Quote:Maybe I'm punch drunk, because I've been watching Bortles/A-Rob/Hurns highlight videos on You Tube.
Man, we've got some playmakers on offense...something we haven't had since the glory days of Brunell, Fred, Jimmy, and Keenan. In 2007, Garrard was good and Mojo was fantastic, but we still didn't have the weapons we have now...and I haven't even mentioned Yeldon and Julius Thomas.
We don't need to completely overhaul our defense. With Fowler, Marks, and Telvin and another good linebacker and pass rusher, we could have a dominant front seven. That's the key to Carolina's defense--their cornerbacks are nothing special.
Add those key pieces, keep everyone healthy, and we can make the playoffs.
I applaud your devotion to the team... but you really either don't have a very good grasp of our situation or you need to lay off the juice for a while.
Quote:I agree. I think most people on this message board are way too pessimistic. This roster is so much better than it has been in the last 5 years or so. The coaching? I'm on the fence about that. On the other hand, I have always believed that almost any NFL coach can make the playoffs if you give them a good roster of players.
Perhaps the roster is better than it has been in the past five years or so... which goes to show you just how abysmal the talent level on this team has been.
Three factors kept the Jags under .500 in 2015 in my opinion.
Here are the issues they couldn't overcome.
1. A promising young QB often comes with baggage. Blake had an amazing second season for a guy that came out of school early and extremely unrefined. But -- he also hamstrung the team in three or four games with glaring mental errors that forfeited possessions resulting in points for the opponent. He also wasn't prepared yet to check out of plays when the defense knew what was coming. He'll get better in these areas. I have very little doubt.
2. Defensive talent and injury. (subtitle: lack of pass rush) Missing the two guys who ought to be your main source of pressure is going to affect your defense negatively. The fact that no one could step up and even play "solid" football in their place made it an insurmountable problem. Couple that with the lack of talent at free safety, the need for one more consistent CB, an aging MLB who's amazing in the box -but poor in coverage, and you have an ugly situation on the defensive end of the ball.
3. Lack of Discipline. See, I'm not an apologist. This is where the coaching staff has to share in the blame a bit. Many of these players underachieved in 2015 in my opinion. I'm looking at the secondary and the offensive line primarily here. The amount of confusion, blown coverages and penalties (to a lesser degree) by the secondary was unacceptable no matter what their talent level may be. The offensive line also had their own breakdowns in communication, false starts, and poor blitz pick-up. Having a LG and C who can't live up to their paychecks didn't help either.
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Number 2 above is the largest contributor in my mind -- but all of these things derailed the Jags in 2015.
Optimistically - they all appear to be fixable, and they've all been mentioned by the staff since season's end as areas to improve.
With that thought in mind... are we close? Yeah, we just might be.
If we improve our kicking game and our pass rush we should make the playoffs next year especially with our soft [BLEEP] division. People still seem not understand how important pass rush is in the modern NFL. If you don't have the talent to get to the QB your defense will be awful. The Texans literally made the playoffs on the strength of JJ Watt.
At least people are starting to understand Kicking isn't a gimmie......at least yesh.
We will make the playoffs next year
get 2 dominate players on defense and things will turn around
Quote:We will make the playoffs next year.
Get 2 dominate players on defense and things will turn around.
We need more than two dominant players on defense. I have no doubt that side of the ball will be much better from front to back after we upgrade some positions. But we also need depth players because some of them will get hurt.
Quote:I applaud your devotion to the team... but you really either don't have a very good grasp of our situation or you need to lay off the juice for a while.
It's not far fetched. The defense doesn't have to be great, just average. Blake needs to cut down on his turnovers, and raise his completion percentage to 60%. The offensive line will improve next year, with the return of Linder, and Cann taking Beadles' spot. That will boost the running game.
Quote:We need more than two dominant players on defense. I have no doubt that side of the ball will be much better from front to back after we upgrade some positions. But we also need depth players because some of them will get hurt.
A dominant pass rusher and FS would make this defense look worlds different. Adding in Marks, Fowler, another year of growth for Colvin, House, Odrick, Telvin etc and this is a playoff team.
Quote:A dominant pass rusher and FS would make this defense look worlds different. Adding in Marks, Fowler, another year of growth for Colvin, House, Odrick, Telvin etc and this is a playoff team.
