Glad you're ok my dude.

One thing I'll disagree on is that the offense had a heck of a game. They need to score TDs. Offense only generated 16 points yesterday. Can't fumble on the 20. Can't settle for FGs. Gotta score TDs if this team wants to go deep.

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gee. I wonder why the crowd was sparse... Whatever could it be? hmmmm

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"If you always do what you've always done, You'll always get what you always got"

After a minor medical scare that had me in the ER until 11, I offer my apologies for the delay in getting this out.  Fortunately, tests show all is okay with me.  My hats off to the staff at Shands.  They all epitomized professionalism.

That aside, today seemed to be a throwback to years past on a lot of different levels.  The team wore teal jerseys at home, and the combination of teal jerseys and black pants.  The Jaguars alumni were present, as guys we cheered as many as 22 years ago were on hand.  This was the first time we watched a first place team of our own at midseason in ages.  Here are my thoughts.

1.  The sparse attendance was embarrassing.  We now have a team that is tied for first place.  We have a team that tends to blow teams out when we win.  The fans who were there were engaged.  Seeing the wave there in the 4th quarter during a win was another throwback to a bygone era.  I sincerely hope the team keeps winning, and maybe by our three game home stretch, we could give our first place Jaguars a true home field advantage.

2.  The Bengals said before the game they believed Fournette could beat them, but they didn't think Bortles could.  Welp, the Bengals are the second opponent to employ that strategy and lose.  Bortles played a very good game, and seemed to execute the game plan very well.  If he continues to play like this, teams will take that S out of the box and open things up for Fournette, and the Jaguars will be the better for it.

3.  Speaking of Fournette, I was disappointed to learn he was inactive for the game, and someone irritated and relieved to learn why.  However, seeing the running game perform as they did against a good Bengals defense made me proud.

4.  The Bengals have almost always been among the teams that I like.  However, their display of shoving and cheap shots and apparent woofing after the play was reminiscent of the worst of Jeff Fisher teams.  What, is he on the Bengals' coaching staff now?!?  At the game, I could tell Ramsey and Green were talking smack much of the time.  When I saw the fight, my thoughts were either that Green deliberately tried to get Ramsey thrown out, or that he did it because Ramsey was shutting him down and he got mad.  Either way, that was not a good display by the Bengals, either of football or of sportsmanship.

5.  I thought the Jaguars' defense played a heckuva game.  They did not force a turnover, but they wound up getting good pressure on Dalton and shut down the run.  To be honest, it should have been a shut out, and likely would have been had the two guys in the secondary not collided and missed the Bengals' TE Kroft.

6.  Though I am glad Myers is gone, I owe him an apology.  I noticed that the Jaguars turned off the video boards when he attempted FGs.  I thought that was excludinve to him, but today I saw them do the same thing for Lambo.  Those boards must be a distraction.  Speaking of special teams, they came through in fine style today.  Aside from Lambo's perfect performance, the kick coverage was good.  But most importantly, Mickens had the game clinching punt return for a TD.  This is the level of play the Jaguars need to continue to see from special teams in order to make the postseason.

7.  Rookie Watch

• Leonard Fournette-DNP
  
• Cam Robinson-played despite injuring his ankle against Indy.  Held up pretty well against a good DE in Michael Johnson.
  
• Dawaune Smoot-Played, but he did not stand out to me.
  
• DeDe Westbrook-was disappointed to learn he was not active.
  
• Blair Brown-played and made a special teams tackle
  
• Jalen Myrick-Got good playing time in the second half after Ramsey was thrown out.  Provided good coverage on a deep pass.
  
• Keelan Cole-Arguably had his best game as a Jaguar.  The one handed catch he made was highlight worthy and bailed Bortles out of a bad throw.  He looked like he would have a monster game.  If he continues to improve, our offense will be so much better.
  

8.  it was good to see Marcell Dareus in the lineup.  On his first play, it seems like Mixon had a nice run in his gap, but after that he looked very good and seemed enthusiastic.  I look forward to him making more of an impact.

9.  The offense played a hell of a game.  The offense held the ball for over forty (40) minutes.  They did not have a single three and out, and also had a 95 yard drive, and also had a 15 play drive.  After the fights, etc., I wanted them to score at the end of the game.

10.  Bottom line-  This team got a lot of monkeys off their backs today.  They showed they could stop the run.  They showed they could pass the ball (and run for that matter) when teams are stacked with 8 in the box.  They won their first home game since December 24.  They won back to back games for the first time in a while.  They are two games over .500 for the first time in ages.  They broke a 4 game losing streak to the Bengals.  That is very good to see.  Now, we need to get that Phillip Rivers monkey gone, too.  On to beat the Bolts.

Great analysis as always Bullseye.  I'm glad all is well concerning your health.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

gee. I wonder why the crowd was sparse... Whatever could it be? hmmmm

I thought you were never coming back?

See ya.

