I am smiling ear to ear right now.  First, Buffalo lost to New England, which means I won a wager with my obnoxious Bills fan buddy, which means he owes me a steak dinner!  Then, Indy lost and Houston lost.  Almost always good to see those guys lose.  Finally, we beat Denver today in a most thrilling fashion, which means we are in a four way tie for first (I know technically Houston has the lead over us, but wee’re all sitting at 2-2.  Oh yeah, my Bills fan buddy hates the Jaguars, so I’m glad he was wrong about that too.  I’m not a particularly big fan of modern music (more definitive proof I am in the old fart stage of life), but there are two songs that are running through my head on a continuous loop at the moment:  Ice Cube’s “Today was a good day,” and Pharrell’s “Happy!”  My thoughts on the game:

1.           I am now convinced Minshew is the real deal.  He has kept us reasonably competitive in all four of our games, and had us in position to win in Houston.  He had some plays today that showed his tremendous poise, toughness and grit.  The first was a play to Keelan Cole in the second half, where he scrambled around in the pocket, escapes to the right, stays behind the LOS  and completed a key 3rd down pass, and then later in that drive, in almost identical fashion, he scrambles inside the pocket and hits RB Ryquell Armstead for a TD.  Then, on the last drive of the game, Minshew took a hit low (which should have been flagged), endured the pain to his ankle, and had key completions to get the team down the field into Josh Lambo FG range.  Quality and depth at QB are no longer concerns, especially when Foles gets back.

2.           For a year and a quarter, leonard Fournette has taken a lot of abuse from a lot of people.  Many have demanded to know why he was drafted so highly.  People were calling him bust, and gave him derisive nicknames (“Three-point-four-nette”).  Most of last week was a nightmare from that perspective.  However, after having the second biggest single game rushing performance in team history behind only FT, I think for a little bit, he will quiet some of the naysayers.  He still may not have been worth the selection over Mahomes or Watson, but he came up huge today.
 
3.           Fans who want Ramsey traded away got a glimpse of what Jaguars life would be like without 20 at CB, and it wasn’t pretty.  Hopefully, this will spur the team to try to smooth things over with him and get him signed to a new deal.
 
4.           The offensive line was a mized bag.  I was afraid the tackles would have a rough game against two superb edge rushers with a loud home field advantage going in, and my fears were realized today.  Both tackles had a hard game containing Miller and Chubb, giving up at least four sacks, three to Miller and Chubb, and one to Chubb’s replacement.  They also had some five penalties between the two of them.  Cam Robinson came dangerously close to a personal foul penalty late in the game that might have kicked the team our of FG range, given the strong wind into which Lambo kicked.  I also thought Cann had a rough game too.  That said, if you are on an offensive line that generated over 350 yards rushing, the game can only be so bad.  I think the OL performance improved when Richardson was in for Cann.  Richardson got outside effectively when pulling.   While undoubtedly we will need better pass blocking from the tackles, today, at least, the offensive line looked good generating our first dominant running game in a while.
 
5.           I would be remiss if I unwittingly left the impression I thought the whole secondary struggled today in Ramsey;s absence.  While there was a noticeable drop in overall quality, I thought the secondary had some good performances.  Ronnie Harrison got an INT right before halftime that turned the game around.  AJ Bouye provided excellent coverage throughout the game.  Hayden provided a good pressure on the blitz and had a pass break up.  I also recall Wilson having a good play on a short pass.

6.           Lambo came though in fine style kicking under difficult conditions.  Today was another good game from the Special teams unit overall.

7.           Rookie Watch:

              Josh Allen-Seemed pretty quiet today.

              Jawaan Taylor-As I indicated above, he had a horrific day in pass protection.  Granted, it was against one of the best pass rushers in league history, but he has to block guys like that too.

              Josh Oliver-Did not play

              Quincy Williams-  He played, and struggled some in coverage, but there was nothing that really stuck out to me about him.

              Ryquell Armstrong-  Had his most extensive action of the season, having 8 carries for 42 yards, along with the aforementioned TD recemption.  Considering how often he bobbled the ball in training camp, it’s kinda surprising to see him be the target for Minshew on that TD.  But I’m glad Minshew had the faith in him to make the play, and equally glad he came through for us.

              Gardner Minshew-See above.  There will be more from me on him in another post to come.

              Dontavious Russell-Did not see him play

              Andrew Wingard-Replaced Harrison when Harrison got hurt earlier.  I think Minshew had a tackle, but did not otherwise stand out.

8.           I wonder how the game would have turned out had the refs called that ineligible receiver downfield on Denver on their first TD.

