Photo by: Phillips Helmets

It should be a little colder than expected for the Jaguars/Steelers game on Sunday. Temperatures in the teens during the game could impact play; with the thought the Jaguars should get the worse of it.

“It’s just a couple hours of sacrifice,” Linebacker Telvin Smith said after the team arrived in the Steel City. “Just understand you gotta do it.”

Departing the busses in downtown Pittsburgh the team was business-like but still loose. A hallmark of the Jaguars this week.

“We ain’t been talkin’ we just been preparin'” Smith said.” “That’s what I love about this team.”

Does it help that they have a playoff game behind them?

“That’s the thing, na, I feel like it’s the next game,” Telvin added. “The next one, on the road. I kind of like it’s on the road. We took care of business (at home) so now it’s time to go on the road.”

“You add the word playoff game to it and people start to get jittery. I can’t say it’s all on the line because that’s what you play for all season.”

As one of the youngest teams in the league and the most unlikely playoff participant, the Jaguars have gotten a lot of accolades for their defense. It’s been compared to the historic Super Bowl winning Bears and Ravens defenses and even the Broncos of two years ago. None of that seems to have gotten to the Jaguars D.

“It’s flattering to hear a lot of this stuff. That’s why I’m happy. Nobody’s bought into this stuff it just, ‘let’s play.'”

You never know how the big stage will affect teams and athletes when they’ve never been there before. Against the Bills, the Jaguars looked like they weren’t sure they belonged in the NFL playoffs in the first half.

On offense they were horrible. Between play calling and execution, they couldn’t get out of their own way. They had 84 yards on 26 plays. Bortles had more yards rushing, 35, than passing. He was 6-of-15 passing for 33 yards but a couple of scrambles at the end of the half enabled Josh Lambo to kick a field goal to tie the game at three. Leonard Fournette had only 16 yards on six carries.

Luckily the defense was stout as usual, even getting a turnover on Aaron Colvin’s first career interception. But the Jaguars couldn’t do anything with it.

Getting the ball to start the second half the offense moved the ball a bit. They actually allowed Bortles to throw it on first down and changed the field position. An exchange of punts gave the Jaguars the ball on the 14 yards line.

And that’s when the offense started to produce. After a 15-play 86-yard drive that took 8:52 off the clock, the Jaguars took a 10-3 lead. On fourth down from the one, after not getting anything done, Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett called for Blake to fake it and hit the tight end over the middle. After all that, they trusted him on 4th down and he delivered. Bortles hit Ben Koyak in the end zone for a seven-point lead.

It wasn’t pretty after that on either side. A few more punts and the Jaguars controlled the game with the ball at their 20 and six minutes to play. But they couldn’t muster enough offense to seal the game and had to punt. Twice. After a pretty good performance through three quarters, Brad Nortman hit two very average punts giving Buffalo the ball just short of their 40 twice.

Both times the defense got the job done, the second time viscously taking Tyrod Taylor to the ground and knocking him out cold. It was a scary scene when they rushed on the field to check him out. Finally they sat him up and Taylor wobbled off the field. That brought in Nathan Peterman who had a couple of completions and a run for a first down. But the pass rush got to him and forced an intentional grounding and on the following play Jalen Ramsey tipped the ball in the air in coverage and grabbed it for an interception before it hit the ground to finally end the game.

In his first playoff game, Blake Bortles had more yards rushing than passing, the first time that’s happened since Steve McNair did it the last time Buffalo was in the playoffs.

It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the postseason mantra is win and advance and that’s what the Jaguars did at home. Don’t tell them it wasn’t pretty, they don’t care.

The Steelers are next, 1pm next Sunday in Pittsburg

Photo by: Phillips Helmets

After a New Year’s Eve flight home and a look at the 15-10 loss to the Titans aboard the Jaguars charter, players didn’t see it much differently than when the left the field in Nashville: That’s over, it’s on to the playoffs.

“It’s what you fight so hard for, it’s what camp is all about, grinding those 16, 17 weeks,” said former Super Bowl champ Malik Jackson in front of his locker Monday. “We’re one of 12, we’ll continue to climb the ladder.”

As one of the few Jaguars with any postseason experience, Jackson can give his teammates a few ideas what to expect starting next Sunday against Buffalo.

“The game gets a lot faster, every play counts,” he added. “It’s critical. We can’t give up that screen (from yesterday’s game).”

A veteran of nine playoff games in Arizona, the Jaguars Calais Campbell agrees the postseason is different.

“Doesn’t matter what seed you are,” he said. “At this point, it’s anybody’s game. What you did in the regular season doesn’t matter.”

And in terms of preparing? Campbell said it’s up to each individual player to figure that out. Stay in his routine, and prepare to give more.

“Whatever you have to do to get ready,” he explained. “For some guys, it’s a little more focus. Just a little more. You don’t have anything spectacular, just do you job. Every play is critical. You don’t have to do anything extra.”

For a player like wide receiver Allen Hurns, the playoffs are something new, but he’s taking a cue from his teammates.

“Put the regular season behind us and start the playoffs,” he said, echoing the experienced veterans in the locker room. “We had a couple of rough games here and there but we’re playing in the most important part of the year, January.”

And it’s a special feeling for Hurns and numerous other Jaguars who have been around for a few years. Their seasons were finished with playing out the string games, mounting losses and thinking about some time off. Not this year.

