The Jacksonville Jaguars

[I-10east]

^^^I was very pessimistic concerning the London thing at first, but....now me three

[RattlerGator]

Yeah, it's a definite win for the city and you can see Shad regularly discussing the need to protect the Jaguars position in London. I think some of the other NFL owners have figured out that Shad was ahead of the curve.

I'll also add this: some of the older folks in Jacksonville (and I'm 56, so I include myself) aren't really hip to the difference fantasy football is making in Britain. It's allowing those soccer fans to get interested in the NFL, understand some of the fundamentals, and follow the action through that fantasy angle, which is huge. I thought the reaction of the crowd to the Ohio State marching band was huge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLLRg3Yd7WM

I think the fact that traditional soccer fans in Britain *don't* tailgate allows for a different EVENT to surround our football games and that difference might hook "X" number of them to American football.

It was clearly a pro-Jaguars crowd. Go win some games this year and next, and that association with London could really mushroom into something much more meaningful.

I'm beginning to think I'd love to make that trip for a Jaguars football game.

[Keith-N-Jax]

For those who are thinking about going to London I would start planning now. London is an awesome city and very expensive. I went in 2013 but I am already over here in Germany so getting there was easy. The pep rally is an amazing event not to mention sight seeing in London. So good to finally get a win there.

[Adam White]

I'll also add this: some of the older folks in Jacksonville (and I'm 56, so I include myself) aren't really hip to the difference fantasy football is making in Britain. It's allowing those soccer fans to get interested in the NFL, understand some of the fundamentals, and follow the action through that fantasy angle, which is huge.

It's funny you should mention that. I was talking to a guy in my office who is an Arsenal season ticket holder (Arsenal are like the Pittsburgh Steelers or whatever of English soccer) and he mentioned that he's "more into NFL at the moment" (actual words) because of fantasy football. He was already an NFL fan and is going to the game this weekend. But still, I thought that was funny. Especially since he had attended the mid-week match where Arsenal somehow managed to beat probably the best team in Europe (Bayern Munich).

There are a handful of guys in my office of 200+ people who follow NFL.

[RattlerGator]

Another piece from The Guardian last Sunday; don't think this has been posted:

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/oct/25/national-football-league-london-wembley-buffalo-bills-jacksonville-jaguars

They are beginning to awaken to the reality:

[1]
At Wembley on Sunday two of the smallest and most inconsequential NFL teams of the past decade, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills, played out a minor classic in front of 84,000 people. Next weekend, another sell-out crowd will revel in the whole fist-bumping, XXL jersey-over-hoodie wearing, Lite beer-slurping experience all over again when the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions come to town.

Let that marinate for a moment. We have had two NFL games in London in eight days involving four buck-average teams, and that's being kind. But despite tickets costing between £37.50 and £105 a pop, the games have been sellouts.

How many sports – football aside - could sell out Wembley twice within a week? And how many could do it with teams of the equivalent standard of the Jaguars, Bills, Chiefs and Lions, who between them have won a grand total of eight out of 28 matches this season?

And this was the part I loved:

[2]
So far it appears that American Football in the UK is hardier than many of us imagined. You wouldn't naturally pick the Jaguars to play at Wembley every year, for instance. For years they have been a young team whose spring appears to be on the horizon, but their calendar remains stuck in late February. Since 2012 they have won only 11 out of 55 regular-season matches. They arrived at Wembley having only one once this season yet still the crowd roared them on. And if London can get behind the Jaguars in the bad times, what would they do if the going ever got good?

And this is where I shake my head:

[3]
Opinions vary, but those I spoke to at Wembley thought there were more people in Jacksonville Jaguars jerseys both on Sunday and when the Miami Dolphins faced the New York Jets on 4 October than compared to a year or two ago. And that might be significant too. Because if here were to be a London franchise, the Jaguars – who are owned by Fulham's owner Shahid Khan – are probably the most likely candidate.

They're clearly right vis-a-vis Shad Khan and the possibility he might prefer to be in London, but they're wrong about the Jaguars being the most likely franchise.

[I-10east]

Good news for the Jags, the Panthers won!

[Josh]

Another week, another game in which we find a new way to lose.

Does anyone on our team know how to dive on the ball?

[FSBA]

Just leaving this here

[Tacachale]

SIGH.

[ProjectMaximus]

Another week, another game in which we find a new way to lose.

Does anyone on our team know how to dive on the ball?

Poz was trying to scoop and score with it. Can't blame him for trying to be the hero, but I wish he just jumped on it.

[RattlerGator]

I can blame him, dammit. We needed that "W" bigtime! The bottom line: again, we saw some damn good things from pieces of this football team. Snapshot at the halfway mark: 2 good wins, 2 bad losses, 2 competitive losses, 2 they should have won. We're essentially a 4-4 football team against a schedule that some Jaguar fans are insisting is the weakest in the NFL but that's clearly wrong. Preseason it was rated 8th easiest but I think we may be the only team at the halfway mark that has played 2 of the three 8-0 teams.

That's a 2-6 record largely because of our youth (new kicker blows the game in Indy -- but kicked well last weekend, new returner Nick Marshall is potent but handed the game to Jets last weekend). I'll take it, especially because Blake and the wide receivers continue to make their mark. Without great contributions from Julius Thomas and no contributions from Marqise Lee.

