Defense is the Key

Sep 11, 2011; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Dwight Lowery (25) celebrates after intercepting a Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (not pictured) pass to seal a 16-14 victory during a game at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Fernando Medina-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL today has been changing more and more into a high speed, pass-happy league, and the teams that follow that mold are the teams that get the press because for most fans its exciting to watch.  However when the post-season rolls around that’s when the old fashioned style teams come out to play and the teams you see going deep into the postseason are not the teams that are hyped up for being high scoring.  Really its the teams that keep the scores down and play well on defense.

“Defense wins championships” its been the motto of most sports for a long time now, and to look at recent Super Bowls the teams that represent each conference usually end up being teams that have a great defense that is complimented by a good offense that can put enough points on the board to get the win for their team.

Luckily for the Jaguars new Head Coach Gus Bradley is a defensive minded coach and a pretty good one too.  He spent the last three seasons in Seattle putting together what is now one of the top defensive backfields in the game today.  After what happened in the draft you can only assume that Bradley is trying to re-create in Jacksonville the kind of defensive backs he had in Seattle and so far the potential is there for him to be successful.

The Jaguars will be returning Safeties Dwight Lowery and Chris Prosinski along with  corners Kevin Rutland and Mike Harris.  Lowery as of now is expected to start at one of the safety spots with the second round draft pick Johnathan Cyprien.   The Jaguars have also brought in a former player of Bradley’s from Seattle in Marcus Trufant who will battle with Rutland, Harris, third round pick Dwayne Gratz, and free agent signing Alan Ball for a spot to play at corner.

With this kind of competition and the youth mixed with some fairly established veterans to help keep them focused the potential is there for Bradley to put together a pretty stout defense.  Although the Jaguars will not be considered a top contender this or maybe even the next, this group of young players give Jags fans something to look forward to this season to show progress is being made.

– Mike Milder