Of course our defense will be greatly improved with two dominant players, Marks, and Fowler. But to be a playoff team, we also need major upgrades at center and kicker and a change at left guard (presumably moving Cann while benching Beadles). So no, just adding two defensive players will not be good enough to be a playoff team. However we will definitely get closer to that after the draft.
Quote:Of course our defense will be greatly improved with two dominant players, Marks, and Fowler. But to be a playoff team, we also need major upgrades at center and kicker and a change at left guard (presumably moving Cann while benching Beadles). So no, just adding two defensive players will not be good enough to be a playoff team. However we will definitely get closer to that after the draft.
This same team last year with two dominant players + Marks would have been a playoff team.
This division is prime for the taking.
Add all of that to another year of growth for the new and young guys on defense + another year of growth for Bortles, Yeldon, Hurns, ARob, Linder returning, Cann and this team makes the playoffs.
Quote:This same team last year with two dominant players + Marks would have been a playoff team.
This division is prime for the taking.
Add all of that to another year of growth for the new and young guys on defense + another year of growth for Bortles, Yeldon, Hurns, ARob, Linder returning, Cann and this team makes the playoffs.
You don't know what you are talking about. One loss was 100% the kicker's fault. Another was the center's fault. There is no way on Earth simply adding two defensive players would have given us the AFCS title. We should have lost in Baltimore, where officials literally handed us the win.
Quote:You don't know what you are talking about. One loss was 100% the kicker's fault. Another was the center's fault. There is no way on Earth simply adding two defensive players would have given us the AFCS title. We should have lost in Baltimore, where officials literally handed us the win.
It's quite dense of you to not realize we wouldn't have been in a lot of those situations with two more dominant defensive players.
Quote:You don't know what you are talking about. One loss was 100% the kicker's fault. Another was the center's fault. There is no way on Earth simply adding two defensive players would have given us the AFCS title. We should have lost in Baltimore, where officials literally handed us the win.
One bad snap and one missed kick is not the difference between winning and losing. We should have smashed the Colts so that the one kick didn't matter.
Quote:You don't know what you are talking about. One loss was 100% the kicker's fault. Another was the center's fault. There is no way on Earth simply adding two defensive players would have given us the AFCS title. We should have lost in Baltimore, where officials literally handed us the win.
With better players those games wouldn't have come down to the kicker and center. Though I wouldn't blame the center or kicker to begin with.
No game was ever 100% the kickers fault.
Quote:You don't know what you are talking about. One loss was 100% the kicker's fault. Another was the center's fault. There is no way on Earth simply adding two defensive players would have given us the AFCS title. We should have lost in Baltimore, where officials literally handed us the win.
If we added Watt and Earl Thomas I bet you we win the South.
Quote:If we added Watt and Earl Thomas I bet you we win the South.
If you were a little smarter you would know not to even mention those guys. They aren't coming to Jacksonville.
Quote:Call me crazy, but I don't think the defense is that far away. A couple DLmen and a DB and this D could turnaround quick.
We have pieces. Just need to fill in a few holes.
I also don't think our defense has to be lights out for us to be successful. If our defense was solid this year, I think we are in the playoffs.
I don't know you very well, but if you insist.... you're crazy.
Quote:So you don't care if we get dominated statistically all day and get lucky at the end? When that happens, we did not deserve the win.
I would be a much happier fan even if we had a bunch of 'undeserved wins'. I would celebrate like it was 1999 if we undeservedly won a SB. I don't lose an instant of sleep caring about a players stats; in fact, why should anyone other than the player or the team care much about stats? Perhaps a closet statistician? Not. In the finale analysis, when you get right down to the brass tacks, at the end of the day... the only 'stat' that really matters is the win/lose column.
You can have the greatest stats, but if you're on a losing team, guess what?
The jags need a lot of pieces to not just get to the playoffs but to win! Because that is the ultimate goal.. There was too many errors on everyone last season. If those errors didnt happen its fair to say they jags would have been in the hunt for the playoffs.. Hell we should have beat the Panthers week 1. At the end of the day it comes down on each player to play their best and eliminate those stupid mistakes... Thats how u become a playoff team that win that is... Just ask the Bengals..
Quote:If you were a little smarter you would know not to even mention those guys. They aren't coming to Jacksonville.
These are the most ironic 9 words I have ever seen posted by JW.