After last week's loss in Arizona, this week's game against the Colts took on increased importance.  We have fallen into a tie with the tacks, and technically they have the lead due to the head to head matchup from week 2.  One of the "costs" of winning is that every game down the stretch has importance and the margin for error is small.  But I would take that pressure every single time as opposed to the complete irrelevance by mid October in most of the past few years.  Here are my thoughts on the game.

1.  Bortles bounced back from a horrible 4th quarter against Arizona to have an outstanding game against Indy.  He had zero turnovers, took very few sacks (I counted one), had 300 yards, and hit plays downfield (though he did not see a wide open WR deep down the left sideline in the 3rd quarter that would have gone for a TD had he hit him in stride.)  He even looked competent throwing fade passes-something that had been a major weakness in his game.  We will need this level of play from him and above if we are going to beat the teams left on our schedule and beyond.

2.  Once again, I was very disappointed in the crowd.  Lots of empty seats throughout the stadium.  Understandable for a losing team.  Not so much on a contending team at home in December in 70 degree temperatures.

3.  It was good to see Jermey Parnell back.  I would give him mixed reviews for his return.  I though he had a brilliant blitz pickup of a blitzing DB in the first quarter, but later was beaten for a sack.  But I'm glad he was back.  we need him healthy down the stretch.

4.  I thought going in the defensive line would have another good game today, and they didn't disappoint in the pass rush.  While they did not have ten sacks like they did up in Indy, the Jaguars got plenty of pressure.  There were several instances were several guys who were around the ball when Brissett was sacked, and several others around Brissett to move him off his spot when they didn't get him down.  I will say that the run defense, at least for this game, looked like it regressed to how it played early in the season, as they were gashed by the same sorts of runs.

5.  This was another strangely officiated game.  While they miraculously threw one flag on the Colts for holding, there were plenty of plays that should have drawn flags against the Colts that weren't called (personal fouls, especially helmet to helmet vs Bortles), and there were some puzzling calls that were (Offensive PI on a screen pass).  One of the most infuriating was the second half penalty on Ngakoue for sacking the QB.  I guess it's too much to ask for consistency in officiating.

6.  I think Paul Pozluszny had an outstanding game today.  IIRc he was in on a couple of the sacks.

7.  The botched snap notwithstanding, I thought special teams played another good game today.  We had the beautiful fake punt-the 3rd successful fake punt this regular season.  Lambo was perfect on his kicks.  There was  excellent kickoff coverage today, and Lambo's kickoffs were generally deep.  There was an excellent punt coverage where a Nortman punt bounced inside the 5 and was about to go into the end zone for a touchback, only for Peyton Thompson to hit the ball back and keeping it from landing it int he end zone to have it downed at the Indy 4.  It's nice to see special teams be an asset for us.

8.  Rookie Watch:

• Leonard Fournette-had only 57 yards rushing today.  He did have some nice runs, including a roughly 25 yard run around left side.  He also had a couple of nice catches, including a catch on a slant where he was lined up wide.  he also scored a TD and went in on the pre planned TD celebration.  But we've got to get him healthy and we've got to get the running game going again.
  
• Cam Robinson-Had a pretty decent game in my estimation, though he did get hurt, only to return the next series.  I hope he is okay.  We will need him at the top of his game against Seattle.
  
• Dawaune Smoot-played and was in on a sack.
  
• DeDe Westbrook-had something like 6 for 78, and I thought he was concussed when he took a hit that seemingly spun him around.  But this seemed like his best game as a pro, and I think he was a real asset to the passing game.
  
• Blair brownwas in on a couple of tackles and a sack.  probably his best game as a pro.
  
• Jalen Myrick-DNP
  
• Kalen Cole-had a pretty good game.
  

9.  Bottom line-this was a big game for milestones.  Congrats to Calais Campbell for breaking Tony Brackens' single season sack record.  Congrats to Cole for catching his first TD.  IIRC, this was the first time we swept the Colts.  Though many of us, including myself, went on record as saying anything less than a ten win season would be a disappointment, the significance of reaching .500 for the first time should not be understated.  This is the first time we are guaranteed a record this good since 2007!  If we play up to capabilities from this point forth, we will have our first winning and playoff season since that time.  When I think of this, I think about guys like Paul Pozluszny who has spent his entire career in the NFL, in Buffalo and here, never being on a winning team or a playoff team.  I think about guys like Bortles, Lee, Linder, and Telvin Smith who were here from the beginning of the turnaround and endured the brutal losing seasons.  I think about Allen Robinson, who wanted so badly to win. only to blow out his knee in the first half of the first game this year.  I think of Jalen Ramsey, who was on the verge of tears on the sideline last year because he was unaccustomed to losing.  I think about the Jaguars fans, many of whom have never known a winning Jaguars team.  I think about Shad Khan, who, along with Caldwell, have taken their share of criticism during the now extinct losing streak.  I think of all of these people, basking in the glow of newfound success, and I smile, because it feels that damn good.  But we're still not out of the range of disappointment.  This team has to continue to win to get where we all want them to be.  I will be rooting like hell for them to get there.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Awesome as always! Thanks for valuable reads.

