The Jacksonville Jaguars

[thelakelander]

Yes, the booing and the chants could be heard on tv.  I fell asleep watching the first half only to be awakened by the cheering when Bortles started the second half.

[copperfiend]

Bortles looks more comfortable as a rookie thrown into action than Henne ever did.

He should add a nice spark to the offense.

But the defense right now is a joke. Never have I seen a team play defense so poorly that the other team has receivers running wide open. They are historically bad right now.

[I-10east]

^^^+100

If the defense get their heads out of their asses, we could actually win some games this year. I'm so glad that Bortles is finally in there; The offense looked like a totally different team with him in there.

[Rynjny]

Y'all know that its hard to play defense when your offense is going 4 straight 3 and outs right? didn't the defense played better after Bortles came in and you know what Bortles didn't go 3 and out once..so take that for what its worth.

[copperfiend]

Y'all know that its hard to play defense when your offense is going 4 straight 3 and outs right? didn't the defense played better after Bortles came in and you know what Bortles didn't go 3 and out once..so take that for what its worth.

Sure it is.

But the Jaguars defense has gotten torched from the start of the game the last two weeks. So I am not buying that.

[tufsu1]

Yes, the booing and the chants could be heard on tv.  I fell asleep watching the first half only to be awakened by the cheering when Bortles started the second half.

and promptly went back to see when the Dolphins game got started

[duvaldude08]

Y'all know that its hard to play defense when your offense is going 4 straight 3 and outs right? didn't the defense played better after Bortles came in and you know what Bortles didn't go 3 and out once..so take that for what its worth.

Sure it is.

But the Jaguars defense has gotten torched from the start of the game the last two weeks. So I am not buying that.

The middle of the field is a problem with out defense, and it was last year too. Outside of Cpy, that back field is a mess, the FS in particular. And the Linebacker are helping there much either. We definately still have holes all over our roster. PHillip Rivers killed us over the middle of the field last year, and looks like he will again this year.BUT I do think that are being overworked and end up gassed because of the inability of the offense to stay on the field. I mean lets be real about this, they are human beings. Any person in the sun for that long without a break is going to wore down, whether your an athlete or not. I did notice defense tighten up SOME in the second. And I credit that to alteast being able to rest.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I thought this defense would be better this year, despite the shortcomings at FS and Poz's difficulties in coverage, just due to the improved pass rush and more improvement from Cyp and the young corners.  But Guy/Evans and Poz have been glaring liabilities, to where teams can just dink and dunk on us all day.  It's maddening.  I think Telvin Smith should help with his range but he seems to have missed some assignments in the early going too.

Just having Bortles in there and having the offense function better, which puts the defense on the field less, certainly will help.  But a rangier MLB and FS have to be the top targets in the offseason, and it seems like the corners (particularly Gratz) are missing some assignments too.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Everyone expected the defense to be better this year, but.....

Like Gus said in his press conference, it seems like 10 guys are doing their job.

It may be just that simple.   One guy missing an assignment leaves a WR or TE wide-ass open somewhere on the field.  Overall, I really think the D is playing OK, not great, but not as bad as it seems.  It didn't appear that there were any QB runs called, and the only times that Luck scrambled was because there wasn't anyone open - meaning we were doing our job in the secondary.

We have pressure up front.  We appear to cover most of the time.   And we're solid against the run.  But from what I'm seeing is when that ONE guy is out of position, we're being exploited.  When you hit the RB in the backfield, but don't wrap him up and it turns into a gain of 12, that's on ONE guy.  A wide open WR running across the field because someone missed an assignment... that's on ONE guy. 

Kind of to the point of rynjny, the fact that our D is on the field so much allows for more of those mental lapses to occur, whether it's from fatigue, making a rookie mistake or just not giving a fuck because you're already down 20 points halfway into the 2nd quarter.  IDK. 

Maybe Bortles gives us that spark....  I really hope so.

[AuditoreEnterprise]

Yea, having a crap offense or having to play a lot of on field sets as a defense they were getting smoked in the first quarter. If the Linebackers, corners and safety's cant play 20 minutes without being winded then there's a training problem. I mean most soccer players play for 90 minutes no sub outs. So they should be able to play at least 15-20 minutes without getting swamped.

I hope that it was just their morale low and this kid makes a difference. Time will tell if that was the case or if he just caught the team unprepared for his appearance. None the less hope the jags pull it together soon!

[fsquid]

After seeing the Steelers crowd in Charlotte last night, I'd imagine they will take over the Bank in 2 weeks.

[Wacca Pilatka]

After seeing the Steelers crowd in Charlotte last night, I'd imagine they will take over the Bank in 2 weeks.

I'm sure they have, judging from what a hard time I had booking a hotel for my trip down that weekend.  Same situation we had with the Bears game a couple of years ago.  It is lucrative for season ticket holders to sell to these traveling fans that will pay a premium for them.  In some cases, being able to sell one game's ticket at a premium helps justify the purchase of season tickets.

I am hopeful the crowd will not be as lopsided because the excitement over Bortles' first home start ought to encourage people who may have been contemplating selling to keep their tickets.

[duvaldude08]

Yea, having a crap offense or having to play a lot of on field sets as a defense they were getting smoked in the first quarter. If the Linebackers, corners and safety's cant play 20 minutes without being winded then there's a training problem. I mean most soccer players play for 90 minutes no sub outs. So they should be able to play at least 15-20 minutes without getting swamped.

I hope that it was just their morale low and this kid makes a difference. Time will tell if that was the case or if he just caught the team unprepared for his appearance. None the less hope the jags pull it together soon!

Soccer is no where near as physical as football, so that wasnt a great comparsion, but I get it.

[MusicMan]

The giant video boards were awesome. Could not help but think "they distract one from the poop on the field."

If/when the team gets good this will be a great NFL Game Day Experience.

[thelakelander]

What's everyone's Bortles prediction for today's game?