The Jacksonville Jaguars

[Adam White]

I don't think embarrassing does today's performance justice. But if it will make Jalen shut up for a week, that would be nice.

However, I will hold off final opinion until I see some stats from NRW which may somehow show the Jags were actually great.

We're on to Houston.

I was there. 

It was bad.

There are no stats to defend that abortion.

I just assumed that the Jaguars and Dolphins switched defenses.

[bill]

LOL so true

[Lostwave]

Shad Khan withdrew his offer to buy Wembley Stadium.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/jaguars-owner-shad-khan-withdraws-bid-for-wembley-stadium

[Tacachale]

^WJCT has it too:

http://news.wjct.org/post/shad-khan-backs-out-bid-londons-wembley-stadium

[Adam White]

That's good for Jacksonville and good for English football.

[KenFSU]

Lots of talk coming out of the NFL owners meetings that there's significant concern about the viability of the Chargers in LA. Will be an interesting story to follow for the next couple of years.

[Snaketoz]

Why are we still talking about the Jaguars moving?  Why is there talk of Wembley and Shad Kahn moving to London?  Why aren't we talking of the ridiculous state of the Jag's team and why they still have fans?  This team is heading in the wrong direction and it isn't toward London.  I was hoping after last season the Jags were moving towards having a team that was capturing the loyalty and admiration of us Jacksonvillians who longed for an NFL team and after getting one, a team to make us proud.  I know all of you Bortles lovers and blind homers don't want to discuss it, but this team is committing one of the most famous, sure fire, mistakes to ruin a team that has ever been known....Keep making the same mistakes, over and over, keeping the same mindset and personnel, and thinking you're going to get a different result.  The Jaguars should have NEVER extended Bortles.  He is making a bad situation worse.  He is terrible for this team.  He is a jackass that is ruining young receivers, keeping our defense on the field too long, making too many bad decisions, and making $18 million a year.  Is there any other team in the league that would give anything to get Bortles?  Why haven't we moved on from him?  He is not an NFL caliber QB  Could our rookie be any worse? Kessler could do the same for a fraction of Bortles' salary, probably better.  I wish some of you that claim to believe in Bortles to speak up and let's discuss it.  He is the Jag's number 1 problem.  Let me know if I am wrong.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

You're right Snaketoz...   Let's get rid of Bortles.

I can't really defend some of the throws he's made recently.  They've been bad.

You would think that we would run the ball a little more since he's in a bit of a slump?  Oh... hell, I forgot.  LF27 has been out, Yeldon is on one leg, Grant is on IR, Wilds doesn't know how to block and Charles just got here and couldn't get around the corner last week.  So running the ball isn't really an option.

Maybe build a game-plan around some easy throws to make so that he doesn't have to go deep?  Well, with no threat of a running game, defenses are able to sit back in a zone and keep their eyes in the backfield.  Crossing routes take time to develop and our 3rd string LT isn't very good.  Our pass-catching TE is on IR.  His replacement is now on IR.  Our rookie WR Chark is playing like a rookie WR.  Our #1 Lee going into the season was on IR before the season started... so that leaves us with who?  Moncrief, Westbrook and Cole. 

Maybe is we just let our Powerhouse defense keep the games close so that we can somehow scrape by?  Oh....  70 points given up in the last 2 games?  Only 3 INT for the season?  14 sacks through 6 games?  Damn...  I guess that's not really working.

Welp... I guess it's up to special teams to lead us to the promised land.  Let that young punter flip the field!  Let our returners do their return thing!  What's that you say?  Mickens on IR?  Tinker on IR?  So we don't have our returner and we're on our backup longsnapper?  Hell, I just thought the other ST units were faster.  I didn't realize that our punter is 2 yards closer to the line and the ball still isn't getting there fast enough.

After typing all that...  I can only come up with one, single fix that will guarantee us making the playoffs - Let's roll with Kessler.

After I hit return, I had one more thought....
And since we're already projected at $5M over the cap for next year, we should have ZERO problem absorbing Bortles $19M dead cap hit and should be in great position to replace him since he's our ONLY problem.

[MusicMan]

It like Deja vu all over again:

From Wikipedia:

2006
Jacksonville looked like a team on the rise coming off of their 12–4 season, and was considered a playoff contender entering the season. But injuries plagued the team. Reggie Hayward, Greg Jones, Donovin Darius, Byron Leftwich, and Mike Peterson all suffered season-ending injuries. Marcus Stroud, Matt Jones, Paul Spicer, and Fred Taylor also faced injuries during the season. The team started off 2–0, defeating the Dallas Cowboys (earning the NFL's highest winning percentage on opening days at .750 with a record of 9–3), and shutting out the defending champs Pittsburgh Steelers. But the team lost its next two games, and suffered embarrassing losses to the Houston Texans over the course of the season (Jacksonville has struggled against the Texans since Houston entered the league in 2002). They missed the playoffs with an 8–8 record, but there were some positives, in particular an impressive rookie season by their second-round draft pick, running back Maurice Jones-Drew.[32]

[copperfiend]

The game at Tennessee from that year was probably the worst game I ever have watched.

The defense dominated but Garrard threw a pick six and had a fumble returned for a TD. I think Tennessee had about 100 yards of offense and won.

[fieldafm]

The game at Tennessee from that year was probably the worst game I ever have watched.

The defense dominated but Garrard threw a pick six and had a fumble returned for a TD. I think Tennessee had about 100 yards of offense and won.

That day Vince Young looked like probably the worst quarterback to have ever played against the Jags.... and that's a pretty dubious list. If memory serves, the Jags were 8-6 and were in the driver's seat to make the playoffs before those two awful games to close out the year.

Thanks for that memory, lol. I freaking hate the Titans!!!!!

