Well that was an ugly win, but as they say "we'll take it".  Here are the highlights:

The Jags dominated the stats and time of possession.  Some key stats were 33 first downs compared to 13 for the Rams, 492 total yards for the Jags and 262 for the Rams, and TOP was 44:12 for Jacksonville compared to 24:48 for the Rams.  Below is a link to the complete game stats.

Jaguars vs Rams Game Stats

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I was racking my brain last night, trying to come up with a reason (s) for the debacle we witnessed in Seattle yesterday.  After careful reflection and introspection, I found the reason - ZOLTAN.  Yes, our brother in arms from across the pond and frequent contributer to this site royally screwed our beloved Jags yesterday.

How you may ask?  Simple.  Yesterday, during the game on the game thread, Zoltan confessed (CONFESSED mind you) that he had neglected to wear his lucky Jaguar shirt.  Don't believe me - it's right there in black and white - we have the documented evidence so you go check it out for yourself. There's  no denying it - there's no escaping it.  I called him out for it yesterday but I feel compelled to bring this most egregious offense to the public eye.

COME ON Z! What the hell were you thinking there???  Did you have money on Seattle? Are you cyberdating a Seattle cheerleader?  We can forgive that at least. 

It is an unrefutable, universal truth that wearing the lucky garb PRIOR to kickoff garantees success.  Everybody knows this.  This is gloabally excepted as truth across many nations and cultures - hence our friend's confession as a sorry attempt to assuage his guilt from bringing disaster upon our Jags.

Hopefully, Zoltan will remember to suit up properly BEFORE the remaining games on the schedule.  Get your head in the game son!

Go Jags!


Presented in the spirit of jest and good humor directed towards a good friend of BCC!  Hopefully you got a laugh from it.

Well, we were totally emasculated today.  To say that this was one of the worse TEAM performances in our history, is an understatement.  There isn't much more to say than 41 - nill other than the score WAS closer than the game was.

I won't spend much time on the D.  We knew that they were not very good coming into this season - it's been confirmed.  And I'm just about ready to officially declare the 2008 draft class as busts.  Once again, no pass rush except for a couple of plays.  Otherwise a totally banged up Seattle O line gave great protection for a banged up QB who was allowed to get comfortable and then got hot.  Hasselbeck killed us.  This will have to be addressed  via next year's draft and FA.  Altough we have some young players to build with, clearly, new personnel is needed.  Some say that stats lie - NOT IN THIS CASE.  Our defensive statistical rankings are very reflective to what we're seeing on the field.

Our O line was completely dominated today, especially the interior line.  Monroe got schooled again and had  some poor efforts as well. You have to give the O line a solid F with no running game and no pass protection.

David Garrard had one of his worse games as he was directly responsible for 2 turnovers and 14 points.  He continues to be inconsistent and holds the ball to long - hence the 2 turnovers and 14 points.  This offense is only as good as the QB and when he's off, we're not going anywhere.  David is in serious need of good coaching - he's got to get the ball out quicker.  His total lack of awareness in this regard, is especially noticable on 3 step drops.  The ball simply has to be fired out of there, even it's out of bounds.  This total lack of awareness is unexceptable in a QB at any level, much less the NFL.

Finally coaching - just as we were praising the play calling last week, the opposite is true this week.  The coaches had no answers, although with the total lack of execution, it probably would not have mattered.  Once again we see the inconsistent, week to week performances which has been a hallmark of JDR coached teams during his 7 years. Seattle was completely dialed into everything the Jags tried on both sides of the ball.  That reflects extremely well on their coaching staff and team leadership.  Jags personnel take note - our coaching and team leadership just got pile driven into China.

This just in - the jags got flagged again for another stupid penalty.

Burn the tape and move onto next week.  We host the Rams and they're god awful.  Hopefully, we'll come out with at least a token effort because we sure didn't see it this week.

Go Jags!