9.           Nice to see Lee, Cole, and Armstead all get their first catches of the season.  All three catches were critical to the victory.  Lee and Cole’s receptions extended second half drives.  Armstead scored the TD pass. 

10.         Speaking of receivers, after a rough outing against the tacks last week, DeDe Westbrook came back with a clutch reception and run on that last drive to get us close.  Conley had one too.  Chark had some nice catches, and had his 4th TD of the year negated by penalty.

11.         Though I have little doubt Ramsey’s absence played a role, I was kind of disappointed in the pass rush today.  With Denver, the front seven was facing an opponent that had one of the weakest offensive lines we will see all year, and we couldn’t get much pressure.  They did a respectable job against the run, but I didn’t get to see Flacco on his back or being scraped off the turf like I’d hoped.

12.  Bottom Line-We are 2-2 and still in the thick of things after a month.  Considering we have been playing with a rookie QB, that’s pretty much all we can ask.  Despite all that has gone wrong with Foles and Ramsey, it’s a testament to a lot of people that we are still sitting here ight in the middle of the fight for the division at this stage.  With all of the penalties and the losing fromlast year, there was a belief setting in that Marrone has lost the team.  Et for the team to win the last two (and should have beaten Houston) with a rookie lets me know the team hasn’t quit on Marrone yet.  De Filippo has called some pretty good games and has become increasingly popular here.  Minshew has been a gift to us thus far and has surpassed all of my expectations for him.  I take particular glee in telling my buddy that Minshew is already better than Bills’ QB Josh Allen, and him not being able to really rebut that.  But we still have a chance to do some good things!  That is most encouraging.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

You gotta give Taylor a pass this time all things considered, but this was the type of speed rushing matchup I was terrified of when I repeatedly said I didn't like that we made both of our OL bookends mauler heavy footed types.

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9 different Jag players caught at least 1 pass today. They spread the ball around and everybody got a little action.

Minshew continues to impress. The legend continues to grow.

The DL as a whole was underwhelming. Herndon... Yuck. Bouye gave up a big play on their last scoring drive at the end of the game. Safeties played well.

Cam Robinson had an awful 1st half and almost cost us big twice. The first one was the hands to the face at the end of the 1st half that took away a TD, but he was begging for a 15 yard penalty at the end of the game.

The rookie Taylor had some issues, but Miller is a tough task for anybody. Lets see if he can learn from it.

Lambo continues to be automatic. 4/4 on FG today and 2/2 on XP. All while dealing with 17+ mph winds.

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This felt like an Any Given Sunday type game. The Broncos showed up to win today and despite what they were rated at, they played highly motivated. This was one of those games that sucks to lose, but you have something great to say about your team regardless. Broncos played good ball.

This was the most fun game to watch since we beat the Pats last year.

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I'm good with 2-2, especially when you consider that we were one bad play call away from probably 3-1. The issue is that the only particularly strong team we've faced was KC, and they clearly outlcassed us. The good news on that front is that we don't really have a ton of top-tier competition going forward. That's good in that it could help us squeak ahead of the rest of the AFC South on the back of Minshew the Mustachioed Magician.

Minshew is the real deal. He was hit over and over again by a brutal pass rush, but he stood strong in the pocket and, most importantly, made plays happen. Completion percentage wasn't as high, but who cares? Not every week is going to be 70%. If the other team has a hard hitting pass rush and your offensive line can't stop a paper airplane, making a play here and there and not turning the ball over is all you can do. The care he shows for the football as a rookie continues to amaze me. He just isn't making the kind of boneheaded throws into triple coverage that even Peyton Manning was guilty of as a rookie. After the OL was shifted and Nine-point-fournette (happy?) cranked up the dial to 225, this was a different team and Minshew was able to look a lot more like his gunslinging, high-percentage self. I want to see more of Minshew against top-tier defenses, but I'm damn near sold that he's the luckiest draft pick in Jaguars history and capable of starting for this team for years to come.

Speaking of the OL, I know that correlation is not causation. I also know that the OL has been just this side of useless in the run game all year, and I know that in the second quarter, when A.J. Can't totally failed to block the rusher then [BLEEP] stood there and watched as Bradley Chubb leveled Minshew, I shouted like a Klingon about to deliver a death blow in ritual combat. This was problematic, as I was in my building's clubhouse, and had anyone else been in the room, I might have had issues down the line. So you cann probably imagine my glee when the OL lined up after halftime and I noticed that 76 was on the field. I knew Richardson was replacing either Norwell or Can't, and much to my glee, I saw Norwell still out there. That's when Will Richardson became my unsung hero of 2019. I don't think anyone on this board was happy about A.J. Can't being re-signed for starter money. I'd put him down as the worst OL in Jaguars history, worse even than Ephraim Salaam and Guy Whimper. Cann spent years whiffing on blocks, directing traffic straight to the QB and generally looking lost. How he survived this long I don't know. I do know that when Richardson took the field in his spot, the run game immediately improved tremendously, and the pass protection on the interior improved as well. I know correlation is not causation, and Richardson spending most of the afternoon working on a tired, sore Broncos D definitely helps, but the type of pull blocks that he was making are things I don't think Cann is even capable of. So I look toward next week with a great degree of hope as the end of the A.J. Can't era and the beginning of Will Richardson's tenure as the starting RG.

