JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars doused Tom Coughlin with water, the team passed out new caps to honor its AFC Central title and, almost as quickly, the celebration was over.

	Coach Tom Coughlin gets a victory shower.

Their 24-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday gave the Jaguars (14-2) the division championship and home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs, but it wasn't quite the postseason tuneup they were hoping for.

Injuries to Pro Bowl tackles Tony Boselli and Leon Searcy, combined with the Jaguars' lack of killer instinct, let the Bengals (4-12) hang around for much longer than they should have.

"Obviously, you'd like to be so dominant that there's no question about it," Coughlin said. "But I thought we played well. I thought we did a lot of good things."

Coughlin and the rest of the team seemed most concerned with Boselli, who found out after an MRI exam on his injured right knee Monday that he has a torn anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the playoffs.

Searcy sprained his ankle.

"You're talking about two Pro Bowl players, and that in itself tells you how important they are and the type of talent they have," offensive lineman Ben Coleman said. "We don't know the situation yet. If they can't go, we just have to rally around each other and make things happen."

GAME NOTES

Carl Pickens, who ripped Bengals management for its decision to retain coach Bruce Coslet, finished with three catches for 31 yards. Aaron Beasley had an interception to reach six for the season, breaking the team record held by Chris Hudson and Deon Figures. It was Jimmy Smith's ninth 100-yard game of season and 24th of his career. Jay Fiedler became Jacksonville's only 300-yard passer besides Mark Brunell.

One thing the Jaguars did well was make Jay Fiedler feel comfortable in his first NFL start. Playing for the injured Mark Brunell, Fiedler completed 28 of 39 passes for 317 yards and one touchdown.

"It proved to myself what I knew all along," Fiedler said.

Jimmy Smith had 14 catches to match Marvin Harrison's NFL high this season. Smith and Keenan McCardell each surpassed 100 yards receiving for the third time this year, but even they weren't completely satisfied.

"It would have helped if we could have performed a little better," Smith said. "You have to give Cincinnati credit, but we know we can always get better."

The Jaguars failed to take advantage of their huge statistical edge because of their continuing troubles finishing drives inside the opponent's 20. Five of their eight trips there resulted in three points, two missed field goals and a boatload of question marks.

On the first failed trip, Coughlin replaced Fred Taylor with James Stewart, who took the ball for his first carry in three weeks and fumbled into the end zone.

The second time, a glitch with the play clock gave the Jaguars a full 70 seconds to run a play on fourth-and-2 from the Bengals 11. They took a delay-of-game penalty anyway, and Mike Hollis missed a 36-yard field goal.

They got a field goal on the third trip for a 17-7 lead before halftime. The fourth trip resulted in a missed 28-yard field goal due to a bad snap from Quentin Neujahr.

"You have to be very active, very sharp and your timing has to be good in that area," Coughlin said. "That's one area where, if we score with a fumble and kick two field goals, it's 13 more points at a very early point in the game."

Instead, the game stayed tight. Then Searcy went out with an ankle injury and Boselli pulled up clutching his right knee and had to be helped off the field by trainers.

He appeared to be victim of a chewed-up field, the result of the Gator Bowl game played at Alltel Stadium on Saturday.

Not until Taylor plowed in for a 1-yard touchdown with 9:19 left did the Jaguars have a 24-7 lead and a cushion they could feel comfortable with.

The Jaguars will have home-field advantage through the playoffs thanks to the victory and Indianapolis' 31-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

With a bye week, they won't play again until Saturday, Jan. 15, against the Dolphins, Titans or Bills. Every indication was that they'll need the extra time.

"It's very important right now," Coughlin said. "We've got locker room full of reasons."

Brunell still needs time to heal from the strained ligament in his left knee. In addition to the tackles, the Jaguars played long stretches without Tony Brackens (neck), Damon Jones (Achilles tendon), Fernando Bryant (hamstring) and Taylor (cramps).

Taylor finished with 85 yards and two touchdowns. McCardell had nine catches for 108 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown reception, and Smith had 165 yards in receptions.

Jeff Blake, likely playing his last game for the Bengals, finished with 141 yards passing. Starting for the injured Corey Dillon, Michael Basnight ran for 86 yards.

The Bengals, who lost an NFL-high 107 games in the 1990s, got the new decade off to a familiar start.

"It was frustrating, the whole year was frustrating," said linebacker Takeo Spikes. "We started the season with the intention of trying to get to the playoffs. It really hurt seeing the end of the game, with the AFC Central Division champion caps being passed out."