Good work Bullseye.  I just am not sure we are improved enough yet to see it in the win column.

I believe the wins will come late in the season.  This team has the pieces in place to win, what it does not have is the knowledge of how to win.  Once they figure it out look out.  I compare this team to the 1996 team.  

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Original Season Ticket Holder - Retired  1995 - 2020


At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening.
 

I believe the wins will come late in the season.  This team has the pieces in place to win, what it does not have is the knowledge of how to win.  Once they figure it out look out.  I compare this team to the 1996 team.  

 

If Bradley is as good as Coughlin.


 

Player development is an important part of coaching. I didn't see a lot of improvement from 2013 to 2014 of the players who played both years. Of the young players and draft picks, only McCray and Denard improved, and a lot of Denard's improvement may have been due to recovering feeling in his hand. Meanwhile, Joeckel, Pasztor, Gratz, and Sanders dropped off, and Cyprien, Evans, and Brewster showed no improvement. We're counting on a lot of the rookies who started last year to make a major leap this year. So far I've only seen what looks like significant improvement from Bortles and Chris Smith. Admittedly, Bortles is the most important improvement of last year's rookies.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

In 2013 the texans had a QB implosion and went 2-14, not 5-11, they were a wildcard playoff level team before that and a slightly better than average team after that, but they're definitely not among the top teams. They feasted on the Jaguars and titans for the last five years. The texans are a middle tier team at best, and if they played in a division like the AFC north they'd probably be a consistent four or five win team instead of being competitive for a wildcard spot.

 

 

Ok....I should have double checked my numbers. I read something about most improved teams from last year and it showed the Texans with four wins and the next closest teams with three wins more than the year before. At least that's what I thought I read, but clearly that's inaccurate so now I don't know what that was referring to exactly. When someone pointed out that the Texans were 9-7 last year, I simply subtracted four wins and assumed 5-11 must have been their record. I should know better than to assume by now.

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'02

Ok....I should have double checked my numbers. I read something about most improved teams from last year and it showed the Texans with four wins and the next closest teams with three wins more than the year before. At least that's what I thought I read, but clearly that's inaccurate so now I don't know what that was referring to exactly. When someone pointed out that the Texans were 9-7 last year, I simply subtracted four wins and assumed 5-11 must have been their record. I should know better than to assume by now.

 

It's really not that uncommon for teams to have big win swings over the course of a couple of seasons, the uncommon thing is for a team to be losing as much and as badly as the Jaguars have for the last few years. It's part of why I feel so little regard or hope for Gus as a head coach. The roster has been bad, but I'm sure a great coach like one of the Harbaughs or Coughlin would have found a way to actually be competitive and not be 0 for September with a 7-25 overall record and having the worse season in their second year.

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I think the biggest concern is going to be the first 6 games of the season, because with all of the key injuries I think we're going to start off slow, then get better as players get healthier in the middle/later parts of the season.  

 

I think this is a 6-10 team - which is a vast improvement over what we've seen the past several years. 

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I think the biggest concern is going to be the first 6 games of the season, because with all of the key injuries I think we're going to start off slow, then get better as players get healthier in the middle/later parts of the season.  

 

I think this is a 6-10 team - which is a vast improvement over what we've seen the past several years.

And Jags will be competitive in all games no more blowouts.

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Interesting comparison, Copycat.  Let's explore this further

 

QB- 1996 Brunell  2015 Bortles.  Brunell was a little more experienced, having spent a year or two in Green Bay learning under Holmgren before coming here.  A very good QB.  Bortles has greater potential than Brunell.  He is comparably mobile, but taller with a stronger, more accurate arm.  Even

 

RB-1996 Stewart, Means, Jordan; 2015 Yeldon, Robinson, Gerhart, Pierce, Grant  This year's RB group is deeper than 1996, but 1996 was bigger.  Edge 1996

 

WR-1996 Smith, McCardell, Jackson, Rison; 2015 ARob, Lee, Hurns, Greene.  While I like this current group of receivers, the edge goes to 1996.  Two guys with over 11,000 yards receiving, and another just as good but his head wasn't on straight (Rison)

 

OL-1996 Boselli, Coleman, Widell, Tyski, Searcy; 2015 Joeckel, Beadles, Wisniewski, Linder, Parnell-Edge 1996.  Boselli and Searcy far exceeds anyone on this current OL.

