Tom E. Curran • E-mail

DENVER - The meat-and-potatoes quarterback of the meat-and-potatoes Jacksonville Jaguars added a garnish after Sunday’s game.

After dressing slowly in the visitor’s locker room at Invesco Field, David Garrard topped off his pinstriped, charcoal suit and white-collared gray shirt with a fedora.

Cocked forward toward his brow, it gave the 30-year-old a whiff of rakish mystery as he peered out from under it and talked about his team’s 24-17 win over the Broncos.

And there is a little secret these Jaguars carry. It's this. After starting 0-2, Jacksonville's now 3-3 entering its bye week. And when the Jaguars rest, convalesce and return from the bye their next six opponents own a combined record of 11-25.

And with Garrard -- a fedora-and-suit-at-the-press-conference guy instead of a shades-and-a-sweatsuit-at-the-press-conference guy -- running the show, they will most likely remain stealthily efficient.

On Sunday, Garrard went 25 for 34 for 276 yards with a touchdown and no picks. Efficient. And he ran eight times for 7 yards -- unimpressive until you consider that, on third-and-2 with 4:58 left and Jacksonville clinging to that seven-point lead -- the call was for Garrard to go and get it himself. A quarterback draw that picked up 4 and forced the Broncos to start burning timeouts.

When the best quarterbacks in the NFL are discussed, Garrard's name rarely surfaces. On Sunday, he was playing second-fiddle to Denver’s young Jay Cutler, he of the cannon arm and gaudy stats.

But when the day ended, his team had more points than Cutler’s and Garrard won the mythical head-to-head battle.

“David just takes care of business and he doesn’t want all the shine,” said Jags defensive lineman John Henderson.

Jacksonville went down 7-0 right out of the chutes and was being outplayed throughout the first quarter. But when the Jaguars defense provided Garrard with two turnovers, he cashed in with points twice building a 10-7 lead into the half.

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Early in the second half, the brilliant Maurice Jones-Drew burst through for a 46-yard touchdown on a simple dive play into the line then, after a Denver field goal late in the third, Garrard answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis to make it 24-10 going into the fourth.

After that, the biggest thing the Jags needed to do was shorten the game and keep Cutler on the sidelines. And Garrard came through.

“This was a big game for us," he said. "This game today really looked exactly like Jaguars football. Hopefully we can let this propel us into future games and play Jaguars football from here on out."

Asked what his role in "Jaguars football" is, Garrard showed why he’s not a celebrity quarterback, downplaying his role as best he could.

"My job is to facilitate the ball," he explained. "Getting the ball to playmakers. Doing a good job of managing the game -- not using managing the game in a bad sense. If you manage the game and score touchdowns, who wouldn’t want to manage the game. Being smart with the ball. Not throwing into places you shouldn’t. Not taking stupid sacks. All the things a quarterback should do. The ball needs to get into everybody else’s hands. If I get the ball out of my hands and get it in their hands, they can make something positive happen."

Denver was the fourth division leader the Jaguars have played this season. And the win says plenty about what Jacksonville may be capable of after the bye.

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What does it say about the 4-2 Broncos? Well, after giving up 416 yards and getting outscored 24-3 during the meat of the game, it says that they have some flaws to overcome. The Broncos have offensive firepower, no question. But their defense has yet to play at a high level against a decent opponent for an entire game.

"I think we wore down a little bit," acknowledged Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "We got a little tired."

When the Jaguars are at their best, that’s what they can do to a defense. Grind out the game. And Garrard, as wide receiver Dennis Northcutt pointed out, is one of the grinders.

"We're a complete team," said Northcutt. "We're not a passing team. We can pass, but our strength is on the ground with that two-headed monster attack (Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor) we have. We could go away from that and David would have better numbers and get all the accolades, but that’s not the strength of this team. And he knows that. He's not looking to be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, he understands how it works here. He’s not asking for more attention and that’s what makes him a great leader. He leads by example."

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