The Jacksonville Jaguars

[BridgeTroll]

Game Grades...

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/09/21/mia-jax-grades-jags-defense-shines-in-win/

Here are the top takeaways and highest-graded players from Sunday's Dolphins-Jaguars game:

Miami Dolphins

– Both offenses stalled in the second half, and for the Dolphins, a significant factor was the frequent pressure put on QB Ryan Tannehill (+0.4). When he wasn't pressured, Tannehill looked much improved over his rough Week 1 performance, delivering dimes at 7:26 of the first quarter (dropped by Greg Jennings) and in the two-minute drill at 1:11 of the second. The problem was that he faced pressure often—44.7 percent of dropbacks versus 32 percent in Week 1—with a -3.3 grade and sub-50 percent completion rate on those plays.

– Week 2 brought another solid performance from WR Jarvis Landry (+3.5), who continued his hot start to the season catching eight of nine targets for 110 yards, and getting open against multiple defenders. One thing that stands out is his ability to adjust to the ball in the air, which was on display at both 13:20 of the second quarter and at 14:18 in the third quarter.

– After giving up more 4.4 yards per carry in Week 1, this was a much better effort in run defense for the Dolphins—in particular from LB Jelani Jenkins (+4.0), who rebounded nicely from a rough first quarter to end the game with a team-high seven defensive stops and a positive grade in both run defense and in coverage. Koa Misi (+2.6) also posted two stops along with three pressures as a rusher, making him our highest-graded 4-3 OLB through two games.

Top Performers:

LB Jelani Jenkins (+4.0)
WR Jarvis Landry (+3.5)
TE Jordan Cameron (+3.1)
C Mike Pouncey (+2.
LB Koa Misi (+2.6)

Jacksonville Jaguars

– The Jaguar defense deserves a lot of credit for keeping Jacksonville competitive after the offense went scoreless for the majority of the second half. No player had a better game than former Dolphin Jared Odrick (+6.5) did at defensive end. What was more impressive than the volume of disruptions (five combined sacks, hits, and hurries) was the speed with which he was beating opposing blockers when he did manage to get pressure. That was evident on two of his second quarter pressures (11:33 and 0:28) and especially late in the fourth quarter when Odrick almost single-handedly stifled the Dolphins offense. At 3:02, he effortlessly handled LT Dallas Fox on his way to a sack-forced fumble before batting a pass on the next play, putting the Dolphins in third-and-long situation at their own 1-yard line.

– This was a fairly inconsistent performance from QB Blake Bortles (-1.3), who was superb against the Dolphins blitz (+2.1 raw grade and 146.7 passer rating), but battled inaccuracy at times and had a few throws that his receivers made look better. Bortles hit second year WR Allen Robinson (+2.1) for big gains in the first half, but perhaps locked onto him a bit too much after that. Miami cornerback Brent Grimes certainly appeared to catch on, reading and dropping what should have been a fairly easy interception late before halftime.

– Despite rookie RB T.J. Yeldon (+0.4) forcing four missed tackles and making some good plays on the ground, the Dolphins largely stifled Jacksonville's run game, holding both Yeldon and Bernard Pierce (-0.1) below 2.8 yards per carry. This was the second week in a row that the team's offseason addition at center, Stefen Wisniewski (-5.0), graded negatively in run blocking with issues against the combination of Earl Mitchell and Ndamukong Suh.

Top Performers:

DE Jared Odrick (6.5)
WR Allen Robinson (+2.1)
S Sergio Brown (+1.9)
CB Aaron Colvin (+1.9)
DE Ryan Davis (+1.

[pierre]

Odrick had a great game.

[RattlerGator]

BridgeTroll, those look like some really weird grades for Yeldon and Bortles -- both deserve *great* grades to me.

[MusicMan]

RattlerGator, I'm a season ticket holder. Check back with me when we are half way through the season.

The in-stadium game day experience is flat out awesome. When the team gets good, this will be a tough ticket to get. Right now there seems to be plenty available.

The reason we won is we did not have any turnovers.

Max, you are being pretty tough on Rashad Greene.  Last time I checked he was the only one to catch a TD pass in the first game. None of he other guys, much higher draft picks who get paid a lot more, did that. He is a 5th round pick and a rookie, and he responded to his mistakes with a big punt return. I recall Blake Bortles threw a lot of pick six's and no one is asking for his head yet.