Cam Robinson is going to be an issue. He's not keeping his emotions in check and almost blew the game for us. He's holding, he's jumping before the snap, and his pass protection today made me long for the days of Luke Joeckel. There's going to have to be a mini-reckoning on the OL this offseason, and it's Robinson and Norwell that will need to be carefully looked at.

Tre Herndon is a liability. Which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He's one year removed from being an undrafted rookie, and he's still a promising player, but he was relentlessly picked on all day and didn't rise to the challenge. I don't know if Hayden could be moved outside easily with Herndon or Josh Robinson taking the nickel job, but we're going to be eaten alive in the passing game if we don't stop the bleeding back there. Hopefully 20 gets his twenty?

The offense was nigh-on impossible once Nine-point-fournette was off to the races. I really can't emphasize enough how much of a turnaround the whole offense had after A.J. Can't was shown the pine and Will Richardson given a chance to play guard in his place.

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This felt like an Any Given Sunday type game. The Broncos showed up to win today and despite what they were rated at, they played highly motivated. This was one of those games that sucks to lose, but you have something great to say about your team regardless. Broncos played good ball.

This was the most fun game to watch since we beat the Pats last year.

It's fun now but I'll be honest, I was losing my mind for about 75% of the game in real time.

Todd Wash what was that last defensive series?

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My overall thoughts;
I assumed this game would be close. This is the NFL. Everyone is talented. Even the Dolphins were competitive today despite it being obvious they are tanking.
Richardson needs to play more. Cam is out of practice. Herndon is a an UDFA and played like one. You’d like to think Shad Khan is telling Coughlin and Caldwell go suck it up and have a heart to heart with with Ramsey. There were several no calls that frustrated me. The blocking down field on the screen pass for a TD and then we get penalized for the same thing next drive. Chubb diving at Minshews knees and getting a sack and no call. The team made a great half time adjustment and Fournette did was we drafted him to do; carry the load and wear out the defense. We seemed to move the ball better when Richardson got in the game. Ryquell looked good, it was nice to see him get in the game. What can’t be overstated was that Minshew is just a baller. Dude just flat out rises to the occasion and seems to thrive when things are on the line. His TD to Ryquell was amazing. This team is actually watchable on offense again unlike last year after the Patriots game. Good team win. Get Ramsey back and we will be a threat

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"Expect for the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes."

 

Herndon is exactly what he is, an 2nd year UDFA. I dont see much that makes me think that he could ever develop into a serviceable starter, but it is safe to say that for now, he shouldnt be anything more than a backup.
This is definitely a concern, IF Ramsey leaves, we need to trade for a CB. No way Herndon takes over that spot. That being said, with 2 wins in a row, looking to make it 3 next week, maybe Jalen wants to stay afterall?

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It's a good feeling to know that our team can come from behind and win a game. The past is the past. Overall we played like a team that's destined even playing w/o.

NH3...

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"AZANE"

You gotta give Taylor a pass this time all things considered, but this was the type of speed rushing matchup I was terrified of when I repeatedly said I didn't like that we made both of our OL bookends mauler heavy footed types.

Yes, Taylor IS a rookie and Von Miller is a tough assignment for anyone.

However, as time goes on, Taylor's pass gets smaller and smaller. 

His being a rookie does not mitigate the net effect of the sacks and penalties.  He has some things in his game he needs to clean up. 

Now he has had some good moments, but we can't have too many more games like that from him.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I am surprised by the team lucking in to Minshew magic. He reads the defense well and is processing the information very well. And to boot he is reviewing the plays on the sideline and it is helping with actual.adjustments. is it real or memories? It is sure.seeming like reality.

I know we miss Ramsey but overall the defense had a rough day. We get killed underneath so much. I don't think the defense is called very well. Best solution is having the offense on the field. If they clean up the penalties it will be even.better.

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The Khan Years

Patience, Persistence, and Piss Poor General Managers.