“It feels good,” he said with a smile. “Some guys this time of year are making offseason plans. You have to go forward. They (Buffalo) will look at the film for the past couple of weeks but we have to put that behind us.”

With the game scheduled for Sunday at 1 o’clock, the Jaguars will have their regular home routine for the week. That means today some running and lifting to stay loose, off tomorrow and back to practice Wednesday through Saturday.

Photo by: Phillips Helmets

Whether they call it “a game of inches” or “on any given Sunday” or “playing above the x’s and o’s,” there’s an intangible you can feel when a team is playing winning football. It’s an edge, a little hop, a swagger in the body language that’s easily identifiable.

On their run to the playoffs, the Jaguars had that edge on both sides of the football and on special teams as well. Over the last two weeks since winning the AFC South Division title, it hasn’t been there.

With nothing to prove in Tennessee except that they’re a playoff worthy team, the Jaguars didn’t have that edge and now limp into the playoffs with more questions than answers.

Maybe it’s too much to ask of a receiving corps that didn’t expect to see much playing time across the board when the season started to continue to make plays at a high level. Without Marqise Lee but with Allen Hurns back, the Jaguars were still leaning on Dede Westbrook, Keelan Cole and, on occasion, Jaydon Mickens to get the job done. As good as they’ve played, they’re still not Hurns, Allen Robinson and Lee, the starting WR’s the Jaguars expected to have on offense.

With a short-arm and a drop in the end zone, Westbrook showed he’s not the complete professional package as a rookie. It’s a different game in the NFL and as talented as he is and as much flash as he’s shown, he’ll have to make those plays if he wants to be a solid, consistent and eventually great pro.

If there’s one constant, the Jaguars defense is legit. Consistently good, occasionally spectacular. A long screen pass/run by Derrick Henry for 66 yards showed the Jaguars susceptibility to getting overly aggressive, up the field, and out of position. But that’s rare. Pressure on the quarterback, tough against the run and able to score, the defense kept the Jaguars in the game through three quarters.

Then they scored, Yannick Ngakoue picking up a fumble in the backfield and ran 67-yards for a touchdown to bring the Jaguars within 15-10. They had only allowed the one long TD and 3 FG’s through three quarters to keep the game close.

There’s narrative that quarterback Blake Bortles is the problem, but if nobody’s open, there’s not much he can do. Except for the one ill advised throw, Bortles was on the mark, going through his progressions and throwing into tight windows. But without much help from the receivers, the offense sputtered.

They had a couple of chances in the 4th quarter but couldn’t convert. And although the defense had Tennessee on the ropes, Marcus Mariota danced around three defenders for a first down to seal the game for the Titans.

Things can change from week to week and the Jaguars have to hope they can flip the switch to get back to the team they were in November. Opportunistic on defense, confident on offense, the November Jaguars were the best team in the league. Bortles was the top rated quarterback and the lynchpin on offense. They haven’t looked like that team for a couple of weeks now and it’ll take a big transformation to win a playoff game, even at home.

Photo by: Phillips Helmets

There actually is a strategy to keeping Russell Wilson in check. The problem is Wilson is so good, so smart and such a good athlete that executing the strategy is a problem.

For the Jaguars defense, a combination of straight up field, stay-in-your-lanes rush, backed by the linebackers spreading across the field and man-to-man by the DB’s did just what Doug Marrone was looking for in the first half. “You can only hope to contain him,” the Jaguars Head Coach said earlier in the week, and that’s exactly what they did. Wilson had one scramble carry in the first quarter and another in the second for first downs but nothing that troubled the Jaguars too much.

A missed field goal by Blair Walsh at the end of the half kept the score at 3-0 Jaguars. It was the first time this season Seattle had been shutout through 30 minutes of football.

In the third quarter things were very different. It wasn’t Wilson causing the Jaguars problems but rather shortcomings of their own.

A nice drive gave the Jaguars a 10-0 lead, culminated by a TD pass from Blake Bortles to Dede Westbrook from 18 yards out. Westbrook ran a great corner route and *Bortles throw was even better, softly hitting the Jaguars rookie as he crossed the goal line.

A Seattle field goal made it 10-3 Jaguars but Corey Grant fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Seattle recovered. Wilson hit Doug Baldwin in the end zone to tie the game at ten and it looked like momentum had shifted to the visitors.

But on first down, Blake hit Keelan Cole on a deep corner for a 75-yard TD and a 17-10 lead. Cole had caught a couple of deep balls in the preseason but this was the first big pass play for him in the regular season, showing his speed and pretty good hands. Bortles throw was also spot-on, just like you draw it up.

Give some credit to the Jaguars offensive line for pass protection but also opening some holes for the running game. For the first time in several weeks, the five starters from the beginning of the year were back in the lineup as Patrick Omameh returned to left guard and Jeremy Parnell was at right tackle.

Again the defense stopped Wilson and the Seahawks forcing a punt. Jaydon Mickens broke through at the point of attack and scampered all the way to the one-yard line on the return. Leonard Fournette scored to make it 24-10.

A two-touchdown lead usually allows the Jaguars defense to rush the quarterback and create all kinds of problems for the opposing offense. That was true again as Wilson tried a long pass over the middle that was intercepted by A.J. Bouye at the two. It was Bouye’s second interception and the Jaguars third of the game. Jalen Ramsey had picked off a Wilson heave into the end zone earlier.

