CBS new article on ranking the top 8 teams that legitimately have a shot at the SB this year, and Jags not even on the list.  I hope they all see this article.  https://cbsprt.co/2InWRZ4

I saw that, but then I remember La Conforma hates us and is a tool. Hence the Packers and Panthers being on the list.

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Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

Not feeling disrespected enough? La Conforma also ranked as one of '4 teams likely to disappoint' https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/four-...s-cowboys/

"...the Jags still have, by far (if Luck is remotely healthy) the worst QB situation in the AFC South. The run game wasn't as big and bad as some made it out to be, and we'll see how this group handles the insta-success of 2017 when they enter a season as favorites for the first time in forever. "

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Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

La Canfora is on the same level as Alfie Crow and Ryan "rainy" Day - they are nothing more than hacks that should stick to blogs (if even that).

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The only snub to me is the Rams. How the heck are the Rams not on there? Jags, it's definitely an argument. Having a top defense warrants consideration. Seeing the 49ers absolutely pick apart the defense and see teams use that as a game plan later on is cause for worry. Steelers and Pats both were very effective in the playoffs against the champsionship D. Todd Wash needs to prove himself that he can adjust during the game, because teams will continue to use the 49ers blueprint. I wouldn't consider the Jags a top 8 team, but I see the argument because of the defense. Vegas agrees as I posted earlier. Lets see those adjustments Marrone!!!

Vegas doesn’t agree, it thinks the public will agree.  They’re not in the NFL prediction business, they’re in the predicting the public’s prediction business

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Not feeling disrespected enough? La Conforma also ranked as one of '4 teams likely to disappoint' https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/four-...s-cowboys/

"...the Jags still have, by far (if Luck is remotely healthy) the worst QB situation in the AFC South. The run game wasn't as big and bad as some made it out to be, and we'll see how this group handles the insta-success of 2017 when they enter a season as favorites for the first time in forever. "

Luck hasn't played in two seasons and is questionable for this season. Watson has only played in a handful of games and is coming off of an ACL injury. Mariota hasn't exactly been a stud and has had his own health issues. But Jags have "by far" the worst QB situation lol.

And being a top 5 offensive and #1 in rushing is pretty darn good. Not sure what is idea of big and bad is but can't get a ton better than that.

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That writer has a better chance than Luck at being able to throw a football properly within the next 18 months

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Gil Brandt also ranked us as the second most vulnerable division leader, after only the Chiefs.

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Gil Brandt also ranked us as the second most vulnerable division leader, after only the Chiefs.

Considering that the Jaguars are the first AFCS team in three seasons to get to double digit wins, and should have had a couple more than they did I just don't see it. The Vikings should probably be considered the most vulnerable with Rodgers coming back this season.

Really vulnerability is about whether there are other championship quality teams in your division, and I don't see that being the case in the AFCS. I think Watson's 2017 will eventually be remembered like Bortles' 2015, which advanced stats sites like PFF have already noted for the most part. I think mariota is a passable QB in a similar mold to Bortles, the titans fans are trying hard to convince themselves that he's great, but from the outside looking in I see a guy that is injury prone and in three years in the league still hasn't shown he can make all of the throws or have the end of game "it" factor that guys like Brady do. He's typical in that his success follows the success of how good the team around him is, and while the titans did a good job in two very favorably scheduled games against the Jaguars last year I don't see them as actual challengers, I see them as having had about as fortunate a year as they could have considering their talent level. In a few years I expect they'll be pining for the days of Mularky keeping things held together with tape and bubblegum to make mariota look competent. The colts I just don't believe in. Even if Luck actually gets back onto the field he might not survive the first half against the level of violence the Jaguars defense will bring against him.

So while it's always possible the Jaguars could have an unfortunate season and end up somehow losing the division to an 8 or 9 win texans or titans team, I just don't think it's really likely. I think the Jaguars floor should be 10 wins and realistically they should have a real chance to be at 12 or 13.

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Gil Brandt also ranked us as the second most vulnerable division leader, after only the Chiefs.

Considering that the Jaguars are the first AFCS team in three seasons to get to double digit wins, and should have had a couple more than they did I just don't see it. The Vikings should probably be considered the most vulnerable with Rodgers coming back this season.