The defense looked pretty much like it has in the other games, except the Thursday night game. And you're right that Herndon got abused, too. The back 7 can't look as confused and out of position as they do unless it's poor coaching. That soft zone has to go.

But, oh, the bright spots! Minshew, Fournette, Richardson, even Armstead. Yes!

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Fix the O-Line!

The defense looked pretty much like it has in the other games, except the Thursday night game.  And you're right that Herndon got abused, too.  The back 7 can't look as confused and out of position as they do unless it's poor coaching.  That soft zone has to go.

But, oh, the bright spots!  Minshew, Fournette, Richardson, even Armstead.  Yes!

Huh?

Granted the defense looked horrible against KC, but nobody has held them to less than 28 points since 2017.

But they held Houston to 13 points, seven of which were surrendered after the offense gave them the ball in point blank range after a turnover, and they held Tennessee to 7 points.

This defense mustered no sacks and Herndon was beaten for two TDs.

How can you say it looked like it has in the other games?

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

The defense looked pretty much like it has in the other games, except the Thursday night game.  And you're right that Herndon got abused, too.  The back 7 can't look as confused and out of position as they do unless it's poor coaching.  That soft zone has to go.

But, oh, the bright spots!  Minshew, Fournette, Richardson, even Armstead.  Yes!

Huh?

Granted the defense looked horrible against KC, but nobody has held them to less than 28 points since 2017.

But they held Houston to 13 points, seven of which were surrendered after the offense gave them the ball in point blank range after a turnover, and they held Tennessee to 7 points.

This defense mustered no sacks and Herndon was beaten for two TDs.

How can you say it looked like it has in the other games?

It's apparent to me.  The back 7 out of position, getting beat in coverage, missing tackles, generally looking confused.  It's pretty much been a real concern in every game except Tennessee.  There were several of those games last year, too.  The Tennessee game proves they CAN get it together.  The skill is there.  Focus and knowledge don't seem to be.  That points to coaching.

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Fix the O-Line!

9 different Jag players caught at least 1 pass today. They spread the ball around and everybody got a little action.

Minshew continues to impress. The legend continues to grow.

I knew he spread it around, but I didn't know he hit NINE (9) different receivers.

That's impressive as hell.

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Peter King has lots of impressions from our game yesterday.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...eter-king/

Among the more interesting takes

"m. It’s getting long past time to talk about D.J. Chark as a top-15 all-around receiver in the NFL.

n. And for Gardner Minshew to evade/escape four Broncos on his third-quarter touchdown pass in Denver … I’ll just say that this is not your garden-variety backup. Someday, he’ll lead a team and get paid in the NFL.

o. Minshew on a go-ahead TD pass in Denver: fake a throw left, fake a throw right, find James O’Shaughnessy alone over the middle, touchdown."

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Huh?

Granted the defense looked horrible against KC, but nobody has held them to less than 28 points since 2017.

But they held Houston to 13 points, seven of which were surrendered after the offense gave them the ball in point blank range after a turnover, and they held Tennessee to 7 points.

This defense mustered no sacks and Herndon was beaten for two TDs.

How can you say it looked like it has in the other games?

It's apparent to me.  The back 7 out of position, getting beat in coverage, missing tackles, generally looking confused.  It's pretty much been a real concern in every game except Tennessee.  There were several of those games last year, too.  The Tennessee game proves they CAN get it together.  The skill is there.  Focus and knowledge don't seem to be.  That points to coaching.

So they were out of position against Houston?!?

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

9 different Jag players caught at least 1 pass today. They spread the ball around and everybody got a little action.

Minshew continues to impress. The legend continues to grow.

I knew he spread it around, but I didn't know he hit NINE (9) different receivers.

That's impressive as hell.

---

Peter King has lots of impressions from our game yesterday.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...eter-king/

Among the more interesting takes

"m. It’s getting long past time to talk about D.J. Chark as a top-15 all-around receiver in the NFL.

n. And for Gardner Minshew to evade/escape four Broncos on his third-quarter touchdown pass in Denver … I’ll just say that this is not your garden-variety backup. Someday, he’ll lead a team and get paid in the NFL.

o. Minshew on a go-ahead TD pass in Denver: fake a throw left, fake a throw right, find James O’Shaughnessy alone over the middle, touchdown."

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It's apparent to me.  The back 7 out of position, getting beat in coverage, missing tackles, generally looking confused.  It's pretty much been a real concern in every game except Tennessee.  There were several of those games last year, too.  The Tennessee game proves they CAN get it together.  The skill is there.  Focus and knowledge don't seem to be.  That points to coaching.

So they were out of position against Houston?!?

