Josh Scobee had another good season on field goals, but the special teams unit on the whole was mediocre at best.  Source: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Over the past week we have been through the Jacksonville Jaguars 2012 roster to try and find the problems that led to the franchise’s worst-ever record: 2-14.  There were so many problems with this team that it goes well beyond one article. So, for the sake of simplicity, we took it one position at a time.  Now, we’re onto our final look at how the Jags finished an abysmal 2-14.

This time: special teams.

Here are the other parts of the series: QB, OL, WR, TE, RB, DT, DE, LB, CB, S

Special teams isn’t really a position, but doing individual pieces solely on Josh Scobee, Bryan Anger, and kicking/punt coverage may bore more than one person.  So, dear reader, we have put it all into one post.

The Jags have two very big legs in Scobee and Anger.  Say what you will about drafting Anger in the third round (and you should say a lot) but the Jags do have premium talent at both kicker and punter.

Josh Scobee has made a name for himself in Jacksonville as a very reliable kicker.  In the 2011 season he hit on 92% of his kicks and this season he nailed an impressive 89.3%.  However this tied him with Arizona Cardinals’ Jay Feely at just 13th. Scobee only hit one of two kicks beyond 50 yards, and just 84.6% (11 of 13) of kicks between 40-49 yards.  Fortunately for the Jags, Scobee was able to bring it home by hitting every kick from 1-39 yards (13 of 13).  This was Scobee’s third highest percentage of kicks made in his career (92% in 2011 and 92.3% in 2007).

While Scobee isn’t exactly a superstar, he is one of the better known Jaguars in the league.  Source: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

Scobee also doubles as the place kicker on kickoffs for the Jags.  Here he struggled in 2012.  Scobee averaged only 66.1 yards per kickoff (24th in the league) and had just 26 touchbacks (24th).  Only 39% of Scobee’s kicks were touchbacks which allowed a greater chance for teams to burn the Jags’ poor coverage, as we’ll see later.  Despite the poor coverage, Scobee’s average starting position for the opposing teams was the 22 yard line (21.8 yard average).  His leg was hardly the root of the Jags’ problems on kickoffs, however.

Poor Bryan Anger will probably never live down being picked before Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 draft.  But for a rookie punter with a chip on his shoulder, Anger did pretty well.  Anger tied for the second longest punt of the season with a beautiful 73 yarder in week nine.  Anger also did well with his punt average of 47.8, good for seventh in the league.  Just 44%of Anger’s punts were returned (17th in the league) to go with his generally long punts.  A large part of this was due to Anger punting 6% of his punts out of bounds.  Further, 32 of Anger’s punts were within the opponents’ 20 yard line (eighth in the league).  To further prove Anger’s worth, he finished 10th in the league in net yards with 41.3 despite having the most return yards in the league.

Which brings me to the worst part about the Jags’ special teams: kicking and punting coverage.

The Jags were generally atrocious in punt coverage.  Despite Anger booting the ball downfield the second most times in the NFL (91), keeping up a consistent average of 47.8 yards per punt, and forcing just 44% of punts to be returned, the Jags allowed the most punt yards returned in the league.  The other top five punters with returned yardage all had at least 52% or more of their punts returned.  This problem is partly due to the Jags punting far too many times, but it also has to do with the coverage.  Arizona’s Dave Zastudil punted the most in the NFL (112) and had a low 42.9% of his punts returned and finished sixth in yards returned.  The Jags simply could not cover punts.  This hit an all time bad when Montell Owens was starting at running back against the New England Patriots and they returned 75% of Anger’s punts for over ten yards per punt return.

Major offenders on kicking and punting coverage were undrafted rookies Antwon Blake and Kevin Elliott who tied for third in the league with five missed tackles a piece.  In fact they tied with the Giants, Ravens, and Texans with the third most missed tackles on returns (25).  For Josh Scobee who had 56.5% of his kickoffs returned, this was a major problem.

But the Jags return game is surely their saving grace, right?

Wrong.

No returner (of which the Jags had 10, not counting DE George Selvie and TE Zach Potter) had a return longer than 32 yards and the average return was just 21 on kickoffs and 7.3 on punts.  The Jags’ best punt returner, Quan Cosby, was mediocre at kick returns and was only with the team for two games.  Not surprisingly, the Jags did not return a kick or a punt for a touchdown during the 2012 season.