Really vulnerability is about whether there are other championship quality teams in your division, and I don't see that being the case in the AFCS. I think Watson's 2017 will eventually be remembered like Bortles' 2015, which advanced stats sites like PFF have already noted for the most part. I think mariota is a passable QB in a similar mold to Bortles, the titans fans are trying hard to convince themselves that he's great, but from the outside looking in I see a guy that is injury prone and in three years in the league still hasn't shown he can make all of the throws or have the end of game "it" factor that guys like Brady do. He's typical in that his success follows the success of how good the team around him is, and while the titans did a good job in two very favorably scheduled games against the Jaguars last year I don't see them as actual challengers, I see them as having had about as fortunate a year as they could have considering their talent level. In a few years I expect they'll be pining for the days of Mularky keeping things held together with tape and bubblegum to make mariota look competent. The colts I just don't believe in. Even if Luck actually gets back onto the field he might not survive the first half against the level of violence the Jaguars defense will bring against him.

So while it's always possible the Jaguars could have an unfortunate season and end up somehow losing the division to an 8 or 9 win texans or titans team, I just don't think it's really likely. I think the Jaguars floor should be 10 wins and realistically they should have a real chance to be at 12 or 13.

I'm thinking their rationale is that the other three teams have all fixed their largest deficiencies (QB for the clots and tinhorns and coaching for the tacks) and should improve whereas what they see as our largest deficiency (Bortles and the passing game in general) is still there. Combine that with thinking the defense might regress and I could see how people would think that a 9-7 tacks team will improve and a 10-6 Jaguars team will regress.

In my own opinion I think the chance of the defense regressing is the same as the defense performing to the level of 2017. And I think with the stability in the coaching department, and the decent year Bortles had in 2017 we will see even more progression out of him in the coming season.

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I'm thinking their rationale is that the other three teams have all fixed their largest deficiencies (QB for the clots and tinhorns and coaching for the tacks) and should improve whereas what they see as our largest deficiency (Bortles and the passing game in general) is still there. Combine that with thinking the defense might regress and I could see how people would think that a 9-7 tacks team will improve and a 10-6 Jaguars team will regress.

In my own opinion I think the chance of the defense regressing is the same as the defense performing to the level of 2017. And I think with the stability in the coaching department, and the decent year Bortles had in 2017 we will see even more progression out of him in the coming season.

I think you're right, essentially it comes back to the Bortles = bad and every other QB in the division = future hall of famer narrative, as misguided as it may be. His 2017 season was pretty decent in my opinion considering the Jaguars' WR situation through most of the season. A tape and bubblegum job to keep things together through most of the season. Even Bortles statistically bad games mostly seemed more to do with desperation in losing situations where the defense had meltdowns of their own (the cardinals and 49ers games stick out to me in this regard) and the defense almost let the team down against the Seahawks with two long blown coverage TDs allowed.

We'll see how things go this year, but I'm not assuming the defense will be worse overall, and I think the offense will probably be better if ASJ can get open in the deep middle a couple of times a game and the Jaguars can run a little more consistently through the season than they did last year. I know the rushing stats were good, but in the later part of the season Fournette was getting stonewalled in a lot of games, in 4 out of the last 7 games he played in last year he averaged less than 3 yards a carry, and only had one game in that span with more than 4 yards a carry. If he can have 4 yards a carry through next season with none of the disastrous sub 3 yard per carry games I think the Jaguars will be a contender for home field advantage in the AFC.

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At this point in Bortles' career and development, writing off the Jags because of Blake is an unwise assumption. 

Blake gets plenty of flack from me regarding accuracy, decision making, and consistency, but there are many things working in his favor at the moment. 

 - He's got play-off experience under his belt now, and while his performance had its flaws, he didn't wilt under pressure and he made some big plays along the way. 

 -  Marrone and Hackett have done a remarkable job of paring down the passing game to suit his strengths while jettisoning much of the stuff that he struggles to execute. 

- An improved (on paper) O-Line that was already pretty good - plus a tough and speedy featured RB that figures to do plenty of the heavy lifting for the offense.  These are big factors when analyzing this "QB situation."  It will continue to take pressure off of Blake to win games through the air. Often he will only need to "do just enough." 

