AFC South Jacksonville Jaguars
Finished 2004 season 9-7, 2nd place behind the Colts
Key returning starters:
Byron Leftwich – QB
Fred Taylor – RB
Jimmy Smith – WR
Marcus Stroud – DT
Akin Ayodele - LB
The Jaguars just missed the playoffs in 2004 and head coach Jack Del Rio has this team believing they can be a playoff caliber team in 2005. With a strong defense returning, can Byron Leftwich with a new offensive coordinator start producing and maintaining drives to give their defense a rest?
2004 Stats:
Ranked 21st overall in offense, #12 ranked in AFC
Ranked 11th overall in defense, #8 ranked in AFC
Your thoughts on the Jacksonville Jaguars this upcoming 2005 season...strengths/weaknesses and your prediction on where they will finish in the division.
posted by Steve at 7:19 AM
8 Comments:
The Jags have potential to be a playoff contender, but they will be tested early and we may know if they are contenders or pretenders in the first 6 weeks. They play AT Indy, Jets and Steelers in the first 6 weeks with tough home games against Cinnci and Denver.
If they can go 4-2 in this stretch then they should be in for the long haul.
I agree Johnny - if the Jags can actually go 4-2 during that stretch, then I would say they are contenders in the playoffs.
I have no doubt their defense is top notch, but it's their offense that has a lot of work to do.
Last season, they were 9-7, but they only scored 261 points offensively and let up 280 defensively. The 280 is impressive, but the 261 is frightening. It's hard to fathom a team having a winning record scoring less points than their defense gives up. And realisitcally, their defense wasn't even a top 10 defense in the NFL last season.
We also have to look at Fred Taylor, who really is the man that drives this offense. Leftwich hasn't really stepped up to be the leader of that team. With Taylor still bothered by injuries, which he may not be ready to go in week#1, can we really think the Jags can go 4-2 during that stretch?
Without Taylor @ 100%, I don't see the Jags as successful as they hope to be. Therefore I see the Jags finishing 3rd behind the Texans, probably with the same record or 1 loss more, but missing the playoffs.
JohnnyCox, suck my balls
The Jags might be a super bowl sleeper. They have a tough defense and a tough offense as well. If Byron Leftwich can rally the troops behind him he might pull it off. This team is really on the edge of making great things happen. They are a stacked team and not to mention they got a pro bowl running back in Fred Taylor. Look for the Jags to go deep in the playoffs and give the Colts problems along the way. 11-5 2nd Division. Playoff birth.
Hey Red,
If you have the Jags and Colts in the playoffs, thay leaves one wild card left. So who are you leaving out? Pats, Steelers, Ravens, S.D., Jets, Denver, KC, Bengals, Buffalo?
Who is the other wild card?
AFC is sooo tough to predict!
JohnnySox, i'm leaving the Steelers OUT
It often is said that the second-string quarterback is the most popular player to fans, and QB David Garrard is this week's highlight reel after completing 9 of 13 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. Starter Byron Leftwich was 3-for-7 for 32 yards and was sacked four times.
"We'll talk about who gets what playing time against the Buccaneers [the teams play at Tampa on Saturday night] some other time,'' Del Rio said.
He then praised the Jaguars' performance in short-yardage situations, in which they converted all four third-down chances with 3 or fewer yards to go, and the kick returns, which were led by David Allen's 76-yard touchdown off a punt.
"It's good to see signs of progress in areas that you need to improve,'' Del Rio said.
Jags court serious fans
The team has a light session for special teams this morning and a full practice tonight for a closed-to-the-public VIP audience. The Jaguars are within 1,000 of their regular-seating season-ticket goal of 45,000 and still have about half of the 11,000 premium seats left. So they are inviting prospective ticket purchasers as well as big buyers tonight.
A real stinker
The near-100 degree temperature made Monday morning's practice difficult enough, but it was even more unpleasant because several big garbage containers outside the practice field had not been emptied and were upwind.
Etc.
Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver stayed for most of the morning practice . . . The injury report didn't grow because the two players hurt in Saturday's 27-17 victory were back with the team. S Deon Grant (hip pointer) and DE Bobby McCray (hamstring) appeared to be at full speed.
Overrated I hate this franchise. Elam kicked it against you...LOL!! you will fall in the afc due to rise of bills, bengals. Fail I enjoy it!!
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