Entries by Sam Kouvaris

Jaguars Ravens Preview: Still Learning?

At 2-11 most NFL teams are already making plans for the future. Players are lining up vacation time, golf trips and how quickly they can get away after the final game. For the Jaguars, that doesn’t appear to be the case. With three games to play, it was business as usual for the team this […]

Second Half Woes (again), Jaguars lose to Ravens

Sometimes things crystalize right in front of your eyes when you’re watching the Jaguars play. In their opening drive against the Ravens, they drove the ball to midfield with a good blend of Toby Gerhart running and Blake Bortles passing. Gerhart’s healthy and running hard while Bortles looks confident. Then things fall apart. A wide-open […]

Jaguars Top 20 Individual Performances

This week’s Top 20 in recognition of the Jaguars 20th anniversary is the Top 20 individual performances in Jaguars history. What brought this list to life was Josh Scobee’s two field goals last week putting him over 1000 points in his career, the first Jaguars player to accomplish that. Scobee makes this list for his […]

Jaguars/Texans preview: Keep the Momentum?

Everybody talks about the “eye test” in sports. Looking at the Jaguars early in the year, the “eye test” showed them as a young, flawed team with a long way to go before they scared anybody in the NFL. As the year has progressed, the “eye test” didn’t change any opinions as the losses mounted. […]

Jaguars Falter in 2nd Half, Lose to Texans

Having swept the Texans last year for two of their four wins, the Jaguars were fairly confident this week at home against Houston. Coming off a last-second win against the Giants they could see improvement and how “the process” was taking hold. Not that Houston was any kind of pushover. With JJ Watt playing at […]

McElwain Introduced at Florida: Wins the Press Conference

Starting his public Gator career at his introductory press conference, Head Coach Jim McElwain approached the podium without any prepared remarks and said, “How you doin?” It’s that kind of folksy, human connection that the Gator Nation has longed for since the departure of Steve Spurrier. McElwain was glib, funny, a good storyteller, and seemingly […]

Jaguars Top 20 Comebacks

Here’s our top 20 for this week in recognition of the Jaguars 20th anniversary. To mark their comeback win over the Giants last Sunday, it’s the top 20 comebacks in Jaguars history. They’re all not actual comebacks in games, but all represent a comeback of sorts surrounding the Jaguars. At number 1, the city of […]

Defense Shines, Jaguars beat Giants

You know anytime you’re going to face a Tom Coughlin coached football team they’re going to run the football. A lot. Former Jaguar Rashad Jennings is Coughlin’s workhorse in the backfield (another one of those guys like Montel Owens, Justin Forsett and Daryl Smith that I can’t figure out why they’re not on this team) […]

Jaguars Giants Preview: It’s About Bortles

In the NFL, it all comes down to the quarterback. Bad teams with good quarterbacks have a chance. Good teams with bad quarterbacks usually don’t. Great running backs don’t take you to the Super Bowl. Walter Payton needed an historic defense to carry his bears to the championship game. Barry Sanders never got there. Quarterbacks […]

Jagaurs vs. Colts Preview

It hasn’t been a good history against with the Colts for the Jaguars. With only 8 wins in 27 games, the Jaguars haven’t figured out what the Colts are all about. Two reasons are obvious though: Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. The Colts have had success in just about every phase of the game against […]

Jaguars Sputter vs Indy

Going in to the game against the Colts the Jaguars, coming off their bye week, had some goals they were trying to achieve in the last six weeks of the season. One big one was to stop turning the ball over, particularly on the plus side of the 50 when it looked like they were […]

Jaguars Top 20 Teams

With one win, the Jaguars of 2014 sit near the bottom of the 20 teams who have worn the teal and black of the franchise since it’s inception in 1995. This week’s Top 20 is the best Jaguars teams, top to bottom in their 20 years of existence. At the top is the 1999 team […]

Muschamp Era Over: Where Now?

It’s a tough job, Head Football Coach at the University of Florida. Winning is important, but HOW you win is a factor in what the Gators fan base thinks about the job you’re doing. From the outset, Will Muschamp seemed like a paradoxical choice to lead the Florida program. He is from Gainesville. But he […]

Jaguars Close to the Tipping Point

I’m not sure what to make of the Jaguars 1-9 record here at the bye week. While I didn’t think they’d be a playoff contender this year, I also didn’t think they’d be this bad. You knew with a young team they’d struggle at times but to look completely out classed in so many situations […]

Jaguars Don’t Get Better

It’s a big deal whenever the NFL gets involved in any kind of production and this week in London is no exception. Jeff Beck and Joss Stone in the pregame show, fireworks, a minute of silence for Remembrance Day, the US National Anthem, and a rousing rendition of “God Save The Queen.” In fact, it […]

Jaguars Prep Cowboys on Saturday

This is the second of four years the Jaguars are the “home” team in London as part of the NFL’s International Series. And as the home team, they get first pick of hotels, practice facilities and everything else that goes with the game. But it’s still a lot of work. The Jaguars left for London […]

Jaguars Focusing on Cowboys

“It should be an old school 15-round fight,” is how Jaguars running back Toby Gerhart described the upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys. The Jaguars settled into their regular game week routine on Wednesday and clearly by Thursday their focus was on the upcoming game. “They play hard,” Ryan Davis told us outside the hotel […]

Jaguars Arrive in London

Two road games in two weeks without coming home is a difficult task for any NFL team. The Jaguars have made this kind of trip two years in a row. In 2013 they traveled to Oakland and Seattle, staying on the West Coast in between the games and practicing in San Jose. Last year, they […]