From the two, the Jaguars put together an impressive drive, mixing Fournette running and Bortles hitting Cole and Marqise Lee on crossing routes, chewing up time and getting a 51-yard field goal on the other end by Josh Lambo to take a 27-10 lead with ten minutes to play.

But Russell Wilson is Russell Wilson and somehow he escaped the Jaguars pass rush, ducking under two defenders to throw a 61-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-17. Wilson was about to be sacked but escaped, and still paused in the pocket to look down field to find Paul Richardson wide open. Tashaun Gipson either lost track of Richardson or expected Wilson to go down but either way it was an easy TD for Seattle.

Again, the Jaguars offense pounded it out of their own territory and chewed up some clock to get some points. Westbrook’s catch of a Bortles pass down the sideline was the highlight and Josh Lambo made it 30-17.

But Wilson somehow escaped another sack and threw a 74-yard TD pass to Tyler Lockett to keep the Seahawks in the game, 30-24. Wilson kept the play alive and there was a mix up in the Jaguars secondary as Lockett was wide open with Barry Church giving chase. Very unusual for the Jaguars defense to give up two long plays but there was no “give up” in the Seahawks to keep the game close.

A big run by Fournette on 3rd and 11 sealed the win in Seahawks territory but the game quickly turned ugly. In the “Victory” formation, somebody from the Seahawks jumped into the Jaguars line, meaning there was pushing and shoving and a punch thrown by Sheldon Richardson that got him ejected.

The same thing happened on the next play with Quinton Jefferson getting ejected and nearly going into the stands when a fan threw something at him. He was doing plenty of jawing coming off the field, but throwing stuff at players is low rent in itself.

Now 9-4, the Jaguars are in sole possession of first place in the AFC South with three games to play after Tennessee lost to Cardinals in Arizona. A showdown with the Titans is still possible in the last game of the year on New Year’s Eve to determine the division champ but the Jaguars hold the upper hand with games against Houston and San Francisco set before then.

One thing the Jaguars showed in this game was a gritty toughness they hadn’t shown before. They had a two-touchdown lead and nearly lost it but the offense was able to get some things done. When the Seahawks tried to make it a slugfest, the Jaguars responded in kind with ferocity that we haven’t seen in a while.

Looking like a playoff team, the Jaguars certainly made a statement in this one.

Photo by: Phillips Helmets

Without two starting offensive linemen the Jaguars didn’t have much to offer the Arizona Cardinals on that side of the ball. For the second week, Patrick Omameh and Jeremy Parnell weren’t in the lineup and it showed in pass protection as in the running game.

Against Cleveland last week, they got away with not much offense, getting a strong, points-scoring performance from their defense beating a Browns team that couldn’t muster much offense.

In Arizona, it was a different story as the Blaine Gabbert led Arizona offense was able to not turn the ball over, take advantage of field position and score 13 points in the first half to lead 13-3. There wasn’t anything pretty about it on either said of the ball. Field goals and a blown coverage by the Jaguars when Telvin Smith went out of the game with a concussion led to the only touchdown of the half.

After another Phil Dawson field goal made it 16-3, the Jaguars went seven plays for 75 yards to make it a one score game. Blake Bortles was the leading rusher in the game for the Jaguars with six carries for 62 yards and he scored on a 4th down naked bootleg. But when *Bortles is the leading rusher for the Jaguars it means the running game is not working. Leonard Fournette had 12 carries for 25 yards and never got going as evidenced by his longest run was eight yards.

So that leaves it up to the defense, again. A great rush up field by Yannick Ngakoue forced Gabbert to step up, giving Ngakoue another chance. The Jaguars defensive end took advantage of the situation, sacking Gabbert and hacking the ball out at the ten-yard line. That’s when Calais Campbell scooped it up and scored, giving the Jaguars a 17-`6 lead. As a free-agent acquisition, Campbell has been the biggest boon to the Jaguars, but he’s still a popular player in Arizona and no doubt he was feeling pretty good scoring a touchdown against his former team.

But as good as they played, one mistake by the defensive backfield let a receiver get behind them and score on a 52 yard pass from Gabbert. The two-point conversion was good and the Cardinals had a 7-point, 24-17 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Corey Grant brought it back inside the Cards, 40 and four plays later, Bortles scored again, this time from 17-yards out on a QB “read-option” play to tie the game at 24.

It had all the feel of and overtime game when the defense forced a three and out and the Jaguars offense took over deep in their own territory. A run on first down ran some clock and it appeared that Head Coach Doug Marrone was willing to get the game to overtime and take his chances. But a pass on second down was flat-out dropped by Marqise Lee to stop the clock. A run on third down allowed Arizona to call their final time out, making the Jaguars punt the ball.

“That’s my fault, “Marrone said after the game. “I got greedy and threw the ball on second down. Just should have run it and gone to overtime.”

While it’s laudable that Marrone would take responsibility for the call, you’d expect a professional receiver to make a catch of a ball right in his hands. But Lee didn’t do that, and it set up the losing end-game scenario for the Jaguars.

All along we’ve know how talented Gabbert is with quarterback skills and the two throws he made to get Arizona into field goal position were lasers and perfect. He doesn’t do that often, but when he does you see why so many coaches think he can be a big time player because he has a great arm and can really throw the “high hard one” as they say in the league.

