1.  I have no problem bashing my team if it commits stupid penalties that kill themselves.  But for the life of me, I don't understand ANY of the first three horse [BLEEP] holding penalties against us.  Linder threw what looked like a clean block with no holding.  I'm not a huge fan of Jawaan Taylor, but I have no clue what the refs saw on his holding call.  They actually managed to call offensive holding on a CB-#40.  It got to the point where I was actually surprised when we had a positive run that WASN'T called back due to offensive holding.  It was down right insulting to see Texans fans indignant about the false start penalty on the 4th down when the C lifted his head and the ball.  In fairness to them, I thought Griffin interfered on that end zone pass  Having said all that, this was far from a solid game penalty wise.  There were still plenty of mental errors and dumb penalties.  How many illegal formation penalties can we have from Ts lining up too far back?  We blew two time outs in the first quarter.

2.  For years, people clamored for a switch to a 3-4 defense as if it would solve all our problems.  Clearly after today, it's not proven true.  While I know we needed 3-4 DL to stock the roster, I did not see us sign any true dominators.  That showed today because we weren't able to really stop the run.  While Josh Allen got an early sack, we didn't do a good job pressuring the QB.  Much like in the preseason game against the Browns, we had difficulty defending short passes outside, and compounded that by giving up deeper passes.  Cooks was the one guy who could beat us deep. and we let him do it twice (More on this later).  The bottom line is we are a long way from being solid defensively.

3.  I thought the secondary would be an area of comparative strength for us with the infusion of speed.  But I didn't imagine how poorly the team would be in terms of playing the ball.  Griffin made a great play on the ball early in the game, but dropped an INT on the first drive that could have changed the game for us.  We can't afford to NOT make a play like that.  Lots of people were upset that Wingard started ahead of Andre Cisco.  It appears they were right.  There were several times he appeared out of position and beaten, even if the completion wasn't made-like when he was beaten badly by the TE down the right side on an incomplete pass.

4.  What will it take for our receivers to consistently catch passes that are catchable?  There were, what, three dropped passes in the first quarter alone?  Granted, some of those passes were a little behind the receiver, but all of them hit the receivers in the hands.  

5.  During the preseason, I had some concern that there was offensive imbalance.  That cooncern crept up again, as TL had some 51 passes, and there was a stretch early on where they had 7 passes and zero runs.  Penalties had much to do with the imbalance early, and then it got exacerbated when the team fell behind.  But the team has to stop killing itself with penalties that put them behind schedule, and then they have to have more offensive balance, especially against teams with superior pass rushes like Denver and Arizona coming up.

6.  I know this will invariably sound like "So Mrs. Lincoln, aside from your husband being shot in the head, how did you like the play?"  But all of the penalties aside, the O-line did not play too, too badly.  Considering we were constantly in long yardage and behind throughout the game, I thought the protection was decent, only giving up a sack.  I thought they also did a decent job opening holes in the running game, considering those early holding calls were complete fiction.

7.  Rookie Watch:

     a.  Trevor Lawrence-I thought he was okay today, all things considering.  He had moments where he looked really good, like the TD passes to Manhertz and Chark.  He climbed the pocket well, and moved while looking to pass.  There were times it looked like he could have run, and most rookie passers similarly situated might have run, but he kept his eyes downfield to his credit.  He had moments where he didn't look so good, as would be expected by a rookie making his first start.  The numbers show he threw 3 INTs.  I think the first two picks were the direct result of being in long yardage due to penalties and him trying to play hero ball.  That was especially true on the first INT where he scrambled to his left and tried throwing against his body and overthrew the receiver.  The second INT was set up by a holding penalty that negated a decent play, putting the team in long yardage.  I don't know what the hell happened on the 3rd INT.  As I said earlier, he suffered from some drops, but there were plays his accuracy was off.  All in all, I saw enough from him to be encouraged, but if his rookie inclinations to try to do too much are to be minimized, the team will have to reduce the penalties-actual or fictional.

     b.  Travis Etienne- DNP-on IR.

     c.  Tyson Campbell-Once again, the whole scouting report thing about him being unable to play the ball effectively reared its ugly head early on on that first deep pass to Brandon Cooks.  Once again he was in a position to possibly knock the ball down, and once again, he didn't/couldn't do it, and it flipped the field, leading to the first Texans' TD.  He i already one of the most frustrating Jaguars I've seen in a while.  I don't know how he can improve his awareness, but I hope Ash, Cullen, Meyer et al get it figured out fast.

     d.  Walker Little-I did not see him play at all.

     e.  Andre Cisco-I saw him play, but he did not stick out, aside from not being in the game when Wingard was inexplicably the starter.  I have to think he would have done a better job on the TE than Wingard, and I shudder to think of Wingard against Noah Fant next week.

     f.  Jay Tufele-I don't know if he played.  I didn't see him.

     g.  Jordan Smith-See above.

     h.  Luke Farrell-see above.

