Again I like to mention that I can't comment on the first five minutes of the game, because of CBS showing the OT game between the Giants and Bungles. Defensively I am seeing a lot of improvement, especially in the area of rushing the passer. The Jags put a lot of pressure on Manning forcing bad throws, and interceptions. Unlike Vic Ketchman who believes Manning is in decline because of a few bad throws especially the one overthrown to Marvin Harrison, I totally disagree. On that throw to Harrison, Manning was forced out of the pocket, and had to throw the ball running up the field. I am amazed that he put the ball where he did which was just out of the reach of Harrison by inches.  Anytime you are running forward with 300lbs guys chasing you from behind, and you have to put it just right with a guy running full speed straight down the field with a defender almost stride for stride. You are going to put just a little bit more velocity on the throw. I am not sure what game Vic was watching but I saw some perfectly placed throws to clark , Wayne, and in that last drive an incredible throw to Gonzalez . I am mentioning all this because I don't believe the Jags defense was bad but rather that Manning and his WR core is just that good. The difference in this game then in previous is that the Jags D was able to put a lot of pressure on Manning. There were some very well timed blitzes that forced bad throws, and one by Darayl Smith which resulted in a sack. I think as the D gets more and more comfortable with Gregg Williams scheme, the sacks will start piling up.

I watched everyone on the D-line, and one guy really stood  out. Dereck  Landry is just so quick at shooting the gap, that he continually disrupted plays. The whole line had a good day, except for a few plays. The plays where Addai ran in the middle of the Jags D for gains was due to the outstanding play of the Colts center, Jeff  Saturday. The Randy Cross the announcer for the game called him out a couple times for his outstanding play. Saturday isn't a perennial pro bowler for nothing.

The LB unit played well except against the patent stretch play. I think they really missed Durant's speed  because that play requires a very fast LB to defend it. Smith had the best game of the LB's, chasing down RB's, and blitzing Manning causing a sack.

The secondary had its moments facing a very talented receiving core. Much of the game was played in the nickel, and overall did a good job. The one knock is Mathis just can't seem to cover Harrison. Harrison must really know how to exploit Mathis, because he makes Mathis look bad every time they face each other. Lets keep in mind that the rules favor the offense, and its very hard to cover any WR one on one, and shut them down completely.

The big difference in this years coverage is that under Gregg Williams they played a lot of man coverage. No more exploiting the soft spots time after time in zone coverage. Manning is so good at finding those areas and making it look all too easy.The secondary manned up, and played well.

Now everybody just seems to remember that last drive where Manning marched all the way down the field, slicing and dicing the D, and scoring the go ahead TD. At that point in the game the secondary lost two valuable players to injuries in Nelson and Starks. Nelson was having a fantastic game defending the run and pass, so losing him was costly. On that last drive Manning threw a laser to Gonzalez who made an incredible leaping grab with Florence tight in coverage. Florence had him covered it was just an incredible pass and catch. Next they picked on William James who was in the game covering Harrison due to injuries. Then the Colts  lined up Harrison and Wayne  side by side to the left, and  crisscrossed  each other causing Mathis and I think Williams to bump into each other. Manning had thrown the ball before Wayne was even open, knowing full well what was going to happen before the play even began. It was just a very well executed drive that Manning has done a million times before.

The obvious glaring weakness of this team is the passing game. Not being able to score points in the red zone due to not having any balance on offense, where defenses can load up the box to stop the run, and not having a WR good enough to exploit it. Garrard as well needs to stop locking on to one target which is either the backs or Matt Jones. This team is good enough in all other areas to be a very good team, but unless the Jags find a receiver that can stretch the field, and start putting up points. I just don't see this team as being anything but average.

The Jags in my opinion won't be able to win against the Texans just running the ball. The Texans are a lot better at stopping the run, and are weak defending the pass. Like the Colts were the perfect  team to get the running game going, the Texans are the perfect team to get the passing game going.

I took the time to watch the Colts game again, and here are my notes and observations from the game. I can't comment on the first 5 minutes of the game due to CBS showing the OT game between the Giants and Bungles.  It was very obvious what the Jags were going to do, they could have told the Colts before the play even started and got the same results. There were times when there was ten in the box, and even one play were they had eleven in the box. Of course the Jags formation was one WR split out wide, and the rest in tight to block with Reggie coming down the line to block as well.

The O-line played very well overall, especially considering they faced for most of the game eight in the box, and were still able to open holes for the backs. I also have to temper the fact that it was against a Colts defense that isn't very stout against the run. I really don't think the Jags will be able to get away with a win, just slamming the ball down the middle every play against teams loading the box. Thats of course till we play the Colts again.  

I singled out Kalif Barnes when I watched the O-line, and again for the third straight week he has really played well. I like to mention as well that he has gone up against some of the best DE's in the game in Vanden Bosh, Schobel, and Freeney. He plays nasty and aggressive against the the run, and has very good footwork and technique against the pass. If he can continue to play at this level every game, being that this is a contract year, if I were the Jags I would sign him long term, and show him the money!

