Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

This is a topic I've wanted to create pretty much since even before I joined the forum.  I'd really like to hear the opinions of Jag fans old and new on this topic.

 

Please, if you don't like to read, just move along. 

 

Okay, so I've always felt that nearly every NFL team has a kind of personality to them that has been developed over the decades.

 

Examples would be:  (please feel free to add your own as well)

 

1.  Steelers - you know that "steel curtain" thing.  A legacy of just plain killer linebackers.  And of course their ring collection...  Also tough, toothless white guys.. those nifty flea-flickers.

 

2.  Cowgirls -  America's team...bleh...  I hated Cowboy fans as a kid when it seemed like everyone was running around in their jackets and such.  I suppose I'd say they have a               legacy of picking up the troublemakers, winning their share of Bowls, a one-time dynasty of sorts, etc.

 

3.  Dolphins - Well, who can argue with the only undefeated season right?  They've sort of devolved into also-rans, but it's a proud heritage.  Long history of solid passing attack.

 

4.  Lions -  Need anything be said about their perennial high draft picks?  The culture of losing...losing...losing...   and more losing...

 

5.  Bills -  5 times to the dance and nada...  Frozen astro-turf....OJ...

 

6.  Patriots -  Hey, they did their part after 9/11.  A real dynasty...(cheaters or otherwise)....Bellichick brilliance.  Defense, and perhaps the mantle of most physical team.  Trade away good players who want more money, only to develop new ones.  Picking up veteran players on the cheap and using them to good effect.  Excellent tackling by every player, and the most disciplined team in the NFL.

 

7.  Rams - had no identity until Warner showed up...were unwanted in LA, then I'd call them an indoor basketball team playing with a pigskin.  Couldn't have been happier Dick Vermiel got his ring though.  Suckiest team on turf.

 

8.  Eagles -  What was it, 5 NFC championships before they finally got there and lost (thank goodness).  Oh that's right, they won one in 1960 or something.  Pelted Santa, boobirds.  I'll give them a legacy of one of the most dynamic defenses over Jim Johnson's entire tenure.  Buddy Ryan's wasn't too bad either.  We absolutely HAVE to win our opener this year.

 

9.  Giants -  Man, they just own the DE position...  I'd kill for just one of the guys they've had over the years.

 

10. New Orleans -  They were probably the suckiest team for ALL of my youth.  I'm glad Brees got them a ring after Katrina, but I still think they're pansies for playing in a dome.  I don't think they'll get another one....ever

 

11.  Vikings - a one time feared team from the tundra, steam spewing from their helmets in below-zero temps.  Tarkenton setting the mark for scrambling Qbs.  A real throwback to the glory days of the NFL.  Not this pink flag crap we have nowadays, on fake real grass with no dirt.  No ring..  They'll never win in a dome, they should have taken the hint when the whole thing collapsed.  

 

12.  Bears -  Who can forget that defense?  So vastly different from some of those that have come since.  Surgical, clean.  Have they ever had an offense?  Ever??  I suppose we'll give them a legacy of the dynamic halfbacks in Sayers and Sweetness.

 

13.  Packers - toughest small town franchise...  Lambeau...outside in January...cheesy white guys.   Gotta give them the QB position I think.

 

14.  Redskins - outdoors on grass like it's supposed to be...rabid fans.  Proud heritage, despite perhaps more disappointment than could be considered fair.

 

15.  Jets - They did it.  And never did it again...

 

16.  Broncos - the anchor of the west in football.  Theirs is a history of the turnaround.  Weren't so good when I was kid, got absolutely smashed by Montana in the Superbowl.  Only to become a solid franchise appearing in the playoffs consistently.  Their running game usually stands out to me.  Very balanced team.

 

17.  Chargers - another culture of suck....couldn't recognize a great QB if he was born at midfield.  Powder blue pansies.  I've liked their corners in recent years, I'll give them that.

 

18.  49ers -  Coaches, coaches, coaches.  Definers of the west coast offense, and natural counter-point to the Bears.  I'll miss Candlestick.

 

19.  Titans/Oilers -  always midland teams it seems.  Will likely stay that way.

 

20.  Bucs - for me they will always be the cream-sicle gang.  And the only DEFEATED team for the longest time until the Lions finally joined them.  I'd give them a nice legacy of secondary players, and quick linebackers.  And for remaking themselves.

 

21.  Colts - ditched their city...Bal loved them.  Ditched their Qb.  Tanked for Luck.  Peyton showed us all some stuff though.  Loved them in Baltimore, hate them in their Indy dome with fake crowd noise.

 

22.  Browns - I think they won one in 1960 too..  Have to be the most long-suffering fans of all.  What's their legacy?  Almost but not quite...at least they knock off the Steelers here and there.  Sorry sods.

