The Jacksonville Jaguars

[Snaketoz]

The toughest part of the season is yet to come.  The Jaguars have finished the easiest part of their season and look pitiful against teams they were most likely to have a chance of defeating.  I guess we'll be seeing paper bags over heads, smaller attendance, and even more lame excuses.  Sad, very sad.

[copperfiend]

This is the lowest moment of an era of bad football.

This team embarrassed itself on national television.

And now the owner says he isn't firing the coach? They play at the Chiefs next week. Likely another bloodbath.

So picture this in 9 days. The Texans will be playing at the Jaguars. 1 o'clock kickoff. 38,000 people in the stands. Bradley being booed at every opportunity. Bortles being booed after every interception. Jaguars receivers being booed after every drop. It is going to be ugly. And Khan is okay with it.

[KenFSU]

How do you possibly justify keeping Gus Bradley on as head coach after the dumpster fire that this season has become? Straight from Khan, the realistic expectation for 2016 was a winning season. We're 2-5 and could easily be 0-7 if we had blown the lead to Indy like we almost did, and had we not caught fire in garbage time to put down the Bears. The team has no discipline. The offense is anemic. The defense looks lost. Our team is loaded with talent, but to a player, almost everyone has regressed under Bradley and Olsen. We were badly, badly embarrassed on national television last night, with the entire Thursday Night Football crew openly observing that the team had quit on Gus Bradley and that it's probably time for him to go.

Tell me, how could things actually get worse by trying someone else out?

Why not Doug Marrone? See how he does for the rest of the season before committing to him long term?

Why not Tom fucking Coughlin? He's 100 years old and looked a little lost the last time he coached, but it's a great story, he's the kind of disciplinarian this team clearly needs after twenty years of Gus Bradley's, "losing is okay! we did some good things~!" ice cream parties, and even if it doesn't work out, it'll still be better than Gus.

It really troubles me to see how quickly things are falling apart. And I think it's really unfortunate that fans are turning on the players, and vice versa, when this is clearly a management issue. From the top-down, there is no accountability. Khan doesn't hold Gus accountable for the worst record in modern NFL history. Dave Caldwell doesn't hold Greg Olsen accountable for his shit schemes. And Gus is rainbows and sunshine after loss after loss after loss after loss. The soft, apathetic, no-consequence, loser mentality of the last few years has got to rub off, intentional or not. Coaching staff can change, but Bortles, ARob, Fowler, etc. may be here for the long run. I'd rather give them the benefit of the doubt and attack the fish at its rotten head than boo or unleash on the players themselves. I don't think we're there yet, it could potentially do long-term damage to players' relationships with the city, and I think the personal attacks on players, at this point, are a bad look for Jacksonville. Go after Gus. Go after Olsen. Go after Caldwell, even. They got us into this mess. The players are caught in the net, and they are very likely just as frustrated as we are.

Seriously though, just so disappointed.

Khan had a very real chance last night to make a definitive statement that losing is simply not acceptable by firing Bradley, maybe even at halftime.

And instead, he made an evening stronger statement by keeping him around.

Maddening.

[Josh]

Khan is an idiot.

[copperfiend]

Blake Bortles career yards/TDs by quarter:
1st: 1,598/4
2nd: 2,356/15
3rd: 1,912/13
4th: 3,364/26

Blake Bortles career passing yards:

When winning: 720

When tied: 1185

When losing: 7002

Some of that is that Bortles has not been good.

But I think a lot of that is that everything around him has been garbage.

The team has never had a running game under Bradley.

The offensive line has always been terrible under Bradley.

With the exception of maybe a couple of games this season, the defense has been atrocious under Bradley.

I do wonder what Bortles could do under a competent coaching staff. It is rare but there have been guys (Alex Smith, Vinny Testaverde) who turned their careers around after putrid starts playing for bad franchises.

Although, I wonder if it is too late at this point.

[Tacachale]

This season is already over, regardless of whether they keep Bradley through the end or fire him now. No new coach, if there's even one available, will turn it around this season.

[copperfiend]

This season is already over, regardless of whether they keep Bradley through the end or fire him now. No new coach, if there's even one available, will turn it around this season.

The players quit on Bradley last night. Everyone who watched the game saw it. You cannot keep that coach.

[funwithteeth]

Nothing is gained by keeping him and it could potentially get worse; Ken's post gave a pretty clear scenario on just how much more toxic things can be by having Bradley remain employed.

[copperfiend]

Not only is Bradley safe. Bradley will not make any changes to the coaching staff.

It's becoming comical at this point.

http://jacksonville.com/sports/2016-10-28/jaguars-coach-gus-bradley-not-making-any-staff-changes

[Ivegotasecret]

Why does team performance matter when we have a swimming pool in the stadium. Now THAT is money well spent.

[KenFSU]

GREG OLSON FIRED!

What we know (courtesy Mike Kaye, FCN):

1) QB coach Nathaniel Hackett has been promoted to OC.
2) The relationship between Bortles and Greg Olson completely fell apart this season
3) Nathaniel Hackett will push up-tempo, faster offense that better plays to Blake Bortles' strengths
4) Players weren't told of the move ahead of time, and found out when the media broke the news
5) Bradley and Olson had internal heat over Olson's inability to establish the run game
6) The decision to fire Greg Olson was made over Gus Bradley's head, by either Shad Khan or Dave Caldwell

On the surface, it looks like the Jags wanted to hold someone accountable, but weren't yet prepared to part ways with Gus Bradley. The decision to promote Hackett also indicates that they want to give Bortles his best chance to succeed before making a decision about whether he's our franchise QB for the future. And, you'd think, that the decision to promote Hackett over Marrone indicates that the Jags might want to have Marrone ready to move into an interim head coach position later this season if the dumpster fire continues.

[remc86007]

I'm glad they did something. They still have to get rid of Gus after this season at the latest.

I'm not sure our offense can be good until we have a decent offensive line, but it would be nice to have rational play calling and discipline in the interim.

[Ocklawaha]

Hello Shad,

First off NOBODY IS AN IDIOT HERE! NOBODY!

There are simply some who fail where others are gifted; selling car bumpers for example. I sure as hell can't do it but I know a guy that really can.

So what about a football team a decade in or under the league cellar?

I think we'd all agree that you hire a coach that has the know how to put first class talent on the field. Hopefully one who is also a real 'field general.'

Unfortunately those traits are not always exclusive to one guy. Bradley and company has certainly brought us the talent, but the attack has been worse than a bad night at Ridgeview High School, a school which incidentally also uses a big cat as their logo.

It's time to cut our losses, write the Bradley group a nice check, shake his hand and say goodbye. With the arsenal he has assembled, we should be blowing these other teams out of our stadium. It's just a different twist on leadership, and God knows, do we ever need a change.

No need for name calling, we just need to see that change coming before the crowds dwindle to 12,000 fans. No city anywhere is going to continue to support field play that would shame the lowly Panthers.

[Snaketoz]

I would like to see Gus speak to the media and talk about the team we have been watching since he arrived.  He always seems to find a way to describe action that was totally opposite what we witnessed on the field.  Even when firing Olson, he talked about what a great OC he was.  Gus needs a reality check. "Greg was a tremendous asset and always put all of his effort in doing everything he can to help in his players' improvement," Bradley said in a statement. "He did some great things with our offense over the past two seasons, and for that, we are very appreciative.
He has a team without direction, discipline, morale, and effort.  You know, in Gusspeak, a fine squad.

[funwithteeth]

Bradley's comments on Olson are just standard post-firing-someone boilerplate. Shouldn't read too much into it. When Bradley himself is axed, Khan will say something similar.