Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

Each week it seems to get said more and more, and it in turn concerns me more and more.

 

"We lost but it was a close game!" 

 

"We were in it until the end!" 

 

"We're sooo close to turning the corner!"

 

Are we?

 

 

Think about the reality of what we've faced this season.  Think about the team on the other side of the field.  What condition were they in? 

 

Week 1 - Lost 20-9 vs Carolina.

 

This one wasn't terrible, despite putting up a whopping 9 points and losing to a Pick 6, but it's not really the narrative.  Carolina struggled a bit to start the season, got the win, and has since rattled off an 8-0 start.

 

 

Week 2 - Won 23-20 vs Miami.

 

Yes.  A win in a close game.  Against a team that was in such a mess that they fired their Head Coach a week later.  It's ok to be happy to get a win.. but to barely squeak out a win against a team in such disarray? 

 

 

Week 3 - Lost 51 - 17 vs New England.

 

They're obviously not a struggling team.

 

 

Week 4 - Lost 16 - 13 vs Indy.

 

Indy... with Matt Hasselbeck at QB.  We're supposed to feel good even though we lost because it was close?  It was close... against their backup, 40 year old QB... and we lost.  That's not a good thing.

 

 

Week 5 - Lost 38 - 31 vs Tampa Bay.

 

Tampa Bay... who just the week prior watched Winston and Co. turn the ball over 5 times.  Arguably thought at the time to be one of, if not the worst, teams in the league.  Again, "But we were in it until the end!"

 

 

Week 6 - Lost 31 - 20 vs Houston.

 

Brian Hoyer.  Just saying.  This one wasn't even as close as the score tries to make it look.  Being down 31 - 14 earlier in the affair.  Again... Brian Hoyer.

 

 

Week 7 - Win 34 - 31 vs Buffalo.

 

Again, backup quarterback, this time it's Manuel.  Also, no Watkins.  Also, no Harvin.  Also, a 27 - 3 lead that evaporated into a 31 - 27 deficit as the game went on.  We managed to pull this one out, but without 3 of their top offensive players, and a 27 point second quarter.. we again BARELY won.

 

 

Week 8 - Can't lose during the bye!

 

 

Week 9 - Lost 28 - 23 vs NY Jets.

 

A 1 handed QB.  Down 2 of their best O Linemen.  Lost multiple members of their starting secondary during the game. 

 

 

 

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not trying to be a complete Debby Downer here.  I do see improvement.  My concern is how much of it LOOKS better because the overall quality of opponent we've faced this season has been... well... not at all good.  With the exception of New England, we've been basically facing teams at, or near their worst, and basically just kind of hanging in with them in a close game.

 

My concern is, when faced with an opponent who is not in disarray, rocking a backup QB, about to FIRE their coach, or sitting on an injury report littered with critical players... what then?

 

My instinct is to throw out the New England beating because #patriots... but they're pretty much the only team we've faced since week 2 that wasn't in shambles.

 

We're not losing close games against good teams at their best.  We're losing close games against teams that are either only slightly smaller dumpster fires, or are teams that are basically taking the field on crutches.

 

 

I'm legitimately concerned as we go down the stretch here, it's going to get ugly.  The Titans LOOK like a better team.  I'm no believer in Mularkey... we saw what he was here... but the Titans could very well make us look foolish.

 

Baltimore and San Diego are both having their issues this year, but I'm honestly concerned we end up looking BAD against them.

 

Indy and Houston are likely to face us at close to full strength, and if we couldn't beat Hasselbeck, I don't like our chances vs Luck if he starts putting it together again.

 

ATL and New Orleans?  Yikes. 

 

 

This is one of those times that I'm REALLY hoping that I am wrong. 

 

I actively WANT to be wrong.

 

I just look at the first half of the season, and all of the "close" games and realize just how disheveled  our opponents were in those games and wonder how far removed we are from last seasons repeated blowouts if we were facing teams that were anywhere near "full" strength (as much as any team is "full" strength in the NFL lol).

The sad reality is that the Titans have found a qb and minimizes his mistakes. Two things are essential for the Jags to get over the hump: find a real head coach who plans to WIN. Coach Blake up to resolve the turnover issue. Learn to live for the next play. You don't have to be a hero on every play.

