Jacksonville Jaguars: There are many questions and few answers

There are many questions to be answered after the Carolina Panther game.  The answers are few.

The entire preseason has been focused on the quarterback play.  Is it Bortles?  Is it Henne?  Is it someone not on the team?  The truth is that the entire offensive team still looks flat, dead, and overmatched.  Jimmy Siettmann of Big Cat Country said it best “the Jaguars looked unprepared and not up to the level they need to be physically.”  It won’t matter who plays quarterback if the rest of the team can’t kick it up a notch.

OFFENSIVE LINE

There are many questions about the offensive line.  The  line did not block well for the quarterbacks and did not open holes for the running game.  Also they allowed sacks when they attempted to block for the quarterbacks.  Additionally, they allowed numerous tackles for losses when they blocked for the running game.  The line looked better in the second half when they played against the Carolina Panthers reserves.  This can be explained one of two ways.  First, the offensive line hasn’t  played together long enough to play as a cohesive unit.  Second, the line doesn’t  have the talent to compete against NFL first team talent.  You decide.

DEFENSE

The defense is another question mark? They allowed the starters of the Panthers and the Buccaneers to score on their first possession of the game.  This means the Jaguars are on the wrong end of the score from the beginning of the game.  The Jags offense can’t play catch up.  However, there are some positives.  The defense settled down after the first drive each week.  Also, the starting corners haven’t played as a unit yet.  Barry Church, the starting safety, had a fantastic game.  He is a one man wrecking crew!  This question may have an easy answer.   The defense will settle down and play well in time.  The secondary returns when the regular season starts and the defense will settle down at the beginning of the game.

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QUARTERBACKS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

No one can play quarterback behind a porous offensive line. This isn’t a question but a statement of fact.  This means that our quarterback flaws are magnified.  Ryan Day of bigcatcountry.com said of Chad Henne “this is the Chad Henne we know and love.  Holding the ball too long, letting mistakes by offensive linemen become big sacks.”  Henne holds the ball too long and settles for the short pass too often. Would he do this if he had more protection?  Blake Bortles has too many turn overs and often panics under pressure.   Bortles looked much improved during the second half.  In essence, his decisions were better and he looked relaxed and confident.  Was this due to the fact that the offensive line looked so much better against the Panther reserves?

IN THE END

Here are some answers to the questions.  the offensive line must play as a unit, the defense improves when all the pieces are in place, and someone steps up and looks like a starting quarterback.  If at least two of these occur, we have a chance to compete.