What’s the biggest difference between this year and last years Jaguars?

[Art_Vandalay]

I think everyone except the Jags organization knew continuing to succeed with Blake Bortles wasn't sustainable. Add injuries to key players to the mix and there's your reason.

[footbull3196]

9 hours ago, SwoleXmad said:

Greg Olsen hasn't been the Jaguars OC since 2016 when he was fired because Bradley needed a scapegoat, dude's been the QB coach for the Rams (in 2017, and OC for the raiders in 2018) Dude is an underrated coach tbh. 

Nathaniel Hackett has been the OC the past 2 seasons, but I agree with the rest of this.

I think it’s hilarious how people are acting like Bradley just needs another chance to be a head coach now that he’s doing well again as DC of the Chargers.  Seriously, that’s all he’s ever been and all he will ever be

[animaltested]

2017 : SWAGGER = PERFORMANCE

2018: SWAGGER > > > PERFORMANCE

[Shanedorf]

3 hours ago, ET80 said:

As soon as adversity popped up, that team turned on itself and couldn't rally back.

Yup
Handling adversity is often an under-appreciated part of team-building. They need to gel as a team so when the **** hits the fan, they rally together and trust and believe in each other. Its one of the downsides to using Free Agency so heavily,  that is often overlooked.

When you build a team from the top down ( high priced FA starters) they arrive and are handed the starting position on a silver platter. Meanwhile, when you build the roster from the bottom up -  with young ascending players fighting for snaps - it creates the bond of shared sacrifice. And that's what helps cement teams together in times of trouble.

With a collection of mercenaries, its a bit more difficult. Achieving the right balance of both is the Holy Grail in the NFL.

[DawgX]

I think they also benefited from being in a bad division last year. Tennessee has had their number, but the Colts didn't have Luck and Houston was without Watson for most of the year.

[pwny]

4 hours ago, ET80 said:

There is also a major lack of leadership in that locker room; As soon as adversity popped up, that team turned on itself and couldn't rally back.

Of all the problems the team has - and there’s a lot of them - this isn’t one of them.

[tom cody]

They performed to well last year, I figured they'd take a step back this year, albeit I didn't think it'd be this big. 

[Shanedorf]

35 minutes ago, pwny said:

Of all the problems the team has - and there’s a lot of them - this isn’t one of them.

Opinions vary and I claim no knowledge of the Jags in-house situation at hand. But a quick search turned up this one below:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/mike-jones/2018/10/22/jacksonville-jaguars-blake-bortles-self-destruction/1731828002/

"During post-game media availability, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue had to be restrained from a teammate, and multiple players could be heard arguing even after reporters were kicked out of the locker room prematurely.

Sunday’s infighting was nothing new. The Jaguars had their spats during the preseason, but starting off 3-1 served as a Band-Aid for those issues. Now, with Jacksonville's defense crumbling under the weight of the offense’s shortcomings, the fractures – among teammates and even coaches –are once again evident.

“You all walk in here, you all see how it is in here, you all see how we vibe with each other,” cornerback Jalen Ramsey told reporters on Sunday. “You all see how we vibe towards the coaches, you all see how it is. It is no secret what’s going on here right now. Ain’t nobody going to say it because we can’t, but it ain’t no secret what’s going on and it ain’t right right now. It is what it is.”

The Jaguars are imploding"

 

[ET80]

15 minutes ago, Shanedorf said:

Opinions vary and I claim no knowledge of the Jags in-house situation at hand. But a quick search turned up this one below:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/mike-jones/2018/10/22/jacksonville-jaguars-blake-bortles-self-destruction/1731828002/

 

"During post-game media availability, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue had to be restrained from a teammate, and multiple players could be heard arguing even after reporters were kicked out of the locker room prematurely.

 

Sunday’s infighting was nothing new. The Jaguars had their spats during the preseason, but starting off 3-1 served as a Band-Aid for those issues. Now, with Jacksonville's defense crumbling under the weight of the offense’s shortcomings, the fractures – among teammates and even coaches –are once again evident.

 

“You all walk in here, you all see how it is in here, you all see how we vibe with each other,” cornerback Jalen Ramsey told reporters on Sunday. “You all see how we vibe towards the coaches, you all see how it is. It is no secret what’s going on here right now. Ain’t nobody going to say it because we can’t, but it ain’t no secret what’s going on and it ain’t right right now. It is what it is.”

 

The Jaguars are imploding"

 

This is what I'm thinking of - I believe this was after the Texans game. Ngakoue had a blow-up on the sideline that game as well, had to be restrained by Calais Campbell IIRC.