Yeah. They WERE close games. Even if the opponent was "in control" the majority of the time. The Jags had chances to prevail late in most of their losses. A few of them should have been comfortable wins, but the Jags just continually commit multiple unforced errors each week making it impossible to prevail.

As much as some people try to see all the sunshine and rainbows, I feel you're looking a little extreme to the other end.


For instance, Fitz was fine. He practiced full this week, they're a great defense and didn't really lose secondary guys till late. Blake still torched them, it was a lot of unlucky mistakes that cost us that game.


Things aren't quite as bad as your descriptions read, however, they aren't as good as the "such a close game!" cheers either. It's a little of both.


Last 2 years we were barely in any games, even against bad teams. This year just seems we can't catch a break and other teams are.

Were officially the worst team in the league.


We will win 2 more meaningless games once Indy wraps up the AFC South and we might win against another team the same way.

Quote:As much as some people try to see all the sunshine and rainbows, I feel you're looking a little extreme to the other end.


For instance, Fitz was fine. He practiced full this week, they're a great defense and didn't really lose secondary guys till late. Blake still torched them, it was a lot of unlucky mistakes that cost us that game.


Things aren't quite as bad as your descriptions read, however, they aren't as good as the "such a close game!" cheers either. It's a little of both.


Last 2 years we were barely in any games, even against bad teams. This year just seems we can't catch a break and other teams are.

 

There's definitely no question that the team IS better than last year, and that there HAS been improvement.  I'm just worried that the huge jump from "Getting blown out every week" to "Losing close games, almost there!" isn't significantly due to what has to be the softest schedule possibly imagined.  Not only facing weak teams (again... New England need not apply), but the teams we played that are at least decent, struggled for one reason or another (Carolina's slow start, Indy/Houston/Buffalo QBs issues/questions, significant injuries, just.. bad... teams... i.e. Miami/Tampa).

 

I'm not jumping off any buildings any time soon, just relatively concerned regarding how much of the apparent improvement is real, how far HAS the team come along, and how close are we actually?

 

There are definitely a couple games on the remaining schedule that should answer that (Indy, New Orleans and ATL specifically)

Quote:As much as some people try to see all the sunshine and rainbows, I feel you're looking a little extreme to the other end.


For instance, Fitz was fine. He practiced full this week, they're a great defense and didn't really lose secondary guys till late. Blake still torched them, it was a lot of unlucky mistakes that cost us that game.


Things aren't quite as bad as your descriptions read, however, they aren't as good as the "such a close game!" cheers either. It's a little of both.


Last 2 years we were barely in any games, even against bad teams. This year just seems we can't catch a break and other teams are.

I agree with this. 

 

This game felt a little different to me. I felt like they really were as good as the Jets and could have won that game, even WITH 4 turnovers and even with the sketchy calls that were made.

 

This was a game last year we would have been blown out in and 2 years ago would have looked nothing resembling an NFL team. This year you can definitely see they're on par with just about every team we've played, talent wise. They just make too many little mistakes to get the win. When they mature and learn from these mistakes, both players and coaches, they should be able to get on the other side of the loss column.

 

The offense is going to be something in a couple of years, it's already so fun to watch. If we can get this defense improved, we are going to be ok, but we're suffering another rough year right now. 

When I look back, I'm going to call this "The Christmas Season" because we gave away so many gifts to our opponents.

 

In each of our losses we did something boneheaded and stupid that turned the tide against us. I guarantee you if we won those close games we wouldn't be pondering over how close the wins were, we'd be ecstatic for leading a poor division. I know people think these mistakes can be fixed with a new coaching regime, but I think we've got something here, and blowing it up over a few players not being able to execute in key moments would be a huge mistake.

 

I hate to say any of the cliché things that immediately come to mind after this loss, but the truth is we've got young players making dumb mistakes. I have to believe these will smooth out over time.

Close games. That is all.

 

 

Quote:The sad reality is that the Titans have found a qb and minimizes his mistakes. Two things are essential for the Jags to get over the hump: find a real head coach who plans to WIN. Coach Blake up to resolve the turnover issue. Learn to live for the next play. You don't have to be a hero on every play.