8.  For all of the hype surrounding Agnew, he didn't make much of an impact.

9.  Speaking of special teams, Lambo missed a needed 55 yard FG.  Granted, a 55 yarder is no chip shot, but in order for us to win this year, he will have to make those.

10.  I think Urban Meyer and Company deserve some criticism for the way this game played out.  From the team's inability to line up properly to wasting two TOs in the first quarter, too many things looked like the results of a team not prepared.  We'll see how this team will bounce back, but there were too many ugly, sloppy moments in this game.  Lots of his critics have said that there aren't any directional schools or Northwesterns on the NFL schedule.  They are wrong.  The Jaguars are the directional school/homecoming opponents.  Shaking my head in dismay.

11.  Bottom line-Aside from the flashes from Lawrence, there wasn't much to like in this performance.  As vastly outplayed and outcoached as this team was today, the level of competition will step up a couple of levels in the next couple of weeks.  The penalties that weighed this team down like an anchor will have to disappear if this team is to have any balance.  Otherwise, the pass rush will be far more of a problem for Trevor Lawrence than it was this week, resulting in far fewer of these positive flashes.

1.  I agree that it was a bad day for the refs and it mostly went against us.

2.  Although I didn't object to switching to the 3-4, players matter more than scheme.  No matter what scheme you play, you need good players and they need to play it right.

3.  I wonder what the impact would have been if Griffin had made that interception.  Is it a momentum change that completely alters the complexion of the game or do the Jaguars just screw it up on the next play anyway?  As for Wingard, I was surprised he made the team.  Being a starter is almost mind-boggling.  We were lucky the impact wasn't even worse.  The Texans missed some opportunities against him today.

4.  The number of drops was surprising.  I'm hoping Chark was just rusty.  For the others, I don't know what to make of it.  I'm hoping it was just an opening game fluke.  Not every throw was perfect, but there were a bunch of catchable balls that weren't caught.

5.  I don't put much into play calling in the preseason.  Fans think of it as a game, but coaches think of it as practice.  Sometimes coaches want to practice their weakness in order to get better.  However, I do consider play calling in the regular season important and it was atrocious today.  How can we give our offensive MVP from last year, James Robinson, only 5 carries against a team that has a bad run defense?  That's inexcusable.

6.  I would have to admit that the offensive line did better than I expected.  Maybe I just had low expectations for them.  The penalties were bad, but I agree that some of them appeared to be complete fiction.

7.  Rookies

a.  I agree on Lawrence.  I'm not concerned about him.  I saw potential in his play today.  He'll cut down on the rookie mistakes.

b.  I'm sure some will inevitably blame our offensive failures this year on the loss of ETN.  "If we just had ETN, all of our problems would be solved."  If so, I don't buy it.  

c.  I hated the Campbell draft pick at the time.  Sometimes I hate it when I'm right.  All we can do is hope he improves.   

d.  Walker Little was inactive.  It's a strange move.  Meyer obviously felt more comfortable with Richardson as the backup.  I'm wondering if Meyer has a major distrust of rookies (aka Wingard over Cisco).

e.  The stat sheet shows Cisco with one tackle, but I don't recall it.

f.  Tufele was inactive.

g.  Smith was inactive.

h.  I caught a glimpse of Farrell on the field once during special teams.  If he played offense, I didn't see it.  

8.  Agnew didn't make an impact?  That's an understatement.  He had 2 punts returns for 1 yard combined.  Yes, that's right, he provided us with a grand total of 1 yard of positive field position.  How much did we pay him?  I don't get some people (include Meyer's) obsession with special teams.  Under current NFL rules, most kickoffs go for touchbacks and punt returns rarely amount to a hill of beans.

9.  While I would obviously prefer he makes every field goal, I'm not going to get upset over Lambo missing a 55 yard field goal.  That's a long field goal.