It's something we saw LAST season too, after the loss to Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers - arguments on the sidelines, etc. 

Stable locker rooms don't really deal with this.

[stl4life07]

The biggest difference is the Jags had to face Watson twice and Luck twice plus they still havent beaten the Titans this season or last season. The Jags went (10-6) last season. Had they played Watson and Luck twice, what wouldve been their record? My guess is (8-8) because at best they split with both the Texans and Colts. Would that have gotten them into the playoffs? No. They still have the same issue and thats poor QB play. If a team doesnt have a QB, they dont have a shot. Now lightening can strike. A broken clock is right twice a day. Last season Bortles had his moments but he still isnt the QB to trust. Even his own coach said that if he had a choice he would run it on every single play. The defense can only do so much. Fournette when healthy, and he rarely is healthy, can only do so much. Thats why the Rams, Eagles, Bears, Bills, Cards, and Chiefs all traded up for QBs. Thats why the Browns stockpiled picks and eventually got a QB. Like you need one and the Jags dont have one at the moment. You can make a case that some teams in the NFL have two better QBs on there roster than the Jags. Like the Jags legit need a QB.

[Tugboat]

On 05/12/2018 at 10:02 PM, dtait93 said:

I do believe injuries have played a very large factor. They were extremely healthy all of last year.

This is part of it.  Not in the sense that they've been unduly hit with injuries per se...but just in how flattering it was for them to go basically all of last year with 2 injuries that mattered.  1 to Allen Robinson for the year.  And Telvin Smith missing a couple games, where the defense looked pretty precarious without him.  But that was pretty much it for major impact injuries, other than a few guys being banged up here and there and playing at less than 100% for some games.  They were unreasonably, unsustainably healthy last year.  Which led to not really having great backup plans in place for if/when injuries happened this year.

Really, across the board...they didn't have much in the way of a credible Plan B this season.  Very few places on the roster where they had strong insurance for an injury to a starter.  And also pretty much across the board...they looked at a season where the whole team collectively had a "career year", and expected them to somehow exceed that this year.  Instead, somewhat predictably, everyone came back down to earth to various degrees, and they had nobody really "overperforming expectations" to pick up any slack.  They didn't add anyone with a shot at doing that.

And of course Bortles in particular took a step back from what was already a precarious starter level of play.  He's been absolutely horrendous this year.  And again, they didn't have a real backup plan for this year if Bortles play fell off again.  They brought in Cody Kessler as the backup plan, which they made abundantly clear they had no intention of using unless Bortles got injured.  It took most of the season of Bortles playing like a steaming pile of garbage to finally bench him and go to the backup QB.  A backup QB who has predictably looked like an inadequate Plan B to have sitting behind an unreliable "starter" like Bortles.  There was never any chance Kessler was going to come in and look like even a lower-end starter if Bortles faltered.

Plus, the obviously favourable schedule last year which they haven't had this year.  Though they've also had winnable games this year that they've lost, so it's hardly just that.

 

Basically, the offense has been completely worthless, which has placed absurd pressure on the defense causing it to start crumbling as well.  Both in keeping them on the field constantly, and just in the futility of it all when the offense literally cannot do anything.  That kind of suck has to make it tough to go out there week after week and put it all on the line as a defensive player, knowing the offense is just going to do everything they can to sabotage and throw the game away anyway.

And from there, they've completely imploded.  They look like they've completely given up on the season, and the brass are running out of scapegoats to pin the disastrous losses on.

[CWood21]

On 12/6/2018 at 6:57 AM, TheKillerNacho said:

Utterly baffling that Jacksonville didn't make a bigger play for Bridgewater.

Bridgwater doesn't change things for Jacksonville.  They'll luck into Herbert and move forward with him.

[TheKillerNacho]

40 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

Bridgwater doesn't change things for Jacksonville.  They'll luck into Herbert and move forward with him.

How are they going to luck into Herbert?

Surely Herbert is going to whoever pays a kings ransom to San Francisco or Oakland for the 1st overall pick...

Unless the Jaguars trade up, they aren't going to come close to snagging Herbert. They could choose between Dwayne Haskins (if he declares) and Drew Lock, though, I guess...

 

Also say what you want about Bridgewater, but he's faaaar better than Kessler and Bortles. Coming off an AFC Championship game appearance where they proved their one liability was the QB position, why would they not make a move to sign him to compete with Bortles (or trade the Jets for him later on the offseason)?

