I figured the fan support would be somewhat diminished in the aftermath of Irma, but I never expected to see as many empty seats as I did yesterday for a division rival game with a team that just had a road win against the defending division champs. With an opportunity to go 2-0 in the division with a 1 1/2 game lead in week 2 should have motivated fans to show up. There weren't even 60k in the stadium for the game yesterday, and the fans that toughed out the heat to watch that gridiron abortion were taken out of the game early on when it was clear the offense simply wasn't up to the task. People started leaving the game with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. By the start of the 4th quarter, it looked like an Irma evacuation in there, and by the time the game ended, there were only a few thousand fans sitting there. I was one of the few people there at the end of the game in my section.

There is certainly still hope that we'll see better play from this team, but I can assure you that every opponent we face the rest of the way this season is penciling that game in as a win for them. Nobody respects the offense, and this is a team that isn't even capable of coming back from a 3 point deficit, so if they get behind, game over.

The sad thing here is that they're starting to lose the fans, and this bunch has been pretty darn loyal through a decade of losing. They're savvy enough to recognize almost instantly after the first series or two which Jaguars team they're going to see that particular day. When Tennessee went up 6-3, there were people in my section saying the game was over, and I couldn't actually disagree with them based on what I was seeing on the field.

2017 is nothing more than a series of moral victories at this point. I don't care how easy the schedule looks, this team will find predictable ways to fall on their face at every turn, and there's really nothing to do about fixing that until the NEXT off season. Then we can be filled with hope for 2018, probably to be disappointed once again.

It's all fine and good to talk about the good things when you're not in the stadium week in and week out supporting the team with your money and your time. Don't lecture those of us who have been living and dying by the week in the stadium, doing this for 20+ years even when we recognize the trends based on the history of this team. I'll still go and suffer through the pains of having to watch that offense sputter and the defense wear out. We'll get our token meaningless 2 or by some miracle 3 home wins at the end of the season when teams are shutting down. We're 1-1, and I have little doubt our focus will shift to the 2018 draft by the time we get to mid October.

---