10.  I'm usually big on blaming the players and not coaches, but this is a game where I feel the coaches came up short.  They made poor personnel decisions such as starting Wingard over Cisco.  They had terrible play calling on offense.  They had bad clock management.  They also had penalties that seemed to reflect back on poor coaching such as the 12 men in the huddle and 3 illegal formations.  

11.  Agree.

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While I'm bummed about the loss, the one thing I was most wanting to see was if Trevor Lawrence looked legit and I think he answered that question.  Dude is gonna be good.  Probably as bad a situation for him as could be expected in week 1.  Trailed from the get go as defense was terrible, put into a bunch of awful down and distance due to stupid penalties and mistakes, texans knew he was going to pass almost every down, etc... but for his first ever game, he looked the part.  Huge arm, could slide in the pocket to avoid the rush, wasn't scared to throw down the field in the intermediate part of the field.  He made throws we haven't seen here since peak Brunell.  Yea he wasn't perfect but whatever.  First ever NFL game and put in difficult positions all game long.  Of course he would make a few head scratchers.  But his upside is through the roof.  I think he is gonna be really really good.

As far as Meyer, terrible coaching job.  Team made so many dumb mental mistakes.  Had no answers for the Texans and not sure we ever adjusted (admittedly I quit watching our defense in the second half and only flipped back when I knew our offense was on the field).  Got away from the run way too early.  His decision to be aggressive at the end of the first half cost us as a touchdown as he had to guess our defense might wilt.  While all around terrible first game, I'm not going to write him off.  I know a lot of people don't like him and want him to fail so it's not always easy having rationale discussions about him but the guy has always been a winner.  He was able to win in college by out scheming people but he was also able to do so by out recruiting people.  Wherever he went and whatever the situation, he figured out ways to win.  Does that mean he will in the NFL?  Of course we don't know.  But I think the guy has shown in his previous jobs the willingness to fix problems and adjust to the circumstance of the job.  He'll have to do that here as well.  All offseason I kept thinking about Jimmy Johnson who was obviously a great college coach, had a horrific first year in the NFL taking over a lousy team while starting a rookie QB, and eventually turned into a super bowl winner.  I walked into this season thinking Urban, just like Lawrence, will have ups and downs.  But as long as we see improvement throughout the year, I'd be hopeful.  I'm not going to change that opinion now.

As far as this specific game, the biggest surprise to me was our secondary.  They were awful!  Winguard was his typical self.  Looked out of position at times and missed a couple of tackles.  But some of the biggest gaffes in the secondary and the most meaningful plays were from our big money guys.  Other than that first drive of the game, Shaq Griffin seemed slow and was constantly getting beat.  Gave up that almost hail mary looking pass late in the first half inside the 10 yard line where Tyrod really just threw it up. And I didnt think Jenkins was much better.  You mentioned Tyson Campbell as giving up that big play early in the game to Cooks but I'd argue Jenkins was more at fault for that.  It's possible Campbell got totally burned or it's possible based on the coverage he was playing underneath the guy expecting safety help.  Either way Jenkins had the clearest and easiest opportunity to knock the ball away and chose to go for the pick instead even though it was 3rd down.  And as we all saw Cooks stole it from him.  And as far as missed tackles, I think he might have had more than Winguard.  Neither shaq or jenkins lived up to the contracts we gave them.  And then poor Campbell.  Dude should never be an inside slot guy.  Way too stiff and laterally slow.  All the concerns we heard about in the offseason came to fruition.  And while this may be on the linebackers, nobody back there could figure out how to deal with pick plays.  Our guys were getting caught up in the wash all game giving Tyrod easy completions.  Just a terrible all around game from everyone in the secondary.  If they dont clean that up, it's gonna be a really long year. 

Offensive line only gave up that one sack.  Thought Lawrence saved them from a couple more.  Overall looked roughly the same to me.  They might have been a really good line 40 years ago when running the ball was more important.  But it's a passing league and their skillset isn't as valuable in the modern NFL.  Still not sure why we didnt try to upgrade the line more aggressively in the offseason.

As you already eluded to, for a team coming off a 1-15 season with a ton of holes and five early round draft picks, kind of disappointing we only got meaningful impact from one of those.  To have a decent chance of being somewhat good this year, gotta think we needed a lot of production from our rookie class.  And doesnt look like we'll get it outside of Lawrence.  Etienne loss is a bummer but after game 1 feels like we need the defensive guys (Campbell, Cisco, and Tufele) to really step up.

