(11-03-2019, 01:34 PM)Bullseye Wrote: With second place in the division at stake, this was a huge game.  Sadly, it didn't go our way.  I thought the Jaguars were the team that had the advantage of playing in London every year.  Shaking my head in dismay.

My thoughts:

1.  I think it's odd that as banged up as the Texans were in the D-Line and secondary, absolutely none of the Jaguars receivers seemed to get open.  Minshew held the ball a prolonged period for most of the game, except for the inexplicable quick dumpoffs.  It's not as if the Texans were getting a ton of pressure on him.  I wonder what they were doing to make him hold the ball, dump it off, and otherwise not attack downfield.  I would hate to think the game plan was to avoid attacking downfield knowing Watt was out.

2.  What the hell is it about Carlos Hyde that causes this defense to not be able to tackle him?!?  One Hundred sixty one yards?!?    The fumble at the end of that 60 yard TD run is of little solace.  In two games against us this year

3.  I figured a key to the game would be the defense's ability to pressure Watson.  Implied in that but obviously not stated-to say nothing of executed-was actually getting Watson on the ground.  Starting from early in the first quarter when Allen couldn't bring him down, Watson had escape after escape on plays where normal QBs would have been sacked.  Kudos to Watson for being a heckuva QB and a hard tackle.

4.  It seems the one thing the Jaguars did in response to Watt being out is be more determined to run to the right.  Compared to other games, the Jaguars seemed to have more success running right, but it was far from a productive enterprise.

5.  In recent years, I have complained bitterly about the physicality being taken from the game.  However, there was lots of hard hits and physical play in today's game.    From the hit on Michael Walker on the first quarter kickoff return, to Leonard Fournette trucking several players in the Texans' secondary, there were some plays in this game to remind me of a time gone by.  The lackluster offensive play notwithstanding, those plays made me smile a bit.

6.  Having said the above, that personal foul call on Calais Campbell was 100% absolute unmitigated horse [BLEEP].  That followed a steadfast refusal to call an obvious Pass Interference or at minimum illegal contact against DJ Chark by a Houston DB.  Those calls certainly do not lend confidence in officiating to say the least.

7.  Rookie Watch:

• Josh Allen-Had a heavy pressure on the first drive, only to have Watson escape from it.  had a nice TFL on Hopkins on a bubble screen to the left.
  
• Jawaan Taylor-had a decent game today.  Technically he may have registered as surrendering a sack, but that was on Minshew/coverage sack, because Minshew held onto the ball for so long on the play, and Taylor initially had him blocked well.  The team seemed to have a little more success running the ball to the right than normal.
  
• Josh Oliver-had one inconsequential catch to the right.
  
• Quinned Williams-Did Not Play
  
• Ryquell Armstead-had five catches, including a nice 38 yard catch and run
  
• Gardner Minshew-did not have a particularly good game.  Not only did he not throw a TD pass, he overthrew Cole and got picked, then followed it up by overthrowing Oliver and getting picked off and then a fumble after that,  and he seemed reluctant or unable to throw the ball downfield against what should have been a vulnerable Texans pass defense.  It seemed like I was watching the late stages of a Super Bowl blowout the way the turnovers were coming in bunches and snowballing.  At this point, I am inclined to start Foles against the Colts, even though Minshew has played very well overall.
  
• Dontavious Russell-DNP
  
• Wingard-got some ST snaps
  
• Mike Walker-was activated from the practice squad for the first time, got walloped on his first kickoff return and had a nice punt return.
  
• CJ Board-was targeted on one pass in the 4th quarter but had one reception on the next to the last play.
  

8.  That high snap missed FG was a disaster.  Sad to see Lambo's record come to an end on that.

9.  Keelan Cole continues to rebuild confidence in his abilities.  I don't think he'll have the full support of the fans until he has a monster game like he had against Seattle in his rookie year, but his production in the last couple of weeks represents substantial improvement from last year.

10.  Bottom line--a completely blown opportunity against a depleted opponent.  We had the chance to get right in the middle of the AFC South race and produced our worst performance of the year.  We're still not out of things yet.  There are still seven weeks left to play and can still reach the postseason.  Remember, we were 4-7 in 1996 and rallied to reach the playoffs and go on that run.  But we will have to get healthy and get it together, or this silver anniversary season will be lost.

1. If anything, this game showed me that at this time, Gardner Minshew is not a franchise QB. He played at Washington State in a system where WR's were basically running free and in this game, he sat back there like he was expecting the same thing to happen. He either does not trust himself to make throws in tight windows or he doesn't trust his receivers to make contested catches. Either way, it's not working. That entire first half, he had a completely clean pocket. He wasn't even touched in that first half, yet we only had 3 points? That's inexcusable. NFL QB's need to make much quicker reads and get rid of that ball in a hurry and so far, Minshew has not displayed that ability. In fact, he seems to have regressed. Can he eventually master this skill? Honestly, I don't know. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope he can improve, but for now it's time to go back to Foles. 

2. The run defense without Dareus is not good. He's gone and like many others have said, we lack a true run thumping LB as well. These are two areas that have to be addressed in the off season. 

3. Watson made some unbelievable plays out there. We were getting a lot of pressure off the edges, early in the game. The problem was that Watson was just too slippery and either found open receivers or he scrambled around and run straight up the middle, where we had no pressure at all. Again, Dareus' presence was missed. His ability to collapse the pocket from the middle and stop the run as well as pressure the passer will be sorely missed. 

4. I didn't think we ran enough, period. Fournette only had 11 carries. He's the kind of runner that gets better, the more work he gets. He never had a chance to get into any kind of rhythm, because of the poor play calling. 

5. Agreed.

6. The officiating in this game was the worst I have seen all year. Personally, I would have challenged the no-call PI against Chark. He was called for an offensive PI the play before which was complete, B.S., but yet when he was completely stonewalled in the middle of his route, nothing. It probably wouldn't have resulted in anything, but at least a challenge would have shown them that we thought their officiating was skewered. That call on Campbell was ridiculous and completely biased. I'd file a complaint with the league offices on that one. 

8. Agreed. We lost all momentum after that. 

9. Cole is definitely looking better, just not enough to stand out. Especially, when the passing game overall, performed so poorly.

10. This was a completely winnable game. A poor game plan, poor execution by the QB, poor tackling and poor play against the run ruined it though. Hopefully, with Foles coming back, we can get things back on track.

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