Jerry Porter And Troy Williamson Should Bring Some Life To The Jacksonville Receiving Core

The Jacksonville Jaguars, who have been searching for a No. 1 wide receiver since Jimmy Smith retired, reached a contract agreement Friday with Jerry Porter, one of the top wide receivers in the unrestricted free agent market.

Porter, 29, was expected to sign a six-year, $30 million contract later on Friday. He played the first eight years of his career with the Oakland Raiders.

Jerry Porter needs the Jags just as bad as the Jags need Porter. Remember, Porter played on the Raiders his first 8 seasons. The Raiders that I can remember never had a very good quarterback to get the ball into Porter's hands during those 8 seasons. Hopefully, now that Porter has a very good quarterback in David Garrard, Porter can finally unleash his true potential.

In addition, the Jaguars on Friday completed a trade they agreed to earlier in the week, adding former Minnesota first-round wide receiver Troy Williamson in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick. Williamson, who was a disappointment in his three seasons with the Vikings, should add a deep threat to the Jacksonville offense.

Again, look where Troy Williamson came from. The Vikings haven't had a good quarterback since early 2000s when Daunte Culpepper was in his prime.

With the emergence of quarterback David Garrard in his first season as the full-time starter in 2007, the Jaguars are making a concerted effort to upgrade his arsenal of receivers in an attempt to close the gap with Indianapolis in the division.

My Predictions For Week 16 Of The NFL

Thursday

Pittsburgh At St. Louis - This is a very big game for the Steelers, who have the Browns breathing down their necks in the AFC North. Jacksonville pushed the Steelers around Heinz Field on Sunday. If not for Ben Roethlisberger's heroics, the game would not have gone down to the wire. While St. Louis isn't nearly as big and physical as the Jaguars, Pittsburgh will be on the road with little preparation or healing time for Thursday night's contest. Despite these facts, I still like the Steelers to pull out a victory in this one. Look for the league leading rusher Willie Parker to have a good game.

Saturday

Dallas At Carolina - I seriously doubt Jessica Simpson's global positioning on this Earth had any kind of gravitational effect on Tony Romo's poor performance last week. That's one of the greatest excuses I've heard though. The Cowboys need to rebound after a terrible outing against the Eagles last week. They need to win in order to hold onto home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Carolina was impressive last week, but can they make it two weeks in a row? I think not.

Sunday

New York Giants At Buffalo - Is anyone aware that the Giants may not make the playoffs. They play the Patriots next week (thats an automatic loss), so if they don't win this week and the teams behind the Giants win their last 2 games, then the Giants are out. Buffalo is scratching for a Wild Card with the Browns and Titans. This has the makings of a very good inter-state game and I like the Bills to upset the Giants.

Green Bay At Chicago - With the Cowboys stumbling a week ago, the Packers are breathing down their neck to position themselves for the No. 1 playoff spot. After last week's disappointing loss for the Bears, they have nothing to play for. Just give the win to the Packs.

Cleveland At Cincinnati - The Bengals were utterly unimpressive in their Saturday night loss in San Francisco, but now they get an extra day to prepare for this home game. In a crucial game for the AFC wild-card picture, Cleveland defeated the Bills last week in nasty Cleveland weather. Cincinnati was officially eliminated from the postseason after Week 14, making this season a major disappointment. The Browns have stayed remarkably healthy and are battling Pittsburgh for the lead in the AFC North. While the Browns have put together a very impressive season, they are just 3-4 on the road. In Week 2, these teams combined for a whopping 96 points and 1,085 offensive yards in a narrow Cleveland victory. Look for Cleveland to win again.

Kansas City At Detroit - I must stick with my theme (despite all stats and facts) and pick the Chiefs just because Kitna promised 10 wins. This loss will make loss #9....with 1 more week to go.

Houston At Indianapolis - The Texans are coming off two impressive wins and still have a mathematical chance to make the postseason. They would like to finish the season out with a four game winning streak, which would give them their best record since the franchise started. The Colts have wrapped up a bye for the first week of the playoffs and home field advantage until they possibly meet the Patriots for the AFC championship. This is actually tough to pick. Immediately I would choose the Colts to win, but unlike a team like the Patriots, the Colts are actually respectful and would bench their starters this late in the season if they got out to a big lead. Even still, Sorgi is a great player and I like the Colts regardless of who's playing.

Philadelphia At New Orleans - These two teams met in the playoffs last season and the Saints won to advance to the NFC championship game. Right now the Saints are just trying to fight for their playoff lives and the Eagles were eliminated once the Vikings won on Monday night. New Orleans QB Drew Brees to WR Marques Colston has been one of the most lethal combinations in the NFL over the second half of the season, but I like the Eagles secondary to shut them down and get the win.