This is probably the best take I have seen here today. Very level headed. But no, just burn everything down after week 1

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Sums it up.
https://twitter.com/APMarkLong/status/14...6CGUA&s=19

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We are in almost complete agreement, except that I would add offensive line to the list of worries.

Oh the OLine is absolutely a worry but that’s one that’s been beat to death lol

On to Denver I guess!

I am already dreading Jawaan Taylor one on one against Von Miller.

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This game reminded me so much of watching this team last year.  We just overall sucked again.

Are we ever going to pressure the qb on defense cosistently again?

Imo thats the biggest worry and until we can we keep losing.

I am tired of losing period...but I am particuarly tired of losing to the Texans.

Usualy they had the one player we couldn't match up with.  But they got rid of those guys, and still whooped us.  Igh.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Oh the OLine is absolutely a worry but that’s one that’s been beat to death lol

On to Denver I guess!

I am already dreading Jawaan Taylor one on one against Von Miller.

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This game reminded me so much of watching this team last year.  We just overall sucked again.

Are we ever going to pressure the qb on defense cosistently again?

Imo thats the biggest worry and until we can we keep losing.

I am tired of losing period...but I am particuarly tired of losing to the Texans.

Usualy they had the one player we couldn't match up with.  But they got rid of those guys, and still whooped us.  Igh.

Need to assign Manhertz to follow him around the field pre-snap. Make him the Personal Protector for whoever Miller is against that play.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Defense is a joke

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

https://twitter.com/johnreid64/status/14...46114?s=21

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1.  I have no problem bashing my team if it commits stupid penalties that kill themselves.  But for the life of me, I don't understand ANY of the first three horse [BLEEP] holding penalties against us.  Linder threw what looked like a clean block with no holding.  I'm not a huge fan of Jawaan Taylor, but I have no clue what the refs saw on his holding call.  They actually managed to call offensive holding on a CB-#40.  It got to the point where I was actually surprised when we had a positive run that WASN'T called back due to offensive holding.  It was down right insulting to see Texans fans indignant about the false start penalty on the 4th down when the C lifted his head and the ball.  In fairness to them, I thought Griffin interfered on that end zone pass  Having said all that, this was far from a solid game penalty wise.  There were still plenty of mental errors and dumb penalties.  How many illegal formation penalties can we have from Ts lining up too far back?  We blew two time outs in the first quarter.

2.  For years, people clamored for a switch to a 3-4 defense as if it would solve all our problems.  Clearly after today, it's not proven true.  While I know we needed 3-4 DL to stock the roster, I did not see us sign any true dominators.  That showed today because we weren't able to really stop the run.  While Josh Allen got an early sack, we didn't do a good job pressuring the QB.  Much like in the preseason game against the Browns, we had difficulty defending short passes outside, and compounded that by giving up deeper passes.  Cooks was the one guy who could beat us deep. and we let him do it twice (More on this later).  The bottom line is we are a long way from being solid defensively.

3.  I thought the secondary would be an area of comparative strength for us with the infusion of speed.  But I didn't imagine how poorly the team would be in terms of playing the ball.  Griffin made a great play on the ball early in the game, but dropped an INT on the first drive that could have changed the game for us.  We can't afford to NOT make a play like that.  Lots of people were upset that Wingard started ahead of Andre Cisco.  It appears they were right.  There were several times he appeared out of position and beaten, even if the completion wasn't made-like when he was beaten badly by the TE down the right side on an incomplete pass.

4.  What will it take for our receivers to consistently catch passes that are catchable?  There were, what, three dropped passes in the first quarter alone?  Granted, some of those passes were a little behind the receiver, but all of them hit the receivers in the hands.  

5.  During the preseason, I had some concern that there was offensive imbalance.  That cooncern crept up again, as TL had some 51 passes, and there was a stretch early on where they had 7 passes and zero runs.  Penalties had much to do with the imbalance early, and then it got exacerbated when the team fell behind.  But the team has to stop killing itself with penalties that put them behind schedule, and then they have to have more offensive balance, especially against teams with superior pass rushes like Denver and Arizona coming up.

