fathom

A very flat performance all around. Incredibly stupid mental
mistakes - of course Gaffney made the ultimate bonehead play -
and a lot of poor tackling. The defense was just grabbing at
people instead of making solid tackles.

I don't know what the defense is doing, but they can't
pressure the QB and the secondary looks totally lost. The run
defense is a little better, but why would anyone bother
running when that secondary is so soft?

The offensive line can't protect the QB, and can't open a hole
for the RBs. Leftwich was off, and the little injuries are
piling up and starting to affect his game. I thought they
should have let Garrard stay in; he was moving the ball and
looked crisp. Instead they put the limping Leftwich back in,
and the drive stalled. Bad move. Let Byron heal. You can
bet Houston didn't spend 2 weeks preparing for Garrard. He
gave the team a spark when they needed it, and I think it was
a big mistake for JDR to take Garrard out.

I don't even need to mention the officiating, except to say it
was laughable.

Now, reading the above you might think the Jags got blown out,
but they were in it until the proverbial last minute. They
give up big play after big play, yet they still manage to hold
some good offenses to well below their average point total
(Denver, KC, Indy, Houston). But their opportunistic offense
didn't come through today.

I put some of the blame on the coaching staff, but most of it
on the players. This was the biggest game in the Texans'
history, yet the Jags treated it like a walk-through. They
are a young team and they probably spent the week reading all
the national press and thinking they were invincible.

They blew a HUGE chance to take control of this division. But
at 5-3 they are still in good shape, with a bye and a
favorable schedule in November. The best thing is that they
get to rest next week while Houston travels to Denver and Indy
entertains the Vikes on Monday Night. These are very tough
games against 2 good teams coming off embarassing losses.

And in 2 weeks when the Jags host Detroit, Houston and Indy
play eash other, so there's another chance to gain ground on
at least one division foe.

It's 2 steps forward and 1 step back for the young Jaguars,
but looking at the schedule before the season, I think a lot
of us would have been very happy to be 5-3 at the midpoint.
We'll put this loss behind us and hope to hell this Halloween
nightmare doesn't come back to haunt us in January.

airborne

I have to agree with your assessment. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't
choreographed.

brunell-8

me@privacy.net (fathom) said:


Agreed. The Jaguars did exactly what I feared & predicted they'd
do....letdown after an emotional big win vs the Colts.

The pass defense woes are exaggerated becasue of the lack of pass rush.
DE Kenechi Udeze would have looked real good in a Jaguars uni right
about now, wouldn't he? Harris screwed up by drafting Reggie over Udeze.
Good WR's can be found easier in latter rounds than good DE's can. When
your pass rush is nonexistant like the Jaguars was last year, to pass on
Udeze is boderline retarded. Brackens & Douglas were both question marks
at best heading into this season & we had a pretty good idea that
Barnes, Green & Spicer weren't the answer for a consistent edge rush.

The offensive line is, well.....offensive this year.

I wholeheartedly AGREE here. - and not because I am bashing Byron like
some other people....but for every reason you stated. The drive had some
momentum, pretty much the first momentum the Jags had all day. I'd guess
they had no real idea to the severity of Byrons injury at that time &
they just listed to Byron when he said he wanted back in. Bad move.
There would have been no harm in letting Garrard finish the drive &
getting a better handle on the severity of Byrons injury at the half. If
after tests his leg proved ok, then you let Byron start the 3rd quarter.
That could have been disastrous had Byron injured the leg further due to
him not being able to avoid contact due to his limping around out there.
If that ever happens again, Del Rio should be more assertive and make a
smarter decision. I know Lefty's tough & I'm sure Byron wanted back in,
however, sometimes you need to just use good ol fashioned common sense.

I thought that 4th down play was an utter disgrace. How they canblow the
play dead when the Texan player is "in the air" is ridiculous. The ball
was clearly fumbled before the Texan player hit the ground. I never ever
like blaming refs or crying "fixed" or "conspiracy", but I swear if you
watch this team enough, you really have to start to wonder.


Again, agree completely.


That Houston team makes me sick. They paraded around & taunted the Jags
after almost every -routine- play. Last time I checked the Texans were
3-3 heading into that game & haven't ever won squat. Hell, the Gaffney
gaffe was the result of him trying to showboat too early before he got
into the end zone. They ain't shit & will be LUCKY to finish above 8
wins this year after everything plays out. They have a "nice" QB & a
couple of good WR's & thats IT. They have no running game, Davis is a
fraud. Their defense prior to the Jags game wasranked 27th out of 32 &
has never been higher ranked than that in the teams history. They really
disgust me, I'm sorry...