That set up a 57-yard field goal attempt by Phil Dawson, which would be the longest of his long career. It was good with one second left on the clock and left the Jaguars on the wrong end of a 27-24 final.

At 7-4 the Jaguars are now tied for first again with the Tennessee Titans in the AFC South. Three consecutive home games start with the Colts in Jacksonville next Sunday at 1 o’clock.

Is there anything good that comes out of this loss? I don’t think any reasonable person thought the Jaguars would win out and go 13-3 so perhaps a loss like this will re-focus the team on what got them winning games. Their margin for error is small with the injuries up front and how the offense is performing. It’s not all on Bortles who’s playing without his top two receivers in Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns. He can play better, but the receivers, Lee, Cole and Westbrook are going to have to make some plays to help him out and get the offense untracked.

As Coughlin says, some of these guys will have to play “above the x’s and o’s.”

For the third consecutive year, former Jaguars left tackle Tony Boselli is among the 27 semi-finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

From an original list of 108 eligible players, Boselli joins Jacksonville natives Leroy Butler and Brian Dawkins along with Georgia’s Hines Ward among those the HOF’s selection committee will consider on the next ballot. Generally the semifinal list has 25 names but because of ties, this year’s list has 27. Fifteen players and coaches will be considered for selection to the Hall during the Super Bowl weekend in Minnesota on February 3rd.

“I’m not going to get any better than I was,” Boselli said with a laugh Tuesday night about his candidacy for the Hall. “They hay’s in the barn, my play’s on tape. It’s up to people like you (I’m on the PFHOF Selection Committee representing Jacksonville) to make a decision. There are 25 other really good football players on that list.”

Last year the Committee elected both Kenny Easley and Terrell Davis to the Hall despite the brevity of their careers. Both played less than 70 games in the NFL. Boselli’s career was considered short but he played in 97 NFL games. By comparison, iconic NFL legend Paul Hornung played in 105.

“There’s times I feel like, not that that I got cheated, but I’d have like to have played more,” Boselli added. “Don’t get me wrong, if God had come down and said ‘You’ll play in 97 games, take it or leave it’ I’d have taken it and run with it. But you fell like, ‘man I wish I could have done it a little bit longer.”

In his third year as a semi-finalist, Boselli will get serious consideration from the Selection Committee. Last year he was among the final 10 chosen. His quality of play is unquestioned and even Tony admits, at this point of the process, it can be a numbers game.

“They’re all great players,” he said. “When you get to the final 15, every one of those guys can make an argument that they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.”

Among the 108 original, eligible players, only five can be selected for induction into the Hall of Fame in Canton, OH.

After his high school career at Raines, Brian Dawkins played his college football at Clemson. He was a second round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles and spent most of his career there. He finished with three years in Denver. Dawkins made nine Pro Bowl’s in his career finishing with 37 forced fumbles, 16 fumble recoveries and 37 interceptions. He made his one Super Bowl appearance for the Eagles here in his hometown of Jacksonville, a 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots. It’s Dawkins second appearance on the HOF ballot as a semifinalist.

In his first appearance as a semifinalist, Leroy Butler gives Jacksonville three players among the final 27. Butler played for Corky Rogers at Lee before going to Florida State. He’s famous for the “puntrooskie” against Clemson where he ran 78 yards to set up the winning field goal. He was selected in the second round of the 1990 draft by the Packers and was a member of the winning Super Bowl XXXI team. He was four times an All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection as well as a member of the 1990’s NFL All-Decade team. He’s also remembered in Green Bay as the inventor of the “Lambeau Leap.” Butler finished his career with 38 interceptions.

First time eligibles Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, Richard Seymour, Brian Urlacher, Rhonde Barber and Steve Hutchinson are included in this year’s semi-finalists. As mentioned, it’s the first semi-finalist appearance for Butler as well as Leslie O’Neal, Simeon Rice and Everson Walls.

Making multiple appearances, as semifinalists are, Isaac Bruce, Don Coryell, Roger Craig, Alan Faneca, Torry Holt, Joe Jacoby, Edgerrin James, Jimmy Johnson, Ty Law, John Lynch, Kevin Mawae, Karl Mecklenburg, Terrell Owens, and Hines Ward.

Former Jaguars Jimmy Smith and Fred Taylor were among the 108 eligible players but did not make the semifinal list.

The Class of 2018 semifinalists includes 25 players — 12 on offense (RB=2; WR=5; OL=5); 13 on defense (DL=3; LB=3; DB=7), and two coaches.

To be considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a nominated player or coach must not have participated as an active player or coach for five consecutive seasons. The next step in the selection process comes in January when the semifinalists are trimmed to 15 Modern-Era Finalists. That list increases to 18 finalists with the inclusion of the recommended nominees of the Hall of Fame’s Contributors and Seniors Committees. The 2018 Contributor Finalist is former General Manager/Personnel Administrator Bobby Beathard (1966-67 Kansas City Chiefs, 1968-1971 Atlanta Falcons, 1972-77 Miami Dolphins, 1978-1988 Washington Redskins, 1990-99 San Diego Chargers). The two Senior Finalists are Robert Brazile (LB – 1975-1984 Houston Oilers) and Jerry Kramer (G – 1958-1968 Green Bay Packers).

