Quote:The Jaguars went into this game with a chance to make the playoffs.  After the game, the Jaguars still have a chance, but those chances became a lot slimmer, because not only did the Jaguars lose, but just about every team the Jaguars needed to lose wound up winning.  It was as if fate is telling the Jaguars and fans not to get hopes up.

 

All season long the Jaguars had chances and blew it.  Playing the Carolina Panthers and after tackling TJ Yeldon, MLB Kuch goes out in the middle of the game for example.  Playing the Colts without Luck against an aging veteran whom hadnt played in a long time, and many other mishaps.  The team has shown improvement, but it also showed no improvement in some key areas like stopping the pass.  The team has been the worst in INTs & PDs among DBs for 3 straight years with House & Ball (previous years) being the only ones that showed some promise among them.  It raises the question if with even more talent could Gus win enough to go all the way or is he simply a bad coach?


 

My thoughts...

 

1.  The Hurns injury was scary.  You never want to see anyone sprawled out on the turf like that, especially when they get a stretcher.  But the underdog made good Hurns was particuarly hard to see down there.  I am thrilled the team was taking extra precautions with him and he texted he was okay.  Get well, AH.

How on Earth did Allen Hurns not get drafted?  He not only has great talent at WR but he is tough, dependable, and a true team player.  He has that drive to play and be great that GMs try so hard to find in players.  I hope he gets healthy soon and remains that way.



 

2.  The story of this game is the team's inability to score TDs in the redzone.  While there are many contributing factors involved with this, to me, the main cause is this team's refusal to run the ball in that area.  The team has stated it wants to run the ball, so I am not sure it is unwilling to do so.  In the past, the team has been unable to run the ball inside the 5, but against the Bolts, the RBs had a nice YPC, against a team that hasn't done well stopping the run. Whatever the rationale for abandoning the run, play action has effectively disappeared from the offense, especially in the red zone.  Whatever the rationale for abandoning the run, the net result is a red zone offense that is one dimensional and much easier to defend.

An interesting fact is that last year OC Greg Olson was ranked 32 in rushing attempts, (of course they had RB issuses but a big part of it is his scheme to throw first & run after you have the lead to kill the clock).  He is currently ranked 28th in rushing attempts in Jacksonville.  {24th ranked in Yrds as compared to 32nd ranked last year in Oakland in run yrds, both last year & this year 32nd ranked in rushing Tds as an FYI}.  GM Dave Caldwell brought Marrone in primarily for the Oline & Olson while he is the OC he's biggest thing was to improve Blake Bortles which he has done. The Offense is better than it was the previous two years but it is still only average among the league.  The bigger problem is the Defense on this team though, which is bad since that is Gus Bradley's expertise.



 

3.  Bortles deserves some blame for this.  Granted, I think the team's imbalance put too much on his shoulders, but again, I think he tried doing too much, as evidenced by the two illegal forward passes inside the ten.  The INT right before halftime I don't think was a matter of him trying to do too much, but it was disastrous nevertheless.  It was another painful growing pain for a QB racing to maturity.  

On a good note, Bortles eclipsed 20 TD passes for the year, only the 3rd Jaguars QB to do so.

Anyone that watched that game could let you know it wasnt a good day for Blake, yet stat wise he looked okay.  In fact most teams wouldve loved to have that kind of stats from their QB, so you do have to look towards the Defense for the loss against the Chargers.



 

4.  I think Julius Thomas' critics are much quieter today.  Thomas has a big day, eclipsing 100 yards for the first time this year and caught a TD.  It is the kind of performance that is going to cause defenses to devote more attention to him for the rest of the year, and give Bortles more confidence in him.

Any way you look at it, he was suposed to be the main receiver in the Red Zone and only now is starting to look like the guy that the team had hoped for which part of it is injuries & timing with Bortles.



 

5.  In another post, I typed the sentiment that Jaguars fans have a justifiable respect of Phillip Rivers bordering on phobia.  Yesterday, we saw why that is.  Once again, without a semblance of a pass rush to slow him down, Rivers picked us apart for four (4) TDs.  Gates was controlled last year, but he caught two of those TDs this year.  While I don't think the coverage was as bad as it was last year when McCoy told his coordinator to call whatever he wanted because we couldn't cover them, without the ability to pressure, the end results were not much different.  This is yet another game I am left to wonder how a healthy Fowler would have affected.

He is a great QB and this team can't even stop bad QBs so of course playing against a good QB is going to result in a loss usually.  It does make you wonder why a CB wasnt drafted in the 1st round hopefully this is the year.  It also makes you wonder if this is Babich last year as a DC if not Gus Bradley as an HC.



 

6.  For the second week in a row, special teams actually had a pretty decent game.  Greene had a decent punt return.  Myers hit all of his FGs, though he missed another extra point.  The kick coverage didn't give up any huge returns, and they actually blocked a late Chargers punt to keep us in the game until the last minute or so.  While I am thankful for the improvement in this area of the team, I wish we had this level of play much earlier.

Myers really needs to practice those extra point kicks, but he's young and they cant find anyone that is better...so.... he's probably here to stay.



 

7.  I thought Poz had a great game in run defense.

A healthy Poz is always great for the Jaguars especially since they are set up to stop the run which is his strong suit.  I think  he's currently rnaked 6th in tackles in the NFL despite missing time due to injuries this year.



 

8.  Nice to get a glimpse of the albino tiger.  Depending upon what happens with Hurns, Lee will have a prominent role against the tacks.  He nneds to show up and show out.

Have you noticed that they OC Olson usually only has him run a reverse once in awhile from week to week with hardly any routes run.  Not sure if he'll ever turn out to be the WR they had hoped for when they drafted him.



 

9.  Please take any Tyson Alualu related plays out of the offense.  If you want him to perform as a fullback, draft or sign a fullback.

I wonder if Tyson Alualu will even be on the team next year.



 

10.  Bottom line:  This week was a kick in the gut for our team's playoff chances.  But they aren't extinguished yet.  There is still a chance for this team, but time is running out.  The Texans and Colts seem to be stabilizing themselves just at the right time.  We have to brush this loss off and return to winning.  Beating the loathsome and detestable tacks again is the only way to start.

Anything is possible in the NFL especially in the AFC South with the Colts & Texans being tied with only 6 wins for the lead.  The Jaguars would have to win out the rest of their games this season, and I don't see that happening after the way they lost to the Chargers.