Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

It's been a long time since the AFC Championship game.  I know I've been chomping at the bit to get this season started.  Opening Day is finally here, and we had to go up to the Big Apple to face the G-Men.  Fortunately we got the job done.  Here are my thoughts on the game.

1.  It wasn't a pretty game by Bortles by any stretch,  but I will say it wasn't as bad as some might have you think.  He had that one INT.  It wasn't a bad throw in that he identified single coverage, but I'm thinking he should have thrown the ball a little farther.   I'm also thinking Moncrief could have done more to prevent the INT.  Bortles suffered from three drops that hurt.  His 41 yard run in the 3rd quarter to get us some favorable field position was huge.  Did Bortles look like Marino in his prime?  No, but he did enough to win the game.  Given how many times over the years the team has done enough to lose the game, I will certainly not complain.

2.  The underrated MVP of this game was Fournette.  When he was in the game, we ran the ball very well averaging over 5 YPC, IIRC.  When he left, outside of the Yeldon TD run and Bortles' long run, the running game bogged down.  The commentator indicated the personnel grouping once Fournette left the game.  Perhaps we can show more 2 TE or 2 back sets with Yeldon in the game.  I sure hope Fournette is okay.  Hamstring injuries can linger on and we will need him for these next few games.

3.  Myles Jack baby!!!!

4.  Calais Campbell disappeared late last year, but he showed up in a big way today.  He abused Flowers early on, forcing two penalties in the first drive alone.  He also later registered a sack and some pressures, and was key in slowing down their running game.  The rest of the defensive line played well overall too.  Ngakoue also had some success against Solder.  Dareus and Jackson had a lot of success shutting down the run and both got pressures against Manning.  Abry Jones had the deflection that led directly to the Myles Jack pick 6.    Larentee McCray had a good pressure on Manning as well.  More encouraging is that we get Dante Fowler back next week.  But as good as the unit played overall, they will need a better game against Brady if we are to beat the Pats next week.

5.   His detractors will say that Ramsey was abused by OBJ by looking at the stats.  His detractors would be wrong.  The one big play OBJ had with Ramsey assigned to him, there was a blatant pick that wasn't called (and the announcers conveniently called a "rub").  There was one PI against Ramsey for a decent sized gain, but most of OBJs damage was done on underneath crossing type routes against zone.

6.  I was not a huge fan of the OL play today.  Lots of penalties, especially by Cam Robinson (4 by my count).  With Fournette in the game, they opened some holes on the ground, but they allowed some hits and sacks on Bortles.

7.  Rookie Watch:

• Taven Bryan-I saw him in on a few plays, lined mostly at LDE, though I saw one play at RDE.  He did not stand out to me.
  
• DJ Chark-IIRC he had a tackle on a punt, but otherwise had no impact
  
• Ronnie Harrison-in on quite a few plays, but I did not see him make much impact.
  
• Will Richardson-DNP
  
• Leon Jacobs-started at Mike, and I think he was in on a tackle, but did not stand out.
  
• Logan Cooke-didn't seem to have a crushing kick, but knocked some kicks inside the 20.  He did have the knuckle ball punt at the end that led to the muff that clinched the game for us.
  

8.  I wondered how the receivers would perform now that most are experienced, having spent at least a year in the offense.  It seems Cole is still our best WR.  He had the one deep passing play to him early.  he got open on another play on a post, but Bortles threw elsewhere incomplete.  Westbrook had some decent short catches that extended some drives.  While Moncrief had one catch, the abiding sense i got watching him was one of disappointment.  He seemed useless on jump balls/contested passes.  ASJ had a TD negated by a penalty, but he had a couple of catches and looked like he could become a contributor in the passing game.

9.  Barry Church is the subject of much talk about being cut after this season.  But I'm sure glad he is here now.  He had a very good game today and was key in keeping Barkley (who is going to be a great back if the Giants can provide some competent blocking on the right side of their line) contained for the most part.

10.  Bottom line-Some may lament the lack of style points, and others will understandably point out the second half offensive struggles.  But dang it we won this game!  I figured it would be a hard fought game and it was.  That said, there are concerns we will have to address if we are to beat New England next week, but for now I am going to savor this win (especially since I won a dinner because of the result).

Terrible o-line. terrble offense, "okay" defense

(09-09-2018, 07:02 PM)waveZ666 Wrote: [ -> ]Terrible o-line. terrble offense, "okay" defense

Okay defense? Holding an offense to 15 points in today’s high powered NFL, especially one with a two time winning SB QB and Odell is impressive. They also literally won the game for us

My impressions:

Bortles needs to run more. Trust his feet, rather forcing a bad throw.

We need to find a way to get Chark in this game.

I was surprised Grant wasn't used more often. I suspect we're saving him for next week--maybe we don't want the Pats to see too much on game film.

Other than giving up the long TD run, the defense played very well. They alone will get the team to the playoffs, provided they stay relatively healthy.

Way too many penalties. That has to be cleaned up for next week, and I think it will be.