Atlanta At Arizona - There aren't many easy wins in the NFL, but the hard-luck Falcons might be one. Atlanta is beyond struggling right now and it's to a point where it is just trying to find any and all competitiveness left to finish the season strong. Even though the shots of the Cardinals making the playoffs are next to none, they will still get this win because they would like to finish on a good note.

Oakland At Jacksonville - Based on the way Oakland has been playing and based on the way the Jags have been playing (one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now), its a no brainer to pick the Jags.

Tampa Bay At San Fransisco - The Buccaneers have clinched a divisional title but are hoping to fine tune their offense as QB Jeff Garcia returned last weekend after missing two games with a back injury. This is also a return to the city where he led the 49ers from 2000 through 2003 and went to the Pro Bowl three times. I think this is a game where the Bucs, having already clinched, will fall asleep and let the 49ers win.

New York Jets At Tennessee - The Titans must win in order to stay in the playoff hunt, while the Jets are looking to build on a strong outing against the Patriots. Under head coach Eric Mangini the Jets have played their best football in the second half of the season, while Titans head coach Jeff Fisher continues to have his players playing at a high level. Expect the Titans to come out pounding the ball against a Jets run defense that has struggled all season. The Titans should win this and Vince Young should be entertaining as the Jets try to contain him.

Baltimore At Seattle - The Ravens have lost seven games in a row. They are beat up on the defensive side of the ball especially at the CB position where they may once again be without starters Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle. How will they deal with Seattle's passing attack this week after giving up 315 passing yards last week to Dolphins QB Cleo Lemon? The Seahawks are coming off an extremely ugly road loss last week and this is the week they bounce back at home.

Miami At New England - Wouldn't it be so ironic if the only team to go undefeated stops the Patriots from doing so and preserving their record. If the winter conditions in the Northeast continue through the weekend, it could make the passing game take a back seat to the ground game, which would serve as an equalizer to an underdog, especially since the Patriots lack a running game. I will pick the Patriots to win, but I will be cheering on Miami to perform the biggest upset in decades.

Washington At Minnesota - The Vikings and the Redskins are both still in the hunt for the last Wild Card playoff spot in the NFC. Peterson and Taylor are running behind the best offensive line in football right now. Despite how poorly the Vikings have been playing (I wrote an article about this), I still like them over the Redskins.

Denver At San Diego - Forget the records these teams bring into the final Monday night game of the season, because this is an intense divisional rivlary no matter what and both teams are sure to play hard on this stage. Expected this game too be heated and close, but expect LT and the Chargers to pull out a win. San Diego is a very dangerous team heading into the playoffs with a dominating running game behind LaDainian Tomlinson and a defense that is attacking offenses much more in recent weeks.

My Interpretation Of Week 14 Of The NFL

Bills 38 beat Miami 17 - See what a difference Trent Edwards is over J.P. Losman! It's like a brand new team. The Bills keep their playoff hopes alive while Miami continues towards the inevitable.

Cincinnati 19 beat St. Louis 10 - Rain pelted Brock Berlin's face as he settled in for his first regular-season snap in the NFL for the St. Louis Rams. He called signals in misty breaths, then got decked when he let go of a pass. Palmer and Berlin both played terrible, this was a meaningless game, and thats everything you need to know.

Dallas 28 beat Detroit 27 - Kitna's promise for 10 wins was a curse that may come back to haunt them. They could actually lose 10 games! Tony Romo played amazing again and connected with Witten and Barber enough times to climb back into the lead after trailing most of the game. I have nothing but awe and amazement for the way the Cowboys play and fight hard. The Patriots await them.

Green Bay 38 beat Oakland 7 - Favre started and with this win, the Packers clinched their division. Grant and the special teams helped Farve win this one. I'd like to say something supportive of Oakland, but that's impossible.

San Diego 23 Tennessee 17 - This was a nail biter to the end. After a frustratingly slow start, the Chargers were able to tie the game to send it to overtime. Tomlinson's overtime touchdown capped the Chargers comeback. Vince Young had a terrible game, but in his defense, he was hurt. Still, this knocks the Titans out of the Wild Card.

New York Giants 16 beat Philadelphia 13 - What happened here? I never expected this. The Giants survived a last minute drive to slip by the Eagles. With this win, the Giants solidified their Wild Card spot and ruined any chance the Eagles had for a second Wild Card. This win actually convinces me the Giants are at least a decent team now....but they'll still get slammed if they play the Packers or Cowboys.

Jacksonville 37 beat Carolina 6 - Blowout. Blowout. Blowout. The Jaguars solidified their spot for a Wild Card. Their defense dominated this game and Fred Taylor did an excellent job running the ball. The Panthers, however, were awful and I blame it on Testaverde. The Panthers need a future quarterback desperately.

