New England is the best NFL team, unless somebody else can prove otherwise.
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But the Patriots don't hit the hardest.
That distinction belongs to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It is their very existence.
More than once their players have heard this. More than once they've proven this en route to tonight's first-round AFC playoff game at Pittsburgh.
And one of the hardest hitters on the league's hardest-hitting team is former Oklahomalinebacker Clint Ingram.
Ingram's bio lists him as a "hard-hitting linebacker with explosive speed,” to which the well-humored Ingram has an aw-shucks response.
"That's good if people think that,” said Ingram, a third-round pick who is in his second season. "I know I've still got a lot of work to do, but if they want to say that ... oh, well. Football is such a difficult game, that's pretty much what you want to be established as — explosive and physical.”
Ingram has always been able to hit hard and run fast, but he hasn't always been in the right spot.
His first three years with the Sooners were nondescript, almost nonexistent.
Ingram redshirted the 2001 season, then barely found the field as a freshman and sophomore.
But as a junior and senior, the 6-foot-2, 245-pounder seemed to be everywhere.
"When I came to OU, I was real immature,” admitted the 24-year-old Ingram. "I was thinking, ‘I can run. I can hit. I need to be on the field.' But if the coaches can't trust you because you don't know the scheme or you don't know what's going on, you're not going to be on the field — especially at OU.
"I got on special teams and worked my way up. I broke out the playbook, started studying and learning. I really attacked and I came on.”
The NFL is fraught with explosive, hard-hitting guys. So what separates players like Ingram?
"Attitude, and a lot has to do with knowing the scheme and knowing your role,” Ingram said. "Everybody in this league is strong and fast, some are stronger and faster than others. But it's people who can think on the move and are able to do the small things.”
Led by the hard-headed approach of coach Jack Del Rio, the Jags stress being physical on both sides of the ball.
Being a former all-pro linebacker himself, Del Rio is particularly demanding of the linebacker position.
"That's pretty much how it is with him,” Ingram said of Del Rio. "When you have a coach like that, the team takes on that coach's attitude. Going into each game, we want to try to dominate. We want to stop them up front. We want to make them one-dimensional. We basically want to go out there and man 'em.”
All this physicality has resulted in some pretty spirited practices.
Which side of the ball hits harder?
"Man, you're trying to split my team up on me,” Ingram said with a chuckle. "It's about a tie. Let's call it a perfect tie.”
Slowed by a high ankle sprain at the beginning of the season, Ingram said he's as healthy as he's been all year.
"It's been kind of bothering me a little bit, but not much any more,” Ingram said. "It's the perfect time for it to get right.”
The Jaguars play tonight at Heinz Field, where Jacksonville manhandled Pittsburgh on Dec. 16.
In that contest, the Steelers managed just 13 first downs and 217 total yards, while the Jags rolled up 421 total yards, getting 147 rushing yards from running back Fred Taylor.
"We were dominant in more than one phase of the game,” Ingram said. "We went up there and played pretty good ball. We're going to have to go up there and do the same thing if we're going to win. But we're not hanging our hats on our last game up there.”
Sure, that was then. But the Steelers are now saddled with an injured reserve list that includes running back Willie Parker, defensive end Aaron Smith, linebacker Clint Kriewaldt and offensive tackle Max Starks, plus starting strong safety Troy Polamalu remains hobbled with an inflamed knee.
This Jacksonville team could be more capable of reaching the Super Bowl than the 1999 team that was 15-2 when it lost 33-14 to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC title game.
"Until we get to that AFC title game, I can't make that comparison,” said Taylor, the only remaining member from that squad. "In '99, we had some selfish guys. We don't have any selfish guys (now).”
The Jaguars have excelled on the road this season, something that's not always a given for a warm-weather franchise.
They were 5-2 outside city limits before tanking their finale at Houston while resting 10 starters and 16-18 key players.
"This team is special,” Del Rio said. "There is a real strong feeling of camaraderie, of togetherness.”
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Titans quarterback Vince Young (10) scrambles away from Jaguars linebacker Clint Ingram (51) in the fourth quarter in Nashville on Dec. 17. Tennessee won 24-17. Jacksonville faces the Steelers tonight in Pittsburgh. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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