 

23.  Bengals -  what team has made more changes, coaches, qbs, Wr's.  Nothing works, and it never will.  They should move to London.

 

24.  Ravens -  They own scoring Defenses.  I think Lewis earned the relatively new Ravens the mantle of the most ferocious defenses.  Who can argue with a goal line stand to win the Superbowl?  

 

25.  Panthers -   bleh...  don't they play in a dome too?  (sorry..no dome for CAR...)   losers.

 

26.  Texans -  Why didn't they just keep the Oilers?  Worst expansion team in history?  Booed their own hurt QB...tasteless...  Most talented team to ever get the #1 overall pick?

 

27.  Cardinals -  Aren't they a baseball team?  Do Cardinals live in AZ?  They should be kicked out the league, and give us Fitz.  robbed in their SB.

 

28.  Seahawks - I'll just say they are who they are right now....  good.  What a secondary..

 

29.  Raiders - The once fierce opponents of the mighty Steelers, dirty bastads, cheaters, jerk-off fans, and finally, the true laughingstocks of the NFL.   

 

30.  Falcons - (see Panthers)

 

31.  Chiefs -  they've made some strong runs over the years...all for naught.  Some really tough teams.  Talk about the endless search for a QB.  Some kickbutt FB's over the years.

 

So that's the short synopsis of it from my vantage point...  forgive any historical errors...

 

So who are the Jaguars?  What is, and what do we want our legacy to be?

 

Here are some of the things that brought me to the Jaguars in 1996.

 

1.  A quick strike offense.  I remember watching some NFL games and Jax would put up 28 points in what seemed like minutes.  Coughlin really built a powerhouse team all the way around.  Those were some great days, we were a mini-dynasty of talent ourselves.

 

2.  Hottest cheerleaders in the NFL (at one time).  Those little kitty outfits of old were...well, football's fun and all, but I know where my priorities lie.  Methinks we should change their 'uniforms'.

 

3.  Best helmets and logo in the league.  (can we ditch the gold in back?)  Totally dig the matte black tho.

 

4.  Winning.  Like right out of the box (I got on board after the inaugural season).  Even so, over the years we have had a propensity to win important games that we were not expected to win.  This was Del Rio's one saving grace.  He really seemed to be able to prepare for the big game.  

 

5. Beating the Steelers...and Eagles...

 

6.  Tough enough to hang with the AFC Central boys...  and that's saying something.  I still mourn not being in that division.  

 

7.  We picked up a negative propensity for losing to inferior teams...  coming out flat, and staying that way.

 

8.  At one time, we had a big, and powerful, as physical as anyone Defense.  We've got to regain this trait.  This is an important Jaguar legacy, it's time we start pushing some folks around and laying the wood.  Big Hitters...

 

9.  A solid AFC style running game ala the Steelers.  Many of our best traits in the glory days seemed modeled after them, and for good reason.

 

10.  And finally, and perhaps best of all, that young team flying around the field in concert OVERACHIEVERS.  That is, and should be our best legacy.

 

So what do you think (if anyone got this far..) ??  

 

What is, and what should be the soul of the Jaguars?  What should our legacy to the NFL be?  When Jax shows up on Monday Night Football, what do you want them to say about us?

 

I am just so happy to finally have a team I can get behind.  I had been so depressed about our team for so long I gave up watching them.  So I joined the forum a couple years back (it took me two years and a call to the FO to join) and started bashing the crap out of everything that needed fixing as my civic duty as a TrueFan.  But I've turned over a new leaf - the arrow's pointing up, and I have confidence the leadership has a plan.  I defer.

 

Now I think we have the best front office and owner in the NFL.  A terrific motivator for a coach.  Though I need to see more from him on the sideline yet.  REAL GRASS - please let it stay that way..  And now...the best QB prospect I can remember in a long time.  ( ex- Luck)

 

It's a new era.  We are going to need to define ourselves.

 

Go Jax!!   

For a while the jags could be summed up as "yeaaah...BUT"


We were good, but there was always something missing.



Run for 375 against the Colts and then later in the year lose to some terrible team.


I think we are also notorious for terrible draft picks in recent years. Lets hope Caldwell is starting to turn that around.

We always have a good RB it seems like

Duvallllllll

Well, if you look all over the internet and listen to talk show host we are perceived, and at least somewhat accurately, as the least popular team in the NFL. We are also viewed as the team that will be the first overseas NFL team. 

 

My story with the team is that I have been a fan right from the start, despite being 4 when the team was born. I believe I only started rooting for this team because I liked the colors and the logo, lol. The only true memory I have was the 62-7 whooping of the Dolphins in the playoffs, as my mom was a Dolphins fan. It would be awesome to go back to those days. Brunell, Taylor, McCardell, Smith, our offense was explosive. 

