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Thread: The 2011 Jags

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    Member JaxRed's Avatar
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    The 2011 Jags

    No one outside the NE Florida area really knows anything about the Jags, so this is my annual "get to know the men in Teal" thread.

    This is year 3 of the Gene Smith (GM) era, following the total devastation that was Shack Harris. Your first round picks should be the base of your franchise. Shack Harris had 6 picks. Only 1 was worthy.

    2003: Byron Leftwich: After being dumped by Jax, Leftwich has never been more than a second stringer.
    2004: Reggie Williams: Total drugged out bust
    2005: Matt Jones: 90% drugged out bust
    2006: Marcedes Lewis - Home Run
    2007: Reggie Nelson - Never been any more than another warm body
    2008: Derrick Harvey - Traded numerous picks to get him, he's just a warm body.

    None remain with the team: 2 are out of football.

    His track record with free agency and contracts were just as bad. He poured 60 million into a contract for David Garrard after his first good season, when he was still under contract for another year. Garrard was never more than an average QB ever again.

    In 2008 the team hit rock bottom. 5-11, more arrests than the Bengals, and the money Harris spent on Free Agents was money down the drain. For example Jerry Porter got 10 million for 1 year and 11 catches.

    So after the season, Wayne Weaver fired Shack Harris and made Gene Smith GM and gave him total control. Gene believes in character, and the 5-11 team was purged.

    He's a build thru the draft guy, who in 3 drafts has held a consistent theme (except for 1 pick). Big guys in first 2 rounds from major schools, and guys from small schools in most of the other rounds.

    2009 #1 Eugene Monroe Left Tackle, Virginia
    2009 #2 Eben Britton Right Tackle, Arizona
    2009 #3 Terrance Knighton, DT, Temple

    2010 #1 Tyson Alualu DT California
    2010 #3 D'Anthony Smith DT La Tech

    2011 #1 Blaine Gabbert, QB, Missouri
    2011 #3 Will Rackley, Left Guard, Lehigh

    Gene was universally praised locally (so much so that the catch phrase was "In Gene We Trust"). And he still has great support, but there are a chinks in the armor. Monroe has been decent, but not great so far. Britton has been hurt much of his career. D'Anthony Smith has been on Injured Reserve his entire career.

    In his 2 years in control Smith has taken the Jags from 5-11 to 7-9 and then 8-8. Both of his years experienced late season collapses. 4 straight games to end 2009 and 3 straight in 2010.

    Heading into the off-season the biggest needs were shoring up the defense which was one of the leagues worst especially against the pass. They needed Linebackers and defensive backfield help. And they needed to find their QB of the future.

    In the draft the pulled off one of the major surprises and moved up four spots to get the consensus #1 Qb in the draft in Gabbert. And so far they love him. But they got another OL in round 3 (#2 was traded for Gabbert), and a WR in round 4. They didn't get any LB's and the only DB was a 5th rounder out of Wyoming.

    So they needed to strike in Free Agency and they did. LB's Paul Pozluzny and Clint Sessions signed. In addition they signed safety Dawan Landry and corner Drew Coleman. All should be the solid "base hit" kind of player Gene likes. (they don't have to be home runs, just don't miss. Singles and doubles are fine).

    The Jags looked shaky as best in preseason:

    Maurice Jones-Drew missed almost all of it recuperating from off-season knee surgery
    Eben Britton missed almost all of it after shoulder surgery
    Aaron Kampman missed almost all if it
    Tyson Alulu missed half of it
    Terrance Knighton missed half of it
    the offensive line was porous.
    the dline got no pressure
    And David Garrard was playing as if he was in a stupor.

    And then 1 hour before contracts became official, the Jags released Garrard. The rest of the sports world that doesn't pay attention to the Jags see this as a cost cutting measure that sets them back as they transition to Gabbert.

    What the locals know: Luke McCown has vastly overplayed Garrard over the last couple years. He had just been handed the starting job last year when he went down for year in preseason with an ACL.