6.  I know this will invariably sound like "So Mrs. Lincoln, aside from your husband being shot in the head, how did you like the play?"  But all of the penalties aside, the O-line did not play too, too badly.  Considering we were constantly in long yardage and behind throughout the game, I thought the protection was decent, only giving up a sack.  I thought they also did a decent job opening holes in the running game, considering those early holding calls were complete fiction.

7.  Rookie Watch:

     a.  Trevor Lawrence-I thought he was okay today, all things considering.  He had moments where he looked really good, like the TD passes to Manhertz and Chark.  He climbed the pocket well, and moved while looking to pass.  There were times it looked like he could have run, and most rookie passers similarly situated might have run, but he kept his eyes downfield to his credit.  He had moments where he didn't look so good, as would be expected by a rookie making his first start.  The numbers show he threw 3 INTs.  I think the first two picks were the direct result of being in long yardage due to penalties and him trying to play hero ball.  That was especially true on the first INT where he scrambled to his left and tried throwing against his body and overthrew the receiver.  The second INT was set up by a holding penalty that negated a decent play, putting the team in long yardage.  I don't know what the hell happened on the 3rd INT.  As I said earlier, he suffered from some drops, but there were plays his accuracy was off.  All in all, I saw enough from him to be encouraged, but if his rookie inclinations to try to do too much are to be minimized, the team will have to reduce the penalties-actual or fictional.

     b.  Travis Etienne- DNP-on IR.

     c.  Tyson Campbell-Once again, the whole scouting report thing about him being unable to play the ball effectively reared its ugly head early on on that first deep pass to Brandon Cooks.  Once again he was in a position to possibly knock the ball down, and once again, he didn't/couldn't do it, and it flipped the field, leading to the first Texans' TD.  He i already one of the most frustrating Jaguars I've seen in a while.  I don't know how he can improve his awareness, but I hope Ash, Cullen, Meyer et al get it figured out fast.

     d.  Walker Little-I did not see him play at all.

     e.  Andre Cisco-I saw him play, but he did not stick out, aside from not being in the game when Wingard was inexplicably the starter.  I have to think he would have done a better job on the TE than Wingard, and I shudder to think of Wingard against Noah Fant next week.

     f.  Jay Tufele-I don't know if he played.  I didn't see him.

     g.  Jordan Smith-See above.

     h.  Luke Farrell-see above.

8.  For all of the hype surrounding Agnew, he didn't make much of an impact.

9.  Speaking of special teams, Lambo missed a needed 55 yard FG.  Granted, a 55 yarder is no chip shot, but in order for us to win this year, he will have to make those.

10.  I think Urban Meyer and Company deserve some criticism for the way this game played out.  From the team's inability to line up properly to wasting two TOs in the first quarter, too many things looked like the results of a team not prepared.  We'll see how this team will bounce back, but there were too many ugly, sloppy moments in this game.  Lots of his critics have said that there aren't any directional schools or Northwesterns on the NFL schedule.  They are wrong.  The Jaguars are the directional school/homecoming opponents.  Shaking my head in dismay.

11.  Bottom line-Aside from the flashes from Lawrence, there wasn't much to like in this performance.  As vastly outplayed and outcoached as this team was today, the level of competition will step up a couple of levels in the next couple of weeks.  The penalties that weighed this team down like an anchor will have to disappear if this team is to have any balance.  Otherwise, the pass rush will be far more of a problem for Trevor Lawrence than it was this week, resulting in far fewer of these positive flashes.

Great write up as usual Bullseye. Agree with most of your take.

1- Yeah we had some horrible calls go against us and the fumble being overturned felt like any early gut punch but this is one of the things im hoping to see from Meyer that Marrone couldn't do. Getting this team to overcome adversity. Were going to have bad calls go against us and give the opposition O a free 1st down or put us in 3rd and long but im hoping by the season end we can roll with those punches a bit more rather than letting them be the calls that kill us.

2- Ive been one of those thinking we have personel more suited to a 3-4 but yesterday was a rough learning curve. I said after the Saints preseason game that we need to do a better job of each unit working with the other. If the rush isnt getting home then the DB's have to keep coverage. The LB's need to take away the easy underneath so the rush can get home. Just getting everything clicking and again, sadly cant see it happening all at once but as the season goes on, hoping it starts to come together.

3- Yep the D didnt play fast all day. Looked like they were thinking a lot more than just playing. Is that as they are still learning the system? Time will tell.