Well, one thing I do know is that the Panthers don't play in a dome. If you were being sarcastic, then forgive me, I've had some beers.


We really haven't had a long enough sustained period of success to really label us as anything in particular. The 90's we had a team loaded with talent on all sides of the ball, through the Del Rio years, our defense was usually really good but we couldn't ever get a pass rush that would have sent us into that elite category as a defense. And recently we have been straight up terrible.


The only real constant for the team I suppose would be a good rushing attack? Can't go wrong with having Fred Taylor then his replacement being Drew. That's back to back hella good backs for a team.

Quote:Well, if you look all over the internet and listen to talk show host we are perceived, and at least somewhat accurately, as the least popular team in the NFL. We are also viewed as the team that will be the first overseas NFL team. 

 

My story with the team is that I have been a fan right from the start, despite being 4 when the team was born. I believe I only started rooting for this team because I liked the colors and the logo, lol. The only true memory I have was the 62-7 whooping of the Dolphins in the playoffs, as my mom was a Dolphins fan. It would be awesome to go back to those days. Brunell, Taylor, McCardell, Smith, our offense was explosive. 

 

That's a good memory to have.  We retired Dan Marino AND Jimmy Johnson that day!  It was a beautiful day.

One of the most successful true-expansion franchises.  Blackouts.(even though the Jags haven't had one in a while)  Not a lot of fans.  Fantastic Runningbacks who would have made more pro-bowls on other teams.

 

Also the Panthers do not play in a dome.  

Quote: 

 

Also the Panthers do not play in a dome.  

 

The Panthers are the franchise I know the absolute least about.  Not even sure if I've ever seen a single game that they were in other than the Superbowl.  Glad they lost.  I'm probably just jealous though.

 

Do they play on grass?  Don't care for Cam Newton either....so there's that.

Yes, they play on grass.

Well, before I became interested in this team, in my neck of the woods think that the Jags are going to move to London. How true that is is irrelevant, that's just what people think.

1. Known for some very good defenses over the years

 

2. Only team to beat the Steelers 2X at their home in a season

 

3. Drew And Taylor hang 375 rushing yards on Colts 12/11/06

 

These are just a few initial thoughts off the top of my head. I can't wait for this season evything about this team is looking up for the long term.

Good running backs, least popular franchise, wide receivers in trouble,

defensively hit or miss, and no franchise QB in ~20 years.


If we get into the playoffs, good for an upset (@broncos, tacks in a bad way, @steelers)

Conservative, cheap, satisfied with mediocrity.  4-3 Cover 2 bend but dont break defense.  Game mgr qb, run the ball, 5 yard slant passing attack, settle for FGs.

Quote:Conservative, cheap, satisfied with mediocrity.  4-3 Cover 2 bend but dont break defense.  Game mgr qb, run the ball, 5 yard slant passing attack, settle for FGs.

 

Known for our strong running game. From Freddy T to MJD and strong back-ups in between.

Jaguars have always been known for their running game (pound it out on the ground), but I would prefer the team be known for its shutdown Defense ..

waiting on that.

For the longest time, Jacksonville was a very traditional, old-school football program; a strong run Defense, a strong running game, heck, we even had a former Pittsburgh beat reporter as the team's Senior Editor. I can still remember Coughlin beating the "run-throw balance" idea to death in most of his press conferences and I'm still convinced that that was what cost the team that Playoff game versus the mulle-stache.

 

Shack Harris continued this philosophy with his drafting of a traditional "pocket" QB, tall Wide Receivers, and big Offensive Linemen. Del Rio was very much a "run the ball and stop the run" kind of guy and his teams reflected that. Oddly enough, Jacksonville had enough gumption to give Indianapolis, the class of the division by any stretch of the imagination at that time, fits. They didn't always beat them, but they held their own in their games.

 

If Shack Harris was traditional then Gene Smith was downright Stone Age-ish with his philosophy. Investing heavily in the Lines on both sides, another tall "pocket" Quarterback, and moving up to get his guy in the draft.

 

As it stands now, it seems as if Jacksonville is getting on the leading edge of football. Jedd Fisch is installing and developing his fast attack style and Bradley's hybrid 40 front Defense with 30 Front qualities is a new look and a different take on the tried and true 4-3 that the fanbase has been so used to.

 

If the team is to be known by any one term, I would think that "reborn" is as apt a word to use as any.

Good post Deacon, I feel most of the Jaguar fans would want a Steelers team of a few years ago.  That is why so many fans wanted Bill Cowher to come out of retirement to coach the Jaguars.  Cowher learned under Marty Shottenheimer both of which focus / play was linebacker. 

Nowadays I think I'd describe us as plucky underdogs (undercats ?) who are very much at the start of an upward journey and looking to upset the odds.


I suppose in some ways that's what we were when the franchise started...