The defense is not the issue. We are still doing very well on Defense (even after the chiefs game we were among the best teams defensively). The Problem is our offense cant stay on the field long enough, and that puts too much pressure on the defense. The NFL is a league that emphasizes offensive play and the rule changes and calls made by refs underline that. A good defense is very important but it cant cancel out a terrible offense, and it takes a lot more effort to play defense, which makes it even more important to have an offense that stays on the field.

Our Offense is terrible. And I cant even say its because we lack decent receivers. Yes, Lee (injury), Hurns Robinson are gone, but for our offensive gameplan, we dont need exceptional receivers. A go-to-guy would be nice, but Westbrook and Cole are doing okay. We have the speedsters.
Fournette and the Oline are problems due to injuries, and that happens. But I doubt Fournette would have won us the games against the Chiefs or the Cowboys though, and a good RB is not enough to carry an entire offense imho (Im part of the people that think a good RB is a plus, but its not the position you build your team around and you dont pick a RB early in the first round).
Bortles is a big issue. He will loose you more games that he wins, he cant throw the ball deep and his decisions are not always good. Our coaches have to gameplan an offense for him that basically eliminates 2 min offense and any riskier throws and still he has games where he has 5 Turnovers or where he cant get over 150 yards passing as a 5 year veteran. Maybe our defense will somehow help us go for a deep playoff run again (recharge after the Bye). But I think they are starting to get fed up as well, you see the body language. They are constantly on the field and get zero help from the offense, and Im sure that is gonna wear on their morale. They know their defense is special, but its not worth much if your O is so bad.
I think we will look back at this era and think "what could have been if we have had a decent-good QB". This is where the Jaguars messed up. We held on to Bortles for too long and now its too late to get rid of him and he will be with us until his contract is up. By then we will have probably lost some playmakers on defense, and we will start over. But thats in the future and I guess its easy to say these things after they happen. But its not like we didnt know what we were getting when we kept Bortles. We knew what limitations he would bring to our offense, and now that Fournette and some of the Oline are down, we are seeing the full wrath of what these limitations look like. Hard to say what we could do to get better at this point. We have to hope that Fournette gets healthy and explodes, especially in terms of yards per carry. Its a big IF.

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