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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.

I thought the crowd was pretty decent sized today. One of the larger ones this year.

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Here we go again

Thanks for the read...I look forward to your take, every week.

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I was very impressed with Bortles today. He will never be a deadly accurate thrower so we will continue to see occasional throws behind the WR's etc... However, he was very good down the field today which is a rarity and it was nice to see. This team needs the Bortles that played today if it plans on making the tournament and being competitive there. I understand Bortles is probably not the long term answer but he's the guy this year and if he plays like he did today then the Jags are a force to be reckoned with.

The defense played well for the most part. I dont like that it the Colts scored on a long play. It seems the Jags blow an assignment or two in the secondary each game and it has amounted to too many long scores.

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"Sucess Is Not a Goal, It is a By-product"

Jags are still at new heights!!!!!!!!!! 

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snowwolf titans owner in madden.

note titans owner means im undeafted againest them. 

I think our crowd is die hard because it is the same struggling crowd that we've had for years. Winning now isn't changing it. I'm sure consistent winning would change that...

On the other hand, a lot of empty seats around the NFL...

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I think our crowd is die hard because it is the same struggling crowd that we've had for years.  Winning now isn't changing it. I'm sure consistent winning would change that...

On the other hand, a lot of empty seats around the NFL...

Lots of empty seats across even the historic franchises.

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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.

I think our crowd is die hard because it is the same struggling crowd that we've had for years.  Winning now isn't changing it. I'm sure consistent winning would change that...

On the other hand, a lot of empty seats around the NFL...

Not really. Every game but the Raiders/Giants had over 90% attendance. About half of them were reported at 100%.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

Good review. I agree with almost everything. One thing I'd say is I actually think the refs got the right call on Ngakoue, whose toss of Brissett did come almost a full second after the whistles. Lots of times they allow follow through within 1 second of the whistle, but this just looked a tad flagrant. I think Ngakoue was just frustrated the teammates couldn't bring down Brissett, who was fighting hard to stand his ground. But I do believe I heard the whistles before the takedown. I will just say, and I think I speak for most fans, I know I would be furious when another team gets away with that on us.

I actually think this was one of the best officiated games of our season. I've been pretty disgusted with some horrific calls in the last 3 games.

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Good review. I agree with almost everything. One thing I'd say is I actually think the refs got the right call on Ngakoue, whose toss of Brissett did come almost a full second after the whistles. Lots of times they allow follow through within 1 second of the whistle, but this just looked a tad flagrant. I think Ngakoue was just frustrated the teammates couldn't bring down Brissett, who was fighting hard to stand his ground. But I do believe I heard the whistles before the takedown. I will just say, and I think I speak for most fans, I know I would be furious when another team gets away with that on us.

I actually think this was one of the best officiated games of our season. I've been pretty disgusted with some horrific calls in the last 3 games.

I was looking right at it.  Terrible call.

It wasn't frustration.....the refs let Brisette get clobbered over and over that same play and they refused to blow it dead.  

It was like they were going to let him get drilled.

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I was very impressed with Bortles today. He will never be a deadly accurate thrower so we will continue to see occasional throws behind the WR's etc... However, he was very good down the field today which is a rarity and it was nice to see. This team needs the Bortles that played today if it plans on making the tournament and being competitive there. I understand Bortles is probably not the long term answer but he's the guy this year and if he plays like he did today then the Jags are a force to be reckoned with.

The defense played well for the most part. I dont like that it the Colts scored on a long play. It seems the Jags blow an assignment or two in the secondary each game and it has amounted to too many long scores.

Agreed completely on Bortles, but it does raise a potential conundrum.  Suppose the Jaguars ru the table and win it all this year with Bortles as startign QB, and he plays well during this stretch.  Do you keep him as the long term starter, or do you give him the Baltimore Trent Dilfer treatment and try to get a better QB?

I didn't see the play well enough from my perch to see what happened on the Hilton score.  It seemed like he caught a pass across the middle then broke it for a TD, not so much a blown assignment, but I could easily be wrong here. I agree with you these need to stop.

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I think our crowd is die hard because it is the same struggling crowd that we've had for years.  Winning now isn't changing it. I'm sure consistent winning would change that...

On the other hand, a lot of empty seats around the NFL...

