John Oehser Senior writer jaguars.com Follow John on twitter Like The O-Zone on facebook
JACKSONVILLE – Big one for the Jags in the U.K. Good to be home.
Let’s get to it …
Ryan from Nashville, TN:
During the offseason all the experts were picking either Jalen Ramsey or Myles Jack for defensive rookie of the year. If Yannick Ngakoue keeps it up he’s gonna make a strong case! #DTWD
John: This is true. While there’s little point in getting geeked up about postseason honors at the season’s quarter pole it is OK to get a little geeked about a trend that’s becoming pretty obvious. That trend is that the Jaguars have five first- or second-year players on defense who all have a chance to develop into good players. And when I say good, I mean really, really good. Ramsey, Dante Fowler Jr., Ngakoue, Jack and Sheldon Day all made plays that mattered Sunday. It was Jack’s first game playing significant defensive reps and the others all have made big defensive plays this season on more than one occasion. I said throughout the offseason that I believed the Jaguars’ defense had a chance to be good by the end of this season with a chance to approach elite in 2017. The unit appears to indeed have a chance to prove the first statement true this season. As far as approaching elite … we’ll see, but the future looks really bright for this young group.
Nick from Panama City Beach, FL:
I’m happy today!
John: Well, goodie for you.
Adam from Lynwood, NY:
Blake has progressed #DTWD
John: Sunday’s game obviously doesn’t mean Bortles has arrived as an NFL quarterback any more than the first three games of the season meant he couldn’t play in this league. Bortles still has a lot of things he must improve – accuracy, decision-making, etc. – and until the drive that ended with Allen Hurns’ touchdown Sunday, Bortles honestly had played just OK in a lot of ways. What was better than OK was his playmaking late and what was also better than OK was his decisiveness in the pocket. What was a lot more than OK was that Bortles threw no interceptions Sunday and therefore hurt the Jaguars far less than he had the last three weeks. I don’t know if that’s progression or not, but it sure was a reason the Jaguars won Sunday.
Jeff from Rutland, VA:
The Hurns TD showed an offense that can respond under pressure. And then it became overly conservative, which nearly cost us the game. Oh well. It’s good to win, even if it ends up being much closer than it should have been.
John: The Jaguars passed on first down holding a three-point lead with just over 3:03 remaining. They also passed on third down on the same series. This also is a team that went for it on fourth and three holding a 14-point lead in the third quarter Sunday. I don’t know that the Jaguars could have been all that much more aggressive Sunday without being reckless. At some point it’s OK not to take undue risk offensively and let your defense win the game.
MrPadre fom Kingsland, GA:
It’s crazy to think how different things would be if we were able to manage one win against the Packers or Ravens. While the division is obviously still within reach the whole feel of the season is much different at 1-3 along with almost blowing a 17-point lead. The difference one win makes early in the year for this team is big!
John: The Jaguars won Sunday. It would be great for them if there were 3-1 or 2-2 – and they probably should at least be the latter. As it stands they are 1-3 and the season is now far from over. Considering the state of the team last week … well, they’ll take this one and get ready for Chicago.
David from Jacksonville:
If the Eagles can clean house and turn into a powerhouse in the offseason then why not the Jags? First step: fire the coach and GM, and get rid of that quarterback. He’s an ogre not an NFL player. The next coach should be a defense minded coach, and draft defense, build a defense. There’s enough decent quarterbacks who aren’t playing until they can draft a real starting QB. Manziel or Tebow or both should be QB’ing this team. Bortles should be in fairyland playing with Donkey. You can’t keep racking up losses and say you are moving in the right direction. I’m embarrassed that Caldwell has turned the Jags into a second rate WPFL team stocked with players without any pride.
John: I admit this was sent before Sunday’s game. I wasn’t going to run it but then I remembered “Manziel or Tebow or both should be QB’ing this team.”
Cir-Ike Love from Sunrise by Way of Duval:
John, I don’t understand why so many fans are writing off Blake Bortles so early into his career and into this season. I don’t think fans really want (or do we need) a do over. Yes he’s struggling, but to throw in the towel a functioning NFL-caliber quarterback … they must have forgotten what we have had behind center over the years. #1ferBortles.