 

 

Mariota is still throwing INTs, however, the Titans managed to minimize his mistakes in this last game by running the ball effectively so Marcus didn't have to throw very much. The 49ers did the same with Gabbert. Both of those qbs were basically handing off all day and throwing quickly to a predetermined target when they had to. Bortles, however, is being asked to do most of the work himself. It's an entirely different situation.

Quote:Were officially the worst team in the league.


We will win 2 more meaningless games once Indy wraps up the AFC South and we might win against another team the same way.

 

 

I disagree. We nearly beat one of the league's powerhouse teams but fell just short in a game that included tremendous offensive production against one of the best defenses. With a far easier schedule on the horizon, I see a possible winning streak headed our way. They simply have to learn from these debacles.

Quote:I disagree. We nearly beat one of the league's powerhouse teams but fell just short in a game that included tremendous offensive production against one of the best defenses. With a far easier schedule on the horizon, I see a possible winning streak headed our way. They simply have to learn from these debacles.

yep... I called it during BYE week.

 

This team has performed better after the BYE in recent years.

The schedule gets "easier" (although titans, and clots looked MUCH better yesterday)

 

I figured it'd be a close loss to the jests followed by a string of wins against opponents more on our "plane".

Rattle off 4 in a row and the mood will shift.

 

Lose a couple more and the pitchforks will be out in full effect.

Quote:Were officially the worst team in the league.


We will win 2 more meaningless games once Indy wraps up the AFC South and we might win against another team the same way.

We're still better than Detroit. 

Quote:Were officially the worst team in the league.


We will win 2 more meaningless games once Indy wraps up the AFC South and we might win against another team the same way.

I don't agree we are the worst team. Lions are awful, browns ain't much, a lot of teams have 1-3 wins.

Quote:When I look back, I'm going to call this "The Christmas Season" because we gave away so many gifts to our opponents.

 

In each of our losses we did something boneheaded and stupid that turned the tide against us. I guarantee you if we won those close games we wouldn't be pondering over how close the wins were, we'd be ecstatic for leading a poor division. I know people think these mistakes can be fixed with a new coaching regime, but I think we've got something here, and blowing it up over a few players not being able to execute in key moments would be a huge mistake.

 

I hate to say any of the cliché things that immediately come to mind after this loss, but the truth is we've got young players making dumb mistakes. I have to believe these will smooth out over time.

 

 

I'm reminded of the early part of 1996 when the Jaguars kept losing close games as they got off to a 4-7 start. Then it's like something clicked with only five games left to go. They figured out how to stop making mistakes in order to finish games, and the next thing you know they made it all the way to the AFC Championship.

Quote:I disagree. We nearly beat one of the league's powerhouse teams but fell just short in a game that included tremendous offensive production against one of the best defenses. With a far easier schedule on the horizon, I see a possible winning streak headed our way. They simply have to learn from these debacles.

 

Which league powerhouse did we play close?

Quote:Which league powerhouse did we play close?

 

 

I'm referring to the now 5-3 Jets who were consistently in the top ten at least before the Raiders game, and who took the Patriots to the wire while boasting one of the league's top rated defenses. It's no coincidence that something like 95 percent of fans and media alike were picking the 8-point favorite Jets.

Quote:I'm referring to the now 5-3 Jets who were consistently in the top ten at least before the Raiders game, and who took the Patriots to the wire while boasting one of the league's top rated defenses. It's no coincidence that something like 95 percent of fans and media alike were picking the 8-point favorite Jets.

but they suck...

 we should have beat them

  their QB was banged up

    they had injuries and no kicker

      those excuses are OK for them

 

 

Jets are a pretty darned good team.

Quote:I'm referring to the now 5-3 Jets who were consistently in the top ten at least before the Raiders game, and who took the Patriots to the wire while boasting one of the league's top rated defenses. It's no coincidence that something like 95 percent of fans and media alike were picking the 8-point favorite Jets.

 

They are a good team, not a league powerhouse.

 

The Patriots are an example of a league powerhouse and we lost to them 51-17.

 

The Jets are never going to be a powerhouse with Fitz as their QB.

Quote:They are a good team, not a league powerhouse.

 

The Patriots are an example of a league powerhouse and we lost to them 51-17.

 

The Jets are never going to be a powerhouse with Fitz as their QB.

 

 

I'd consider the Jets a league powerhouse... the Patriots are what you'd call an elite team.