I've little doubt the bulk of our crowd are the die hards, and for whatever reason, the bandwagoners are reluctant to climb aboard just yet.  Perhaps if we make the playoffs and make a decent run, the bandwagoner effect will take hold next season.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Good review. I agree with almost everything. One thing I'd say is I actually think the refs got the right call on Ngakoue, whose toss of Brissett did come almost a full second after the whistles. Lots of times they allow follow through within 1 second of the whistle, but this just looked a tad flagrant. I think Ngakoue was just frustrated the teammates couldn't bring down Brissett, who was fighting hard to stand his ground. But I do believe I heard the whistles before the takedown. I will just say, and I think I speak for most fans, I know I would be furious when another team gets away with that on us.

I actually think this was one of the best officiated games of our season. I've been pretty disgusted with some horrific calls in the last 3 games.

I was looking right at it.  Terrible call.

It wasn't frustration.....the refs let Brisette get clobbered over and over that same play and they refused to blow it dead.  

It was like they were going to let him get drilled.

I was too high in the stadium to hear a whistle on that play, but I am inclined to believe this based upon how the players were responding.  I expected a whistle a few seconds earlier.  It seemed like the refs let them play, then penalized Ngakoue for sacking him.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Mea culpa: We swept the Colts in 2011, enabling them to draft Luck.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

After last week's loss in Arizona, this week's game against the Colts took on increased importance.  We have fallen into a tie with the tacks, and technically they have the lead due to the head to head matchup from week 2.  One of the "costs" of winning is that every game down the stretch has importance and the margin for error is small.  But I would take that pressure every single time as opposed to the complete irrelevance by mid October in most of the past few years.  Here are my thoughts on the game.

1.  Bortles bounced back from a horrible 4th quarter against Arizona to have an outstanding game against Indy.  He had zero turnovers, took very few sacks (I counted one), had 300 yards, and hit plays downfield (though he did not see a wide open WR deep down the left sideline in the 3rd quarter that would have gone for a TD had he hit him in stride.)  He even looked competent throwing fade passes-something that had been a major weakness in his game.  We will need this level of play from him and above if we are going to beat the teams left on our schedule and beyond.

2.  Once again, I was very disappointed in the crowd.  Lots of empty seats throughout the stadium.  Understandable for a losing team.  Not so much on a contending team at home in December in 70 degree temperatures.

3.  It was good to see Jermey Parnell back.  I would give him mixed reviews for his return.  I though he had a brilliant blitz pickup of a blitzing DB in the first quarter, but later was beaten for a sack.  But I'm glad he was back.  we need him healthy down the stretch.

4.  I thought going in the defensive line would have another good game today, and they didn't disappoint in the pass rush.  While they did not have ten sacks like they did up in Indy, the Jaguars got plenty of pressure.  There were several instances were several guys who were around the ball when Brissett was sacked, and several others around Brissett to move him off his spot when they didn't get him down.  I will say that the run defense, at least for this game, looked like it regressed to how it played early in the season, as they were gashed by the same sorts of runs.

5.  This was another strangely officiated game.  While they miraculously threw one flag on the Colts for holding, there were plenty of plays that should have drawn flags against the Colts that weren't called (personal fouls, especially helmet to helmet vs Bortles), and there were some puzzling calls that were (Offensive PI on a screen pass).  One of the most infuriating was the second half penalty on Ngakoue for sacking the QB.  I guess it's too much to ask for consistency in officiating.

6.  I think Paul Pozluszny had an outstanding game today.  IIRc he was in on a couple of the sacks.

7.  The botched snap notwithstanding, I thought special teams played another good game today.  We had the beautiful fake punt-the 3rd successful fake punt this regular season.  Lambo was perfect on his kicks.  There was  excellent kickoff coverage today, and Lambo's kickoffs were generally deep.  There was an excellent punt coverage where a Nortman punt bounced inside the 5 and was about to go into the end zone for a touchback, only for Peyton Thompson to hit the ball back and keeping it from landing it int he end zone to have it downed at the Indy 4.  It's nice to see special teams be an asset for us.

8.  Rookie Watch:

• Leonard Fournette-had only 57 yards rushing today.  He did have some nice runs, including a roughly 25 yard run around left side.  He also had a couple of nice catches, including a catch on a slant where he was lined up wide.  he also scored a TD and went in on the pre planned TD celebration.  But we've got to get him healthy and we've got to get the running game going again.
  
• Cam Robinson-Had a pretty decent game in my estimation, though he did get hurt, only to return the next series.  I hope he is okay.  We will need him at the top of his game against Seattle.
  
• Dawaune Smoot-played and was in on a sack.
  
• DeDe Westbrook-had something like 6 for 78, and I thought he was concussed when he took a hit that seemingly spun him around.  But this seemed like his best game as a pro, and I think he was a real asset to the passing game.
  