4- The WR group had a bad day and didn't help Lawrence out too much today. Some real drive killer drops and like you say, few passes were behind or high but still catchable for an NFL WR. My hope is it can only get better.

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No balance offensively. Really odd penalties. Illegal formations, holdings, dropped passes, self inflicted wounds. The defense was vanilla. Taylor actually looked pretty good.

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I am surprised about this, but I have to say it- we looked like a very poorly coached team that was not ready to play.  In addition to the players playing poorly, the lack of offensive balance really stood out.  I don't think we had one official running play in the entire first quarter.  We had a couple but they were called back by penalties.  I cannot fathom putting a rookie QB out there and having him throw every play like that.  Especially after all the coach speak about balance.  And then Urban Meyer after the game laments the lack of offensive balance.  Isn't he the head coach?  

Then there was the poor coverage, bad tackling, penalties galore, and dropped pass after dropped pass.  And the confusion on defense.  

Yes, Trevor made some mistakes, but at times he looked like the #1 overall pick. 

This was an absolute turd sandwich and it was a total team effort, especially by the coaching staff.

The next game will be crucial to how this season goes, because it will tell us, are we going to be better than this, or not?  Does Joe Cullen know how to coach defense, or not?  Did we get some decent players in free agency, or not?  Does this coaching staff know how to implement a game plan, or not?

We got a lot of hype in the preseason about how great this player or that player looked, how much better we're going to be, the new team spirit, a team on the rise, etc.  But if you look back, we got crushed by every first team offense and defense we played.  Heck, we even got crushed by Cleveland's backups.  We only looked good when Dallas sat their first and second string players and only played their 3rd and 4th string.

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The thing that stuck out most to me about this game is what a huge mistake it is to put a guy that doesn't understand the NFL in charge of your NFL team.

Campbell continues to look like a guy that probably should have been a late round special teams pick, the offense looked slow, they had to take multiple times out because they couldn't get a play in coming off an officiating timeout, and the team looked utterly unprepared to play an NFL game that they had months to gameplan for.

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The thing that stuck out most to me about this game is what a huge mistake it is to put a guy that doesn't understand the NFL in charge of your NFL team.

Campbell continues to look like a guy that probably should have been a late round special teams pick, the offense looked slow, they had to take multiple times out because they couldn't get a play in coming off an officiating timeout, and the team looked utterly unprepared to play an NFL game that they had months to gameplan for.

I thought the fact that Meyer has experienced NFL coaches around him would alleviate any problems with his lack of experience, but after the game yesterday, your point must stand as correct unless and until Meyer can turn this thing around.

The thing that gets me is, did no one ever say, hey, guys, is this really a good idea to have Trevor drop back and throw on every play?  Didn't they have a meeting and make an offensive game plan?  Being behind is no excuse.  This happened from the very first play.  We have a very experienced offensive staff, and in the weeks leading up to our first game, everyone said, we're going to rely on our running game.  What happened?

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While I'm bummed about the loss, the one thing I was most wanting to see was if Trevor Lawrence looked legit and I think he answered that question.  Dude is gonna be good.  Probably as bad a situation for him as could be expected in week 1.  Trailed from the get go as defense was terrible, put into a bunch of awful down and distance due to stupid penalties and mistakes, texans knew he was going to pass almost every down, etc... but for his first ever game, he looked the part.  Huge arm, could slide in the pocket to avoid the rush, wasn't scared to throw down the field in the intermediate part of the field.  He made throws we haven't seen here since peak Brunell.  Yea he wasn't perfect but whatever.  First ever NFL game and put in difficult positions all game long.  Of course he would make a few head scratchers.  But his upside is through the roof.  I think he is gonna be really really good.

As far as Meyer, terrible coaching job.  Team made so many dumb mental mistakes.  Had no answers for the Texans and not sure we ever adjusted (admittedly I quit watching our defense in the second half and only flipped back when I knew our offense was on the field).  Got away from the run way too early.  His decision to be aggressive at the end of the first half cost us as a touchdown as he had to guess our defense might wilt.  While all around terrible first game, I'm not going to write him off.  I know a lot of people don't like him and want him to fail so it's not always easy having rationale discussions about him but the guy has always been a winner.  He was able to win in college by out scheming people but he was also able to do so by out recruiting people.  Wherever he went and whatever the situation, he figured out ways to win.  Does that mean he will in the NFL?  Of course we don't know.  But I think the guy has shown in his previous jobs the willingness to fix problems and adjust to the circumstance of the job.  He'll have to do that here as well.  All offseason I kept thinking about Jimmy Johnson who was obviously a great college coach, had a horrific first year in the NFL taking over a lousy team while starting a rookie QB, and eventually turned into a super bowl winner.  I walked into this season thinking Urban, just like Lawrence, will have ups and downs.  But as long as we see improvement throughout the year, I'd be hopeful.  I'm not going to change that opinion now.

