I was looking at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette,and the 2 things they mentioned was the great start by their first team offense and and the defensive woes.

The two long drives Blake directed had the Steelers first team in there.

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Jagboss, that is very good to hear that the Steelers first team defense was in on both of those drives.  Correction edit:  the article I am reading said it was a mix of first and second team players after the first series.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

The thing that stuck out to me from the game is that Bortles is still making very poor decisions about where to throw the ball. The 2 yard pass to Julius Thomas particularly sticks out to me as throwing to a guy that is going to get whacked after he catches the ball when there was no need to throw the ball yet, and Thomas got a broken hand thanks to it.

 

There were several other throws where Bortles either put the ball high so a guy was afraid to make the play on it, or threw a ball into a situation where someone could get whacked. I'm just thankful that Robinson got down quickly after his long third down reception early in the game.

 

Maybe Bortles just has poor aim in those other situations, but the 2 yard pass to Thomas just so he could get a guy diving at his knee was a completely unacceptable decision on where to throw.

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Seldom,

 

I dunno about your assertion about poor decision making by Bortles.

 

Yes, the throw to Thomas was questionable, but I don't recall any really head scratching throws he made during that game.  Even on some of the high passes you referenced, the receiver was open (especially the throw to Harbor in the red zone).

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Seldom,

 

I dunno about your assertion about poor decision making by Bortles.

 

Yes, the throw to Thomas was questionable, but I don't recall any really head scratching throws he made during that game.  Even on some of the high passes you referenced, the receiver was open (especially the throw to Harbor in the red zone).

 

I wouldn't say his passes were head scratching, except for the Julius Thomas injury throw, which was just moronic. Don't throw two yard passes to guys running at the sideline when you still have time to look for better options, and Bortles wasn't under a rush when he threw that ball. It was just idiotic and makes it hard to not be especially critical of the rest of his game thanks to it.

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Seldom,


I dunno about your assertion about poor decision making by Bortles.


Yes, the throw to Thomas was questionable, but I don't recall any really head scratching throws he made during that game. Even on some of the high passes you referenced, the receiver was open (especially the throw to Harbor in the red zone).

This is what I took away from Bortles last night. On the majority of his snaps, he made his progressions and found the open receiver. You can really start to tell that he's been working on his mechanics since the last time we seen him take a live in game snap.


He looked VERY comfortable in the pocket and climbing the ladder..


He's turning into Captain Cool.. Havent seen that from a Jags QB in a very long time.

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Does anybody get the feeling that perhaps the Jags have turned the corner and now have a true NFL QB that perhaps can lead this team to respectability?

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The thing that stuck out to me from the game is that Bortles is still making very poor decisions about where to throw the ball. The 2 yard pass to Julius Thomas particularly sticks out to me as throwing to a guy that is going to get whacked after he catches the ball when there was no need to throw the ball yet, and Thomas got a broken hand thanks to it.


There were several other throws where Bortles either put the ball high so a guy was afraid to make the play on it, or threw a ball into a situation where someone could get whacked. I'm just thankful that Robinson got down quickly after his long third down reception early in the game.


Maybe Bortles just has poor aim in those other situations, but the 2 yard pass to Thomas just so he could get a guy diving at his knee was a completely unacceptable decision on where to throw.

I made a similar claim after the scrimmage. It's not that he's throwing bad balls, but at times he chooses the wrong guy to throw to. In the scrimmage, he threw a 2-3 yard out to a blanketed JT that easily couldve been picked off and run back. I think his offensive line has given him so little time back there that once he chooses a guy to throw to, that's who the hell he's throwing it to. No time to change his mind. He's gotta fix that, but Caldwell's gotta fix the oline first.

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Congratulations, dad!

 

As for the curse, please tell me you named her Jaxson...  Otherwise, sadly, #becausejaguars remains...  It's not too late to change her name legally, I think you get a month to change your mind...  Let little baby Jaxson take one for the betterment of the entire Jaguars nation...

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I made a similar claim after the scrimmage. It's not that he's throwing bad balls, but at times he chooses the wrong guy to throw to. I think his offensive line has given him so little time that once he chooses a guy to throw to, that's who the hell he's throwing it to. No time to change his mind. He's gotta fix that, and Caldwell's gotta fix the oline.

 

Sadly his best throw of the night was dropped by Harbor, who was only in the game because Bortles got the best player on the team's hand broken because he made a moronic throw.

 

Otherwise I thought the offensive line was pretty good, except for Joeckel, who is amazingly bad for someone who was so roundly considered a can't miss prospect to at least be respectable at his position. Denard and Gerheart did well, too, especially Gerheart on screen passes. The defense was about what I expected, they can't hold up against an elite QB, which is what the NFL wants. Maybe if Fowler is worthy of his draft position the team will get to a point where the defense can occasionally hold an elite passer to less  than 30.

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On Bortles:

There were at least three Bortles passes that were unnecessarily "high" but still catchable as I recall.  Not concerned about it as it should be correctable.

 

Had Harbor, Hurns and others not dropped catchable passes, it would have been a stellar outing from Bortles, IMO. I was encouraged by his play despite the questionable short dump off to Thomas and a few balls with a bit too much air under them. 

 

The pocket presence we were cautiously optimistic about was confirmed to be real last night, IMO.  Love seeing him evade a rusher with minimal movement forward in the pocket. Very encouraging. 

 

On RBs: 

Denard continues to earn my respect and praise. He'll be valuable to this team.  Gerhart played well. He's no speedster but he knows how to hit a hole and follow a block. The execution on screens last night was worlds better than last season. Credit to Olson and Marrone there. Gerhart performed well in that role as he did in Minnesota. Was nice to finally see that from him in Jax. Pierce appeared capable but I had to stop watching just before halftime to do some work and didn't see the other backs. 

