Last week was a very good week for our beloved Jaguars. First off, we held on to beat a talented Giants team on the road. Then as most of us predicted, the Bengals beat the Colts in Andrew Luck's return to action. The Patriots beat the Texans in Deshaun Watson's return to action. But in a mild surprise, in a game made the longest in NFL history thanks to two lightning delays, the fish beat the loathsome and detestable tacks. The tacks came out of that game banged up, losing stud recceiving TE Delanie Walker for the year, losing LT Taylor Lewan with a concussion (length unknown) and QB Marcus Mariota with an elbow (length unknown). The results of these games left the defending AFC South Champion Jaguars in their rightful place atop the AFC South with a 1 game lead over the rest of the division. Regarding my picks last week, I went 2-2. Hardly the stuff of champions, but if that reflects what ends up happening for the rest of the year and the Jaguars repeat as divisional champs, I'll gladly take prognostication mediocrity for divisional supremacy.
On to this week's games....
Texans (0-1) at
tacks (0-1)-The big pass rush game from the Texans' front 7 I expected last week never materialized. Furthermore, Watson showed signs of rust, fumbling on the first play from scrimmage. However, they are going up against an
argonauts tacks team they destroyed last year when they (argos) were at full strength. As I referenced above, Walker is out for the year, Lewan may not play, though it is looking like Mariota will. Oh yeah, RT Conklin is out, still recovering fromn the torn ACL he suffered late last year. I think Watson shakes off some of the rust, and so does the Texans' front 7, ruining the tacks' home opener.
Texans 24, tacks 13.
Colts (0-1) at
Skins (1-0)-Colts' QB Andrew Luck returned to action and threw a whopping 53 passes. That's a lot of work considering it was his throwing shoulder that was hurt. However, it appears the colts did not attack downfield much, with his long pass being 26 yards. But as encouraging for Colts fans to see luck back in action, I get the sense they won't score as much this week. They still have problems defensively. They will be on the road, on grass against a Skins team coming off a surprisingly easy win over the Cardinals. Who knows if LT Castonzo will play and if so, how effective will he be? Alex Smith doesn't turn the ball over much.
Skins win 27-17.
Patriots (1-0) at
Jaguars (1-0)-in the division's premier game, the Patriots come to Jacksonville in a rematch of last year's controversial AFC Championship game. For the bulk of my football watching life, I have never hated the Patriots. In fact, they've always been among my most favorite teams, going back to the Steve Grogan, Russ francis, John Hannah, Tim Fox, Raymond Clayborn days of the late 70s early 80s. But as I've reflected on Jaguars' history, I realized perhaps I SHOULD despise the Pats. We've beaten them exactly once since 1995, our inaugural year-the 1998 Wildcard playoff game. It was between the Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick eras, when Pete Carroll was the coach. Then QB Drew Bledsoe was out that game, and we went up against Scott Zolak. Fred Taylor had a monster game, and the Jaguars won 25-10. Every other game, regular season or post season, has resulted in a loss to these guys. They have ended our post reason runs FOUR (4) times-twice in the AFC Championship game-including last year. We managed to pressure Brady decently in Gillette stadium last year. We'll have to do a lot more of that this year to stand a chance of beating them. Gone is Nate Solder, replaced by 380 lb Trent Brown. I'm thinking Ngakoue and Fowler will be tougher matchups for him than Clowney was last week. Gone are Cooks, Amendola and Edelman (suspension). The Patriots were down to 4 WRs on the roster until yesterday, when they signed former Browns first round pick Coleman. They also have former Colts' first round bust Phillip Dorsett, who had a decent outing last week. I expect them to use him the same way they used Cooks in last year's matchup. But, stopping Gronk will be the key in coverage. Offensively, Fournette is nursing what Marrone labeled a "minor" hamstring injury, and fournette himself said he could have returned to the game. I'm no medical doctor, but I have my concerns, given how gingerly he walked to the sidelines. I think if given the blocking, Yeldon can be effective on a limited basis, but I'd rather have Fournette in the game. I also have my concerns about the O-Line-concerns I did not have last January. The whole line has to play better-Cam Robinson in particular, who had three penalties. They have to open holes, eliminate the penalties and protect Bortles. My concerns do not stop there. The WRs did not seem to have a good game last week. For the second time, Moncrief appeared to give questionable effort running a route. Jaguars receivers dropped 3-4 passes early last week. We have no room for error against the GOAT in Brady and a team like the Patriots. Can we run the ball? Can we pass the ball? Can we protect the ball? In the internal battle between my pessimist and my Jaguars homer, the Jaguars homer wins out, and the Jaguars pull out a cathartic win over the NEWLY LOATHSOME AND DETESTABLE Pats!!!!
Jaguars 23 Patriots 21.
Last week: 2-2
Overall: 2-2
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