[CWood21]

3 minutes ago, TheKillerNacho said:

How are they going to luck into Herbert?

Surely Herbert is going to whoever pays a kings ransom to San Francisco or Oakland for the 1st overall pick...

Unless the Jaguars trade up, they aren't going to come close to snagging Herbert. They could choose between Dwayne Haskins (if he declares) and Drew Lock, though, I guess...

You think Jacksonville is winning another game this year?  You're higher on them than I think anyone on the Jaguars board is.  They're currently 4-9 and got blasted by the Titans last night.  They've got Washington, Miami, and Houston as their remaining schedule.  The only one I think they have a chance with is Washington but that's because they're starting Mark Sanchez, and I still think the Redskins are a better team.  NY Jets and Arizona are both ahead of them, but both have their QBs in place so they could be trade down options.  Detroit has Arizona, Buffalo, and Green Bay the rest of the way, so they're probably a shoe-in for at least one more win, if not two or three.  Atlanta has Green Bay and Arizona the next two weeks, they're getting at least 1 win there if not two.  NY Giants are playing well so they'll probably be able to turn a win against the Redskins.  Buffalo has the NY Jets and Detroit, both winnable games.

San Francisco and/or Oakland isn't trading down.  They're taking Nick Bosa and Ed Oliver in some order.  And nobody is going to pay the premium to move up to select Herbert and get Oakland or San Francisco to give up an elite DL prospect.  But going back to the teams currently slotted inside the top 10, how many of them need or will be in the market for a QB?  San Francisco has Jimmy G, Oakland has Carr, NY Jets just drafted Sam Darnold, Arizona just drafted Josh Rosen, Detroit has a TON of money tied up in Matthew Stafford, Atlanta just signed Matt Ryan to a huge extension, Buffalo just drafted Josh Allen, and Green Bay just signed Aaron Rodgers to a mega extension.  Inside the top 10, you've got Jacksonville and NY Giants as the only teams who are really in the market for a QB.  You move into that 11-18 range, and you've got Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Miami, Washington, and Denver as the only real possibilities.  It's not a real strong year for needs at QB.

NY Giants/Jacksonville take Herbert, Haskins/Lock go to teams in that 11-18 range.

[Speedyg]

31 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

You think Jacksonville is winning another game this year?  You're higher on them than I think anyone on the Jaguars board is.  They're currently 4-9 and got blasted by the Titans last night.  They've got Washington, Miami, and Houston as their remaining schedule.  The only one I think they have a chance with is Washington but that's because they're starting Mark Sanchez, and I still think the Redskins are a better team.  NY Jets and Arizona are both ahead of them, but both have their QBs in place so they could be trade down options.  Detroit has Arizona, Buffalo, and Green Bay the rest of the way, so they're probably a shoe-in for at least one more win, if not two or three.  Atlanta has Green Bay and Arizona the next two weeks, they're getting at least 1 win there if not two.  NY Giants are playing well so they'll probably be able to turn a win against the Redskins.  Buffalo has the NY Jets and Detroit, both winnable games.

San Francisco and/or Oakland isn't trading down.  They're taking Nick Bosa and Ed Oliver in some order.  And nobody is going to pay the premium to move up to select Herbert and get Oakland or San Francisco to give up an elite DL prospect.  But going back to the teams currently slotted inside the top 10, how many of them need or will be in the market for a QB?  San Francisco has Jimmy G, Oakland has Carr, NY Jets just drafted Sam Darnold, Arizona just drafted Josh Rosen, Detroit has a TON of money tied up in Matthew Stafford, Atlanta just signed Matt Ryan to a huge extension, Buffalo just drafted Josh Allen, and Green Bay just signed Aaron Rodgers to a mega extension.  Inside the top 10, you've got Jacksonville and NY Giants as the only teams who are really in the market for a QB.  You move into that 11-18 range, and you've got Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Miami, Washington, and Denver as the only real possibilities.  It's not a real strong year for needs at QB.

NY Giants/Jacksonville take Herbert, Haskins/Lock go to teams in that 11-18 range.

This team can beat Miami and Washington.

I know they looked fugly last night,  but this is still the same team capable of holding a red hot Colts offense to zero points. 

The titans trounced the Jaguars week 17 last year too, then proceeded to beat Buffalo, Piitsburgh, and almost New England. 

What I'm saying is...throw out any game vs Tennessee when looking at the Jags. That team, regardless of who they have, or what year it is, somehow always brings out their best vs the Jaguars.