John: People have been writing off Bortles because he has been struggling and the NFL is a world of short-term expectations/quick-trigger reaction. That’s true of the fans. It’s even true of media. As a team, the Jaguars must be patient with Bortles – and they will be patient to an extent. He has shown enough in two-plus seasons to merit an extended decision-making progress. He doesn’t have forever, but he has longer than a difficult early-season stretch. But sure … despite all that has gone on in the last few weeks … one fer Bortles!
Nathan from York, UK:
I just saw on Twitter that me and Shadrick own the same tie. Does this make me unfashionable or Shadrick a maverick? I’m undecided.
John: I’m not sure what it means, exactly, but from your perspective I wouldn’t interpret it as a “positive life event.”
Mike from Section 238:
Getting lost in these first four games is the performance of Jason Myers. Can I get one for Jason?
John: You’re right that Jason Myers has been lost in the first four games of the season – and that obviously is a positive for the Jaguars. Kickers are ideally pretty unnoticed until they convert game-winning field goals. Then they are the hero for a night before returning to obscurity. But it is worth noting Myers’ consistency early in the season. His three field goals Sunday were key points and helped the Jaguars take control of the game’s momentum in the second and third quarters.
BCB Member Chris from Jersey:
This team gives me heartburn lol. Hey one fer Sheldon Day, when he was in he was making solid plays.
John: Heartburn is a way of life in the NFL, where most games are decided by seven points or less. Now that the Jaguars have improved their talent level you’re almost certainly going to experience a lot more of the burn you felt Sunday. And absolutely one fer Day. He’s a guy the Jaguars loved before the draft and during training camp and preseason. He’s a fourth-round selection making plays in the first month of his rookie season. That doesn’t always happen.
Steve from Hudson, FL:
When does Olson get fired?
John: Not after Sunday, that’s for sure.
Nate from York, PA:
It’s great to have the win, but the fact that we squandered a big lead like that to a less than impressive Colts team is a bit concerning. If we can’t put teams away we won’t win games.
John: You should have stopped at “great to have the win.” The Jaguars won a game they needed to win and did it against a team that has Andrew Luck, who is one of the NFL’s best young late-game quarterbacks. Most NFL teams have trouble putting teams away. That’s because NFL offenses are hard to negate for 60 minutes. The Jaguars won Sunday. That’s what mattered.
David from Broward County:
O-man, WE WON, WE WON, WE WON!!!!! It was sloppy, dare I say bad football. Many thing to be correc…….wait a minute, JAGS WIN JAGS WIN JAGS WIN JAGS WIN,!!!!!!!!!!
John: And that’s what mattered.
Bill from Hawthorn Woods, IL:
That breeze pushing its way down the St John’s River is a huge, collective municipal sigh of relief. The penalties were ugly but a win is a win. Bottles was better, the defense was solid again minus that bad Ramsey beat in the fourth quarter. Now how does this turn into some momentum and confidence going forward?
John: You win again.
Steve from Stevensville, MD:
Hey! One for the good guys!!!
John: Indeed.
Erik from Jacksonville:
So when did Davon House sign with the Colts? Seriously though, the penalties John, the penalties. It’s almost to the point where teams can game plan utilizing the undisciplined nature that the Jags play with. When will they figure it all out?
John: The Jaguars were penalized 11 times for 145 yards Sunday. They are averaging nearly 100 yards a game in penalties, which is far too many. I will say this about the penalties: some of the interference penalties Sunday appeared to be tough calls. In particular there was an interference penalty on Johnathan Cyprien that at first glance was a bit sketchy and another on Davon House in the second quarter that was a lot more than a bit sketchy. But even taking those away there were too many instances in which the Jaguars gave the Colts opportunities rather than the Colts having to earn them. The competition level is too good in the NFL to win consistently doing that.
Bob from St. Augustine, FL:
Oh, Bortles plays smarter thus Jags are magically better. Nice work, O-Man
John: Yes, it’s cool how that works, isn’t it?