JACKSONVILLE – One more day until Look-Ahead Wednesday. Sigh.
Let’s get to it …
Where Jags Fans Aren't Pussies
JACKSONVILLE – One more day until Look-Ahead Wednesday. Sigh.
Let’s get to it …
JACKSONVILLE – Let’s get to it …
JACKSONVILLE – Game-day O-Zone.
Let’s get to it …
JACKSONVILLE – Let’s get to it …
JACKSONVILLE – Let’s get to it …
In regards to the officiating at Jags games, I don’t think it’s an agenda against the Jags so much as a “CYA” for the refs. People argue last year that some Jags wins only came due to the referees (Bills and Ravens come to mind), and they [the referees] don’t want to be seen as the reason why an underdog team that shouldn’t have won won. It’s not something only we are experiencing, but it sure is frustrating.
John: Methinks you and many others are overthinking this a bit. Your theory assumes officials enter games wanting one team or the other to win – or that they spend their weeks analyzing what teams are “good” in the NFL and what teams supposedly “aren’t good” – then make calls one way or the other based on that assessment. It’s not realistic to think it works that way. The Jaguars have had a bunch of calls go against them this season and they’ve had more than a few go their way. Wide receiver Allen Robinson in particular seems to not yet have the respect of officials needed to get some interference calls. I think some of the issue with Robinson is officials generally don’t want to call all interference calls and will lean the other way if possible. Maybe I’m right on that or maybe not. Either way, it’s just not realistic to think officials are conspiring against certain teams. They simply have no incentive to do so. Such a thing also would require a league mandate, and if you think a mandate against the Jaguars is likely … c’mon. If such a thing occurred it would threaten the entire league. Why in the world would the most popular sports league in the country do such a thing? Just to hurt a team that has been under .500 for more than half a decade? Toward what end?
Blake says, “I believe we can do this.” Do what? Extend his record of futility as the greatest quarterback in NFL history … at having more pick-sixes than career wins?? He is a joke, O. This organization has no hope with him as the quarterback. He is so bad that it defies my vocabulary to describe his ineptitude. I look forward to his release. I’ll probably throw a family party. I might even pick up the phone and buy season tickets. I’ve had two seats since 1998. I am not going to renew them as long as the turnover factory is our quarterback.
John: OK.
Big O, Tashaun Gipson has played well enough that we are no longer constantly lamenting about the need to fill the hole at free safety. He’s a keeper, for sure. Interceptions aren’t everything. Having said that, do you think he’ll have a way better shot at intercepting once the Jaguars’ defense develops a beastly pass rush?
John: You’re correct about Gipson, and there’s little question he has upgraded the free safety position this season. While he hasn’t been without lapses, he for the most part has been good against the run and has helped the secondary reduce the number of explosive passes allowed. As far the benefits of a beastly pass rush, Gipson is far from alone on that front. The Jaguars’ cornerbacks have yet to have an interception this season. That’s an eye-catching statistic. Some of it has to do with the defense’s focus on not giving up explosive plays, but the reason is mostly that the Jaguars haven’t been great at pressuring the passer with four down linemen. If the front is not disrupting the quarterback and causing errant throws and tipped balls, etc., interceptions usually are going to be relatively few and far between. Once the Jaguars develop a “beastly” pass rush, it will benefit not only Gipson but the entire secondary.
Don’t get me wrong: Blake needs be replaced ASAP. But even if he were playing better this team still finds ways to lose, and would be a badly coached team by any measure.
John: Quarterback is an important enough position in the NFL that I’m not sure your statement is as inarguable as you might think. That’s particularly true of the first part of your statement.
Our defense looks a lot better. Is it mainly due to our offensive woes (opposing offenses can play a lot more conservatively) or are they that much better? Thanks.
