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KodiakJag · 11-18-2019, 07:43 AM

I'm filling in for Bullseye while health issues prevent him from posting. Bullseye, we all miss you and hope your situation improves.

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis - Recap

I run a chess club every Saturday from Noon-5pm here in Anchorage except for June/July/August when I am fishing, golfing or otherwise enjoying the beautiful (and always too short) Summer with my family. After about 2 hours at the club last Saturday, this year's first snow came. In between making moves on the board many of us looked out the windows at the seemingly endless snowfall and realized that this was, indeed, the end of Fall.
The next morning I had planned to take Zachary (my son) with me to breakfast at the Peanut Farm (a local restaurant & sports bar) and watch the Jags game. However, we woke up too late and I also had tons of shoveling to do in the driveway. So, I stayed home and followed game updates on my cellphone as well as reading the official game thread.

Like the thick blanket of snow that ended our Fall season, the Jaguars similarly saw an end to their postseason hopes yesterday. There were few bright spots in yesterday's 33-13 beatdown in Indy.

- The game was effectively over before the 4th quarter had started
- Our poor run defense was on display, as the Colts would end up with over 260 rushing yards
- Nick Foles was obviously rusty, and maybe a little scared with how our o-line was performing
- We never had time (or the ability) to establish a run game of our own
- The officiating was more suspect than normal (judging by comments in the game thread)
- Our team was failing at the fundamentals (like maintaining gap assignments and wrapping up on tackles)

...I could go on, but it would be largely narrative.

In what seems like a repetitive admission of sin, the post-game press conference yesterday saw Head Coach Douglas Marrone taking responsibility for the team not being prepared...after two uninterrupted weeks of planning and preparation for a heavily injured opponent.

While there are more football games to be played, they now take on a different meaning. This loss hurt, and left most Jaguars fans (myself included) longing for some sort of reckoning by Jaguars owner Shahid Khan at season's end.

Houston @ Baltimore - Recap

Texans fans had a terrible week as well. First, the Jaguars didn't do them any favors by rolling over for Indy. Second, they got to witness a beatdown of their own with their team losing 41-7 to the Ravens. Deshaun Watson, the fountainhead of good fortune for the Texans, was repeatedly harrassed in a strong performance from the Ravens defense. He was sacked 7 times. He was intercepted once. He was hurried countless times. He failed to throw a touchdown pass. The Texans did not get on the scoreboard until 7 minutes left in the game. Baltimore's running game was in full swing, also gaining over 260 yards. Lamar Jackson again looked legit. This was a statement game by Baltimore that said "We'll be waiting for the Patriots in the Conference Championship and we'll beat them again."

Now for the picks:

Game 1 (Indianapolis @ Houston) THURSDAY NIGHT GAME!! Get your picks done before then!

If you're a football fan, it doesn't get any better than this. The Colts (6-4) travel to Houston (6-4) for a divisional game that features two teams firmly in the playoff hunt, with the winner getting one step closer to the title of AFCS champion. This would be the second meeting of these two teams this year, the first meeting ending in a 30-23 Colts victory. The Texans look to rebound at home from last week's dismantling in Baltimore, while the Colts aim to continue their injury-riddled journey towards the postseason. Colts running back Marlon Mack broke his hand last week vs. Jacksonville, and will not be playing in Houston. This will have an effect on Indy's production, but how much? I figure the Texans will return to form and do enough to outlast the Colts in a tough game at home.

Texans 33
Colts 21

Game 2 (Jacksonville @ Tennessee)

Titans fans look forward to payback as the Jaguars travel to Nashville for the 4pm game. The Jaguars embarrassed the Titans in week 3, delivering a 20-7 spanking that became one of the nails in Mariota's coffin as starter. Since then, Tannehill has more or less righted the ship, and has Tennessee at a respectable 5-5 record. The Jaguars sit at 4-6, losing last week to an Indianapolis team that showed a lot of heart. Jaguars QB Nick Foles will be starting, and should perform a little better in this game. Both teams are healthy, and this game is expected to be competitive. I give the edge to Tennessee, who had 2 weeks to prepare for this game and will undoubtedly utilize a strong run game to control the clock and wear down our Jaguars defense.

Titans 24
Jaguars 17

Last Week 2-0
Overall 23-11

Pete Prisco last week 1-1
Pete Prisco overall 17-17

"We believe in victory!" - Gus Bradley
"I don't want to believe. I want to know." - Carl Sagan