C'mon, Bullseye. I know you're a major Ramsey fan.  But these pass coverage problems didn't start this week.  They seem to be a staple of this defense.  It's the scheme and the preparation, not just the absence of one talented player.

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Fix the O-Line!

I knew he spread it around, but I didn't know he hit NINE (9) different receivers.

That's impressive as hell.

---

Peter King has lots of impressions from our game yesterday.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...eter-king/

Among the more interesting takes

"m. It’s getting long past time to talk about D.J. Chark as a top-15 all-around receiver in the NFL.

n. And for Gardner Minshew to evade/escape four Broncos on his third-quarter touchdown pass in Denver … I’ll just say that this is not your garden-variety backup. Someday, he’ll lead a team and get paid in the NFL.

o. Minshew on a go-ahead TD pass in Denver: fake a throw left, fake a throw right, find James O’Shaughnessy alone over the middle, touchdown."

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So they were out of position against Houston?!?

C'mon, Bullseye. I know you're a major Ramsey fan.  But these pass coverage problems didn't start this week.  They seem to be a staple of this defense.  It's the scheme and the preparation, not just the absence of one talented player.

No, this is not the first week we've had bad pass defense games.

We've basically had the same scheme since 2013, and has been the same Scheme Seattle has run.

Ramsey was drafted in 2016.  Here are our pass defense rankings since Bradley brought this scheme from Seattle in 2013-Courtesy of NFL.com

2013  T 26th overall
2014  22nd overall
2015  29th overall
2016  5th overall
2017  1st overall
2018   2nd overall


What can we conclude from this?

Several possibilities which may or may not be concurrent:

1.  Ramsey had a huge impact on the defense.
2.  The scheme either may not have the fundamental flaws you think it does, or somehow the coaching staff has minimized the flaws since 2016.
3.  You have overstated the number of bad games we've had since 2016
4.  Maybe factors other than schematic flaws led to the bad games.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Speaking of the OL, I know that correlation is not causation. I also know that the OL has been just this side of useless in the run game all year, and I know that in the second quarter, when A.J. Can't totally failed to block the rusher then [BLEEP] stood there and watched as Bradley Chubb leveled Minshew, I shouted like a Klingon about to deliver a death blow in ritual combat. This was problematic, as I was in my building's clubhouse, and had anyone else been in the room, I might have had issues down the line. So you cann probably imagine my glee when the OL lined up after halftime and I noticed that 76 was on the field. I knew Richardson was replacing either Norwell or Can't, and much to my glee, I saw Norwell still out there. That's when Will Richardson became my unsung hero of 2019. I don't think anyone on this board was happy about A.J. Can't being re-signed for starter money. I'd put him down as the worst OL in Jaguars history, worse even than Ephraim Salaam and Guy Whimper. Cann spent years whiffing on blocks, directing traffic straight to the QB and generally looking lost. How he survived this long I don't know. I do know that when Richardson took the field in his spot, the run game immediately improved tremendously, and the pass protection on the interior improved as well. I know correlation is not causation, and Richardson spending most of the afternoon working on a tired, sore Broncos D definitely helps, but the type of pull blocks that he was making are things I don't think Cann is even capable of. So I look toward next week with a great degree of hope as the end of the A.J. Can't era and the beginning of Will Richardson's tenure as the starting RG.

I remember in the offseason we had a discussion about Cann and Richardson when we found out that Richardson was going to get an opportunity at guard.  Not sure anyone predicted he'd look this good.  But at the time, I pointed out that by just sheer circumstance, the only reason Cann had lasted as long as he had so far is that we hadn't ever brought in real competition.  We always had a hole at the other guard spot that got more attention.  Left tackle was a disaster for a few years.  Joeckel, Beachum, etc...  We've basically ignored the interior oline in the draft for the last 5 years.  Cann hasn't been pushed for the spot since he got here.  He was always easily replaceable, we just never bothered bringing in someone that could do so.

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________________________________________________
Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

Lol @ people still telling on themselves.

Game was infuriating and amazing at the same time. Joe Flacco threw for 300 and 3 TDS..... that’s pathetic. Not to mention he got the ball out so quickly which means our corners were getting beat right at the line. If only there was an elite press corner.... NVM.

The Minshew Mania is real. I had a few buddies over (Redskins fan and Chargers fan) and they were rooting for Minshew just as hard as I was.

One thing I noticed was Chark still has the juice. He went up against Chris Harris and still had a TD (albeit called back) and still made big catches.

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Minshew had a few misses but was about as clutch as you could get in the second half which is more important. The guy is a fighter I hope he continues to grow.

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Jaguars | Pacers | Purdue | Team USA