Two games into season, Jaguars in a bind - Oakland Raiders News at Raidershome.com

Part of Paul Spicer's Wednesday afternoon was spent having a barstool replaced.

If the Jacksonville Jaguars don't start winning, the defensive end knows he will have plenty of time to personally use it in January.

"We're 0-2. What else can you say?" Spicer said in a telephone interview. "Nobody predicted we'd come out of the gate stumbling like this."

Entering the season, Jacksonville's Sunday match-up at Indianapolis was projected as a game that would determine early AFC South supremacy. The Colts have won five consecutive division titles, defeating the Jaguars in five of their past six meetings. Jacksonville seemed ready to challenge for the crown after a strong 2007 campaign and offseason acquisitions like wide receiver Jerry Porter, cornerback Drayton Florence and rookie defensive end Derrick Harvey.

Instead, Tennessee (2-0) has taken an early division lead. The Colts have struggled with injuries but are 1-1. Jacksonville is one of three 2007 playoff teams that are winless, which places even more importance on defeating Indianapolis. Since the free agency era began in 1993, only two teams that opened 0-3 have rebounded to reach the postseason.

"It's not like we're a god-awful, terrible team," Jaguars right tackle Tony Pashos said. "We just haven't found a way to win."

Jacksonville's unsteady offense is the major reason why. The problems began in a 17-10 opening loss at Tennessee. Starting guards Vince Manuwai and Maurice Williams were lost to season-ending injuries, a major blow to a unit heavily dependent upon the run. Jacksonville has averaged 65.5 rushing yards a game, which is 84 yards less than in 2007 when the Jaguars ranked second in the NFL.

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"We have to play hard to overcome that," Pashos said of the Manuwai and Williams injuries. "We've brought in some good (replacements). We just have to get the guys caught up to speed."

Speed is what's lacking in Jacksonville's passing game. The Jaguars signed Porter to a six-year, $30.4 million free-agent contract in hopes the former Oakland Raiders starter could stretch the field. Porter, though, is expected to miss his third consecutive game Sunday following preseason hamstring surgery.

Jacksonville's offensive woes — the unit ranks 29th in yardage and 27th in scoring — has placed extra strain on a defense still adjusting to new coordinator Gregg Williams' system. The Jaguars surrendered 10 points in the final 4:16 of last Sunday's 20-16 home loss to Buffalo.

"The biggest thing hurting us is consistency," Spicer said. "No team that has won a Super Bowl did it on a roller coaster."

That's right. Spicer is still talking Super Bowl.

"We entered the season with a lot of expectations surrounding us," he said. "The expectations we have for ourselves are very high. We haven't met them yet."

Harvey's lengthy contract holdout didn't help matters. The Jaguars traded up 18 spots in April's draft to select Harvey at No. 8 hoping he could bolster a pass rush that was one of Jacksonville's few weaknesses in 2007. Harvey, though, missed almost all of training camp and has yet to register a sack.

The Jaguars also played against Tennessee with heavy hearts after backup right tackle Richard Collier was critically wounded when shot during an off-field incident. But Spicer and Pashos won't use the incident as a contributing reason for Jacksonville's slow start.

"When the news first came out, it definitely affected our team," Spicer said. "But overall, guys understand we can only do so much. The best we can do is keep Rich in our prayers, do our jobs and move on."

Spicer also will have no excuses if the Colts win.

"It's put up or shut up," he said. "It's a must win."

Otherwise, Spicer is one step closer to sitting at home for the playoffs.