[Rynjny]

The reason we won is we did not have any turnovers.

Dolphins didn't have no turnovers too...is that the reason they lost?

[thelakelander]

^Dolphins lost because they had no pass rush and played undisciplined football. Too many penalties that either kept Jags drives alive or killed theirs. The last one made a difficult pending FG into an easy chip shot.

[ProjectMaximus]

Max, you are being pretty tough on Rashad Greene.  Last time I checked he was the only one to catch a TD pass in the first game. None of he other guys, much higher draft picks who get paid a lot more, did that. He is a 5th round pick and a rookie, and he responded to his mistakes with a big punt return. I recall Blake Bortles threw a lot of pick six's and no one is asking for his head yet.

Maybe I'm being tough but it's reality. I certainly wasn't saying he's finished...far from it...I'm simply pointing out that his struggles seem to be mental. It's the kind of thing that could never be a problem again or it could mess him up for a long while.

The comparison to Bortles is silly though. Obviously you're gonna give a QB drafted 3rd overall more opportunities than a 5th-round slot receiver. Some 5th-rounders on some teams don't even get on the field. That said, there are plenty of irrational people who have called BB a bust already and cried for Caldwell to go in a new direction.

[I-10east]

The Indy Dolts lost big time LOL. Jax and Tenn tied for for first place!!! 

[I-10east]

A Jags fan at Lucas Oil Barn trollin  LOL

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204622627860862&set=gm.888985054484714&type=1&theater

[RattlerGator]

MusicMan, season-ticket-holder-status doesn't affect carrying around Negative Nelly. Let her azz go.

Also, don't look now but . . . the Colts are eminently beatable. So are the Titans, and so are the Texans. There's an incredible opportunity for the Jaguars to win this division *this* year with the game against the Patriots this weekend being COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to the question.

That's a damn good place to be. And it is at least one year ahead of schedule by anyone's reasonable reckoning. Beat the Buccaneers in a few games (Tampa Takeover!) and we can claim the mythical state championship, too.

Finally, one of the biggest unacknowledged benefits from winning that Miami game is that it was broadcast over the entire State of Florida (that almost never happens for the Jags) against the most popular football franchise in the state. And we did it with a native Floridian at QB. The Jags picked up some fans last weekend, no doubt about that. Now it's time to really start growing the brand. In Florida. And we do that by . . . beating Tampa!

[MusicMan]

Regarding turnovers, if we had not had the pick six and the fumble we might be 2-0.

[Downtown Osprey]

I still think this is Indy's division to lose. But you are right, our division is bad, like really bad. No reason why we can't have a shot at coming right behind Indy. But who knows, split the series with them and see what happens.

[MusicMan]

RattlerGator, I just re-read my post and there really is nothing negative about it, just a simple statement of fact.

I think the only film you should watch on the NE patriots is the last 2-3 games they lost. Everybody knows how they win, Tom Brady left unmolested in the back field picking apart teams. IN ORDER TO BEAT NEW ENGLAND, YOU PRETTY MUCH HAVE TO RUN A PASS OR RUN BLITZ ON EVERY PLAY, PREFERABLY RIGHT UP THE MIDDLE. Brady is the second most immobile QB in the NFL. You have to give him happy feet, hit him hard several times in order to beat that team. If he's standing in the pocket casually perusing the field waiting for someone to get loose we will get our asses beat.

[copperfiend]

I still think this is Indy's division to lose. But you are right, our division is bad, like really bad. No reason why we can't have a shot at coming right behind Indy. But who knows, split the series with them and see what happens.

It's nice that right now all the division games look "winnable".

They really don't have much of a shot at winning in Foxboro this Sunday but after that, it would be nice if they could win at Indy.

[I-10east]

I still think this is Indy's division to lose. But you are right, our division is bad, like really bad. No reason why we can't have a shot at coming right behind Indy. But who knows, split the series with them and see what happens.

If you was to say that before the regular season, I would agree; right now, no way IMO. The AFC South is truly up for grabs. Indy is in extreme disarray right now. Their team has alot of injuries, their GM and coach hate each other, their coach blamed the star QB, all kinds of disfunction.