Colts look to keep Jags Winless

The Jaguars look to grab their first win of the season today against the Colts.

Will the Jags go 0-3?

Peter King thinks the Jaguars will win this week against the Colts and avoid falling to 0-3. 

Jags Bring Back Naeole

The Jaguars have resigned veteran guard Chris Naeole, who played for the team from 2002 until last March when he was released. This is a great move that could pay dividends right away depending on Naeole's health. His final season was marred by a torn quadriceps muscle, and this injury must have played a large role in his release from the team during the offseason. With a thin line and a poor running game, Naeole offers as much help as any free agent, and his familiarity with the system should be a massive bonus. If he can get anywhere close to his old form it will be a big boost to the running game. 

Still in it?

Peter King still has the Jaguars in his "Fine Fifteen" installment, suggesting that at least one writer believes their season is not yet over.

Not lacking confidence

Despite the terrible start, the Jaguars are apparently still confident that the season will be successful.

The Jags Impact on Jacksonville

A nice story on how having a professional team has changed Jacksonville. I can't even remember what the city was like before 1995.

Now we may be in trouble....

Around 3:35 pm ET today, the Jaguars were beating the Bills 16-10 and the Colts were trailing the Vikings 15-7, and it looked like we'd be traveling to Indy next week with a chance to go 2-1 while putting the Colts in an inescapable 0-3 hole. Within five minutes the Jaguars allowed the Bills to march down the field for a touchdown, and the Colts had drawn even against the Vikes. Now, we are in danger of being in that 0-3 hole next week. All preseason thoughts that the Jags would just pick up where they left off in Pittsburgh last January are gone. The team can't run the ball. In 2 games, we have rushed a total of 44 times for 131 yards and just one touchdown. While much of this can be blamed on injuries to the offensive line, that problem is not going to go away this season, and the Jaguars will need to find a way to manufacture points. Surrendering just 37 points in two games to teams who both look playoff-ready is no shame; however, when quarterbacks not named Vince Young have been in the game, they have gone 22-27 for 275 yards and a touchdown against us. Those numbers sound eerily similar to Tom Brady's line against us in the divisional playoff game. Drafting Groves and Harvey was supposed to fix the issue of the pass rush, but a total of four sacks in two games is not going to cut it in low-scoring defensive struggles when we are playing for field position and looking to force turnovers. 

Normally, I'd say that going 0-2 would be a disaster, but there is a bit of hope, only because this season has started so unusually. The Patriots are 2-0 but do not look invincible anymore without Brady. The Colts are 1-1 and we could still draw even with them after next week. Another favorite, the Chargers, are 0-2 as well; the Browns are on the verge of going 0-2 as I write this; the Jets, who look as capable of making the playoffs as anyone else, are 1-1 as well. None of these opponents are out of reach for us yet. The major problem are three contenders who were supposed to be trying to catch us all season, but instead have jumped out to 2-0 starts: the Titans, Bills, and Broncos. I hate to say it, but this game against Indy is a must-win. If we take it, we will be favored against the Texans at home the following week with a chance to be 2-2. This will be absolutely essential with games against Pittsburgh, Denver, and Cleveland to follow. We need to come out of that stretch at 4-3 at the very least.  Still, I have an unavoidable feeling that the remainder of the season is foredoomed. 

Williamson Out

The wide receiver corps will be very thin against the Bills. Hopefully the running game can get it going.

Jerry Porter to Miss Game

It looks like Jerry Porter will be out of the Bills game, despite practicing the past two weeks.

Killer Shades

Hey Reggie, you are inside --- it's safe to take the glasses off. Trust me.

YouTube Flashback- Marino's Last Game

Jaguars 62, Dolphins 7
AFC Divisional Playoff, 2000

My Favorite Games - #10 - Rob Johnson's Debut

As part of an ongoing series, I will recall my top-ten most memorable games in franchise history......

#10 - Rob Johnson’s Debut – September 1, 1997, Baltimore. Jaguars 28, Ravens 27

Starting in place of the injured Mark Brunell, Johnson turned in one of the greatest debuts of the 1990s, completing 20 of 24 passes for 294 yards and 2 touchdowns and running for another while playing through two separate ankles sprains that he suffered during the game. The Jaguars won 28-27, and Johnson finished with the highest completion percentage of any quarterback making their debut in NFL history. This single performance bolstered Johnson’s cult status throughout the league as a tough quarterback with a strong arm, and the Jaguars traded him in the offseason to Buffalo for a first round pick that later turned into Fred Taylor. 

After Brunell sustained a knee injury during a preseason game against the Giants, the Jaguars were faced with the prospect of starting the season with the untested Johnson at quarterback. Coming off the playoff run where they made the AFC final, hopes were high that the team would jump out to a fast start in 1997. Despite Brunell's injury, Johnson helped the Jaguars maintain their momentum, though he too would be lost for several weeks while his ankle healed. Third-stringer Steve Matthews started the week 2 game against the Giants at home, which the Jaguars won 40-13 on the way to becoming the first team in NFL history to win games in one season with three different starting quarterbacks. 

MJD - Hitting people ever since....

If you thought MoJo's block on Shawne Merriman was good last year, check out this hit #21 delivers as an unknown freshman at UCLA back when he was still known as simply Maurice Drew (comes in at the bottom of your screen at about :12 seconds in)

Jags to Play in Record Heat?

Apparently this Sunday's game has the chance to be the hottest in franchise history in Jacksonville. This would bode very well based on past performances in warm weather, and also given the fact that the Bills have not been exposed to humid conditions yet this season.

