, which handed the Jaguars their only loss and is probably their only competition for the AFC Central title. Unlike previous seasons, that leaves time for the offense to get better because the defense seems to be there. One reason is those good older guys that Marts mentioned. He's one of them, along with strong safety Carnell Lake, signed from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Gary Walker, who came from Tennessee to solidify the interior defensive line. The good younger guys include linebacker Kevin Hardy, defensive end Tony Brackens and cornerback Aaron Beasley, the team's 1-2-3 draft choices in 1996. Hardy has improved year by year, Brackens started well, then spent two years trying to come back from a variety of injuries, and Beasley has finally emerged this season as one of the NFL's best cornerbacks. But all of them point to Dom Capers, fired after last season as Carolina's head coach and brought in as defensive coordinator when Dick Jauron became head coach in Chicago. "He's kept us aggressive," said Lake, who played for Pittsburgh when Capers was defensive coordinator there. "He doesn't let us take time off." To Hardy, who made one of the game's key plays when he stuffed the Jets' Curtis Martin on fourth-and-1 midway through the final quarter, it's a matter of maturity. "It's a learning process in this league," he said. "Tony and Aaron and I all started together and we've gotten a feel for playing together as we've moved along. I think we're still moving toward the top of our game."
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