• Blair brownwas in on a couple of tackles and a sack.  probably his best game as a pro.
  
• Jalen Myrick-DNP
  
• Kalen Cole-had a pretty good game.
  

9.  Bottom line-this was a big game for milestones.  Congrats to Calais Campbell for breaking Tony Brackens' single season sack record.  Congrats to Cole for catching his first TD.  IIRC, this was the first time we swept the Colts.  Though many of us, including myself, went on record as saying anything less than a ten win season would be a disappointment, the significance of reaching .500 for the first time should not be understated.  This is the first time we are guaranteed a record this good since 2007!  If we play up to capabilities from this point forth, we will have our first winning and playoff season since that time.  When I think of this, I think about guys like Paul Pozluszny who has spent his entire career in the NFL, in Buffalo and here, never being on a winning team or a playoff team.  I think about guys like Bortles, Lee, Linder, and Telvin Smith who were here from the beginning of the turnaround and endured the brutal losing seasons.  I think about Allen Robinson, who wanted so badly to win. only to blow out his knee in the first half of the first game this year.  I think of Jalen Ramsey, who was on the verge of tears on the sideline last year because he was unaccustomed to losing.  I think about the Jaguars fans, many of whom have never known a winning Jaguars team.  I think about Shad Khan, who, along with Caldwell, have taken their share of criticism during the now extinct losing streak.  I think of all of these people, basking in the glow of newfound success, and I smile, because it feels that damn good.  But we're still not out of the range of disappointment.  This team has to continue to win to get where we all want them to be.  I will be rooting like hell for them to get there.

Great read as always Bullseye, like others I find myself anxiously awaiting your post game comments.

As for the hi-lighted above, I wonder if the WR's had caught some of those deep passes against Arizona early if we would have seen a similar performance from Bortles in that game.  The receiving corps really stepped up after a disappointing outing last week, especially Lee.

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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.
 

As Colonel Sanders once said; "I am too drunk to taste this chicken."

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

Great write up like always Bullseye. I was at the game yesterday and thought we had a pretty decent crowd considering we were playing a bad Colts team. It was definitely a loud crowd for sure and will really be fun once we start filling up the Bank again. It's just going to take a while for fans to buy in that the Jags are actually a good football team again and worth paying money to watch in person.

I also agree that the run defense did not look particularly good yesterday. Indy had a lot more success than I thought they would given the state of their O line, but the Jags in general just couldn't stop them when they committed to the run before the game got out of hand. I hope its something they clean up soon.

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Season Ticket Holder - Sec 437

I was very impressed with Bortles today. He will never be a deadly accurate thrower so we will continue to see occasional throws behind the WR's etc... However, he was very good down the field today which is a rarity and it was nice to see. This team needs the Bortles that played today if it plans on making the tournament and being competitive there. I understand Bortles is probably not the long term answer but he's the guy this year and if he plays like he did today then the Jags are a force to be reckoned with.

The defense played well for the most part. I dont like that it the Colts scored on a long play. It seems the Jags blow an assignment or two in the secondary each game and it has amounted to too many long scores.

Agreed completely on Bortles, but it does raise a potential conundrum.  Suppose the Jaguars ru the table and win it all this year with Bortles as startign QB, and he plays well during this stretch.  Do you keep him as the long term starter, or do you give him the Baltimore Trent Dilfer treatment and try to get a better QB?

I didn't see the play well enough from my perch to see what happened on the Hilton score.  It seemed like he caught a pass across the middle then broke it for a TD, not so much a blown assignment, but I could easily be wrong here. I agree with you these need to stop.

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Regardless of what Bortles does the remainder of the season the team needs to draft or sign another QB. 

I am not sure if it was a blow assignment either honestly. It looks like Poz didn't get deep enough in his zone drop and there was too much space for the safety to cover once Hilton caught the ball. In any event those plays cannot happen  going forward.

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"Sucess Is Not a Goal, It is a By-product"

The Clots have such keen posters over on their board:


MariGOATa

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[url=http://forums.colts.com/topic/55099-jags-this-sunday-will-say-alot/?do=findComment&comment=1621674]Posted Saturday at 12:45 PM
Pagano could come with some packages to protect Brissett. Jaguars defense is so overrared. Brisset should have the same success as Gabbert had. Its not like ARI oline was much better. Doyles gonna eat.
 
Colts 21
 
TrapKittens 13

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“ I was a male, trapped in a female body........and then I was born. “

I think our crowd is die hard because it is the same struggling crowd that we've had for years.  Winning now isn't changing it. I'm sure consistent winning would change that...

On the other hand, a lot of empty seats around the NFL...

Not really. Every game but the Raiders/Giants had over 90% attendance. About half of them were reported at 100%.

Technically we were At 91% attendance yesterday as well.... if we're going by those numbers

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