John: All of the above. There’s little question there have been times this season when opposing offenses have been able to play more conservatively on the assumption that the Jaguars’ offense would not be capable of scoring enough to win the game. At the same time, the defense is much improved from last season. It’s still not a lock-down pass-rushing defense and I wouldn’t make the argument that it’s a Top 5 defense, but it has pushed its way into the top half of the league and that’s a major step forward compared to last season.
HOLD ON!!! How does Gus get any credit for the defense? The last three years it was complete and total garbage and now it is not. I give Gus zero credit for that. It is clear that we have talent that can make up for his terrible coaching. It’s that simple.
John: It’s always coaching in the NFL.
What irritates me more than a 2-10 record is looking back at the Jaguars’ ex-coaches: Coughlin gets fired, he then wins two Super Bowls. Del Rio gets fired, he turns the Raiders into contenders; Mularkey turns the Titans into division contenders and now everyone thinks Bradley’s days are over. Something is wrong with that picture but I cannot figure it out.
John: It’s always coaching in the NFL.
Guess we’ll probably be coaching the Senior Bowl again!
John: Nah.
Let’s say for the sake of argument the Jags need to put another quarterback in the game. Do they play Chad Henne, or do they see what they have in Brandon Allen?
John: Allen has yet to be active this season and Henne has been active as the backup quarterback in all 12 games. Unless that changes – and I have no reason to think it will – Henne will play if the Jaguars change quarterbacks. Which I don’t expect they will do barring injury.
I have been watching NFL football for over 40 years and I no longer know what pass interference is. Maybe you can shed some light.
John: Defensive pass interference is supposed to be contact with a receiver attempting to catch a pass – with incidental contact not to be penalized. The exception is when the defender has turned his head to attempt to intercept. It is in the exception and incidental contact that the gray areas have arisen. Basically, a receiver is supposed to be able to attempt to make a reception without contact from the defender before the pass arrives hindering from doing so. It seems defenders are allowed to get away with more now because most officials instinctively don’t want to call “too many” penalties. That’s good on one hand because it keeps games from dragging on and on. It’s not good if defenses take advantage of the situation to unfairly impede the offense outside of the spirit of the rules.
What is your favorite Jimmy Smith story? Seems as an appropriate time as any to share given Sunday’s festivities and there’s nothing better to talk about, so let’s be nostalgic!
JACKSONVILLE – Let’s get to it …
For the love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, can somebody please coach Dante Fowler Jr. up? Every time he rushes the passer he looks like a wild pig trying to escape. I haven’t seen Fowler bend rush one time this season. I’m not sure if it’s coaching or if he doesn’t trust his knee.
John: I don’t get a sense Fowler is worried about his knee. He has seemed confident in that area since training camp – and really, since the offseason. Fowler clearly has work to do to hone the fundamentals and techniques needed to be a high-end pass rusher. That’s something he has been doing this season and something I expect will be a major focus of his in the offseason and next season. Fowler does need work in this area – and he’s going to have to improve his techniques if he is to be an elite pass rusher. It’s not uncommon for pass rushers to enter the league needing such work, and in fact that is the case far more often than not. Still, it is critical he do the work and improve. The defense, while improved, lacks a hammer-down pass rusher; Fowler remains the current Jaguars player with the best chance to become that.
You DO NOT draft quarterbacks with bad mechanics!!!
John: Quarterbacks with unorthodox mechanics actually get drafted in the Top 10 more than people think. Philip Rivers comes to mind – and Sam Bradford doesn’t exactly have a textbook throwing motion. Quirky mechanics can be overcome, and I do believe Blake Bortles can overcome them, too. Bortles’ mechanics this season don’t actually concern me as much as his decision-making and failure to protect the ball. Those things lead to turnovers as much or more than the inaccuracies and it’s Bortles’ turnovers – he has 19 this season – that are particularly difficult to overcome.
Has Marks’ play been more down than up this season?
John: No.
Señor, O: I’m curious, do you see Poz starting for us next year? He embodies everything I want our team to be about. Toughness and heart, grit and passion. I read or heard somewhere that he never has been flagged for a personal foul in his whole career. That’s just insane to me. He’s gonna leave a big hole to fill when he’s gone.