Draft one more defensive difference-maker this offseason, get Dante Fowler on the field next year, build on one more for Blake to work with the WRs -- yep, I likes these pieces!

[pierre]

Luck out with lacerated with kidney.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/11/10/lacerated-kidney-abdominal-injury-sideline-andrew-luck/

The Jaguars are being handed the division on a silver platter. And continue to drop the platter.

[I-10east]

A lacerated kidney & abdominal tear, ouch!!

[RattlerGator]

Man, don't knock yourself out digging up all those excuses.

When an excuse is more likely true than false -- that's A.O.K. with me. Your mileage may vary, MMR.

Sports Illustrated's Monday Morning Quarterback website has a regular feature called TALKING FOOTBALL on Friday. Today, Jenny Vrentas interviewed Vito Stellino for them. He has covered the NFL for 51 years and is in his 15th season as Jaguars beat writer for the Florida Times-Union.

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/11/13/nfl-vito-stellino-talking-football-pete-rozelle-roger-goodell

It was a good read. Here's a sample:

VRENTAS: Speaking of relocation, do you think the Jaguars will stay in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future?

STELLINO: They really lucked out with Shad Khan as the owner. It's very interesting, if Khan had gone to St. Louis, I think he would have made it work there. The stadium in Jacksonville is the same as the stadium in St. Louis. They were built at the same time. There's nothing wrong with the stadium in St. Louis, it just doesn't have the bells and whistles of a new stadium. But Shad Khan created all the bells and whistles in the Jacksonville stadium. They have taken a 20-year-old stadium, which by today's standards, they'd be tearing it down. They have refurbished it, with the world's largest scoreboard, two pools, and cabanas on one end. Now they are going to build this futuristic indoor facility outside the facility with an amphitheater, and they are going to redo the club seats. It's going to be a $90M project, and he's putting $45M of his own money into it. That's not the kind of thing a guy does if he's thinking I'm going to move in a couple of years. And they are selling about 60,000 tickets in Florida, which is always a difficult sell anyway, because you have too much else going on, with the weather and boating and fishing. Selling 60,000, for a team that's won one playoff game since 1999, that's pretty good. I think they're here for the long haul. And they are kind of a model, actually, of how to revitalize what, by today's standards, is an old stadium. They're not even in the conversation about Los Angeles like they used to be. And London, I don't think anybody is going to move to London anytime soon. The logistics are just unbelievable. It would be very, very difficult. I think Shad likes this, he's got an American team, but also a presence in Europe. He probably spends more time in London than he does in Jacksonville. He's a worldwide businessman. I think this works for him and I don't think they will be moving any time soon. Now, 25 years from now, who knows? But I would be surprised if they are not here 15, 20 years from now. And I think there's probably a sense of satisfaction that he's turned this franchise around. He said it himself when he got here, the business model wasn't sustainable. They had some of the cheapest ticket prices in the league, because they hadn't been winning, and then you don't get as many sponsorships. The London thing, playing there every year, helps it be more viable because that's like 15 percent of their revenue. I'm not wild about it, because if they ever start winning, you give up a home game every year, and that's a minus if you are in the hunt for a Super Bowl every year. But it is very good for the bottom line. There's no talk at all in Jacksonville about, are they going to move? He's kind of put that to rest. If they can sell that much for a team that doesn't win, if they ever start to win, I don't think it would be a problem.

VRENTAS: How far away are the Jaguars from winning?

STELLINO: It's kind of all about Blake Bortles. How good is he going to become? Right now, he's a typical young QB, a little bit of a gunslinger, throws too many interceptions. It's hard to say. We'll see what happens in the second half of season. The first two years [under coach Gus Bradley], they got blown out; this year, they are playing a lot of close games but still losing them. When are they going to make that jump? They kind of think by next year, they'll get Dante Fowler back, they'll have another draft class, more free agents, they'll be ready to make a move. Right now, they'd like to at least go 4-4 in these last 8 games. Whether they can do it or not, we'll find out. They need Bortles to cut down on the mistakes and be a little bit less of a gunslinger. But he is a leader, and players follow him. They think he is going to be the guy. He's thrown seven pick-sixes, three this year, and two in back-to-back games. One of them he came back to win, in London, against the Bills. So he's got that typical young quarterback thing. He has got a lot of potential, and we'll just have to wait and see. People forget Chuck Noll won 12 games his first three years. He won 6 games in 1971 with four future Hall of Famers on the team. Of course, they were young, and Terry Bradshaw hadn't developed yet. Jack Ham was a rookie; Mel Blount and Joe Greene were in their second and third years. And then four of them were Hall of Famers in '74. The Jaguars are not going to do that, but it tends to take time, especially when you are committed to building through the draft and trying to build a foundation.

[RattlerGator]

Also, something overlooked by many in the doom and gloom crowd -- coming into this season, the Jaguars purposefully laid low and kept salary cap space. Good strategery! Now, they have *the* most cap space in the NFL:

http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-salary-cap-space-free-agency-2015-3

They are going to be able to be *very* active in the free agent market this offseason and now that Blake is proving himself, players will likely be much more willing to agree to terms and come to Big Duval for a chance to win in the playoffs.

Our team is going to be much better next year. Patience, Jaguar fans, patience.