What the Jaguars have on special teams is a mixed bag.  The specialists, Scobee and Anger, are quite good while the rest of the players are not very good.  Coverage failed time and again (especially against the Tennessee Titans in the season finale).   Unfortunately for the Jags, they just weren’t good enough to in other phases of the game to make up for it.

- Luke N. Sims

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Ok, nobody’s really too excited about the last 6 games of this merciless season, especially with Chad Henne at the helm. Sure he threw for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Texans defense, but what good does that do the Jaguars? The season is already over and the likelihood that Chad Henne is the long term answer at quarterback is miniscule.

Thank you SBNation.com, for this glorious gif.

Thank you SBNation.com, for this glorious gif.

Nonetheless, Jaguar fans actually had something to cheer for last week. If Henne can make the team look competitive down the stretch and allow some of the younger players to showcase their ability, then there are plenty of reasons to watch. Even this week against the Titans.

November 18, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon (14) attempts to catch a pass during the first quarter as Houston Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson (25) defends at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

Justin Blackmon will have 100+yards receiving: FACT

Justin Blackmon finally had his breakout game last week (boy did he ever) and he should have plenty of chances to stay hot against a Titans defense that ranks 26th in pass defense. A big difference between Henne and Gabbert is that Henne is willing to make some risky throws and let his receivers make a play. Blackmon did that a few times last week and had a ton of yards after the catch. Blackmon and Cecil Shorts have a chance to cement themselves as a one-two punch at the receiver position for a long time.

Chris Johnson will have 100+ yards rushing: FICTION

Jacksonville did a good job holding Arian Foster to 90 yards last week and has been good in spurts against the run recently. The defense is giving up almost 140 yards on the ground a game, but I expect them to sellout against the run this week to prevent a big play from Chris Johnson. The defense is going to need a good effort from Austen Lane and Jeremy Mincey, since Johnson has been on a tear for the last few weeks.

Chad Henne will have over 300+ yards passing: FICTION

As I indicated earlier, Henne got away with a lot of throws last week. He also started cooling off down the stretch, finishing only 16 of 33 with a 48.5% completion percentage. The Titans aren’t quite the offensive machine the Texans are, so Henne won’t need to drop back and sling it so much. Unless Jalen Parmele and the rushing offense is completely ineffective, don’t expect Henne to throw it as much as he did last week.

Rashad Jennings has been a disappointment the entire regular season. Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

Rashad Jennings has been a disappointment the entire regular season.

Even with a slight improvement at the quarterback position, the Jaguars seem overmatched. Regardless, the Jaguars only have a few more chances to try to get a win at home and this might be their best opportunity. Expect a close game that’ll come down to the last drive, and hopefully a Scobee field goal.

Jaguars 20 – Titans 17

- Daniel Lago

In the three home games this season, the Jaguars have lost by a combined score of 105-20. We don’t even average a single touchdown at home!  That is unacceptable from a collection of 53 men that call themselves professional football players.  I don’t care as much about road games, but losing home games like that is extremely embarrassing.  We want The Bank to be a place that opponents fear!  A place that they prepare an extra week in advance for because the home team always plays above their abilities every time and find ways to win for their raucous home crowd foaming at the mouth to add another visiting victim to the slew of paupers graves we toss their mangled remains into.

Instead it is a daycare center that visiting teams use to get healthy, pad their stats, and give backups and rookies large amounts of playtime.  It is an automatic victory for everyone that comes into our home!  This atrocity cannot stand.  There is only one way to fix it.  SELL OUT EVERY HOME GAME.

The Jaguars need to sell out every game.  I don’t want to see a single untarped seat empty.  Buy all the Jaguars apparel you can afford (I can’t believe how expensive that stuff is btw), come out in droves, tailgate your face off, and stay until the 4^th quarter clock strikes 0:00.  And Boo.  Boo until you go raspy and then boo some more.  Stay absolutely silent when the other team is on offense.  Go absolutely nuts when the offense is out there.  Do not give this Jaguars team a single moment’s peace.  If they are going to hose us, we’ll hose them right back.  This is the best way to get the results we want. Why, you may ask?

If the Jags suck and no one goes to the games, we’ll be LA bound in hot minute.  We need to support the IDEA of the Jaguars.  We need to let Khan, the other 31 owners, Goodell, and ESPN know that Jacksonville is a hell of a place for NFL football.  We need to get the point across that the product on the field is no longer acceptable.  Fans must band together, arm in arm, and rise up as one to fix this abysmal situation we have on the field.  Force major changes and they will come.

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!!!

-LJ