I looked back at the 2014 season and asked myself if things would have been different if this year's team was on the field in 2014 ?
With a year's experience under Bortle's belt and a lot of offseason work on his mechanics, and a year's experience for our receiver group, and with the addition of several key players on both offense and defense through the draft and free agency, and a little GOOD luck ( we're due ), there were 7 close losses last year which I believe would be wins with the 2015 team.
Week 5: Steelers 17 at Jax 9
A 4th quarter pick six by the Steelers broke open a one point game. Also, Hurns dropped 3 passes
Week 6 : Jags 14 at Titans 16
A blocked FG by the Titans in the final seconds preserved the win for the Titans. Definitely winnable.
Week 8: Dolphins 27 at Jax 13
Two Bortles interceptions run back for touchdowns. Jags dominated first half. Bortles had 3 total turnovers.
Week 9 : Jags 23 at Bengals 33
The score was 26-23 Bengals well into second half.
Week 14 :
Houston 27 at Jax 13
Jags led at half, 13-10.
Week 15 : Jags 12 at Ravens 20
Jags led at the half 12-10. Bortles suffered 8 sacks. A blocked punt was returned for a score by the Ravens. Ravens had 31 rushing yards.
Week 17 : Jags 17 at Texans 23
Game was close ( 14-10 Houston ) at half. Watt had 3 sacks.
So, in my opinion, these were " winnable " games . With a more talented team and a year's worth of experience, I believe the Jags should win 4 or 5 more games in 2015. Not to mention Week 1, when the Jags shocked everyone by leading the Eagles 17-0 at half, only to lose 34-17.
Discuss.
We'd have had 10 wins if we had won those games. It has been so long since double digits...I hope that we can at least make a push for the playoffs this year. I'm ired of being eliminated after October.
9-7 we beatin the pats man stop the madness
Been saying this for a while myself. A revamped OL alone should net us a couple more wins alone. Which in turn will help Blake's decisions. That's before we even consider the Thomas, Odrick, Fowler, Yeldon, etc effect.
Quote:9-7 we beatin the pats man stop the madness
If we beat the Pats, which I feel we can, the media will lose their minds and it will be phenomenal.
Brady gets rattled if you hit him early, NE has been starting slow the past couple seasons, and they lost some top tier defensive talent
Fairly stated.
But I think Jags fans are so done in by extreme losing that they fear to make as standard a prediction as 0.5
The expectation shouldn't require in depth analysis with all the resources available to every team
0.5 is standard, but I guess we have to dissect how we can get to such lofty heights.
Quote:Been saying this for a while myself. A revamped OL alone should net us a couple more wins alone. Which in turn will help Blake's decisions. That's before we even consider the Thomas, Odrick, Fowler, Yeldon, etc effect.
If all those guys can offer at least some improvement, plus as you said the OL improves, this season will look a whole lot different than last.
If Cann can play like our 3rd round lineman last year, that will be HUGE. I'm not expecting him to play THAT well, as Linder played incredibly well last year as a 3rd rounder with questionable talent around him. A lot of the OL improvement hinges on Joeckel. He has got to make strides or there is going to be problems. I'm confident with better OL coaching and a full offseason to gain strength he will be a lot better player this year.
Add in Skuta, who I like a lot, a few more rookies with potential to contribute in Greene and Sample, this season looks brighter than any in years. Certainly better than any season we've had Dave and Gus.
Then you have guys like Lee, Robinson, Colvin, etc in their 2nd year hopefully take a step forward.
Telvin Smith too. He is one of my favorite Caldwell picks this far. Love him. Davin House should be a good CB for us. There should be good depth at CB with he, Colvin, McCray etc.
This is easily the best roster Gus has had to work with.
Is it week 1 yet?!
It's possible because Fowler is going to crush Luck like a tin can
Yes, there were some close games that might've turned in to wins.
But on the flip side, a couple of their wins could've easily been losses too.
Do the Jags beat the Browns if the Cleveland punt returner doesn't try to field a punt at his own 2 yard line and let it bounce off of his helmet?
Do the Jags beat the Giants without a NY collapse by dropping the ball all over the place and allowing fumble returns for TDs?
The Jags appear to be building a team properly, but all these guys are still young and there's still a massive amount if work to be done.
Are every one of the new draft picks going to be solid contributors/starters? Or will a few of them turn out to be special teamers and weak backups?
Will the O-line truly be upgraded? Or will some if the new pieces not turn out to be as stout as we hope.
Let's hope so. Time will tell.
Go back and look at the schedule. It is rougher than what you think. And an entire month of road games will wear on a young team.