 

DL-1996 Lageman, Jurkovic, Davey, Smeenge, Brackens, Simmons; 2015 Clemons, Marks, Miller, Odrick, Davis, Smith.  Edge 1996  Those guys really could rush the passer and had good pass rushers like Simmons (old) and Brackens (young) rotating in.  Right now, our best pass rusher is Clemons, and old guy.

 

LB-1996 Hardy, Schwartz, Robinson; 2015 Telvin Smith, Poz, Skuta-Edge 1996.  Nobody on the current roster is as good as Hardy was.  Telvin Smith and Eddie Robinson is a virtual push.  Poz is the one advantage for 2015.

 

DB-1996 Beasley, Washington, Hall, Hudson; 2015 Colvin, House, Cyprien, Brown-Edge 2015  Beasley had a knack for INTs, but the rest were stiffs.  From top to bottom, this group is the best secondary this team has had since 2004, and may be better overall than that group.

 

STs 1996-PK Hollis, P Barker; 2015 PK Myers, P Anger.-Edge 1996.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

The Texans and Colts aren't bad. The Colts are super-bowl contenders and the Texans are a QB away from being in that discussion. The Titans are the weakest, but they might be on the rise if Mariota works out. 

 

LOL.  If you say so.

 

How is this funny? I don't understand why you're so confused about the NFL. You think Henne and Joeckel are good, and now you think the Colts and Texans are bad. Something is terribly wrong here.

 

The texans got to 9 wins because they got to play against the Jaguars and titans for four of those wins. As was said earlier, the colts are getting an easy run to the playoffs thanks to the dreadfulness of the division overall. It's time to put away Bradley's bib and diaper and for him to show he's a big boy that actually belongs, not some friendly guy cashing a big check and accomplishing nothing.

 

The same can be said about the Colts, especially when you consider that all but 3 of their wins last season were against teams that finished the season with a losing record... and one of those three teams was the Texans.  They got abused by the Steelers and the Patriots and absolutely violated by the Cowboys.

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

The same can be said about the Colts, especially when you consider that all but 3 of their wins last season were against teams that finished the season with a winning record... and one of those three teams was the Texans.  They got abused by the Steelers and the Patriots and absolutely violated by the Cowboys.

 

I think you meant all but three of their wins were against teams with .500 or less records, which is why I'm not leaving the colts out of it. Like I said they get an easy run to the playoffs due to the low overall quality of the division.

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I think you meant all but three of their wins were against teams with .500 or less records, which is why I'm not leaving the colts out of it. Like I said they get an easy run to the playoffs due to the low overall quality of the division.

 

Yes that is what I meant.  I edited my post to reflect that.  Thanks for the correction.

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

I like the 96 stuff Bullseye and it makes me appreciate how that team jelled more now then when I was watching it unfold.  I'm wondering if you could even put bookend offensive line talent like that together any more.  It also shows how long it has been since we have seen elite offensive line talent come out of the draft.

 

Man I miss Brakens, he was electric and a game changer.

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Birth of the Franchise - November 30, 1993
Death of the Franchise - November 29, 2011

Fans deserve better. Thanks for all the good times too many are in the past.

Interesting comparison, Copycat.  Let's explore this further

 

QB- 1996 Brunell  2015 Bortles.  Brunell was a little more experienced, having spent a year or two in Green Bay learning under Holmgren before coming here.  A very good QB.  Bortles has greater potential than Brunell.  He is comparably mobile, but taller with a stronger, more accurate arm.  Even

 

RB-1996 Stewart, Means, Jordan; 2015 Yeldon, Robinson, Gerhart, Pierce, Grant  This year's RB group is deeper than 1996, but 1996 was bigger.  Edge 1996

 

WR-1996 Smith, McCardell, Jackson, Rison; 2015 ARob, Lee, Hurns, Greene.  While I like this current group of receivers, the edge goes to 1996.  Two guys with over 11,000 yards receiving, and another just as good but his head wasn't on straight (Rison)

 

OL-1996 Boselli, Coleman, Widell, Tyski, Searcy; 2015 Joeckel, Beadles, Wisniewski, Linder, Parnell-Edge 1996.  Boselli and Searcy far exceeds anyone on this current OL.

 

DL-1996 Lageman, Jurkovic, Davey, Smeenge, Brackens, Simmons; 2015 Clemons, Marks, Miller, Odrick, Davis, Smith.  Edge 1996  Those guys really could rush the passer and had good pass rushers like Simmons (old) and Brackens (young) rotating in.  Right now, our best pass rusher is Clemons, and old guy.