Jaguars Road Trip: Play Anywhere, Anytime

Two road games in two weeks without coming home is a difficult task for any NFL team. The Jaguars have made this kind of trip two years in a row. In 2013 they traveled to Oakland and Seattle, staying on the West Coast in between the games and practicing in San Jose. Last year, they […]

Jaguars Mistakes Cost Them Again

Leading up to the game in Cincinnati, the Jaguars knew they’d be making some changes in their lineup and the Bengals would be a mixed bag of personnel who had gotten them to four victories this year. The Bengals are thin on the defensive line and at linebacker and their best running back; Giovanni Bernard […]

Jaguars Top 20 “Florida Connections”

For this week’s Top 20, recognizing the Jaguars’ 20th anniversary, we’re looking at the Jaguars players and coaches who are associated with the state of Florida, one way or another. Some are from here, other’s played college football in the state but all have a Sunshine State connection. Not hard to list Fred Taylor at […]

Jaguars Browns Preview: Winnable?

“Run the football, stop the run.” That’s the mantra of almost every NFL coach but for the Jaguars this year, half of that equation has been non-existent. Trying to change things on the offensive line, the scheme and the backs running the ball, the Jaguars have gone nowhere on the ground, currently 32nd in rushing […]

Jaguars 1st Win: Beat Browns

It didn’t take long in their game against the Browns to see the Jaguars game plan: Stop the run, and run the football. Cleveland is ranked 3rd in the league running the football but the Jaguars stuffed them early on the ground, making the Browns rely on Bran Hoyer to throw the football down field. […]

Jaguars Let One Slip Away

Sometimes it’s not about the stats, first downs, time of possession, completions, rushing yards and the like. Sometimes it’s about the eye test. And having seen every play the Jaguars have run this year, when it comes to the eye test, there’s no question they’re getting better. Health has something to do with it and […]

Jaguars vs. Titans Preview

On a foggy day in Nashville, the Jaguars will try and get their first win of the year against the Titans. Hard to say if weather will be a factor but throughout the morning there was a thick layer over the stadium and a tarp on the field. While the Jaguars had a chance last […]

Top 20 Jaguars “Personalities”

This week’s Top 20 in recognition of the Jaguars 20th anniversary looks back at the top 20 personalities in Jaguars history. There have been a few standouts that were obvious and would be obvious to hard-core or casual fans of the Jaguars franchise. Others were a bit subtler and as we got to know these […]

Steelers Beat Jaguars But More Respectable

While the Steelers are not the Steelers of old, the game started with an old feeling of a rivalry renewed. Pittsburgh was the model Tom Coughlin used when the Jaguars first came into the league and while the Steelers are still built around the same concepts, they don’t have the same personnel who used to […]

Jaguars Make London Routine

As the assembled local and international media filed into “The Greenhouse” on the grounds of The Grove where the Jaguars are staying and practicing, a definite chill was in the air and the occasional sprinkle fell from the sky as the sun peeked in and out from behind passing clouds. “It’s a lovely day isn’t […]

Simple Jaguars Solution: Play Better

Since day one, Gus Bradley has preached “get better every day.” It’s a good mantra for anybody, especially a professional sports team. With all of the time they spend together, practicing, meeting and preparing, they have a lot of chances to get better. But after starting the season with a 0-4 record for the second […]

Jaguars Lose To Chargers: Still Learning

Starting the game, the Jaguars defense looked like it had a bit of a chip on their shoulder. Last in the league in just about every measurable category, their pride is injured. Former Jaguars defensive end and current radio color analyst Jeff Lageman said as much in the pregame show, “These guys are veterans. Two […]

Jaguars prep Chargers in San Diego

Perhaps a change in their routine will change the results on the West Coast for the Jaguars. A Friday arrival in San Diego to get “acclimated” according Head Coach Gus Bradley instead of their usual day before game departure.. They’ve never won in Southern California in their first 19 years as a franchise. Their only […]

Bortles First Week as Starter

There are a lot of “firsts” this week for the Jaguars and Blake Bortles. The Jaguars rookie quarterback is preparing for his first start in a regular season NFL game. While you’d think he was excited about it, his comments seem to say the opposite. “I’ve prepared like I was going to start every week. […]

Jaguars Top 20 Impactful Rookies

In our continuing look at the last 20 years of the Jaguars in town, this week in honor of Blake Bortles first start, as a rookie, we’re looking at the Top 20 Impact Rookies in Jaguars history. This list actually comes in three parts: The top few are players who were strong as rookies and […]

Jaguars Lose Game, Ground

If you look at the play sheet from an NFL game, you can pretty easily pick out where the game changes. Usually somewhere in the first half there’s a missed opportunity and somewhere in the second half one team makes a critical play to either stop a drive or keep one going. For the Jaguars […]

Jaguars Top 20 ‘Moments

It’s up for debate what the “Top 20 Moments” are in the 20 years the Jaguars have played in the NFL. And actually, some of the moments were before they started playing football at all. There might be even a debate about what the number one moment in team history could be, but we picked […]

Jaguars Fall to Eagles, Learn Lessons

As Eagles fans were just settling in their seats, the Jaguars went to work utilizing some of their off-season acquisitions to some success early in the games. Toby Gerhart carried the ball very effectively, moving the pile and getting positive yardage (although he was stopped on 3rd and 1 on the first drive) and the […]

Hotel Domestique: (Almost) Cycling Paradise

Most of my bike trips have been like bohemian adventures: piling in a car with some friends, stops for fast food, a cooler of beer and accommodations just a step above a hostel. So looking at pictures of George Hincapie’s place “Hotel Domestique” in South Carolina was something that didn’t seem real. A luxury hotel […]