John: Yes, I think Posluszny will start for the Jaguars next season. And yes, when he is no longer with the Jaguars, it will leave a very big hole. As far as his penalties, I asked Posluszny about this and he said he recalled being penalized twice for a face mask early his career – both on then-Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew. By my count, Posluszny has been penalized seven times in 10 NFL seasons – twice for face masking, once for pass interference, once for offside, once for holding, once for a personal foul and once for unnecessary roughness. So, yeah – Posluszny has been penalized for a personal foul/unsportsmanlike-conduct type of penalty on occasion, but it doesn’t happen often.
One reason you consider keeping Gus and this staff is because the Jags do not quit like the Jets on Monday. They are not very far away from very, very good, I really believe that. The momentum just needs to change and at this point it looks like that will probably take a full off season and a quarterback competition.
John: That indeed is the argument for not making a coaching change. The Jaguars under Gus Bradley rarely have looked disinterested, and they rarely have felt like a team in disarray. I have said often I believe that’s a major part of a head coach’s job. At the same time, the Jaguars are 2-10 in season that began with expectations far higher than that. Continuity based on belief and effort is a tougher sell now than it has been the past two or three seasons.
Can Blake Bortles’ play this year be considered a two-year slump? Oh, I also think that Dave Caldwell is a very good general manager. He seems to have picked more good than bad players.
John: I’ll assume you meant “Year 2” slump when referring to Bortles – or Year 3 slump, or whatever. Sure, this season could be a considered a slump – provided of course he plays better next season. That could happen. I also agree that Jaguars General Manager David Caldwell is very capable and I believe the way he has built the roster does have the talent and foundation moving in the right direction. Not every player he has selected has worked out, but that never happens. His approach is a sound one that I believe will continue to improve the team. We’ll see.
Zone, is this team good enough to start winning with just good quarterback play alone or do you think it needs more than that?
John: I think better quarterback play would have gotten the Jaguars to around .500 this season. I thought that’s about where they would finish this season with a chance to make a serious jump to the postseason next season. That didn’t happen this season.
Is it fair to say that Tashaun Gipson has not met expectations so far this season? Sure, free safety is not a glaring hole as it once was, but he has not been the impact player that I was hoping for.
John: It’s fair to say Gipson hasn’t created the turnovers expected this season. At the same time, the Jaguars’ defense overall is significantly improved and it is particularly improved against the pass. Also, Gipson has come close to several interceptions this season; had he made those interceptions I don’t know that there would be much of a discussion over his impact. I wouldn’t say Gipson has had the same impact as, say, Malik Jackson, but I would say his signing has helped the defense and that was the point.
There are a lot of reasons to have hope in the future of the Jaguars right now, but one thing has me very concerned. Arguably the three most important people in the organization (quarterback, head coach, general manager) are question marks right now. Bortles hasn’t proven he can be a franchise quarterback. Gus Bradley hasn’t proven he can prepare a team to win a game. And Dave Caldwell, for all the good decisions he has made, has an “incomplete” in terms of his first-round picks … Bortles and Fowler are up in the air but trending downward, Ramsey is a hit and Joeckel is a miss (say what you will about his play, but he’s a guard now and you don’t draft a guard No. 2). Unfortunately, those 3 people are what make franchises great and it appears there could be major changes in the near future at those spots.
John: I wouldn’t say Dante Fowler Jr. is trending downward; he actually has played better as the season has continued … but yeah … it’s going to be a very interesting couple of months.
This season’s Jaguars defense reminds me a lot of the defense from 2011. If you recall, they finished at No. 6 in the league with Mel Tucker as the defensive coordinator and it was thought that Mike Mularkey would be able to lean on the defense in 2012 and win close games. I would caution anyone that thinks just because the defense is holding opposing teams to low-yardage totals that it means next year will trend the same direction.