Jaguars vs. Bills - Preview

It is hard to say that there is a must-win game this early in the season, but it would be tough to climb out of an 0-2 hole with the the schedule we have for the rest of the season. On paper, the two teams seem to be heading in opposite directions. The Jaguars, favored by so many to win the AFC, displayed an uncharacteristically anemic ground game against the Titans last week. This may have a lot to do with the fact that both starting guards were lost to injury, a situation whose resolution will become a theme this season. With center Brad Meester on the sidelines already, the team will start three backup interior lineman against the Bills. The group faces the daunting task of stopping former Jaguar Marcus Stroud, who surely will be looking to wreak havoc against his former team while proving he still has something left in the tank. 

The two teams met last year in Jacksonville in a game the Jags won 36-14. In reality, the spread should have been much greater as the Bills were dominated on both sides of the ball and Jacksonville failed to score touchdowns in the red zone, settling for five Josh Scobee field goals. The team that will be at JMS this Sunday will have a much different look. Besides Stroud, this Bills squad will feature Trent Edwards at quarterback, who looked very good last week against the Seahawks, rather than JP Losman, who started last season's game. Additionally, Jaguars fans will get their first look at running back Marshawn Lynch who was injured and did not play in the previous matchup. 

I expect the Jaguars to run the ball much more successfully than last week playing in front of a home crowd, though this will of course depend on the performance of the new guards and whether the coaching staff remains committed the ground game. I look for Fred Taylor to have his first big game of the season, perhaps breaking off one or two big gains. The Bills bottled up Maurice Jones-Drew relatively well last season, and that could very well be the case again given their fast (but undersized) linebacking corps. The Bills lack a shutdown corner, so there may be opportunities for Garrard to stretch the field a bit more than last week. 

Defensively, the Jaguars will be much more concerned with Lynch than Edwards, and may very well stack the front to challenge the quarterback's arm. The Bills do not have a great tight end, which could allow safeties Gerald Sensabaugh and Reggie Nelson to sneak up frequently to help out against the run. 

I look for a fast start by the Jaguars, who will run frequently and use playaction to get down the field. The line will play well - and there is no reason they shouldn't, given Tutan Reyes' experience and the fact that Uche Nwaneri almost took Mo Williams' starting spot in camp anyway. If Stroud bottles up Taylor and Jones-Drew, it may slow Garrard's ability to find open spots downfield, as he tends to be at his best when he can use playaction to confuse defenses. Still, the attack should be fairly balanced and time of possession should be in our favor all game. Taylor will run for 115 yards and a touchdown, and Garrard will find Reggie Williams and Marcedes Lewis for scores in a comfortable home victory.

The Pick: Jaguars 27, Bills 13

Good Vibes in Buffalo?

The Globe reports that luck seems to be on the side of the Bills as they head to Jacksonville this weekend. 

No Blackout

Though the opener is not yet sold out, apparently enough tickets have been sold to avoid a local TV blackout. The stadium capacity for NFL games is 67,164.

Stroud's Return

It will be interesting this week to see how the crowd reacts to Marcus Stroud's first appearance in Jacksonville as a non-Jaguar. Stroud was an outstanding player for seven years and made three trips to Hawaii, which is no small feat for anyone playing in a small market. He represented an important link from the new direction Tom Coughlin envisioned after he rebuilt the great team of the late-90s. Along with John Henderson, Stroud was part of Coughlin's effort to make the team nastier and more physical on defense, two traits that never quite characterized the bend-but-don't-break era of 1996-1999. Of course, Coughlin never did get to see those efforts pan out on the field, but much of Del Rio's subsequent success derived from moves that his predecessor made (Stroud, Henderson, Garrard, Ayodele, Mo Williams, McCree, Meester, Meier) on draft day. Stroud was one of the final pieces of that transition era, and always appeared to give it his all when he wasn't injured. He could feast on our running game on Sunday due to the fact that we'll be breaking in two new guards on the opposite side of the line. Perhaps knowing his tendencies and skills so well will make it easy for Del Rio to game-plan against him, though I'd feel a lot better about the situation if Williams and Manuwai were out there.

The Tom Brady Fallout

After the uninspired performance against the Titans in Week 1, I was a bit worried that we were already losing crucial ground to our conference rivals. This feeling subsided after several contenders (Colts, Browns, Chargers) were all dropped by the end of the day. The most important development on Sunday was of course Brady's injury, which was ultimately an unfortunate thing to happen to someone who appears to be a decent guy. With that said, it will be great to have a wide-open race this year. If the Jaguars can get by the Bills on Sunday, then they'll have a lot of momentum for the Week 3 showdown in Indy at the new dome. Peyton does not look comfortable at all yet, and Ed Johnson's arrest and subsequent dismissal from the team will have a significant impact on their already precarious ability to stop the run. Being 2-1 will give us a huge advantage out of the gates in the division, and I've got to think that we can ultimately catch the Titans before mid-October. The Vince Young saga is a terrible omen and can't bode well for the season. Kerry Collins is a serviceable backup with a lot of experience, but he is not going to take the team deep into the playoffs. The Patriots still may very well win their division and make the playoffs, but a Brady-less team is far less threatening in January. The key for the Jaguars going forward, in my opinion, will be to win the division and snag one of the top two seeds. Having a bye is a huge advantage, as evidenced by our experience last year. After surviving the dogfight in Pittsburgh, our reward was flying to New England to play a team that spent the past week resting and waiting for a tired team to come to their stadium. It would also be a huge boost to the city to host a playoff game at JMS. If I had to guess now, I'd say that the division winners will be Jacksonville, New England, Pittsburgh, and San Diego, with Denver and Indianapolis taking the wildcards. If we can play at least one game at home, I'd really like our chances to compete with any of those teams, assuming that we can remain relatively injury free after our disastrous start.