FOLIO
When you cover a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars, which has been in “wait till next year” mode since the Barack Obama “historic victory” post-inauguration collectible plates were a hot item, you see the same things over and over again.
Close losses. Mental errors. A lack of roster depth. Familiar signposts on the road to 5-11. To an eighth straight year out of the postseason, in the weakest division in the NFL, won this year by the most patchwork team the Houston Texans have ever amassed.
Jonas Gray and Denard Robinson couldn’t get anything done all game long at the tailback position.
And sacks and quarterback pressure against the Jags’ offense? They were there, like the Christmas leftovers gathering mold in the back of the fridge. Two sacks in the first quarter for the Texans set the tone for eight total Texans sacks of Blake Bortles. And Jags’ OT Luke Joeckel? Preparing for his post-playing career as a turnstile.
The Jaguars, so amazingly well-coached that they announced retaining Gus Bradley so that the team could focus on this Houston game, were doing it all, all game long. Sergio Brown and Andre Branch out of position on defense. Joeckel and the rest of the line getting burned like forests during an August drought.
Fun Fact No. 1: 20-3 was the halftime score. Bortles with 80 yards passing and a pick.
Fun Fact No. 2: Until the 11:14 mark of the fourth quarter, the Jaguars had 108 total yards.
Down by 17 in the fourth quarter, Bortles wasn’t done.
Staring down Allen Robinson like he was going to ask him to couples skate, Bortles threw his signature:
A Pick 6, putting an exclamation point on another meaningless Week 17.
A team that started four QBs. A team that lost Arian Foster. A team that was down 42-0 in Miami before halftime.
The AFC South champs took the Jags to the woodshed.
The 2015 season is now history, and what’s telling about this franchise is this:
You can write anything you want to about the Jaguars’ on-field performance. I’ve been doing so since the days of Mark Brunell, Jimmy Smith, Tony Boselli, and Tom Coughlin.
Through three coaches and more than a decade since, I’ve done so. And never, not once, have I gotten any adverse feedback for what I wrote about the team’s performance.
On the field, that is.
Off the field? A different matter.
For some reason, the Jags’ management and ownership didn’t appreciate my writing about the slam-dunk nature of the $90M stadium renovations.
They cast aspersions, reliable sources tell me. They mean-mouthed.
The Jaguars made a decision, before this flop of a performance in Houston, to retain Gus Bradley.
It’s their prerogative to do that, certainly. Khan told the media, in a statement, that it was clear the team was improving.
Did they look improved on Sunday? Do people in Jacksonville believe that the Jags have an elite coach who can take this team deep in the playoffs?
I seriously doubt it. And I can write that all day long and get no repercussions.
Not like I’m writing about something important.
You know, like $45M of city money.
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