[copperfiend]

The game at Tennessee from that year was probably the worst game I ever have watched.

The defense dominated but Garrard threw a pick six and had a fumble returned for a TD. I think Tennessee had about 100 yards of offense and won.

That day Vince Young looked like probably the worst quarterback to have ever played against the Jags.... and that's a pretty dubious list. If memory serves, the Jags were 8-6 and were in the driver's seat to make the playoffs before those two awful games to close out the year.

Thanks for that memory, lol. I freaking hate the Titans!!!!!

And I believe the week prior was when the Jaguars (literally) ran all over the Colts.

[Snaketoz]

You're right Snaketoz...   Let's get rid of Bortles.

I can't really defend some of the throws he's made recently.  They've been bad.

You would think that we would run the ball a little more since he's in a bit of a slump?  Oh... hell, I forgot.  LF27 has been out, Yeldon is on one leg, Grant is on IR, Wilds doesn't know how to block and Charles just got here and couldn't get around the corner last week.  So running the ball isn't really an option.

Maybe build a game-plan around some easy throws to make so that he doesn't have to go deep?  Well, with no threat of a running game, defenses are able to sit back in a zone and keep their eyes in the backfield.  Crossing routes take time to develop and our 3rd string LT isn't very good.  Our pass-catching TE is on IR.  His replacement is now on IR.  Our rookie WR Chark is playing like a rookie WR.  Our #1 Lee going into the season was on IR before the season started... so that leaves us with who?  Moncrief, Westbrook and Cole. 

Maybe is we just let our Powerhouse defense keep the games close so that we can somehow scrape by?  Oh....  70 points given up in the last 2 games?  Only 3 INT for the season?  14 sacks through 6 games?  Damn...  I guess that's not really working.

Welp... I guess it's up to special teams to lead us to the promised land.  Let that young punter flip the field!  Let our returners do their return thing!  What's that you say?  Mickens on IR?  Tinker on IR?  So we don't have our returner and we're on our backup longsnapper?  Hell, I just thought the other ST units were faster.  I didn't realize that our punter is 2 yards closer to the line and the ball still isn't getting there fast enough.

After typing all that...  I can only come up with one, single fix that will guarantee us making the playoffs - Let's roll with Kessler.

After I hit return, I had one more thought....
And since we're already projected at $5M over the cap for next year, we should have ZERO problem absorbing Bortles $19M dead cap hit and should be in great position to replace him since he's our ONLY problem.

Bortles ISN'T our only problem, he's just the single most obvious.  He is a perpetual rookie.  Can it be any more obvious?  The Jaguars have dummied down the entire offense, not to improve their chances of being successful, but to make it possible to try to make up for Bortles ineptness. He is a bottom of the barrel QB even with the garbage time stats that keep him from being the worst starting QB ever.  I keep getting asked, "who can the Jags get that is better?"  That may be a valid question.  What I say is why has this failure gone on so long?  Why haven't we brought in an established backup or a talented project QB?  Is it going to take Bortles being injured to make the management do what they should have done years ago? *Since Bortles entered the league as the third-overall pick, he has tossed 72 interceptions (in 68 games), most in the NFL, ahead of Philip Rivers (65) and Eli Manning (61). His interception percentage (2.9%) ranks 33rd, tied with Brock Osweiler and Trevor Siemian, and just a smidge better than Jay Cutler and Blaine Gabbert (3.0). Since Bortles entered the NFL (from 2014-present), he ranks 34th with a passer rating of 80.8 – tucked between Brian Hoyer and Siemian – while completing less than 60 percent of his passes, averaging a modest 6.73 yards per attempt and with 99 TDs-72 INTs (his rating in 2018 is an almost-identical 81.1). The debate isn't  – whether or not he should be the starter on a Super Bowl contender. It's not even  – whether or not to keep him around at $18M a year. No, the salient question was, is and still remains: Is Bortles worthy of being an NFL starting quarterback, period? Could he beat out, in a fair fight, the likes of Josh McCown or Teddy Bridgewater or Chase Daniel or, gulp, dare I even broach the name of the quarterback the NFL tries to pretend doesn't exist, Colin Kaepernick? Here is what Bortles has done in the first half of the Jags' last three losses: 26-for-48 (55 percent) for 230 yards (4.79 per attempt) with no touchdowns, two picks and five sacks. That adds up for a rating of 49.83. No team can win that way, and this team as presently constructed certainly can't survive that, even against other offensively-strapped teams like Tennessee and Dallas. Against the Titans in Week 3, the Jags failed to score a touchdown.  I've never said this until now, but I'm about to jump on the Kaepernick bandwagon.
*CBS Sports.

[ProjectMaximus]

The game at Tennessee from that year was probably the worst game I ever have watched.

The defense dominated but Garrard threw a pick six and had a fumble returned for a TD. I think Tennessee had about 100 yards of offense and won.

That day Vince Young looked like probably the worst quarterback to have ever played against the Jags.... and that's a pretty dubious list. If memory serves, the Jags were 8-6 and were in the driver's seat to make the playoffs before those two awful games to close out the year.

Thanks for that memory, lol. I freaking hate the Titans!!!!!

It's ok cause our peak from that stretch was the following season: 2007.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Snake,

I read that article the other day, too.  I'm pretty sure SMM calls me out on cherry picking stats too.

Nick Foles won a SB with a career QBR less than Bortles.
His completion % is higher than Foles & Newton and within 2 % points of Jameis, Luck, Tyrod, Goff and Mariota
He has more yds/att than Flacco and within a 1/2 yard of guys like Newton, Eli, Wentz & Carr

In that same timeframe he's thrown for more total yards (16,602) than Rodgers, Dalton, Luck, Winston & Flacco
To go along with his league leading # of INTs, he's tossed more TDs than Flacco, Tannehill, Prescott & Foles