11-28-2018, 10:03 AM
While the weather in Jacksonville is cold, the meltdown in Jaguars camp is now at nuclear levels. Check out this surreal sequence late in the 24-21 loss in Buffalo. Bortles actually completed a deep pass to Donte Moncrief that was initially ruled a TD. Immediately after the play, a fight breaks out, and RB Leonard Fournette, who wasn't in the game, runs 60 yards across the field to the opposite sideline to get in a fight with Bills' DE Shaq Lawson and get ejected after dominating the game. The pass to Moncrief was overturned and ruled down at the one. Next, there was a run to FB Tommy Bohanon (his first of the year) for no gain followed by a false start that brought the ball back to the 6. The Jaguars threw a WR screen that went for a TD, but that was a negated by a holding penalty against WR Keelan Cole (how many more drives is he going to kill?). Then, after a one yard run by Bortles, 4th team LT Ereck Flowers (yes that one) was beaten for a sack by DT Kyle Williams (yes, that one) giving the Jaguars 4th and goal from the 24. Then, Josh Lambo, who has been the very few bright spots on the team this year, promptly missed the 42 yard FG. Now that alone would make for a head shaking, stomach churning sequence, but the sequence wasn't finished. The next Bills drive went 3 plays. A five yard pass, with a 15 yard face mask penalty, followed by a 19 yard pass with a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty, then a 14 yard TD run by Allen. So the Jaguars went from 1st and goal at the one tied 14-14, to down 21-14. That's 45 yards in penalties, 1 yard rushing, loss of 8 yards in a sack, another 18 yards lost in the missed FG. But the meltdown lingered. The next day, the Jaguars announced OC Nate Hackett was fired and QB Blake Bortles was benched. Yesterday, the NFL announced RB Leonard Fournette was suspended. Then, former head coach Tom Coughlin (yes that one), who is now head of football operations with the team, does a radio interview and lambastes the lack of discipline on the team. While to me, this isn't quite as bad as the 2016 two game sequence where we lost to Oakland and Tennessee in a short week and the team obviously quit, you could argue it's actually worse because from top to bottom, even with the injuries, this team is way too talented to be so undisciplined. How guys like TC and Marrone allowed the team to spiral down in such a way is a mystery, since both are known for being disciplinarians. It was inconceivable for me to think Marrone could have lost the locker room a year after such a dramatic turnaround, but apparently he has. Maybe despite all of the losing that came before 2017, and despite not reaching/winning the Super Bowl in 2017, the team won too much too quickly. Now, there is talk-from Coughlin-of going back to the drawing board! 
If you were looking for a cinematic representation of Jaguars fans at this point, the one that leaps to mind is the Lloyd Bridges character from "Airplane" ("Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit [Insert several vices here]").
Elsewhere in the division, the Texans and Colts have gone on win streaks of 8 wins and 6 wins respectively on the strength of their QBs, while the tacks managed to lose to the Texans despite Mariota having one (1) incompletion for the game.
Predictions? Well, I have reached .500 again, which is sad in itself considering how late it is in the season, but even sadder considering I only wish the Jaguars rose to that level of mediocrity.
This weeks games...
Browns (4-6-1) at Texans (8-3)-a game featuring two teams with good young, promising QBs. Sigh. Texans win 30-17.
Colts (6-5) at Jaguars (3-8)-Pffft. Colts win 30-7.
Jets (3-8) at tacks (5-6)-who cares? tacks win 20-7.
Last week: 3-0
overall: 18-18
If you were looking for a cinematic representation of Jaguars fans at this point, the one that leaps to mind is the Lloyd Bridges character from "Airplane" ("Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit [Insert several vices here]").
Elsewhere in the division, the Texans and Colts have gone on win streaks of 8 wins and 6 wins respectively on the strength of their QBs, while the tacks managed to lose to the Texans despite Mariota having one (1) incompletion for the game.
Predictions? Well, I have reached .500 again, which is sad in itself considering how late it is in the season, but even sadder considering I only wish the Jaguars rose to that level of mediocrity.
This weeks games...
Browns (4-6-1) at Texans (8-3)-a game featuring two teams with good young, promising QBs. Sigh. Texans win 30-17.
Colts (6-5) at Jaguars (3-8)-Pffft. Colts win 30-7.
Jets (3-8) at tacks (5-6)-who cares? tacks win 20-7.
Last week: 3-0
overall: 18-18