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Jaguars look to rebound against Panthers

Dec 9, 2007 - 12:35 PM Carolina (5-7) at Jacksonville (8-4) 1:00 pm EST

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars were rejected in their bid to catch the Indianapolis Colts. Now, they will try to hold on to a playoff spot.

Their three-game winning streak over, the Jaguars return home Sunday to host the Carolina Panthers.

With a chance to catch Indianapolis in the AFC South, Jacksonville suffered a 28-25 loss to fall two games behind the Colts.

The defeat left the Jaguars with only a one-game lead over Tennessee and Cleveland in the AFC wild card race.

Jacksonville has road games remaining against Pittsburgh and Houston, sandwiched around a home contest against Oakland.

"We find ourselves with an opportunity to earn our way into the postseason," Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio said. "It's tough because it's (last week) a game we really wanted. The next one against Carolina is the biggest."

David Garrard completed 24-of-29 passes for 257 yards against the Colts while throwing his first interception of the season.

The biggest issue for the Jaguars, however, is their pass defense which has slipped to 27th in the league. They allowed Peyton Manning to throw four touchdown passes a week ago.

They could get some help on defense this week as tackle Marcus Stroud returned to the Jaguars on Monday following a four-week suspension for violation of the league's steroids policy.

However, Jacksonville could be without defensive end Reggie Hayward, who suffered a groin injury against the Colts.

The Panthers earned their first home win in more than a year with last week's 31-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers but now they have to head back on the road to face an AFC contender.

Vinny Testaverde, who became the second oldest quarterback to start a game in NFL history at 44 years, 19 days, threw a pair of touchdown passes.

Carolina also intercepted 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer four times - something it does not figure to duplicate against the Jaguars.

Jacksonville is fourth in turnover margin at plus-7, with Garrard throwing only one interception in 238 passes.

Sunday's meeting is the first between the 1995 expansion teams since Carolina's 24-23 season-opening win over the Jaguars in 2003.