As we play a de facto playoff game this weekend (for us at least) against the tacks, let's revisit the year and how we got here, specifically from being a shoo-in for the playoffs and playing for the 1 seed to winding up starting the playoffs two weeks early attempting to lock up a spot in the dance as the 4 seed and the AFCS.  Here's the schedule with results and the opposing team's record minus the game(s) they played against us and key injuries/suspensions:


Jags @ clots   31-21 W  (clots 9-5)  (Cam suspended weeks 1-4) (DHam, Smoot enter season injured)
chefs @ Jags  17-9 L  (chefs 9-6)  (Zay injured)
tinhorns @ Jags  37-17  L  (tinhorns 8-6) 
dirty birds @ Jags (London)  7-23 W  (birds 7-8)
Jags @ biffs (London)  25-20  W  (biffs 10-5) (Cam returns from suspension) (Little injured) (Zay returns from injury, but re-aggravates it)
clots @ Jags  20-37  W  (clots 9-5)  (Smoot returns from injury) (Trevor, Campbell injured)
Jags @ aints  31-24  W  (aints 8-7) (Trevor returns from injury) (Cisco injured)
Jags @ squealers  20-10  W  (squealers 9-6) (Little, DHam return from injury) 
BYE
niners @ Jags  34-3  L  (niners 11-4) (Campbell, Cisco return) (Ezra Cleveland added via trade) (Agnew injured) 
tacks @ Jags  14-34  W  (tacks 5-10) (Zay returns from injury) (DHam, Campbell out) 
Jags @ tinhorns  24-21  W  (tinhorns 8-6) (DHam, Campbell out) (Cam injured) 
bungles @ Jags  34-31  L  (bungles 7-8) (DHam, Campbell return) (Trevor, Kirk, Herndon injured) 
Jags @ turds  27-31  L  (turds 10-5) (Trevor returns from injury) (Campbell, Fatukasi out) (Cisco injured)
ratbirds @ Jags  23-7  L  (ratbirds 12-3) (Agnew, Herndon, Fatukasi return from injury) (Campbell out) (Zay injured) 
Jags @ yucks  12-30  L  (yucks 7-8) (Campbell, Cisco return) (Trevor injured)
teppertantrums @ Jags  0-26  W  (teppertantrums 2-13) (Cam returns from injury) (Agnew injured)
Jags @ tacks  ??


A few thoughts: 

1) Our schedule was difficult when looking at the records of the opposition. Only 2 games so far against teams that are significantly below .500 which include the game we just played against the teppertantrums and the game we played earlier against the tacks whom we play again this weekend.  Everyone else is hovering around .500 or above.

2) (a) Injuries (and end of half mismanagement) have killed us this year.  We've had a lot of starters/key guys out at different times this year or playing no where near 100%.  All teams suffer injury, but our roster is not yet deep enough to shrug off what our team has had to deal with this year.  That depth will come from new additions in the offseason, but may also come from depth guys continuing to develop.  
(b) The O-line is bad, but we could overcome that at times when relatively healthy everywhere else on offense which has not been a reality during the second half of the year.  If not for Trevor's injury against the bungles, I think we win that game regardless of how the defense was playing.  The Kirk injury seems to have been very problematic for us as well.  Barring both of those injuries, I think we win against the turds the following week as well and I expect we'll win this weekend and face them again at home in two weeks hopefully with everyone that isn't out for the season healthy and ready to go.

3) The ratbirds, the consensus best team in the league right now, we were hanging toe to toe with entering the 4th quarter as a 10-7 game.  We also mismanaged the end of the 1st half and left at least 3 points out there (we left a lot of points out there all season, even during the winning streak).  The ratbirds have destroyed the niners and fish in the two weeks following that game.

4) Assuming we win this weekend and enter the playoffs as the 4 seed, I think this team is being overlooked by pretty much everyone with the way the 2nd half of the season has gone for us and I think the vast majority of our losses are best explained by injury and self-inflicted wounds than by necessarily being out matched by the opposition.  yucks and niners games were god awful for sure.  I think I might've seen this movie before though. The '06 clots, '08 cards, '09 aints, '11 g-men and '12 ratbirds all had similar regular season ending collapses, yet still secured a playoff spot and made it all the way to the super bowl with the clots, g-men, aints and ratbirds winning it in their respective years. 

Let's take care of business this weekend and put them away early, please!

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