 

Joeckel:

Very, very discouraged by the sack he gave up and a bit concerned, but I'll have to reserve any major critique until I re-watch the game.  

 

Defense: I just hope the first team D-Line can get the pressure we expect from them because the twos weren't getting it done. 

 

The secondary was looking a bit better than what we saw last year.  House's big gaff did appear to involve him falling down to get beat - but it may have been due to his own mistake. Looked like he got tangled playing press and was just overpowered by the receiver and fell. That DB film room won't be a fun place for the highest paid corner in the room this week. 

 

LBs were mostly solid but Telvin did have a whiff or two and I'd like to see more from Skuta as preseason moves forward. 

 

OVERALL:  I think this is a better offense and we'll see better numbers from them this year. Passing, running and scoring. 

The defense is tough to call at the moment but should be better if the ones can get healthy and stay on the field. 

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Sadly his best throw of the night was dropped by Harbor, who was only in the game because Bortles got the best player on the team's hand broken because he made a moronic throw.


Otherwise I thought the offensive line was pretty good, except for Joeckel, who is amazingly bad for someone who was so roundly considered a can't miss prospect to at least be respectable at his position. Denard and Gerheart did well, too, especially Gerheart on screen passes. The defense was about what I expected, they can't hold up against an elite QB, which is what the NFL wants. Maybe if Fowler is worthy of his draft position the team will get to a point where the defense can occasionally hold an elite passer to less than 30.

yep it was so totally Bortels fault Thomas got hurt. you do realize how asinian that sounds right?

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I really liked the play of Rashaad Reynolds (40). I think he has surpassed Jeremy Harris as the No. 6 CB. While Nick Marshall did not flash in coverage as he has in practices, I think he too is ahead of Jeremy Harris, who obviously got picked on a lot last night.

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yep it was so totally Bortels fault Thomas got hurt. you do realize how asinian that sounds right?

 

asinian? What does that even mean? Yes, it was Bortles that chose to throw such an ill advised pass and I'll pin the blame on him for putting Thomas in that situation, where it rightly belongs. Thomas's head was turned to Bortles, he was taking doing what good players do, and presuming that Bortles wasn't going to make a throw to him if there was someone ready to whack him in the knee when he caught it, but Bortles made the throw with a couple of guys ready to dive at Thomas's knee. It was idiotic and it was 100% on Bortles. He had everything in front of him without a lot of traffic to stop him from seeing it. He chose to put Thomas in that situation, and it was DUMB.

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yep it was so totally Bortels fault Thomas got hurt. you do realize how asinian that sounds right?

It's not so "asinian" to think Bortles shouldn't have thrown that particular ball, and therefore played a direct role in getting JT hurt. It's not Blake's fault, but he could've helped avoid the situation, especially in a preseason game. Besides, it's football, this crap happens. Let's just be glad it's a relatively minor injury for an important player who has shown a tendency to get dinged up and miss games in the past.

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asinian? What does that even mean? Yes, it was Bortles that chose to throw such an ill advised pass and I'll pin the blame on him for putting Thomas in that situation, where it rightly belongs. Thomas's head was turned to Bortles, he was taking doing what good players do, and presuming that Bortles wasn't going to make a throw to him if there was someone ready to whack him in the knee when he caught it, but Bortles made the throw with a couple of guys ready to dive at Thomas's knee. It was idiotic and it was 100% on Bortles. He had everything in front of him without a lot of traffic to stop him from seeing it. He chose to put Thomas in that situation, and it was DUMB.

asinine* and we can agree to disagree.

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My impressions from this game:

 

1. Very optimistic about Bortles. If he can stay healthy, the Jags will have their first true franchise q.b. since Brunell.

2. The running game will be the team's strength. Having 3 solid players who possess different skill sets will enable the Jaguars to control the clock and give the defense the rest that they didn't have last year. It also opens up the passing game.

3. Parnell was a great pick-up. He and Linder make a great combo on the right side.

4. Not so sure about House. Let's hope that touchdown to Bennett was due more to opening game nerves. At last they have good depth at the position in case he's a bust. As was mentioned earlier, Reynolds had a solid game and has a chance to beat out Harris.

5. Thomas getting hurt may be a blessing in disguise. He should be ready by game one and there was no need to play him until then. Just hope he is not injury prone as he will be a great weapon for Bortles.

6. Glad they kept Mercedes Lewis as it looks like they'll need him to assist Joeckel when they play the Texans and other teams with elite pass rushers. 

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Too much penalties !

 

I wouldn't worry about that.  The most penalized teams made the playoffs.  You aren't flagged if you aren't trying.

 

My thoughts:

 

Blake looked good.  He's progressing.

 

Drops were disappointing.  Mostly, because they should have been easy catches.

 

Robinson has made strides as a runner.  Very confident, decisive, and explosive off cuts.

 

We're getting better depth on the defensive side of the ball.  Unfortunately we may need it.

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"You do your own thing in your own time. You should be proud."

I wouldn't say his passes were head scratching, except for the Julius Thomas injury throw, which was just moronic. Don't throw two yard passes to guys running at the sideline when you still have time to look for better options, and Bortles wasn't under a rush when he threw that ball. It was just idiotic and makes it hard to not be especially critical of the rest of his game thanks to it.

 

You are seldom right.  And this is certainly no exception.

 

You couldn't be farther off base.

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"You do your own thing in your own time. You should be proud."

You are seldom right.  And this is certainly no exception.

 

You couldn't be farther off base.

 

Quite the solid and factually reinforced argument you've made. I'm convinced.

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