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I was at the game. The security lines were packed till kickoff and parking lots were full.  The empty seats are deceiving because those people are at the packed budzone or standing at fanduel decks, in the walkways smoking, wusses who can't stand the heat are at the ground level south entrance watching the game in TV's, the fat ones are at the concession stands eating.  They hype is real, Super Bowl bound.  The airplane  flying the banner to boycott the NFL is a crybaby.

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I was at the game. The security lines were packed till kickoff and parking lots were full.  The empty seats are deceiving because those people are at the packed budzone or standing at fanduel decks, in the walkways smoking, wusses who can't stand the heat are at the ground level south entrance watching the game in TV's, the fat ones are at the concession stands eating.  They hype is real, Super Bowl bound.  The airplane  flying the banner to boycott the NFL is a crybaby.

Ronster spent all his birthday money on the banner.

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The stadium was packed. I was there too.

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I was at the game. The security lines were packed till kickoff and parking lots were full.  The empty seats are deceiving because those people are at the packed budzone or standing at fanduel decks, in the walkways smoking, wusses who can't stand the heat are at the ground level south entrance watching the game in TV's, the fat ones are at the concession stands eating.  They hype is real, Super Bowl bound.  The airplane  flying the banner to boycott the NFL is a crybaby.

Yeah, official attendance was nearly 61k, almost 5k up from the Rams game. I wouldn't call it sparse.

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Rub some Tussin on it BE.. Glad you're feelin better dude..

Good write up too.

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I noticed the sparse crowd at kickoff but looked like it filled in fairly well by the 2nd Q and by the 2nd half it looked normal. Not packed by any means, definitely some cheap seats available... But it's OK... there might be some hold outs over the protests but fans of football will show up, especially if the Jaguars keep winning.

As per the game yesterday there are a couple things I was gonna touch on, Ramsey's ejection was ridiculous... because we won it became no harm no foul... but had the Bengals opened up their pass game and beat us, that woulda been tough to swallow.
Another game without LF27, another good game for Bortles... This team can win multiple ways and it bodes well for Bortles future that he is getting better at the right time. I still don't think he is a long term answer at QB but he certainly is serviceable and if he continues getting better he may be able to silence a lot of us.\
Speaking of Bortles... did anyone else who was watching on TV see him getting hot and possibly yelling at the coaches toward the end of the game? Looked like he was having words with Marrone. Anyone have some light to shed on this?

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I noticed the sparse crowd at kickoff but looked like it filled in fairly well by the 2nd Q and by the 2nd half it looked normal. Not packed by any means, definitely some cheap seats available... But it's OK... there might be some hold outs over the protests but fans of football will show up, especially if the Jaguars keep winning.

As per the game yesterday there are a couple things I was gonna touch on, Ramsey's ejection was ridiculous... because we won it became no harm no foul... but had the Bengals opened up their pass game and beat us, that woulda been tough to swallow.
Another game without LF27, another good game for Bortles... This team can win multiple ways and it bodes well for Bortles future that he is getting better at the right time. I still don't think he is a long term answer at QB but he certainly is serviceable and if he continues getting better he may be able to silence a lot of us.\
Speaking of Bortles... did anyone else who was watching on TV see him getting hot and possibly yelling at the coaches toward the end of the game? Looked like he was having words with Marrone. Anyone have some light to shed on this?

Bortles was fired up. He wanted to go for a TD to rub it in Burficts face but Marrone didn't.

They hugged it out in the locker room.

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I noticed the sparse crowd at kickoff but looked like it filled in fairly well by the 2nd Q and by the 2nd half it looked normal. Not packed by any means, definitely some cheap seats available... But it's OK... there might be some hold outs over the protests but fans of football will show up, especially if the Jaguars keep winning.

As per the game yesterday there are a couple things I was gonna touch on, Ramsey's ejection was ridiculous... because we won it became no harm no foul... but had the Bengals opened up their pass game and beat us, that woulda been tough to swallow.
Another game without LF27, another good game for Bortles... This team can win multiple ways and it bodes well for Bortles future that he is getting better at the right time. I still don't think he is a long term answer at QB but he certainly is serviceable and if he continues getting better he may be able to silence a lot of us.\
Speaking of Bortles... did anyone else who was watching on TV see him getting hot and possibly yelling at the coaches toward the end of the game? Looked like he was having words with Marrone. Anyone have some light to shed on this?

He said in the press conference that he wanted to run another play and not take a knee on the last play and that was why he was yelling at the coaches.
He had it personal against the Bengals, he said "I wanted to run another play and try to score again against THEM" (a little earlier he was asked about Burfict comments on how he couldn't beat them and he also commented on the Bengals reputation for dirty plays and antics).

EDIT: just saw that Cleatwood already answered on that one

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I wanted another TD too after all the antics in the 2nd quarter so I don’t blame him for getting riled up with the coaches about it.

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gee. I wonder why the crowd was sparse... Whatever could it be? hmmmm

I thought you were never coming back?

