Two (Or More) Steps (Leaps) Back For the Jaguars

I’ve never understood how a team plays one way on a particular Sunday only for the next game to arrive and completely implode. It’s the nature of today’s game. This was yet another big cat massacre. The Jacksonville Jaguars have been much better on the road, having kept games extremely close, going into overtime a few times, and even squeezing out their single win of the season in Indianapolis. I don’t know what exactly the home crowd has done to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it seems as if the home team has some kind of vendetta against these frustrated fans.

Last week I did a post which was perceived as guarded optimism by some and just flat out inconsistent negativity by others. Now I must reflect and ask myself…is 8-8 truly feasible?

By the numbers, it’s still possible. It is only feasible if the Jaguars stop playing like they did this past Sunday which by now seems to be highly unlikely.

Calvin Johnson abused Derek Cox all day long to the tune of 129 receiving yards. George Selvie notched a sack, but other than that Stafford seemed to be very comfortable in the pocket.

Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-US PRESSWIRE It really did not matter as the Lions ran all over the defense with Mikel Leshoure racking up 3 TDs. Joique Bell ran in the last one just to be really mean.

Justin Blackmon had his first touchdown grab of the season. It was good to see him get into the end zone. Cecil Shorts had a serviceable 56 yards receiving, and Laurent Robinson even had 6 grabs for 41 yards. Gabbert threw for 220 yards, and two touchdowns which occurred in the 4th quarter. They were pretty much garbage time cosmetic touchdowns that the opposing defense really doesn’t care to stop because their offense is destroying you…with Mikel Leshoure and Joique Bell. Our run game has disappeared which is a major concern. I was really hoping Jennings would look better than this.

Overall it was just another uninspired, stale performance where the game was never in question. There seemed to be zero urgency among the offense. Once again we had a very difficult time pushing the ball downfield. So what exactly needs to happen here?

This team needs to learn how to play with consistency. Consistency takes time to develop. After all, it’s only week 9 with just a little over half of the season having already been played.

Seeing so many games like this at home in 2012…it can become very tiring. You can grind out stats all day and try to make sense of it all, but in reality we’re simply not playing solid, consistent, fundamental football.

The season is pretty much over if the Jacksonville Jaguars keep this up. It might be high time to stop looking at wins and losses and start evaluating individual players and how they do on the field. Which players should stay? Which players should go?

Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-US PRESSWIRE

This Thursday night the Jags play host to red hot Andrew Luck and the upstart Indianapolis Colts. It would mean a lot to the fan base to sweep the rookie quarterback, and when it comes to division games all bets are off. The experts will surely be picking the Colts to completely demolish the Jaguars and with good reason.

It would be incredible to notch our first home win of the season on a national stage, upsetting the first overall pick in this year’s draft and sweeping our division foes. One can only hope that they play with more intensity than they did last week…because my “8-8” theory is making me look pretty rotten.

-David R. Johns