In his career against the Jaguars, Phillip Rivers has Hall of Fame numbers. He’ll get Hall consideration for his entire body of work in the NFL but against the Jaguars he’s been stellar. His almost-perfect quarterback rating only surpasses his 74.4% completion average along with his 15 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Even Doug Marrone said, “You’re talking about a player that has probably played as well against our team as any player that has ever played.”

So to even slow him down a bit in the first half was a victory for the Jaguars. Despite a variety of mistakes, missed tackles, drops and penalties, the Jaguars led 6-0 on the back of a fake punt TD run by Corey Grant. The extra point was blocked, the first of Josh Lambo’s career in Jacksonville.

Regardless of how different the Jaguars defense is as well as their mindset, Rivers is an elite quarterback so it was no surprise when he moved the Chargers on a 7-play, 87 yard TD drive in just under three minutes inside the two-minute warning to give LA a 7-6 lead. Bad tackling by the Jaguars defensive backfield allowed the Chargers to covert a third down and gave up the touchdown. Plus a zone defense call on third and long allowed Rivers to convert around midfield. If you’re going to play zone and not get to the quarterback, you’re going to get beat.

Neither team played great in the first half, willing to play field position trying to overcome average performance and a bunch of penalties. There wasn’t much to like about the game for the Jaguars fans. No offense and average defense. As if the team was getting another wakeup call about consistent play that’s a necessity for winning in the NFL.

Toward the end of the 3rd quarter Bortles really came alive. Starting from their own 16 yard line, Blake was 7 of 11 driving for a TD. Even his incompletions were smart, or a result of pass interference (not called). The noticeable trust he has in his receivers, especially Marqise Lee, Marcedes Lewis and Leonard Fournette is allowing Blake to throw on time and letting guys run themselves open. Both the TD throw and the subsequent two-point conversion were thrown on time, with Lee making great catches on both and Bortles showing great patience.

Riding the momentum, the Jaguars defense stopped the Chargers pretty consistently holding LA to only a FG and a 17-14 lead.

That’s when the weirdness started. From bad decisions by Bortles that produced interceptions to a forced turnover by the Jaguars defense, the last two minutes of the game were full of miscues and surprises. With the ball for the third time at the end of the game, the Jaguars finally kicked a field goal to tie it at 17 and send the game into OT. For as great as he played all game, Blake threw two inexcusable interceptions to cost the Jaguars chances to win the game. But on the final drive he hit a couple of crossing routes and scrambled for a few yards to get out of bounds and give Lambo a chance to tie it.

I say a chance because the regular long-snapper Matt Overton was out of the game with a shoulder injury so Tyler Shatley was in for the FG snap. Tommy Bohannon did the snapping on punts.

The weirdness continued into the overtime period. After getting the ball to open the OT the Jaguars moved to about midfield but had to punt. That gave the Chargers a chance to win the game with a FG but AJ Boyue stole the ball on a long pass down the sidelines. It counts as an interception but he basically took the ball from Travis Benjamin and returned it to the 2-yard line. Phillip Rivers made a touchdown saving tackle, blasting Bouye out of bounds. Back downfield, Aaron Colvin was called for taunting, the second taunting call of the game against the Jaguars. That moved the ball back to the 17-yard line. Three plays later, one putting it on the left hash, Lambo’s kick was blocked but had enough juice on it to get through the uprights and a 20-17 win for the Jaguars.

For fans in the last five years who were convinced this team was finding ways to lose, the Jaguars actually found a way to win this game. It wasn’t a good game, it wasn’t pretty, the Jaguars got some breaks but luckily they don’t ask to draw any pictures. Just numbers when time runs out. And the numbers after this win are 6-3; the first time the Jaguars have been three games over .500 since 2010.

Now they go on the road for back-to-back weeks at Cleveland and at Arizona before coming back to Jacksonville for three consecutive home games starting on December 3rd against the Colts. The schedule favors the Jaguars still, with a playoff spot there for the taking.

It’s never good when you win the coin toss and defer to the second half, but the opponent returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown. That’s exactly what happened when the Jaguars kicked off against the Rams for the first time in Jacksonville since the second week of the season. Jason Myer’s kick was fielded 3-yards deep in the end zone by Pharoh Cooper who brought it out to the right and seemed to be bottled up by the Jaguars special teams. But Cooper spun out of a tackle attempt by Jarrod Wilson and ran straight down the sideline for a TD for a 7-0 lead.

It’s always good when you score on your first play from scrimmage and that’s exactly what happened with the Jaguars touched the ball. A simple handoff to Leonard Fournette saw him break through the like and outrun everybody for a 75-yard TD to tie the game at seven. Fournette is only the second rookie in NFL history to score a TD in his first six games. It’s also the first time in history that two touchdowns have been scored inside the first 25 seconds of the game. 7-7 and starting over.

A 16-yard punt by Brad Nortman gave the Rams the ball at the Jaguars 45 and after three plays and eight yards the Rams kicked a 56-yard field goal to make it 10-7.

After taking the kickoff, the Jaguars gained chunks of yardage on the ground and through the air, scoring in just four plays on a 22-yard screen to Chris Ivory, taking a 14-10 lead. Gains of 18, 17 and 22 preceded the TD.

This game was nothing if not fun to watch early.

In another unusual twist, the Rams were pushing the Jaguars defensive line around, gaining big yardage with Todd Gurley running the football. That resulted in a LA TD at the end of the first quarter to regain the lead at 17-14.

