SPORTS w/The Jock 10-22-10

by Tom Weppel
JAGUARS
Each week on ESPN, we always hear the tune, “Are you ready for some football?” that is sung on Monday nights.
Last week, Jack Del Rio and the Jaguars should’ve sung back, “NO! We’re not ready for some football!”
Whew! That was some nasty, ugly, flat-out awful stuff we saw Jack & the boys come out with last Monday night against the Titans, losing 30-3. I am sure Wayne Weaver and his wife were hurting upstairs in the owner’s box, watching the whole scene unfold. It was both wild and tough watching the Stadium empty out in the 2nd Half, all while the Jags were getting their National TV ass-whoopin’!
And now, at 3-3, the Jaguars will face two tough opponents on the road, playing the Chiefs this weekend in Kansas City, with the Dallas Cowboys coming up on Halloween. On top of it all, they’re gonna try and do it with what amounts to not ONE but TWO third QB’s who weren’t on the roster last week!
So far this week, we’ve heard all kinds of issues to contemplate for the Jags getting blown out. We’ve watched what seems to be a very porous Secondary allow vast passing yards. We’ve considered some weak play-calling and coaches’ decision-making. We’ve watched turnovers become a major appendage for the Offense, leading to points for the opponent.
And the statistics back up all the above. Jacksonville ranks 26th in passing Offense, 28th in passing Defense, and they are a whopping minus-SEVEN in turnover ratio!
Obviously, changes need to be made. Del Rio and his staff have an uphill climb. They will try to do it with Todd Bouman and Patrick Ramsey as their Quarterbacks. Both have been career backups with various teams. Both have not played in an NFL game since 2008! In many ways, this is almost an unheard of scenario for an NFL team, without question!
This Sunday, the Jags go to Kansas City to face one of the four teams Del Rio played for…the Chiefs! After starting out 3-0, the Chiefs have lost their last two games on the road, against the Colts and Texans. In both contests, Kansas City had been playing well, almost winning both.
The Chiefs have one of the top RB tandems in the League, ranking in the Top five. Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles have been getting yards behind a solid OL led by C Casey Weigmann and G Ryan Lilja. QB Matt Cassel has been throwing to WR Dwayne Bowe effectively. Defensively, they rank in the top five overall in run defense.
Combine all this with the simple fact that Arrowhead is known for its raucous fan base, and it means this is game might not be a lot of fun for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jags opened the week as a four-point underdog in this one. After this, they travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys, before they have a bye. If they win one of these next two road contests, I think they’ll be quite satisfied. Actually, I think they’ll be JOYOUS beyond belief!
I’ll be surprised if they do.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Now that the BCS (which I consider a total joke) rankings are up and running, we can start to go thru all sorts of blatant stats and lame discussion, all in suggesting who should be doing what to whom, when, where, and how! Not that THAT’S a good thing!!! The bottom line here is that a 16-team playoff tournament could and would make a ton more sense overall. Of course, doing that would completely shatter the entire Bowl system that has been formed over decades…
Whatever the case, the bottom line here is that the BCS is in full force, and we’ll see how things shake out…
Going into this weekend, there are TEN teams that have undefeated records to their credit. Two games will have undefeateds facing each other! In the SEC, we’ll see the LSU Tigers head over to Alabama to face the Auburn Tigers! Without question, that game will be nasty, and it will go down to the wire with one team winning by a point or two!
Obviously, the winner will have a leg up on all the others within the SEC for a chance to play in the Conference Championship in Atlanta. Nothing like Tigers vs. Tigers!…
Then later on Saturday, we’ll see the BCS #1 Oklahoma Sooners go to Missouri to play the 6-0 Tigers in a Big 12 matchup. It could make for an interesting contest, especially if the Tigers keep the score tight! The last two #1’s (Alabama, Ohio St.) have lost. We’ll see if OU make it three-for-three!
The rest of the unbeatens will be almost comical, all at the very end! They include Louisiana Tech/Boise St., Air Force/TCU, and Colorado St./Utah!
Imagine that!
So, we’ll se how things shake out in what could once again be a wild, wacky slate of college football contests!