As far as this specific game, the biggest surprise to me was our secondary.  They were awful!  Winguard was his typical self.  Looked out of position at times and missed a couple of tackles.  But some of the biggest gaffes in the secondary and the most meaningful plays were from our big money guys.  Other than that first drive of the game, Shaq Griffin seemed slow and was constantly getting beat.  Gave up that almost hail mary looking pass late in the first half inside the 10 yard line where Tyrod really just threw it up. And I didnt think Jenkins was much better.  You mentioned Tyson Campbell as giving up that big play early in the game to Cooks but I'd argue Jenkins was more at fault for that.  It's possible Campbell got totally burned or it's possible based on the coverage he was playing underneath the guy expecting safety help.  Either way Jenkins had the clearest and easiest opportunity to knock the ball away and chose to go for the pick instead even though it was 3rd down.  And as we all saw Cooks stole it from him.  And as far as missed tackles, I think he might have had more than Winguard.  Neither shaq or jenkins lived up to the contracts we gave them.  And then poor Campbell.  Dude should never be an inside slot guy.  Way too stiff and laterally slow.  All the concerns we heard about in the offseason came to fruition.  And while this may be on the linebackers, nobody back there could figure out how to deal with pick plays.  Our guys were getting caught up in the wash all game giving Tyrod easy completions.  Just a terrible all around game from everyone in the secondary.  If they dont clean that up, it's gonna be a really long year. 

Offensive line only gave up that one sack.  Thought Lawrence saved them from a couple more.  Overall looked roughly the same to me.  They might have been a really good line 40 years ago when running the ball was more important.  But it's a passing league and their skillset isn't as valuable in the modern NFL.  Still not sure why we didnt try to upgrade the line more aggressively in the offseason.

As you already eluded to, for a team coming off a 1-15 season with a ton of holes and five early round draft picks, kind of disappointing we only got meaningful impact from one of those.  To have a decent chance of being somewhat good this year, gotta think we needed a lot of production from our rookie class.  And doesnt look like we'll get it outside of Lawrence.  Etienne loss is a bummer but after game 1 feels like we need the defensive guys (Campbell, Cisco, and Tufele) to really step up.

(Emphasis added_

I am not sure any QB in this team's history makes the TD pass to Chark.  I don't recall Brunell rolling to his left and throwing deep right.  BL doesn't make that throw.  he had the arm strength but not the mobility.  I don't think Garrard would have seen Chark or looked off the S to get it to him.  Gabbert would have gone fetal in the pocket.  Bortles would have found a way to throw the INT.  Minshew might have moved around, but his pass wouldn't have made it to Chark.

I figure gradual improvement would be the key for the year, but it seemed Houston was ripe for the pickings.  They were behind their rebuilding process.  In my eyes, they are where we were last year.  We'll have to beat them later in the year.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

The thing that stuck out most to me about this game is what a huge mistake it is to put a guy that doesn't understand the NFL in charge of your NFL team.

Campbell continues to look like a guy that probably should have been a late round special teams pick, the offense looked slow, they had to take multiple times out because they couldn't get a play in coming off an officiating timeout, and the team looked utterly unprepared to play an NFL game that they had months to gameplan for.

I thought the fact that Meyer has experienced NFL coaches around him would alleviate any problems with his lack of experience, but after the game yesterday, your point must stand as correct unless and until Meyer can turn this thing around.

The thing that gets me is, did no one ever say, hey, guys, is this really a good idea to have Trevor drop back and throw on every play?  Didn't they have a meeting and make an offensive game plan?  Being behind is no excuse.  This happened from the very first play.  We have a very experienced offensive staff, and in the weeks leading up to our first game, everyone said, we're going to rely on our running game.  What happened?

I thought similarly. I figured Bevell would help him to have the team reasonably prepared to play and Meyer's problems would be more situational and in the flow of the game, and that the Jaguars' superior talent would help them overcome it and possibly even look really good since they had the benefit of an unknown scheme. Boy was I wrong.

