Quote:I looked back at the 2014 season and asked myself if things would have been different if this year's team was on the field in 2014 ?


With a year's experience under Bortle's belt and a lot of offseason work on his mechanics, and a year's experience for our receiver group, and with the addition of several key players on both offense and defense through the draft and free agency, and a little GOOD luck ( we're due ), there were 7 close losses last year which I believe would be wins with the 2015 team.


Week 5: Steelers 17 at Jax 9

A 4th quarter pick six by the Steelers broke open a one point game. Also, Hurns dropped 3 passes


Week 6 : Jags 14 at Titans 16

A blocked FG by the Titans in the final seconds preserved the win for the Titans. Definitely winnable.


Week 8: Dolphins 27 at Jax 13

Two Bortles interceptions run back for touchdowns. Jags dominated first half. Bortles had 3 total turnovers.


Week 9 : Jags 23 at Bengals 33

The score was 26-23 Bengals well into second half.


Week 14 :

Houston 27 at Jax 13

Jags led at half, 13-10.


Week 15 : Jags 12 at Ravens 20

Jags led at the half 12-10. Bortles suffered 8 sacks. A blocked punt was returned for a score by the Ravens. Ravens had 31 rushing yards.


Week 17 : Jags 17 at Texans 23

Game was close ( 14-10 Houston ) at half. Watt had 3 sacks.


So, in my opinion, these were " winnable " games . With a more talented team and a year's worth of experience, I believe the Jags should win 4 or 5 more games in 2015. Not to mention Week 1, when the Jags shocked everyone by leading the Eagles 17-0 at half, only to lose 34-17.


Discuss.

I get where you're coming from with the 'close game' idea, but let me suggest another possibility; maybe some (not all) of those teams just kept it close because they didn't want to go out and 'blow out' an underdog team like the Jaguars because it could come back to haunt them in the near future. Teams tend to remember when an opponent really runs up a score against them needlessly. There is such a thing as 'pay back', and while the Jags weren't really viewed as possible contenders last season (or this season either really...) most pro's recognize that if the Jag's keep building up the roster with quality players that sooner or later, they will become contenders. If you are a hopeful contender yourself you don't want to be going out and giving your competition grounds for having a grudge. You want to win, of course, but you don't want to humiliate that other team. I think that the good teams we played kept it close 'by design'. The steelers, dolphins, ravens, bengals... could have run the score up but didn't. That's good gamesmanship.

 

... then again, maybe they just weren't as good as I was led to give them credit for, or perhaps our defense was good enough to not allow run-a-way scoring in those games; they allowed it in others, just not in these.

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