Turning my attention to the what little there was of the passing game. I noticed that Garrard is not going through his progressions. He is locked on to one guy and if he isn't open then he either throws it away,  or runs. This may be due to the fact that he still has no faith after taking that pounding  in the first game, that his line will allow him the time to scan the field. Garrard had the time to throw, and surprisingly I saw guys running wide open, but Garrard never looked past his first progression to see them open.  I noticed especially on the last drive to set up the winning field goal, Marcedes  Lewis  wide open by himself  along the side line, which is were you want to go to stop the clock,  but instead threw it to  Taylor  in the middle of the field for a gain of a few yards, and with several Colt defenders around him. 

I also noticed that  Mike Walker was in the  game in  obvious  passing  situations in three WR sets, and for most of the game was open. Walker has the speed to separate, and if Garrard threw his way would have been a nice gain, and maybe a TD. Maybe Garrard doesn't have the faith in Walker due to the drops he has had.

 Unfortunately I can't say the same for Reggie Williams. They guy never got separation  and was nothing more than a blocker for the run. The one pass that Garrard threw his way, the defender stepped right in front of Reggie and returned it for a TD. Garrard never should have thrown that pass because there was no separation between Williams and the defender. On the play where Reggie ran the reverse, Freeney was never blocked,which caused him to run further wide, and Reggie just doesn't have the speed so the Colts D quickly caught him. Why the OC would pitch a reverse to a guy who doesn't have speed or quickness is beyond me. There was also a time in the red zone where Reggie was supposed to be in motion moving from the left to the right in a designed bootleg to the right where the defenders move forward to get Garrard only for him to throw over them to Reggie if done correctly, and run into the endzone along the sideline. Only good ole Reggie for some strange reason decided to start in motion then stop, then start  after the snap only to run into one of his lineman, then run around the lineman, while Garrard is running for his life with nobody to throw to on that side, has to threw it out away. Which resulted in the Jags settling for three points instead of seven. The game should have never even been close if the Jags had one dependable WR who can score in the redzone, instead of having to run against eight in the box and haft to settle for field goals instead of TD's.

Matt Jones was able to catch a few drive continuing passes mainly due to the fact the Colts defender covering him, was playing ten yards off him. All Jones had to due was drive the defender up field, run a curl, and then Garrard would deliver the pass on time and where it needed to be so that Jones would be the only one able to catch it. The Colt defender was either respecting Jones speed or maybe didn't have the speed himself to catch up to him if he ever played him tight and Jones decided to run a hook and go. This worked great in this game but I guarantee teams will see this on tape, and play Jones differently depending on what kind of matchup they have. I personally expect more out of a first round pick, but at least for this game he was able to keep drives going.

Marcedes Lewis spent most of the game tight to the line to run block, and did for the most part a very good job blocking. I only saw where on one play for some reason  Lewis had Brock one on one at end, instead of Pashos.  Garrard in a designed  bootleg to the right never had a chance to throw because  Brock chased him to the sideline where another  Colt defender flew in and forced Garrard to throw it away. Lewis was open the times I was able to see him down the field for the most part, especially on that last drive which ive mentioned already.

I will post my notes on the defense, and that last drive later.

Believe it or not their are actually quite a few players to discuss and report on, other than the fans infatuation with Matt Jones 24/7. Lets begin with what is going on in the Jags secondary. From what I am hearing Florence, Mathis, and Starks have looked very good at CB. Starks in particular has really improved his game heading into his fourth year, which is also the last year of his contract. The coaches have told him that he will have an opportunity to play the nickel CB, which has been estimated that the Jags used 60% of the time last year.

The safety position with Nelson leading the way has also looked very good aside from Nelson’s mental mistakes. Lets not forget it is still early, and there is a new DC to learn from. Gregg Williams plans on using Nelson all over the field much like Bob Sanders to where it seems like their are several of him on the field at the same time. Sensabaugh has also looked very good so far, and like Starks is entering his final year of his four year contract. Vic has also mentioned that Fudge has really improved, and can play either SS or FS. Pierson Prioleau knows Gregg Williams system better than anyone, having spent the last 3 years with him in DC, and before that with the Bills. He is like a coach on the field, and is also an excellent special teamer.

With all that being said it brings me to Brian Williams. He from what I have been told has looked good but has not really stood out from Sensabaugh. Unlike Starks and Sensabaugh who are younger and much cheaper than Williams, has not really warranted keeping on the roster with all those factors working against him. Brian Williams also happens to be one of the highest paid CB in the league at a 4 million cap number!

Now barring injury of course, I just don’t see the logic in keeping Williams on the roster with everything said above. I believe the Jags will keep him till the final cuts to ensure of just in case their is an injury they will need to retain him.

A good question is whether or not they will be able to trade him, but with that real high cap number unless a team is desperate, will just wait till he gets cut, and negotiate a new contract.

Another guy who was in a very similar situation is Reggie Hayward. He also has a high cap number, and you don’t pay a guy that much to be a back up. Jeff Laggeman went on record as saying the same thing, and if anyone knows anything about Jeff is that he is usually right. Fortunately for Hayward, Harvey has not signed yet, and as each day passes the chance of Harvey starting diminishes.

Now that you heard it hear first at BCC, don’t be to surprised if you see one less Williams on the Jags opening day roster.