Neither team was playing inspired football but the Rams were winning the field position battle. Nortman wasn’t having his best game and LA scored their second special teams touchdown of the game near the end of the second quarter, blocking a punt and stepping into the end zone for a 24-14 lead.

A 52-yard field goal attempt by Myers at the end of the half was hooked wide left to leave the Jaguars with a 10-point deficit at halftime.

A recap of the special teams effort in the first half gave the Rams a 17-point advantage, something very few teams in the NFL overcome.

A bunch of punts in the 3rd quarter didn’t amount to much as the Rams were stacking the box and making sure the Jaguars and Fournette didn’t get the running game going. At some point, Blake Bortles will have to be the center of the offensive improvement if the Jaguars are going to win games and be a legitimate contender for the post-season. He did lead the offense with his legs and a couple of nice throws that led to a field goal that brought them within seven at 24-17.

In the 4th quarter, you could call it crunch time, and the Jaguars aren’t a team in 2017 that has been good in this situation in close games. A decent offensive drive was derailed by a Bortles interception thrown in front of Marcedes Lewis who got a hand on it and tipped it to a waiting defender. Lewis was the wrong guy to throw it to in that situation as Bortles had Marqise Lee streaking down the field and the ball was just too far in front of Lewis to make that kind of crossing-the-field catch.

More Gurley right, Gurley left and Gurley up the middle put the Rams in a position to grind the clock and kick a field goal for a two possession, 10-point lead, 27-17.

There was a scare at the four-minute mark as Fournette tweaked his knee and his right ankle making a cut against a Rams defender. It looked serious but the Jaguars said he could return to the game if necessary. But he didn’t return.

It’s somewhat maddening to watch Bortles in the current Jaguars offense. Sometimes he’s solid, taking what the defense gives him and behind the running game, making enough throws to keep the defense honest and the offense moving. Other times he’s tentative in the pocket and just inaccurate enough to not make the play that are there downfield. If the Jaguars are going to be a contender at some point in the season, Blake is going to have to take a quantum leap forward with his decision-making, his mechanics and his accuracy.

Otherwise, the Jaguars will be the up-and-down team they’ve been for the first six games of the year. Put this one on the special teams without question but Bortles’ reputation and his confidence could have gone a long way with a come from behind win that did he couldn’t make happen.

For the sixth straight game, the Jaguars’ offense scored on their first possession. That’s a franchise record. It’s also the 4th straight game that Leonard Fournette had scored a TD. He’s the first Jaguars player to score in his first four games as a professional. In their opening drive, Blake Bortles was efficient and accurate, converting a long third down along the way and hitting Fournette quickly on a roll out for the touchdown. It’s just what the Jaguars were looking for. A continuation of the way they played in London.

But this was a different week, different game, and a different opponent.

On a weird play on their second possession, the Jets Bilal Powell tripped at the line of scrimmage and fell down. The Jaguars thought he’d been tackled but there was no whistle. So Powell jumped up and ran 75-yards for a touchdown to tie the game at seven.

After a brilliant series of play calls blending the run and the pass, Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett got away from that sequence and started asking Bortles to drop back and throw it downfield. They had some success with that last week but the Jets had those routes covered and the offensive line wasn’t up to the challenge New York was presenting with a pass rush. So from an accurate, efficient quarterback early on, Blake looked like the Blake of old. Rushed, off-target and a bit skittish in the pocket, Bortles production dropped dramatically. A bunch of scrums on both sides of the line of scrimmage, and a fair share of mistakes toward the end of the 2nd quarter made it 10-10 at halftime.

It continued in the second half until another blown “fit” on defense allowed the Jets to break their third long run of the day. This time a 68-yard TD and a 17-10 lead. “This isn’t the ‘same old Jaguars'” is what Bortles has been telling us all year long. But he looked the part when his pass inside the 20 was tipped at the line of scrimmage and returned to the seven. Holding New York to just three points there was big as the Jets kicked a FG to make it 20-10.

It didn’t look like the Jaguars offense had enough firepower to come back from ten points down, but the defense had other ideas. A pass by the Jets was ruled a lateral and Myles Jack picked it up and ran 81-yards the other way for a TD. After review the call stood and the Jaguars were back in the game in the 4th quarter. Jack is the only player on the front 7 on the defense who could have outrun the Jets for a touchdown. 20-17, NY.

One thing the Jaguars didn’t have in the last 5 years is a defense that created opportunities. That’s changed this year with pressure on the quarterback and players who are looking for the ball. Free-agent acquisition A.J. Bouye intercepted a Josh McCown pass when the receiver fell down giving the Jaguars a chance to win the game.

Although Leonard Fournette scored on a screen pass, Aurileus Benn was called for a holding at the seven and the Jaguars did nothing on three downs. They kicked a FG to tie it at 20 and send the game into overtime. The Jets did get the ball and there was good pressure from the defensive line, McCown recovered a strip sack from Dante Fowler.

In overtime, the Jaguars defense did their job, backing the Jets defense up and giving the offense the ball at the 50 yard line where a FG would win it. But Marqise Lee dropped a perfectly thrown ball by Bortles on third down and the Jets got the ball back. Those kinds of drops are the plays that separate a consistent, solid football team with one that’s hanging on looking for a win.