I'm a little concerned with our upcoming game with Seattle. Everyone's in a state of euphoria as our beloved Jags just beat 2 division rivals: the Texans in a thriller and a complete beatdown of tenn that effectively killed their season (very satisfying).  

The Seahawks are not to be taken lightly. I point out that it is WE that must travel across the country. Seattle is currently 1-3. They may come out with a what do we have to lose mentality. They have an excellent QB in Matt Hasselbeck. I believe that if he can stand upright, he'll play in this game (would love to get confirmation on this from the Field Gulls guys). Hasselbeck is a streaky QB who can get hot and when he does, look out - he's one of the best and can carve up a D like a Xmas turkey. Throw in the fact that our pass defense just plain stinks and currently ranks dead last in the league AND we do not generate QB pressure or hits on the QB and you have a recipe for a disasterous trip out West.

So those who have penciled in a win with this trip out West, don't count those chickens just yet. I believe the Jags should win this game, but I take nothing for granted here. This has all the makings of a classic ambush game. JDR and the veterans on this team need to drive this point home with the "yutes".

Go Jags!

Update - NFL Network is reporting that Hasselbeck participated in limited practice for the 2nd straight day and it appears that he will start Sunday. 

Injury Report (Thursday) -

Seattle  

Out: T Walter Jones (knee), T Sean Locklear (ankle), LB Leroy Hill (groin) and G Rob Sims (ankle).

Did not practice: DE Patrick Kerney (groin).

Limited in practice: QB Matt Hasselbeck (rib), LB Lofa Tatupu (hamstring).

Full practice: FB Justin Griffith (knee), CB Josh Wilson (ankle

Jags

Out: DT Greg Peterson (knee).

Did not practice: S Sean Considine (groin), LB Adam Seward (groin), CB Scott Starks (hip) and TE Ernest Wilford (knee).

Limited in practice: LB Clint Ingram (ankle), G Maurice Williams (knee).

Full practice: DT Derek Landri (wrist), T Tra Thomas (knee).

We're barely into the 2009 college football season, and already there are big storylines developing with some of the major conferences.  We sent our reporter to interview each conference and get their take on how this year is shaping up.  We boiled down each interview into one salient comment per conference.  We present them below:

1)  ACC - "we friggin hate the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)"

2) Big Ten - "we friggin love the CAA. I mean, we only usually just get blown out by PAC 10 teams.  Please note - App St is NOT a member of the CAA"

3) Big East - " what the Big Eleven eerrrrrr Big 10 just said".

4) WAC - "Will someone please explain how the hell the ACC gets an automatic BCS bid and we don't"

5) Mountian West - "Will someone please explain how the hell the ACC gets an automatic BCS bid and we don't"

and Finally

6) Colonial Athletic Assoc - "Will someone please explain how the hell the ACC gets an automatic BCS bid and we don't  - I mean we own the ACC and kick their ass--- uummmm wait a minute ---- we actually do things right and have a playoff - NEVER Mind"

And there you have it sports fans  - that's the Lay of the Land  in college football 2009.  Tune in next week when we'll examine what the ACC needs to do to become more competitive in 1AA football - God knows we play enough of these guys.

Preseason is finally over and we are due to trim the roster down to 53 players by Saturday.  Some overall impressions of this year's version of our favorite team going into the regular season:

1)  WRs - I'm very pleased with the direction that the WR corp is moving in.  After last year's worst in NFL crop, Gene made the right move in gutting that squad and beginning anew.  Very happy to have Torry Holt.  Troy Williamson appears to have put the pieces together.  He has impressed in the preseason - hope this carries over into the regular season.  Mike "INA" Sims-Walker - the name change has apparently worked; he actually got onto the field and WOW!  He was fantastic last night.  I want to see him produce in regular season games - but he is definately worth a roster spot.  Stay healthy and stay on the field Mike, but for now, you have definately won me over. I also like our rookies.  It will take some time to develop their talent, but you can see the foundation is definately there. This group may see the biggest overall improvement on the team this year.

