The Jacksonville Jaguars

[Wacca Pilatka]

The team has spent so much money on this defense. And against the first team offenses for Tampa and Carolina, the defense had zero answer. Carolina did not even throw a pass and got into the red zone. And then Kelvin Benjamin was wide open for a TD to close that drive. Just like last week against Tampa.

If the defense can't stop anyone, they will be lucky to win two or three games. The schedule features the likely worst teams in the league (SF, NYJ and CLE), so they could win a few of those. But against teams like Pittsburgh...there are going to be some ugly results.

Well, that last part was right in a way.

[KenFSU]

Jaguars are offering two free tickets to the Rams or Bengals game if you've attended a concert at Daily's Place.

Check your inboxes if you're interested, I just got the email.

[Keith-N-Jax]

Amazed at those who have so little interest in the NFL but yet they still find time to post in forums related to the NFL

[ben says]

I have to admit my interest in the NFL has plummeted. No, it has nothing to do with the anthem. I just find the product horrible.

Care to elaborate?

[seaspray]

I semi-tuned out the Jags because I wanted Gus fired during his 2nd year.

I believe in Marrone and I truly think that he is a great fit for the Jags. Glad to see that there are signs that we may be finally coming out of the Dark Ages, after a horrible decade of football (really the last 6 years, starting the 2011 season). Fondest memories are going to Jags games in the late 90s. Hopefully the wins keep on coming

[Keith-N-Jax]

Amazed at those who have so little interest in the NFL but yet they still find time to post in forums related to the NFL

And I continue to be amazed at how pathetic Jag fans can be. I guess we are two peas in a pod.




Actually you seem to be pathetic, I'm bored and hate this but here you are. Pretty sure you can find a rally to attend this weekend.

[Snaketoz]

I have to admit my interest in the NFL has plummeted. No, it has nothing to do with the anthem. I just find the product horrible.

Care to elaborate?

Sure:
1. Dilution of product with now reg Sunday games, Sunday Night,Monday night,International, and the horrible Thursday night match ups (short week of prep is glaring as well)
2. penalties. too many and inconsistent. no flow to games. Still too many stoppages.
3. With CBA changes, lack of practice time is evident especially for o-line and QB play.
4. Injuries seem more common (could be wrong as have not looked at data) and since most are due to luck, it seems that if you are healthy (as opposed to actually being good) you are a contender. The lack of depth (and lack of practice time again) comes into play as well.
5. I think bad teams make changes too quickly. Keeps them bad.

Those are some quick ones. I still watch Pats and Jags games but that is about it. And even those I find myself bored.

Before any overly sensitive football/Jag fans freak out: I am not asking anyone to agree with me. I used to be a huge NFL fan....now just a fan. At the rate I am going, I would not be surprised if I am completely done when Brady retires.

Oh, I should also add that I hate the NFL as an organization...raping tax payers, not caring what players were doing to women, not caring about the players (concussions, drugs, etc), among other things. This has nothing to do with the product itself I guess but it affects how I feel about their product.

I can understand you matt.  I was at one time, a big NFL fan.  I grew up here in Jax rooting for the Redskins, went to the Gator Bowl when Ursay visited, teasing us with a chance to get the Baltimore Colts, having friends over, or going to friend's for Monday night football, etc.  I still like the Jags, win or lose, but I don't get upset with them anymore, and I don't watch much of anything else, NFL wise.  I am sick that TV contracts have taken over.  Every timeout, injury, change of possession, turnover, penalty, ANYTHING, we have several commercials.  It's ruining my enjoyment.  A football game is 4, 15 minute quarters.  We have to endure an additional 2 hours of commercials, talking heads, and B/S.  If you get up off your ass and go to the games, what's the point?  You still have to wait on TV.  There's a guy running around with a big orange glove telling the ref to stop the game for some "important news" from their sponsors.  Everything has been sold.  It isn't the south end zone anymore, it's the Dr. Hester's Rectal Itch Creme fun zone.  Not an instant replay any longer, it's the Konica-Minolta insta-vision replay.  Instead of watching several games per week, I now am lucky to stay interested in the Jaguars.  Couldn't agree more with most of your post.

[MusicMan]

Agree a lot of the product sucks.  Not to uncommon for a team to have less than 100 yards of total offense at the halftime nowadays.

Injuries to so many marquee players as well.  Not much you can do about that. Super huge guys colliding with one another at top speed.

Personally I thought the jags were awful for their only home game this year. THEY WERE! 

Blake Bortles is about to make $17,000,000 next year. Swallow on that my friends.

FOR REFERENCE: At the end of first quarter, the MN Vikings have 2 yards of total offense against the 1-3 Chicago Bears.

[MusicMan]

Is anyone watching MNF? I'm in shock at Minnesota offensive stats.   34 total yards offense in first half.

[Snaketoz]

Is anyone watching MNF? I'm in shock at Minnesota offensive stats.   34 total yards offense in first half.

I'm watching my PBS.  (lite on commercials)

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I'm at work and am taking a much needed break, but didn't flip over to the game.

I agree with SMM about the product being diluted.  Too many days of games.  Give me all day Sunday and a premium match up on Monday night with Al Michaels and Collinsworth and I'm a happy camper.  I don't need RedZone, Sunday Ticket or 6 TVs on at once.  Give me 2 games on a network, one being the AFC South Leading Jaguars and other is whatever.  Kind of like how cable has ruined Saturday cartoons for all of the generations after mine.  Now Saturday morning is really no more exciting than a Tuesday night to the kids in the house.