Of course the worst part was putting Meyer in charge of the draft and player personnel, that Campbell pick is going to be an albatross around his neck for a long time. Khan might want to get out in front of things and strip him of personnel responsibility today to stop any more really bad moves like him trading away a young and promising player for peanuts.

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If we would have continued running it, we would have set the record for penalties.

The NFL wanted to to showcase the 1st Overall Pick's arm and passing abilities, so refs were instructed to force the Jags to pass

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I have a feeling there’s going to be some frank conversations this morning amongst the coaching staff. It will be unavoidable with EVERYONE in sports and social media blasting the obvious mistakes.

I expected our defense and OL to be bad, but sitting Robinson for most of the game while forcing TL to sling the ball over and over was just jaw droppingly dumb.

Meyer will figure it out, and he better do it quick. I don’t think he had quite grasped that he is no longer the big man on campus. Yesterday was a cold splash of reality.

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I will keep it simple. as of yesterday jags are the same team as in the past.  

Same loseing culture,same loseing team,same loseing attudtuide notheing has changed from last season to this years week 1 except coaching staff,and qb. 

the question now is will it contintue,if team keeps putting that trash on the field from yesterday it will.   


they need to do something to get better question is what.   My video  today will be mean,but maybe its what coaches,and team needs.

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snowwolf titans owner in madden.

note titans owner means im undeafted againest them. 

The thing that stuck out most to me about this game is what a huge mistake it is to put a guy that doesn't understand the NFL in charge of your NFL team.

Campbell continues to look like a guy that probably should have been a late round special teams pick, the offense looked slow, they had to take multiple times out because they couldn't get a play in coming off an officiating timeout, and the team looked utterly unprepared to play an NFL game that they had months to gameplan for.

I thought the fact that Meyer has experienced NFL coaches around him would alleviate any problems with his lack of experience, but after the game yesterday, your point must stand as correct unless and until Meyer can turn this thing around.

The thing that gets me is, did no one ever say, hey, guys, is this really a good idea to have Trevor drop back and throw on every play?  Didn't they have a meeting and make an offensive game plan?  Being behind is no excuse.  This happened from the very first play.  We have a very experienced offensive staff, and in the weeks leading up to our first game, everyone said, we're going to rely on our running game.  What happened?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the impression that Meyer has one of those strong personalities where he believes he is the smartest person in the room and he doesn't like being questioned. Maybe the other coaches are intimidated by him? Who knows? You'd think if this was a truly cohesive coaching staff, those questions would've been addressed, but apparently they weren't. They just kept marching Lawrence out there and having him chuck the ball downfield like a bunch of 6th graders on the playground with a Nerf football.

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Thanks for the write-up Bullseye. I haven't seen it mentioned yet but the holding call on 40 was probably a ref mistake that the network just ran with when the number was announced. I'd wager that the call was on O'Shag (80).

Not going to reiterate the coaching complaints that are all quite justified.

A few things not stated thusfar though. Starting Wingard wasn't the cause of the loss. Cisco wasn't going to carry the secondary any better, and Griffin was having a rough day. I don't know if that means he's being called upon to do too much freelancing, if he's overestimating his recovery distance, or what, but it's not something I feel will be a thorn in our side like a number of the high priced FA we've seen come and go through Duval.

Simply put, TLaw had a wicked case of butterflies. Experience will help avoid alignment penalties, as will learning how much leeway an officiating crew will give. One aspect of the jitters that nobody has raised, surprisingly, is it seemed like as the game went on, TLaw lost his touch on passes. He was rifling passes that didn't need a tight window, and I think that helped to cause a number of the drops late. He'll settle down with time. I expected to see some errant throws early on, and he'll learn from those.

That's the biggest takeaway here. In the past, a lopsided loss was frustrating, aggravating, disgusting, because I realized this was the hand we were dealt, and the likelihood of growing beyond that failure was asking a LOT. On Sunday, I walked away understanding that this is going to take time to build, but I'm very confident in our QB. I just hope the coaches are able to put him in position to grow and gain confidence.

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If ETN didn't get injured, do we think they trade Robinson before the season? I don't know why he was rarely used. Whole game was painful and a continuation of last year.

I hope they improve over the season and we can see it. It has been rough as heck.

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The Khan Years

Patience, Persistence, and Piss Poor General Managers.