After Week 8; your expectations have...

[thunderkyss]

I did not give Jacksonville's Defense the credit they deserved. I probably still don't as I believe our offensive struggles was independent of their defense, from a QB stand point.

Arian didn't break a big run, that surprised me & I am given their defense (especially their LBs) credit for that.

I still think we should be favored going through the rest of our schedule. I think we break the 5-7 bug next week, with a 3 game win streak.

I think it gets a little hairy after that, I'm really anxious to see how our boys play on the road again.

So what about you, what are your thoughts on our team now & for the rest of the season?

[silvrhand]

My expectations of you starting a new thread every week with the same question has risen dramatically.

[michaelm]

Defense travels better than offense, so I am more optimistic about road games than in recent years.

[Corrosion]

After watching the Jag's defense hold the Ravens without a first down 10 minutes into the 3rd quarter .... Its difficult for me to not heap credit on that unit.
They didnt play as well against the Texans but they were on the road against what is a more balanced offense.
They are one of the premier defenses in the league .... record not withstanding .... that offense sucks.


The Texans did what they had to do to win this one.
The only points they gave up were off of turnovers and a short field.
They did enough offensively to make up for giving up two fumbles in their own end of the field.
Defensively they were very solid giving up less than 200 net yards total not surprising against that offense tho I did expect the Jags to be able to run the ball more effectively than they did especially up the middle.
MJD averaged 3.5 per carry while the Jags offense averaged only 3.0 yards per play .... the Texans offense 5.0 ypp.

This was the type of game I expected to see between these teams with two of the top seven defenses in the NFL.... It wasnt pretty but division games are a different animal. Teams know each other very well and the stakes are higher. I'll take the W and move on to next week ..... The Cleveland game could look much like this one as the Browns defense is also very solid while their offense is .... not good.


An interesting note - The Texans have played or will play five of the top seven defenses in the NFL (as it stands now) by week 14 when they play Cincy. The two teams they wont play San Diego who is #6 and .... themselves as they are sitting at #3.

Toughest game left on the schedule to me looks like week 14 at Cincy. 11-5 or 12-4 is definately a possibility.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Corrosion

After watching the Jag's defense hold the Ravens without a first down 10 minutes into the 3rd quarter .... Its difficult for me to not heap credit on that unit.

& maybe that is what spoiled me... we sliced through that defense on our first drive, like butta.... almost like they weren't there. Then Matt ran the ball in for the TD, I was feeling unstoppable way up there in 609.

Then the gears shifted. The Jags D didn't fold like the Titans or the Colts, they came to play, & thought they could win the game.

Props to them for sure.

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

& maybe that is what spoiled me... we sliced through that defense on our first drive, like butta.... almost like they weren't there. Then Matt ran the ball in for the TD, I was feeling unstoppable way up there in 609.

Then the gears shifted. The Jags D didn't fold like the Titans or the Colts, they came to play, & thought they could win the game.

Props to them for sure.

Yeah , they made some adjustments and really changed the tempo of the game. They limited the big plays and made a couple of their own. We get to see that unit again on their field at the end of this month .... Its not a gimmie W with that defense. They were on the field for more than 35 minutes and still kept that horrible offense of theirs within striking distance.