    He consistently looks better in preseason and practice. Garrard had lost the team. When they voted team captains, 5 were named but he wasn't one of them even though he had been the last 2 years.

    After every series Blaine Gabbert played, he'd come to the bench and talk to McCown. When McCown would replace Garrard, he'd come into the huddle to high fives. The offensive line play was so bad with Garrard in the game, that Tony Boselli wondered out loud on a broadcast what many were thinking. Is the O line tanking on purpose to sabotage Garrard? The lineman would almost never help Garrard up.

    When he was cut on Tuesday, a sportswriter's tweat had an anonymous quote from a Jags players saying something along the lines of "it's not that we lost confidence in him. We never had it"


    So where do we stand going into the season:

    Jags have what appears to be a tough schedule. They have games against

    Jets (playoff team)
    New Orleans (playoff team)
    Baltimore (playoff team)
    Pittsburgh (Super Bowl team)
    Indianapolis twice (playoff team)
    Atlanta (playoff team)
    San Diego
    Tampa Bay

    So a lot depends on how good Indy and Texans are. If they are good, this is a killer schedule.

    But they should be better at QB no matter what the media says. The defense should be much better. They have their QB of the future.

    They need to take care of business against the lesser teams. That's why a win in week 1 against Titans is critical.


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    Mr.Redlegs is my homeboy Eric_the_Red's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    Last season in 14 games Garrard had the following stats:
    QB rating: 90.8
    Comp%: 64.5%
    TD: 23
    INT: 15
    Plus he rushed for another 5 TDs.

    You honestly think they will be better at QB this year?
    2013 Record at games attended: 0-1

  4. #3
    Member JaxRed's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    McCown will be better in 2011 then Garrard will be. Garrard lost his desire. He was going through the motions and it showed. He stunk in practice he stunk in games, his teammates didn't support him.

    While his agent is shopping him, he still periodically says maybe I'll just stay at home.

  5. #4
    Member JaxRed's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    I'll tell you what though. Jags Sunday against Titans is a huge game. They have no business losing. If they do it could get ugly.

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    Smooth WMR's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    I really find it difficult to believe they'll truly be a better football team with McCown over Garrard. It seems like he gave that franchise a lot of years of good service. I did read that he was not voted a Captain by his teammates.

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    Member JaxRed's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    After Week 1, Jags are now 1-0.

    The good: The Jags totally dominated the Titans. They had 20 first downs to 13. Double the time of possession and had 24 more plays. The defense only gave up 14 points, and 7 of them were on one fluke play. They held the NFL's best rusher to 24 yards rushing. McCown lived up to the coaches faith in him with a very nice game. 91.5 rating.

    Both the O-Line and D-Lines played well, as did the secondary for the most part. Jones-Drew looked good (97 yards) and Scobee was awesome.

    The bad: The Jags were still in danger of losing the game because of too-conservative coaching. After being ahead 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, the coaches went into "safe" mode. They never scored another touchdown again. They did things like running the exact same play 3 times in a row at first and goal.

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    Member Tom Servo's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    Quote Originally Posted by JaxRed View Post
    McCown will be better in 2011 then Garrard will be.
    “I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”

  9. #8
    The Lineups stink. KronoRed's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    I don't think it's really going to matter who the QB is, they are awful and so are the plays from the sideline, stopping the Jags is once again all about shutting the running game down.
    Go Gators!

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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    Quote Originally Posted by JaxRed View Post
    McCown will be better in 2011 then Garrard will be.
    You still feel that way? 4 INTs in 19 attempts is about as bad as it gets

  11. #10
    Member JaxRed's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    It is. McCown's 4 INT's in Game 2 this year was even worse then Garrard's 4 INT game in Game 2 of 2010.

    That's the one thing about the current setup of the Jags. When they get behind it can snowball on them. They lost 8 games last year and 4 of those losses were by 25 points or more.