Houston 28 beat Tampa Bay 14 - Sage Rosenfels threw for three touchdowns to lead the Texans (6-7) to an upset victory over the Tampa Bay Buccanners. He has won both games he's started in place of the injured Matt Schaub. I really underestimated Rosenfels and I think the Bucs did too. Garcia didn't start and that's why their 2 touchdowns came from their running game. The Bucs can afford to lose one anyway; that division provides less than a challenge. The Texans are still fighting for a Wild Card.

Minnesota 27 beat San Fransisco 7 - This is why the Vikings are such a dangerous team. The 49ers stopped Peterson. That's great....but Taylor ran all over them. They have 2 amazing threats in the backfield. The Vikings keep their winning streak alive and move into a deserving 6th place in the NFC.

Seattle 42 beat Arizona 21 - Hasselbeck's four touchdown passes helped the Seahawks clinch the NFC west title. This team's aerial attack continues to amaze me. Kurt Warner put up some great passing yards and touchdowns, but 5 interceptions is just too many mistakes for any aerial attack to survive. Everyone can't pull a Tony Romo.

Denver 41 beat Kansas City 7 - Jay Cutler must have read all the harsh, negative comments I said about him in a previous post and really wanted to prove me wrong. Cutler tossed a career high four touchdowns as the Broncos destroyed the Chiefs. So Cutler finally had a great game. Good for him.....now do that for 3 more games. I still don't believe in him or the Broncos.

Cleveland 24 beat New York Jets 18 - You have to hand it to the Jets. This poor team has nothing to play for except pride and they tried so very hard to beat the mighty Browns....and they almost did too. Fortunately for the Browns, Joe Jurevicius recovered 2 late onside kicks to stop the rallying Jets. However, the Browns were annoying me this game because I was finally able to watch this high-powered offense on tv....and they didn't play well.

New England 34 beat Pittsburgh 13 - ...and the conspiracy (oops I mean "perfect season") continues....

Indianapolis 37 is beating Baltimore 7 - This game has gone to the half. Boy was I wrong. Shame on me to go against my favorite team. I thought the Ravens were going to come out fired up after last week's controversial loss. Instead, the Ravens look as if they need Prozac. Their offense and defense is barely trying. I guess I would enter into a deep state of depression too after that loss last week. Manning and the Colts' defense is shredding them apart so badly its not even worth watching. This solidifies my point about when the Patriots games aren't nationally televised (like this week's game), they blow teams out. However, when they are televised, the games are kept close to keep them exciting in order to draw an audience in. The NFL loves the Patriots as a money making tool.

For Monday

New Orleans At Atlanta - What a boring Monday night game. Take the Saints and then go to bed.

Adrian Peterson Will Miss At Least Next Week's Game

Just when I was starting to take a liking towards the rookie running back sensation from the Minnesota Vikings, there is finally something that can slow down this pony express. Adrian Peterson summarized it best:

"That pain was horrible. I don't know if you've ever experienced pain where you don't want anybody to touch you. Just be still for a few minutes until it calms down. That's the kind of pain it was. Not really knowing what to expect because it was my knee. I was just praying, 'God please, don't let it be anything serious.'"

Adrian Peterson will miss at least one game with a torn lateral collateral ligament. But the injury is not deemed serious enough to require surgery or jeopardize Peterson's season. Vikings coach Brad Childress ruled Peterson out for Sunday's game against Oakland, but wouldn't put a timetable on his recovery beyond that. Not that the Vikings' season can be saved, but Peterson is probably the best player the Vikings exploited since the days of Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss.

Vikings will give back Troy Williamson's Paycheck

This is an odd, but sad, story. Troy Williamson, the seventh overall selection in the 2005 draft who has done little as the Vikings wide-receiver (though you can't blame the guy when you look at the recent history of Viking QBs), had to take off a week for personal issues. This poor guy has been plagued by off-field family issues. First, Williamson's older brother has been in and out of comas following a car crash in September. Last week, Williamson left the team to be with his family in South Carolina in order to attend the funeral of his grandmother. Because of his extended absence, the Vikings docked him one paycheck ($25,000). However, Brad Childress announced Saturday that Williamson will get his last game check back.

This should have never been an issue to begin with. If players can be on the DL or injury list and not play for 2 or 3 weeks but still get paid, why can't a player visit his family during a family crisis and still get paid? Childress argued his reasoning behind docking Williamson's pay was that other players who had deaths in their familys returned after 3 days. That's great for those players, it really is, but everyone handles deaths differently and grieves differently. However, thats a whole different psychological debate. The point is, Childress should not have docked Williamson's pay in the first place nor should he have acted so cold towards him. So much for coaches having compassion with their teamates.