- Speed, speed and more speed at WR could change the landscape in 2018 for this offense if Bortles is able to get on the same page with his top receivers in the intermediate and deep passing game this offseason.  It's not a stretch to think we'll see more shots downfield in play action and there should be enough talent on field to create mismatches and get open there. 

I see a lot of factors working in Blake's favor and I think he has his best chance to succeed lying in front of him right now. I'm cautiously optimistic he'll take another solid step forward and we'll see the ranks of his naysayers diminish again.

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The thing I'm excited about is seeing how he uses this offseason to improve. Last year he was fighting tooth and nail for his job and to get himself out of that horrible 2016 funk.

This offseason he can actually start fine tuning things, work to get his 2015 arm velocity back, improve on mechanics more and also another year in the system and with his receivers.

While I'm not his biggest fan, another small step forward in several of those areas could have a big impact on his game. Another decent step forward for Blake could be an above average QB.

Ok that's enough Blake optimism used up for the month

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Gil Brandt also ranked us as the second most vulnerable division leader, after only the Chiefs.

Here's how I'd rank them starting with the most vulnerable division leader...

1. Chiefs
   
2. Seahawks
   
3. Saints
   
4. Vikings
   
5. Eagles
   
6. Jaguars
   
7. Steelers
   
8. Patriots
   

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'02

Gil Brandt also ranked us as the second most vulnerable division leader, after only the Chiefs.

Here's how I'd rank them starting with the most vulnerable division leader...

1. Chiefs
   
2. Seahawks
   
3. Saints
   
4. Vikings
   
5. Eagles
   
6. Jaguars
   
7. Steelers
   
8. Patriots
   

I would agree with that list.

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Gil Brandt also ranked us as the second most vulnerable division leader, after only the Chiefs.

Here's how I'd rank them starting with the most vulnerable division leader...

1. Chiefs
   
2. Seahawks
   
3. Saints
   
4. Vikings
   
5. Eagles
   
6. Jaguars
   
7. Steelers
   
8. Patriots
   

The Rams won that division, not the Seahawks.

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Here's how I'd rank them starting with the most vulnerable division leader...

1. Chiefs
   
2. Seahawks
   
3. Saints
   
4. Vikings
   
5. Eagles
   
6. Jaguars
   
7. Steelers
   
8. Patriots
   

The Rams won that division, not the Seahawks.

Oh yeah... I was thinking how I have the 49ers surpassing the Seahawks, but I forgot the Rams are also in that division.

So...

1. Chiefs
   
2. Saints
   
3. Vikings
   
4. Eagles
   
5. Jaguars
   
6. Steelers
   
7. Rams
   
8. Patriots
   

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'02

Not feeling disrespected enough? La Conforma also ranked as one of '4 teams likely to disappoint' https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/four-...s-cowboys/

"...the Jags still have, by far (if Luck is remotely healthy) the worst QB situation in the AFC South. The run game wasn't as big and bad as some made it out to be, and we'll see how this group handles the insta-success of 2017 when they enter a season as favorites for the first time in forever. "

Luck hasn't played in two seasons and is questionable for this season. Watson has only played in a handful of games and is coming off of an ACL injury. Mariota hasn't exactly been a stud and has had his own health issues. But Jags have "by far" the worst QB situation lol.

And being a top 5 offensive and #1 in rushing is pretty darn good. Not sure what is idea of big and bad is but can't get a ton better than that.

With Arob and Hurns hurt.

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That's alright watch the top 10 rookie touch downs on nfl.com and it is amazing what is missing. Thanks for leaving off the Fournette burst in week 5. I really hope we light it up this year so we can avoid the one hit wonder label.

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Birth of the Franchise - November 30, 1993
Death of the Franchise - November 29, 2011

Fans deserve better. Thanks for all the good times too many are in the past.

Gil Brandt also ranked us as the second most vulnerable division leader, after only the Chiefs.

Here's how I'd rank them starting with the most vulnerable division leader...

1. Chiefs
   
2. Seahawks
   
3. Saints
   
4. Vikings
   
5. Eagles
   
6. Jaguars
   
7. Steelers
   
8. Patriots
   

I gots Jags #4

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