Titans At Jaguars: Loser Falls Behind The Pack In AFC South

(Sports Network) - While the defending conference champion Indianapolis Colts and emerging but inconsistent Houston Texans have garnered most of the headlines in the AFC South this season, the division's other two teams have been quietly plugging away.

Those two clubs - the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans - will square off at EverBank Field on Monday night, and one will be able to call itself a first-place team as the 2010 season heads to Week 7.

Of the contest's two combatants, the Jaguars have undoubtedly been the most surprising. A young Jacksonville team that crumbled down the stretch last year plodded through a disconcerting preseason that was followed by a rough 1-2 September that included blowout losses to the Chargers (38-13) and Eagles (28-3).

But October has been a different story, as Jack Del Rio's squad began the month with a 31-28 upset of the rival Colts in Week 4, and followed it up with last Sunday's 36-26 takedown of the Bills in Buffalo.

One of the major stories during the recent mini-run has been quarterback David Garrard, who looked on the verge of losing his job prior to what has been arguably the best two-game stretch of his career. The ninth-year pro has completed a combined 33-of-42 passes for 341 yards, five touchdowns and just one interception over the last two weeks, the first time Garrard has posted back-to-back passer ratings of better than 120.0 in his career.

Garrard and the offense have helped make up for the failings of a defense that has allowed 26 or more points in each of its last four outings, is last in the NFL in touchdown passes allowed (12), and is tied for last in the league in touchdowns allowed (18), along with the Bills.

Looking to capitalize on those defensive deficiencies will be the Titans, who have done their best work this season away from Nashville. Tennessee's two most recent wins came on the road against NFC heavyweights the Giants (29-10 in Week 3) and Cowboys (34-27 last Sunday), with the upset win in Dallas coming despite 511 yards of total offense for the home team.

Despite Dallas' yardage total, coordinator Chuck Cecil's defense pressured the Cowboys' Tony Romo to the tune of six sacks on the day.