As things usually happen in the NFL, when a mistake like that happens, the other team is good enough to take advantage of it. Except the Jets were held to a three and out and the Jaguars forced a punt.

That’s when another miscue by Marqis Lee let the punt go 70 yards. Add to that a block in the back by Benn, and you have a bad day for both of them. The Jaguars had the ball at the 3 but couldn’t move it. Brad Nortman with a decent kick but in Jaguars form for this game, Paul Posluszny was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the play putting the Jets in FG position. Three plays later they kicked the game-winning FG to gain a 23-20 victory.

This game was all over the place for the Jaguars. We still don’t know what kind of team they are. We do know when they run the football, as they did early, it allows Bortles a little breathing room and keeps the opponents defense off balance. But after the first drive, they tried something different. And it didn’t work.

They looked great in their first drive; they looked great on defense in the 4th quarter. But for all the talk of consistency by Doug Marrone and the players this week, they were anything but throughout the rest of the game. Much like the game against the Titans, the plays were there, they just didn’t make them. “Winning” the 1st quarter of the season fell to a 2-2 start with another road game next week at Pittsburgh.

All through the preseason veteran Jaguars defensive players said they were going to be all right. Between resting veterans and nagging injuries, the expected starting eleven on defense didn’t have one play together. Signing Calais Campbell and A.J. Boyue in the off-season, plus with the development of Myles Jack, Dante Fowler and Yannick Ngakoue, the expectations were that the Jaguars defense would control the tempo of the game and field position.

And create turnovers.

All of that was true in the first half and more against Houston. Coverage down field helped the pass rush. Campbell had 2.5 sacks, Ngakoue stripped the ball from Tom Savage and Abry Jones recovered. It was exactly what the Jaguars were looking for out of their defense. The Texans had 25 total yards on offense midway through the second quarter. Two Jason Myers FG’s made it 6-0 Jaguars.

Meanwhile, the offense looked exactly like what was drawn up when they drafted Leonard Fournette. The Jaguars first round pick had 17 carries for 56 yards in the first half and scored a TD on a 1-yard fourth down run. Questionable play calling limited the Jaguars offensive production, especially giving it to the fullback on third down at the goal line. Too cute, give it to 27. Tom Coughlin’s first words to Fournette when they drafted him were “We’re brining you here to score touchdowns so get ready.” And he did just that.

After much consternation about the quarterback, Blake Bortles was serviceable, going 7 of 13 for 91 yards. A couple of good throws, a couple off the mark but no turnovers. The Jaguars out-produced the Texans in yards, 178-46.

Again late in the first half, Ngakoue was dominating whichever offensive lineman was put in front of him. Another strip of the ball from Savage created a turnover that Fowler picked up and ran for a TD giving the Jaguars a 19-0 halftime lead.

To no one’s surprise, Houston replaced Savage at QB in the second half with their first round pick Deshaun Watson. He provided a spark for the Texans, driving them down the field and throwing a 4-yard TD pass to Andre Hopkins to make it 19-7. The drive was helped by two questionable defensive penalties. Ngakoue was called for roughing the passer on third down near midfield when he barely touched Watson. Fowler was called for hands to the face when his left hand was under the blockers chin during a pass rush. Ngakoue’s was bogus. Fowler’s was the right call but just at the wrong time.

In a turnaround, the Jaguars answered right back, driving the length of the field thanks to solid running by Chris Ivory and Fournette and a nice throw and catch by Bortles and Allen Hurns. The TD pass to Tommy Bohanon was part of the Fournette Factor as Bortles faked it to 27 over the left side and rolled to his right. Every defender went after Fournette and Bohanon was wide open for the TD. 26-7 Jaguars in the third quarter.

Although Watson had the elusiveness to get out of the pocket on a couple of occasions, the Jaguars were bringing the heat on the rookie forcing a couple of short throws. Fowler and Ngakoue were both still dominating, this time Fowler kicking the ball out of Watson’s hand with Ngakoue recovering. Whether it’s a timing thing or a confidence thing, Jason Myers is quickly playing himself out of a job as the Jaguars kicker. A missed PAT early in the game was followed by a 39-yard missed field goal in the 4th quarter that would have given the Jaguars a 22-point lead. Bad time for a really bad miss when it comes to changing the momentum. Even head coach Doug Marrone said it could be a timing thing since the injury to long snapper Carson Tinker but whatever it is, it needs to be fixed.

With a few carries forcing the Texans to use their timeouts, Fournette got 100 yards on 26 carries. Bortles didn’t turn the ball over and the defense set the record for sacks, getting 10 against the Texans, four from Campbell.

A late interception by Tashaun Gipson gave the Jaguars a chance at a FG. Myers converted this one making the final score, 29-7.

It’s the first time the Jaguars have started the season with a road win since 2000. They haven’t won an opener since 2011 against Tennessee, which also happens to be the last time they were over .500. It’s also their first win in Houston since 2014.

The takeaway?

Money spent on defense with the addition of Boyue and Campbell seems to be money well spent. The veteran players doing what they’re supposed to do enhanced the development of the players they’ve been counting on. Getting 10 sacks, a franchise record, had to do with pressure and coverage, just how it’s supposed to work.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was how well the offensive line played. Maybe the Texans are terrible but no matter, winning the battle up front is where it all starts on offense. And the Fournette Factor made everybody better on that side of the ball, including Blake Bortles. It all worked just as they drew it up. This is the kind of team the Jaguars want to be under Tom Coughlin and Doug Marrone. They have the personnel to be just that.