John: You have a good memory, and a solid season on one side of the ball indeed in no way guarantees another good season on the same side of the ball. At the same time, the core of this defense appears to be young and ascending with players such as Telvin Smith, Yannick Ngakoue, Malik Jackson, Jalen Ramsey, Dante Fowler and Myles Jack all at an age where it’s reasonable they should continue to ascend. That’s no guarantee, but it should offer hope.
Some people’s idea of Gus breeding a losing culture by emphasizing competition is just irritating. There’s a whole locker room of athletes that have been playing sports their entire lives. They want to win; it’s insulting to say otherwise. If that’s not enough motivation, the career span of an NFL player is short, and they could be cut at any moment, so it’s safe to say no one is OK with losing. I guess armchair quarterbacks just think they know more about winning than a player who’s dedicated his life to making it in the NFL. Criticize Gus for preparation, development, game-day decisions, etc., if you like; I feel that’s fair. But in spite of the record, you can’t argue that we’re seeing real progress on the defensive side of the ball. So that message of positivity and getting better every day isn’t the issue. Fans, can we please stop with that nonsense?
JACKSONVILLE – Look-ahead Wednesday.
Let’s get to it …
JACKSONVILLE – One more day until Look-Ahead Wednesday.
Let’s get to it …
JACKSONVILLE – Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.
Let’s get to it …
JACKSONVILLE – Let’s get to it …
Mr. O, a quick question for you. In the offseason, do you think there’s any potential for Brandon Linder to return to left guard and bring in a quality center to improve the overall line? I still maintain that we didn’t do enough on the offensive line in the previous offseason and the consistency of a poor run game overall this season I think proves that somewhat, but what does an Englishman know about football?!
John: I’d say in this case the Englishman knows enough to be in the right ballpark. You’re right that the Jaguars need to run better – and that likely will involve addressing the offensive line in the offseason. Moving Linder could be an option because he can clearly play guard, but he has played well at center this season. Moving him therefore might not make sense because it’s theoretically easier to find guards than centers in free agency or the draft – and if you have a quality center you might as well leave him there. A lot of that decision could depend on who’s making the decisions on the personnel and coaching side. If things stay the same, then I can’t imagine Linder moving. If not … we’ll see.
If Paxton Lynch outplays Blake Bortles Sunday, it’s going to be another gut punch from a team with a young quarterback who is supposed to be the future of the franchise. We need this signature win, Dr. O.
John: Ya think?
Zone, next week is at least the third time this season we have played a team coming off of a bye week or off of a Thursday game. This has to be an advantage by having additional resting, healing and preparation time. Does the league take any of this into consideration or is it luck of the draw?
John: While fans of every team can and usually do find quirks in the schedule that work against their team, remember: the schedule-makers are scheduling for 32 teams and it’s a complex process in which not all teams can be treated equally or fairly. More often than not, quirks of the schedule are just that and therefore …. luck of the draw.
It blows my mind that people are calling for a new general manager when Gus Bradley goes, which still isn’t certain in my opinion. Am I wrong here? Dave Caldwell has hit on free agents at a pretty good rate and the most recent draft classes look like they’re filled with players that will be big contributors in the future, even if Blake Bortles, Dante Fowler Jr., or Luke Joeckel never pan out. So if Gus is fired do you think Caldwell will be fired too?
John: I believe David Caldwell should be the Jaguars’ general manager next season because I believe the talent level has improved significantly under his watch – and because I believe he has done a good job building the roster while maintaining cap room to continue building the roster. As for what will happen on this and other major fronts, the season isn’t over yet. As such, I am quite certain Jaguars Owner Shad Khan still has final decisions to make on many things about the organization moving forward. It’s quite possible and even likely that the next five games will factor into those decisions.
Every week I watch the Jags games with my friends and they have coined the term Gus Bradley Force Field. This means every time we get close to winning the Gus Bradley Force Field prevents us from winning. While we all like Gus and have always hoped he would do well, seems like there is some validity to this force-field theory. Your thoughts?