See ya.

I was at the game. The security lines were packed till kickoff and parking lots were full.  The empty seats are deceiving because those people are at the packed budzone or standing at fanduel decks, in the walkways smoking, wusses who can't stand the heat are at the ground level south entrance watching the game in TV's, the fat ones are at the concession stands eating.  They hype is real, Super Bowl bound.  The airplane  flying the banner to boycott the NFL is a crybaby.

Ronster spent all his birthday money on the banner.

Find anything where I said "I was NEVER coming back" You can't.....

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"If you always do what you've always done, You'll always get what you always got"

I thought you were never coming back?

See ya.

Ronster spent all his birthday money on the banner.

Find anything where I said "I was NEVER coming back" You can't.....

"Frankly, my life is not affected because of the Jags. I will boycott if they continue to kneel. It is the players giving a big middle finger to all Americans. Why would I want to pay to be insulted. This so called protest is a SHAM and it is players injecting politics into SPORT. I watch football to forget about politics. What does it matter anyway, the Jags will never win at home again. lol"

Some players are still kneeling......

Oh and they won at home yesterday. Thanks for stopping by though.

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Find anything where I said "I was NEVER coming back" You can't.....

"Frankly, my life is not affected because of the Jags. I will boycott if they continue to kneel. It is the players giving a big middle finger to all Americans. Why would I want to pay to be insulted. This so called protest is a SHAM and it is players injecting politics into SPORT. I watch football to forget about politics. What does it matter anyway, the Jags will never win at home again. lol"

Some players are still kneeling......

Oh and they won at home yesterday. Thanks for stopping by though.

I see you have an issue with reading comprehension. Tell you what, when you grow up and become capable of having an adult conversation let me know, until then don't speak to me, because I will have you on ignore

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"If you always do what you've always done, You'll always get what you always got"

"Frankly, my life is not affected because of the Jags. I will boycott if they continue to kneel. It is the players giving a big middle finger to all Americans. Why would I want to pay to be insulted. This so called protest is a SHAM and it is players injecting politics into SPORT. I watch football to forget about politics. What does it matter anyway, the Jags will never win at home again. lol"

Some players are still kneeling......

Oh and they won at home yesterday. Thanks for stopping by though.

I see you have an issue with reading comprehension. Tell you what, when you grow up and become capable of having an adult conversation let me know, until then don't speak to me, because I will have you on ignore

lol

Nice deflection! And please... Oh please don't put me on your ignore list. I may never be able to sleep again!

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I noticed the sparse crowd at kickoff but looked like it filled in fairly well by the 2nd Q and by the 2nd half it looked normal. Not packed by any means, definitely some cheap seats available... But it's OK... there might be some hold outs over the protests but fans of football will show up, especially if the Jaguars keep winning.

As per the game yesterday there are a couple things I was gonna touch on, Ramsey's ejection was ridiculous... because we won it became no harm no foul... but had the Bengals opened up their pass game and beat us, that woulda been tough to swallow.
Another game without LF27, another good game for Bortles... This team can win multiple ways and it bodes well for Bortles future that he is getting better at the right time. I still don't think he is a long term answer at QB but he certainly is serviceable and if he continues getting better he may be able to silence a lot of us.\
Speaking of Bortles... did anyone else who was watching on TV see him getting hot and possibly yelling at the coaches toward the end of the game? Looked like he was having words with Marrone. Anyone have some light to shed on this?

Bortles was fired up. He wanted to go for a TD to rub it in Burficts face but Marrone didn't.

They hugged it out in the locker room.

I thought so... I wouldn't have wanted to take a knee either...
Run it up on em... on all of em.

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I did hear the announcers say that they thought attendance looked pretty good compared to other games this year.

More importantly the team is playing well, and I really like the mindset of the players. Jaguars keep this up, there won't be any talks of attendance issues. Winning solves everything.

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Coughlin when asked if winning will be a focus: "What the hell else is there? This is nice and dandy, but winning is what all this is about."

I actually saw no players kneel yesterday when I looked down the sideline.  Maybe I missed someone, but it looked like they all stood.
The crowd was very vocal and enthusiastic when the various veterans were honored as well.
One would have to try really hard to be offended by anything yesterday in that regard.

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That said   -- let's try not to go down that rabbit hole in this fine thread and keep the topic centered on actual football, ladies and gents. 

It was nice to see Ngakoue make a nice play against the run yesterday even though he missed on a couple of opportunities to make a tackle on a back in the game. I think the gears are starting to turn in his mind about how to react to a handoff and keep himself from over-running the play in the backfield. Hope that continues. 

Also:

[b]ESPN Stats & Info‏Verified account [/b]@ESPNStatsInfo
FollowFollow @ESPNStatsInfo

Bengals had the ball for just 19:46, the lowest time of possession for any team in a game this season.


They ran only 37 plays. Lowest total in bungles history.  For perspective - The Jags attempted 38 passes and 30 runs.

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