2) O - Line - we have some new blood and it was sorely needed.  Upgrades are still needed in the center and guard spots.  This unit will require some time to develop continuity and Britton will get schoolled from time to time as all rookies will.  Pass protection has improved but still needs work.  In every preseason game, the opposing team's pass rush looked like a team jail break at times and David definately took some shots this preseason.  This will be a work in progress at least for the early part of the season.

3) Defense - I think this will be a middle of the road D again this year, but with the beginnings of improvement.  There were just to many holes to fill coming into this season.  Cox may be a great find and so too is Knighten.  I think Gene may have really maximized draft pick impact with limited picks going towards the D this year.  Time will tell.  Big John appears to have waken up this preseaon and that bodes well.  Harvey has improved his game this preseason and he seems to be getting closer.  The D line overall, still has issues generating pass rush on thier own - it seemed to me that most of our pressure this preseason was generated via blitzing.  The seondary still has issues.  It will be interesting the see what impact Cox has on this unit as the season progresses.  Given that we gave up next years' 2nd round pick - I'll be watching this very closely (as I'm sure you will too).

4) Team - I thought the team as a whole improved each week, which is what you want to see.  I want to see continued improvement in individual players and the team as a whole.  And I want to see a more consistent team from week to week.  This has proven to be elusive in the past.  Given the amount of young players who will either be starting or seeing significant playing time, this may prove to be challenging, but nevertheless, it needs to occur.

5) Gene Smith -  I am very impressed with Gene so far.  He seems to have a good eye for talent and a keen mind.  He's already "POed" a couple of other GMs by making some schrewd pick ups, which really makes me smile.  We never saw that under Shack.  I think Gene is exactly what this team needs and given one or 2 more off seasons, we may seriously contend.  His first draft class may prove to be the best in the league this year from top to bottom and provide a solid nucleus from which to build a consistent winner in JAX.  And winning is the great cure all to our attendance issues. I will admit to being one of those who are very concerned of JAX's ability to keep this franchise in town.  Gene just may literally prove to be this teams' saviour.

Prediction - This is a team that will see several very young players either starting or seeing significant playing time.  There will be learning via the school of hard knocks.  I believe that a 7-9 record is realistic, but this team will scrap and fight. You never know, Miami came out of nowhere last year.  I am genuinely looking forward to this season and I am excited about it.  I believe this team is headed in the right direction and it will be fun to watch the young talent and team chemistry develop throughout the course of this season. 

What are your thoughts?

GO JAGS!!!!

If you have not already heard, Mike Vick has been reinstated by 'The Commish'  The NFL network was all over this today and had quite a discussion about this.  One of the questions asked of Jamie Dukes and Michale Lombardi were which teams would have an interest in Vick.  Several were listed, Cinn, NE, Rams, San Fran, and Jacksonville.  When pressed to pick one team that Vick will end up with, Dukes said San Fran and Lombardi said Jags.  Lombardi like Jags due to the back up QB situation, the small market environment, and the need to win.  So, what say you?

I wanted to pass along an FYI to the BCC Nation.  The NFL Network had an editorial type piece (Prime Time Deon Sanders pontificating) that Jack Del Rio is one of the coaches on the proverbial hot seat this seasn.  The teams inconsistency was touted as a most probable reason.  Given that this specific topic was discussed on this site nearly a month ago, I thought those that do not get NFL Network might be interested.  Some on this site (meself included) have begun to question JDR.   When you consider the up and down nature of this franchise over the past 5 years and especially the dismal divisional record, it would seem that a national media spotlight is beginning tp shine on the Jags coaching staff.

Hello Texans,

I'd like to get your opinion on the strengths and weaknesses you see with the Jaguars coning into the 2009 season.  I'm curious to get an "outsider's" perspective.

From my perspective, I think the Texans have done a good job upgrading their roster over the past couple years and I think you guys are THE team on the move in the division.  If Schaub can stay healthy, I beleive you should make a run at  the playoff's this year.  If your QB goes down - you're screwed.

Thanks in advance.