    They are a running team. When they get behind by more than a few points and they HAVE to throw it can get ugly. And the Jets game was the perfect storm. Far and away the Jags best pass receiver is their Pro Bowl Tight End Marcedes Lewis. And their only deep threat is Jason Hill. All the rest are possession guys.

    So Jags go into the game without either Lewis or Hill, and they try to throw on some of the best pass defenses in the NFL. On obvious passing situations. It wasn't pretty.

    So on to next week against the Panthers who are pretty impressive for an 0-2 team.

    The Jags made the move that was waiting in the wings ever since they took Gabbert with the #10 overall pick and have made him the starter. CBS Sportswriter Pete Prisco lives in Jacksonville, and has a lot of contacts, and he thinks if this had been a regular off-season with the OTA's etc, Gabbert would have started the season. That the Jags wanted him to replace Garrard immediately but he wasn't quite ready.

    So they go into Sundays game where most people expected 1-1. The city is enthused over starting the Gabbert era. Hopefully the coaches don't limit him too much. The defense is looking good and ranked #5. Jags are getting healthier, Lewis did full practice for first time today. Eben Britton looks to be back to almost full speed now.

    A win in Carolina, and a decent performance by Gabbert would have folks around here pretty happy.

  12. #11
    Member Sea Ray's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    Quote Originally Posted by JaxRed View Post
    A win in Carolina, and a decent performance by Gabbert would have folks around here pretty happy.
    I saw nothing of the game but losing to Carolina has to be disappointing. What happened? I'm wondering because being a Bengal fan I'm interested in all the competition for draft positions next yr...

  13. #12
    Member JaxRed's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    Been swamped at work... just now getting head above water. The coaching lost this game. It's quite the topic here in Jax. It was a little bit like the first game, in which we completely dominated the Titans, yet because of the conservative coaching were close to losing the game.

    Jags were the better team Sunday. Not way better, just better. But the coaches gave the game away. We had a 10-5 lead at half time and got the ball for the second half. 22 of our next 24 plays were runs. 22 of 24 !!!

    And then there was a fiasco with the clock at the end of the game. Down by 5, the Jags completed a pass to the Panthers 35 with 32 seconds left and no time outs. Everyone who's seen more than 2 NFL games in their life knows you go to the line as quickly as possible and spike the ball.

    But Gabbert went to the line, and starts barking out a play. They could have spiked at 23 seconds, but but by the time the clock hit 17 seconds, and the ball is being snapped, the replay officials call a time out to see if the ball is caught. (it was).

    Now, when the officials rule it catch, the Jags are back in the huddle, the clock starts as soon as officials decide. The Jags think the clock starts when they snap the ball. So they get back to line and Gabbert sees clock moving but the center is calling out blocking assignments, and the ball doesn't get snapped until 4 seconds. One incomplete pass and game over.

    Del Rio runs on field yelling at officials for starting the clock, because he didn't know the rule. Which explains why no one on Jags coaching staff was telling the team they had to snap ASAP after ruling.... they didn't know.

    Gabbert not spiking was a replay of something that happened in preseason. So the coaches should have 1) talked to him about that after that game 2) have briefed the team as they started that last drive. "If we get a big gainer, we run to the line and spike it" Football 101.

    Players repeating past mistakes (a sign of bad coaching) was also a problem with our rookie punt returner. Last week he fielded a punt inside the 10 which led to a safety. This week he did the same thing on the first drive which led to another safety, and did the same thing later in the game. You stand at the 10... if it goes over your head you let it go.... COACHING !!

    There were many in town wondering if Del Rio would get the boot Monday. Obviously it did not happen. He did not endear himself to many when he said he would investigate why they were so conservative on offense. You're the head coach, if you are not actually directing the offense, contact the OC during the game!!

    So.... the defense looked pretty good. Newton has thrown for over 400 in his first 2 games and they held him to 158. Defense only gave up 14 points. Gabbert looked pretty decent for 1st game.