8-8 is possible because the division hasn't gotten wildly better, and the schedule is somewhat conducive to the team getting on a roll and rattling off some wins early in the season. I think they're going to surprise some folks. If they get off to a fast start, I think much of that will be attributed to the significant improvements made this off season with the roster depth. If they don't, it's time to start questioning the coaching because Dave is definitely doing his job. I expect Gus to deliver.
Lack of talent at skill positions killed us 2 years ago, where lack of depth killed us last year. I think FA and the draft have (for the first time) given us both depth, as well as competition in most every are except for safety. I'm not going to hold my breath for 10 wins, but I do think that 7-8 wins should be attainable. To me, anything less that six wins should be considered a colossal failure.
...Oh the next few months are going to be killer.
Quote:I looked back at the 2014 season and asked myself if things would have been different if this year's team was on the field in 2014 ?
With a year's experience under Bortle's belt and a lot of offseason work on his mechanics, and a year's experience for our receiver group, and with the addition of several key players on both offense and defense through the draft and free agency, and a little GOOD luck ( we're due ), there were 7 close losses last year which I believe would be wins with the 2015 team.
Week 5: Steelers 17 at Jax 9
A 4th quarter pick six by the Steelers broke open a one point game. Also, Hurns dropped 3 passes
Week 6 : Jags 14 at Titans 16
A blocked FG by the Titans in the final seconds preserved the win for the Titans. Definitely winnable.
Week 8: Dolphins 27 at Jax 13
Two Bortles interceptions run back for touchdowns. Jags dominated first half. Bortles had 3 total turnovers.
Week 9 : Jags 23 at Bengals 33
The score was 26-23 Bengals well into second half.
Week 14 :
Houston 27 at Jax 13
Jags led at half, 13-10.
Week 15 : Jags 12 at Ravens 20
Jags led at the half 12-10. Bortles suffered 8 sacks. A blocked punt was returned for a score by the Ravens. Ravens had 31 rushing yards.
Week 17 : Jags 17 at Texans 23
Game was close ( 14-10 Houston ) at half. Watt had 3 sacks.
So, in my opinion, these were " winnable " games . With a more talented team and a year's worth of experience, I believe the Jags should win 4 or 5 more games in 2015. Not to mention Week 1, when the Jags shocked everyone by leading the Eagles 17-0 at half, only to lose 34-17.
Discuss.
Don't forget the Eagles game where we were putting a hurting on them the first half. Then everyone remembered we are the Jags and started to suck again.
Anything is possible.
-If Bortles improves to a Top 16 QB in the NFL
-If Fowler makes an immediate impact
-If TJ Yeldon is a good RB
-If Robinson and Lee take the next step
-If Mariota is a bust
-If Winston is a bust
I could see us even going 13-3 if all of that happens. I just don't think it's likely.
Quote:If we beat the Pats, which I feel we can, the media will lose their minds and it will be phenomenal.
Brady gets rattled if you hit him early, NE has been starting slow the past couple seasons, and they lost some top tier defensive talent
When we beat the Pats in their house, we will finally see this team get "respect" from the media.
2-14 is possible too. Hopefully Bortles is healthy and can play 16 games. I would hate for him to get in the same situation as Gabbert where he got hurt in his second year, then the team sucked so much that new coaching was brought in. Without him being their guy and practically being in his second full season, he'll have no chance.
It all depends on Bortles.
Quote:Anything is possible.
-If Bortles improves to a Top 16 QB in the NFL
-If Fowler makes an immediate impact
-If TJ Yeldon is a good RB
-If Robinson and Lee take the next step
-If Mariota is a bust
-If Winston is a bust
I could see us even going 13-3 if all of that happens. I just don't think it's likely.
Can you kindly expound on what you'd consider 'busts' after 1 season for Winston and Mariota? Surely, you'd hope they start our 3 games against them and experience growing pains in their rookie seasons leading to 3 wins. Bust, I don't understand.
And seriously, I feel as though all the other ifs are easily attainable, concurrently. But 13?
Quote:When we beat the Pats in their house, we will finally see this team get "respect" from the media.
No we won't. It will be "what's wrong with the Pats?"
Quote:Been saying this for a while myself. A revamped OL alone should net us a couple more wins alone. Which in turn will help Blake's decisions. That's before we even consider the Thomas, Odrick, Fowler, Yeldon, etc effect.
An
improved o-line, not simply a 'revamped o-line', would certainly be helpful. As to whether or not it could in itself lead to more wins or not, I don't know; but I would agree that an improved o-line will certainly, at the very least, help the entire offense..., which I guess
could lead to more wins.