I just hate when teams that ain't accomplished shit start acting like
they're all that. GO win something - a division title, playoff game
ANYTHING, before you earn the right to act like that.

I agree though, the Jags missed out on a big opportunity to have a nice
cushion on Indy.

This loss was real tough to swallow. Definitely worse than the San Diego
loss - but similar in game, with the Jags appearing to take them lightly
as well. Like Buddy Ryan once said to Jimmy Johnson during his 1-15
debut with the Cowboys...."The ain't no East Carolina's in the NFL!"
(referring to Johnson's soft schedules as U of Miami head coach) . Well,
Jacksonville better take and apply that advice real quick.

BTW, fathom....I'm impressed!! This is the first time I've ever seen you
criticize anything about the team, ever. Nice to see your not a
propaganda robot anymore. Just kidding.

Hey, we both want whats best for the team & want them to do great
things. I just usually have less patience & bitch more thats all.

fathom

This is just a cheap shot, the worst kind of Monday Morning
quarterbacking.

Udeze is averaging 2 whole tackles and 0.43 sacks per game -
about the same as Greg Favors.

I guess in your infinite wisdon you would have foreseen the
retirement of Brackens, the release of Douglas, and the season-
ending injuries of Spicer, Barnes, and Cordova. Unfortunately
Shack has to make decisions withouth the benefit of the Psychic
Friends Network.

brunell-8

Cheap shot? Sorry fathom, I called for Harris to either draft Udeze at
9. or trade down even back in April. So, no it's not a cheap shot, it's
consistency.

Are you seriously comparing a rookie with Udeze's potential to Greg
Favors, who is a 255 lb. stopgap desparate answer at the DE spot? Dude,
thats insane.

Udeze is just what the Jaguars needed back then at the draft & obviously
now. He posesses great size (6' 4" , 290) & quickness. He had a slow
start but is really starting to develop now.

I'll give you Favors for the rest of the year & I'll take Udeze....I'll
bet you any amount of $$$ that Udeze bests Favors stats the rest of the
year, it probably won't even be close.

The other thing you are forgetting is considering that Udeze would have
Stroud & Henderson on his line with the Jags, its a fair assumption that
Udeze would have even better stats than the 3 sacks & 14 tackles he has
with the Vikings thus far.


Actually yeah...it really wasn't that hard to see back then that
Brackens was at best a "?" heading into this year - Do you not remember
the lingering knee issues being talked about all off season? And as far
as Douglas goes, you saw it, he showed practically nothing last year -
how smart is it for Harris to just assume that a 33 y/o defensive end is
gonna all of a sudden regain the form of his pro bowl years after an
abysmal 2003? It wasn't & it proved to be almost a colossal flop as big
as the Bryce Paup signing.

Given those were our 2 starting defensive ends last year, yeah, that is
enough of a case for the Jaguars to draft a highly touted DE, like Udeze
with their 9th pick. Talented DE's are much more dificult to come by
that WR's. I thought you would know this.

Fathom, I really cannot believe you are actually arguing this point with
me. It is so plain to see that Udeze was the right pick for our
situation, we were desparate for talent at the edge rush & don't tell me
that Reggie Williams was undoubtably the "best available player" at the
pick because thats just not true. If anything they were probably ranked
pretty even & at that point, all things being equal, you take the player
in the area that fills the greatest need. WR wasn't the greatest need,
we still had Jimmy & Kevin Johnson at that point & could have also
drafted a WR in latter rounds such as Keary Colbert.

Why is Harris exempt from criticism to you?


If Shack honestly thought those players you listed were really a better
answer @ the DE spot than a guy like Udeze, well, the Jaguars have more
of a problem than you realize.

Not counting Cordova, who is too small anyway to be the kind of complete
DE Udeze will be - Brandon Green, Paul Spicer & Lionel Barnes -healthy-
have little speed or quickness, you know, attributes that make for a
good edge lineman, so that argument is ridiculous.

Paul Spicer I will give you has proven good enough against the run,
modest quickness & has decent enough size to be a serviceable LDE, but
thats certainly not enough of a reason to pass on a talent like Udeze.