John: I think when teams lose a lot, fans engage in gallows humor. While this gallows humor indeed helps ease the pain of loss after loss after loss it’s not always based as much in reality as its practitioners believe. But hey … all’s fair at 2-9.
My wife wanted me to stay home and not go to the game and help with Christmas decorations. I did a quick calculation that tells me (and her) that less than one percent of all NFL fans get to go to an NFL game. That also means one fan gets to go and 1.5 million stay home. You went to Episcopal. Do you agree with my math on how lucky I am?
John: My instructors at Episcopal can affirm I was as bad at and as disinterested in math I was in all subjects, and that I unwisely but most definitely (mis)spent most of my time there hanging in the courtyard and thinking I was better at basketball than reality suggested. Still, as far as your strategy: Less Christmas decorations and more football is a wise choice indeed. While it is well-documented that I am a big fan of Krimma … helping with decorations? That’s not me. It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that my wife trusts me to not mess up the whole process not one iota.
John, in your opinion how has Myles Jack progressed this year? Would he be more effective in a 3-4 alignment?
John: Myles Jack appears to be progressing as many NFL rookies progress, and I think he has the capability of taking a very big jump next season. As far as a 3-4 scheme … he may be effective in the formation, but the scheme likely wouldn’t solve the Jaguars’ dilemma of how to get Jack, Paul Posluszny and Telvin Smith all on the field at the same time. Posluszny and Smith likely would play inside in that formation, and it’s uncertain if Jack would be a fit at outside linebacker in a 3-4 as opposed to Yannick Ngakoue and Dante Fowler Jr.
The Jaguars this year are 2-6 in one-possession games. If the Jaguars want to take the next step, they must close out/finish games. Lions are 7-4, Cowboys are 6-1, Raiders are 7-1. All the top teams each year can finish the games and don’t make that one mistake that costs them. So yes, the Jags can win any game as we keep them all close, but just have to finish them!
John: Yep.
At what point did celebrations after every single play start?
John: Yeah. Fair point. I’m not a fan, either.
Hi, John. Maybe I’m lost here but everyone is talking about re-signing Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee, Telvin Smith, Blake Bortles… but don’t they still have one more year under contract before we have to worry about re-signing in all reality?
John: Robinson, Lee, Smith, Brandon Linder and Aaron Colvin as members of the 2014 Jaguars draft class indeed have one more year remaining on their rookie contracts, so the Jaguars technically don’t have to re-sign those players until after the 2017 season. But the Jaguars under NFL rules can extend the contracts of those players following this season – and in the cases of Robinson, Linder, Smith and Lee I believe the Jaguars likely will move to do so this offseason. I imagine they’ll wait on Lee and approach him about extending early next season if he continues to progress as he has done this season. Bortles is a different situation because as a first-round selection he signed a four-year contract with the team having the option for a fifth year. That option must be exercised in the coming offseason. Will the Jaguars exercise that option? That will be a major topic in the offeason and I don’t get the idea it’s certain yet.
Franchise quarterbacks are becoming exponentially expensive. What if a team took a new approach and decided they weren’t going to pay $80 million-plus for a quarterback – that they were going to distribute that money to pay offensive linemen and defenders more than anyone else in the league will (because they are putting such a large percentage of their cap into the quarterback). Then you just draft talented quarterbacks, keep them four years and get rid of them if they want too much money. Build a team that can win with any decent quarterback. Could it actually work? Probably not, but it is an interesting way to think about going against the norm for the league right now, and trying to take advantage of the market for talented non-premium players.
John: It could work in theory, but you’re still better off having a franchise quarterback. The odds of consistently winning and contending on a year-in, year-out basis go up exponentially if you have one – which not coincidentally is why they are becoming exponentially expensive.
The Jags lost two blowout games and the rest of the games they should have won. They are not a bad team and Blake is going to be a star. This team is going to be great – just not this year. Go Jags.