Though there was a lot of discussion and debate on the boards about this topic, the Bengals posed a good test for the Jaguars, if only for the overall strength of their roster. Despite their lack of playoff success, the Bengals have talent and quality at just about every area of the team. It would be good to see the Jaguars up against a complete team. My thoughts on how we fared...
1) Perhaps the biggest point of interest was Beachum's debut coming off an ACL injury last year. Though I was apprehensive about how he might perform, he seemed to hold up pretty well over on the left side. Based upon what I saw, I don't recall him giving up any pressure. If he can continue his level of play, he will be the upgrade we need at LT.
2) The guy Beachum replaced at LT, Joeckel, slid inside to LG. His first test there this preseason in game action was against Geno Atkins. I don't think he fared very well. I counted two hits Atkins got on Bortles, and I know at least one of them was on Joeckel. Granted, Atkins is one of the best pass rushing DTs in the league, and he would be a stern test for any guard. But I find it troubling that Joeckel seemed to struggle with quickness, even though a lot of the space is eliminated by moving him inside. I'm still concerned about how Joeckel will hold up against a bigger, more powerful DT.
3) Is anyone else growing concerned over Fowler and his judgment/maturity? First he had the video where he observed the fight between his then current and former girlfriends. Legally he did nothing wrong based solely upon what we saw on the tape, but being in that position was not good. But no biggie. He gets tossed out of the Tampa scrimmage for fighting. Again, no biggie by itself. Then, Todd Wash comes out and says Fowler needs to step up off field, be more of a student of the game. He benches him for this preseason game. Then Fowler got the unsportsmanlike conduct on the Pullard INT, when he should have been out of the game by that point. All of this without producing a single sack and not much in the way of QB pressures thus far this preseason. I think what concerns me is that intangibles were a big selling point for Fowler, yet it seems his intangibles have given him the overwhelming majority of his issues so far this preseason.
4) I know it's preseason, but there are other things that concern me. The penalties are beyond minor annoyance to the point of expletive inducing. There were 11 penalties tonight, after double digit penalties against Tampa. We aren't 1970's-80's Raiders dominant to the point we can absorb and overcome senseless penalties like that. I am also dismayed at the poor run defense showed tonight. There were too many times we got gashed for big yardage.
5) That said, there were some encouraging things on the defensive side of the ball. I thought Gipson showed good range breaking up a pass at the goal line in the first quarter. That sort of this is exactly what we hoped to get from him. It was great to see competence from the defense in 3rd and long yardage. Last year and the year before, it wouldn't matter if the opposing offenses committed penalties or we somehow threw them for losses on first and second down, because with alarming and demoralizing frequency, the defense would simply surrender the first down anyway. There were at least two times in the first half we were able to get off the field in 3rd and long yardage against a good offense.
6) His fumble notwithstanding, I thought TJ Yeldon had a fine game. His long run where he started left and cut back to the right was a thing of beauty. Too bad he didn't have that extra gear to pull away from the defense. In fact, I woul argue he had the best game of all the offensive skill players.
7) Rookie Watch:
A. Jalen Ramsey-Played all of the first half. I don't recall anyone catching anything on him. In fact, the QBs seemed to throw away from him and towards Amukumara. Had a lot of snaps from the nickel. If true that he hasn't given up any catches, that is the second week in a row that happened.
B. Myles Jack-Played in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and showed good sideline to sideline speed. At one point, there was a pass to the TE that, in years past, would have gone for 7+ yards. His speed enabled him to limit that to a 2 yard gain. I spent the 3rd quarter wanting him out of the game, though I understood why he was in there. He held up well and played pretty well.
C. Yannick Ngakoue-Got the start at LEO in Fowler's place, but to me he didn't make much impact.
D. Sheldon Day-DNP
E. Tyrone Holmes-Played extensively in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Forced the QB to step up into a sack by Ryan Davis.
8) Guys who helped themselves tonight include Hayes Pullard (Pick 6 was really nice), Neal Sterling (Nice catches downfield), Tony Washington (Sure has Henne's confidence), Ryan Davis (sack and downing the punt), Brean Bodde-Calhoun, Jarrod Wilson (knocking that punt back for Davis to down).
9) Guys who didn't help themselves tonight include a popular guy on this board, Demetrius McCray, who got beat deep down the right sideline in the second half. I didn't see him in the game after that series. I don't think Bjoern Woerner helped himself much, either.
10) Is there some nuance to the new touchback rule that I missed? It was my understanding that touchbacks go to the 25 yard line. Is that just for kickoffs, or all touchbacks? I ask because there was a Cincinnati punt where there was a penalty for illegal touching against the Cincinnati gunner who went out of bounds and was the first to touch the ball in the attempt to down the ball inside the 5. However, his foot hit the end zone before he tapped the ball back out, resulting in a touchback. After the penalty was assessed, the ball went out to the 25 yard line, and NOT the 30. What gives? Any clarification on this rule would be helpful and welcome.
11) Bottom Line: This was a game that, for a preseason game, was the unofficial coming out party for these Jaguars. This was the first time we were to show a national TV audience how much we'd improved and that we were no longer a laughing stock. Instead, with the penalties and general inability to get anything going on offense, and the inability to stop the run defensively, we appeared like the not ready for prime time players and were outclassed by the Bengals. There were some bright spots, but the casual fan wouldn't take notice. The penalties need to stop, we need to stop the run more consistently, and we still need to find a way to generate a competent pass rush if we are to have any hope of winning against Green Bay on 9/11. The best news is we seem to have gotten through this game without any major injuries. I just hope Bradley doesn't do anything stupid like play any of the key starters. I think the only starters I would play are Beachum and Joeckel for a series or two.
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