Also, I've cut the cable cord, so I don't even get Monday night football over the box or any of the other over-done, 24hour look at me bullshit,  but it's easy enough to find a stream on Reddit if there's a game I want to watch.

Personally, I like the slug-fest games.  I loved our game against Pittsburg - the win helped, but watching Fournette and Ivory run the ball right at a defense that was expecting it, but couldn't stop it in the second half...   In a word - Awesome.  That's my kind of game.

But I'm kind of an odd-bird because I also like watching no-hitters, soccer matches, Saturday golf, my lawn growing and paint drying.   I am totally A-O-K watching strategy v/s action any day.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I agree about product dilution, excessive commercials, and inconsistent application of penalties too.  But I'm enjoying this season more than the last few, not just because the Jaguars are performing better. 

The commercial intrusions are fewer than in past seasons - they seemed to reach an extreme last year when there would be two minutes of commercials, kickoff for a touchback, more commercials.  The ads after kickoffs and punts and during timeouts have been limited.

The networks finally seem to have taken fan complaints about broadcast quality seriously.  Watch an NFL game from the 80s, as I often do on Youtube, and the quality of commentary is strikingly better - less repetitive, less star-centric, more insightful.  CBS took a big step in the right direction with relegating one of the worst offenders, Phil Simms, to the pregame show and replacing him with someone capable of providing actual insights.  I think the Catalan/Lofton team that covered two of the first three Jag games did a pretty good and incisive job too.  There are still annoyances out there - Buck/Aikman are at best bland and inoffensive, Gruden repeats the same observations all night and descends into silly football jargon.  But overall, I hear improvement.  It's not that I listen that hard to the commentators - I just hope for some actual insight into what teams are doing, and really just something better than "Well, Jim, if they move down the field, they'll score some points" for three hours.

Most of all, the NFL had gotten to where it was almost inevitable that the teams with elite quarterbacks would be the ones left standing at the end, and the playoffs would involve shootouts between two of those QBs where the last man with the ball would win.  I remember watching a game as a little guy that ended 51-45, Jets over Dolphins, with Ken O'Brien and Dan Marino passing for well over 400 yards each and neither team getting a stop all day.  That's thrilling, if it's out of the ordinary.  When every game between top teams is like that, for me, it's grating and boring.  I didn't sign up to watch arena football.  I miss stylistic contrasts among the elite teams.  Watching power vs. finesse and run vs. pass creates diversity and interest.  It's why I enjoyed the Seahawks' Super Bowl run, even though I don't care for the team at all. 

The rules liberalizing the passing game had gone way too far.  Watching elite QBs dink and dunk down the field all day got tedious, particularly when they were enabled in doing so when breathing on a receiver draws pass interference, and the elite receivers in particular are allowed to push off with impunity.  Especially tiresome is watching these bunch formations where one or two of the receivers' entire role is to plow into defenders with no fear of penalty, while the broadcasters cheerfully dismiss it as a "rub" play.  I'm pretty sure in the Manning years, Dallas Clark could've thrown firecrackers at defensive backs without getting called for an OPI.  Plus every elite QB and receiver hops up yelling for a flag on every play that doesn't result in a completion.  Entitlement is tiresome.

This year OPI seems to be a point of emphasis (though it's not been called consistently) and defensive backs seem to be allowed to use their hands more.  And to that I say: THANK YOU.  I'm sick to death of basketball on grass.  Calling back to what NRW said, it seemed to have diluted strategic diversity and complexity.

[Tacachale]

According to a new survey, 35% of Jaxsons are less likely to follow the Jags because of the kneeling controversy, but 12% are more likely, and a full 50% don't care either way. There's a substantial divide on party lines; Republicans are far more likely to be upset by the protests.

Khan has a 66% approval rating, and Marone's is 58%.

https://www.unf.edu/publicrelations/media_relations/press/2017/New_UNF_Poll_Reveals_Dividing_Nature_of_NFL_Protests_Among_Duval_County_Voters.aspx

It'll be interesting to see the attendance on Sunday. So far attendance has tracked closely with last year's averages (over 61k for our regular season game) but that was before the kneeling.

[Wacca Pilatka]

^ I tend to look at preseason attendance as a floor, since very few people buy preseason game tickets.  Jags had about 56k tickets distributed for both preseason games, as compared to 59k last year.  A reflection, I'm sure, of people who cancelled due to the disappointment of last season and lost hope for this year, as well as the fact that this year's package of home opponents is not as attractive to group sales brokers.  (The Packers, Vikings, Raiders, and Broncos games drew a boatload of visitors last year.)

For the opener there was a surge of late purchases due to excitement over the big win in Houston, plus the distribution of tickets to first responders post-Irma.  That's what took it to 61k.  I imagine there will be some similar surges if the Jags stay competitive, just as there were when the team got hot in 2007 and 2010, or even for the last couple of home games of 2015 when the Jags routed the Colts and it briefly looked like they could win out and the division winner would be an 8-8.

[FlaBoy]

The politics will hopefully fade away soon. If they win this week, and take care of business against a bad Indy team without Luck, that Nov 5 game against the Bengals will be lit. Winning will heal most issues.