Quote:Both the 1996 and 2015 teams were 14th in scoring offense. The difference was the defense which is Gus' supposed specialty. So let's look at defense.


On the defensive line, in 2015 Chris Clemons was a talented player with a lot of experience. So were Odrick and Miller. Alualu is not talented IMO, but he was a veteran and a starter for almost all of his career. Hardly an experience gap there. The 1996 line had a much better pass rush. Clemons did not play up to his previous level, and the 1996 team had a lot of depth at DE. How much of that difference was from raw talent, and how much was from coaching? Branch, Clemons, and Davis all declined in 2015, and only Clemons can be blamed on age.


The 1996 linebackers were two untalented players plus a rookie 1st round pick Hardy. The 2015 Jags had much better LBs, with more overall experience.


 

The 1996 DBs were three journeyman backups plus rookie 3rd round pick Beasley. The Jags had House and Colvin at CB, Evans and Cyprien at safety. The total years experience of the two units is 11 for the 1996 group, 9 for the 2015 group. No a big difference in experience. And I still can't figure out why McCray wasn't ahead of Gratz on the depth chart.


 

There was a reason Babich was fired. The talent wasn't nearly as bad as the result, 31st in scoring defense. It's even worse when you factor in the weak offenses the Jags faced last year.


 

The talent for 2016 is far better than 1996, but I still doubt that the Jags make the playoffs. If Gus goes 10-6 this year then I'll be looking out my window for the flying pigs.

I think it simplistic to pin the blame on the defense alone and ergo Bradley alone.  Turnovers are more indicative of what happened.

 

1996 Jaguars were -7 in turnovers after 8 games, -9 after 11 and -3 for the year.  This means when the Jaguars went on their magical run in 1996 when they won 5 straight to reach the playoffs, they went +6 in turnover ratio down that stretch. 

 

The 2015 Jaguars, on the other hand, were -10 in turnovers for the year.  Included in that were several pick 6 or point blank turnovers that dramatically changed the course of games.  There was the Norman pick 6 in week 1, the Grant fumble against Tampa, there was the pick 6 against Houston the next week, there were the two botched shotgun snaps.

 

Yes, you could argue part of the defense's mandate is to force turnovers to either offset offensive miscues or put the offense in better, less desperate positions and that Bradley's defense failed in this area.  But again, considering the absolute lack of investment in that side of the ball until this year, that shouldn't be surprising.  Besides, it's not as though the 1996 defense became the 1983 Skins in that regard during that stretch run.

 

During that five game win streak, the defense forced:

 

2 TO vs Baltimore

2 TO v. Cincy

4 TO v. Houston

1 TO v. Seattle and

0TO v Atlanta

 

More often than not during that stretch, the Jaguars offense didn't turn the ball over much.

 

Most of those were average type games, and that was WITH a young Brackens, Hardy, Beasley, and vets like Clyde Simmons, Jeff Lageman and Joel Smeenge. 

---