(08-31-2017, 12:24 PM)Flagler Jagsfan Wrote: Would love to jump on board with some optimism, but unfortunately this team has not shown enough in the preseason to justify saying they are much different than last year. They barely could made plays against 2nd and 3rd stringers. Yeah, we got some players that can make some plays. But it's just not manifested itself on the field during game day. Predicting that we come in 2nd is a huge stretch.

I agree with you, but I am always searching for a reason to be optimistic, and in that vein, I would say the teams we have played in the preseason are all better than any team in the AFC South, and they're all better than most of the other teams on our schedule.

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(08-31-2017, 10:27 PM)Rooster Wrote: D isn't any better than the offense.  People on this board way overrate the defense.  They'll get gashed by the run,  no pressure on the QB and won't get off the field on 3rd down.  D will be near the bottom of the league in points allowed again.

"Points allowed" is not a defensive statistic.   It's a team-wide statistic, encompassing all the points scored by the other teams, no matter whether they were scored against our offense, defense, or special teams, and no matter whether they were the result of an 80 yard drive or a 10 yard drive, or a pick-6. 

A much better measure of defensive performance is average yards per play given up, and average length of drive given up, and in those categories, as I recall, last year our defense was in the top 7 or so.

Add in the fact that our offense didn't give the defense a lot of help last year.

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