    Special teams looked like crap again. (except for our FG kicker who is great). Not only 2 punts fielded within 10 yard line, but Turk our punter kept punting into end zone instead of inside the 20. And on one punt he simply dropped the ball and got killed.

    Jags don't figure to get healthy against the Saints, so they'll probably start 1-3. But fans need to see some change in what is happening with the coaching.

  14. #13
    Member Sea Ray's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    Excellent report Jax. We don't get that sort of detail up here. That clearly sounds like a coaching problem and if nothing else, us Cincinnati fans know a coaching problem when we see one.

  15. #14
    Member JaxRed's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    So, as we figured, the Jags did not get the ship righted against New Orleans. Too good of a team. I actually think most fans felt a little better about the team after the loss then they did going in. The score was 23-10. Not a blowout.

    The things on fans minds afterwards:

    1) What was Darryl Smith thinking? Smith intercepts a ball from Brees at about the 25 and the only person between the goal line and Smith is Brees. And Smith runs out of bounds!! Holy crap. Jags only scored 3

    2) We saw glimpses of our (hopefully) future QB. Gabbert looked pretty good in the first half (not as much in 2nd). And the TD toss he made was the kind we never saw from Garrard or Leftwich.

    3. We probably need a new punter. We have the oldest player in the NFL punting and it's not working.

    4. What the hell is going on with the coaches. One week after going ultra-conservative, the Jags go pass happy. 42 tosses. And our best weapon on offense Jones-drew gets 11 carries for 84 yards. 11 carries. It's almost as if coaches were saying "ok, complain about not passing enough... this will shut them up". Here's a thought: How about a balanced approach?

    5. Garrard finally got a call from a team. He said no. My sofa is really comfy. Confirms what the talk here had been. He lost the will to play. It showed in preseason games and practices and everyone knew it.

    6. Now the interesting thing about losing the passion, is that there is a lot of speculation that the same thing has happened to Del Rio. We have 2 Sports talk stations in town, with competing shows in afternoon drive time. One is usally more "happy-talk". The second is Pete Prisco (from CBS). He talks about his sources inside the stadium.

    His sources had told him that the Jags were not happy with Garrard over the last year or so. He's now saying there is a lot of internal squabbling going on within the coaching ranks. He thinks Del Rio himself has lost the drive and is ready to move on. Jags have a bye week after week 8 and there's talk there might be a change then, unless the team turns it around.

    For that to happen, the offense has to get going. And we need to get a little healthier since we don't have great depth. Gabbert needs to improve week to week, the offense needs to become balanced and unpredictable.

    And we need to get a few guys healthier. Aaron Kampman hasn't played a game yet. (Next week looks like the week), Tyson Alualu is nursing a sore knee, Eugene Monroe has a sore shoulder.

    This week, like Carolina, is a game that can go either way. But this week all you Bengals followers can weigh in on what you saw in Jax.

  16. #15
    Member Sea Ray's Avatar
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    Re: The 2011 Jags

    Quote Originally Posted by JaxRed View Post
    3. We probably need a new punter. We have the oldest player in the NFL punting and it's not working.
    Wow. Was that ever prophetic?

    I saw a pretty decent defense and a QB worth sticking with. Definitely Del Rio needs to go but is an interim coach the way to go? We have a lot of experience with that here and generally what happens is the new coach brings energy over and above what the old, stale coach had and ends up finishing well. That usually earns the new guy a long term contract but the new found energy can't continue into the new season and you're left with a less desirable situation than what you could have had. The only reason I'd switch coaches in mid season is if I felt we had a shot at the playoffs. If not, take your lumps and enjoy the nice draftpick.

    This was one of those games that I figured could go either way and that's exactly how it turned out. Jacksonville's not too good but our Bengals aren't good enough to blow anyone out, especially on the road.

    I thought the officiating was real shaky. On one play the nose tackle was literally touching our center, Cook, before the ball was snapped yet no call. How do you miss that?


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