Road wins are hard to come by in the NFL. Is there room for improvement? Of course, but the W is all that matters.

Spot on as always. The only thing I would add is the coaching staff continues to call conservatively or just plain odd at times. One call to Cole deep on the sideline. Two to Moncrief? Where were the crossing routes?

Very good write up Bullseye. Can’t really disagree with anything you wrote.

(09-09-2018, 07:14 PM)copycat Wrote: [ -> ]Spot on as always.  The only thing I would add is the coaching staff continues to call conservatively or just plain odd at times.  One call to Cole deep on the sideline.  Two to Moncrief?  Where were the crossing routes?

I seem to recall they hit Cole on a crossing route that got them a first down, but never went back to it.

(09-09-2018, 07:14 PM)copycat Wrote: [ -> ]Spot on as always.  The only thing I would add is the coaching staff continues to call conservatively or just plain odd at times.  One call to Cole deep on the sideline.  Two to Moncrief?  Where were the crossing routes?

When Fournette went down I thought they would try more misdirection plays and get their aggressive defense to over pursue. You’re right though, it seems like when they get a little bit of a lead they turtle up the play calling and rely on the defense to hold. That is going to blow up in their faces sooner rather than later if they continue this style of play.

Nice summary Bullseye. The defense would have appeared much better if the offense did not disappear the second half. The receivers need to catch the ball. Moncrief is dissapointing and def not a replacement for ar15. I would like to see the TE used more often. I expected more pressure on Manning than we actually delivered. On Manning he was better than I expected.

Hope Fournettes hamstring is not severe enough to be a lingering issue. The online was ok, Robinson's struggles continue. Glad Vernon was out today. Overall bit sloppy but I sure am glad to walk out with the W in week one.

(09-09-2018, 07:14 PM)copycat Wrote: [ -> ]Spot on as always.  The only thing I would add is the coaching staff continues to call conservatively or just plain odd at times.  One call to Cole deep on the sideline.  Two to Moncrief?  Where were the crossing routes?

I saw Westbrook catch a crossing route. Bortles threw the ball behind him so Westbrook caught it and fell down.

As far as Moncrief, man his effort was terrible today. I hope he’s not a diva bc they didn’t call his number much. 5 targets with 1 catch for 14 yards. 

Right now I think Westbrook and Cole are our 2 best WRs. 

Grant was killing the Patriots in the championship game so I hope we give them a heavy dose next week.

sry but bortles cant be defended this game, the defense played good enough to win, not bortles and 7 second half punts

bortles continues to just look incredibly nervous at all times, the offensive line was bad as well, but bortles has to do better, I am not sure why we dont run him WAY MORE than what we do, because that is his best weapon, not his arm

knew this game would be tough and I'm glad we won it but it should not have been that close IMO

NE is going to be a tough one, they looked a lot better than I thought they would and we looked worse than I thought we would. we'll see, happy we won

It's like they are gonna play super safe and just wait for the D to made a big play.

It's always good to start a season with a win

I was actually impressed with Bortles ball placement on his handful of downfield throws. I did notice that his windup was as long as ever though. Granted he had a wiiiiiide open pocket on those plays so maybe he just felt like he could really let it fly, but if he's reverting back to full windup Bortles it's going to cause problems down the road.

Asking Bortles to run more will likely result in seeing Cody Kessler finish the season.

The whole performance was really solid, save for the Oline. Obviously they have a ton of room to grow together, which is key.

I was thrilled the special teams played well, which I was worried about.

They played conservatively, which they should with the D we have.

Also, they played like a team with an identity and had confidence in that from the first quarter through the last snap.


Thrilled with a W, and great write up Bullseye.

Norwell and Cam were awful in this game. Need to tighten it up.

I feel like every time the offense got in a groove, there was a penalty. Every time. 3rd and 3? Nope. Lets false start. TD to ASJ? Nope, hands to the face. Still blown away at the lack of touches for Grant especially in the 2nd half. Where were all these 2 back sets we ran in preseason?

Still got the win on the road and road wins are hard to come by. Will not beat NE if we play like we did today. I doubt we come out this sloppy though next week. I bet the offense turns it around and puts up 4 TDS next week.

(09-09-2018, 08:06 PM)Upper Wrote: [ -> ]I was actually impressed with Bortles ball placement on his handful of downfield throws. I did notice that his windup was as long as ever though. Granted he had a wiiiiiide open pocket on those plays so maybe he just felt like he could really let it fly, but if he's reverting back to full windup Bortles it's going to cause problems down the road.

Yeah I'm really not too concerned. He had a coupke drops on well placed balls, the TD to Yeldon was perfect placement, as was the ASJ TD that was called back. I still blame Moncrief for the INT, he made pretty much zero effort. 

Blake went to his mechanics training in LA this summer so I'm sure he's fine there. 

The OL struggled, but its their first time all together so we'll see.

---

I think Ngakoue was an unsung hero today. He didn't light up the stat sheet but he was a disruptive force all day long and was very close to more than a couple sacks.

Ugly wins count too

Good game today.. Love this defense..