 

LB-1996 Hardy, Schwartz, Robinson; 2015 Telvin Smith, Poz, Skuta-Edge 1996.  Nobody on the current roster is as good as Hardy was.  Telvin Smith and Eddie Robinson is a virtual push.  Poz is the one advantage for 2015.

 

DB-1996 Beasley, Washington, Hall, Hudson; 2015 Colvin, House, Cyprien, Brown-Edge 2015  Beasley had a knack for INTs, but the rest were stiffs.  From top to bottom, this group is the best secondary this team has had since 2004, and may be better overall than that group.

 

STs 1996-PK Hollis, P Barker; 2015 PK Myers, P Anger.-Edge 1996.

 

I think you overrate Hardy. He was good, but not dominant. He did have a good sack total in 1999, but we're talking about 1996.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

Malabar,

 

Hardy and the rest of the defense was hamstrung by Dick Jauron's bad schemes.

 

Now in fairness, we didn't go into coaching when I did the comparison.  But let's face it, even assuming you are correct in that Hardy was overrated, he is still better than anyone on this LB corps.

 

He can hold the point as well as if not better than Skuta.  He was also more athletic and better in coverage.  He could rush the passer and tackle better than Telvin Smith and was more physical too.  He did all of the above better than Poz.   

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

MoJagfan...

 

to me, that exercise makes me realize just how talented that 1996 team was.

 

Even the 4th/5th WR that year, Willie Jackson, wound up having a decent career.

 

I think the only way to have bookend tackles like that now is to draft them.  I think it would be too rare for a guy like Searcy to actually reach the market.  Even if you drafted them, they would be hard to keep together.

 

DT is less of a marquee position than OT, and it was hard for the team to keep Stroud and Henderson together.

 

As for Brackens...yes...he was a dynamic pass rusher.  I think because he was franchised and was unsigned for a while, people did not appreciate him as much as they should have.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Interesting comparison, Copycat.  Let's explore this further

 

QB- 1996 Brunell  2015 Bortles.  Brunell was a little more experienced, having spent a year or two in Green Bay learning under Holmgren before coming here.  A very good QB.  Bortles has greater potential than Brunell.  He is comparably mobile, but taller with a stronger, more accurate arm.  Even

 

RB-1996 Stewart, Means, Jordan; 2015 Yeldon, Robinson, Gerhart, Pierce, Grant  This year's RB group is deeper than 1996, but 1996 was bigger.  Edge 1996

 

WR-1996 Smith, McCardell, Jackson, Rison; 2015 ARob, Lee, Hurns, Greene.  While I like this current group of receivers, the edge goes to 1996.  Two guys with over 11,000 yards receiving, and another just as good but his head wasn't on straight (Rison)

 

OL-1996 Boselli, Coleman, Widell, Tyski, Searcy; 2015 Joeckel, Beadles, Wisniewski, Linder, Parnell-Edge 1996.  Boselli and Searcy far exceeds anyone on this current OL.

 

DL-1996 Lageman, Jurkovic, Davey, Smeenge, Brackens, Simmons; 2015 Clemons, Marks, Miller, Odrick, Davis, Smith.  Edge 1996  Those guys really could rush the passer and had good pass rushers like Simmons (old) and Brackens (young) rotating in.  Right now, our best pass rusher is Clemons, and old guy.

 

LB-1996 Hardy, Schwartz, Robinson; 2015 Telvin Smith, Poz, Skuta-Edge 1996.  Nobody on the current roster is as good as Hardy was.  Telvin Smith and Eddie Robinson is a virtual push.  Poz is the one advantage for 2015.

 

DB-1996 Beasley, Washington, Hall, Hudson; 2015 Colvin, House, Cyprien, Brown-Edge 2015  Beasley had a knack for INTs, but the rest were stiffs.  From top to bottom, this group is the best secondary this team has had since 2004, and may be better overall than that group.

 

STs 1996-PK Hollis, P Barker; 2015 PK Myers, P Anger.-Edge 1996.

While I agree with your assessment, we did not know that those guys were that good back then.  It will take time to see if this squad has that kind of talent.  Regardless though I was not inferring a position by position comparison but rather that the team started out slow and grew into something special.  Mind you, I would love to come back in 6 years and see everyone of the guys on this squad rated higher than 1996's.

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Original Season Ticket Holder - Retired  1995 - 2020


At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening.
 

I can almost see a similar type of Cinderella season. The Jaguars won their first game but lost the next three for a 1-3 start. They followed that up going 3-4 over the next seven weeks heading into Thanksgiving as a 4-7 team. Then they won their last five regular season games en route the AFC Championship Game.

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'02