But for now, they’re 1-0. And that’s good.

Photo by: Phillips Helmets

Again this week Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone isn’t telling anybody how long different players will see action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Marrone says he isn’t “a secretive guy” but rather wants the players to be ready to play instead of ready to come out.

After giving quarterback Blake Bortles a rest on Sunday, Marrone thought his quarterback performed better in the two practices against the Bucs. Blake says the whole offense is still learning, but it needs to be quicker.

“Not everybody is young anymore,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. ” That’s not a crutch to use anymore, so I think guys are definitely more football-smart and able to pick up the scheme and system a little quicker. I think when you take a step back and look at it, it still is our first camp in the system with Coach Hackett and I think guys have done a good job. Definitely still a lot to improve on.”

Are they getting better? It appears they have more talent and they are more “football smart” but while the good isn’t great, the bad is really bad.

“Yeah, I think so,” Blake explained regarding the peaks and valleys so far in camp. “Because I think we’ve shown day in and day out how good we can be and then we’ve shown day in and day out how stupid some of the stuff we do is.”

Which is almost exactly how Marrone described watching his offense operate. Sometimes pretty good, sometimes pretty bad.

“I’m always trying to get more, so for me I’m one of those guys that it’s hard for me to say,” Doug said about his reticence to say they’re improving on offense. “There are some throws that I’ll think, ‘Hey, that’s a good throw,’ and then I’ll be like, ‘That’s a horse s^@$ throw.’ “I thought he came back and really had no issues for these two days. I think he’s gotten good work, and I think that him along with the rest of the guys on offense, I want those guys to get better.”

Last week against the Patriots you could see the Jaguars getting better and more competitive everyday. This week didn’t have that marked improvement and Bortles noticed.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of negative or positive,” he said. “I think we need to be more crisp in the situational stuff. We can make the plays. We can do all the stuff we need to do, you’ve just got to do it every time it’s called.”

So it’s back to the consistency and the focus Marrone has talked about since day one. Don’t just do it the first or the last time, do it every time. And Doug thinks it’s his job to make sure they stay focused on that goal.

“My job is to coach them and get them better. They screw up; they are going to hear it. If it’s a good play, there’s a chance they’ll hear it. I’m going to continue to push them through every single play.”

Photo by: Phillips Helmets

Maybe it’s unfair to compare Blake Bortles to Tom Brady. Bortles in his fourth year in the league and Brady just turning forty are two different animals. But seeing the contrast of what Brady does on the practice field and what Bortles does is stunning. Whether it’s the footwork and arm motion, reading defenses, command of the offense or body language, Brady is in a whole other universe.

That might be the case with any other quarterback on the field at the same time that Brady is taking snaps but in this case both #12 and #5 are starters for their NFL teams. You’d think that Bortles would want to gain from that comparison, but he toed the company line when asked about practicing against New England.

“I think this whole thing was about us,” Blake said after practice. “The Patriots just happened to be the team we were going against and where we were going. It’s cool to go practice against the defending World Champions. It was about what can we do, how do we react in this situation, how can we continue to get better.”

You can’t help but notice the tight spiral and velocity Brady has on every pass. As you watch, it’s a product of the footwork, the core strength and the hip and shoulder rotation. He’s spot on every time with the ball position and ability get rid of it when he needs to. And it’s on target. Bortles on the other hand, is flat-footed often with his shoulders aligned with the line of scrimmage instead of perpendicular. That might sound like a technical thing, but two days of side-by-side comparison revealed where the best quarterback in the game is getting his power and accuracy and where a guy who’s struggling can improve.

No question Blake is better mechanically than he’s been and not everybody can be Tom Brady. In fact, nobody can be Tom Brady. But there are things that Bortles can fix almost immediately. No matter the pass, Brady brings it with a crispness of purpose that’s missing from the Jaguars’ starters throws.

Nonetheless, Blake talked about how New England was posing a new challenge this week reading defenses and disguising coverages.

“Up front, they single everybody up,” he explained. “That’s kind of just making everything one-on-one as far as the blocking schemes and then they do a lot of different things in coverage with their safeties, whether they’re sprinting their guys down or staying too high and doing different stuff.”

There was a lot of publicity about *Bortles five interceptions in the third practice of training camp. He’s been better since then and says he’s learning when he throws a pick, even here in New England.

“I think any time you throw an interception, I think you learn from it,” he said. “It’s practice, not downplaying practice or justifying that it’s okay to throw five interceptions, it’s not. But if there’s a time to do it, that’s then.”

Are they better? Is the question asked constantly about the offense. There are stars on defense and money spent on that side of the ball. On offense, the addidition of Leonard Fournette has signaled a new emphasis on running the football. Better is going to depend on *Bortles and the offense live. Neither has been great, but have shown flashes of improvement over last season.

“There is no doubt there has been some bad stuff that has happened and we have to fix and continue to work on,” Blake said when asked about the offense getting better. “I think if you watched seven on sevens today or one on ones and there wasn’t a whole lot times we got stopped. We obviously didn’t have the team period we wanted to. We messed up some things there, but I thought from a receiver, passing-game standpoint, the one on ones and the seven on sevens were extremely good today. We just have to find a way to carry that over into the 11-on-11.”